Embellished Kitchen Towels $cost of towel

My sister Suzette sewed me a set of kitchen towels for my birthday to be used for holidays throughout the year. She embellished each towel using scraps from her sweet stash of vintage and imported fabrics (Fabrics Anonymous, she's a member, it's an issue). She also has quite the button collection. We often lament the fact we don't live in the same state because we would have a ball making things together.

She bought the white kitchen towels at Kohl's. They are the Food Network brand. They are super squishy and nice to dry hands and dishes on.

Stitching rectangles of scraps and ruffled ribbon on towels! Genius! Why did I never think of this?! It's the perfect gift because everyone needs kitchen towels.

Embellishment Notes:

Christmas towel: made from the bottom of a vintage apron (my favorite, look at that typography)

Halloween towel: made from Japanese import Wizard of Oz linen (I die! I die of cuteness!)

4th of July towel: made from vintage feedsack, new and old buttons

Valentine towel: made from vintage feedsack

Homemade Pumpkin Purée $1/can

Why on earth would you want to make your own pumpkin purée? Maybe your last name is Ingalls-Wilder. Maybe you need an activity to break up the monotony of homemade laundry soap and butter churning. Or maybe you just want to be more awesome.

Buy a pie pumpkin at the store or the pumpkin patch. Pie pumpkins are not decorative. They are grown for eating and are pretty small as far as pumpkins go. They are really smooth and bigger than Magic 8 balls but smaller than volleyballs. Does that help? Mine were 75 cents/pound and I bought 5 for $5.40.

Wash your pumpkin off and stab it with a knife. Just one stab will do. No need to reenact Psycho. The slit will let steam escape. Pumpkins are hard to cut in half and I, for one, do not own a cleaver or an axe. I also don't want carpal tunnel from kitchen duty. Steaming your pumpkin a few minutes right off the bat will make it easier to work with.

Place your nicely stabbed pie pumpkin in the microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes. Remove carefully with hot pads.

Cut your pumpkin in half. There will be a bunch of stringy goo and seeds inside. Save the seeds if you want to roast them later. Scoop out the strings and goo with a spoon. I use a grapefruit spoon because it has little teeth.

 

Put your pumpkin halves cut-side down in a microwave-safe glass dish and add 1" of water. Microwave on HIGH for 6 minutes. *Most pumpkins cook in 12 minutes or less. If you have already done the first 3 minutes plus 6 in the water and the flesh isn't soft do it 3 more minutes in the water dish. You can tell the flesh is cooked because you can poke a fork it in and it's soft.*

 

Carefully remove from the microwave again (hot pads!) and put each half cut-side up on a plate. Let cool for a minute or two. Scoop the flesh out with a spoon and purée in a food processor or blender while still hot. If your flesh has cooled all the way you'll need to add a few tablespoons of hot water to achieve a purée.

 

Freeze your purée however you like. I do mine in two increments: 15 ounce bags (the same as a can of pumpkin) and 1/4 c. chunks. I weigh the 15 ounce portions and dump them in freezer bags. I put my 1/4 c. portions in silicone muffin cups, individually freeze them, and them pop a dozen of them in a gallon-size freezer bags. I use the large portions for baking cupcakes and the small chunks for adding to pancake batter. Don't have silicone muffin cups? Write them on your Christmas list ASAP and in the meantime put the same portion in a sandwich baggie to freeze. Once thawed you can snip the corner off and squeeze the pumpkin into your recipe like you are using a pastry bag.

My five pumpkins yielded one 15-ounce "can", 1 cup set aside for this morning's pancakes, and 12 1/4 c. chunks. So if you want at least a can's worth buy 2 pumpkins!

If you like pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes that are not too sweet or overly-moist *ew* then Michelle's recipe is for you. Plus her frosting has almond extract in it. Fallelujah!

This is the pancake recipe we like. It uses four 1/4 c. chunks. Do use whole or evap milk in this recipe!

There you go. One newly acquired life skill...check.

Baby Washcloth Lollipops $1

 

You Need:

2 baby washcloths

     -baby washcloths are sold in a 4-pack at the dollar store

1 baby spoon

     -baby spoons are sold in a 2-pack at the dollar store

straight pins

cello bag and twist tie

tag and scrap of ribbon

Tutorial here.

Cloth Napkin Tablecloth $0

  

 

Before you mock my color palette let me gently remind you I registered for these napkins at Dillard's as an engaged bride-to-be in 1997. I was not about to get rid of these babies ALL the way. So I sewed them together and made a tablecloth for my bistro table on the porch. The sun already faded them nicely...they'll be a whole new color scheme in a few years' time.

This used 9 napkins. (Good thing I registered for 12!) I sewed them into three strips 3 napkins long, and then sewed those 3 strips together. Because my napkins had frayed edges I left the seams facing out for that "rag quilt" look to it.

This would also work with bandanas.

Disclaimer: you do NOT need a Bichon Frise to rest on your project while you sew it. That was just a lucky bonus for me. That Lucy is one serious pack animal.

Quote Capsules <$15 for 1000 "pills"

I've been making these since I was a teenager. Maybe because I've always loved miniatures and sprinkles? These have long since been a favorite gift of mine to give to the person who has everything.

All you need:

A plastic pharmacy container*

Gelatin capsules: available in multiple sizes at any health food store in a huge bag of 1000 for <$15, I have purchased mine at The Good Earth and Dr. Christopher's Herb Shop

Typed quotes cut into individual strips: print my Word doc containing 370 quotes here

Candy sprinkles dumped in a small bowl: I like the small, generic circular ones that most resemble the filling in real pill capsules

A label for your container: this is an enlarged version of what I use with the actual size just below on the document - you could easily type this up in Word or a design program and highlight the text

One cotton ball

*You can ask any pharmacy for extra empty bottles and they will just hand them over, especially when you explain that you are filling them with candy for a gift. The tiniest size holds 30 capsules, the next one up holds 60, and there is a super giant one that holds just under 200. I prefer to give 30s and 60s, but if you want to give the gift of one happy quote per day for a year just give the gift in a 30 and put all the extra capsules in a mason jar labeled "REFILL."

Cut all your quotes into nicely trimmed strips. Fold them in half, in half again, in half again, etc, until the slip will fit in the capsule.

Open the capsule (the two halves pull open), insert the quote, dip the capsule half in the bowl of sprinkles, pop both halves of the capsule back together. You can feel a little click when the capsule is closed.

Repeat until you have done all your quotes.

Place filled capsules in the empty pharmacy container, put a cotton ball at the top (just like real medicine!), affix the label, and deliver to your beloved friend. Easy peasy!

Now your friend gets to open a happy message or thought for many days in a row. It's like a miniature fortune cookie that renews itself daily!