On Closets

Some people can close their closet door on their mess and just be happy since they can no longer see thier mess. I am OCD. Sometimes. Okay, most of the time. So even with the closet door closed it's like I have x-ray vision and I know my house is still so unorganized and messy. It drives me crazy.

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. On the drive home from Christmas vacation I started thinking of all the 'messy', over cluttered, too much junk I don't even know about, places in our house. What did I do? I instantly started making a 'To Do' list. That's just what I do. Among the places on that to do list was my closet.

The closet in my room is a really annoying shape. It's almost rectangular, almost triangular. It's small, and it's been bugging me ever since we moved in. I finally tackled 'the closet'.

I think I will now sleep better just knowing that my shoes are organized and I can walk in my closet. Okay it doesn't really bug me THAT much. But still. It feels good.

Here's a before and after.

The madness.

Can you seriously believe this?! It was driving me crazy!!

After.

I can actually walk in!

I love having the shoes having their shoes in their own spot for once!

The gift of Salmon...Dinner!

I made this Delicious dinner the other night. Salmon as a Gift. I felt like a gourmet cook, although I'm not. It tasted great and it was pretty easy. Not to mention healthy. I'm trying to eat a little healthier this year. So far, so good.
You wrap it all up in parchment paper and each person gets a little present on their plate. Everett loved it! He was so excited to eat dinner. Usually he doesn't really care for fish (I wonder where he got that from!) but he ate this great.
When you open up your package this is what you get!

Want to make it yourself? Here's the recipe.

Salmon as a Gift

2 Salmon fillets (I love the frozen stuff at Costco)
Juice of one fresh lemon
Lemon pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. rosemary, crushed
salt & pepper to taste
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
4 baby carrots, thinly sliced
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced*
1/4 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 recipe Herb Butter
Parchment paper
Twine to hold parchment paper together

Cut a 12X16 inch piece of parchment paper. Place salmon in the center. Drizzle fresh lemon juice over salmon. Sprinkle lemon pepper, rosemary, salt, & pepper lightly.
Layer veggies on salmon. Top with 1 Tbsp herb butter.

Wrap up, tie shut with twine. Bake on a cookie sheet at 400 F for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Herb Butter

2 Tpsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp thyme, fresh if you have it.

Mix together in a small bowl.

*I like to chop my onions up all at once and store them in the freezer in a ziplock bag. It saves me so much time and it makes cooking seem a little less stressful.

I think I jumped the gun on this one (we have been having an ice storm and a snow storm all day today), but all the same, I'm excited for spring and nice weather so I can wear this dress!

I got this fabric from Broom Corn for 75% off. I think it was $2.5 or $3/yard. I'm so excited to have something bright to wear to church. It seems like most of my dresses and skirts are dark colors...a tendency that I really do try to stay away from, but I just gravitate to black. I don't know why. I just like black. No, I'm not Gothic. I just like black.

But, I branched out this time. I went a completely different direction than black.

I just noticed that in the picture above it looks like I only have one leg. I don't know why. But I didn't have an amputation if you're wondering.

The pattern I used didn't have sleeves that I liked so I mixed and matched patterns to get this sleeve with gathers on the bottom. I think it goes well since the rest of the dress has gathers too. You may remember this method of gathering from when I was a guest blogger at Sew Much Ado. That's the method I used to get perfect, gorgeous gathers--the first time =)

National Make it With Wool

Okay, so you don't have to read on to the end and get let down, I'll give you what you want up front. I didn't win. But, there is a story if you want to keep reading.

My sweet husband came with me and we had a great time in Nashville. We stayed here on the 22nd floor. It was a nice view from our window.

Friday was contest stuff basically all day. Part of that was a one-on-one interview with 3 judges. I think I botched that. I don't know why but I was SO nervous!! Oh well. I guess you live and learn and I think that is one thing I learned from going to nationals, don't let the butterflies in your stomach take control. We also went to the country music hall of fame and studio B. We got to record a song at Studio B which was awesome! And I got to play the same piano that Elvis played thousands of times. Elvis recorded over 1,000 songs at Studio B. That was really interesting and fun.

Saturday we had free time, Erick and I went to a really cool car museum and walked around downtown Nashville, (and we also managed to take the bus to the wrong spot and walk 2 miles to the right spot...it was fun. really.) Saturday I also had MORE practice for the fashion show. Then, finally came the fashion show. I was proud of myself. I actually got out of my box and had fun in the show and I felt like I really put myself out there. Then awards. Afterwards, I, of course, was feeling pretty down, so Erick took me to a movie. We saw Extraordinary Measures. It was a sad movie and I was glad to watch something sad. I guess I just wanted to be sad for a little bit.

Then we came home Sunday. Our kids did great and I was happy to see them again.

There were some AMAZING coats, dresses, suits at the competition. It was fun to see how each person had added a little flair to their outfit. I don't think I lost because my outfit wasn't competitive with the others. I think mine was just as good if not better. I don't mean that in a cocky way, I just mean, I think mine was more practical in some ways (that's an aspect of the judging, when and where you'll wear your garment), and I think my construction techniques were better than some. So, why didn't I win? Well, quite honestly, I think it was political. Don't you hate that?! I do.

You see MIWW is not about sewing. It's about sheep. It's about promoting WOOL. I am city girl. I know n.o.t.h.i.n.g. about sheep. And, it's about promoting wool in teenage fashion. I am not a teenager. My outfit was not a teenager outfit. Thus, (in my own personal opinion) I didn't win. If this sounds like I'm bitter, I'm not. I was. But I'm over it.

I had a great time it was a great experience and I honestly feel like I learned A LOT. I did win some beautiful wool, a free trip, a book about home dec using serging techniques and some wool wax. Have you ever even heard of wool wax? Like I said, I know nothing about sheep.

Oh yeah, we also went to a little shop called The Painted Cupcake. It was good and a fun little shop.

I'm just a tincy bit nervous. Wish me luck!
It's the National Make it With Wool competition this weekend!!!

For the un-named Haynie boy

My SIL is having her first baby in May. I am so excited for her. And lucky her she's having a little boy! I guess I'm a little biased since I don't have any girls and I think my boys are AWESOME.
Every boy needs a tractor. Especially an Idaho boy. Even more especially my brother's son. So until he can actually ride one, he can snuggle with one. These self binding blankets are awesome. Here's a great tutorial if you're wondering how to do it.

I've been wanting to make one of these new born gowns from a t-shirt for a long time! So, what better excuse? I used this tutorial. It's great and easy to follow along.

Still Life.

By Everett Johnson.

While I was making dinner, Everett made art. Good job.