So my nephew decided that for Christmas & his birthday he wanted me to sew him a costume for Anime Boston. Of course, it's not something commonly found that I could just put together. It looks like it would be a simple enough pattern to put together but making a pattern is definitely not my strong suit. It's pretty much a jumpsuit and a collar. Any suggestions besides just buying the costume since it's about $125?

I've made these and LOVED them. Instead of the potato, though, I subbed in some barley I had cooked in veggie stock. I'm sure you could sub in quinoa  if you wanted.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/veggie-burger-recipe/index.html

Has anyone tried the MorningStar Chipotle Black Bean burgers yet? I'm intrigued.

For a fun idea for Sunday we make veggie burger stuffed mushrooms. I got the idea from a girl at Weight Watchers awhile back. You take thawed MorningStar Garden Veggie patties, chop/crumble them up as small as you can, add an egg and a little bit of parm and put it into the mushrooms that you've stemmed and cleaned. You can do big portobellos or little button mushrooms. I just the button ones. Then you cook them at 350* until a fork goes easily into the mushroom. (When I ran out of mushrooms to fill I made the rest into "meatballs" and put some in my sweet & sour sauce. YUMMY!) They're super yummy and NO ONE will figure out they're veggie burgers unless you tell them. My poor vegetarian SIL barely got any because everyone else ate them first haha

Also, I plan on making this lowfat Buffalo Chicken Dip that I found. I've made it before and brought it to work and EVERYONE made me give them the recipe. It's good cold but REALLY yummy warm. I served it with celery and scoop Tostitos. I actually thought it was BETTER with the celery. Added the cooling for the spice and the good crunch. The only things I did differently was use lowfat instead of nonfat sour cream and used the Frank's Wing sauce instead of just hot sauce. I also baked it at 350* for 20 minutes instead of doing it in the crockpot.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/02/lighter-buffalo-chicken-dip.html

Definitely check out that website for lots of awesome recipes, too. I've made some REALLY good stuff from there.

I need in on this. I'm trying to be SO good because I've noticed that I haven't been really paying attention to my Weight Watchers and up up up it goes. I'm at a number I haven't been at in years and I do NOT want it back.

I planned on making a really good, pretty healthy lunch for work this week and then I went and got sick so I haven't ended up eating it. I was going to do a whole wheat bagel thin with a lite swiss Laughing Cow wedge spread on it with some turkey breast and a sliced granny smith apple for a sandwich and I did a shredded carrot and sliced cucumber salad dressed in rice vinegar as my crunchy side instead of chips. It sounded so yummy so I'm pretty bummed. I hate being sick.

A couple weeks ago I made up a batch of soup that was kind of like a minestrone that came out really good. I did zucchini, white beans, ground turkey, celery, carrots, onions, whole wheat mini shells, low sodium tomato juice, low sodium vegetable stock and lots of spices. It became kind of stew like when I added the shells but it was sooooooooo good. I just added a small sprinkle of parm on each serving. Super yummy.

craftylittlemonkey, last summer my mom and I managed to convince the boys in our house (68 & 41 - haha) that they'd like quiche. They decided it was "a girl food" and then proceeded to eat half of it! lol What we did instead of the typical cream and lots of egg was we used egg whites, 1 whole egg, some reduced fat shredded mozzarella and reduced fat cottage cheese with lots of veggies with a sprinkle of parm on the top and a reduced fat crust. Came out awesome.

Thanks so much!

mmccorbin, I just used old tarts and votives that I had kicking around my house that I wasn't using anymore along with the lids off old candle jars. I took the hard plastic off the lids before I did anything - the part that suctions the lid into place on the jar. I melted the tarts/votives down in a double boiler - do NOT use a bowl/pan that you plan on using for food. Just go pick up a cheap one at the thrift store or wherever so if you want you can just chuck it out after if you never plan on using it again. I bought the waxed wicks with tabs at the craft store. You dip the tab into the melted wax and position it in the lid. Once the wax is melted I poured it into the lid around the wick. I then put the candles in a bowl of ice water up to just below the rim of the lid to help set them up quicker. They're now drying the rest of the way downstairs in the garage where Cleo the Climbing Cat can't get them haha

Finally got a realllllllly old WIP done. I've been wanting to turn old candle tarts/votives and large candle jar lids into regular candles for at least 8 years. Today I finally did it! Yay!



And I finished a frame I wanted to decorate for a wedding present.

Alright, I'm getting back in the swing of craftiness. Life had to go and get in the way, darn it! lol

Here are some projects I've done since I've been MIA.

Made a bunch of these to try to sell at a craftfair with my sister-in-law. Didn't sell one so guess what a lot of people are getting for gifts this year! lol


Made these when I was getting sick of seed beads from the bangles. I made a bunch more but the niece scoffed them before I could take pictures.


Not sure what I'm doing with this yet. Pattern is UrbanThreads.


This is a bag and bookmark I made for a girl at work that just retired. I made the bag awhile ago but I just made the bookmark.



Back of bookmark:


Made a couple of fabric roses out of scrap last night. Not sure what I'm doing with them yet.


Edit: And my poor black and gray dress I was going to rework got accidentally cut up by my niece! I had the top and bottom taken apart and in my fabric pile. While I was at a concert she asked if anything in the pile was fair game to make scarfs, etc. I said yes, forgetting the dress was in there...the skirt is now an asymmetrical mini with two loop scarves...BLARGH! I'm thinking I may be able to save it with some black rickrack or lace over where I'm going to try to sew it back together. Thank goodness it was only a $5 Salvation Army find!

I am SO in love with that dress!

always, it's a felt clutch that I had on hand that I attached the silver chain to. The cassettes are actual dismantled cassettes that I painted and attached with glue that's supposed to adhere to plastic and fabric. So far so good

I actually tried to crochet with the tape, too...wanted to make a bag to gift it in...yeah...not so much hahaha

SilverMoon that's FANTASTIC about the dragon! She was so absolutely fabulous!

Redflags I want want WANT that dress pattern bookmark. LOVE!

I completed two projects yesterday (it took my mind off being sick. blergh).

Finished the princess pillow for baby Savannah:



and a canvas Mario wallet for my nephew's birthday. He only wants cash or gift cards for his birthday since he's trying to save up for an xBox. I'm not one to just give something like that so the gift card to Game Stop will be inside the wallet.



BOTH PROJECTS QUALIFY FOR THE FEBRUARY CHALLENGE--they have red! AIMR