Jane Market Bag

I recently purchased Alicia Paulson's Jane Market Bag pattern. This was the first project I've ever sewn from a pattern before. Sure I've sewn a quilt and tablecloths, but I've always just kind of made things up as I went along. I have been wanting to practice sewing and when Alicia posted about her Jane Market Bag on her blog, I knew I just had to make my own.

I used fabric that I had taken from my mother's stash a couple of years back when I sewed my first quilt. I won the handwriting fabric through a giveaway on The Black Apple blog some time ago.

Unfortunately the fabric I used was a bit too small for the project. I had to shorten the bag and the straps by a couple of inches.

I love the result and I cannot wait to make more of these adorable market bags. Living right next to Kroger, the hubby and I make quick trips to the store all the time and I am getting tired of the plastic bags piling up around my kitchen. I hope to get a few more of these made so that I can forever avoid plastic bags.

Strawberry Kiwi Sorbet

As I mentioned in my last post, I did some yard sale shopping this past weekend with my mom and hubby. Fortunately the hubby and I were able to find a great set of matching bedside tables for only $5 each! We have been desperately needing bedside tables since we moved into our apartment last October. Now that we finally have them our bedroom looks a bit more polished. Aside from the much needed tables, I have to say that my favorite find of the day was a Waring Frozen Dessert Maker which I scored for a mere $2! I have been wanting an ice cream maker for some time and was seriously considering begging for one for my upcoming birthday. I was beyond excited when I found the Waring model in great condition.

I brought it home and washed it up and immediately put the cooling unit in the freezer so it would be ready to use the following day. I knew I wanted to try making some sorbet first, but I wasn't sure what kind. I was interested in making some watermelon sorbet, but didn't want to spend $5 for a Kroger watermelon. Instead I opted to use the strawberries and kiwis we had setting in our fridge from the previous week. The sorbet turned out to be the perfect way to use up the fruit, as it was past its prime. I was extremely excited to set up and plug in my new (used) maker and see that it worked great! In 20 minutes time the ice cream maker stopped churning, signaling that it was finished. I decided to put the soft-serve consistency sorbet in the freezer to let it firm up a bit more before enjoying a bowl. A few hours later I dished some up for the hubby and myself and, man, it was good!

Strawberry Kiwi Sorbet
serves 4-6

2 1lb. containers fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and cut in half
6 large kiwi, peeled, diced, and cut into fourths
1 cup vanilla sugar
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat vanilla sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until cool.

Using a blender, puree the prepared strawberries and kiwi. Strain to remove seeds, if desired. Whisk the cooled syrup, fruit puree, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Sorbet will be a soft-serve consistency and may be eaten immediately or placed in an air-tight container in the freezer to further harden.

This sorbet was perfectly refreshing and was a great first recipe to try with my new ice cream maker! I am planning on making some vanilla bean frozen custard in the next day or two. I am so thankful for such a great find. I have really missed baking since it's been so dreadfully hot, and now I have a new toy that allows me to enjoy time in the kitchen without dying from the heat of an oven.

Mayfest Revisted

I cannot believe it's been over a week since my last post! I got distracted with this and that, and towards the end of the week my mother came into town for a visit and to attend a graduation party my mother-in-law and husband threw me. My mom got to see my apartment for the first time, which meant I went on a crazy two-day cleaning spree before her arrival. On Saturday, my mom, hubby, and I went yard sale shopping and found some great things (more on that in a later post). All in all, it was a great week.

I had mentioned before in my first post on Mayfest that I was hoping to share a few photos of my booth taken by a friend. He has uploaded his photos from the event to his flickr account and kindly granted me permission to share them with you here.

Remember that you can click on the photos if you'd like to enlarge them. Also, kindly ignore all the silly expressions on my face. I was running on about 6 hours of sleep for three days, wasn't wearing any makeup and hadn't done a thing to my hair. Did I also mention it was hot out?

This was how my booth looked for about 2 hours straight on Sunday. It was one sale right after another and the booth was packed. It was fantastic. And exhausting.

In the left of this picture you can see what my packaging looked like. I purchased white Chinese take out style boxes and designed a That Winsome Girl logo for the fronts and decorated them with coordinating tissue paper and ribbon bows on the handles (which you can't see in the photo, unfortunately). They were a big hit.

This was my section of rings, brooches, hair pins, and base metal earrings. The adjustable rings are always so popular, I made sure to put them at the very front of my display to catch everyone's attention. It worked! I have decided that I like keeping my least expensive items in the front of my booth so I don't sticker shock someone who wonders into my booth. While I do have single items that are over $100, I also have tons of great pieces that are well under $10.

My necklace busts ended up extremely empty both days. To recover my stock after Saturday I spent my night hurrying to make as many new necklaces as I could. I decided to make multiples of anything I could, so my busts on Sunday featured lots of necklace pairs, as you can see here.

And here I am, looking rather exhausted wearing the blouse I posted about previously as well as the earrings I designed for myself a year and a half ago when the hubby and I got hitched.

So there you have it, folks. Mayfest revisted, with much better photographic evidence, thanks to Mr. Keith Reed.