Another new Monday, another new week...

So last week I actually got off to a great start for this new year.

In the cooking department, I made several delicious offerings:



(photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman)

*this cauliflower soup from Pioneer Woman, which my four-year-old gobbled up no problem...

*my old favorite stand-by, French onion soup, also gobbled up no problem by the four-year-old (I have yet to tell him that he is the only four-year-old I know that would eat onion soup, especially since I could see many kids pointing out that it looks like worm soup or something like that)...




*a cherry pie...

*and another old stand-by, roast with potatoes, baby carrots, pearl onions, and gravy, all made in the CrockPot.

On that New Year's resolution #8 about wanting to be creative more often, I got a jumpstart on it as well. Nothing like pushing the mundane chores aside for an hour of free time, using up bits and bobs of craft supplies I already had and churning out a finished product. Oh, how the right side of my brain rejoiced.

Speaking of the sides of the brain, I found this little article on the web. If you click on it and look at the "test" they have posted, the one about if you see the dancer going clockwise or counterclockwise, tell me which way you saw it. I always knew I was more right-brained, but gee whiz! I can't even imagine seeing that dancer going any other direction than clockwise, and the article says that most people should be able to see it automatically going counterclockwise. I've tried my hardest and can't see it going that direction at all! I must be severely right-brained.

(Anywho, now that I've probably completely lost you with that segueway, back to the post.)

I decided to jump right in with both feet and pick a tutorial off my long bookmarked list to try.

Up first, the Mama Chic Wrist Cuff, drawn up by the super-talented mama, Jennifer. I've been a long-time blog fan of hers, and this tutorial has been bookmarked on my list ever since she posted it.




Oh my. Could these ever become addicting!

This little beauty was pretty easy to whip up. Once I wrestled a clean ponytail elastic away from Harry, the elastic-snatching-kitty-extraordinaire, I was good to go, as I already have oodles of fabric to pick from, and plenty of batting scraps left over from quilt projects. My machine wasn't too keen on sewing through the layers where the ponytail elastic was, so I ended up having to manually crank the needle up and down at those parts so it wouldn't become jammed. My ponytail elastic ended up sticking out a little farther than I would have liked, but it works nonetheless. I doubled up the buttons because I have a problem committing when it comes to buttons.




This little quilted bracelet is super comfortable to wear, especially right now during the coldest months. (And I do say coldest, as this past week was one of the coldest on record here in Wonderland, resembling Minnesota rather than good ol' Oklahoma.) But I can see how these would be super cute to put on in the spring and the summer when they would show up better on bare arms.

After I made that, I got a wild hair to modify the pattern and try something else. Some close girlfriends and I have (finally) started meeting once a month for Starbucks, and I thought it would be fun (and green, good for the environment, peeps) to make us all coffee cup sleeves. I tried picking out fabrics that would match each girl's tastes, and I put initials on them just to make them a little bit more personalized. I had a ton of leftover heat-resistant batting (like you put in potholders), so I used some of that on the inside.






So last week was a muy productive week. I also started tackling my basement. Once it is clean, it is going to get a fresh coat of paint, some new pillow covers for the daybed down there, and be turned into my "studio" for sewing and crafting. I'm sure my husband is looking forward to getting the dining room back to normal. :)

And last night we made another batch of marshmallows, and wouldn't you know, the last batch turned out the most perfect?! Never fails.



We tried a new "spatula technique" for keeping the fluff from climbing up the beaters and ruining the motor, and it worked really well because the marshmallows were able to get more air in them and rise up higher. This batch is for the new neighbors that moved in next door. We haven't met them yet, but I'm hoping that the gesture of homemade marshmallows will be a guarantee for a great relationship. ;)

Here's hoping this week will be just as productive. I've already planned out my menu for the week (which helps since that is one of the steps I hate the most), and I've already picked out my next online tutorial to try. I'm hoping to keep up the momentum!

See, Mondays aren't so bad...