New Recipes

I have posted the recipe for peppermint bark on my recipe blog. I will post the Bailey's Truffle recipe later.

Brrrr.... And some progress!

Is anyone out there warm?? I am surely not. The weather across the country has been crazy over the past week. It was 7 degrees when I drove in this morning. Way colder than usual for December in Cincinnati. Thank goodness we missed that terrible ice storm in the northeast.

Over the weekend, I made good progress on the "homemade" Christmas gifts. Pictured here is a robe for my mom. Last weekend, my mom asked if I would make her a lightweight robe after the holidays to send to her in Florida. She picked out some flannel and a pattern and I told her I would add it to my project list. Of course, I had to make it for her for Christmas! I cut it out Friday night and finished it up around 2 pm on Saturday, in time to hit the post office with my last package.

The robe is Simplicity 3573. Just a simple button down robe with yoke. She wanted buttons all the way down so I adapted the facing on the bottom part of the robe to accommodate additional buttons.

So why the crazy masked ninja model?

Me: Son, I need you to model this bathrobe so I can take a picture.
Son: No Way. You're going to put the picture on your blog.
Me: Yes I am, but nobody you know reads the blog so who cares.
Son: Can I wear my ski mask and goggles?
Me: I'll get the camera.

In other homemade activities, my kids and I made cookies and candies yesterday - peanut butter blossoms, lemon bars, iced sugar cookies, Bailey's Irish Cream Truffles, peanut butter/chocolate swirl fudge, peppermint bark, fruit/nut bark, chocolate covered pretzels. I was so sick of looking at sweet stuff by this morning that of course, I took no pictures. I also have a couple other crafty things in the works but updates on those will have to wait until after the holidays.

Lunch Tote

My parents came out for a weekend visit (my mom is doing much better!) and we made the most of every minute. My dad worked his tail off fixing things around the house ( and doing some much needed clean-up as well!) and my mom and I spent the weekend shopping and crafting. I'm still not nearly where I'd like to be shopping-wise, but I feel like I made a dent in it. In between, we spent a lot of time laughing with the kids and eating and drinking. And of course, watching Christmas videos. "You'll shoot your eye out!"

My mom loved all the different fleeces at Hancock's and picked out some great colors to make one of those tied blankets. We knocked that out this afternoon in about an hour and a half. I wanted to make my niece a little tote bag to carry the books I bought her but when I found a pattern for a lunch bag, I changed course. This is what I came up with:



The fabric is an embroidered denim I found on clearance at JoAnn's and the lining is a pink/white quilt fabric. I dusted off my embroidery machine (and manual!) to put her name on the bag.

I made a couple modifications to the pattern. I lined it and added a handle. If I did it over again, I would use two pieces of velcro for the closure to make it seal a little better. And I didn't realize until well after I was completely finished that I was supposed to sew the crease in each side to define the sides. Oh well, it is adorable as h*ll if I do say so myself. Even my 14 yr old son thought it was cute.

Merry Christmas!

I would have waited to post this until next week but I wanted to throw out a product endorsement in time for anyone who may be procrastinating on Christmas Cards. I haven't sent out Christmas cards in several years due to my personal life. Seemed hypocritical to send out the smiley family photo when my marriage was in the tank. Well, I am fully experiencing the Christmas spirit for the first time in a few years so the kids and I decided to do a card this year.

So, after our tree hunting last Sunday, we got out the camera and tripod and took some photos. I always have trouble picking a picture for the Christmas card so I was thrilled to find multiple photo layouts at Snapfish. We took the photos at 3 pm, designed the card at 4 pm and ordered at 5 pm last Sunday. The order shipped Monday and I had them in hand on Tuesday. Free shipping, by the way. I have no affiliation with Snapfish and this is my first time ordering but high fives to them for their speedy service and good selection of products. Oh... the cards cost 45 cents each (when you order 80+).

I just scanned the card and posted it and can't figure out why it's so small but you get the general idea.

Finished Knitting Project

Shockingly, I actually finished a knitting project! I started this wrap last January and after getting about 75% done, put it down and didn't pick it back up until Thanksgiving. The pattern is Long Tail Wrap by Carolyn Steele and the yarn is Prism Kid Slique in Tumbleweed. I saw this made in a yarn store in Lexington several years ago and just loved it. I am pleased with the finished results and look forward to wearing it. Here is a link to full review on Ravelry.

Note to Brigid...

and anyone else in the Cincinnati area. I should have identified the accessory store yesterday as it is a fun little place that my daughters and I really enjoy. the store is called The Next Best Thing and it is in downtown Blue Ash (9662 Kenwood Rd). It's a great little gift shop that sells jewelry, purses, scarves, unusual gifts, etc. It is all very reasonably priced. Unfortunately, they do not have a website.

It is always my first stop when I'm looking for "a little something" to give to a girlfriend or one of my daughters.

Painting the Town Red

Wow, you gals like red. And yes, Summerset, after I posted the last entry, I realized I should have said that YOU do not get a vote. LOL! Thanks to everyone for the comments. Lindsay and Leesa, the black shoes do look cute, too, but I wasn't sure how to accessorize.

So I made a quick trip to an fun little accessory story and picked up the purse, necklace and earrings. A little red and a little bling. Merry Christmas to me! (Picked up two gifts for the girls, too. Woo hoo!)

A Special Offer from Fabric.com

I just received a nice note from Crystal at Fabric.com. She thanked me for mentioning them in a previous post and is offering a special deal to my blog readers. If you type in Bloggers in the coupon code, you will receive $5 off your order, no minimum purchase. They also have free shipping on orders of $35 or more.

And yes, I did order the aqua argyle faux fur. LOL. I have this old baseball style jacket pattern that I'll use for it (after I made the other six coats I have purchased supplies for.) I hope to find some brown rib trim for the neck, sleeve and waistbands
.

Red patent shoes or Black patent shoes

Edited to say Red it is!!



Which should I wear with this dress to the company Christmas party?

One trick pony

That would be me after looking at my last two posts!

This is TOO CUTE!

I am a sucker for faux fur. Many think it's tacky. I love it and think it is very fun. So when Fabric.com sent me an email that they had fur on sale, I had to check it out. I was not expecting this:



This would make the cutest jacket, wouldn't it? The fabrics are $13.99/yard and also available in white/black and shades of browns. If you click on the fabric swatch, it will take you to the website.