Adding elbow patches to an old sweater

Patches have been on my mind recently (see proof here). I decided to add some patches to an old sweater. The process is really simple, in theory (see disclaimer below). You can buy suede elbow patches already cut. All you have to do is hand sew them... However, I wanted to make it even easier on myself. I did not want to deal with dry cleaning (suede requires dry cleaning) so I decided to make my very own patches with corduroy. Here is what I did:

Make a pattern out of paper
Cut fabric
Unravel sweater sleeves (to make it easier to sew)
Hand stick (baste) to make sure the piece of fabric is in place (basting here works better than pins due to the location of the patch).
Sew around the edge. Make sure to sew as even as possible.
Sew sleeves back together
Now, you are ready to wear your improved sweater.

In the spirit of keeping things real, I am not 100% in love with the way the sweater came out. Keeping the patches even proved to be more difficult than I thought. I was patient but I think they are still a little crooked... Oh well... I still paid nothing and gave an old sweater a whole new look, so I'm at peace with it.

Salted butter caramel sauce

Oh delicious sauce, let me count the ways I could use you:

On crepes and pancakes
Over vanilla ice cream
Spread between cookies
Over a piece of toast
On everything else that is edible, really...

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) salted butter, the better you can get, the better it will taste
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream, at room temperature

Preparation:

Melt the sugar over medium to moderately high heat (use a larger pot than you think you’ll need) whisking or stirring the sugar as it melts to ensure it heats evenly. Cook the liquefied sugar to a nice, dark copper color. Add the butter all at once and stir it in, before turning off the stove, pour the heavy cream (The sauce will foam up quite a bit when you add it - this is why you want the larger pot), whisking it until you get a smooth sauce. All done.

You can use it right away or pour it into a jar and store it in the fridge for up to two weeks. When you take it out, it will likely have thickened a bit but, 60 seconds in the microwave brings it right back to pouring consistency.

Recipe from here.

Pictures from the weekend

Determined to document a great (mostly unplugged) weekend

Eating delicious breakfasts (the husband is the world's best omelette maker)

Cookie making frenzy (my freezer is stocked up with 2 different kinds of cookie logs)

Receiving gifts all the way from South Africa. Really!... Thank you for the goodies, virtual friend!

A retro outfit that I had to photograph (the sweater used to be mine, from when I was a kid! My mom bought it when we when to Mexico City - needless to say, ages ago)

An overcast morning translated to bird watching from our window

I did manage to finish a project... Adding a canopy (adorned by pretty dragonflies) to Miss V's much improved big girl room... A big bed for my not-yet-so-big-girl... Suffice to say, she loves it!

We also... Took naps, watched movies (and the Sunday morning news), ate yummy food...

It was a good weekend. I hope yours was grand!

Menu for the week

Oven fried chicken - Recipe from here/Garlic spinach/Grown up mac and cheese cups - Idea from here
Tortellini, tomato and spinach soup/Salad
BLT sandwiches/Pan roasted broccoli
3 bean soup/Salad

Breakdown:

Aldi $27
Kroger $25
Costco $7
Trader Joe's $10

Do you have any weekend plans? Ours are going to be relaxing, watching a movie with the husband after the kids go to bed (Hugo... I am dying to see it - We just watched The Help, it was fantastic!!!), baking cookies with the kids, making homemade bread for breakfast and hopefully finishing some projects around the house.

I hope you enjoy your weekend too.

Discovering Atlanta Part II

I have a few more pictures to share... Coming soon.

Discovering Atlanta

After a delicious lunch with friends at Flip Burger... (Have you been?... So good!) we headed to the Goat Farm to discover a wonderful place that exists in the middle of our city... How I love discovering my city...

Please contact me at planandplay1{at}gmail{dot}com if you would like to schedule a photoshoot in a cool location like this.

Tomorrow, a few more pictures to share

Another cowl neck

As I am writting this I am working on another one (What?)... They are so easy and I love how they look.

Here is to wishing for a longer winter so I get to wear them more often...