Mouse Costume Tutorial

Several weeks ago, my mother brought over a dress for my oldest daughter, Annabelle, that had been handed down from a cousin. It was this pretty white eyelet, puffed sleeve angelic dress. As my daughter dressed up in it, I instantly thought it looked like Clara's nightgown in the Nutcracker.  Like this...

So I got the idea to have my son dress as the Nutcracker and my baby dress as a mouse!  With my son being three and still somewhat easily persuaded, this might be my last year to convince the kids to coordinate their costumes.  I succeeded!  I like to make my costumes if possible, but between three kids, school, and everything else going on, I knew I needed to simplify them as much as possible.

For Annabelle, all she needed was ballet shoes to complete her costume.  Fortunately, not only does she dance ballet and have shoes available (her old ones so she doesn't get her good ones dirty), she is even dancing in the Nutcracker this year as a little mouse!  Done.

Then I had to come up with a Nutcracker costume for my son.  Post to follow...

Finally, I had to make a mouse costume for the baby.  I couldn't find any cute ones already made.  I thought I would just draft a pattern based off one of her sleepers, but that's complicated.  One day I was in Jo Ann Fabrics and saw they had Simplicity patterns on sale for $0.99!  I love those sales...  I headed over to look through the costume section to see if, by chance, they might have a mouse costume.  Of course not.  BUT, they did have a sheep costume that I figured I could easily adapt to be a mouse.  I spent my whopping $0.99 and found a lovely plush knit on sale in grey for the body and white for the tummy and ears.  I think total I spent about $10.  Here is the pattern I purchased:

So you see, it is as simple as adding a patch on the tummy, changing the ears and adding a tail.  I also (obviously) omitted the bell and bow.  For time's sake and so my baby could walk easier, I omitted the booties as well.  Here are the steps I took to transform this sheep into a mouse:

1. After stitching the center front seam of the jumpsuit, add the tummy piece.  (Do this before sewing the front to the back of the jumpsuit.)  Cut an oval on the fold of a contrasting fabric, fold the edge under approximately 1/4" and pin to the center of the jumpsuit front.  Top stitch along the edge of the contrasting fabric to applique the tummy section.  Be sure you are placing your oval only where the center seam is straight, not where it begins to curve for the crotch seam.  Continue to construct the jump suit as instructed in the pattern until complete.

 2. Cut two ears of your main body fabric and two of a contrasting fabric.  A pink satin would be cute, but I just used the white fuzzy fabric I used for the tummy.  I didn't have patterns for these, just drafted them.  You're welcome to blow up this picture and trace it if you want a pattern.  When I stacked the pieces together, I cut a notch on one side to be sure I had my front and back would match up correctly.

 

3. With right sides together, stitch with approximately 1/4" seam, leaving the bottom open (notice all the "approximates"....  when there is no pattern, you do as you please : ).  Cut notches along the curves so when you turn it, your ear will be nice and round.  Flip right side out.

 4. Insert a pipe cleaner along the edge to help the ear hold its shape.  Fold the ends of the pipe cleaner under so only a little sticks out the bottom of the ear.  This way you can guarantee it will be caught in the seam of the hat to help it stand up.

 5. Place the ear on the seam of the large dart in the side hood piece with the contrasting fabric facing front.  Pin between the dart edges and stitch.  I made a tuck in the center of the ear to give it a little dimension.  You don't have to do that.

6. Turn right side out to check that the ear was correctly inserted.  If some of it was not caught, stitch again.

 7. Cut two tail pieces with a slight curve to them (again, feel free to draw this yourself or blow up this image).

 8. Stitch with right sides together, 1/4" seam.  Trim the end of the seam down to the point, being careful not to cut the seam.  Also be sure to leave the base open.

 9. Turn the tail right side out and stuff the tail with poly-fil.  Turn under the bottom 1/4" of the tail and place about 1" below the opening in the center back of the jumpsuit.  Hand stitch around the base of the tail to attach it to the jumpsuit.

 The back of the finished jumpsuit.

 The front of the finished jumpsuit.

Meal Planning 101

I have tried countless methods of meal planning and have come to one conclusion: there is no perfect meal planing system. I have also learned that, as it comes time for me to leave one method behind, not to view it as a failure but as a learning experience. So, rather than run through each of my past systems, let me share with you what is working best at the moment. : )

I keep my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer stocked with the foods and ingredients that are essential to the meals I cook. I try to only buy these on sale or in bulk. I recently moved close to a Costco and have loved the availability of bulk organic goods. The price is comparable to grocery store prices on non-organic goods, so even if I'm paying a little more than I would on the cheapest versions, I feel much better feeding these foods to my family than some super processed, hormone laden "food." We're trying to get to the essential ingredients of life, right? If it required more than water, dirt and sunshine, I don't want it. I cannot currently buy 100% organic ingredients or cook everything from scratch, but what I can, I do. Every little bit is that many fewer chemicals going into your children's growing bodies.

Back to meal planning......

On Sundays I think about what meats I have in the freezer. Then I sift through tried and true recipes and new ones online. I think about what we have going on in the evenings that week. For example, every Wednesday we have a tight schedule with dance and church so we eat Chick-fil-a. There is usually one other night we have something going on, so it usually ends up being four dinners I need to plan. I also know which nights will require crock pot dinners if it's a busy evening. Once I know what meats are available and what recipes I want to use, I make a checklist on the home page of my phone called, "This Week's Meals." I also have a sticky note on my home screen called, "This Week's Recipes" where I paste the link to any online recipes I'm using that week or make note of which cookbook and page it comes from. That makes it easy to make my grocery list, which also goes on my home screen, as well as making it easy when it comes time to cook that meal.

So by Sunday evening, I know how many meals I need to prepare, I have selected my recipes, saved my links and made my grocery list. Monday morning I drop my oldest daughter at kindergarten and stop by the grocery store on the way home. (Since it's first thing in the morning, I have the luxury of having store mostly to myself, a car cart available for the other two kids, and generally happy moods since no one is hungry or sleepy.) I usually only have to get fresh produce, milk and sometimes a few specific ingredients that I don't keep stocked because I don't use them often. For example, my bill this morning was only $26 for the week's ingredients and two gallons of milk. Then it's as simple as sitting the meat in the fridge the night before to be ready to fix dinner for the following night. I try to do whatever prep work during the day as I have a spare moment, such as cooking bacon, chopping vegetables or browning meat. That doesn't always happen, but when it does, it's much easier to throw dinner together and rather than stressing because everyone is starving, it's 7:00 and you're still desperately trying to finish cooking, dinner is already mostly taken care of and you can relax and actually ENJOY cooking!

Homemade Applesauce

A few years ago I got bitten by the self-sufficient (a.k.a. suburban homesteading) bug and set out to make as many things from scratch as possible.  At the time I had a two-year-old and a newborn, so I decided I needed to focus on foods the entire family could enjoy (though the baby would have to wait a few months).  The foods I made from scratch needed to save me money and not require an exorbitant amount of time since I had two little ones to tend to.  I started researching how to make my own applesauce and found it to be delightfully simple.  I learned the most  from this website:

http://www.pickyourown.org/applesauce.htm

We recently moved to a new city so I was thrilled last week to find the wholesale farmer's market.  I got a few bags of discount produce at $2/bag.  Here's what I scored for only SIX dollars:

These apples are the best to use if you can find them because (1) it gives you an assortment of varieties which gives your sauce more flavor and (2) they're so CHEAP.  Here are the steps that I follow to make my applesauce:

1. Wash your apples.  These are Fuji, Red Delicious, and Gala. (There were some Granny Smith in the bags but I set those aside to go in my Dutch Apple Bread.)  I had about 10 lbs of apples in this batch.  The amount you use is up to you, but in my opinion it isn't worth the work if you aren't doing a decent size batch.

2. Add about two inches of water to the largest boiler/dutch oven you have.  Bring to a boil while you prepare the apples.

3. Slice your apples.  If you have one of these handy apple slicers, you can get the work done in no time.  You can cook the cores with the apples if you like because they'll be strained out later, but I find the seeds give the sauce a bitter taste.  If a few seeds get in, that's okay.

Chances are, if you got discount apples, there will be a few bruises among them.  If it's a small bruise, I leave it.  After all, they're about to get mashed up.  But if you have a bad spot, like on this apple, cut down into the apple and remove the entire area.

4. Add the apples to the boiling water, reduce to medium-low and cover.  Let simmer until all the apples are soft.  Stir a couple times during the cooking process to be sure they cook evenly.

Here are the apples once they have cooked down:

5. Now comes the fun part: straining the apples.  You have a several choices when it comes to tools.  I have used these two with equal success: a metal strainer with wood pestal (mine is slightly different than the one in the link) or the fruit and vegetable strainer attachment for your mixer.  The metal strainer is easier to clean up since it doesn't have so many pieces, but it requires a good deal more elbow grease.  I opted for the mixer attachment this time around:

Just place your apples in the top, being sure to squeeze out what water you can as you scoop them from the pot.

Push them through the tube.

Watch in wonder as your cooked apples are transformed into sauce and the skin, seeds, and tough pieces are strained out the side.

 The finished result!

You have a few options when it comes to storing your applesauce.  It can be canned in a water bath canner, although I have never tried canning my applesauce.  (For canning instructions, see the link above to the Pick Your Own website.)  I have always frozen it.  I picked up these handy quart-size freezer containers on clearance at the end of canning season one year.  Be sure to label so they don't get confused for something like chicken broth in your freezer. (Yep, I've made that mistake before.  Imagine my disappointment when I thawed the container in the fridge and went to dip out my delicious applesauce only to find out it was chicken broth.  Needless to say, we ended up making soup instead.)  It will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge or indefinitely in the freezer.  Canned, it will last 2-3 years in your pantry.

You can add cinnamon or pureed strawberries for other delicious varieties.  One thing I never add is sugar.  If you aren't using tart apples, there should be no need for it.  I like to store it plain and then add cinnamon or strawberries as I use it.  We love eating it plain as well.

My ten pounds of apples yielded just under three quarts of applesauce.  At $0.30/lb, that's 12 cups for $3.  Considering it's roughly $2/20 oz in the store, or approximately $10 for the three quarts we made, that's a savings of nearly $7.  Not bad!  And trust me, it tastes about 100 times better!

Welcome to my blog!

For years I have wanted to start a blog but simply haven't found the time or energy.  I am always overcomplicating things, so this is my attempt to keep it simple.  That is also the inspiration for the blog's title.  Growing up, my dad always told me, "Karen, every living thing just needs three things: water, dirt and sunshine."  So now that I am raising my own family, I am doing my best to get us back to those three essential ingredients.  I'm not there yet, but every day I try to find new ways to simplify our lives and bring our diet as close to water, dirt and sunshine as possible.  I am blessed to have a hard-working, loving husband, Greg, and three beautifully unique children, Annabelle (5), Greyson (3) and Adeline (1).  Follow me as we travel down the road to a simpler and brighter tomorrow.  Happy reading!