Hats off...

 Soooooo, in my current adventures of returning to sewing, I decided to add a hat to my LO's outfit.

Here's the deal. Hats are classy. Old school. Reminiscent of gentleman in ties and sport coats. LOVE! So, of course, he has several! 

But to sew one, well... 

I decided to follow this pattern: http://www.awaitingada.com/2013/02/fat-quarter-friday-paper-boy-cap-for-toddler-or-young-child.html

My only complaint is the hat is a little floppy. Next time, I'll add backing for stability. 

 

 

Notice the tie? 😃

Until next time! ~ Cherise, the Mompreneur 

Vest is best.....

One of the best feelings in the world is completing something well. I have that feeling right now. Sort of. :)

As I shared in an earlier post, it's been a few years since I've attempted to sew anything, let alone finish a project. So with a LOT of encouragement and a little help from hubby and daughter, our resident seamstress, I was able to finish a reversible vest for my youngest son. The pattern can be found here: http://prudentbaby.com/2012/02/baby-kid/reversible-baby-vest-tutorial/

Now let me say this. I think I'm a glutton for punishment. I picked one of the hardest fabrics to sew. The edges constantly frayed and the various colors made it nearly impossible do button holes. Yes, there were tears. But it's done!!! Here's a picture of the finished product.

Notice his look of contempt. He wasn't in the mood. :)

One side

 

The other side

Cute right? :D

Until next time.

~ Cherise, the Mompreneur

Phillip's inspired Crab Cakes

I love seafood. I mean LOVE! And I was in the mood for crab cakes. Now, for the record, when I talk about crab cakes, I want crab, not filling. And one of my favorite seafood haunts is Phillip's. So here's my rendition. Enjoy!

8 oz lump crab meat

1 tsp seafood seasoning (I prefer Phillip's or Old Bay)

1 egg

1 tsp dry mustard

1 Tbsp mayo

1/2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp mustard

1 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp parsley flakes

1/4 cup Ritz crackers, crushed

- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except crabmeat. 

- Gently fold in crabmeat, being careful not to break up the lumps. Shape into cakes. (The picture shows 1/4 cup cakes.)

- Pan fry until evenly brown on both sides, about 5 to 7 minutes each side.

Until the next time!
Cherise, the Mompreneur

Pumpkin Pound Cake Bread with optional Cream Cheese Frosting

Have you ever been in the mood for something AFTER everyone else? If not, count your blessings. But if you're remotely similar to me, it happens more often than not. 

So I wanted something pumpkin. Not pie. Not cookies. But something. So off to google I searched. I came across this recipe for pumpkin bread. But reading the recipe, it was all wrong. Too much sugar. Too much oil. Just too much!

So off to tweaking I go! Here's my (IMHO) improved recipe. 

15 oz can pumpkin

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2/3 cup water

3 1/2 cups flour, sifted

3 cup sugar (I did half white and half light brown)

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

- Heat oven to 350*. Grease & flour a 13 x 9 inch pan.

- in a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Add the sugar and mix well.

- in a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet. Pour into the prepared pan.

- Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cake is done when the knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

This is what it looked like finished.

I added a cream cheese frosting on the side. 

One pound (usually 1 bag) powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese (not whipped)

1 stick salted butter

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

- Blend all ingredients well.

Enjoy!

To tie a tie

In my opinion, nothing looks better than a well dressed man, except maybe a well dressed woman on his arm!

That being said, one of my biggest complaints is the shortage of dress clothes for little boys. So I decided to make him some!  

Here is the tie! 

 

The pattern I used is here: http://www.lilblueboo.com/2011/06/the-toddler-tie-pattern-tutorial-and-download.html

It was shockingly simple. So simple that my husband wants one. hmmmm. :) 

Anyway, I'll post a picture of the completed look later. Until next time! 

~ Cherise, the Mompreneur 

a little ambitious makes me....

Now that I am officially a blogger (who'd 'a thunk it?!?!?!), let's dive right in!

My family and I have a few special events coming up. For one of them, I decided to be ambitious and sew the 16 month old and myself matching outfits. Woot, woot! First problem: I haven't sewed anything in over 3 years. Second problem, I have less than 3 weeks to pull this off.

Sooooo, after contemplating this monumental task (and perusing my closet of things I haven't been able to wear due to breastfeeding), I decided to modify my outfit to make it 'nursing friendly' and coordinate with him instead. Translation: I am only sewing new outfits for him. I will be making a vest and hat and tie. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

I will post pictures and links to the patterns I use when I'm done. But here is a picture of my dining room table because I didn't clean up my sewing station.  Wish me well!

~Cherise, the Mompreneur

so I decided to blog.....

So I decided to blog. No surprise there! There are several blogs out there, right? What makes this one different?

Consider this a diary of sorts. A peek in to the soul of a person who, honestly, had no idea what she wanted to be when she grew up because of the 'Bread Aisle'. (For those who don't know, the 'Bread Aisle' is a husband-ism. It means that there were so many choices that it was WAY too hard to pick one. So you stand there, scratching your head with a puzzled look on your face, trying to pick 'the right one'. Still don't get it? Go to the grocery store and check out the bread aisle!)

I digress. So let's start with a little about me. I'm a married mom of four. I used to be a professional business woman. Now, I am a SAHM who happens to have a couple of businesses and a couple of start up ideas floating in my head. Oh, and I homeschool my babies. But they're not babies. (Well, one is.) They are 18, 16, 14 and 1 1/2. Yup! You read that right! ;)

Now the reason of this blog: I have SOOOOO many ideas that I thought it would be better to, instead of picking just one, marry them all. One day, I may sell skincare. Another day, I'm building a website for a friend. The next day, I may be cooking a meal for an event. That night, I'm sewing an outfit for my niece. Yes, it's going to be all over.

So strap in and enjoy the ride!!!!