really good snickerdoodles

This is our go to cookie on Sunday night when we want treats. I am surprised I haven't shared this recipe until now. Truth be told, I think this cookie recipe is what sealed the deal with my husband when we were dating. I am serious. When I was 16 years old, I was asked to make these for all the men in our congregation for Father's Day. That was a ton of baking, but worth it. I found this recipe when I was really young in the PTA cookbook for our elementary school and changed it quite a bit. So, I guess it's my own. I am not creative enough when it comes to baking to come up with much more, so snickerdoodles it is.

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream margarine, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt. Roll into balls and roll in 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 400 degrees. Yield: 3 dozen.

just thinking of christmas gift ideas

The weird thing about having a blog in which your friends and family read is that you can't post anything that you are working on. So, really it looks like I could be twiddling my thumbs around this place. And, perhaps, at times I am, but really I have been working on some fun things that I cannot show at all. So, that got me thinking that I might want to share some things that I am not working on, but think you all might want to. Last year my mom sent the grand kids these wonderful Christmas pillow cases for them to open on Christmas Eve and put on their pillows to have magical dreams. She also wrote a great poem to go with them and sent two books - Snowmen at Night and another one along those lines. I thought this would be a great gift for families. This year we are picking family names instead of individuals on my husband's side of the family and it would be great to make these for each child in the family we pick. Here is a tutorial for a fancy pillow case from Kirsten Can. In the mean time you can decide who you are giving these to and print up this cute poem.

Each Christmas Eve I lay in bed
I cannot fall asleep
'Cuz Santa and his elves will bring
some toys and games that beep!

My brain is in a thinking mode
I wiggle and I giggle
Then I get my MAGIC CASE
And slip it on my pillow.

I close my eyes and start to dream
Of gifts and sugar plums.
Then all at once my mother's voice
Tells me that Santa's come.

When you can't sleep on
Christmas Eve
You toss and turn and wiggle
Just slip this MAGIC PILLOW case
Over your soft pillow.

i'm a little slower at these things

There is a great thing that I am getting myself in to and I didn't even mention it over here until now. Sometimes I am a bit slow at things. When Melissa (of The Polkadot Chair) called on Friday and said, "I'm pushing Publish Post now about our new shop, are you ready?" I thought, "Yep, go ahead. Pretty cool." But, then I didn't even mention anything here. I could tell you all of the things that are keeping me busy and slighty insane, but that would bore you (two birthdays and parties, hair cutting incident of a 2 year old, Primary Program, etc.).



So, what I mean to tell you is that my friend and I are opening an esty shop called May and Mae very soon. Her new logo for all the amazing things that she makes is called
I love this logo and my little old stuff will have the amazing mae tag on it. So, together we are May and Mae. I am sending you over to her blog to read more about it since she wrote about it so nicely. I will be putting just a few things here and there since I can't stay on one project long enough to make more than a few. And, although I am a bit slow at mentioning it, I am so happy to have a friend that inspires me and gets me motivated to create!

Clementine Purse Giveaway

photo from pick up some creativity

Christine over at Pickup Some Creativity is having her first giveaway tomorrow, Friday the 20th. She has come up with a clever purse for her niece that can be used as a dolly diaper bag.  This giveaway has two chances for winning.  Not only is she giving away a Clementine purse, she is also giving away a PDF pattern for the purse.  Awesome.  She will be selling these patterns soon, so head over to her blog tomorrow and enter.  I know my name is going down on those comments!!

for bug's baby boy

My little sister, Caitlin (I call her Bug) , is pregnant with her first baby.  She is expecting a boy and today her husband's family is throwing a baby shower for her. I wish I could be there, but since it's in San Diego and I am in Louisville, it's not going to work out.  I hope she likes the gift we sent along for the shower. 

a few ornamanets to work on

Each year I enjoy making a few ornaments to add to the top of gifts and to our tree as well. I found a few that I am going to get started on.
photo from martha stewart living
These cute elves were in December's Living and you can find instructions here.

photo from martha stewart living
I saved these directions last year and didn't get around to them, but really want to try again. This idea is also from Martha Stewart. I have tons of buttons and now I just need to get them sorted for these cute guys.

This cute gingerbread man is from elsie marley and I made just one last year. Now, I need an entire league of half eaten gingerbread men on my tree.

new apron for a friend

Hi. Remember me? I used to write blog posts for this blog. I used to get a lot more done and life didn't seem as chaotic as it does right now. But, I think I am ready for some changes and ready to dive in to some Christmas projects. I did manage to get this apron made for friend for her birthday. I got the pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing that I picked up Half Price Books (one of my favorites) for $10. I like how this apron fits and it's reversible. I just beefed up the width of the straps and lengthened them so that they would be long enough to tie in a bow around the front. No pockets. I can't decide if pockets are necessary on an apron or just cute. Are they worth the extra effort? I don't think I use my pockets on the aprons I wear. Just me thinking out loud. Oh, does any one have a Christmas project that they are excited about this year? Just trying to get the wheels moving.

last minute halloween project

I am helping out with the Halloween party at the preschool and saw a few games I thought would work out great for these little guys. But, then I had to go and see this online at parents.com 2 nights ago and changed my direction. I thought it might take a little more time than I wanted to spend, but knew it would be worth the effort because I can use it in the future. What I didn't count on was how much paint the canvas fabric soaked up. It took forever to get enough layers to make it look black enough and that was a bit hard with the tiny lines of the skeleton and between the letters. Would gesso have helped? I am no expert, but maybe. I sewed a pocket up top for a dowel rod and today made some bowties out of ribbon. So, we are ready to get this party started.

we just got back from

the happiest place on earth. We spent 8 days there and now we are recovering from all the fun. I am originally from California and grew up going to Disneyland 4 or 5 times a year. I didn't think we were DisneyWorld people since I have a love for Disneyland, but it turns out that we are. And, since I have issues with big crowds, this was the perfect time of the year to go. Plus, it didn't hurt that my kids had a week off of school for Fall Break and the weather was amazing. I think we are hooked. We spent time over lunch today talking about when we thought we would go again. Yeah, we are definitely hooked. So, this week I need to figure out costumes, plan for a preschool Halloween party, and get back in the groove. Exciting!

a new print

I am still getting my photo wall put together. I will post a picture of it when I fill in the last few frames. As I was deciding what else I wanted for the wall, the one thing I did know was that I really wanted a personalized print with our family name on it. I found some amazing ones on etsy, but the designer that stood out to me the most was grace hester designs because her prints had great colors, a modern style, and were also a fantastic price. I am so grateful for talented designers and for etsy. Grace was able to make us a personalized print in one of my favorite colors, light aqua blue, and put all of our names under the sweet little birds. Don't you love it? I do. Her other prints in her etsy shop are awesome and I will be saving my pretty pennies to add a few more to our home soon.

two more pendants

Each soldered pendant I make, I see slight improvement. Here are two more pendants I made this week, each with vintage Halloween postcard images. They are two sided - one postcard on each side. I have been wearing the one on the left for the last few days and since I rarely keep anything i make, it feels good to be wearing this.

add this to the all time pumpkin recipe list

i always have to have a photo - this is the pumpkin my 2 year old picked out at the pumpkin patch last week. love the bumps.

I have had a few people mention that they have great pumpkin recipes too when I posted my pumpkin cookie recipe. Sandra over at Crazy Mom Tats was kind enough to email me her favorite pumpkin bread recipe. I made some last weekend while my husband and kids were out and I was glad they came home when they did. Let's just say, I was about to eat an entire loaf by myself if they hadn't come to help me eat all the rest of this lovely bread. It makes 3 loaves and I am not quite sure what makes it different than other pumpkin breads, but it just is. I can taste more of the pumpkin spices without tasting all the sugary fluff. Although it is dang sweet. I also made cream cheese frosting to go with it. Can you say "sugar high?" Head over to her blog and check out the recipe. Well worth the time. Thanks Sandra.

folksy pumpkin wall hanging tutorial

This is the pumpkin from my giveaway a few weeks ago. I originally a saw similar project at an art festival several years ago and then two years ago attempted my version of it to give to my friends for Halloween. My photos didn't turn out the best for this tutorial and I can't seem to find time to do them again, so hopefully you can look past the blur to see what you need to see!
What you will need:
1/2 yard orange burlap fabric
1/2 yard black cotton fabric
1 piece of black felt
1 piece of sage green felt
1 piece of mustard yellow felt
thick craft wire or bailing wire
short stick for stump of pumpkin
black embroidery floss
patterns for pumpkin, eyes, nose, mouth, and leaves available to print here. very roughly drawn!
oh, and hot glue gun and glue

1. Cut out all the pattern pieces. You will need one pumpkin body out of orange burlap, one pumpkin body out of black cotton, two pieces of each eye part (one color for each), one nose, one mouth, and two leaves.

*At this point you can paint a taupe color paint on the orange burlap using a dry brush method to give it a more primitive look. This is what I did because my burlap was too bright of an orange, but just an option. Let dry before continuing on to step 2.
2. Using the sewing machine straight stitch the mouth and nose on to the front of the orange burlap pumpkin body. I sew as close to the edge of the black felt as possible - like a 1/8"seam.

3. Layer the circles on top of each other with the largest on the bottom, medium sized in the middle and the small one on the top. Using a running stitch, stitch 1/8"in from the edge of the smallest circle all the way around attaching it to the burlap. Using a blanket stitch (great tutorial via future girl - check half way down the tutorial and there is one specifically for circles), stitch around the middle and largest circle attaching it to the burlap. *I set the eyes off center and one a bit higher than the other. The funkier, the better.

4. Now put the burlap pumpkin piece and the black cotton pumpkin piece together right sides together. The burlap is a little stretchy so don't be surprised if it is a little bigger than the black fabric. Starting at the top, stitch all the way around using a 1/2" seam and leaving a 4"opening at the top for turning.

5. Before turning right side in, cut notches out of the the bottom curves and upper curves of the pumpkin.

6. Turn the pumpkin right side in.

7. Take the stick for the stump of the pumpkin and put it in the opening at the top, folding in the opening to match the seam.

8. Using a hot glue gun, glue all around the stick where the fabric touches it and press the fabric around it to close up the seam. If there is any open space on each side of the stick, glue that together as well with the seams folded in so it is nice and clean.

9. It should look like this now.

10. Take the two leave and pinch in half. Sew 1/4" seam starting and the base and getting narrower until you get about 3/4 way down and it should reach the edge. Like a long triangle. Like in the photo.

11. With the hot glue gun, glue the leaves on - one in the front touch the stick and one in the back. You can also do both in the front or whatever looks best to you.

12. Cut a 10-12 inch piece of wire and starting at the base of the stick, wrap it around several times tightly. Then, take the ends and curl them by wrapping them around a pencil several times as well.

13. Take another piece of wire about 16-18 inches long and stick one end through the burlap and black fabric about 5-6"to the left of the stick. Curl the end of the wire on the back side so it won't come back through. Twist a loop at the top and then go back through on the right hand side and curl the wire on the back.

14. You are finished!

new bracelet

I am not a fancy person, so when my five year old son came down stairs from craft room with this for me, I fell in love.  I wore it all day.  He said it was because he, "loved, loved, loved me." Seriously, with a reason like that, I think I will even wear it tomorrow too.  Later he sang a song he recorded on my husband's iphone that was a tune about loving me too.  You have to know this child to know that this behavior is a bit unusual and I am wondering what I can do to make it stay.  Any ideas?

i always make a few of these

A few years ago I made stencils of sayings, words, etc. for each holiday and I find myself turning to these each year for a few blocks and signs . Here's what I do: 1. go to the garage. 2. look for wood in wood pile.* 3. grab a few. 4. paint them. 5. leave them for a few days. 6. find my stencils (made from over head projector screen that I have printed directly on and used an exacto knife to cut out the letters). 7. stipple (proper term, I'm told) the paint on the board using the stencil. 8. check and see if I remember how to use the drill press. 9. drill holes in the corners. 9. sand the edges crazily using my husband's (now mine, I think) electric hand sander. 10. stain. 11. add wire, ribbon etc.

*another option is to find 2x4's and make blocks with holiday phrases and words.

I know these are a bit country, but the fact of the matter is, it's a lot of bang for your buck. The wood is usually free (from friends or left over from my husband's job sites) and I have all the stuff laying around.

These are the two that I got done the other day. Fun to add to existing wreaths or whatever!

do not make these if

you have little or no self control like myself. I am serious. These are definitely the best treat of the season. Not that you can't make these wonderful pumpkin cookies any time of the year, but I definitely only make them in the Fall. I have to have some cut off date. I have already made them twice and each time I am overwhelmed with thoughts of how much I love them. One good thing is that the recipe only makes 2 dozen and I have found people to give some of them to, so I can save myself. Try them and let me know what you think. Don't let the bad photo in the post fool you. They are better than they look.

two new prints for my photo wall

I just took down all photos on my photo wall in the great room and replaced them with enlargements of photos taken by my sister and friend. It really needed to be freshened up and because I didn't have any photos of my daughter on the wall (who is 2 1/2) it was time to include her with the rest of us! I ordered a few prints on etsy to go along with the photos from the love shop.

I got this one:

and this one:

I have one more space to fill and I want to get something with our family member's names like one of these or these. Or, maybe not get the family name and go for something like this or this.

have any of you tried this?

Soldering.  I love it, but it's hard.  I have been trying it, along with my mother in law(we split the supplies), for several months now and I think there's a big learning curve (at least for me).  I do see progress, though.  As much as I say that I am not that great at it, I have still given my soldered pendants as gifts!!! I orginally bought my instructions from You Can Make This. And, those were a great start, but I have been reading tips and tricks on the internet for the last few days to help me figure out some things that I am just having a hard time with.  I will say that I do love it even if it has been painful.  I think I expect perfection and then I go and look at the ones I have purchased in the past and realize that they can look a little more "hand made" than perfect.  So, if you have any tips or tricks for me, pass them on.  In the meantime, I am just soldering away over here looking to improve.   

the winner

I am up late planning an upcoming trip and realized it's 12 am. I am going to cry when I have to wake the boys up from school in the morning because I am up so late (early?). So, I put my numbers in to random.org and it came up with #19, which is:

jedigirlz said...
U'Re so creative and cute! We love u! -A

So, miss A, please send me your address to my email - traciu73@yahoo.com. Thank you for all of your really really nice comments. You do realize that I always do have a hard time just picking one, so let's do a tutorial for this? It's simple. I think the only pattern I might have trouble giving you is the actual pumpkin template because it is so big, but I will figure it out and so will you.

tote for lacey

I live in place that has a lot of dental and medical students as well as medical residents. Over the years I have met some pretty incredible people who have moved in and have been blessed enough to have made some amazing friends with them as well. I was really blessed three and a half years ago when one of these medical resident families moved in across the street. The whole family was cool (but especially the wife, Lacey) and my kids soon became fast friends with their kids. My 5 year old thought their house was his second home and they treated him as one of their own. As what tends to happen with all students and residents...they finally get a job or go on to more schooling and have to move away. This wonderful family has moved on to a job with the Air Force on the other side of of the states and as much as I am happy for their progress, I am sad to have been left here without them. This friend was the guinea pig for all my new projects and sometimes I would just hang them on her door for her to find -making myself at home to her wreath hanger. I made this tote for her for her birthday a few weeks ago and hope that she knows just how much she is missed. The tote is made from the same brown corduroy I used in the dress and fabric from Amy Butler that I have had in my stash for a long time (awaiting the perfect project).  The fabric flower is removable and was made using this tutorial from Wise Craft.