Showing posts with label STUFFED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label STUFFED. Show all posts

Friday, September 26, 2014

Easy-Sew Pumpkins



I made these fun pumpkins last year (before I began this blog), but I decided I should share them anyway! I used a super tutorial found here on Positively Simple.  Here a few little tips I learned while making these:

  • I found most my fabric on the discount table at JoAnn's. They had a bunch of decorator samples (about 16"x16") for $0.50 each. Score! So check there--I have seen those samples on sale often.
  • I played around with the pattern to get slightly different shaped pumpkins. On one pumpkin I made the teardrop shapes more wide, on another I made them more tall.  I loved the simplicity of this design that allowed for tweaking here and there to get the shape you want.
  • Use needle nose pliers if you have trouble pulling the needle through the pumpkin center. I was frustrated until I figured out this little hack.
  • I skipped hot gluing the cinnamon stick. I tend to skip hot-glue whenever possible. I am usually disappointed with its durability in the long run. I liked the look of just the ribbon. (Obviously this is just my opinion. :))


I made two Dora pumpkins for my daughter to decorate her room with. She adores them!

I loved how the two-tone orange turned out on this one. Both of these fabrics were from the discounted samples swatches I found.

I did some simple embroidery on felt to make this leaf and stem. The stem is stuffed with a couple pieces of felt, then whip-stitched on the edge. I sewed them into the middle instead of hot-gluing. 



Partying at: 
Say G'day Linky Party

Posted by at 9 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates


Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Dates

Father's Day is this Sunday, which naturally makes me think of bacon. So I decided to take action.

Dates are starting to show up in the produce department. I found mine at Costco last week. And I bought their big brick of Raskas Cream Cheese (to use in another recipe, but it is a BIG brick). It is THE BEST cream cheese I've had.   I also had some cashews leftover from my trailmix recipe.  Adding some thick-cut bacon and honey to the mix, and I was ready to rock.


Pit the dates. Make a thin slice lengthwise to open, then the pit is pretty loose in there. Pull out each pit and discard it.   

Next, put a 1-2 teaspoon slab (depending on the size of the date) of cream cheese in each opened date. Then push a cashew into the cream cheese on each one.

Now pre-cook the bacon a bit by placing it between a couple of paper towels on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave on high for 1 minute. 

Here is the bacon after the pre-cook step. It is not crispy at all. It should be just starting to curl up at the ends.


Cut the strips of bacon into halves or thirds. I did mostly halves, but thirds for some of my skinnier dates.  It isn't an exact science. Wrap the dates in the bacon and secure through the middle with a toothpick. 
Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You can skip the parchment, but I recommend it if you have it.  Makes clean-up much easier.

Put a squirt of honey on each bacon-date roll.  This glaze is SO yummy when it bakes.

Bake for 7 minutes at 450°. Turn over each one and return to the oven to bake 5-7 minutes more, until crispy on the edges.


Tastes divine. And has a fair amount of redeeming value--that's whole fruit in there...whole milk in the cheese... a whole nut... and a whole bunch of yummy. 


Partying at these pages: 

Merry Monday 16

The Weekend re-Treat

Put A Bird On It


Say G'Day Saturday
Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)