Threadbared - the book

Clicky-clicky. Snort! Click, tap. Choking back laugh, shoulders shaking. Ding, buzz, click-click. Guffaw, LOL.
This book held its own against an irritating Junior League type mom on her iPhone while in my daughter's orthodontist waiting room. I made the almost fatal error of beginning with the Crafts chapter and had to quickly flip over to the 40's and 50's decades. Which were just as funny. Taken from their now-archived website, Threadbared and with additional new material, Kimberly Wrenn and Mary Watkins will leave you in stitches. Even the book page edges are worn and discolored to look like the vintage books, patterns and instructions.

Threadbared - Decades of Don'ts from the Sewing and Crafting World ISBN 0-307-34207-7 Library Call No. 746.0207 W335

First sewing project of the New Year!

A hamper liner?! Well, ya gotta start somewhere. I love my Pier One hamper, but I also knew the cotton tie-in liner was not long for this world. I simply used the measurements and recreated a new one out of stash yardage. And it was good practice for sewing/serging a rectangle bottom to a length of fabric.

Not only did this reignite my sewing mojo and reset my to-do list, but in the process of grabbing this stash fabric, I found the fabric I wanted to use for my next sewing project - another Sandra Betzina Today's Fit Vogue 2945.

Update January 13 -- and here it is. I think it has a bit of a Betsey Johnson feel. Maybe it even is, the store I bought it at does carry her fabrics.

Pattern Sale

Hobby Lobby has Simplicity patterns for 99 cents, Monday through Saturday this week.

Netflix Stars - Be Kind Rewind

3/5 - Overall, not that bad. We did manage to watch it all the way through. But it was all over the place - from odd, to funny, to serious, to sentimental. A lot like Jack Black, in fact. However, there are a lot of hidden messages, some subtle, some not.

Netflix Stars - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2/5 Glad we didn't spend the money to see this in the theaters. We all agreed this was the worst in the series. I liked and could follow the earlier movies. I fell asleep trying to watch this one. Probably best suited for true HP fans, and those who have read and loved the book.

Costco Sewing Finds!

Costco now carries Threads magazine, 30% off. And I found this neat sewing calendar for $8.59 - over 100 new sewing projects. They look fun, easy, and do-able throughout the year.

Netflix Stars - Cashmere Mafia

3.75/5 stars - The only season covers seven episodes in two DVD's. You can tell it's from "Sex and The City's" Darren Star. Too bad it fell victim to the writer's strike and the competition of "Lipstick Jungle" LOVE Lucy Liu's wardrobe!

Netflix Stars - Extract

1/5 - How did Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig, Mila Kunis get stuck with this? And written by Mike Judge, of "King of the Hill," yet. Loosely based upon Adams Extract in Austin. We ditched this about 15 minutes in, about 10 minutes longer than we should have.

Happy New Year!!!

(Isn't this pretty? It's from Christmashat)

H(app)y Days - Foodie Apps!

I've basically created a separate App page on my iPod Touch with these Food and Recipe apps!

Serving Sizer - This is quite handy, literally. You can adjust by serving size, halve, double, triple or custom. A keeper!

All Recipes.com Dinner Spinner - Spin and match in three categories - Dish type, Ingredients, Ready In (which also includes Slow Cooker). It even makes a spinning sound. Love this one, too!

Woman's Day Cooking Assistant - At the top you'll get recipes from the sponsor - this month, Knorr. There are also almost daily entries with recipes. You can search within the app by Cuisine, Course, Main Ingredient, Cooking Method, Holiday recipes, Quick & Easy, Budget recipes and Low Calorie. Also a shopping list and Tips & Tools (cooking time calculator, kitchen equipment, vegetable prep, weights and measurements, herbs and spices dictionary, and kitchen tips). Another favorite!

Betty Crocker Mobile Cookbook - I love Betty Crocker's recipes and cookbooks. You can search recipes or search by ingredient. Special button tabs for "Surprise Me" "Favorites" and "Email" (I like that feature). So far, all of these are staying on the top row.

Food Network - Red and black "Nighttime" page shows up with the channel's shows. Yes, but wait - Click on the show and it lists episodes with video excerpts. Whoa! Click on the Recipes tab and you can search Foodnetwork.com's recipes. The loaded current page is "Our Holiday Favorites" with Appetizers, Mains, Sides, Baking, Desserts, Leftovers and Browse Holiday Videos categories. The On TV tab gives you today's programming. Click on the More tab and get "Most Viewed, Latest Videos, Highest Rated, Search, Favorites and Share App. I clicked on Share App and got the message box "Exit App to Share? Cancel /OK" Which takes you to your iTouch inbox to send a link for the app to your friends. This will stick around for awhile, too.

Big Oven - This app connects you to BigOven.com website with over 170,000 recipes. There is an active ad bar on the bottom of the page. Probably the most "meh" one.

McCormick Recipe Finder - Browse and Search Recipes buttons, along with one to star your favorites. The Browse button takes you to Recipe Collections (featuring McCormick spices, natch) with a good number of recipes per category including Appetizers and Snacks, Beverages, Breads and Muffins, Breakfast and Brunch, Casseroles, Desserts, Gravies/Sauces/Condiments, Main Dish, Other, Salads, Side Dish, Slow Cooker, Soups, Vegetables. Breads and Muffins had 28 recipes alone. Bonus points for the slow cooker recipes. You could get lost in this app for awhile.

Epi Epicurious - Search/Favorites/Shopping List tabs. Categories on main page are Weeknight
Dinners, Decadent Dessserts, Cool Cocktails, Healthy Lunches, and product-sponsored Beer+Food Duos (Stella Artois) and Holiday Helpings (Helmann's). Wonder if they will change? For the many, many recipes (Healthy Lunches had 396), it loads very quickly and smoothly.

Spark Recipes - Healthy Recipes - Browse by category -- Course, Cuisine, Dietary Needs, Occasion -- and subcategories. Bottom tabs include star Favorites and Videos. The recipe and technique videos are by Chef Meg Galvin, along with the recipes. Honestly, I've never heard of her before. This app will be fun to poke around in, though.

Whole Foods - Like that "On Hand" tab along with the Search, Favorites, Locations and List ones. Search with pull down menus by Course/Category/Special Diets and the ubiquitous app spinner wheel. I'm not sure what its official term is. I've found it on many apps.

Simply Organic - I have seen this brand in different stores. This app has recipes, random recipe spin and coupons you can have them email to you. 20 recipe categories, a shopping list, store finder (though I think driving 165 miles to Corpus Christi for one location is a bit much!)

Fresh Fruit - Save money and keep the best taste with this app. It features each month's best fresh fruit with lots of cool information. The Search or the All buttons helps you find "strawberries" listed directly instead of flipping through the months. No recipes.

Urbanspoon - When you want to eat out instead of at home!

Thursday Tea Time

This week: Allegro Nilla Nut Dream

Cost: $4.99 at Whole Foods

Number of teabags: 20 - individually wrapped in paper envelopes. Odd, given that Whole Foods is all about less paper waste, but the box is designed with an alternative half-moon opening for individual dispensing. The teabag also has the drawstring feature to help force out the extra water - but it promptly pulled right out.
Caffeine: Yes
Type of tea: Black, organic
Steeping time: 3-5 minutes, I did 4
Double Dipper potential: Didn't try
Mix ins: Honey, milk, a sprinkle of cinnamon -- I sort of followed their directions for a "Tea Latte" to that extent, but not using their suggested two (!) teabags in 8 ounces.
Teabag fragrance: Very faint - vanilla, hazelnut, maple?
Ingredients: Organic black tea with vanilla, hazelnut, maple and cinnamon natural flavorings.
Taste: Smooth, but with an odd, bitter aftertaste
My opinion: I was surprised I wasn't that thrilled with it. I bought it for the idea of a "Tea Latte" and the cinnamon and maple flavorings, but didn't really taste anything outstanding. The surprisingly unpleasant aftertaste - : P

Rating: 0.5 teabags out of 5. 0.5 given only because it is organic and I like their idea of adding a sprinkle of cinnamon to the other teas I like. (Maybe even a dash of cocoa powder, too?)

It's not too late --

To download and visit this year's holiday cookies at http://www.butterisbest.com/ ! Click here for the direct link. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. Eight new cookie recipies, which sound good to me anytime of the year:

• Mount Rainier Macaroons
• Wintermint Wafers
• Almond Butter Buckeyes
• Apple Cider Buttons
• Gold Rush Bars
• Pistachio Biscochitos
• Chocolate Butter Pecans
• Bananas Foster Bars

Netflix Stars - 500 Days of Summer

3/5 - It was OK. I didn't think it lived up to the hype. Still an interesting movie, though. Loved Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance and seeing the romantic tables turned. And I loved Summer's retro wardrobe - all in shades of blue.

Head's Up!

THUNK! Was how I started my day yesterday. Falling out of bed and landing on my head. No small feat given these new beds and mattress sets are up high (30") and the new comforter on top of the higher count sheets (thank you, Costco for stocking those sateen sheets at such a good price) made for a slippery slope. Fortunately I broke my fall somewhat with my arms and missed the nightstand, but still knocked myself upside the left side of my head.

So plans to regroup and reboot the sewing room will begin anew today. I safely got out of bed this morning. . .

Next time, a kick in the pants will suffice, thank you.

Netflix Stars - Paper Heart

5/5! Could not stop smiling and laughing for the entire movie! A docu-medy on "true love", you can watch the real-life romance blossom between Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera, from the very first time they meet. SO CUTE!!! If you liked the couples on "When Harry Met Sally," you will love this.

H(app)y Days - Fashion Apps!

Fashion edition! (All these apps are free!)

Macy's iShop - Fun to shop the different departments, check out the sales and see what the top-starred items are...but the main reason I snagged this app was for the In-store Savings Pass. However, it remains to be seen first, if and when there is a pass available, I'm getting the message to check back later. And secondly, if the store will accept a flash of the iTouch. I have problems enough with the clerks taking the newspaper's coupons. There are also updated coupon codes for online shopping.

Style.com - Fashion show videos, "Look of the Day" and Style File, a source of fashion blogs with updated posts -- Wherein you can get a peek at the White House Blue Room's Christmas tree skirt, designed by Natalie Chanin - bonus!

Chic Feed - Photos from The Sartorialist, Face Hunter, Jak and Jill Blog, Cherry Blossom Girl, LookBook and Altamira. However, you have to scroll through them all unless you adjust the settings. Takes a long time to load. This app is getting deleted.

Channel - Grab if only for the logo icon! You get the fashion shows, news (load time is very slow and you need to be wifi'd) and store locator (as if, but I'll be ready!)

Net-a-Porter - I like how it is divided into What's New -- all, clothing, bags, shoes, accessories; the magazine -- if only to get a head's up on the cutting edge.

Netflix Stars - Body of Lies

3.5/5 - Ooh, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe (albeit a little pudgy). And you usually can't go wrong with an up-to-date, suspenseful, political thriller movie by Ridley Scott.

Netflix Stars - Taking Woodstock

0/5 - This was just stinko! We gave it 15 minutes, which was probably 10 minutes longer than we should have because we usually like Eugene Levy and wanted to see Mamie Gummer, Meryl's daughter. We gave up and put it back in the envelope. Maybe it got better? Maybe not. Another case of the trailers being better than the movie.

Susan Boyle album for $3.99!

Amazon is having another $3.99 MP3 album download deal for the Susan Boyle "I Dreamed A Dream" All 12 songs for $3.99!

H(app)y Days - Newsy

More cool apps I've found for my new iPod Touch!

New York Times - The latest headlines, plus most popular/most emailed article links. Sections include World, U.S., Politics, NY, Business, Technology, Science, Health, Opinion, Sports, Arts, Books, Movies, Fashion and Style, Dining, Travel, Real Estate, Automobiles, Obituaries, Week in Review, and T Magazine. Bonus points for all the content and fast loading.

Conserva - Fox News, Drudge Report Lite, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Washington Times, headline feeds and links. I got this mostly for Drudge Report Lite and for Fox News. The Fox links can be a little pokey. Fox News Radio has TuneKast and you can listen live. Not a bad overall news app.

USA Today - Has The Weather Channel weather for your current location and favorite locations. Surprisingly this app loads fast.

AccuWeather - I know there is already a preloaded local weather app, but I like the additional AccuWeather one. It gives hourly and 15 day forecasts, plus has Risk (disruptive weather potential for t-storms, rain, snow, ice, wind and fog) , Alarms and Alerts (National Weather Service advisories, warnings, watches). Always a great conversation starter, the weather.

Drudge Pro - Loads faster than clicking on Drudge Report Lite via Conserva and you get the photos.

Times Square Live - Webcam feeds from Times Square. This is just fun! It was really cool to see the snow the other day.

GeoCamera2 - After getting all excited about the Times Square Live app, I found this one with Global webcam feeds. It's a little hard to figure out right away (and slow to load). I'm still in the "Let's push this button" phase.

iNet - One app, lots of links. Search engines, news, email, social networks, magazines and more. I am having fun going to the local TV news webpage links all across the country.

TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog - News, App Reviews, Accessories