Long before Pinterest

I am the first to admit, the idea of stamping with fruit or vegetables is not a new concept.  My mom claims that when I was in school, I actually made these as well.  And, let me tell you, that was LONG before pinterest and blogs.

Though the idea isn't original, it still is fun and...

for this little girl it is still an original idea.

So we stamped with the rind of celery...

A lemon...

And an apple.  My personal favorite because we glued the apple seeds onto our apple prints.

When we were done stamping, we used our scraps and fixed a snack. 

Ants on a log, another idea that has been around longer than pinterest that continues to be a novelty for each new generation introduced to them.

I heart fake food - Lemon Tutorial

When life gives you yellow felt, make lemons!

Supplies:Yellow and Green Felt
Fiber fill
Green thread and needle
Pattern (you can enlarge the picture below or download it here)

Using the pattern provided, cut the body of the lemon out of yellow felt and the stem/leaves of the lemon out of green felt.

Start by arranging 2 pieces of the lemon body together. Using a sewing machine, sew down one side of the pieces you have arranged together. Make sure to leave ¼ of an inch open from the top.

It will look like this...

Continue arranging the pieces of lemon body together, sewing each new side together. Conclude by sewing the last sides together, closing the lemon {leaving a 1/4 of an inch open at the top of the lemon}.

When all sides have been sewn together...

carefully pull the bottom of the lemon through 1/4 inch opening, turning your lemon right side out.

Generously stuff your lemon with fiberfill.

Grab your stem/leaves, the sewn and stuffed body of the lemon and green thread and needle.

Using the green thread, sew the top of your lemon closed. This will be covered with the stem/leaves, so the green stitches will not show and does not need to look perfect.

Tact down the stem of leaves.

Continue sewing around the entire stem, pulling the thread to give a knob shape, like you have on the bottom of your lemon.

Pull the needle up through the center of the stem.

Make a thick French knot. This provides no real purpose other than visual.

Using the same needle and thread, pull the needle back into the French knot and re-emerge the needle down the center of one of the leaves. Embroider up the center of the leaf, attaching it with each stitch to the body of the lemon.

With each new embroidery stitch, pull your thread tight. This will pull the sides of your leaves up, giving it more shape.

Repeat these steps for the remaining leaf.

Now that it's done, I give you my

you'll love these lemons.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, make sure to check out my other felt food tutorials as well.

Banana Bread

My bananas are fully ripe, which sounds so much nicer than they actually appear, so it's time to make some banana bread!

The tried and true banana bread recipe I use originated from Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter Cookbook.

I recently started to modify this banana bread recipe. I like to add 3/4 a cup of blueberries {I've used 3/4 a cup of dried cranberries instead of blueberries and that is equally as yummy}. I also like to add the juice of half a lemon to provide a brighter flavor.

In the past I had prepared my loaf pan with Pam non stick spray, but now I butter my pan and...

coat it with powdered sugar {I see the irony, since I am using a dieter's recipe and adding things that are obviously not low cal}. When I make brownies or chocolate cake, I butter my pan and coat it with cocoa powder.

Then, in goes my banana bread batter and the waiting begins.

45 minutes later, golden and delicious, my banana bread is ready. For a family of only 3, you'd be surprised how quickly this disappears!

I love when the house smells like banana bread. It's one of the rare June Clever moments I have in life.