Nov 24, 2014

Thanksgiving Giveaway!



One winner will win
$70 paypal cash
1 beautiful handmade calligraphy print made from B Sullivan Calligraphy (see below)
6 months of sidebar ads on Showered with Design
Huge sponsorship opportunity from New Home, New Name, New Adventure




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Nov 20, 2014

Moist Banana Bread

Okay so funny story... There are two ladies at my work that refuse to eat bananas once they have any speckle of brown on it. Brown speckles are the optimal time for eating the bananas! And more nutritional value than when they are green!!

So because of this, one of the ladies gave me an entire hand of bananas... approximately 7 bananas? (Fun fact: a hand of bananas = a bunch like you would get from the store and a finger is just one banana, silly huh?) And then the other lady gave me one that she just couldn't handle trying to eat because it as too mushy. Silly silly ladies! I also had a few ready to use bananas at home that I just hadn't gotten around to making banana bread yet. So now I had ten bananas to make bread with! (the recipe only calls for 2-3 per recipe!) Then my husband decided to eat one of the gross mushy brown bananas instead of the hand that was nice and yellow. (He comes from a family where you eat the stuff going bad first before you eat the nice fresh stuff) Anyway, I wish I would have taken a picture of all the gross brown bananas. And we were getting fruit flies so that is a prime indicator that it is time to make banana bread. (These bananas are about a week fresher than when I made the banana bread. They were pretty brown and gross by the time I got around to it...and this is only half of them...)




The banana bread recipe I use is found here. (It's towards bottom of the page)

I use the full amount of brown sugar and of course, you can't forget the walnuts! I also probably use a little more cinnamon than what is calls for (I love cinnamon btw). Also, please be wary of the cooking times for the bread because I'm pretty sure it lies! I think 1 hr 10 min is way too long. So depending on the size of the loaf, I'll stick to a start time of 30 -45 min and then check it. (overcooked banana bread just isn't as moist and delicious..) I guess if you are making a bunch of loaves you could do a test one, and then once you figure out the optimal cook time, you can implement that on the rest of the loaves. However, most people aren't going to triple the recipe like I had to do. So many bananas!! But I've made this stuff enough where I can almost tell it's done just by looking at it. (Side note: If the middle collapses quite a bit when it's cooling off, it probably should have cooked a little longer.)

As you can see down below, I almost didn't have a bowl large enough to mix the wet and dry mixture. I as actually afraid it was going to overflow...but it was a success and it all fit in one bowl! (Next time, however, I plan on doing a double batch at most. It's a lot easier for mixing purposes.)



And then all my loaves. I did a bunch of minis so I could give them to everyone at work so we wouldn't be stuck eating them. There is also a large loaf in the oven, so there was quite a bit of banana bread.


I am also sad to say that I forgot to take pictures of the finished product. I really just wanted to go to bed at this point!! But everyone at work LOVED loved loved the bread! 

And they all know to bring me old bananas so I can make more. :) #nomnomnom


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Nov 15, 2014

The Frances Dress

Hello! So about two months ago I purchased a workshop on Craftsy for I think half off?? (pretty great right?) It's called the Frances Dress which was designed by Alexia Abegg. (I'm not sure if it's still up for purchasing because I can't find a link! It was an October workshop.) There are a lot of things that I learned from tackling this dress! (I'm actually in the process of making this dress pattern into a shirt with this super soft flannel material I got recently! I'll totally update you whenever I finish it.) 

Anyway, this so called workshop came with the pattern which had the typical XS-XL on it (though I wish there was an XXS because I guess I'm smaller than the average lady that patterns are made for...) as well as the material (I got to choose from two fabric designs) and directions. On Craftsy, for the workshop, there were more in-depth details of how to complete the project. 

I started this project on a day that I like to call "Sewing with Sue". Sue is my brother's wife's mama. (I like saying it like that way better.) She mainly supervised really but I love her company and her skills and talents are amazing!!


Some of the things that I learned from this pattern: Darts! I still would be afraid to try adding one or two to a throw together pattern. But if it has directions for darts, I'm totally game and I can do it! I also tackled button holes (even though I'm not that great at them and they suck! But not as much as the tedious task of sewing on a million buttons!) Also a collar which really wasn't very difficult. I was also able to use the serger that I'm currently borrowing from my sister. (Sergers are so nice for finishing especially when its finishing a portion that you gathered! It looks so nice and neat on the inside! <3) 

This is after I finally figured out what I was doing with the sleeves

Anywho, here are some pictures of the final project! (Sorry it's a little wrinkly from washing it but you get the gist!) I am super happy with the results! <3


Love the sleeve!




Always be sure to take on projects (step out of your comfort zone!) especially when they will help increase your knowledge and skills! Even though this project took me almost a week (mostly from the buttons..) I have gained a lot and I can apply it to my other sewing projects!

Also, always remember this philosophy... "If at first you don't succeed try, try again!"

(Don't forget to check out my instagram for instant updates on my current projects! @iamtrissab)

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