Weekly Planner - Hot Dogs

Hot Dog Weekly Menu by Stacci Slayton Hamilton

Pink Lemon Chiffon: Carrot Sweet Potato Cake

When I was a young adult, I stumbled upon a 1987 Southern Living Annual Recipes cookbook that became my favorite very quickly.  I had often seen Southern Living magazines on the shelf or at the library and was always so impressed with the very genteel and sophisticated version of life the beautiful pages presented.  Each month is essentially a chapter and represents food indicative to the south such as pecan pie for November.  Each month, I would read through the pages and fantasize about hosting an elaborate dinner party.  The recipes were not exotic like those found in Julia Child's French cookbook, and the ingredients were found easily in the south.  Think Paula Deen 26 years ago.  At my recent visit to the Goodwill Blue Hanger store, I found a 2001 version.  It is in pristine condition, and I have been itching to try out some new recipes.

I had a bag of carrots in the fridge that needed to be used......too many for afternoon snacking.  I also had 2 sweet potatoes left from the holiday.  I found recipes for Carrot and for Sweet Potato cakes but not for both, so I improvised.  The result was amazing.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1 1/2 cups flour  
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
3/4 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato


Beat brown sugar and butter until creamy.  Add eggs and lemon extract, beating well.
Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until just moistened.  Stir in raisins, carrots and mashed sweet potato.  Spread evenly into a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in middle comes our clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Top with cream cheese frosting.
Garnish with shaved carrot curls.

Scrapbooking for Beginners

Scrapbooking for Beginners by Stacci Slayton Hamilton

Shab Couture - Giveaway #1

I have been fairly busy with lots of holiday gifts / decorating / entertaining lately.  Even though I have wanted to blog more, I have spent the last 6 months getting the FB page up and going.  I have a small following right now, and I hope to increase that in the next 6 months.  It takes some time  - and patience.  I majored in the liberal arts, after all.  All this business stuff seems like a foreign language.

Back to the important stuff.

I chose the name "Shabby 'Round the Corner", and when I am asked why, I just smile.  The teacher in me wants to make others develop good research skills.  Why give the answer away?

I will be giving away a  book-page flower tag for the first person to correctly answer a riddle.

Thanks to Stephanie Lynn for the inspiration.

What classic is 'Round the Corner an allusion to?

Post your answer as a comment here on the blog.  Only comments on the blog will be considered.

Good luck..........!

Shab Couture: Heating Pad Cover

When I was re-vamping my bedroom, I noticed my heating pad sitting on my side table one day and decided it needed re-vamped, too.  The dull blue cover with white snap (that never stayed snapped) didn't fit in well with my shabby decor.

I found a piece of flannel toile and quickly made a sleeve to slide the pad into.  The result was too cute.

Recently, I decided to make a cover for a friend's very tired pad.

Check out some other cute finished products:

Quilted Version

Crocheted Version

Step by Step Instructions

Blueberry Lemonade: Upcycled Washcloths

Several years ago when I was just married and had purchased our first house, I saw these beautiful towels and washcloths at a Dillard's in the mall of Abilene.  Essentially, the towels were just decorated with a strip of accenting fabric and lace.  The price tag for each one was well over $20.  It was more than I was willing to spend.

So, I designed my own.  With some scraps I had and a towel in my own linen closet, I made my first prototype.  I have made these now for over 20 years as gifts, to extend my linens or to add some punch to a boring bathroom.  Adding some accent fabric is a quick fix and will allow for multiple re-decoratings.  My daughters are forever changing their minds about the bathroom decor.

Recently, I decided to try to extend the life of some washcloths that were beginning to fray on the edges.  I had plenty of shabby chic fabric pieces, so I set out to make some old-fashioned and functional washcloths.  The result was amazing.  I decided to upcycle linens for my daughters for Christmas.

Gather the linens to upcycle.  Lay them out and examine for frayed edges.  Trim the tag and any frayed edge.

Next, layout the accent fabric on the selected linen.  For a washcloth, I use the washcloth as the pattern and just cut out around it.  For hand and bath towels, decide what pattern of strips to use.

For these hand towels, I used a smaller strip of the blue and a larger strip of the zebra print.

For towels:  fold over the edges of the strips and pin flat.
For washcloths: pin the accent fabric to the washcloth.  A zig-zag stitch will finish the edges.

Stitch.
For towels:  use a straight stitch all the way around.  Notice in the picture that the strips of fabric hang over the edge.  That's ok.  Stitch using the towel as the reference.

For washcloths:  stitch once all the way around with a straight stitch.  Then, go back over it with a zig-zag stitch.

Once the stitching is complete, remove all pins.
Use pinking shears to cut off the excess fabric.  I cut right up to the edge of the stitch.  Now is a good time to check that stitches did not fall off the edges and restitch for any gaps.

Carefully trim an extra hanging threads.

Once the product is laundered, you may need to trim again.

 Notes:  If you truly UPCYCLE, your linens will not be crisp and new looking.  From my pictures, you can see the splatter of paints for when the washcloth had been used as a brush rag for some art project.  I did not catch this when I initially sorted the linens.

Also, if you want more clean edges, you can spend some time folding over before pinning.

For washcloths, you can sew the two pieces together and leave a small gap.  Then, turn inside itself.  You would need to roll, pin, press and then stitch around the edge.  This will make a very neat, clean edge.  If you are planning on gifting, this might be your best option.

 Here is the finished product.  I made 3 bath and 2 hand towels and 4 washcloths for my daughter for Christmas.

To place an order:  https://www.facebook.com/ShabbyRoundTheCorner

Blueberry Lemonade - Shabby Chic cake plate

I have seen a few examples online of handmade cake plates, and for about 3 months, I scoured shops - junk, vintage, consignment - looking for components to make my own.  I finally gave up.  That is when I literally stumbled onto the two pieces I used to make my own Shabby Chic cake plate.

I wish now I had taken pictures before..........I will know better for next time.

I used a wooden candlestick that had one of those pins in it to secure the candle.  With a lil force, I removed the pin and then spray painted.  I sprayed on a thin layer of varnish to seal.  Then, I glued the plate on the top using gorilla glue.  I have used this cake plate for almost everything lately.

My quest is to make several more this summer and upload to my etsy store.

To order:  https://www.facebook.com/ShabbyRoundTheCorner