Trash and Treasures

Thrift stores! Flea markets! Fairs! Junk! Sometimes I think I have a problem. For some people it's clothes shopping or new things for the house. Mine is junk. I will pick a flea market over the mall any day. I love buying things that were useless and making them into functional, one of a kind pieces. Reduce, reuse ,recycle. This phrase just gives me an excuse to go shop and bust out my tools! Check out your local thrift store. You maybe surprised...and don't forget, garage sales, estate sales....

Awesome find! This hutch was $45. Rainy day sale!

Wall of Fabric


My Chandelier

Planter

Ties (endless things to create with ties) Ribbons, scarves


Picture frames!

I could go on and on....maybe on another post....

Bridal Shower Gift

My girlfriend came up with this brilliant idea for a bridal shower gift for a friend of ours that is getting married. She wanted something personalized and fun, so she went and bought fabric to make her napkins and place mats. Since I am her trusty seamstress, she called me to put everything together, and this is what I came up with. I also added an apron because that's my specialty and I think every bride needs one. These should be up on Esty in the near future. I hope she loved them!

My Babies!

Because we do not have kids, we pour all of our love into our dogs. Lucy is a 3 yr old Maltipoo and Larue is a 10 month old schnauzer. Like all dogs, love freedom and to run! Especially since we have the smallest backyard known to man, we like to take them to the elementary close to our house so they can roam free. We went a little crazy with our pictures, but they are so darn cute we couldn't resist. I love it when they get so tired their tongues hang out on the sides of their mouths and just about touch the ground.

Sweet Potato Enchilada Cassorole

I have never cooked a lot with sweet potatoes but it turns out that they are a lot better for you than regular russet potatoes. There are tons of things you can do with sweet potatoes other than just adding butter and brown sugar, this recipe was a big hit with Andy and it is now in our favorite meals pile.

4 sweet potatoes
2/3 (8 oz) package of cream cheese, softened
chopped green onions
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
oil for frying
about 6 to 10 corn tortillas
enchilada sauce
package of shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Boil sweet potatoes till tender, about 30 min. Cool and peel (I kept the skin on).

Place sweet potatoes in a bowel and mash them with the cream cheese, green onions, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix well

Preheat oven 350 and grease 9x13 pan

Heat oil in skillet and fry the tortillas and drain on paper towels

Layer the tortillas, sweet potato filling, and cheese until you are out of fixings then pour enchilada sauce over the whole thing. Top with extra cheese.

Bake for around 30 min till sauce bubbles and cheese melts.

Who would of thought that enchilada sauce and sweet potatoes would make such a perfect combination?

Sprightly Things

Juxtapose Designs is now Sprightly Things! After further research, I found that Juxtapose is actually a pretty popular name for businesses. It's a real "art school" word is what I hear. I have renamed it Sprightly Things in hopes of conveying an idea of the type of store I have and what I sell. By definition "sprightly" means full of spirit, vivacious, fun, lively, playful...all of which describe how I want my crafts and designs to be. I hope the new name lives up to its definition and I hope you enjoy the new layout!

Christmas Stockings Continued

Here are some more stocking orders from friends and family. I hope they love them as much as I do!

Sock Monkey Nursery

This is another project of mine. A good friend of mine is having her first baby and found this adorable happening sock monkey fabric. She searched around for someone to make her bedding for her but only found people who charged $400 plus. So I volunteered for the job. Having never attempted anything like this before, I figured it was about time that I should. Plus it would save her loads of money and put some sewing experience under my belt. And speaking of experience, that's what it was. During this time my best friend was my seam ripper and in classic Sandi style, trial and error became my constant companion. All in all I was able to give her curtain panels, bumper, skirt, pillow, and painting and most of which was a new experience for me (especially the piping on the bumper and pillow. Eeek!) Here is the finished product.