Pumpkin fun

This past fall my aunt gave use several pumpkins.  One thing nice about pumpkins is they keep for long time.  I shared a few, and then cut and cooked three for our use over the winter.  We love making pumpkin bread, especially on cold mornings.  It helps warm up the kitchen.  Hannah and Beth were happy to help.

Before cutting.  This was a smaller pumpkin compared to the others that my aunt gave us.

 Cut in half

 

They had fun removing the seeds.  We saved the seeds to roast later. 

 

I cut it into smaller pieces so it would cook faster.

 

Then we put them into a large pan with a few cups of water.  

I brought it to a boil and simmered about 20-30 minutes until the pumpkin was soft.  

  I covered the pan and let the pumpkin cool slowly.

 

After it was cool enough to handle, we peeled it, smashed it up and put it in freezer bags. 

 

Then we labeled it and put it in the freezer.

 

Now we're ready to make some pumpkin bread.  The great thing about pumpkin bread is that you can use almost any kind of flour and no one can taste the difference or see a difference in texture unless you use something really odd.    

PS. To see more of what we are creating, please visit CreatedByOurClan on etsy. Thanks.

Patchwork skirt

Recently we were given a bag of fabric scraps.  Beth wanted to make a skirt or dress from some of the browns but there wasn't enough of any one color and it had odd angles. Finally, I had an idea of making patches and sewing them together.  

First, I cut rectangles 7"x11"  (Next, time I think I'll do 7"x10")

Then I pinned the patches together.

 Next, I let Beth and Hannah sew them.  This was great practice for them.  It is a short straight line.  They enjoyed it, and I saw an improvement in their ability to sew straight.

 

 After they finished sewing, I serged all the edges.

  Instead of doing gathering stitches, I put in little tucks semi-evenlly around the skirt.

 To finish it, I hemmed the bottom, and made a casing for 1" inch elastic.

 I have a large safety pin that I use for pulling the elastic through the casing.

 

The finished product!!!!

 

This was a fun project and Hannah is already planning to make a similar skirt with blue material.  Have you ever done a similar project?  What do you do with leftover material?  I'd love to hear your ideas.  Please let me know in the comments.

PS. To see more of what we are creating, please visit CreatedByOurClan on etsy.