Just Jen

Lori's Invite

My cousin Lori is expecting her 3rd baby in a couple of months. When I told her she needed to give the rest of us a chance to catch up with her, I was informed by my other cousin that it's not a race. I know, I know... :) I wanted to help throw her baby shower, so I volunteered to do the invitations. I don't do them often, so I always forget how much fun it can be! I found this fantastic sparkly blue pen (think grown-up sparkly, not 3rd grade sparkly) at Paper Source to address the envelopes with. It is my new favorite thing! I also discovered that I actually enjoy addressing envelopes, which has inspired me to learn calligraphy. Paper Source happens to be giving a workshop on it here in Dallas in a few weeks. I'm SO there! Anyone care to join me?

Edge of Motherhood

I just came across these new Edge of Motherhood cards from Hallmark. As a new mom, they are especially relevant and very funny. The cool part is you can personalize the cards through their website. I can't wait for an occasion to give one! I think this is one of my favorites.

$10 T-shirt Makeover

 I've had the itch to embellish a t-shirt for a while now, and I finally got around to it last night. I've been seeing all these really cute ruffly tees in the stores - like this one from Ann Taylor Loft.

I didn't want to buy one knowing I could make it myself - what would be the fun in that? I bought a couple of $5 sale tees at Target thinking if I screwed up at least it wouldn't have cost me too much. I couldn't believe how quickly and easily it came together!

Here's how I did it:

I bought 2 t-shirts, one to wear and one to cut up. (I bought the 2nd shirt in a bigger size so I would have plenty of material to work with.) Luckily, I already had thread at home that matched perfectly - what are the odds of that? Although a contrasting color might be fun...maybe next time!

I sort of knew how I wanted it to turn out, but I tried not to plan too much. I cut long skinny strips about 1 - 1 1/2" wide that tapered at the ends. I took the longest one and pinned it to the shirt starting at the shoulder and running right along the edge of the neckline.

I sewed it down with one long seam then staggered a few more strips alongside it. Tip: bunch the strip in a few places as you're sewing for an extra ruffly look. I decided to fill in with a few little "flowers" which were made from circles gathered at the center and sewed down with a few stitches. (I just cut random shapes and sizes - they don't have to be perfect circles.)

I was really happy with the finished product! I am definitely going to try this again and explore new techniques. I had a lot of extra material left over, so I may attempt a scarf...

A Play Quilt for little Miss Avery

My sweet friend Robin is pregnant with her first - a little girl due this month. Of course I had to make her a quilt! Since you end up getting more blankets than you can use when you are having a baby (at least I did), I decided that I would make her a play blanket instead of a traditional cover-up quilt. I used a super high loft batting for extra cushion and tied it with red threads instead of quilting it with stitches. I had been hanging onto this particular fabric for a while, and this was the perfect project to use it on! SO girly and cute.

When I finished, I still had some fabric left over and decided I must make a toy to go with it. It is a play blanket, after all! I had been wanting to make one of these fabric beach balls, a project on one of my favorite blogs, the Purl Bee. I decided to add the ribbons and a couple of jingle bells on the inside so it would rattle. A little tip I've learned from experience: If you leave the jingle bells in the plastic bag that they come in from the store, it keeps the stuffing from muffling them. I tested the toy out on Jack before giving it away. Guess I'm going to have to make him one too - in manlier fabrics of course!

Pizza...On The Grill?! You Betcha!

The other night we had some friends over and I decided to try out a recipe for grilled pizza that my friend Bethany gave me. (Check out her super cute blog!) This pizza is crazy good!
To make the pizza, you need pizza dough, of course. (You can be an overachiever and make your own or take the easy way out and buy the Pillsbury dough in the can - which is pretty good, I might add!) Shape it into an oval and brush it with olive oil. Place the dough directly on the grill and cook the first side for a few minutes on LOW heat. Flip the dough to cook the other side. (This is the only thing that gave me trouble - I think next time I'll divide the dough into two smaller pizzas so it's easier to handle) Add toppings - mozzarella (just pull it apart into chunks and scatter it around), chopped onion, sweet Italian sausage (grilled ahead of time and chopped into links), sliced black olives, canned quartered artichoke hearts and sliced roma tomatoes. I also added salt and coarse ground pepper. It is YUMMY. The amazing thing is that there's no sauce, but you won't miss it, trust me! Of course you can add sauce if you can't live without it and change up the toppings to suit your own taste.
Try it and you'll be hooked!

Wrap it Up!

I just recently discovered this traditional Japanese technique for wrapping gifts and other items and can't wait to try it out. It's called Furoshiki and is similar to origami but utilizes cloth instead of paper to wrap the objects. There's a lot of great information here and instructions here so you can try it yourself! I've decided I must have this one: