The Top 8 of 2011

Happy New Year from Japan!

Here are the top 8 posts of the past year.  It's easy to tell that my life got crazy after June, all of the most popular ones are Jan - June.  It was in July that I got pregnant and we moved and this whole adventure with the Navy began.

Thanks so much for reading Sew Homegrown and I can't wait to start sewing and crafting with you this year!

1. January 6, 2011

Anthropologie - inspired Bolster Pillow

2. February 21, 2011

West Elm-inspired Colorpath Pillow 

3. February 25, 2011

Anthropologie-inspired handbag

4. March 14, 2011

Anthropologie-inspired Cami

5. April 5, 2011

30 Minute Tank-Dress

6. June 3, 2011

DIY Vintage Market Bag 

7. June 17, 2011

Beginner Maxi Dress

8. June 29, 2011

Fabric Tangram Puzzle with Drawstring Bag

Enjoy the rest of your holiday!

xoxo

jessica

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto...

SO I'm not going to lie -

I've been wanting to use that as a blog title ever since we found out we're moving to Japan ;)

 (source)

And the time has come.  We've 5 days left here in the states - all of which will be filled with early Christmases, yummy comfort food, last minute paperwork, laundry, and packing - lots of detailed organized packing. (anyone want to come do that for me?)
  I'll be signing off here until after the New Year. 
Once we arrive in Japan we will be very busy with orientation, housing decisions,
jetlag, eating noodles and drinking tea. 
So I'm sure when I see you again in January I'll have lots to tell!

 (Japanese Christmas Cake - source)

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and really happy holiday season.
Enjoy your family and may God bless you!
xoxo
jessica

Ask and you shall

 Several people commented on the woodland wreath post asking about the felt flowers I used.  

I feel there are many good tutorials out there already so that's why I didn't make one, but here are some you can use.  This is a pretty good one for the Felt Roses, but when I cut the spiral I make it a little wavy so that my roses have "petals".  This is a great one for the Pouf Flowers.  They are really so simple and fun to make.  Happy crafting!

xoxo

jessica

Shake it like a salt shaker...

How friendly are you with sodium? 

Do you know where it lives and how much of it lurks in your favorite places?  

It's everywhere.  

I mean everywhere.

 (pretty picture from here) 

The past few weeks of this pregnancy, I have been extremely sensitive to sodium - if I have too much I swell up like a balloon.  So I'm trying to watch it.  Actually I've become a private eye detective, in search of that sneaky sodium fellow.  

So here are some things I've uncovered.

2 oz of deli turkey meat  --  640mg sodium

9 Santitos Tortilla Chips  --  110mg sodium

14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes  --   770mg sodium

15.5oz can of Goya Black Beans  --  1610mg sodium

1 cup of low-fat milk  --  102mg sodium

1 T. of soy-sauce  --  1000mg sodium

So what do those numbers mean?  

The average person, as stated by the USDA, should have about 2300mg a day. 

Middle aged and older adults should have no more than 1500mg a day.  

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says 2300mg should be the max for any person, and most should aim closer to 1500mg.  

1 tsp of table salt has 2325mg - that's 25mg higher than your max daily intake.

Our bodies only need 180-500mg daily to survive.  

The average American consumes 3436mg daily.   

That's 1136mg more than your max daily intake.

The Mayo clinic says this:

But if for some reason your kidneys can't eliminate enough sodium, the sodium starts to accumulate in your blood. Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases.
Increased blood volume makes your heart work harder to move more blood through your blood vessels, which increases pressure in your arteries. Such diseases as congestive heart failure, cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease can make it hard for your kidneys to keep sodium levels balanced.
Some people's bodies are more sensitive to the effects of sodium than are others. If you're sodium sensitive, you retain sodium more easily, leading to fluid retention and increased blood pressure. If this becomes chronic, it can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and congestive heart failure.

Of course, foods that are processed, canned, pre-packaged, or served at restaurants contain the highest amounts of sodium.
So what are we to do?  Never eat pizza or chips and queso again?
That's one option of course.  If you cook everything at home you can control the sodium.  But, at least for me anyway, life gets busy and I choose not to do that all the time.
So I say, if you know you're ordering pizza for dinner, really watch the rest of your sodium that day.  And drink lots of water of course to help your kidneys process that salt.

So here are some fun things to do with salt besides eat it ;)

Make Salt Dough Ornaments 

Make a Salt Bath Scrub

Make Holiday Salt and Glue paintings!

Hope this has been helpful or at least mildly interesting.  Knowledge is power anyway.  I certainly don't claim to do everything perfectly when it comes to eating - but the more I learn, the more it helps me just to be aware of the foods that I'm putting in my body.
Something to keep in mind with all the delicious holiday foods coming our way ;)
Wishing you well,
xoxo
jessica

A-lure-ing Table Setting

Last weekend we celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday.  You know it's always so hard to decorate for guys without being too cutesy.  So we created place settings using fishing lure and twine as napkin rings, which we tied around green dishtowels (just watch out for the hook!)

The dishtowels were the party favors for the girls, and the fishing lure were the party favors for the boys - so per couple the guy got two lures and the girl got two towels. 

 Simple, cute, and you get favors and napkin rings.

Hope you're having a great day.

xoxo

jessica

Candied Citrus Peel

I come from a Florida family.  Both of my parents grew up in Florida and most of their grandparents did too.  So needless to say, we love citrus.  I have many memories of my great-grandmother and my Grandma making delicious ambrosia during the holidays, then they would take the citrus peel and make candy!  Well I'd never made it before, but last week I was feeling adventurous and so I made some!  It turned out really well and was so tasty.

 I promise you the orange ones tasted exactly like those sugary orange slices you can buy - only these are way better...(I won't necessarily say better for you...'cause we're still talking about candy here).  I seriously encourage you to give this a try - it's not hard to make, there are just several steps - but hey - put on your favorite Christmas movie and start peeling!

Candied Citrus Peel
(adapted from Martha Stewart Living)
Ingredients:
3 oranges, 2 lemons, 1 grapefruit
4 cups of sugar, plus more for rolling
water/paring knife/paper towel

Step 1:  Peel the fruit.  Make slits in the peel with your knife - cut from top to bottom cutting through the peel but not the fruit.  It takes about 6 cuts per fruit.  Then use your fingers and gently pull the peel away from the fruit.
Step 2:  Remove the pith.  This step is a pain, but it makes the difference between sweet candy and bitter peel rolled in sugar.  Use a paring knife to peel off the white pith that lines the peel - just do the best you can, but the more you take off the less bitter your candy will be.
Step 3:  Put the peels in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring it to a boil, then drain the water.  Repeat this two more times, using cold water each time.  After you drain it the last time, put the peels in a bowl.
Step 4:  Put the 4 cups of sugar into the saucepan along with 4 cups of water.  Bring this to a boil then put the peel in and reduce to medium low - so that it is simmering nicely.  Let it simmer for about an hour or until the peels look transluscent.
**Bonus - this also makes your house smell amazing**
Step 5:  Let the peels cool in the syrup - usually takes about 1 1/2 hrs.  Put a piece of parchment paper down, and then set a cooling rack on top.  Ladle the peels out with a slotted spoon onto the rack - letting the excess syrup drip off.
Step 6:  Take the peels off a few at a time and pat the excess syrup off with a paper towel - then roll them in a bowl of sugar.  Place them on a candy plate and cover with plastic wrap until you're ready to eat them!

Mmm - so yummy I think I'll make some more!
Happy candy making!
xoxo
jessica

{DIY} Felt Trees

I was browsing the Garnet Hill website when I came across these little lovely trees.

Sadly, they are no longer available on the website, so I headed out to Michaels.
 It turns out they're really inexpensive and easy to make.

  
If you didn't use hot glue, they would be a great craft for kids too! 
Here are the supplies:

 my total cost: $3.61

(I already had hot glue at home)

Step 1:  Make the paper cones.  At first I wanted to use styrofoam cones, but they're kind of expensive so I decided to make paper ones.  Roll the paper so it forms a cone and put a dot of glue at the bottom to hold it in place.

Step 2:  Cut off the excess along the edge, then glue the edge closed.

Step 3:  Make the bottom edge even so that it will stand straight.

Cute little trees!

Step 4:   Fold the felt in half width-wise, like a hamburger bun.  Cut from the edge to the fold in an arc, be sure the top of the arc is at the fold.  Cut them about 2 1/2" wide - I was able to get three strips out of one piece of felt.

Step 5:  Keeping them folded, and following the arc, cut a scalloped edge along one side.

Each strip should look like this once you open it.

Step 6: Starting at the bottom of the tree, hot glue the strips to the cone.

If you like, you can cut out a felt star for the top.

And there you go! 
Whimsical felt trees for your mantle or a shelf! 
Happy crafting!
xoxo
jessica

Holiday Projects and Recipes

Well hey there.  I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, there really is so much involved in moving to Japan...and being pregnant - and then I got a cold.  So I haven't made anything crafty , but I thought I would put a few of my links up from last year (I think around this time last year I only had about 150 followers ;)  So here's the list if you weren't around back then - and if you were, thanks for reading Sew Homegrown.  It may be slow here in the next month or so (which is a bummer because it's prime crafting season!) but I promise things will pick up once we're settled.  We're still not exactly sure when we're leaving for Japan, but we think it's around the first week of December.  So that kind of gives you a timeline.  Hope you're all doing well and having fun this very festive time of year!
xoxo
jessica

My absolute favorite holiday side dish.

These chocolate peppermint cupcakes are easy 

and delicious and the perfect size to pop in your mouth!

This is a simple tutorial for making this colorful rice bag.

This Anthro knockoff has been one of my most popular posts, 

but in case you haven't seen it here's the link!

{DIY} Woodland Winter Wreath

This wreath is simple and inexpensive ($20!) to make, yet it really has a great impact.

  

We bought all the supplies from Michaels, and completed it in about 3 hrs.

  

I made all the felt flowers, and mom wrapped the wreath.  I think the secret is to have lots of felt flowers, even though they take a while to complete.  Hope you like it and feel inspired to get started on your holiday wreath!

Happy Monday!

jessica

It's a....

and we couldn't be more thrilled!

I'm already working on her baby quilt - made from those gorg Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannels!  More on that later.  Hope you have a great weekend!

xoxo

jessica

Our Halloween

This post is really for my hubby - who's away at training - but of course, I assume everyone will enjoy looking at our beautiful daughter ;)

I'd love to tell you that I made at least part of her costume...but it's just not true.

I don't think she minded.

It's good to be three.  and we are very three.

We ate our traditional chili.  

Every Halloween for as long as I can remember :)

Dora made an appearance on the pumpkin.

We hope yours was full of treats!

 

xoxo

jessica and charlotte