new ironing board cover

i love to make my own ironing board covers. it's so easy

and i get the custom look i want.

To make one:

use the one that is already on your ironing board as a pattern

or lay your board on top of the fabric you are making it out of.

(board side down of course)

cut out the fabric 1 1/2 inches bigger all the way around.

iron the edge to make a casing for 1/2 elastic to go through.

double fold the casing so there are no raw edges. sew all

the way around next to the edge. leave an opening to insert

the elastic. i cut my elastic as long as the board, not all

the way around. i like mine to fit snugly. insert the elastic

using a safety pin, sew the ends together and then sew

up the opening. it takes some effort to put the new cover

onto the board, just adjust the elastic as you put it on until

it's on. you can tell the top from the bottom so that helps!

Pin-Did: Kiddos

Here are some fun kid activities we've done from Pinterest.

Source: madebyjoel.com via Sarah on Pinterest

On Sunday we were looking for a quiet activity to do while daddy had a nap and before visiting family and this came to mind. We printed off a bunch of his cities and vehicles and the entertainment lasted for over an hour. The kids colored, cut, folded and then played. Imaginative and creative fun. The next activity combined two pins:

Source: la-lashomedaycare.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

A $4 drink dispenser from Wal-Mart that actually looks just like this one and this homemade bubble recipe:

Source: ashleyannphotography.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Next time I'll do half the water required - so 3 cups water, 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1 cup liquid dish soap.
We also bought a bag of bubble wands and I gave each of the kids a cup to dip them in.  This one didn't last as long on the entertainment value.

Pin-did: Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Source: eat-drink-smile.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Part of my diet is to cut out "white foods" ie flour, sugar etc.  But the one white food I can have a lot of is cauliflower.  When I saw this recipe for Cauliflower pizza crust (originally I came across the cauliflower rice recipe) from Eat. Drink. Smile. I had to try it.  It was so good.  My kids loved it too!  I only had a hint of the cauliflower taste in one or two bites, which still tasted good to me.  I will definitely be doing this recipe more often.

My Craft Room!

When designing my craft room I used this picture for our layout and then we adjusted it from there:

Source: inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Star the wonderful lady at our Ikea helped us pick the right cupboards to get what we needed and my amazing husband went to work changing the electrical, painting and installing cabinets and counters...this is the finished product:

We are adding a clothing bar to the top corner cabinet (on the right) that stretches to the wall for my shops clothing to hang on .
We ran into one hiccup, the four drawer cabinet doesn't come in bead board, which we didn't like.  Ikea suggested we try a cupboard door over the drawers with a special hinge.  Well that didn't work either - drawers can't slide out with a hinge in the way - so my clever husband just attached the door straight onto the bottom drawer and voila:

This is the corner cabinet with lazy susan!

Now to filling it up and decorating - I'm trying to decide between these two pallets:

Source: design-seeds.com via Sarah on PinterTest

This one but with the orchid color I painted instead of the top blue:

Source: design-seeds.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Panera Bread Mac and Cheese

Panera Bread’s Signature Macaroni & Cheese
Adapted by Head Chef Dan Kish

Ingredients
1 (16-ounce) package of rigati pasta (or other small pasta shells)
¼ cup butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
2½ cups 2% reduced fat milk (or cream)
6 slices white American cheese, chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) shredded extra-sharp white Vermont cheddar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon hot sauce

Directions
1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly.

3. Gradually whisk in milk (or cream); cook over medium heat, whisking until mixture thickens and bubbles. Remove from heat.

4. Add cheeses, mustard, salt, and hot sauce, stirring until cheese melts and sauce is smooth.

5. Stir in pasta and cook over medium heat for 1 minute (or until thoroughly heated).

Serves 4 to 6

Thanks to Panera for posting the recipe on their website. I dont want to risk losing it! To good!