Nativity

My mom made this nativity for all the married kids one Christmas before I was married.  I thought it was so cute that when I got married, I asked her to make me one to put in my home.  She started it but handed it off to me 2 years ago saying that I'd probably work faster than her since she was having some problems with her hand going numb.  After her hand ailment was long gone the embroidery still sat there partially finished.  I'd work on it furiously for a while and then run out of thread and never get to the store.  Then it'd be forgotten for a couple more months.  Anyway, this took me forever to do but I finally finished it!  My mom framed it and sent it just in time to display for the season.

Tis the season

After 4 years of having the pattern and 3 years of working on it, I have finally finished our family's Christmas stockings.  My goodness, that took forever.  I am so happy they are done.  Well, they are presentable at least.  I do still want to do something to label them with names.  But have decided to put that off until another year.  I'm thinking little wooden letter hanging like pendents.  

Cookie #4: Snickerdoodles

Love these cookies.  We have a recipe for Snickerdoodles but they always come out hard as rocks.  Not a fan of the crunch if it breaks your teeth and scratches your gums.  Anyway, I was talking to a friend about it and she recommended this recipe on AllRecipes.com.  It is Snickerdoodles IV.  And they are so good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).
2. Mix the shortening , sugar, and eggs until creamy. Mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Blend the wet with the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon until well-blended.
3. Roll the dough into the size of small walnuts.
4. Prepare the cinnamon and sugar mixture by mixing the cinnamon and sugar.
5. Roll the cookie dough into the cinnamon and sugar mixture until coated and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 6-10 minutes watching to make sure they don't burn. They should be very lightly brown and still soft looking on top. When they cool, they will crack a little on top.

Halloween costumes

This year I have an almost 2 and 1 year old.  We needed a theme and since we already had a dog costume, what could go with that?  A dog catcher.   I threw it together with things we already had.  I did purchase the net but otherwise, it was all free!  We got more comments on the catcher than the dog so I think it turned out great.

The costume:
We had a button down shirt with a patch that said "Animal Control" on the back and one with his name "Frank" on the breast.  We borrowed a hat and put an "Animal Control" patch on that to cover up the writing.  I put him in some khaki style pants and tied him cat to a rope and attached it to his belt loop.  He used the net for a treat bag and we were set.

Cookie #3: Twix cookies

This one's a keeper.  I found it on Pinterest and thought it would be a choc chip cookie without the chips and with the twix but the dough was a little different than your normal cc cookie and I am very happy with low it turned out.  Since making them, I have packaged them up and frozen them before getting any pictures to entice you so I will just borrow the image from the site I found it.  Here's the recipe:

Twix Bar Cookies

2 C plus 2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 Tbsp unsalted butter,melted and cooled until warm

1 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla

2 C coarsely chopped Twix Bars

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Chop your Twix bar into 1/4 inch chunks.  Cut each bar in half lengthwise and then chop into 1/4 inch pieces width wise.  In a bowl combine flour, soda and salt.  Set aside.  In your mixer blend butter and sugars together until combined.  Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.  Add in dry ingredients and beat until just combined.  Fold in Twix Bar chunks.  Bake for 13-16 minutes until light golden brown and edges start to harden but center is soft.  Do not overbake.

Because of the caramel in the Twix  they may stick a bit to the cookie sheet so use a spatula to remove.

Fall embroidery turned runner

I have finally finished my fall runner.  I started it in September, a really dumb time to start something for fall. After a lot of careless mistakes and a few trips to the store, I finally have a runner I can pull out every fall for my table.  I think it turned out really cute and since I've never sewn a runner without a pattern of some kind, I have to give myself a pat on the back for a job well done.

Happy birthday onesie

My daughter's bday is coming up and I wanted to make her something she could wear on her birthday so that everyone would know it's a special day.

I took a onesie we already had and cut the shape of a cupcake liner out of fabric.  I zigzag stitched that on the shirt.  Then I took some ribbon and using matching thread and a needle, I gathered it so it had a twisty, ruffled look.  Then I stitched that onto the shirt using a needle and thread.  Then I grabbed another ribbon and zigzagged that on to look like a candle.  I had a jewel that can be stitched on so I hand stitched that on for the flame.  I think it turned out really cute.

(This shirt is not meant to last through wear and tear.  It is to be worn once and then saved, otherwise I would've done a much more durable stitch on the ribbon or maybe even made the whole thing an applique.)