Craft Sewing: Make a Haramaki and Hide that Muffintop

Reuse old t-shirts to create that layered look with a home-made haramaki.

I have two sets of clothing in my dresser. The “before” babies clothing and the “after” babies clothing. I have whole drawer full of tiny t-shirts that used to skim the top of my cute low-rise jeans.

Now, those shirts mostly get shoved around while I look for long t-shirts that hide my muffintop, that special roll of extra skin and fat that still hangs around even though my youngest baby is already a toddler.

How to revive the life of those long-banished t-shirts? Make yourself a Haramaki! A haramaki is a japanese “belly-warmer” - but translate that into a cute, colorful way to create that layered look with a leg-warmer type garment made out of t-shirt material for your torso. PlanetJune has a great tutorial. Try cutting off the bottom of a different shirt that you might not wear much anymore; follow Domesticali’s simplified steps for an easy haramaki make-over for an old t-shirt. Not crafty? Try a Hip-T for that cute layered look without breaking out your sewing machine!

Hobonichi creates designer knit haramaki.

There are all these different benefits of wearing a haramaki - boosting circulation, relief for abdominal distress. Mostly, I’m just interested in their “muffintop” hiding abilities. They create a cute, coverup for that gap between the bottom of a cute, but too-short t-shirt and your low-rise jeans. Much cuter than some industrial strength Spanx exposed when you bend over!

First Photo by Domesticali.
Second Photo by Hobonichi.

Make Your Own Benetint

I love Benetint. As an asian girl with oily skin, I’ve always had trouble finding a blush that gives a natural pink glow that lasts more than an hour or that doesn’t wipe off easily on my white shirts or other pieces of clothing. Benetint offers the perfect solution. It’s a lovely cheek and lip stain that lasts all day and blends in naturally so that you actually look like that’s your natural color! It can be a bit expensive at $28 a bottle, but fortunately, it lasts a long time.

For those of you who are industrious but don’t have that $28 plus tax laying around, you can make your own Benetint at home! Luckily, it also requires less than five ingredients! You just some beet root, glycerine, a pot to boil it, and a bottle in which to keep it. Read the full instructions here by TimesOnline. The original recipe comes from The Ultimate Natural Beauty Book, by Kyle Cathie. Thanks to BusyWork for finding this great idea.

Recipe Summary:

“You need 45g of grated raw beetroot and 3 tablespoons of vegetable glycerine (which you can get for £3.90 for 100ml at Neal’s Yard Remedies; www.nealsyardremedies.com). Combine the two in a double-boiler and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool and then pour into a sterilised pot. Dab onto the apples of your cheeks, blending well, or use as a lip stain.”

Free Printable Labels by PoppyTalk

Free Printable Red Labels by PoppyTalk

I’m still in organizing mode, not that I’ve made much progress. But, I have been shredding documents going back to 2000 (I know! Who needs to keep paid bills that long!) and trying to organize and sort through the remaining documents and supplies in my crowded office. I will post a picture soon, but I can’t find the camera.

In the meantime, I’ve been organizing office supplies like cd label packs, address labels, and empty file folders into inexpensive, cardboard, white Ikea magazine holders on my bookcase. Of course, now I need labels! A row of blank, white magazine folders doesn’t really help in the organization process without an attractive labeling system.

Download a PDF of these gorgeous labels by PoppyTalk which can be easily printed on large label sheets (for instant stickiness) or onto nice cardstock to be trimmed and then taped or glued onto your chosen surface. Use them to organize and label file folders, magazine folders, containers, and more.

Image by Poppytalk.

Last Minute Printable Valentines

Love printable Valentine's Day cards by Bunny Cakes.

Don’t give up if you haven’t had a chance to get a card for your Valentine! Here are some gorgeous printable valentines from Bunny Cake. Her lovely designs make your home-made valentine classy and professional. Plus, you can do it all from your computer! Click here for the PDf file and instructions.

Adorable cards you can print for free.

Photos by Bunny Cakes.

The Perfect Frosting Recipe

The perfect frosting recipe has eluded me thus far. I have tried several different recipes for buttercream frosting, but HELLO? How hard can it be? Butter, sugar, a little milk, a little vanilla and lots of whipping. I CANNOT make frosting. I’ve tried several times. It all started with the Christmas Gingerbread houses. I promised the Monkey and Puppy that we’d make gingerbread houses, and it seemed that I could definitely make something much tastier than the boxed sets sold at Michael’s. Seriously. I made FOUR batches of frosting that Saturday. I tried butter. I tried margerine. I tried regular granulated sugar. I tried confectioner’s suger. None of them turned “light and fluffy” like the recipes said. I even tried a recipe that involved cooking flour and water to make a paste to add to the frosting. Nothing light and fluffy happened in my mixing bowl. One batch actually started to liquify into little beads of butter when left to warm to room temperature. I broke down and bought a couple of containers of the Duncan Hines frosting.

Perfect cupcakes for Valentine's Day

But a few days ago, I came across these pictures of luscious cupcakes on BunnyCakes that made me swoon with the cuteness of it all. The perfect swirls of frosting on these little cakes. I don’t even like eating cupcakes that much. But my kids love them, and I want to make these luscious little cakes that will be envy of all the moms at preschool. It even made me ecstatic to know that she wasn’t even baking the cake from scratch, but was using boxed cake mixes. My kind of girl! But the most IMPORTANT part was that she shared her secret for the ICING.

Bunny Cakes makes a luscious cupcake in a cup.

Turns out the icing is the recipe used by Georgetown Cupcakes, a gourmet cupcake bakery in Washington, D.C. Their recipe was featured on Martha Stewart and includes using cream cheese for this incredibly smooth frosting. I love cream cheese frosting. So, I will definitely be trying this recipe this weekend and making some cupcakes with boys.

UPDATE: I did definitely try this recipe and it is my go-to recipe for icing. Here’s the recipe which makes enough for about 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature  (I pop mine in the microwave for a few seconds to soften - but not too much!)
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar (sifted if you’re fancy and have that kind of time)
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

How to:

Put all the ingredients into a nice-sized mixing bowl and use your electric mixer to combine all the ingredients until well-combined and smooth. Add food coloring and mix until well-blended and desired color. Paste food coloring works best if you want a vibrant color and it doesn’t affect the consistency of the frosting.

P.S. The BEST boxed cake mix that I’ve used so far is Pillsbury’s Funfetti. The kids love the color spots and it is a soft, moist, yummy cake for less than a dollar per pox. I love this cake, and I don’t even like cake.

Cupcake photos by Bunny Cakes.

Make Paper Hearts

Make paper hearts for a lovely display.

Here’s another great inexpensive idea for Valentine’s Day. Using pieces of paper that you might already have in your craft stash, you can easily make these paper hearts to decorate your space. Sweet and inexpensive. You only need pretty paper, scissors, and tape or glue. Go to Flip Flops and Applesauce for the complete instructions.

To display, punch a hole in the corner and string several along on a pretty ribbon or some string or yarn. Hang in front of your window, on your bulletin board, or on a cubicle wall for some love no matter where you are!

Photo by Flip Flops and Applesauce.

Easy Valentine’s Day Treat

Easy to make Valentine's Day recipe for all ages

Looking for an easy Valentine’s Day craft or project? This recipe from Make and Takes is a winner in my book. It includes less than five ingredients, doesn’t involve much cooking, and is a project that my preschool kids can do with me. All you’ll need is pretzels, chocolate to melt (white chocolate and milk chocolate), wax paper, toothpicks, and sprinkles. Use food coloring in the white chocolate to get that lovely pink or try mixing it with some blue, yellow, or green for some fun spring colors.

Simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Although most of these will probably get eaten by the kids as soon as they are done, you can save some to pack away in some little bags or little boxes to give away as an inexpensive teacher’s gift or a gift to any friend! Click here for the full recipe and how-to-do-it instructions.

Wrap it up for the perfect little V-Day gift for a teacher, friend, office mate, or neighbor.

Healthy, Organic Fruits and Vegetables Delivered to Your Door

Enjoy fresh produce and more delivered to your door by Spud.com.

Life happens and it is often difficult to find time to go to the supermarket regularly to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. I tend to buy a lot when I’m at the store, but it can be a couple of weeks before I get the chance to go back and the fresh produce I’ve bought often goes bad before my family can eat it all. If you live in the Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, or Los Angeles area, you can enjoy fresh organic produce delivered right to your door! Formerly known in the Seattle area as Pioneer Organics, Spud.com now offers home delivery of local, organic fresh produce. If you are eco-conscious at all, this is a double bonus of getting organic produce from local farmers - a great way to support these local businesses.

In addition to the fresh, organic produce, Spud.com also delivers a complete selection of natural foods, including milk, bread, pasta and ready-made meals which is ideal for busy families. At SPUD, you can order two ways: The Standing Order or by Personal List. The Standing Order is both a time- and money-saver and allows you to schedule product delivery weekly, every 2 weeks or once every 4 weeks depending on your schedule and budget. Shopping by Personal List lets you customize each order by product and delivery date.

I have my milk delivered straight to my door by Smith Brothers Farm every week, and it is a total lifesaver. With three kids under four-years-old, I was constantly running to the store at the last minute to purchase milk. These “quick” runs to the store took a toll on our schedule, budget, and sanity. The weekly milk delivery alone saves me time and money, and I know the milk is local and the cattle aren’t fed growth hormones. Getting my produce delivered bi-weekly might just tip the scales in my favor and make sure that I always have something fresh and green to serve on the table! Even if it’s next to Mac and Cheese!

Entertaining Your Kids with Paper Crafts

With the economy in a slump, I’ve got my eye on the budget very closely. All those trips to Target are getting nipped in the bud, but my preschool age sons are not interested in saving for a rainy day. How does one stay-at-home mom keep the kids busy without paying out a fortune for crafts, games, and toys?

Enter the world of paper craft. When I was a little kid, I had a paper doll book. These days, they have intricate paper origami and paper craft for everything imaginable. The other day, my four-year-old, Jonas, wanted to buy a Millenium Falcon he saw at the store that cost around $150. I promptly said, “No, maybe we can make one at home.” I kind of thought I would just print out a picture of it for him, but then my ever-helpful husband found a papercraft to create a suprisingly realistic version of the space craft.

Image by SF Movie Paper Craft

Of course, this is NOT a craft for young children and is really designed for a Star Wars loving adult with plenty of time to construct. But I did put one together for Jonas over a couple of evenings and he thought it was COOL! And it only cost me a few sheets of cardstock, printer ink, and some elbow grease. Download your own Millenium Falcon papercraft here. You can make a much simpler origami version by watching this video.

Again, my helpful husband also directed me to a few much simpler paper craft characters. Not quite the impact of the paper Millenium Falcon, but much easier to make with a couple of preschoolers tugging at you. Cubeecraft.com boasts quite an array of characters ranging from Spiderman, Super Mario, Darth Vader, and even Barack Obama. Try it.