Try it Tuesday: Grilled Tilapia and Mango Salsa

I love trying new recipes!  This is one of my new favorites.  The salsa is awesome all on its own! :)

Try it Tuesday: Skip To My Lou's Drawstring Bag

This tutorial for a drawstring bag from Skip To My Lou is so awesome!  It only took me about 15 minutes to quickly make one for my classroom! :)

It would be great for gifts or toting around little things.  I'm sure I will be making a whole lot more of these around the holidays!

See you tomorrow for Wednesday Wants! :)

Try it Tuesday: Noodlehead's Vintage Inspired Skirt

This week's Try It Tuesday comes from a very generous tutorial from Anna at Noodlehead.  (Her tutorials are the best!  I'm looking forward to her eventual book deal!)

As is sometimes the case, I couldn't make just one.  I made one that would match nearly everything, and then one that wouldn't match much.  I guess I'm just covering all the bases! :)

I love wearing skirts to work, and these will be perfect!  I already have a few more in the works! 

If you've ever wanted to make a skirt, this is the tutorial to try!  The directions are so easy to follow and you get a really nice finished product from just a yard and a half of fabric!

Try It Tuesday: Tooth Softie

This week's Try It Tuesday is a major blast from the past!  This book, Softies by Therese Laskey, was one of the first sewing books I got after I became really interested in sewing a couple of years back.

After I had some minor surgery on my knee, I was so anxious to make the tooth from this book that I used a piece of extra bandage.

 I love this project so much that I've made several over the years!  The top tooth was made for a friend who was having her wisdom teeth removed.  I made the hockey tooth for my husband.  I love his black eye!

Try it Tuesday: Embroidery Hoop Wall Pocket

I love this tutorial!  I've been buying Stitch Magazine for a while, but this is the first project that I saw and immediately had to make.

My sewing desk is often a mess, so anything that can get important items out of the chaos is awesome!

The tutorial is several pages long, but here's the gist of it.  Find a large embroidery hoop.  (I bought mine at A.C. Moore for $1.69.)  Choose your fabrics.  Fold one over and press to make the pocket area.  Pin and sew at intervals to create the pockets.  Cut a piece of regular old batting (the tutorial called for fusible fleece-and I say "no thanks") and place it behind fabric on top of the inner hoop.  Secure fabric and batting inside of hoop.  Cut extra batting as close to the hoop as you can.  Glue along the top edge of the hoop to secure everything.  Cut off any additional fabric.

I've got so many ideas for future wall pockets! :)

Try it Tuesday: Andrea Zuill's free patterns

When I had a simple surgery a few years ago that would keep me off my feet for a bit, I decided to jump into a new habit and do some hand embroidery.  I had always loved hand sewing, but usually what I was doing was something like securing my Vandals patch to my backpack.

I quickly got hooked on embroidery and was always on the prowl for new designs. 

Andrea Zuill's Badbird's blog was instantly my favorite place for free patterns!  I love her quirky drawings!

Here are my versions of some of my favorite patterns by Andrea Zuill.  I can't wait to try another one!

(Sorry for the quality, or lack thereof, of these images.  They were taken quite some time ago just to document my embroidery.)

Try it Tuesday: Martha Stewart's Key Lime Pie

I've been experimenting a lot with food lately, so it's only fitting that those recipes trickle into Try it Tuesday!

I am a huge fan of Martha Stewart's recipes, so I was excited when a friend who was visiting last weekend chose key lime pie as his belated birthday cake.

It was a learning experience.  I had certainly eaten key lime pie before, but I didn't stop to consider that key limes are actually a different kind of lime.  Tiny, tiny limes!  

  Testing my hand strength by attempting to get a half a cup of lime juice out of these guys has prompted me to look for one of those manual juicers!

Do yourself a favor if you try this recipe and grate the lime zest before you cut up the limes and squeeze all the juice out!  It's not very easy to get grated lime zest from a squished up pile of lime bits.

Yes, I cheated and used a pre-made pie crust.  Shhh!  Don't tell Martha!

This pie was a huge hit!  Once I get that juicing apparatus I will have to make it again!

Try it Tuesday: Little Pink House Tutorial

Today I tried something a little different: this felt applique project by Melissa from CheckoutGirl.  We were away this past weekend and I wanted something I could make while sitting on the couch watching (what ended up being bad) movies.

If you check out the tutorial, you can see that I just went off on my own after the basic idea.  I decided to  try and replicate my house in felt.  Our house is more of a tan/very light grey with a brownish gray roof, but those colors do not exist in my felt collection.  To be totally honest, I also skipped a window.  Oh well!

I have done a lot of embroidery, but I had never appliqued anything onto a hoop.  I love the effect!

I almost didn't paint the hoop, but I'm so glad that I did. :)

Try it Tuesday: Slide Lamp

Today's "Try it Tuesday" features the product of what may possibly be my favorite tutorial ever!   Last summer, I stumbled across HGTV's "She's Crafty" and instantly coveted a lamp that had a shade made out of slides briefly shown in the theme song.  Since I couldn't wait a few days for the episode to air, I scoured the internet until I found this brief explanation of the project.

(Looks like it could have used some styling to straighten out the slides.  Oops!)

The materials for this one took some time to acquire. 

I bought a lamp that had a tubular shade at Ikea (which apparently is no longer available).  

I got the slides (the project calls for 105) through Ebay.  Using your own slides would certainly be an option, but I just wasn't open to that!  I think they'll stay nice and safe elsewhere, thank you very much! :)  

I used a coupon at Michael's and sprung for the Crop-a-Dile, which made punching holes through the cardboard of a ton of slides soooo much easier.  (I tried this with a random five dollar punch and highly regretted my aching hands, wasted time and ragged slide holes.)

I also bought the jump rings to connect the slides at Michael's.

I ignored the specifics about the number of slides needed and figured it out on my own once I started adding them to the stripped lampshade.  The directions call for a lampshade with a 14" diameter, and mine was larger.  Luckily I had a ton of slides!  As you can see above, I turned all the printed logos, etc. toward the inside.

This lamp always gets a ton of compliments and casts such amazing light.  I've always wanted to try adding an unfrosted bulb to make the projection of the slides even clearer!  Here's a picture from our last place, where the wall the lamp projected on was less complex.

If you make one, I'd love to see!  :)

Try it Tuesday: Krang!

Due to my workload for my launch this Friday, I didn't have time to try any tutorials.  Instead I wanted to feature this guy:

It's possible that you have no idea who/what this is if you are unfamiliar with a certain 1987 cartoon series starring a bunch of pizza loving turtles.  It's Krang!

A couple of months ago, I decided we needed more Krang in our lives and made this guy while we watched a movie.  I started with 5 or 6 blobby (for lack of a better word) panels for the body and sewed them together.  Then I made some wrinkles and attached the bottom and legs.  I glued the face on with fabric glue.

He's definitely a conversation starter!

Try it Tuesday: Cuddly Koala

This week I made another gift using Naomi Tabatha's awesome book, Felt Friends from Japan.  Hopefully this cuddly koala won't be discovered by the recipient too soon! :)

Just as I did with Sausage Dog, I really enjoyed hand sewing this little guy.  I'm looking forward to trying more projects in this book, maybe while traveling.  These projects seem like they would travel well due to the small amount of supplies you need!

Of course I had to stick him in a tree, even if it's not eucalyptus! 

Try it Tuesday: Sausage Dog

This week I used the "Sausage Dog" pattern from Felt Friends from Japan by Naomi Tabatha.  (It's a gift for someone who is hopefully not reading this!)

I got this book a couple of months back and was excited that all the animals seem to be hand sewn.  I really enjoyed making this hand sewn elephant a couple of months ago due to the ease of construction, and was ready to do some more work by hand.

This little guy was pretty easy to make and the directions were well illustrated with drawings (not to mention the sweet photos).  I really recommend this book!  

Look out for another Try it Tuesday from Felt Friends from Japan next week!

Try it Tuesday: Hooded Baby Towel

(Excuse the wrinkles in my backdrop-I didn't notice them at the time!)  

Confession Time: this is not the first time I have used this excellent tutorial from Prudent Baby.  I already made one for a new niece, but it's such a great baby gift that I had to make another one! :) It's also pretty simple, but looks like it took some time!

 I used the same Alexander Henry "Ready, Set, Robots" fabric that I used for part of the soft blocks last week to make a little matching set (model not included).

This time I did have some trouble attaching the hood to the main towel, but that could have been the way the towel was cut (by me) or something about the way it was made.  It frayed more easily than the towel I used last time.  I can't wait to hear how the new parents like it!

Try it Tuesday: Cloth baby blocks

This week I used a tutorial from Rachel at Smile and Wave to make some soft blocks as part of a baby gift.  The idea really grabbed my interest because of Rachel's description of how her baby was fascinated by graphic patterns (like those featured below).

The project was pretty simple and had some cute results...

though I do think my fiber fill needs to be pushed around some more to make it less lumpy!  I loved having a great opportunity to use some of my Alexander Henry "Ready, Set, Robots" fabric!

Hidden stitches are not among my favorite things, so I just stitched my seam closed.  I also took the advice of one of the commenters on Rachel's blog and stuck parts of a cereal bag inside to provide the blocks with some auditory interest.

I'm off to squeeze my lumpy block into shape!

Try It Tuesday: Stuffed Elephant

This week's Try It Tuesday is this adorable elephant from Bustle and Sew!  

He was completely hand sewn and a lot of fun to make!  I really enjoyed making a stuffed animal that didn't involve turning anything inside out, so I could tell right away if something wasn't working out.  There is something so soothing about stitching this way.  (Geez, how many times did I use compound words ending with "thing" in this passage?!)

I thought the grey felt was perfect for elephant skin! 

I made this little guy for Valentine's Day for my husband.  He has a small heart with his initial on his other side.  I couldn't resist showing him with the delicious cupcakes my husband got me for Valentine's Day from the Cupcake Shoppe here in Raleigh!

I've picked out the tutorial for next week and I'm excited to give it a try! 

Try it Tuesday: The YUDU

A couple of year ago, my sweet husband bought me a YUDU screen printer for Valentine's Day.  Sadly, I am just getting around to printing on it now!

Warning: technical talk ahead!

This Try it Tuesday actually started several days ago when I realized I had lost the emulsions needed to make the screen (that block off areas, creating a stencil-like effect).  We moved this summer, and I remember thinking they may be damaged by heat and taking them out of the box with the other YUDU stuff.  I must have put them in some really safe place from which they will never be extracted, because my search produced nothing.

Anyway, I tracked down some more emulsions and read up on the application process.  I have screen printing experience from grad school, but we applied a wet emulsion rather than sheets.  My first attempt at this new type of emulsion was a total flop.  The emulsion came right off like wet saran wrap...which was disgusting.  Upon closer inspection of the directions, it turns out there is a "tip" that really needs to be considered an essential step that allowed the whole process to work.  I'll spare you the details.

Once I finally got down to business, my first time screen printing at home was really awesome!  I am looking forward to printing again soon!

Here's a sneak peek of what I made!  Look for the whole design in my store soon!

Try it Tuesday: Chickummyjigs

Welcome to my first "Try It Tuesday," where I will posting the results of my frequent attempts on various projects found on the internet, books, or any other applicable place!

This tutorial, the Chickummyjig, can be found at Myrtle & Eunice (which I found via Whip Up) if you'd like to try making one of your own.  I came across this tutorial a week before Easter and could not resist making five of my own for presents. 

Here is my flock before they joined new homes.  (The yellow one with the dark green eyes still lives with me!)

Since I was making five, I simplified the tutorial a bit and used felt for the wings in addition to the the feet and comb. 

I also used embroidery floss for the eyes instead of buttons.  I must confess that next time I will definitely be using buttons!

I really enjoyed this tutorial, not only for the super cute product, but for adding to my confidence in making stuffed toys.  It always seems so daunting until you get started! :)

Do you have any favorite tutorials?