Finished my apron!!

Here's the finished product. I really like it a lot. However, I will not be using jean material again for this project. I like the look of the jean (its the ruffle and the neck strap). Unfortunately, its just weighs down the cotton of the apron too much. And the neck tie is too thick, bleh. Ah well, live and learn!

Thursday's Findings - ok maybe friday's findings...

Well, I didn't get a chance to post any findings yesterday. And I've got a few to share today, so here goes. Only a day late...

Spoonflower is a site that allows you to design and print your own frabric. So inspiring!! They have lots of really cool designs that you can purchase as well. (Perhaps a little pricy, but still exciting to the crafty designer out there!)

The Community Garden started by members of the University of Texas at Austin community. I love the idea of a community garden. I miss the huge garden that my grandmother planted and harvested each year when I was a kid. Wow, did I take that for granted. There is nothing like a freshly picked Tomato!

If you don't believe me, look at this!!

Its me and my childhood friend Monique in my grandmother's garden. I was about 7 or 8 I guess.

And finally...

Love this knit cardigan. I want to make one out of old t-shirts!! Blogged by Elle Apparel

The crafty bug finally bit me again

Ok, so here's a pic of the homemade chicken enchiladas with green sauce that my honey and I made last week.

I don't use a recipe, we just wing it usually. This time we used chicken, pinto beans, cheese and pico de gallo for the filling. We stuffed all of that into flour tortillas (this dish is usually made with corn tortillas, but I prefer it with flour ones.) The topping is more cheese, a dash of the pico and green enchilada sauce. We use the canned version made with tomatillos. Yum!!  It was so good with the pinto beans instead of rice. Definitely a keeper!

And my friend and I finished her apron. Here's the finished product.

She is a novice sewer, so we both worked on the apron. The apron is based on this JoAnn's pattern.  Its the one I mentioned in a previous post. We ended up tweaking the pattern a bit. She wanted to add the brown band at the waist to give it some more appeal. And we added a couple inches to the width of it, because let's face it, we are not tiny women! I think it turned out great!!  I've already cut out fabric to make myself one as well. My theme is going to be blue colors. Can't wait to get it posted when I finish!

Thursday's Findings

Ok, so I've been slacking on my own crafting, but I've been sooo inspired by the other craft blogs that I read. Here's some really cool finds for this week!

The improv quilt block in yellow by Quilt Dad

This is a guy with a family who decided to give it a go with his wife's sewing machine. So awesome!!

The Roly Poly Circus Quilt found on the Happy Zombie Blog

Jellyfish Jeans - Repurposed & bleached jeans by irishdaydreamer

on the Crafter.org Reconstructed group.

Thursday's Findings

*Thursday's Findings *

I am always finding creative inspiration on the web. I wanted to share some with you!

Under the Sea Necklace from the twobutterflies blog

She even gives a tutorial on how to make your own!

Plushie Bunnies from the Dandelions and Lace blog.

Another fun tutorial included. Also check out her Plushie "Peeps" too!

Ok, my love affair with Owls seems to have no end. I love this!! And I love the site as well.
Owls in Love Cushion Cover by Bustle and Sew.

Homemade goodies

My honey and I have been trying to do more cooking at home to eat better and save money. I was digging through some pic files and wanted to share some of the stuff we've made over the last few months. Yummo!!

This is homemade pizza, the dough and all. (OK so we didn't make the toppings or the cheese...hehe) Since making this pizza, we did end up buying a pizza stone. We love it because it makes the crust nice and crispy while allowing the rest of the dough to be chewy. Although, we are having lots of trouble getting the pizza with toppings from the counter onto the stone. I think we are going to have to break down and buy a peel.

Here are the dishes from our Mexican fiesta night. We made the guacamole, the corn tortillas and the beef & turkey crumbles for yummy tacos. I really enjoy the freshness of homemade corn tortillas. My first attempt at using prepared masa flour went well. I ended up using a rolling pin to make the tortillas. Then I decided I liked the tortillas so much, it was time to invest in a tortilla press. Its much easier to get even, flat tortillas with a press.

Note: the links I've given are for Bed Bath and Beyond. I did purchase my pizza stone there. But I have yet to buy a pizza peel. And the tortilla press was purchased at a local mexican supermercado called El Rancho. (I really love that damn place!)

Apron for Craft group at work

Just wanted to share a new project that I recently finished. I joined a crafting group at work called the "Craft Mafia". Our latest project was aprons. We each make an apron for someone else in the group, and we get one in return. So here's the apron I made for my craft partner.

The pattern is Simplicity 2298.The pleats were probably the most difficult part, followed by the darn rick rack. Not sure I want to use it again, but it does give it a really cute retro type look. I am hoping to do another one based on this JoAnn's pattern. 

I love retro aprons and can see that my apron collection will be growing soon. I'm ok with that!

Starting again

Thought I'd give this blogging thing another try. Its been a while since I've been active on the net. Actually writing and sharing my thoughts. I've been so inspired by crafty & other DIY blogs that I wanted a chance to start my own.

My goal for this blog is to share some cool , crafty links, share my craft projects, hopefully help inspire others like I've been inspired recently.

The name of this blog is Idle Spuds. I came upon the name by happenstance. I was on a road trip with my ex, driving from Las Vegas, Nevada to Portland, Oregon. Making a big move. It was late at night, we were getting delirious, he read a sign on the side of the road and thought it said Idle Spuds. We laughed and laughed about it until we cried. It was a silly moment and I figured it was a good name for a blog. Yay!

Hope you enjoy this new journey of crafting and creativity with me! Welcome!