Home Made Spice Rub!

Here's a little sumthin' that I like to whip up for the cooks in my life.

Super easy, VERY affordable, and looks great when you're done.

Head to your nearest Bulk Barn or equivalent - any Bulk food store will do.

Next trip, any local Dollar store to pick up fancy labels and jars.

Similar ones to this were THREE for $1.25

You can get fancy labels to peel & stick, too! 45 for 1.25! 

Photo credit: Spruce Up Organization

This is the mix I use, and the approximate amounts of each. You can adjust and tweak away to suit your tastes! The entire take home price was just under $20.00 for all the below ingredients.

You can do gifts for almost 8 people (depending on size of the jar) for less than $30.00!!

Ingredients:

Chili Power, Ancho Chili Powder, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Kosher Salt, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Cumin & Turmeric.

Uses: Use as a dry rub for chicken, beef & pork. Slather on your favourite BBQ sauce overtop for an extra yummy bonus. Great as a marinade, just add lemon juice!

In a big bowl, I mix: 

1 Cup each of:  Chili Power, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder

Half Cup each of: Ancho chili powder, black pepper

Quarter Cup each of: Kosher salt, basil, oregano, Cumin, Turmeric

2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika

3 Tbsp Flour (Can be omitted)

Using a  wooden spoon, mix up all your spices. Taste test and adjust accordingly.

Spoon into glass jars, add some ribbon or trim, and voila. 

Cute, functional and affordable Christmas gifts.

Different ideas for how to wrap!

By the way... NEW Machine!

For Christmas, I received the most wonderful gift ever.....

My new beautiful Janome QDC4030!!!!

I had my old Brother machine for 12 years; the same machine sewed every curtain, every quilt, every costume for every show I've been in or costumed for the last 12 years. And that's a lot. And never a problem, it was a midlevel machine and did everything I asked it to....but alas, the quiltmaking was starting to prove too much. Tension was never right, no matter what, thread breaking, rough edges on the bobbin case, you name it. Wobbly seams, the works.

The End came when I was frantically sewing the final touches on Adult size Onesie Superhero Jammies (yep, Christmas gift, from the KWIK Sew pattern and they're supercute) and my Brother ATE the elastic fabric. Yep. Ate it. Right down thru the feed dogs past the point of no return. And....yep, you guessed it...the Tantrum commenced. With the yelling and the screaming and the throwing of the thread....and of COURSE that was the moment J decided to arrive home...aaaaand witnessed the Horrible Tantrum In Progress.

And that was that. Tears were dried, boots were put on, and off we went to the local mall. I thought, to distract me from the events. Nope. Went to the Singer store.....and ... there She was.

I absolutely LOVE her....she's not named yet...but My Precious keeps coming to mind...(not in a creepy way)!

I love her though, did I mention that??? Great stitch functions, ALL the feet I will ever need ( oh yeah...1/4 inch, walking, open toe, you name it) auto needle up/down, the COOLEST thing where i can UNPLUG the electric pedal and go foot free with the easy start/stop button, that's so neat. I love it.  Best of all, it sews a straight line. LAUGH.

I've got a few projects in progress, more later. I teach tonite, this semester we're taking on some SHAKESPEARE and gulp, SWORDFIGHTING!!!! Aiee. Fun though!

Quilt for Fred's Mom

I love my friend Fred. He is one terrific guy. And even though I've never had the pleasure of meeting her, his Mom is also one terrific lady, and MAN can she cook.

So; my first finished (almost) commissioned quilt is for Mrs. F; and I hope she likes it. I wanted something homey but bright, so I chose yellows and browns and pinks for the main colours.

Assembling the Springtime Blocks

Piles of completed blocks

The finished blocks assembled and laid out; on grass so yes it's wobbly looking

The Blue border I like best so far. The quilt isn't skewed I need to work on my photo skills.

Springtime Block

The borders have  kinda stumped me; I had a pink in mind but then I thought it might be too 'young' for her; so then I thought, well, I can use the yellow floral  that is the main large triangle colour. But I wanted to use that for the backing and thatmight be too much

So now......I'm thinking I'm gonna add a border of bright royal blue with a feathery type pattern on it...wonder about some input? Thoughts?

Well... I went and added the blue border; I will post some pics in a bit. I think it's coming together pretty nicely.

Mom's Quilt is Finished!

Wellllllllllllll It's all finished!

All the threads trimmed, bound neatly and ready to go! It's a bit too square than I had first planned but, I'm pretty happy with it. 

's favourite colours are coral and rust and coppery colours; I hope she likes this.

She told me about the heavy quilts she slept under as a child; and I used a heavy blanket and batting for the fill. It's nice and toasty warm; I tested it out watching TV last week and it worked really well. Nice and warm. :)

I hope she likes this!

I just used big squares and stitched in the ditch, added some sashing and hand stitched the hearts. There's also a "I love you Mom" in the border by the corner. Let's see if she finds it.