Day 61: Gluten Free Pasta Review

It is day 61. I have made it that long. Utterly crazy really. Today is a gluten free review. A tale of 2 pastas.

First is an all corn pasta.

It does not take long to cook. The water does turn slightly yellow. Looks like pasta. However, I can only handle so much corn pasta. It is heavy. No matter what sauce I use I don't want to eat it for the next day as leftovers. I will but that is my extent. Slightly sticky in the end. I will probably not buy this again. Just too much

Next is corn fusilli. It is a mix of corn and rice.

This one takes a little longer to cook (13 minutes) than regular pasta. It does not turn the water yellow. And looks like normal pasta (not so yellow as the above mentioned pasta. The taste is much more delightful. And I can eat more of it without feeling so big. I would definitely purchase this one again. Much like good old fashioned regular pasta.

Now if only they would make gluten free ravoli, I would be a happy girl! Hope everyon had a great weekend! Until tomorrow!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 60: My bellydance peep immortalized

Last year for an Iron Craft Challenge, I made a peep diorama of my bellydance troupe. I had a fun time making this with my fellow partner in crime Sonja. With this move, I was sad to toss out my peep. So I decided I would frame it and save it forever.

BTW the peep has not molded or spoiled. This just grosses me out b/c I love to eat these peeps. They don't break down. Ah!

I found a small shadow box frame at TJ Max on clearance for $2. I was totally sold.

I wanted to add some bling to it and decided to cover the mat with leftover sticky glitter foamboard, which I actually used for the project. The outside I am using a lime green foam.

Next I laid the existing mat, on it, and cut with my exacto knife.

Cut out the center

Peel and stick.

The backing I am using the red glitter.

Time to center my peep and get her situated. I used a piece of tape to help her stay in place with the foam board when I closed the frame.

I taped down the foam board too to prevent it from moving.

Done. Here is my framed peep! :) I will treasure her forever.

For more of my 90 days to DC and blogging posts click here. Until tomorrow people! :)

xoxoxo,

Lauren

Day 59: Sequin skirt to a dress

Wow if I had stayed on track I would have been almost close to being done with my posting. But then life changed and the wait for the move has  been extended. Darn! But let the projects continue!!!

Found this skirt one day at goodwill for $0.99. Initially I wanted to tear it up and turn it into a bellydance costume. I changed my mind, it was kind of pretty.

I decided to change it into a dress with a slight slouchy sort of feel. First I pinned where in the waist I wanted to cut off to fit me!

Then I cut straight down the line.

Good bye fabric!

Sew down and sew very slow. I even increased my stitch length to lessen the amount of times the needle went into the sequins. This was hard b/c the material was additionally slippery.

I also wanted to hide the elastic band. I folded over to create a casing for more elastic. Hand sew down leaving a gap. Then I wove a piece of elastic through. Find the sweet spot to stay up on my body. Sew the opening shut.

Dress is done.

So the secret to keeping the slouch? Elastic belt.

I need a better one but you get my drift... I hated sewing this sequin material. So I cheated and went with a hidden belt to make it pool. This dress could be lots of fun with a night out. If only I didn't want to fall asleep at 10:00 pm every night...

For more of my 90 days of blogging to DC click here. Until tomorrow!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 58: 2 tone black beaded necklace

Here is a simple necklace I made with 2 different black beads.

I found that I need more of a simple black necklace for work that isn't too long and doesn't bother me while I work in the lab. And hence why I came up with this necklace. Simple. Easy. Yes!

For more of my 60 days of blogging to DC posts click here.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 57: Lumberjack Lauren Top Refashion

The only words I could come up with for this dress was Lumberjack from the red plaid. Normally not a fan of plaid shirts but for some reason I was compelled to buy this shirt. I need more long sleeved shirts for my Northern move and I have been a Southerner too long, I am going to be so cold! And why it is called the Lumberjack Lauren refashion.

Give me and axe and some wood and I am ready to go chop wood! Well not really. This shirt was a 3X! First thing was to take in the sides. But to do so I have to undo the shirring on the bottom or else it was not going to be pretty! One at a time I pulled the elastic out....

Now pull each one of those elastic puppies out by hand! Actually this was pretty easy!

After pulling them out wow the shirt was huge!

Now time to take it in! I used my dress form to pin down the sides. Then sew!

I serged off the excess material.

Surprisingly the bottom of the top had give to it from the previous elastic. So it was easy to pull over my head.  Here is the end product! :)

 btw I was attempting to swing an axe here

I debulked some of the sleeves too as you can tell. There is still a little bit of room left in the shirt but I will need to be able to layer. I will see how this goes as I wear it in the cold weather. :)

For more of my 90 days to DC posting click here. Until tomorrow people! Wahoo!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 56: McCalls Ruffle Dress

I finally decided to sew this dress up! It is McCalls 6518

I really liked this dress for the fun ruffles on the bodice. I almost finished it on Saturday but then I realized that I needed ribbon for the waist. I had to go to the fabric store to get what I need. I finished  the dress on  Sunday. I was sewing and getting angry. Sigh. But I finished. Here is my end product.

So first off, I don't feel comfortable to wear the dress without the tank top. I cut a 14 and should have cut a 12, b/c I thought I have gained weight and I wanted the dress to fit. The move has me stressing. Apparently I have not gained that much weight. But the dress needs some taking in and up. Otherwise, the pattern is cute. I have read from others that they had issues with the top being a little big. I would like the redesign the top some to cover up more of my dress.

At least I got this post on time! For the rest of my 90 days of posting click here.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 55: The purple top

So I made it and finally got a post done before ten on day 55. Didn't think I could make it. But I did. Ha!

Again one of those, "I can wear this shirt as is" when I purchased the top at Goodwill.

But then I put it on and bleh, it is kind of boring. Sort of big. Not digging the turtleneck. And it was in need of some slimming down. And that is what I did!

First I took it in the sides.

Then I fixed the turtle neck. Basically I took the turtleneck off and folded under the leftover fabric. Sew down by hand so I could regulate the tension.

So slimmer and the turtleneck gone. ahhhh. For the rest of my 90 days of blogging see here. Now to work on tomorrow's post. I expected to get more things done this past weekend. My body had other plans.

xoxoxo,
Lauren