Handcrafts from some creative friends

Here are some special handcrafted items I would like to share with all of you. They were gifts from some of my very creative friends for a recent birthday. It is really fun to have friends who are creative because we all tend to inspire one another, even if we live at a distance. Hopefully you will be inspired by their creativity as much as I have been!

Here is a birthday card made by my friend J. I love its vintage look!

Here's a scan of the same card so you can see the details better. Love the scallop-y edge and the pearl cotton threaded through and tied in a little bow! Perfect finishing touch with that illustration.

J. also made me a hotpad with some vintage fabric and using a vintage pattern. The yellow strawberry print goes perfectly in my kitchen!

Here's the back, to show the pretty design.

Here's a bookmark which J. also made and added to the package. One of my favorite verses here!

And the back of the bookmark which she made using some embossed scrapbook paper. J. made a bookmark just like this for herself.

My friend Mrs. D also made me a hotpad with a strawberry theme! Isn't that fun? This one is embroidered. I think she said she found the partially finished design at a thrift shop. She completed the stitching and then sewed it into a hotpad.

Here is the back. She used a Mary Englebreit cherry print fabric -- she knows ME's art is another of my favorite things.

Hope you have enjoyed this peek at a few of my handcrafted birthday gifts. Thanks, J. and Mrs. D!

Hearty fare for a cold winter night

(Photo from Taste of Home)

It's sooooo cold up here in northern New England. This morning around ten it was still 11 below zero, with a wind chill of minus 33! Right now I think it's around zero, but still well below zero with the wind chill factored in. For supper, we are having Rosemary Chicken with White Beans -- a warm, hearty, healthy meal. You can find the recipe here: Rosemary Chicken with White Beans. I usually add more carrots, especially, and sometimes a bit more celery. And I don't bother to brown the chicken. It always tastes wonderful anyway!

I'm also baking bread this afternoon -- 2 more loaves of Miracle Bread . This time, I experimented a bit by using 2 cups of white whole wheat flour as part of the 6 cups of flour it calls for.

Can't forget to keep the woodstove stoked up... it's predicted to be another chilly one tonight.

Sparkly votive holders ~ a fun winter craft

Poinsettia votive holder (with vellum stickers)

While getting out some of my winter candle holders the other day, I came upon some I had made years ago and thought I would share this idea. It's a fun winter (really, anytime) craft for kids -- or make some of these yourself! They are fun and easy. I've made them with kids for many years for all different seasons, but they are fun for grown-ups too.

All you need is:

* Clear glass votive holders
* Sheet of waxed paper for work surface
* Stickers of choice (vellum ones are particularly pretty, but any kind will work)
* White glue
* One-inch foam paintbrush
* Clear or iridescent glitter (not a colored glitter)

Make sure your votive holders are clean and dry.

Then arrange the stickers on the holders in a pleasing design.

Now place the votive holder on your waxed paper and paint the outside with white glue, right over the stickers. Make sure you cover the glass completely with glue with no clear glass showing. Paint the sides of the holder only, not the bottom.

Sprinkle as much glitter as you like all over the glue.

Let the glue dry thoroughly.

You can now carefully roll up the waxed paper and deposit any excess glitter back in the glitter container.

Then, add a votive candle and enjoy your sparkly candleholder!

Valentine votive holder (with regular stickers)
Patriotic votive holder (with regular and metallic stickers)

Have fun with this idea!

Miracle Bread: a fabulous bread recipe!

(Photo from Home Joys)

I tried a new recipe for bread yesterday, and it turned out so delicious I just had to share. Gina, over at Home Joys, has been doing a series on homemade bread. The information she is sharing will be of special interest to those who have never tried making bread, or have tried and failed. However, it's also very helpful to those of us who may have been baking bread for years. There is always more to learn in life!

This recipe is super simple and requires no kneading. It produced two gorgeous loaves of French (or Italian)-type bread (or it can also be used to make bread in loaf pans or even to make cinnamon rolls). The bread is simply delicious. (I used poppy seeds on mine since I was all out of sesame seeds.)

As I was mixing the dough, I told myself that if the bread turned out well, I would use the recipe to teach my 2 oldest granddaughters (ages 7 and 9) how to bake bread. So I will definitely be doing that! I can just imagine what a feeling of accomplishment it will give them to have produced something so wonderful with just a minimum of effort and a few basic ingredients.

So check out the recipe and give Miracle Bread a try. I predict that your family will love this bread as much as mine did!

A midwinter getaway

Mr. T and I were able to take a brief getaway over the weekend -- from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon. We had been able to reserve a little cabin for one night and so left town around four p.m. We checked into our cabin and looked around --these are older cabins (built in the 1950s, by the looks) but very cute and well maintained.

We went out for an early dinner and enjoyed fish & chips, then came back to our cabin for the evening. The evergreen trees around the cabins were glowing with colored Christmas lights -- a lovely scene to come back to.

We had a relaxing evening by the fire

and a good night's rest.

In the morning, we went out for breakfast at a little restaurant nearby. It was so close, we could have walked, but decided against it as the temperature was 6 below 0º! I had a Western omelet, and Mr. T, a lumberjack breakfast which included French toast, scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon, and sausage!

We checked out of our cabin at ten. This is what it looks like by day.

The rest of the day was spent in shopping (I found some amazing buys at a thrift store) and we also went out to lunch, then did a bit more shopping before returning home around 3:30 p.m. We were gone less than 24 hours ... but we find this type of getaway very refreshing, and were thankful for the opportunity!

Simple sewing -- 8-paneled skirts

Observant readers may remember the 8-paneled skirts I made for two small granddaughters back in the spring. For fabric, I used mostly pastels, floral prints, checks, etc. as shown in the pictures with the tutorial.

Here is the one I made for Juiia using this pattern. So quick and easy.

I had made one for Emily also and it turned out too short (also too big around, but that's another story!) so I added some wide eyelet lace to it and really liked the look. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that one, but Emily did wear it several times while we were visiting them, and it looks really cute on her.

For quite a while I've been wondering how this pattern would work using a variety of plaid flannel fabrics. I had hoped to get these skirts finished for Christmas, but it didn't happen. I just finished them on Wednesday during my crafting time on our snow day. Here is Emily's:

And the other side:

Here is Julia's:

And its other side:

I was quite pleased with how these came out and they are so very simple to do. When Mackenzie saw them she decided she would like one too, so there's a skirt in the works for her.

Snow Day

Dishes caught up √

Laundry folded and put away√

Work clothes soaking in washer√

Chicken soup in slow cooker√

Oatmeal bread in bread machine√

Furnace stoked with wood√

Mug of Candy Cane Lane tea at hand√

Let the crafting commence!