Happy Halloween & 4th Birthday Serenity!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween and a safe, fun Trick-or-Treatin' time with your family and friends!

Today Serenity turns 4 too!!
Happy Birthday my baby girl!


POST-IT-NOTE:
Serenity's lovely Princess Tiana dress was hand-crafted by Boutique Ollie Girl.
You can find her Etsy store HERE.
Stay posted on all her latest designs and updates by following her on Facebook HERE!

Have fun!

HOT DEAL: Otterbox iPod Case ONLY $2.68!

Right now Otterbox is offering their Defender Series iPod Touch cases (2nd and 3rd GEN) for ONLY $2.86!!

Wow! You can't beat that awesome deal!

Regular price is around $29.95!!

This is my case of choice and it's what's on Serenity's iPod right now.

Serenity has dropped her iPod from a shopping buggy with this case on and her iPod wasn't damaged at all!

I've thrown it down on the floor just to prove to people how well the case does exactly what it advertises.

People ask me: "You bought your 3 year old child (she's 4 on Halloween) an iPod?"

Me: "Yep."

People: "You aren't worried that she'll break it?"

Me: "Not at all!"

I look at the iPod as a valuable learning tool for my child - so I don't mind paying $300 for one - especially when I bought an Otterbox to protect it!

I have an Otterbox on my iPhone too - it adds bulk, but at least my (and Serenity's) freakishly expensive little gadget is protected from almost any damage I (or Serenity) can dish out.

I highly recommend getting one for your child's iPod!

Go have a look at my post about Kid-Tested and Approved Apps too!

EDIT:

The sale is apparently over now because Otterbox has the normal price showing again.
That was FAST!
Maybe it was a technical error?
If so, I wonder how many people got that awesome deal before Otterbox noticed?

Have fun!

Shabby Rolled Fabric Flower

You've seen these everywhere right? They are so popular right now - and can sorta get expensive to buy.

They aren't exactly hard to make either - a lot of time goes into the more elaborate pieces, but you can make a couple of simple flowers pretty quick once you get the hang of the rolling process.

I made the two Shabby Flowers Serenity is wearing in the pictures, and as you can see I definitely wanted to try to create something more than a couple of simple rolled flowers.

These are all the materials I used to create both flowers:

Michael Miller Fairy frost fabric
Designer fabric
Silk flowers
Felt
Ivory vintage lace
Pink lace
Lt. blue tulle
Silk leaves
Swarovski ivory pearls
Stretchy headbands
Glue gun and glue sticks

I found the easiest and most comfortable way for me to roll the fabric was by combining the written and video instructions I found over at Alayne Studio.

1. Cut out a strip of fabric about 1" long x 45" wide (cut selvage to selvage*).
2. Iron the strip in half.
3. Tie a knot at one end.
4. Trim the piece hanging out of the knot.
5. Start rolling the strip snugly over the knot a couple of times.
6. Then holding the piece sideways - like a "wheel" as it says in the video - twist the strip, then roll the "wheel" around in your hand, twist, roll, twist, roll.
7. Stop every inch or so and hot glue (or fabric glue) the bit you've just twisted and rolled.
8. Attach to a stretchy headband using hot glue and a piece of felt.

Here's a very quick video I put together on my iPhone to give you an idea of how I rolled the flowers for Serenity's headbands:



Pretty easy!

You can cut a strip of fabric out however wide you want really - it depends on the look you're trying to achieve.

Try different rolling techniques for different looks too.

It can be fun to get funky and creative with these accessories - so many possibilities! And you can be sure if you make it, no one else will have one quite like it!

*POST-IT-NOTE:
Selvage - When a length of fabric is woven and printed or dyed at the factory it has two finished lengthwise edges. These edges are usually a little stiffer and fimer than the crosswise cut edge of the fabric and these edges will not ravel. When fabric is cut at the fabric store it is cut from selvage to selvage.

Have fun!

Pressure Cooked Creole White Beans

Ingredients:

1lb of dry white beans
1 small pack of salt meat
2 tbsp. olive oil
1-2 tbsp. Tony C's (or other "season all" seasoning)
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 large onion
1/3 cup of Zatarian's dehydrated sweet bell peppers (optional)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
5 cups water

Start by allowing the white beans to soak until you're ready to put them in the pot.
Sort and drain before adding them to the pressure cooker.


Next, chop the salt meat into smallish squares and season with Tony's:



Add the oil to the pressure cooker:



Add the salt meat and cook on medium heat until browned (the bone adds flavor!):



Chop the onion and garlic.
Here's the Zatarian's sweet bell pepper - I forgot to add it in the picture with the ingredients:



Add the chopped onions, garlic, dehydrated peppers, and 1 cup of water to a chopper or blender and purée:



Add the puréed mixture and the rest of the ingredients to the pressure cooker:



Put the lid on your pressure cooker, make sure the pressure cooker is sealed correctly (refer to your owner's manual), and then turn the burner on High:



Once your pot has become pressurized (refer to your owner's manual) lower the burner to Med/High (generally 6 on your dial) and cook for 35 minutes.

I have a little yellow piece that pops up once my cooker is pressurized:



Start the rice:



After 35 minutes turn the burner off and allow the cooker to depressurize naturally.
Stir, then serve over rice.
All done!

Enjoy!



Have fun!

New Etsy Stores to Discover!

I'd like to share a couple of great Etsy stores I've found over the last few months.

I found the first store through Choosy Chu. Choosy Chu is a wonderful collection of clothes, toys, shoes, and more that was discovered all over the web by courtneycourtney!

I've managed to nab a few pretty outfits for Serenity by following Choosy Chu on Facebook!

Serenity's adorable ruffle leggings came from tag you "r" it! I first discovered it on Choosy Chu. Tari's lovely creations are made from completely up-cycled and salvaged materials. She's an excellent seller, offers customs, and ships super fast! I plan to buy more ruffled leggings (and Sam Pants) from her in the future!

The second store I found at the beginning of Summer while looking through the children's clothes section on Etsy.

Am I the only one who can look for hours at all the beautiful clothes?!

reCollection Clothing also uses up-cycled and salvaged textiles and trims to create some very unique OOAK pieces. Serenity's A-line rooster dress was made from a vintage tea towel, trims, and cotton prints from the 1960's!

Both pieces are extremely well-made and will last for years and years!

I think it's great how these two pieces came together so wonderfully. I bought them months apart, and from ladies who live on opposites sides of the US!

Don't you just love the internet?!

Have fun!

And the WINNER is...

Eisley Rae Clothing!

Congratulations!

I tried to send you an email, but I couldn't find it on your blog or profile.

So I sent you a message over at your Etsy store.

Please contact Julie at zozobugbaby@gmail.com to have your patterns email to you!

In the spirit of fairness and since I did ask that everyone leave their email address in their comments if it wasn't available through your blog or profile, I'll wait until tomorrow noon for your rely before choosing another winner.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who entered!

Have fun!

ZozoBugBaby Patterns GIVEAWAY!

Serenity is wearing an outfit I made using ZozoBugBaby's The Rosey Tilt-a-Twirl Skirt and Tee pattern.



Julie from ZozoBugBaby is offering my readers a chance to win all 8 of her awesome PDF patterns!

That's $96 worth of patterns!

WOW!

What a deal!

To enter just head over to Facebook and "Like" ZozoBugBaby's Fan Page, then come back here and leave a comment telling me you did!

For extra entries:
1. Suggest ZozoBugBaby to a friend and leave a comment telling me who!
2. Leave a comment if you're a Treasures for Tots Fan (either on FB or my blog)


Don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH entry (up to 3 entries per person)!

Make sure to leave your email address in your comment if it isn't available through your blog or profile! I need to be able to contact you if you win!

The contest will be opened until Thursday at 12AM.

A winner will be picked randomly using "Random.org".

I made Serenity's Halloween outfit using ZozoBugBaby's The Candy Shoppe Skirt and Tee pattern.

Good Luck and Have Fun!