Housewarming Gift-Monogram Mat

Both of my sisters and their husbands bought houses this summer and I wanted to make them something that was practical for their new homes that had a bit of style. I remember when we first moved into our house almost 2 years ago there were so many small things that we didn't realize we needed. I remember buying about 5 or 6 mats for all the doors we had (front, back, garage, etc.)



I picked up 2 coir mats. Since my sisters read this blog (I think) I won't say how much they were, but they're reasonably priced. I then decided what I wanted to put on them to customize them.



I chose the first letter of each of their new last names, F and N. I measured the mat (18X36") and decided to make the letters 14 inches high, and chose a font for the letters. I think that it's nice to use an interesting font but I wouldn't recommend anything with too many curly parts on it. I had my husband cut out vinyl letters to use as stencils. It ended up that this wasn't the best plan as the vinyl is a bit fragile to remove from it's backing and we couldn't apply it as he usually would, as the vinyl didn't really stick to the mat. After doing it, I would recommend printing out your letters on cardstock and then using an exacto knife knife to cut out the letter and create a stencil. As the tips of the letters can shift as you apply paint, I would spray the cardstock with spray adhesive and then tape it down on the edges to secure it. I centered the stencils and then taped them down.



I looked on a few websites (including www.cityline.ca) to check into the type of paint that would work best and it seemed as though Latex was recommended the most. I used a sponge brush to dab the dark grey paint onto the stencil. The paint doesn't absorb very evenly, so dabbing a lot was the name of the game. I removed the stencil carefully as soon as I was done painting.



How cute are these? I hope they like them as much as I do...I just might have to make one for our house.

Drink Sleeve Giveaway!

I hope all of you enjoyed the post on how to make a coffee cup sleeve. I was recently talking to a few people about blogging and found out that they were reading, and I didn't even know. In order to get a better idea of who is reading and what you like, I'm offering a giveaway. Here's how it works: Post a comment between today and midnight on Monday night. Either comment on your latest project that you have completed or one you are wanting to finish OR your favorite type of post (eg. recipes, how to, kudos, etc). I will randomly choose a winner from among the posts, and post the winner Tuesday morning. The winner gets 2 reuseable drink sleeves so you can have one for you and one for your honey (or one for your car and one for home).

** If you don't have an account it's really easy to sign up for one, and then you can post on other blogs too!

How to Make a Reusable Drink Sleeve

I regularly stop for gourmet coffee in the mornings and am embarrassed by the amount of garbage that is created by this habit. While I have reusable mugs, sometimes I forget them or they are not clean when I need to leave for work. For extra hot beverages, a sleeve or a double cup are needed, which is also more waste.

I had strips of leftover batting from a quilt that I made and hated to see it go to waste. i decided to use it to make reusable coffee cup sleeves. I was so impressed by how cute they were and how easy (less than half an hour), that i thought I'd post a how to.

You will need:
-2 pieces of fabric (approximately 12 X 6 inches)
-1 piece of cotton quilt batting
-2 small buttons
-1 piece tissue paper or brown paper for pattern
-thread, scissors, pins, pencil
-a paper cup sleeve from your coffeehouse of choice

Open the sleeve flat. Trace around it with a pencil, twice. Add 1/4 inch around the outside of your original traced line on one of the outlines. Cut out 2 patterns from the paper, one the size of the original sleeve (piece A), and one with 1/4 inch seam allowance (piece B).

Cut out 2 fabric pieces using the piece B pattern, and one piece of batting using the pattern for piece A.



Centre the batting on the wrong side of one of the fabric pieces (the one that you want to use as the lining of the sleeve) and stitch it in place 1/4 inch in from the edge of the batting.



Pin the 2 fabric pieces, right sides together. Sew these together on 3 sides (2 long and 1 short side). Trim corners and any excess fabric to reduce bulk, and turn inside out. Press flat and sew the fourth side closed (**this side should be the side that will be hidden once the sleeve is completed)





Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, stitch down (quilt) the sleeve.



Pin the 2 ends of the sleeve together, overlapping so that the bad short end is hidden. Sew 2 buttons near the end of the sleeve to fasten together (*note: you don't have to make button holes).



Enjoy your cup of coffee in style!

How to Poach an Egg

My husband is not a breakfast eater, but he will always go for Eggs Benedict (his favorite) or "eggs benny" as he calls it. The element of eggs benedict that can make or break the whole thing, but is also the most difficult part to get right. I had my method for poaching in a frying pan, and had even convince my friend to get rid of her egg poacher after claiming that you really could poach an egg just in water. I had recently started to doubt my egg poaching skills as I was constantly either overcooking the eggs or puncturing the yolks.

Reading Julie and Julie, I became aware that poaching an egg was a valuable skill. Considering that her book is titled "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" I thought, maybe Julia Child has a way to Master the Art of Poaching and Egg.

I was not disappointed. I followed her slightly numerous steps to a tee, of which I was skeptical, and it resulted in a perfectly poached egg. It seems tedious and as though it would be too time consuming (just going through my mental list of excuses), but really it takes the same amount of time, but works every time. So, for those of you who are doubting your egg poaching skills, want to step outside your egg poacher, or haven't tried poaching an egg before, enjoy...

STEP 1. Pick a fresh egg (freshness counts as the white will stick with the yolk better if the egg is fresh)



STEP 2. Assemble your equipment. You will need a medium sized pot of simmering water (not boiling), an egg timer, a few tablespoons of white vinegar, added to the water, a slotted spoon, a bowl of warm water (to rinse the vinegar off the eggs and help keep them warm), a cake tester or other small item to poke the egg.



STEP 3. Poke the smaller end of the egg with the cake tester without cracking the egg. Place the egg (still in shell) gently in the water and let the white set slightly for 15 seconds, remove from the water.

STEP 4. Crack the egg and quickly drop the egg into the water as close to the water as possible. Poach for 4 minutes (trust me, set the timer!)



STEP 5. Remove egg from water with the slotted spoon, and place in the water to rinse it off. It also helps keep the eggs warm , as they tend to cool off quickly.



Enjoy! (trust me on this one too, this is the best poached egg you will ever have)