If You Give A Mouse a Cookie

Hello!

Today, I'm re-posting my Once Upon a Thread  guest post on No Big Dill from last week. I have earlier guest posts that I want to re-post as well, but I got a few requests for my chocolate chip cookie recipe.

See the end of the post for the recipe. Have a great day!
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I have to admit. When I got the email from Katy asking me to participate in Once Upon A Thread, my heart just about leaped out of my chest. I absolutely loved the spring edition of this series and am beyond thrilled to take part for this round. Katy is someone I really look up to. She is such a wonderful source of inspiration in so many ways. Her taste is impeccable, her numerous talents- envious, and her writing is intelligent and witty. Most inspiring to me...are her mothering skills which I hope to emulate one day.

For my post today, I chose one of my favorite books...

It's one of my three year old's new favorites as well. There's something magical about sharing a book you loved as a child with your own children; and it's even more rewarding when they love it too. 

"If you give a mouse a cookie,

he's going to ask for a glass of milk."

"When you give him the milk,

he'll probably ask you for a straw."

My little mouse didn't ask for a napkin, although he probably should have.  :)
 

Taking some inspiration from the mouse's overalls, I came up with some of my own...

Now, I searched every fabric store in town and online for a good overalls pattern. I couldn't find any in the stores and the online patterns were going to cost more than my fabric. Didn't want to go that direction. So...I took MADE's pant pattern and added some overalls elements to it.

Sorry...no tutorial but you can kind of see what I did from these pictures here.
I sketched the additional paper patterns and used them to make a cloth prototype out of some old bed sheets. This step allowed me to try it on my son before I cut into my more expensive corduroy. It also helped me play around with the design more effectively.

I still had to tweak and edit as I went {which is why there is no tutorial}, but I have to say the process was really fun.

I went back and forth about using denim like the mouse's overalls. In the end I chose to use this nice gray corduroy instead, and I'm quite happy with it.

This is honestly the most care I have put into a garment to date. Every raw seam was zig-zagged {still dreaming about owning a serger}, many of the seams were reinforced and sewn flat. It was such a rewarding endeavor for me.

Taking the time to sew and sew with care is something this project has taught me I need to do more often.

To make my button holes I used this tutorial from Grosgrain.

To sew on my buttons I used this technique from Ruffles and Stuff. Once you sew a button on this way, you may never go back. I haven't.

I also made a large puffy cookie pillow prop. 

It's just tan felt sewed into a cookie shape and stuffed sparingly with poly-fill batting. I peppered it with little sewn knots and then hot glued brown "chips" on. 

This picture reveals the mouse's back pockets.

I loved the striped detail on the pockets, so I added some to my overalls using thin gray bias tape.

It's my favorite part...that and the back buttons.

 After I finished making these overalls and a batch of cookies for my 'mouse,' I felt quite a bit like the little boy from the end of the book...

but most things that are worth doing will do that to you.

Thanks for letting me play along Katy!

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Chocolate Chip Cookies
{from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook with a few notes from me}

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
16 tablespoons {2 sticks} unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolks
1 TBSP. vanilla extract
1 12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips { I also add 1 c. of walnuts chopped}

1. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and heat over to 325 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugars in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until combined - 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in chocolate chips {and nuts}.
4. Line baking sheets with parchment. I often just spray them with a light mist of canola oil. The recipe recommends 1/4 c. sized balls for large cookies. This works great. Often larger cookies dry out because you have to cook them so long. These don't. Still, I like to make them smaller because they are easier to eat and a more appropriate size for my kids to snack on. I use tablespoon size balls and put about 12-15 on a pan.
5. Bake for 12-17 minutes switching and rotating baking sheets halfway during baking time. Pull them out when the edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy.  Let them cool on the baking sheets 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!