cakes and crafts

A few of my favorite things!! I didn't work on the house at all this week!! Scott decorated this weekend - craft room is done but I haven't taken pictures yet....
Edgar over at Blacksheep's bit of the Web is always making cakes that look divine. I made Mom's Fresh Apple Cake from his blog  and next week I will try the Cranberry Crunch Cake he posted a link to - that is a pretty cake!! This week I made Praline Pumpkin torte I got it from Sunset Magazine a few years ago. Scott made it for my birthday twice - I love it!! I needed something to bake for a snack that I already had all the ingredients for because I didn't want to go into town. It is usually made with two 9 inch pans but I decided to make it in a 13x9 (you have to bake it 20 minutes more if you do that - until knife comes out clean) Since it's just the two of us and it will take awhile to eat I also decided no whipped cream on the top (still need some for the recipe) Anyway I baked it and flipped it over and it is fabulous!!!

before the flip

after

 

That praline stuff is delicious and really easy to make!
I have been working on some snowmen crafts I saw in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts 2013 issue.(The BH&G site is lovely - lots of craft ideas for adults and kids!!) There were two more patterns I wanted to make - a felt snowman ornament and "Happiness is Making Friends" embroidery but I'd rather get my sheep done. So here are the two I made.

snowbells

candle mat

 I bought some coffins at Halloween - I saw a cross stitch kit for coffin scissor holder but they wanted $50 for it. I bought 3 coffins for $9! I painted and distressed them and I will make something from one of the Just Cross Stitch Halloween issue to fit inside - perfect!!  That will be a fun project!

I am almost done with my first  "Kindness" sheep - I just ordered "Gratitude" I'm so close to being done......ahhhh
Thanks for stopping by  - hope you have a good day. 

never eat again...

Hello!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Ours was nice. We went to Maggianos - holy cow!!! We have never been to a restaurant for Thanksgiving! They had a special menu everything was served family style on big plates. There was enough food for 4 people on each plate!!  The meal started with bruschetta, then they had us pick two salads. We got to pick two meals - turkey with stuffing and ham with mashed sweet potatoes, two pasta dishes - ziti and ravioli, two sides - creamed spinach and garlic mashed potatoes, two desserts - pumpkin cheesecake and apple crostini. O  M  G the food was so good!! It was all you could eat while there and you got to take the stuff off your table home - we left with THREE bags of leftovers!!!  Scott made a pumpkin pie. Our new stove has this silly feature that we are not used to - when you change the oven temp you have to hit start again or it wont change the temp! Scott baked his pie at 425 for an hour - it was still good!! The crust got a little dark but surprisingly the pie was OK!!  Here is a picture of the braid I made - frosted!!

I asked Scott if he remembered when the tradition started - he says his mom made it one year and I made it a tradition. I'll have to ask her because I was sure it was a tradition he brought with him! I started making ours when we lived in Alaska because it cost to much to mail us one! So this year I made one for each kid and mailed them - $17 each. Ryder got his no problem but not Taylor. I am super irritated because hers got sent back as undeliverable. I have mailed stuff to her before but I double - triple checked the address. According to tracking the postal person only had it 3 hours and then sent it back. We mailed it from a UPS store and so they checked the address as well - however, our return address is the apartment address but I didn't even look at it because I never expected it to be returned. Sooooo I had to call the postal service to have them catch it and I am having them check to see why it was returned in the first place. You can't call the local post office - all of the numbers are busy and I think I can see why. *grumble grumble*
We were going to go to the movies last night but we were so full that I was sure there would be napping - we are going to go today when Scott gets off work (I came to work with him today hee hee) I was a terrible person yesterday - I am all for shops being closed on the holidays and say I wont shop but then I ate at a restaurant and on the way home I saw a Micheals and it was open!! I made Scott stop (I know I KNOW!!  I'm the devil) I had run out of fiber fill for my sheep pillows (ugh I thought I was tired of stitching them - making them into 18 pillows uhhhhhhh) I ended up buying cute baskets for the pillows - a laundry basket - fiber fill and some thread! I don't really feel bad about it - I just hope they are getting great pay for coming in.
Speaking of pillows - here they are. I am now stitching the next sheep *sigh*

set one

set two

Three more to make (per basket) I can hardly wait!! They turned out cute though (just don't look close... each and EVERY one is crooked - seriously)
This week I finally got the entry painted and most of the banister stripped of paint - that was a disaster btw! That stripper goes everywhere and it's caustic. I even thought I had lost the cat because I had to open the front door because of the smell. I wont do that again. I thought I would get the fireplace room painted but I sure didn't (short week) maybe next week! I did iron every single one of Scott's shirts. The apartment made them all stink so I had to wash them. He likes them hung up so they don't shrink and lose color. The new washer spins those clothes around so much that they come out SUPER wrinkled and almost dry. I thought I could get all of them done in an hour or so - took 7 - SEVEN hours of ironing!!! At least it's done - funny part is I don't want him wearing any of them now ha!
The box I was painting last week - got it painted and distressed - that was so much fun!!

loooove it

I used a fork to make x's and dots

I really love the way it turned out!!! I can't wait to make the stitched pieces that go in it!!
It's almost my blog one year anniversary. I was thinking of doing a give-away of one of these ....

needle holder

 and one of these....

ornament the size of a quarter too

 Last time I did a give-away I only had two people interested - one of them a co-worker - so I said I wouldn't do it again. This may be a better give-away though - what do you think? Would any of you be interested in winning one of these (imperfectly made) fun items?
I hope you have delicious leftovers to munch on and lovely stitchey things to make!! Thanks for stopping by Ü!!

Just a note

to say Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope you have a wonderful day.
 Scott and I are going to Maggianos for dinner and a movie. I made the annual cardamom braid and Scott will bake a pumpkin pie.  We will miss our families but we will have a good day together!!

Thanks for stopping by - gobble gobble!

more about my son...

Here are the links on the Doritos page - please give him 5 stars!!! Thanks!! 
video one
video two

my son

Good morning!

My son made a commercial for the Super Bowl - He is trying to win the Doritos commercial contest
Commercial
Thanks for stopping by!!

Fun things!!

Hello!
So, as you know I have working on this house for months - ok just a month but it feels like months!! This week I was going to finish painting a room and work on that dang ol' banister. Well, I scraped away at the banister most of the day Tuesday and decided that I was done with that ( for now). I cleaned the house Monday - wow what a job! Who knew that could take all day? I figured I would be done in no time - wrong!! I was dusting my bedroom furniture with a toothbrush and I wondered where my life had gone awry Ü . I decided that since my craft room is mostly together, it was time for fun!! Here is what I have done...

I cut some felt and pinned the first 8 (well it's actually 16!!!). Getting them straight is a PAIN!!! I even ironed them - and measured and I am still sure half of them are crooked grrrrrr

 I put some ink on these two to make the sheep show up more but it's so dark in the craft room and I was being real careful not to over ink it that you really can't tell. I may have to do it again - in the kitchen so I can see. Got the idea from Marly at Samplers and Santas!

 Starting painting the box for Casting a Spell by Blackbird Designs Has anyone made this? Any idea what cut fabric to get so I can do them all? I'm so excited to make this - great finish idea!!

 

I posted this finish awhile ago - I finally stuffed it and sewed the buttons on - cute! 

 

 

I sewed the bee charms onto the bunnies  - I finished these back in July (I think) I bought the kit but then made 5 or 6 of them. the charms were a beast to locate - finally found them in Zionsville IN!! I had packed the bunnies - but found them and now they are done!!  

 

Orchard Valley Quilting Bee by Little House Needleworks

I am going to finish the thin brown border that is started there and then work on sheep. I need to sew them to the felt, sew the hearts to the backs

 and blanket stitch the pillows together. I have the next sheep here so I need to stitch it. Friday - after turkey day I should be able to order the next sheep. I am glad I made these - they are so cute. I am sorry that I made two sets and I won't be joining a year long series for a long time - if ever again. I think it really cut down on the amount of projects I got done. So now I have a basket full of  "to do" patterns.
Last night I made rolls - "fast and fluffy parmesan herb rolls" from Yammie's Noshery. Yammie has a cute blog with some delicious recipes - she even has gluten free recipes. The rolls were fast - easy and delicious!  Plus they make your kitchen smell heavenly!!

before baking

after baking - mmmm

Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a crafty day!!

Stormy weather....

Good morning folks!
Wow those storms were scary!! We had the TV on all day - watching them move toward us. We got lucky though and they split - going to the North and South of us - just barely!! We had one small section go right over so we did get some high wind and rain but no tornadoes.  I feel awful for the towns that got hit! So scary!! I can say - again - that with the troubles we had with this house to start I am glad to say that in a storm - this place is sturdy!! The wind doesn't whistle at the windows or doors! You can hardly hear the storm raging outside!
This weekend we unpacked a bunch of stuff - place is starting to look like a home. Scott touched up my ceiling smudges - looks fabulous!! Whole upstairs painting is done!! He also edged the entry - in a few days it can be taped and I can finish that paint job!! I can't wait for him to hang some pictures!! So exciting to see it finally coming together. Today I am cleaning and then I am taking the afternoon off - and stitching!! Scott will be home later because he has a big meeting - owners coming in from Canada and US GM coming up from North Carolina for a staff meeting - and dinner.
Speaking of dinner - the other night I made Thai Chicken Coconut Soup - a recipe I got from Sunset magazine. It is wonderful!! I did have some trouble though - this town is not a culinary hot spot so I could not get actual lemongrass stalks or chili paste. I used ....

instead of chili paste - added by the person eating it so it wouldn't be too spicy

this was the only way I could buy the lemongrass

delicious!!

I buy the ginger in the tube and keep it in the freezer - only needs to set out on counter for a few minutes to be able to use it and it lasts until you've used the last bit! Recipe calls for you to put chunks of each in so I used about a tablespoon of the lemongrass and a little less of the ginger. I added jasmine rice - since I was using it as a meal. Usually I  pay close attention to a recipe's fat content - I must have lost my mind - I used the regular canned coconut milk. It was delicious but much more fat than it needed to be - light coconut milk would have been fine. I also used chicken thighs - also more fat than breasts - so I could have done better on the fat content. I regret nothing!!  Maybe next week we will have it again with it lightened up - and I will see if it is still delicious. As for cooking with fish sauce - yes it stinks and yes it is very fishy but it is NOT either of those things when added to a recipe. I was wary of it when I first had to use it, but I gave it a try and I don't have an issue with it !!
I joined a blog called "Little House Needleworks Showcase and Stitch Along Place"  wow that's a mouthful! This weekend they had a WIP stitch weekend and then people are to post what they accomplished.

Of course I didn't get to work on it much with all the housework we did but there it is. That scalloped border makes me crazy. I ran out of 3777 Walmart does have some DMC but not that number - I looked at two stores!! Luckily we went to Hobby Lobby  - then it dawned on me.... I live at least 30 - 40 minutes from a craft store - WHAT!!!!???? House goes on the market tomorrow - HA!! 
I had to run into Martinsville last week to file that tax thing I blogged about.... this little town sure is cute!!

library

post office - still has the old boxes!

decorated for Christmas!

Well, I guess I better get to cleaning so I can listen to a book and stitch - and drink tea!! Oh that sounds lovely!! Hope you all have a crazy-weather-free day!!