My new baby :)

I have created (my own design) a camera purse! It's perfect, compact, practical and easy to carry :) Cotton fabric in the outside and fleece in the inside for cushion. Isn't it cute?

I made this case for my mom (I surprised her with it!) who should be leaving the country as of now, she is going back to Panama :( I am going to miss her so much... It will be selling these at my Etsy store and will be available in any size, just send the measurements of your digi camera and I will custom make it for you! :)

Crayon Rolls

These are so much fun-on the go items that I had to try out for my own kids! I also made a promise to give out handmade items this year for the Holidays, so I started with felt crayon rolls for my daughter's friends. There are many tutorials out there, but I also wanted to try my own one of the kind crayon roll...

BTW, I have only used Eco-fi Felt - An environmentally friendly alternative to traditional craft felt! Eco-fi (also known as Ecospun) felt is made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. On average, 10 plastic bottles will produce 1 pound of fiber, about 2 yards of felt. It feels so good crafting with this material! ;)

Organizing my Craft/Office Room

This is the 4th time I re-arrange and organize my Craft/Office room. I have to admit that I really enjoy doing it - probably more than crafting lol it is just weird... Before my last organizing party, I took pictures of the room because I thought I like the way it looked and wanted to share it in my blog but then after seeing the pictures I realized that I wasn't satisfied with the look of my room so I decided to start all over again...

Before

After

I don't have a lot of fabric but I am in the process of building up my stash of it, I loveeee all the designer fabric that are out there just as much I love all the yummy scrapbook paper that probably exists! lol

I still have a lot more work to do in this room, I am definitely more efficient working in a room like this :) I do want to hang up a few shelves, ribbon holders or probably a peg board with my collection of thread and other supplies...

My attempt at fabric food!

I made this batch of fabric food for a swap at mothering.com. I had a lot of fun making them. Not the best quality but I tried to come up with my own designs and not copying other's people patterns or anything...

The cucumber was the easiest one! I just draw a shape of a cucumber in 2 pieces of fabric, stitched the 2 pieces wrong sides out and left a short area open and turn it right side out then fill up with stuffing.

Hand sew opening and voila! You have a fabric cucumber :) I also made a few stitches here and there around the body of the cucumber to make it look 'real'.

You can try these with felt as well.

My first try at felt food!

Not bad... I have decided to use it as a pin cushion for my big pins. I think it is adorable and my daughters are asking me now to make doughnuts for them, well at least the fake ones because they know how much I don't like them eating the real ones LOL

My healthy version of Fried Plantains!

Patacones, like we call them in my country, or Tostones a lo Cubano chico! They are all the same... Green/Mashed Plantains are taken into a wok filled with hot oil and deep fried. They have a 2 process step, cut and smash how I call it and they are soooooo yummy! BUT, not so healthy! You are right...

I decided to bake-oven my plantains today, just because I have been craving so much this side dish, let's see how they come out...

• I cut them up in pieces (1" ea.) and moist them with organic olive oil and ionized sea salt.
  
• Put them in the pre-heated oven at 410 degrees over non-stick pan for 10 minutes.
  
• I later took them out and smash each of them with the bottom of a narrow cup, then put them back in the oven for another 10 more minutes or until they are brown/crispy!
  

YUM!!!!

• Eat them with your favorite dipping sauce, I love using just plain organic Ketchup or a mixture of Ketchup, hot sauce and Smart Balance Mayo!!!! Buen Apetito :)
  

Gerber Pre-Folds, not so great!

I was so disappointed when I bought these pre-folds in the first place! Yes they were cheap but they were not absorbent at all and my babies kept leaking every time they were using them. So I decided to take them apart and see what they have inside... They have a layer of Poly batting material in the middle, this material is NOT absorbent at all...

After I took them apart, I have doubled (in 2) and folded them up and made a straight stitch around them, then a 3 step zig zag stitch right against the edge since I don't have a serger. Now I have a nice stash of fluffy birdseye pre-fold, ready to be worn by my baby :)

Here you can see the pre-fold as a single layer (folded as a pre-fold)

This picture shows the stitches (straight then 3 step zig zag all around)


See how 'fluffy' they look now with 2 layers?!?!