Girl’s Sewing and Crafting Weekend Retreat

Breakfast & Tassels

Our girl’s weekend began Friday morning when I picked Misty-Jade up from the airport.  From there we found a wonderful breakfast at the Henhouse Cafe in Gilbert where many traditional foods are served with a Mexican flavor.  We shared a Santa Fe omelete and a lemon blueberry mascarpone pancake.  The food was awesome and followed by a short shopping trip to the mall.

Later in the day Gramma and Misty-Jade made tassels for her blanket and the DIY tree branch to decorate her bedroom while I began preparing fabric for our pillows. The chunky tassels are super easy to make, and directions can be found on many internet sites.  We used directions from Design Sponge.  The tree branch was spray painted white before attaching tassels.

Making Tassels

Orange, Blue, and White Tassels

DIY Home Decor made from a Tree Branch and Tassels

Marble Dipped Vases and a Blanket

Saturday morning Misty-Jade created marble-dipped vases.  It took a few tries to make it work, but the end result was perfect!  We did find that the nail polish will flake off, so we’ll see if we can find a sealant to spray on them.

DIY Marbleized Glass Vase

DIY Marble Dipped Glass Vase

Black, Gray, and White Nail Polish Floating in Water

After finishing the vases, we began working on the blanket.  One side was cut from navy blue fleece and the other was cut from white Shannon Cuddle fabric which feels very luxurious!   A monogram matching Misty-Jade’s bath towels was embroidered in the corner.  Then the tassels were tacked to the navy fleece before sewing both fabrics together to form a cozy blanket with just the right feel and weight.  I’m sure she’ll appreciate this blanket on cold, snowy Utah nights!

 

Cutting Blanket Fleece

Sewing Blanket Tassels

Blanket with Monogrammed M

Finished Blanket with Orange Monogram M

Finished Cuddle and Fleece Blanket

Blanket Made with Shannon Cuddle and Fleee

 

We ended our day with an outing to the Harkin’s Theater to see the “Lion King” followed by a swim in our pool.

Waffle Breakfast and Pillows

Sunday morning began with healthy Easy Oat Waffles.  We grind our own grains ensuring our flours are fresh.  One of my favorite sites for healthy and organic foods is Forks Over Knives.

The rest of the day was used for finishing the blanket and pillows.  My mom and I love pillows but have found that there’s not enough room to store all the different pillows for every season or holiday.  Envelope pillow cases solved that problem, so now we only have to change the pillow cases which are much easier to store.  The DIY directions by So Much Better With Age are super simple and easy to follow.  I also found a tutorial at sew4home that helps to maintain the square corners of the pillow.  You can see the difference in the corners of the beige pillow in the pictures.  Each pillow front was embroidered with a fall design before construction.  We’re making five more pillows before September with additional designs.

Black and White Gingham Harvest Time Pumpkin Pillow

Fall Bicycle Pillow in Red on Black and White Gingham

Harvest Time Pillow on Sparkly Home Decor Fabric

Pumpkin Embroidery

Relaxing and a Birthday Celebration

A girl’s weekend retreat would not be complete without relaxing, cooking, watching movies and just spending time together.

Relaxing on the Sofa

Birthday Cake

Our Completed Weekend Projects

All of our projects for the weekend!

Advertisement

Instant Pot Spaghetti!

Last weekend we went camping out at the coast with the goal of photographing waterfalls and autumn leaves.  Since Amber is back in school we needed electrical hookups and wi-fi for homework assignments, so we stayed at an RV park.  During the day we went hiking at Sweet Creek Falls and captured some wonderful fall photos.

Amber has been wanting to try the Instant Pot on a camping trip, but I hadn’t wanted to lug it out camping and back home after each trip.  The RV’s crock pot broke a couple months ago, and I had been thinking about replacing it with an IP.  When I found a larger IP on sale at Fred Meyer I purchased it, so now we have one for home and one for glamping!

 

 

 

Instant Pot

Spaghetti Sauce

Instant Pot Spaghetti

Saute in the Instant Pot

I like using the Instant Pot for soups, chili, dried beans, baked potatoes, and vegetables.  Amber suggested making spaghetti, so we gave it a try.  The recipe we used can be found at The Salty Marshmallow.  The IP is wonderful for making one-pot meals, and we always freeze the leftovers for quick and easy lunches.  The hamburger and onions are cooked using the saute mode, and then the dry spaghetti noodles, diced tomatoes, spaghetti sauce and water were layered on top of the meat.  After locking the lid on the pot, the spaghetti cooked for 8 minutes.

 

 

 

Instant Pot with Lid

Dinner and a Movie

Spaghetti Dinner

Spaghetti in the Instant Pot

The spaghetti was served with my favorite veggie, broccoli, and garlic bread.  The spaghetti was okay, and it works for a camp meal, but it was a bit soupy. However, it did get thicker as it sat.  Some of the noodles stuck together during cooking.  I love my IP, but some things are still better cooked using a conventional method.   This spaghetti may not be my favorite, but there is definitely a place for the Instant Pot in my beach house!

 

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Memorial Day Weekend 2017

Sailboats in Coos Bay, Oregon

Tugman State Park

Entrance to Tugman State Park.

Site A31

Eel Lake at Tugman State Park

This year Amber and I decided to go camping at a park we had never been to for Memorial Day weekend and ultimately chose Tugman State Park.  Reservations were made in January, but neither of us can remember why we chose this park, except that it has a lake and maybe we thought we would go kayaking there.  I believed the campground was near the beach; it’s not.  Driving is necessary if a beach outing is in the plans.  In any case the park is very small and was quiet.  It was easy backing the 5th wheel into our very spacious site.  And as with all Oregon State parks, the campground is clean and well maintained.  The only drawback is the proximity to highway 101.  However, it wasn’t too bad as most of the time we blocked out the noise.

We had a wonderful weekend exploring Coos Bay and the surrounding areas in more depth than we have in the past when we only had time to make short stops on our way to other destinations.

Winchester Bay

Sailboats on the bay using a Lensbaby.

Thursday I decided to use only the Lensbaby Composer Pro with the Sweet 35 optic.  I’ve had the lens for a few years, but was frustrated with it so never used it much.  I watched a couple videos before going camping and decided it was time to figure it out.  Actually I came away with some great images.  I took photos at Shore Acres State Park and Sunset Beach as well as the one above of the sailboats at Winchester Bay.  Next time I get to take sailboat photos I’ll try a smaller aperture.

Sea Lions

Sea Lions at Simpson Reef on the Oregon Coast

Sea Lions at Simpson Reef on the Oregon Coast.

Sea Lions at Simpson Reef on the Oregon Coast

I visited Simpson Reef on Friday, but the weather was overcast and the sea lions weren’t visible.  Amber and I went back the next day and were able to observe  hundreds or thousands of them.  They are a ways back, so binoculars are needed.  Last summer before visiting the Tetons I bought Zeiss Terra ED 10 x 42 binoculars at Cabela’s. Those were greatly appreciated many times and were perfect for watching the sea lions as well.  While in the Tetons I realized I didn’t have the right lens to get photos of the wildlife, and I was drooling over the lenses I saw other visitors using.  One very nice gentleman from England let me hold and try out his long lens.  When I arrived home I did some research and found some affordable consumer zoom lenses.  It didn’t take me long to purchase the Sigma 150-600mm lens!  The lens is perfect for catching sea lions!  I believe Nikon, Canon and Tamron also make this or a similar lens.

As I was zooming in to edit the third photo I noticed one of the sea lions was branded with a number.  So I did some research and found that some animals are being branded to be studied and eventually to prevent some of them from consuming the salmon that are swimming upstream.  You can read more about this at OPB and at The Spokesman Review.

Elk

Dean Creek Sign

Hinsdale Interpretive Center Sign

Closeup of Elk Facial Profile

Elk Interpretive Sign

Elk at the Dean Creek Viewing Area

Lush Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area

When I went to pick up Amber on Friday afternoon hundreds of elk were grazing at the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area!  Another opportunity to practice using my 150-600mm lens!  The elk were just gorgeous in the setting sun.  The Hinsdale Interpretive Center is also located at the viewing area and provides several educational plaques about the elk and other wildlife in the area.

Coos Bay

Fishermen’s Seafood Market in Coos Bay

Fish & Chips Lunch on the Coos Bay Boardwalk

The Koos No 2 Tugboat in Coos Bay

Koos No 2 Sign

Sailboats in Coos Bay, Oregon

Amber and I spent a morning exploring Coos Bay.  While there we shopped in antique stores looking for items that could be used in  a cupcakes and cookies photo shoot we want to do with the children at Little Pandas Playschool.  We found a cute hand cranked beater for mixing whipped cream and cake batters.  I’m pretty sure my grandmother owned these when I was growing up.  Then one of the stores was selling the same desk used at my first elementary school.  I had to keep reminding Amber that if the store was selling something I’ve used in my lifetime, it’s not an antique!  It might be vintage, but certainly not antique.

We ate butter clams and fish for lunch, from the Fisherman’s Seafood Market, on the boardwalk.  I highly recommend stopping in for a meal.  After lunch we explored the tugboat display on the boardwalk and took pictures of the sailboats captured with my favorite lens; the Sigma 35 Art.

Over the weekend Amber and I also visited Shore Acres State Park, Sunset Beach, the Umpqua Lighthouse and the beach near Heceta Head Lighthouse.  However, those images will have to wait for another post.