Grandma "Genius"?....Extend-a-Dress

 Lindi was having to get rid of a lot of her favorite dresses since she is (of course) growing taller....and shopping for new dresses was a bit discouraging too because most we found(if we were lucky) would barely come to her knee....so enter a little creative grandmothering....

I used a half slip she already had....then bought 1 yard of lacy eyelet fabric and a couple yards of light weight velcro...
I cut the fabric into 4 strips, 1/4 yd each and sewed the short edges together into a cylinder , then gathered the top edge...(and hemmed the bottom edge)

  

At this point I could have just sewn it to the bottom edge of the slip....but here's the genius part....I sewed some velcro to the under edge of the slip, then the other part of the velcro to the top edge of the ruffle... so it attaches to the slip with velcro...this is because we plan to make a couple more ruffles (black, yellow, etc.) that can be switched for specific dresses...

 Here's happy Lindi with a dress that was approaching uncomfortable shortness...we'll make a black ruffle that would look good with it too..

 And this was a dress she had two years ago for Kaity's wedding and hated to send to DI...

So many sundresses become much more wearable now...

Isn't this a cute one???

This is a navy/white dress

This will look good with the black ruffle...

Happy (modest) Lindi.....what a fun (grandma) project!

Sewing project...easy way to add sleeves...

There are so many cute summer tops and dresses out now...both for us and for our girls....but they are mostly sleeveless so need a jacket/sweater or some adaptation for those of us who don't like bare arms...

I got this cute top on sale the other day, and since it was sleeveless, plan to wear it with a lightweight sweater....

 But the since the fabric was so cute on the back, and since it's summer, I thought I'd add a little sleeve, so I'd have the option to take the sweater off...

This is  an easy way to add a sleeve....buy a coordinating t shirt....I couldn't find one that was a good match in the hot pink/purple color so settled for this pale lavender....it was a Cynthia Rowley from TJMaxx...a nice soft knit and on sale for $7....

Just cut off the sleeve a little past the seam...

Pin it into the armhole and hand stitch with an invisible slip stitch...it's easy to remove the sleeves if you want to later...I may change them to pink/purple if I find a shirt that matches...

And the t shirt that was left with the sleeve cut off makes a great camisole to wear under a jacket or low necked top...just hem the armholes...

Another Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe...can you have too many?

Here's a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that's been "pinned" a lot...it contains a box of instant pudding mix...the original recipe called for vanilla...when I was making it, I only had a box of cheesecake instant pudding on hand, so that's what I used...it was pretty good.

Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 C white sugar

1 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

3 C flour

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

1 (3.4 oz) box instant vanilla pudding

4 C chocolate chips (I used 1/2 white, 1/2 milk)

Mix and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Take out and let sit on tray to continue baking for about 5 minutes. 

***the original recipe called for extra large eggs...I just used regular large eggs...you might try the other size if you think it would make a difference....maybe in Utah where you're dealing with the high altitude.

Great Green Beans!

A super simple way to really enjoy fresh green beans....get tender ones (Haricot Vert)...and steam (or microwave) just a few minutes until just tender...they should still be bright green. I usually cook in a steamer basket about 5 minutes, then cover and turn off heat and let sit another 5 minutes. Dump into a dish, sprinkle with lemon or lime juice (one of either), a little nutmeg, a few(2 t?) dried red onions(I got these at Safeway, but regular dried onions would probably be fine)
...they are good like this, but for added flavor drizzle with about 1/3 C-1/2C of the salad dressing from our raspberry, walnut green salad)...leftovers are great cold or as part of a regular green salad...but I usually eat them all!

Talented Lindi...

Lindi has quite the artistic talent!....Here is her first picture done with charcoal....

And this is a picture she worked on for months (it took about 25 hours!)....

State Champs!

Alec's swim team (Mountain Crest) took first place in the State finals last week...it was very fun to be able to watch him swim "live" due to the meet being streamed by Deseret News....Amber filled me in as to which event and which lane. 

It's a tradition for the team to dye hair (and sometimes shave it all off!) in the weeks prior to the competition...good thing he got his "missionary" picture taken before this! (thanks to a mom who plans ahead!)

Alec is holding the trophy in this picture....Nice!
Now he's on to water polo!

Mom Burretos

So, sorry that last post on beans wasn't too exciting...but it was just a preface to making these delicious burrito type things...
If you don't want to bother making your own beans you can use:
1 (15 oz) can low salt black beans (rinsed to get rid of more salt)
1 (15 oz) can refried black beans (or regular refried beans)
Mash these together with 2 t Taco seasoning...

 Then get some fresh tortillas (Costco) if you can find them. Or regular tortillas...or Jess's yummy home made tortillas if you've got time...

Throw in a hot fry pan for about 20 seconds on each side

Put on a plate and sprinkle with 1/4 C grated cheese (I use 2% sharp for less fat) Then add some brown rice and black beans (either homemade or your canned mixture)...sometimes I put this in the microwave for 30 seconds just to get the cheese more melty...

Then top with a little light sour cream and taco sauce (or chunky salsa)...if I'm out of tomatoes or avocados I just call this good...fold over and eat! Lots of fiber and protein as is...you could also add some grilled chicken breast or beef...

But even better is adding a few tomatoes and avocados...Delicious!