Tis the Season

Winter Storm Draco

Here's a few pictures of what Draco left us. We got about 11 - 12 inches of snow in our area. Definitely going to be a white Christmas here. I plan on staying in with a cup of hot cocoa and read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, as that is tradition in our family each winter. 

Making Ornaments

I thought these were so cute and found the idea for them here. I used old music for the stars in the small one and old book pages and punched snowflakes in the larger one.

AAAAARRGGH!!!

I made this for our cat, Mr. Mcguire, he loves getting stuff for Christmas too! The pattern can be found here.

Kids Hats

I made these hats for Riley and Miss M. The pattern for the Angry Bird hat can be found here and the Hello Kitty hat, here. For the Angry Bird I stitched on the felt pieces for his face and on the Hello Kitty hat I had to add on the eyes, nose, and whiskers myself.

Tatting Homework

Here is a tatting project I am working on to practice my tension.

Here is the pattern:

  r:  5-5-5-5 cl

ch:  10-10 

*r:  5-5+ to 2nd p of prev. r. 5-5 cl

  r:  5+to prev r, 3-2-2-2-2-3-5 cl

  r:  5+5-5-5 cl

ch:  10-10

Repeat from * to length desired.

Bringing Skills Back to Life

I am the provident living leader at my church and I have asked the people who take my class in my home and on the computer to learn skills. I will be talking more on December 4th at the next class. 

So the one skill I wanted to learn more was the toyota knitting machine...yep, it is a struggle but I am studying and made the little hat ornament. I took some classes on it about twelve years ago...but it did not sink in so now I am starting from scratch and learning.

Fall Harvest

Apple Butter 

1 gallon of applesauce (I save time by buying a gallon sized can)

3 c. sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. cloves

4 c. apple juice

Mix this together in a roaster and bake at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally for 3 - 4 hours or till as thick as you like. Can the jelly jars in a water bath for 15 minutes. Perfect for toast on a chilly fall morning!

Below is a picture of some of my pumpkin harvest and squash. No great pumpkin this year. 

Crocheted Vest

I was helping a friend work through a pattern from Mary Maxim. I made one for my granddaughter Mckenzie to learn the pattern to better help my friend through her project. I used yarn from my stash, it's 100% silk and was originally $3.27 an ounce but I got it for next to nothing at an auction house. 

Angry Bird & Hello Kitty Invasion

I made these for my grandson Riley for Christmas because he's absolutely crazy about Angry Birds. I knit the red one first before I found out he liked the black one best, so now he gets a pair of them! Then while browsing the internet I found that someone had painted cans for their kids to knock over with their angry birds plush toys. The only thing I had to make sure to do was use the safety can opener so there weren't any sharp edges.

I could only find a crochet pattern for the black angry bird, thought it would go faster.... no way. The pattern can be found here.

Both of them ended up being rather time consuming for this grandma, but well worth it in the end. I didn't like how the eyes turned out on the red so I needle felted them instead. I got the pattern for the red bird here.

 The girls are getting Hello Kitties in their favorite colors. They turned out adorable, looks like an invasion though....

 And because I'm making the girls tutus for Christmas to go with a dvd, I thought they would like matching tutus for their Hello Kitties as well. 

I wrapped the elastic around a book so that it was easier to half hitch the strips of netting onto elastic (you can also use ribbon instead of an elastic band). 

I used whatever scrap netting I had on hand. And while I like the different pretty green, pink and white colors, I'll be glad when my living room is no longer a tutu making factory.  

Egads! Giant Pepper!

This is the largest pepper I've ever seen and grown! Needless to say it was a good year in my garden for green peppers. In the jars behind it are dried tomatoes. Below is a picture of my friend Carolyn holding the giant pepper.

A Bit of Summer

Because it's a chilly day here in Iowa I thought I would post some pictures of the pond from a warmer day during the summer. It looks so relaxing that I'm going to knit out there when I get the chance now that the days are getting cooler.

Special garden variety corners of my home: 

If you look close enough you can see my cat's shadow, he's trying to be Batman.

Pizza Sauce

 

Every Friday night at our house is pizza night and this homemade pizza sauce really makes it delicious! In the picture above is our next year's pizza sauce. It's really easy to make and tastes great!

1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

12 c. choped ripe tomatoes

1 c. chopped onion

3 cloves fresh garlic

3 tbsp fresh chopped oregano or 1 1/2 tsp dried

1 tbsp fresh basil or 1/2 tsp dried

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 green pepper minced

1 tomato sauce (large can)

2 small cans tomato paste

Combine tomatoes, onion and rest of ingredients except lemon juice and salts. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and gently boil uncovered till as thick as desired, stirring frequently. Add in the lemon juice and salt.

Put in jars and water bath for 50 minutes.

Corners of my home:

(flowers I picked from out by the garden fence)

Lemon Biscotti

Lemon Biscotti

3 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/3 c. veg oil

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

1 c. sugar

1 tsp lemon extract

zest from above lemon

Mix together in order & let rest for 15 minutes. Then put two mounds on your cookie sheet. Wet your hands and shape them into long forms pat down on the top and in from the sides. Yes, it looks kind of square but will bake like the pic you see the shape of the biscotti.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. I do 30 minutes then take down the temp of oven to 200 degrees and pull out the cookie sheet. With a serrated knife, cut the cookies at an angle about a finger width between cuts, do this quickly or they will be harder to cut nicely. Then I take the knife and run it under them to release from cookie sheet. Move them apart so that air can circulate and put back in oven till they are harder......about 45 minutes or so at the 200 degrees then take them out cool them and put in a jar. Easy and yummy!

Salad in a Jar

When I make a salad I store the leftover salad in quart jars that I have put on used lids and rings. Then I put them in a vacuum sealer canister and suck the air out which seals the jar, and then put it in the refrigerator till we're ready to eat it. I have had the salad stay as crisp as when I made it even nine days later.

Tatting With Hand-dyed Thread

I made these with the thread I dyed on my own that you can see in a previous post. My favorite colors so far are in the project in progress with the pink bead. It's been fun and way cheaper dying my own thread and seeing how it turns out. 

EDIT: Some of you have asked for the pattern for the flower bookmark. You can find that by clicking here.

Reorganizing Stamp Room