Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Handmade Kid Item

ETA: I wish I had 151 dresses to give away, but I only have 1 & the winner is Dianne !  Thanks for entering everyone ! 
*****
It's December Giveaway day !

A big thank you to Sew, Mama, Sew!  for hosting such a fabulous giveaway event !

The prize:
A princess Rapunzel dress sewn by me, this dress would fit a 4-6 year old girl.
I sewed 3 of these dresses for my daughter's princess Rapunzel birthday party.
I had enough supplies to sew a 4th one, so now you have a chance to win a never worn one (the first photo here will be the actual dress you will win).
The photos shown here are of my daughter modeling her dress.
If you're interested in sewing a dress like this, check out my notes here.

Enter to win:
:: please leave an answer to the following question: if you win this princess Rapunzel dress, who will wear it/who will you give it to?
:: one entry per person
:: open until Friday, December 16 at 5 p.m. PST
:: I will choose a winner and email the winner by December 18, then I will note the winner in this post
:: I will ship internationally
:: the princess Rapunzel dress will be shipped by December 24

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Sewing Supplies

ETA: Libby is the winner, she shared this link of a makeover of a console TV to a pretty blue shelf !  Thanks to everyone who entered !
*****
 It's December Giveaway day !

A big thank you to Sew, Mama, Sew!  for hosting such a fabulous giveaway event !

The prize:
One copy of the "Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose Scarves" book (my project page signed by moi) & 3 vintage Vera scarves (use the 3 scarves to create one or more of the 30 sewing projects from the book)

Enter to win:
:: please leave an answer to the following question: what is your favorite repurposed project? it doesn't have to be sewing... a repurposed project you've made or one you've seen elsewhere ~ please leave a link to the project, thanks !
:: one entry per person
:: I will choose a winner by picking my favorite repurposed project from all those that are shared
:: open until Friday, December 16 at 5 p.m. PST
:: I will email the winner by December 18, and note the winner in this post
:: I will ship internationally
:: book & scarves will be shipped by December 24

Tour of my studio

 Welcome to my studio !  Here's a quick photo tour of the space where I've been creating in since April 2009. We purchased a 1954 rambler ~ a fixer-upper.... this room is a 10 foot by 10 foot room which is a den, a walk-through room (meaning it has 2 doors) & this closet started out looking like this.

Here is a before photo (read all the details here)

 A sliding drawer under the desk stores makes great laptop storage.

 Sewing table area.

Tucked into the left side of the closet is IKEA shoe storage which contains my yarn stash & knitting needle rolls.

 Hanging on a wall, a white shelf filled with Bonne Maman jars storing lots of vintage goodies.

 Above that white shelf.

 In the opposite corner of my craft/sewing space is the baby grand piano & above that there is another white shelf... sometimes looks like this...

 ...or can sometimes look like this...

 ...in that same corner above the baby grand piano is my mother's 1957 lace wedding gown.

 Hanging up in one corner is this chandelier I painted pink (read all about it here)

 Behind my desk is my daughter's corner, before:

 and after, giving her materials to work with while I work (read all about it here)

 Some of the Liberty of London storage bins (from Target spring 2010) in the closet store some 80+ vintage sewing patterns.

 A gift from a dear friend.

 Extra info in case anyone is interested:

 I have a few 13 inch white folding mesh cubes that store my fabric stash that fit perfectly into the IKEA shelf, they were bought at The Container Store.

The paint we used was: Sherwin Williams SW6766 Mariner (a Tiffany Blue color)

See you tomorrow for a Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway.

BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook

 Many thanks to BurdaStyle for publishing 2 of my photos in their BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook which came out in November 2011.

 The 2 photos (you'll find on pages 11 & 196) I took in my studio & are of jars filled with sewing notions, vintage knitting needles, etc ~ I blogged about them here.

Fun, fun, fun !

Thanks so much for joining me at nest full of eggs this week !

PS I hope to very soon give you a photo tour of my studio.

Gluten-Free Apple Pie

 {Gluten-Free Holidays}

this is super simple...

Gluten-Free Apple Pie

:: pre-bake gluten-free pie crust according to instructions (cover edges of pie so that they don't get too baked)
:: cover bottom of pie crust with applesauce (preferably homemade) 1/4 inch
:: peel, core, slice thinly 3 medium apples (not Granny Smith)
:: lay slices on top of apple sauce (as shown in pie photo)
:: brush apple slices with butter & sprinkle with sanding sugar
:: bake at 375 degrees F
:: 30-45 minutes until golden brown

Bon appétit !

Happy Gluten-Free Holidays !!

Pistachio Cranberry Bundt Cake

 {Gluten-Free Holidays}

Pistachio Cranberry Bundt Cake
From the gluten-free kitchen of Rachel Le Grand

Here is a recipe for a gluten-free pound cake I came up with ~ it is yummy !  Enjoy !

What you need:
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
1/3 cup pistachios, chopped
1 package (15 oz) GF cake mix, yellow
1/4 cup vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

What you do:
:: preheat oven to 350 degrees F
:: lightly mist a bundt pan with vegetable oil spray
:: scatter chopped pistachios evenly in the bottom of the bundt pan
:: place the cake mix, pudding mix, coconut milk, vegetable oil, eggs, & vanilla in a mixing bowl
:: beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds
:: scrape down the side of the bowl
:: beat on medium speed for 2 minutes
:: fold in dried cranberries
:: pour the batter over the pistachios in the prepared bundt pan
:: bake for 40-45 minutes

When I was growing up my mom always made me a loaf of cranberry bread for Christmas (my sister & brother got banana & zucchini). Last year I experimented with mixing dried cranberries & pistachios together in bark & gluten-free icebox cookies ~ they were a big hit !  So that is where I got the inspiration for this pound cake. I hope you enjoy it, I think that the red from the cranberries & the green from the pistachios make it a festive holiday dessert.

Bon appétit !

Happy Gluten-Free Holidays !!!

Rabbit with Prunes

 {Gluten-Free Holidays}

When I was living in France (1999-2001) a French friend showed me how to cook this (I still have my hand written notes).

Here we served it with brown rice couscous making it a fancy gluten-free dinner.

 Rabbit with Prunes
(serves 5-6 people)

What you need:
1 rabbit without head or blood
200 g lardons (or cut up bacon)
2 onions (or 1 onion if you don't like onions)
butter
500 g prunes
1 chicken bouillon cube (or 1 cup chicken broth)
2 carrots cut
1/3 bottle average red wine
30 g olive oil
pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaves

 What you do:
In a Le Creuset pot (Dutch oven) or large stock pot on low heat on stove
:: melt butter in pot
:: cut onions into pieces (cubes)
:: put lardons & onions in pot until they change to a golden brown color (20-30 minutes)
:: cut 2 carrots
:: remove lardons & onions from pot
:: cut rabbit into about 6-8 pieces & put in pot, grill each side
:: put rabbit, lardons, onions, chicken broth, red wine, carrots, pepper, salt, olive oil, thyme, bay leaves in pot, cover with a little opening with a wooden spoon handle for 45-60 minutes low burner
:: add prunes for 15 minutes
:: at the very end add some corn starch so the watery juices become a gravy

 notes:
:: you can add mushrooms, if you'd like
:: can serve with: beans (like green lima beans), pasta (flat noodles), or peas & carrots cooked with the juices from the rabbit

Bon appétit !

Happy Gluten-Free Holidays !!!