Pumpkin Love

female bud

male bud

Did you know that there are male and female pumpkin flowers?

The male flowers are on long narrow stems that shoot up high and the female buds have little possible pumpkins right under the bud.





I've had flowers on my pumpkin vines for a while but no baby pumpkins. I decided to do a little research and found out there were two types of buds. Of course I ran right out to see if I had any female flowers since they are the ones that produce pumpkins if pollinated by a male flower. As luck would have it I had one female flower that was blooming. I guess they only bloom for one day. After reading a little more I decided to help my little female along and hand pollinated her. I hope this baby keeps growing.




I'm really excited about my pumpkins. Every time I go out I search for more females. I'm happy to report that I have found several more female buds! Now I'm waiting for them to mature and hopefully get pollinated. Cucumbers also have male and female flowers in case you were wondering.

Cutting it Close

Glad I didn't make anymore mistakes in my latest sewing project!

Super Dad!

Funds were a little tight this year as I entered the month of June. Unfortunately my husband's birthday, our anniversary, and Father's Day all fall within two weeks of each other. To help save our budget, I wanted to make my husband something for Father's Day this year. Sadly I don't often make him gifts. I find it much harder to craft for the males in my life. Experiencing the same problem for my son, I came up with the idea of making him a super hero shirt for Christmas. Since my son loved his so much, I thought why not do one for my husband too. I picked up a blue t-shirt at Target thinking I would do Captain America but changed my mind to Super Man once I got home. Lucas had seen a blue on blue Super Man shirt he really liked on The Big Bang Theory that I was not able to find online to purchase. With some freezer paper to trace with, a little Wonder Under, and some old tees I had a super present. I liked it so much I went back and got a deeper blue for a more tradition Super Man for my own super dad.

husband's shirt

My dad's shirt

<--Husband's Shirt

      Dad's Shirt-->

Upcycle Halloween Costume

Part 1 done! I decided to make a fishing vest and bucket hat for Joel this year. When I went to look through my stash, I found an old pair of shorts with this great pocket.




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Play Time

This morning I decided to try making some play dough. (Okay Joel was happily playing with the Play-Doh that he got in his Easter basket, and I thought he might like a few more colors.) I found this recipe online that used cornstarch and baking soda. I had everything on hand so I thought why not. Not sure why I had a 1 lb box of baking soda, but I did. It was a little tacky so as I was adding the color I used a little extra cornstarch. This also helped it not stick to my hands as I kneaded in the food coloring. We will see if Joel likes it as well as the Play-Doh. I think I may actually prefer the store bought stuff.

I'm Fast!

Not to long ago Joel decided that he was fast. Anytime there is an area that he deems wide and long enough to run he will ask to go fast. As soon as he started doing this my mind went to The Flash. I knew that I wanted to make him a shirt with the flash logo on it. At first I thought that I would use freezer paper and paint it on but then changed my mind and decided to applique it instead. I really wanted to get the two colors and didn't want to take the time to make two stencils or wait on the paint dry.

 

I started with a red shirt from Walmart. Next I pulled up some images of The Flash's shirt on the internet. I had the basic image in my head, but wanted to get the details right. It also made the lightning bolt easier to recreate. Using PowerPoint I made the basic shape using straight lines. This helped me play around with sizing without having to redraw it over and over. Luckily I had a yellow t-shirt in my stash that was the right color. I then traced the images on to the paper side of Pellon Wonder-Under transfer web paper. After that I cut out the image and ironed it onto the backside of the t-shirts for the circle and lightning bolt. I knew that I wanted the edges to curl up a little so I cut out the pieces about a quarter of an inch outside of the transfer paper. (I still haven't mastered the satin stitch on the edges of an applique, and I wanted this to be a quick project.) Then I ironed down the circle and stitched around the outside about a quarter of an inch inside. Finally I did the same with the lightning bolt. We call this Joel's fast shirt. If you ever catch him wearing it, he might just tell you the same. Sorry all the action shots were to blurry to post. ;)

Easy Red Sauce

We have been trying to eat at home more often lately which in turn has given me a little boost to try new things in the kitchen. Lately we have been making a lot of home made pizza.




To keep the cost down I decided to look into making red sauce. After looking at many differed recipes online and examining my cupboards, I thought I'd give it a try. It is pretty simple and can be easily converted to spaghetti sauce too.

Pizza Sauce
1 can tomato sauce (plain or whatever kind you like)
2-4 cloves of garlic (or more if you love garlic)
1T olive oil (I use extra virgin)

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan on stove. I use a garlic press for the garlic, but you could chop or used minced if you want. I don't really measure the EVVO, just a quick trip around the pot. I let it simmer for a 5-10 depending on how much time I have. You could go longer if you wanted to I'm sure. Now it's ready. I've kept it in the fridge for a week or so.





Pasta Sauce
4 small or 1 large can of sauce
5-8 cloves of garlic (alter to your garlic preference)
2-3 T olive oil

Additional Ingredients
1-2 t Italian Seasoning
1 t parsley flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
3 T Fresh Parmesan (I graded in some fresh Parmesan last time I did this, but I don't do this all the time. I did like the result though.)

I don't really know exactly how much I used of everything. I just guess and adjust as needed. I've also used some of the flavored tomato sauces instead of the plain. That was good too.


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