Baking

I made cinnamon rolls last week.  And if I may say so, they were pretty good!  My mom gave me a basic bread recipe and commented that they would make nice cinnamon rolls.   So I gave them a try.  I ended up making two pans.  I really could have made three, but at the time I didn't realize how much they would rise.

Pre-risen, pre-coooked cinnamon rolls.  This is the smaller dish.

I already had the bigger dish in the oven.  Poor squished rolls.  Next time I won't cram so many in there.  Even so, not so bad looking.

Finished product.

I covered one pan with the frosting and left the other one plain for David.  For some strange reason he likes his without.  I can't understand it.  Who eats cinnamon rolls without frosting?  That's OK.  More for me!

Annual Pantlifest

Last weekend we had our neighborhood party.  The weather was nice, maybe even a little hot, but we still had a nice time.  

Earlier in the day the kids had a bobby car race.  Adrian was beside himself with excitement.  He rode a bobby car that is about 20 years old.  Needless to say it was a little slower than the newer models.  But he still did great.

Here he is waiting his turn.

 This is the course looking toward the finish line...

 and then back up.   Ryan is at the bottom of the picture with a neighbor friend.

 Here he comes!

He did great!

After this we went down to the buffet area with our pasta salad and apple crisp and had nice time, and as usual, ate too much.  

Until next year Pantlifest.

Check Me Out!

I don't usually make clothes for myself because they end up not fitting or they look really home-made.  But I am proud to say these turned out pretty good.

I found the tutorial for the cardi here.  And then I tried it.  But then I needed a tank top to go under it.  I figured I could try and make that too.  I found a tutorial on how to make a tank top from an old one at this blog. 

Not so bad, right?

My material wasn't as stretchy as my old tank top.  It turned out a bit tighter than I had hoped.  

 I wore my new outfit to church today.  It was kind of fun to wear something I made that didn't look all that bad.

A Little Thrifting.

Yesterday we all went to the Salvation Army.  Our church is re-doing the nursery and I went to scope out anything we could use.  I found a big fat nothing.  But I did run across something for myself.  How's this for a find?

You can't really tell what it is in the picture above.  So I'll tell you.  It's a vinyl cloth.  

It says Benetex on the back.  I looked it up and couldn't find anything about it.  All I found was one german blog that couldn't find much either.  Her blog said that it was made in the 50's and came from Germany somewhere.  If anyone has ever heard of it you are more than welcome to fill me in.

It's a little yellowed in places, but I think I can salvage some parts and make something cute.  I immediately thought of a gift for a teacher.  We'll see what comes of it.

A Zwetschge or Two

We planted a plum tree in front of our house last summer.  I didn't figure it would have any fruit this year, but surprise!  Last week I realized there were at least 4 hanging from its branches.  I prematurely picked two and ate them...not ripe, but still, the satisfaction of planting and growing a tree tasted pretty sweet.  Naturally I didn't think to take a picture before I crammed them in my mouth.  So here's the only proof I could produce.

Yesterday I was outside and discovered some of the last ones disappeared (probably a bird) and there is one lonely piece of fruit left.  I think I'll pick it today, ripe or not, for fear it might not be there tomorrow.

A Late 4th of July Update

We celebrated the fourth with some friends from church.  I usually pull out all the stops and we invited lonely Americans over for a BBQ.  But this year Adrian had, had his last day of school on the same day and we had been so busy, that I put it off.  Thankfully our friends were on top of things and we still celebrated.  I dug out all our flags and took them along for decoration.  On the drive over I sang all the patriotic songs I could think of to our boys - including the national anthem.

 I made fruit pizza and rice crispy treats for dessert.  

The weather was warm and the company was nice.  I think it was a success!

A Dress for the Niece

David's sister is coming for a visit with her three kids.  My boys are pretty excited to play with them.  I am pretty excited I have a cute little girl to sew for!  I found this dress pattern and made it yesterday.  I hope it fits.  

I was going to just have a regular hem, but then I found this cute little trim in my stash of things.  

I'm very excited to give it to her.

In other news, Adrian had his last day of kindergarten last week.

He's so excited to head to first grade.  I'm excited for him.

Last day of kindergarten

He worked on this pin cushion through out the year and  brought it home for me.

It has found a home in my sewing room with all my other sewing supplies.  I like it!