The Nifty Foodie

Amy

A bunch of randoms…

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  • Since when did it get to be that Thanksgiving is next week? Uhm, seriously had to buy up major amounts of butter and cream cheese to prepare myself!
  • I’m very excited about working on my quilt block swap project. I might surprise some of y’all with what I have in mind with these beautiful blocks!
  • My dog is precious. She runs to the door whenever she hears the doorbell ring in a commercial, and will not get away from the door until I open it to show her that no one is there.
  • I have a set of nasty hiccups right now. I hate having the hiccups.
  • Why is it so hard for owners to leash their dogs out in the open? It makes walking my dog VERY difficult when a dog is dashing towards her and she can only move if I move with her. Ask me how many times I’ve almost face-planted in the neighbor’s grass because of this.
  • No matter how well Michael Vick plays football, I will always think of him as a dog killer. He shouldn’t be playing for the NFL since those players are role models to most children. What example is the NFL showing our youth allowing criminals to play? (and yes, I know there are more criminals than Mr. Vick playing for the NFL.)

Digging in the Dirt

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November has been an awesome month as far as days off go. My office had off for Election Day, Veterans’ Day and we’ll also have off for Turkey Day, as well as Black Friday!

I decided since the weather was so gorgeous on Veterans’ Day, it was time to dig in the dirt a little bit and revamp our front yard garden. 🙂

And no, there are no before pictures. Just imagine LOTS of weeds leftover from the end of the Summer and dying Spring annuals.

Gardening Gloves

Yes, I’m 5’10” and have size small hands. I’m all out of whack.

Bouquet Dianthus

I decided to plant some perennials in front of our azaleas this time around. The annuals I bought were getting on my nerves and they weren’t tall enough to see from the road. However, I couldn’t avoid these bouquet dianthus when I saw them in the nursery. Aren’t they so cute?

Lantanas

The perennials I decided upon? Lantanas! They are so pretty and will attract butterflies in years to come!

Dianthus

As for these little flowers (more dianthus)? These are going to go perfectly in the pots by the front door. 🙂

Have you done any Fall gardening?

Because I don’t have enough to do…

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I have a problem. My personal craft to-do list. Can I admit to you that I have a cross-stitch sampler that I owe to a good friend for her baby. I’ve been working on it since she got pregnant….and uh, the baby is now 1. (Worst crafter EVER, right? I’m working on finishing this one though, I swear.) I also sort of wanted to make a college scrapbook for myself. Well, I graduated college over 3 years ago…fantastic.

At random times, though, I’ll finish a project I’ve had my sights set on.

Finished Baby Quilt

Pajama Pants

Turkey Cake Pops

Well, now I have ANOTHER project I want to do, because I’m so competitive. This contest. Chances are solid that I won’t win, unless no one enters or anything. The prizes are drool-worthy though, and maybe no one will enter? Heh.. Also, I think I’m going to attempt free motion quilting with this one. Eep!

I bought my fabrics at Jo-Ann Fabrics yesterday, which are LSU colors. I tend to lean towards the blues/greens with my quilts, so I wanted to do something different color-wise.

I chose to do this pattern from Oh, Fransson!. It’s a wonky quilt…another first for me, but the tutorial looks simple enough. I just hope I don’t end up with a heap of fabric on the cutting board, and me drowning my sorrows in a pint of ice cream. Ha!

I can do this in a month, right? LOL…not like I have other quilts to do. (sarcasm)

So…here goes. I might be attached to my sewing machine by the time this is over…Christmas Quilt Block Swap Quilt, this quilt, my Etsy projects and my handmade Christmas gifts to family/friends. Oy..I’m a little cah-ray-zee.

Back in New Orleans-ish

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I decided to spend the majority of this weekend at my family’s house. My sister is performing in Urinetown (weird musical name, eh?), and I try not to miss her performances when she has a key role. 🙂

Also, I brought Millie with me to see her bestie, Dixie. I took the opportunity the try a large Nifty Woof on her (made her a duplicate of this one), for sizing. She’s 85 lbs. and I think the large looks nice on her. 🙂

Dixie in Nifty Woof

Dixie is such a good sport, haha! I had to take it off of her immediately after because her and Millie were playing, and I didn’t want Millie to rip it to shreds. 🙂

What are you up to this weekend?

Pet Photography Session Winner!

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Session Giveaway

I’m so excited that so many of you wanted a pet photo session! I have to thank Lacey for her generous giveaway, and of course, if you don’t win, there are great specials going on this month for her photography sessions!

So, without further ado…here is the winner!

And that lucky commenter is:

Congratulations Carly!! I will be passing your email to Lacey Rabalais for you to book your session!

Crafting…

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When I was very young, I used to watch my mother in admiration. She would go through spurts of different crafts, and did such magnificent work. My motor skills at the time were limited to coloring outside of the lines and combining colors of play-doh until it turned an ugly brown color. I never thought that I could do half of what my mother did.

I remember her spurts…she made bread dough ornaments, homemade wreaths, acrylic painting and of course, sewed. My mother, to me, is my crafting inspiration.

I found that I’m a lot like my mother. I craft in spurts too, and actually share some hobbies that my mom has. 🙂

When I was in 5th grade, I got HOOKED on making friendship bracelets and hair wraps. Anyone remember hair wraps??

In middle school, I saw my friend making cross-stitch and got into that. I remember spending WEEKS making a huge magnolia flower for a contest for my school’s BETA club. I was so upset when my BETA club sponsor didn’t load it on the bus. UGH..it never got in the contest. My mom still has it hanging in her house, though. 🙂

In high school, I dabbled into scrapbooking. I absolutely LOVED scrapbooking…glitter glue, stickers, fun bright papers and PICTURES?! Yes please!

When college hit, I started knitting. I had a mad addiction to knitting with fun fur. I’m pretty sure every girl in my family got a scarf made with fun fur at one time or another. I was ::way:: cool, right?

After graduation, I suddenly wanted to sew. I wanted to make my own clothes, sew a t-shirt quilt and make other fun knick-knacks. My grandmother gifted me with a Singer a year later, and I was SO intimidated. I’m still learning about sewing, but I can say this craft is one of my favorites. I find myself attracted to making things with bright, fun fabrics, and I don’t see this hobby ending anytime soon, since sewing is so practical! I make my own PJ pants, for example, since I’m 5’10” and stores don’t make PJ pants for the tall (at least from what I’ve seen).

Heh. Like I said…spurts. It sort of makes me wonder what craft is next for me. I’m pretty sure it’s crochet, since I want to learn that before I have a kid. (No worries…won’t be anytime soon!)

What crafts are you into? What got you into it?

Blocks of Christmas Cheer!

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I found myself at Target today to get a couple of things for lunch. I was absolutely stunned to see that the store was completely decorated for Christmas! It’s that time of the year again, for sure!

The decor reminded me SO much of the quilt block swap. 🙂 I’ve been so excited to assemble these block packages for the swap. It was sort of like a little bit of Christmas to me, opening those packages of blocks.

Sadly, a few participants decided against sending blocks, which sort of stinks. :-(. Good news though…there are some seriously adorable blocks that were mailed, great quilts to be made and I cannot wait to see them all! Can you?!?

I got this super cute card in one of the packages. Just adorable.

Quilting Card

I really loved the fabrics that were mailed in. Everyone’s were different…some traditional, some modern, some whimsical. Just awesome. 🙂

Quilt Blocks 4

I’m just posting slight previews, because I don’t want to giveaway how the quilts will come out! 🙂

Quilt Blocks 3

And I’m not going to give it away, but….

Quilt Blocks 2

…take a wild guess at which of these pictures include the fabrics I submitted!

Quilt Blocks 1

I simply cannot wait to sew up these little blocks of Christmas cheer! I hope everyone loves their fabrics too. I tried to sort by giving everyone a variety of block colors. 🙂

A bunch of randoms…

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  • I really had no idea how much work an Etsy shop is! I’ve been busy busy busy making new templates/patterns for items in my shop (hello holiday rush!), and then I realize I don’t have many bandannas on the shop. It’s work, y’all, but I’m liking it so far!

 

  • I’ve only lost 7 lbs. so far in this weight loss challenge. I only have a little over 5 weeks left. It’s time to really kick it in high gear. Did y’all know that since the weight gain, I don’t fit in a pair of my jeans anymore? I miss my jeans. 🙁

 

  • Millie has the fastest growing fur ever. Just recently I started noticing she’s slipping on the wood floors more often. Reason? The fur on her feet is too long, and because of that, she’s losing traction with the floor. Sad. 🙁 She’s getting a haircut on Sunday though. Wahoo!

 

  • I really should spruce up the garden, but I’m feeling a little lazy. It really looks bad. Thank goodness the weeds aren’t growing anymore, though. Maybe I’ll do that next week when I have Veterans Day off…sigh. :

 

  • I also need to paint the shutters. They are still that ugly dingy dark green that was originally there when we bought the house. Time for dark grey. Shutters are just so TEDIOUS though…erg.  

 

  • Would it be a bad thing for me to dig up the Christmas tree in the attic this weekend? Ok, maybe I’m just kidding about this one. Maybe.

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! What are y’all up to?

GIVEAWAY: Pet Photography Session

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A while back, I entered Millie for a pet photography contest sponsored by local photographer, Lacey Rabalais. As you may already know (especially if you follow me on Twitter), I take TONS of pictures of Millie, mostly on my iPhone, but none of them are anywhere close to looking frame-worthy.

I thought winning this mini session would be a great opportunity for Millie to run around, let loose and get photos of her in her prime hyper, happy element. 🙂 Luckily, because of friends (and some readers), Millie won the free session!!

When Millie saw Lacey with that camera, it became a fun game of **catch me if you can** for her. She was running in circles, and whenever she finally calmed down for a picture, she started running again. Eventually, her little puppy-ness caught up to her and she calmed down for some tremendously adorable photos!

Check them out here!

I have to say, Lacey really did an awesome job with Millie. She played right along with her and was very patient with our excited puppy. 🙂 Her photographs perfectly captured Millie’s personality too. I look at every single photo, and tell myself that’s SO her ::insert emotion here:: face. It’s so wonderful to have these captured in photos. Thank you, Lacey!

After Millie’s session, Lacey graciously offered to host a pet photography session GIVEAWAY on my blog!! Wahoo!!

Session GiveawayCredit: Lacey Rabalais Photography

This is only for my local Baton Rouge area readers, though, since Lacey can’t exactly drive to Vermont or say, Paris in 10 minutes. 🙂

Also, check out Lacey’s specials this month for Military Families, Families with adopted children, and of course, for your PETS!

Giveaway Details:

  • One person will be randomly chosen to win a free 30 minute session, which includes an online gallery to view your pictures and also, receive a disc of 10 images from the shoot.
  • TO ENTER: Just leave a comment here or on Lacey’s blog about your lovely pet or pets by Sunday, November 7th at 11:59pm.
  • You must live in the Baton Rouge area to be eligible to win. 🙂

Best of luck!