The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #26

Welcome to Week #26 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save twenty-six dollars.  Our total saved is now three hundred fifty-one dollars.
What a milestone week.  We are half of the way to the end of this year's challenge!  Wow!!

I am so proud of all of us for sticking with the challenge.  Do you have plans for how you'll spend your money yet?  Anyone planning on continuing to save money after this year's challenge is completed?  
 

If you're new to the challenge, welcome aboard! You can start with twenty-six dollars plus a bit extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine.  For a free printable chart, check out Stuck At Home Mom's 52 Week Money Challenge.  Happy saving!

 

Dish Towel Tutorial - June Edition: Chasing Crocodiles - 12 Months of Pretty Kitchen Towels

In May, the 12 Months of Pretty Kitchen Towels series debuted here. Now it is time to introduce the June edition! 

The May kitchen towel was trimmed with ruffle and ribbon.  The June edition is less frilly and more fun.  It is trimmed with just a bit of blue and yellow ribbon in one corner.  The left and right edges are machine embroidered with golden yellow loops and alligators.

Making new dish towels a creative, inexpensive, and easy way to give your kitchen a face lift!  Here is a link to the Kitchen Towels tutorial if you'd like to make your own.  It is a great project for a beginner sewer too!  All you need is a sewing machine, scissors, muslin, and a little imagination.

I hope you enjoy making some new dish towels for your kitchen.  Here's a hint regarding the upcoming July edition:  Remember the Kitchen Curtains tutorial?  Well, the curtains match the July towel perfectly!

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The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #25

Welcome to Week #25 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save twenty-five dollars. Our total saved to date stands at three hundred twenty-five dollars.

I hope you are enjoying your summer.  I can hardly believe how busy I've been.  How about you? Is your summer packed with stuff to do?  There are so many exciting things to share with you! Since a picture is worth a thousand words, how about taking a gander at photos from upcoming posts?

Bye, Bye Birdie Rehearsal -Telephone Hour

 

Recycle Rewards

Bodice and Skirt Lining fitting - Mark up version wedding dress in broadcloth

Welcome Baker's Clock - Bavarian Bakery

For weekly challenge updates, subscribe to this blog via blogger, google, or email.  If you prefer, follow me on Pinterest or Facebook.  Check out the icon buttons in the right-hand column of this page.  If you're new to the challenge, welcome aboard.  You can start with twenty-five dollars and add a little extra each week if you want to catch up with us.  Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine.  For a free printable chart, check out Stuck At Home Mom's 52 Week Money Challenge.  Happy saving!

Texas Sopapilla Cheesecake

When I asked HUBBY what he wanted for Father's Day, he said he wanted me to grill some hot dogs.  After all, his Father's Day gift was a new gas grill and he couldn't wait to show me how to use it.  After lunch, I asked him if he wanted me to make anything else for his Father's Day celebration.  He requested a recipe he'd found on facebook:  Cheesecake Crescent Roll Sopapillas*.  Oh my goodness.  I guess I've seen that recipe dozens of times on Pinterest and facebook.  However, I'd never prepared it or even tasted any of it.  I can now tell you that this recipe is wonderful. Here is my adaptation of the original recipe, Texas style:

Texas Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans of Pillsbury® Crescent Rolls

2 eight ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups Imperial Pure Cane Sugar**

1 1/2 tsp Adam's Pure Vanilla Extract*** 

1/4 cup butter, melted

4 Tbsp Adam's Ground Cinnamon***



Cover the bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" baking dish with Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Aluminum Foil. Unroll and spread 1 can of crescent rolls on top of the  non-stick foil to cover the entire bottom of your baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together softened cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla with fork or potato masher. Spread cream cheese mixture over the top of the crescent roll layer in the pan almost all the way to the edges, leaving about 1/4 "cream cheeseless" gap around all sides. Unroll remaining can of crescent rolls and lay them over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Melt butter and spread evenly over top layer of crescent rolls. Sprinkle 1/8 cup of sugar evenly over melted butter. Sprinkle 4 Tbsp cinnamon evenly over sugar and melted butter.  Sprinkle remaining 1/8 cup sugar evenly over cinnamon.

Bake for 20-30 minutes in 350 degree oven until bubbly and nicely browned.  Allow to cool a bit.  Slice and serve warm.  Garnish with fruit or cool whip if desired. Enjoy!

*Recipe adapted from http://community.qvc.com/forums/recipe/topic/367528/cheesecake-crescent-rolls.aspx

**History of Imperial Sugar in Texas

***History of Adam's Extract and Spice in Texas

The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #24

Welcome to Week #24 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save twenty-four dollars.  Wow, our total saved just reached three hundred dollars!

This week on June 14th we celebrate Flag Day, a national holiday in the U.S.A. How much do you know about the U.S. Flag? Find out more at the National Flag Day Foundation website.

Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Student Travel Blog

Just for fun, try taking this Flag Day Quiz online from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

U.S. Flag Quiz from St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For weekly challenge updates, subscribe to this blog via blogger, google, or email.  If you prefer, follow me on Pinterest or Facebook. Click on one of the  icon buttons in the right-hand column of this web page.

If you're new to the challenge, welcome aboard.  You can start with twenty-four dollars and add a little extra each week if you want to catch up with us. Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine.  For a free printable chart, check out Stuck At Home Mom's 52 Week Money Challenge.  Happy saving!

Girls Coco Cay Tankini from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop - Pattern Testing and Sneak Peek

Recently, Amy from Peek-a-Boo announced a new girl and doll tankini pattern, The Coco Cay.  She was looking for some pattern testers willing to try different sizes. Amy needed testers that could start right away. How did I find out about this and become a pattern tester?  By following Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop on facebook where it was announced. The official release of Coco Cay Tankini is coming soon.  Testers had just over a week from the time we got the pattern to the time we needed to turn in feedback and photos. I'm sharing my experience with pattern testing tankinis for my granddaughter BELLE and her American Girl 'twin' doll AJ. The Coco Cay Tankini pattern will soon be available in girls sizes 3 months through 12 (years) and a size for 18" dolls.  

Honestly, I was excited and a bit anxious at the same time.  Excited to be included as a pattern tester, and anxious about sewing swimwear.  I am so addicted to quilting weight cotton fabrics.  I can sew knits, of course, but my experience is not as deep in knit fabrics.  Truth be told, this was my first time to construct a garment using a four way stretch fabric.  It was also my entry into the world of sewing swimwear.  I had to 'dive' into it.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

I made a decision to construct the doll tankini first.  Why?  If I messed up, it was a lot less fabric to waste.  That was a good decision.  Sewing the boy shorts bottom for the doll tankini was pretty simple.  Sewing the top was harder for me.  Let me make this perfectly clear:  The problem was NOT the pattern.  The pattern is wonderful.  The instructions are well written with lots of photos.  The problem I had with the tankini top was ME.  In my own words, I boogered it up a bit the first time around. It still fit just fine, but I wanted it to look prettier and not the mistake's I'd made.  The one in the photo is my second doll tankini top.  I learned a lot making them both!

Let me tell you a wonderful thing about Amy from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.  BELLE is in between two sizes and I had questions about which size to choose. Amy answered my questions right away and gave great feedback.  I chose to make the size 8 boy shorts tankini bottom and the size 10 tankini top.  If you're not sure what size swimsuit to sew for your girl, or if she is different sizes on top and bottom, choose a tankini pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.  You can make one size for a top and another for a bottom if needed.

 

Sewing this matching girl and doll Coco Cay Tankini from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop was fun.  Since I was making it for my granddaughter and her 'twin' American Girl Doll that we gave her last Christmas, a more accurate description for it would be a labor of love.  I enjoyed the entire experience.

Working with Amy from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop was a great.  Spending time doing something for my granddaughter was sweet.  Photographing her and and AJ at Pirate's Cove Water Park and the followup trip to Braums for ice cream...well...that was priceless.  I'd like to personally thank the wonderful staff at Pirate's Cove Water Park for allowing us park access to conduct our little photo shoot.  I'd also like to thank Hancock Fabrics in Hurst, TX for their assistance and expertise in helping me choose the right fabrics and notions.

What did BELLE think?  When she first saw it and tried it on, she asked me, "Nanny, this looks like what surfer girls wear.  Is this a surfer swim suit?"  When a little girl puts on a bathing suit and doesn't want to take it off and change back into her street clothes, that is a good sign that she likes it.  Score a home run for Nanny! 

NOTE:  FYI - Just in case you were wondering about it, nothing in this post has been sponsored, nor have any paid endorsements been included here. 

UPDATE: The Coco Cay Tankini by Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop is now available for sale!  Just click on the link.


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The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge - Week #23

Welcome to Week #23 of The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge.  This week we save twenty-three dollars, Our total saved to date is now two hundred seventy-six dollars.

Do you have vacation plans for the summer?  If you have a set budget for your summer fun, then here's a reminder:  Be sure to include your weekly savings amount  in your budget so you can keep up with us.

My summer is already packed with things to do and I can't wait to share it all with you!  Look for upcoming posts about: the new Coco Cay Tankini from Peek-a-Boo Patterns, my experiences with rehearsals and performances of the musical Bye Bye Birdie produced by Plaza Theater Company, and lots more!

For weekly challenge updates, subscribe to this blog via blogger, google, or email.  If you prefer, follow me on Pinterest or Facebook.  Check out the icon buttons in the right-hand column of this page.  If you're new to the challenge, welcome aboard.  You can start with twenty-three dollars and add a little extra each week if you want to catch up with us.  Alternatively, you could begin this week as Week #1 with one dollar.  Whatever works best for you is fine.  For a free printable chart, check out Stuck At Home Mom's 52 Week Money Challenge.  Happy saving!

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