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Today I am looking after my youngest who is home from school sick so I thought I would just do some sharing with you today. I came across this great site a while ago that has every free printable you could want! Check out Tip Junkie

Princess Party Pintable's

Beach Party Pintable's

Printable gifts

Recipe Cards

Budget Organiser

You really should get over to Tip Junkie & have a look! This is just a small amount of the free printable’s that are there.

Enjoy!

Monday quickie, Parmesan Croutons

 
I love salads! I could eat a salad with every meal! Even though it is the middle of winter, I still love a salad & lamb chop for dinner. One of my favourite  things to have with my salad is croutons. I especially like Parmesan Cheese Croutons. All my favourite things rolled into one…..bread, olive oil & cheese!! It is such a great way to use the end of a loaf of bread that would normally get thrown out or forgotten. You make croutons with any type of bread….. white bread, brown bread, sour dough bread….what ever you have on hand. Adding croutons is a great way to bulk out a salad & make it a little more filling.  Tonight we are having Caesar Salad so I thought I would share with you this recipe, so here goes…….

Ingredients
Half a loaf of bread
Olive oil
Packet Parmesan cheese
 
 
Pre heat oven to 130 degrees
Cut bread into bite size pieces

Place on a lined baking tray
Drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over the top
 
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown

Simple, easy & cheap!
Enjoy, I know I will!!!

Quick & easy shirred summer dress

If you haven’t already guessed by now, I love summer! The whole way through winter I am thinking about summer! So even in the middle of winter I have been known to wear a summer dress with a denim jacket just to make me feel happy. When I made this dress last week, I wore it on my normal weekly shopping day with my fave denim jacket over the top & I was surprised by the amount of compliments that I got! I made this one so that it just skims my feet which is perfect to hide my white winter legs! This dress is just 2 rectangles measuring from my arm pit to my feet. Overlocked at the top & bottom (but you can just hem it if you don’t have an overlocker). And the top is shirred. Shirring is just rows of straight stitching with normal cotton on the top & shirring elastic in the bobbin. You can buy shirring elastic from all fabric shops & I know that Big W also stocks it (I think they may even be the cheapest).  You hand wind the shirring elastic on to the bobbin, do not wind it tight.
 

You just thread the bobbin through the machine as normal. Once you have shirred something, you will become addicted. It means that you no longer have to make everything tailored. If you shirr a dress for a little girl, as she grows it becomes a top or a skirt. You can shirr things instead of having to sew in zippers & if you dislike zippers as much as I do, that will make you very happy!!
Now, to make a long flowing dress as I have done, you need to measure the widest part of your body, either your hips or your bust. With that measurement you use this simple sum;
Widest part plus 40cm divided by 2.
That is how wide your 2 rectangle pieces will be. How long they will be is the measurement from your armpit to your feet plus 5cm. If you are going to hem the top & bottom instead of overlocking then add another 5cm.
You need to shirr each piece separately, so you will need to overlock or hem the top before you do anything else. If you are going to hem with a normal sewing machine then just fold down the top 1 cm and iron it flat & fold it down another 2 cm so the raw edge is under. Sew along the bottom fold.

Using the presser foot as a guide, line it up with the top of the rectangle & sew straight across, using the shirring elastic in the bobbin. Make sure to reverse stitch at the beginning & end so that the elastic does not come out. You need to keep the material nice & taut as you sew. If you remember those tips, then you will have perfect shirring every time. That is the hardest part to shirring, it is really very easy though once you get the hang of it.

As in the picture above, keep using the presser foot as a guide, line it up with the last line of shirring & keep sewing straight lines. In this dress, I sewed 26 lines of shirring so that it comes down over my bust & I can wear a belt over the last couple of lines.


The above picture is what the shirring looks like on the inside of the dress. When you have finished the first piece, repeat the steps on the second.
You then need to pin the both halves of the dress together along the 2 long sides.

Make sure that you leave a seam allowance of around 2cm so that you have the shirring elastic nice & secure & it won’t come undone. If you have an overlocker, overlock both sides, if you have a normal sewing machine, use zig zag to overlock the edges. Turn your dress right side out & try it on. Work out where you want the bottom of the dress to finish & overlock the bottom with a rolled hem or hem the bottom like you did to the top with a normal sewing machine.

Simple & stunning! I found this particular material in a little fabric shop that has been in the same place for over 25 years. You can make it with any material you like. I am sure that you will want to make more than one! You can also add little straps if you prefer.

Enjoy!

Pizza dough & how to cook pizza's on the BBQ!!!

Ok, so in our house we don’t like takeaway pizza, we only like homemade pizza! Whenever we do buy the takeaway ones, we complain about not being big enough, not enough toppings, ya de ya de yada! But when we make our own all you hear is silence. That is because there is nothing to complain about! I used to make the dough by hand but a few years ago I discovered just how quick & easy it is to make in the food processor. We even cook them on the BBQ (hooded BBQ’s work best for pizza’s) using our much loved pizza stones. They taste just like a wood fired pizza. Nothing better! The reason the taste so good when cooked on a pizza stone is that the flaviour of the pizza stays in the stone, just like a wood fired pizza oven. A pizza ston can be brought from just about anywhere that sells things for the kitchen & will be under $20. It will be the best investment you ever make. Just remember that it is a stone that is pourous so never wash it in dishwashing liquid otherwise you will taste the detergent next time you use it. Soak it in boiling water, give it a scrub, let it air dry & that is it.

This is what my hubby & I had for dinner on Saturday night……….

A Mountain of Meat Pizza for the man & a Seafood Pizza for the lady. As you can see, the man of the house is the one who complains about not enough toppings on a takeaway pizza so he makes sure he tops his with plenty!! We like the look of a more rustic pizza & find that squares & rectangles are easier to cut & eat.


Now, back to the pizza dough, here goes………………..
Makes 1 large pizza (thick base), 2 medium pizza’s (thick base) or 4 individual pizza’s (thick base)
2 cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
7g of dried yeast (or 2 + 1/4 teaspoons)
30 grams of butter
1 egg
125ml of warm milk

In the bowl of a food processor, place the flour, salt, sugar & yeast. Add the butter & egg, process until it is all combined.
While the motor is still running, gradually add the milk to the dough through the chute. Process until the dough forms a ball.

Turn out onto a lightly floured bench & knead for around 2 minutes.
Place into a large bowl that has been lightly sprayed with oil, cover with gladwrap & place in a warm spot for 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

If making more than 1 large pizza, divide the dough into either half for 2 medium pizza’s or in quarters for 4 individual pizza’s.
Roll out to desired size & thickness & place on to tray. If using a pizza stone, heat your pizza stone up at 220 degrees for 10 minutes, put your pizza onto it, on the BBQ, once it has been topped. We top the dough while it is on baking paper so it is easy to carry to the BBQ.
You can top your pizza with whatever your heart desires! If you are going to cook your pizza’s on the BBQ, make sure you cook them with the hood down & check them every 3 minutes or so. You will find that it may be ready in as little as 10 minutes! Quick & yummy!!!
This is the steps to reach pizza perfection!!!!


Enjoy!!

A funky Fedora

No Sewing machine required

I love hats! I especially love Fedora’s! They are so comfy & in the harsh Australian sun, they have become a necessity. I am no younger a spring chicken & I have already had many moles removed from my skin so I have learnt that prevention is better than a cure. Even in the middle of winter, while watching my chickadees play hockey, I have noticed on more than a few occasions that I have suffered a little bit of sunburn. I know wear a hat every day while in the sun, summer & winter. So why not be stylish while being practical?? A plain & simple Fedora is quite cheap so why not by one & have an easy to change accessory that makes it easy for 1 Fedora to go with many outfits! This practical tutorial will work on any hat.  Like to get my hats one size too big to solve the problem of horrible hat hair. Often the only ones in that size are what are affectionately known as a “Grandpa hat”. I love them! They are light yet still offer great sun protection. Unfortunately they are pretty plain…..

I covered the “glued on” plastic band with some strapping that I had left over from another project. You could make a band out of fabric, ribbon, leather or anything that you have handy. Hand sew it on………..

Glue a small piece of Velcro on the band where you would like to place you embellishment.

Now, to make some embellishments. Here is one idea…

You will need 5 circles of fabric & hand sewing tools. For a small flower 5cm circles, for a medium flower 8cm circles & for a large flower 10cm circles. Any of these sizes would be perfect for a Fedora.
Take one circle and fold it in half then half again……

Using a basic running stitch, sew along the rounded side…..

Pull to form the shape of a petal……

Keep repeating until you have made all the petals…………

Sew the last petal to the first petal……….

Sew the flower on to a small felt circle……….

Sew a button to the front to form the centre of the flower. I used a self covered button but you can use any type of button…….

On the back of the flower, glue the opposite side of Velcro to what is on the Fedora band so that the flower can attach to the hat……

Attach the flower to the hat using the Velcro…….

You can make flowers in any colour material to match all of your outfits…….