Author Archives: mbajane

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,269 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,908 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …   

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Bread Making Beginner Level Merit Badge, I first had to learn the difference between two very simple, yet very ingenious, common kitchen ingredients: baking soda and baking powder. Hey, they’re not just for brushing your teeth and scrubbing your cutting boards anymore, peeps.

I’m blushing to admit that A) I have never really learned the difference, and B) I have mixed them up more than once. And just a friendly helpful hint from me to you: baking powder does not a Red Devil Cake make.

It turns out the two are amazingly similar: so similar, in fact, that you would think they are interchangeable. But alas … weeping and gnashing of teeth … negative, ghost rider.

Although you can, in a pinch … (Get it? A pinch? A pinch of soda? HA!) … use powder in place of soda, though you would need a larger amount. But vice versa? Just ain’t true, Magoo.

Both are basically sodium bicarbonate, but baking powder has other ingredients as well.

Photo courtesy of Joe Mabel, Wikimedia.com.

Here’s a great explanation from North Carolina State University:

“What’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder? Short answer: acid. But it can make a big difference for baked goods, so let’s explain.

Baking soda has only one ingredient: sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate is a base that reacts when it comes into contact with acids, like buttermilk, yogurt or vinegar. This reaction produces carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the form of bubbles, like a liquid foam (think of the grade school experiments involving fake volcanoes, vinegar and baking soda). When making baked goods, the process is called “chemical leavening,” because the trapped CO₂ gas makes the dough or batter rise.

But when baking soda comes into contact with an acid, it pretty much reacts immediately. And that’s a problem.

For many baking recipes, you want an extended reaction, so that the rising doesn’t take place all at once.

Baking powder addresses this problem because it is “double acting” – it has different ingredients that create CO₂ gas at different stages of the baking process.

All baking powders contain sodium bicarbonate (just like baking soda). But baking powder also contains two acids.  One of these acids is called monocalcium phosphate. Monocalcium phosphate doesn’t react with the sodium bicarbonate while it’s dry. But as soon as the baking powder is stirred into a wet dough or batter, the two ingredients begin to react, releasing bubbles of CO₂ and causing chemical leavening.

But to extend the chemical leavening process, baking powder also contains a second acid, either sodium acid pyrophosphate or sodium aluminum sulfate. Neither of these acids react with sodium bicarbonate until they are both: A) wet (i.e., stirred into the batter) and B) hot.

In other words, sodium acid pyrophosphate and sodium aluminum sulfate won’t start reacting with the sodium bicarbonate until after you’ve put the dough or batter in the oven. This means that the batter rises for a longer period of time, making lots of bubbles (and a fluffier cake, muffin, or whatever).”

Anyway, enough of the science-y stuff, gals. Just call me Jane the Brain.

Onto baking some bread in order to earn my badge … let the smacking of lips begin.

Hermann Sondermann (1832-1901), kehr vom Backhaus via Wikimedia Commons

 

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,188 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,837 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Outpost/Pampered Pets Beginner Level Merit Badge, I was inspired by my new pooch, Mr. Darcy. A lovely (and loving) black Labradoodle, Mr. Darcy was having some joint problems, and some skin problems. Also, he has a flatulence issue that’s eye-watering, to say the least.

Labradoodle by Guy Frankland via Flickr

While I had made a commitment to myself to read food labels, watch my health and diet, switch to organic living, and take my supplements, I hadn’t actually applied my knowledge to my four-legged friends yet.

Mr. Darcy looked up at me, woefully, from his bowl of crunchy, dry, soy-based nuggets one evening. I swallowed my locally sourced rainbow trout and felt guilty.

Not guilty enough to fry him up one of his own, mind you, but darned close. Close enough to let him lick my plate, and close enough to make me promise he wouldn’t have to finish that 50-pound sack of questionable dog food languishing in my garage.

My quest for natural pet care was afoot. As I absentmindedly scratched Mr. Darcy behind his ears the next morning (trying politely to ignore his serious dandruff problem) I thumbed through the yellow pages, which in this day and age means I was surfing the web. First I checked out some testimonies and stories from pet owners who had switched to holistic and natural veterinary habits.

In the beginning, I wasn’t quite sure I understood the idea: would they be sticking needles in Mr. Darcy (I didn’t think he’d go for acupuncture),

Photo by Kyle Hunter via Wikimedia Commons

lighting candles,

Photo by Sander van der Wel via Wikimedia Commons

and practicing yoga with him (not with those hips of his),

Photo by Caroline Klebl via Wikimedia Commons

or chanting things while lighting feathers (he does love a good chicken feather)?

Types de plumes. Larousse pour tous, 1907-1910 via Wikimedia Commons

Naturally, I was being overly dramatic in my assumptions, and I learned this from the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association:

“The (AMVMA) explores and supports alternative and complementary approaches to veterinary healthcare and is dedicated to integrating all aspects of animal wellness in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.” The techniques promoted in holistic medicine are minimally invasive and incorporate patient well-being, lifestyle, and stress reduction. Holistic thinking is centered on love, empathy and respect. Use of blood tests, x-rays, and similar objective diagnostic techniques is minimized in favor of sensitivity to the animal. Nearly every form of medicine and therapy used in alternative medicine for humans is also used in holistic veterinary medicine.

A healthy diet free of additives is central to a holistic approach. Holistic veterinarians believe that, through nutrition, most disease can be prevented.”

Why, that didn’t sound weird at all! In fact, it sounded like common sense. Excitedly, Mr. Darcy and I booked our first appointment with a recommended holistic vet. Although, to be honest, since getting rid of our nasty bag of toxic additives we used to call food, and supplementing with more healthy fare, I’m not sure we’ll even need that appointment … Mr. Darcy’s skin is getting glossy and smooth (and dandruff free) and his joints seem to be those of a puppy’s again. Plus, he hasn’t cleared a room in over a week, if you know what I mean.

Coincidence? You decide.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,188 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,837 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Make It Easy/Candlemaking Beginning Level Merit Badge, I burned my collection of store-bought candles down to the nubbins. Nubs? Stubs? Well, no matter; the point is, waste not, want not, so although I don’t intend to purchase a lot of chemical-laden candles anymore, I still wanted to use up the old stuff (and recycle the containers, of course … wink, wink, nudge, nudge). With the rather confusing and somewhat headache-inducing aroma of Peach-Gardenia-Pine-Maple-Cotton lingering throughout my living room, I settled down for a long winter’s nap some serious researching into the lost art of candlemaking. Three pieces of knowledge were needed for Yours Truly to earn this Beginning Level Badge and I was hot to trot. I was also hot because of all the smoke, but that’s probably a coincidence.

• What kind of wax should I use (or maybe even more importantly, not use)? It turns out, in my digging for the truth, that there are several options. Among the most popular: soy-based, paraffin blend, beeswax, vegetable, and coconut. Now it doesn’t take an Expert Level badge earner to be a little wary of the paraffin wax. (Can I get an amen, sisters?) Paraffin emits all sorts of chemical-laced odors, and that’s not surprising, given that it’s basically a compound of mineral (crude) oil. And if I’m gonna burn my house down while attempting to mask the smell of my jogging shoes, I want it to be organic smoke, right? Ha ha, just a little candle humor there.
• What kind of smelly good stuff should I use? Behind Door #1 we have: essential oils. These come in just about every scent your proboscis can imagine, and if you can’t find the one you’re looking for, you can mix and match. They are a little on the spendy side though, so unless you are, say, making two dozen tea lights and you don’t care that they’re all French Vanilla, you can go for Door #2: open up your pantry/backdoor/garden gate. Lavender … pine needles … coffee beans … cinnamon. But take it from me, not all together in one candle. Lilac Pancakes are just weird. Voice of experience here.
• What kind of coloring should I use? Those leftover tabs of dye from last Easter’s egg debacle? Food coloring? Organic food coloring? Those just might be the bee’s knees (minus the Easter-egg dye), but you know what they’ve been using to dye candles for centuries? Things like paprika, comfrey, beets, tea, rosehip powder, lavender, and spirulina powder. Well, unless you’re looking for a neon green, glow-in-the-dark, totally unnatural color, of course. But if you are, you probably wouldn’t be reading this, would you, my little all-natural beauties?

Armed to the teeth (or rather nose) with my education, I was all set (and uber-excited) to put my information into motion. And my motion into a potion. And my potion into … lotion? Nah, that’s a different badge. Candlemaking Beginner Level Badge: check! Candlemaking Intermediate Level Badge: coming right up …

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/BakeOver MakeOver Expert Level Merit Badge, I was fine-tuning my BakeOver skillz.

To earn this badge, I needed to come up with my own recipes, using BakeOver mixes, for one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner, and one dessert. (Only one dessert? Crikey!) Turns out, I’ve gotten pretty good at these 20-minute delicacies.

Combine that fact with watching a lot of the Food Network, and you’ve got yourself some delish new recipes to try. Yum!

P.S. Let’s face it, farmgirls. I enjoy a crunchy salad as much as the next yoga-lovin’, skinny-latte-sipping gal, but once in a while, I need to lay off the rabbit food and channel my inner cavegirl. Meat and potatoes? Hearty comfort food (but still healthy)? Yep. Bring. It. On.

Breakfast: Spanish Skillet

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Corn Bread, using the BakeOver instructions on the package.
• Sauté 1 large bell pepper, half an onion, a handful of mushrooms, 1 diced jalapeño, and 1 can black beans in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. If you have some leftover taco meat, now’s the time to add it in (a small chorizo link, diced, works well, too). Season to taste with salt, pepper, and maybe a pinch of chili powder and cumin. Toss in some grated sharp cheddar and 4 beaten eggs.
• Place the dough on top of your masterpiece.
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip upside down. Top with salsa if you so desire (and I do)!

Lunch: Cheater Artisan Flatbread “Pizza”

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Focaccia Bread, using the BakeOver instructions on the package.
• Sauté your favorite pizza toppings in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. I used Italian sausage, red onions, spinach, chopped fresh tomatoes (these will taste like your “sauce”), mushrooms, and asparagus. Oh, and garlic! Lots and lots of garlic!
• Season with oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar.
• Top with fresh mozzarella slices, sprinkled with salt.
• Place your dough over your yummy lunch.
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip. If you’re feeling really haute couture, top with arugula that has been drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil.

Dinner: Jambalaya Skillet

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Corn Bread, using the BakeOver instructions on the package.
• Sauté 2 kielbasa links, a handful of leftover chicken, 1 can diced tomatoes (or use fresh), 1 chopped onion, some minced garlic, 2 stalks chopped celery, and a few cleaned shrimp in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. Add enough chicken broth to moisten.
• Season with Cajun seasoning and salt and pepper. Taste. Add hot sauce if you like spicy lips.
• Top with dough (instead of the typical rice).
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip. Serve!

Dessert: Ginger Peach Shortcake

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Prepare Budget Mix^® Organic Buttermilk Biscuits or Budget Mix^® Organic Walnut-Orange Scones, using the BakeOver instructions on the package. Add 1 t powdered ginger.
• Stir together sliced fresh peaches (or any fruit, but peaches go especially well with ginger), brown sugar or honey to sweeten, finely minced fresh ginger, a squeeze of lemon, several pats of butter, and cinnamon in a 9″ cast-iron skillet. (Sprinkle with 2 T flour to thicken if your peaches are especially juicy.)
• Top with dough.
• Bake 20 minutes. Flip. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Sigh contentedly.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Each Other/Greatest Generation Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I was off to visit Gramma Barbie at the Sunny Oaks Retirement Home in Florida. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t just going to earn a new merit badge, I also love me some Gramma time. She’s a hoot. She promised to teach her secret family recipe for Green Bean Casserole, so I set off for Florida, my mouth watering all the way.

The drive gave me plenty of opportunities to think up new life questions for Gramma. Sometimes you know someone so well, you don’t realize what you don’t know. You know? Last time I spent time with her, she almost gave me TMI, if you know what I mean. So this time, I planned to keep her on the straight and narrow,  conversationally speaking.

Turns out, my little plan was derailed by plans of her own. The sneaky woman put me to work organizing old photographs while she gallivanted off with her friends to play bingo. Well, I admit grudgingly, this works too …

Photo by Ricardo Peralta Solis via Wikimedia Commons

By the time Gramma got back (three hours and 20 bucks richer), I had several photo albums filled with old—er, I mean to say vintage—photos, and my tummy was rumbling for some casserole. I let her thumb through my masterpiece while she talked me through her secret recipe:

Green Bean Casserole

Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup Concentrate:
3 T unsalted butter
1 small shallot, minced (about ¼ cup)
½ cup minced crimini mushrooms
2½ T all-purpose flour
½ cup vegetable broth
½ cup whole milk
1 pinch kosher salt
2 pinches freshly ground black pepper

Start by melting the butter in a pan. Add your shallots and sauté till soft. You can add some garlic here too, if you’re feeling wild and crazy and want to stay vampire free. Sprinkle in the flour and whisk. Pour in broth and milk. Let bubble and simmer for about 5 minutes. Season.

Now it’s time to use this baby for some casserole!

Green Bean Casserole:
2 lbs haricot verts (green beans)
1 recipe Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup Concentrate (above)
½ t kosher salt
¼ t coarse black pepper
¼ cup half-and-half
4 T unsalted butter
2 large shallots, peeled and sliced thin

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Season a pot of boiling water with a few pinches of salt. Drop in the beans and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove and immediately plunge the beans into icy water for a minute or two. Remove to a colander and pat dry.

Photo by Warden via Wikimedia Commons

Add the blanched beans to a large bowl. Pour the homemade cream of mushroom soup over top. Season with kosher salt and black pepper and pour in the half-and-half.

Toss the beans around until coated and place them into a 1½ to 2-qt baking dish. Pop into your preheated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the beans are fork tender. Toss the green beans once halfway through baking.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the sliced shallots and stir every so often until they start crisping up. Once they’ve reached a golden color {but not too deep} remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined dish, where they will continue to crisp as they cool.

With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, remove the casserole and top with the shallots. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the shallots turn a deep golden. Watch carefully so they don’t burn. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Slurp.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Recipes Expert Level Merit Badge, I hosted a lover-ly (channeling Eliza Doolittle) dinner party for my nearest and dearest. But not just your average dinner party, with take-out or delivery pizza, oh no! Never let it be said, farmgirls, that this girl doesn’t know how to party.

And by “party,” I mean—of course—eat concoctions made from passed-down family recipes until I burst. I had been collecting the recipes for some time now, preserving them (Get it? Preserves? Like Uncle Ed’s lemon preserves? HA! Just a little Farm Kitchen humor there.), gifting the results, and basically eating myself into a coma. Not really, but it was a close call the weekend I attempted perfecting Great Grandfather’s caramel torte recipe. A helpful note from me to you: too much caramel does not a happy belly make.

Julaftonen by Carl Larsson 1904 via Wikimedia Commons

Anyway …

A dear friend of mine reminded me that not all of us really have families who A. cooked, or B. passed anything down, but I could share some of my kooky family members with you, if you’d like. I mean, let’s face it, some of us have a few more than our fair share, so we’ll be generous. In the words of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace, ”Insanity runs in my family. It practically gallops.”

‘Christmas Comes But Once A Year’ by Charles Green via Wikimedia Commons

Gramma Barbie’s Famous Horseradish Deviled Eggs

PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES
MAKES: 6 EGGS

6 eggs
3 T mayonnaise
1½ T prepared horseradish
¼ t black pepper
¼ t salt

1. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and cover completely with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water.
2. Using a sharp knife, cut off the top third of one unpeeled egg. Carefully scoop out both the egg white and yolk from both sides of the shell into a medium bowl, reserving the larger portion of the shell. Repeat with all eggs.
3. Add remaining ingredients to eggs and mash together until smooth.
4. Spoon or pipe mixture into the reserved shells and decorate as desired.

Aunt MJ’s Glamping Asian Chicken Slaw

PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES    MAKES: 4 SERVINGS
This recipe can be made ahead of time and put in your cooler, or it can be assembled at your campsite.

2 skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
½ cup green onions, thinly sliced
3 T rice vinegar
2 T peanut oil
1 t sesame oil
1 T fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 t sugar

1. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, and onions.
2. Add remaining ingredients and toss to blend. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve as a salad or fill pita pockets.

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Make It Easy/Light the Way Expert Level Merit Badge, I rolled up my flannel sleeves, channeled my inner lumberjack, sharpened my ax (Yes, I have an ax! Farmgirl here, dontcha know?) and got to chopping. Yes, I know, mid-winter isn’t exactly the time of year to be thinking of this chore, but to be honest, I underestimated how much lumber I would need and, truthfully, I can only store so much at one time, right? I mean, I need room on my back porch for craft projects, too. Like my Automatic Needle Threading Machine 3000 (it takes a lot of space).

But now, I’m about to break my own Wood Chopping and Stacking record, all in the name of Merit Badges! And a little in the name of Warm Toes, if we’re honest. Just like Honest Abe.

The Railsplitter. Abraham Lincoln here despicted as a young man chopping wood, 1909, via Wikimedia Commons.

First—since I’m not a young whippersnapper anymore—I stretched. Yes siree, I recommend a good loosening up of the ol’ pectorals, biceps, triceps, and uh … elbowceps? Is there a badge for learning anatomy?

After my short but sweet warm-up session, I did a quick jog around the house a few times to keep my adrenaline pumping and my metabolism working. And by “a quick jog around the house a few times,” I naturally mean, a quick tour of the fridge and the contents therein. Nourishment found and hunger abated, I resolved to get started for real this time.

After a quick cuppa tea.

A girl needs her strength, okay?

Okay, seriously now, I’m down to two pieces of kindling and a demolished chair someone left out by their curb. I really need some firewood, stat.

Stop distracting me, already!

I settled into my chopping with reckless abandon. (That’s just a literary term. Don’t chop wood with reckless abandon, peeps—that would be … well, reckless).

Photo by Kreuzschnabel via Wikimedia Commons

After laying down a good foundation, I started getting fancy with my stacking skillz. That’s right, folks, you’re looking at a Lincoln Log Queen, so don’t think I’m just going to stack the regular way. Leave that to the amateurs! I won’t settle for anything less than a high-quality, awe-inspiring, Taj Mahal of pine. The Eiffel Tower of ponderosa. The Buckingham Palace of fir.

Buckingham Palace? Now I need a tea break.

Isidore Verheyden – Afternoon Tea, 1905 via Wikimedia Commons

*several hours later*

It’s starting to shape up. My pectoids and my trapezius cuffs (??) are burning, but my masterpiece is looking aMAYzing. A little crooked, but that’s alright. Esthetics aren’t everything in this art form. There’s also form, shape, size, weight, imagination, and creativity. And the little dance you do when you get too much bark in your socks. Or when a rogue squirrel flies outta nowhere.

I wasn’t going to stop, by golly, until a neighbor wandered over to say the magical words. You fellow choppers know the ones I’m talking about:

Nice stack you got there, Jane.

Photo by Feci1024 via Wikimedia Commons

Any time now. They’re coming. I can feel it.

Any time.

Squirrel!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,102 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,722 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Homespun Christmas Expert Level Merit Badge (Part II), I lovingly wrapped up the triplets’ homemade holiday gifts, and got to work on the grownup people of my life. There are so many friends I want to shower with presents, it’s hard to know where to start. Thank goodness for large cookie recipes, am I right? It never hurts to have extras lying around the kitchen during the month of December for those drop-ins you might have forgotten to shop for (I mean, craft for). And it never hurts to eat them.

The cookies, I mean.

Ideas …

Heat Therapy Packs for Gramma Barbie
• 1 pillowcase (will make three heat packs)
• Rice
• Essential oils or dried herbs

Cut pillowcase into three even rectangles. Sew bottom(s) closed. Stuff. Hand-stitch opening. Personalize with applique or ribbon/lace, if desired. Include directions to microwave for two minutes.

Photo, http://creativecaincabin.com/2014/07/august-felt-patterns/

Porcupine Pincushion for the sewers in your life
• Felt
• Needle and thread
• Stuffing
• Collection of pins

Cut out the shape of your porcupine, using free Internet downloadable patterns or freestyle your own. It doesn’t have to be a porcupine, of course, but they look adorable with pins … instead of disturbing.

Photo Coasters for family
• 4×4″ tiles (they’re about .16 each at home-improvement stores, such as Lowes, but I see them offered for free on Craigslist.com quite often. Or you might have a stack left over from your last tiling project)
• Mod Podge
• Sponge brush
• Felt
• Photos
• Clear acrylic spray

Trim your photo and felt to exactly match the size of your tiles. Glue felt to the bottom of the tile with regular glue, and the photo to the top with the Mod Podge and your sponge brush. Mod Podge the top of your photo as well. It will dry clear, so just use a nice, thin coat. After it dries, waterproof your masterpiece with the clear acrylic spray. Adorbs!

Coffee/Tea Hot Cup Sleeves for your warm beverage drinkers
• A coffee sleeve from your friendly neighborhood barista to use as a pattern
• Felt
• A cute button
• A small piece of grosgrain ribbon
• Hot glue, or needle and thread

Using your cardboard sleeve as a pattern, cut your felt to size. (If you’re a knitter, you could skip the felt and knit your coffee sleeve instead). Glue or sew your button on one side and your ribbon on the other. Mmm! Did somebody suggest a Candy Cane Mocha with whip?

Photo by MarissaHuber via Flickr.com

Leg Warmers/Boot Socks for the Fashion Divas in your life
• A sweater
• A bit of lace

Remove the arms of your sweater for the legs of your warmers. Attach lace to the top. (An alternative adornment to lace would be a couple large buttons.) Hem edges to prevent fraying (depending on fabric).

What’s more fun: making these gifts, giving them, or getting them? Let me know!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,102 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,722 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Homespun Christmas Expert Level Merit Badge, I had really exercised some patience. I had to wait a whole year after earning my Beginning and Intermediate Level badges!

Luckily, Christmas comes each year, on the dot, lickety-split, ready or not, and I was prepared. (Not like a few holidays past, when I kinda forgot to be prepared and had to do my shopping at the Quick-E Mart on Christmas Eve. Nothing says Happy Holidays like a can of soda and an air freshener, am I right?)

Having made a whole tree-full of ornaments already, I only needed to add to my collection. Because, let’s be honest, when it comes to Christmas and merry making, more is more, right, girls? You know it’s true.

In addition to strictly decorating my Blue Spruce with handmade adorableness, I was also making all my gifts. Yep. These two hands of mine were going to be busy this season—and happy, too. You know the old expression, Idle hands are the devil’s handiwork Busy hands are jolly hands. That’s a saying, right? Hello?

To focus and share a few favorites of my handmade goodies this year, I concentrated first on the little rugrats of my life: Midge’s triplets. Three different homemade presents for three different kiddos. Here’s what I came up with:

A Fort Kit

• A queen- or king-sized sheet (Okay, okay, you got me. I didn’t exactly make the sheet, but I was fresh out of silkworms, all right?)

• A headlamp (These are inexpensive at around $5. I thought of going more old-school and using a candle, but I was fairly certain Midge would have my head. Right after the firemen left.)

• A stack of art supplies or books

• A pillow

• Clothespins and thumbtacks (for anchoring the sheet)

• Snacks (homemade, naturally)

The fun part of these Fort Kits is customizing them. You can use a gingham or calico sheet, a lace pillow, and a stack of Little House books for the little girl in your life, or you could use a Star Wars sheet and a glow-in-the-dark LightSabor instead of a lamp for your little men. A striped blanket, some Circus coloring books, and a box of Animal Crackers would be totally adorable … how cute are these?

Spy Kit

In a homemade bag similar to one you would use for keeping knitting needles (you know the kind—folds flat, has seams for sliding in needles), put:

• A makeup brush
• A stamp pad
• Scotch tape
• String
• A magnifying glass
• A small penlight
• A collection of disguises (cut-out mustaches, masks, a pair of old glasses, etc.)

Homemade Christmas Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 t cream of tartar
• 2 T coconut oil
• 1 cup water

In a medium saucepan, whisk together dry ingredients. Next, mix in the water and oil and stir until a thick batter is formed. Cook the mixture over low/medium heat until a thick dough forms. Turn out onto parchment paper and knead until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of dough.

Christmas customizations:

• Gingerbread Playdough: Add cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg to your ingredients.
• Peppermint Playdough: Add peppermint extract and red food coloring (optional, they do make an organic version) to your ingredients.
• Pumpkin Pie Playdough: Add pumpkin pie spice and orange food coloring (optional, they do make an organic version) to your ingredients (the more, the better when it comes to your spices)
• Glitter Playdough: Add one bottle of glitter to each batch and knead in.
• Snickerdoodle Playdough: Add lots of cinnamon to your ingredients.
• Chocolate Playdough: Use half cocoa powder and half flour.

Now that the littlest minions were taken care of, it was time to make some more grown-up gifts … stay tuned!

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,102 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—8,722 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ 

For this week’s Stitching and Crafting/Nellie Will-Do Intermediate Level Merit Badge, I was excited to kill two birds with one stone, figuratively speaking, naturally. The first bird: earning a new Merit Badge with my crafty, sewing skillz. The second bird: bulking up my fashionista closet.

Eva Rinaldi Photography via Wikimedia Commons

Now those are two things I can get behind. Can I get an Amen?

I’d been hearing a lot about re-fashion. Like up-cycling, and re-cycling, you might say, but this type of doing good for your planet makes US look good, too. Win, win! How can you, too, earn this badge and look at clothing differently? I’m so glad you asked.

• At garage sales, thrift shops, or whenever you get some hand-me-downs from your friends, look at the pieces with new eyes. Use your imagination. Do you love the color, but the size is wrong? Maybe the fabric is fabulous, but the shorts are too short? Or the dress is great, except for the outdated Peter Pan collar? Perhaps the blouse has a stain on one sleeve? All is not lost, farmgirls! RE-FASHION!
• Now that your imagination is sparked, get out the ol’ sewing machine. Start small, like a skirt that’s way too long for your petite stature. Hemming is easy-peasy, lemon-squeasy. What if it’s the opposite problem, though? Shorts that are far too short? They can be saved, chickadee. A ruffle of lace at the bottom, and voila! Denim and lace are uber-adorable together (and totally in fashion this year, too). Don’t stop there with your jeans and lace combo—peekaboo lace patches in holey Levis are the bee’s knees.
• Once you’ve started to get the hang of it, try something a bit more difficult. Say, a huge dress that was in style 20 years ago (no judgments!). Start by taking it in. Maybe remove the sleeves altogether. Add a chunky belt. Saweet!

Photo by Ricardo peralta solis via Wikimedia Commons

• Know what you can do with a cable-knit sweater that doesn’t fit? The arms become leg warmers (so cute poking out the top of boots) and the torso part becomes a matching skirt. Didn’t see that one comin’, did ya?
• A man’s button-up shirt is a timeless lady’s dress. Take in slightly, or simply belt: this one doesn’t even really need sewing!
• Baggy pajama pants with a favorite pattern can be taken in and tightened to be your very own patterned skinny pants—so in vogue.
• Boring T-shirts can be jazzed up with a big bow in the back, lace down the sides, or re-fashioned into a halter tank. You can even stencil your favorite quote and have a one-of-a-kind “statement T.”
• Adding elbow patches in a heart or moon shape is a charming way to add style to a plain, long-sleeve shirt or jacket.
• Women’s cardigans can easily be transformed into a little girl’s sweater dress, and small ladies’ blouses can be reworked into toddler dresses.

Who knew, am I right? The possibilities are fantastic, and so is the fashion!