in the mail

so, we left last thursday to see family for christmas. i thought that i would have internet access at some point, but alas i did not. but, it was nice to just be with family and to not be in the craft room for a few days! we had a wonderful christmas and everyone loved their gifts. i will have to post a photo of the rug i made for michael's mom, as soon as i find the cable for the camera that is packed away in one of various containers brought back after christmas. i did manage to send my giveaway package to kristi while we were out of town. i made an apron for her and tucked a yummy smelling pencil and some lip gloss in the pocket.

since i had some leftover pencils and erasers, and kristi's daughter, gillian, just had a birthday, i decided to make a pencil case for her.

i hope you all had a wonderful christmas. i am excited to post some pictures, so i hope i can find that cable soon!

one more to go

i just realized that i haven't posted anything about my christmas decorations this year. so, here is a little treat from my christmas tree.

i finished these two scarves the night before last. they are simple. the one that larkin is so handsomely modeling is his and it is the softest cotton yarn i have ever touched. and i think he looks quite dashing. the red one is for my niece. she wanted a long skinny red scarf. isn't it funny how it doesn't look long at all on this dress form? larkin did try it on and it is long on him so it should be fine on her. oh, and this leaves only one gift left to finish. i am making a rag rug for michael's mom and it is about eighty percent complete. here's to hoping it is complete by sunday, which is when i have to give it to her.

bubbly

today i attended a brunch at the home of my midwife. she is one of the most beautiful women i know, both inside and out. she has delivered both of my children and i am very thankful to call her my friend. i could go on and on about her, but there are christmas gifts yet to be finished. but here is a recipe for the delicious bubble bread i took to the brunch. very easy and very yummy.

Bubble Bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 package frozen bread balls

Directions
Melt 1/2 stick butter. Mix in the brown sugar.
Pour the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased bundt pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup of pecans over the butter and brown sugar mixture.

Melt one stick of butter in a bowl.
In a separate bowl mix sugar and cinnamon together.

Cut frozen bread balls in half. Roll each half in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place rolled balls in the pan. Pour the remaining pecans, butter and cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of the bread balls. Cover with a towel and let rise overnight.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes before turning upside down on a platter.

plugging along

so this is going to be a quick post because i feel like i am going to pass out at any minute. lucy and i seem to be battling the same bug. that paired with lack of sleep and non-stop crafting is wearing me down. but, i did want to post what i made yesterday. above are the beginnings of some gnomes i am working on for myself. my friend tania is an amazing ceramicist. she has been letting a couple of us non-ceramicists go into her studio to play around this past week we have had a lot of fun. i can't wait to see how these turn out. oh, check out her etsy shop.
below is an apron for my friend janelle. this fabric was also a duvet cover in the bargain bin for two dollars at ikea. sorry for the poor photography. i finished it just as the sun was setting yesterday and had to get a quick shot before giving it to her last night. ok. gotta. go. rest.

closing in

i am getting very close to being finished with all of our christmas presents. and i am getting very excited! i completed the gifts for my parents this weekend. above is a shot of the apron i made for my mama. i was saddened by the thought that she doesn't own an apron, so i decided to make one for her. i even made the pattern myself. i kept changing it as i went along, which was actually quite fun. the insert with the buttons didn't come about until the end, and i really like it. here is a close-up...

let me be the first to tell you that this whole handmade pledge thing gets pretty tough when it comes to the men on your list. but, being a trooper, i decided to make my dad some pajama pants. i realized rather quickly that there is no cool way to shoot these for the blog. they are just plain pajama pants. but, hey, i am throwing them on here anyway. well, part of them...

i also made a little something for michael, but i will have to wait until after christmas to post it, since he does read my blog (thanks honey!)

one dollar

so, what will a dollar get you? well, it will take you from the duvet cover above to this...

in ikea last week, all of the as-is linens were just two bucks. this duvet cover had a couple of spots on it. but never fear, i only used half of the cover and didn't have to worry with the spots. i used the pattern for the kimono-style bathrobe from the book in stitches by amy butler. this is for my sister-in-law and i think she will enjoy it. i had put this project off for a while, mostly because i was intimidated by it. but it was actually quite easy and fun to make. here is a side shot...

not too bad for a dollar, huh?

mail time

i am so happy that i have completed our christmas cards. i had several cards left over from each of the past four years. so this year i decided to use all of them before buying new ones. so, to those of you on our family's list, don't think too hard to try and remember the card you received last year, because there is a good chance you are getting it again this year. and like each year, we have the photo of larkin and lucy to include in the card. no, we don't do the preprinted photo cards around here-for some reason i like receiving cards that you have to open and that are signed, and i like giving them as well. nothing wrong with the preprinted one, i just like the old fashioned way. of course, getting a picture where both kids are looking at the camera is impossible. i couldn't even get one where they were both paying attention. but alas, here is our christmas photo. and actually, it is a pretty accurate picture of our days.

thank you

thank you, thank you, thank you for making my comment wish come true. i was so excited to reach 20, and even more excited to keep going past it. in fact, i was so excited that i decided to give back. yes, i decided to put the names of all who commented into my stocking and draw a name for a special prize. i was already planning on doing a giveaway in the new year, but i definitely felt that getting so many comments was reason for a giveaway now. so, don't you want to know who the lucky winner is? well, you will have to wait until the end of this post. first, i have to talk about the latest gift i made.

i made this purse for my niece for christmas. i used the pleated beauty handbag pattern from the book bend the rules sewing by amy karol. of course, i wanted it to be smaller than the pattern, so i spent some time decreasing the pattern to get the size i wanted. sorry for the dark photos today. it is dark everywhere in this house today. not good for picture-taking. but i digress...you want to know who the lucky winner is? congratulations kristi! you're prize will be in the mail soon. what is the prize? well, let's just say that it will be related to the now famous post. ok, ok, i know it is not famous. but hey, i'm excited, ok?

excited and tagged

i finished our stockings!! i can't even put into words how excited i am. michael and i have been married over six years and we finally have stockings! larkin and lucy had the red one and the blue one last year. i just finished michael's and mine yesterday. of course, lucy's favorite color is yellow. so now we have to switch things up a bit. larkin kept his(red), lucy got michael's(yellow), michael got mine(green) and i got lucy's(blue). maybe i will embroider our names next year...

beki tagged me last week with eight random things about me. so here goes my attempt...

1. i am scared of lips without faces. in general, images of face parts without the face disturb me. but, lips actually scare me(even just the lipstick kisses you see on cards around valentines day).

2. i can't wear skirts or shorts when it rains. the rain on my legs makes me uncomfortable. who am i kidding? i find it hard to wear shorts ever.

3. i am obsessive about ironing when i sew. i love crisp folds.

4. i have tons of fabric and yet somehow, i never have just what i need.

5. i am crazy about lip balm and lip gloss. flavored, unflavored...i don't discriminate.

6. i thrive off of comments left on my blog. the most i have ever received is 11 (and haven't come close since). i know that is not bad, but i dream of 20. is that pathetic? probably. want to help me out?

7. i love board games and dominoes. love, love, love them.

8. i collected pencils and fun erasers when i was a little girl. i still have the collection. i also collected soft plastic fishing worms for a small time, but that phase passed quickly.

that was harder than i thought. now it is my turn to tag. so...

kristi
stephanie
asti

you're tagged!

recipe of the day

this is my first recipe post! i made this cake for a gathering on sunday and forgot to take a picture of it before it was devoured. this is pretty much all that is left (along with some "cake mush") so, without further ado...

Pistachio Cake

For cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package pistachio instant pudding
3 eggs
1 cup lemon-lime soda
1 cup oil
1/2 cup chopped nuts

For icing
1.5 cup milk
1 envelope of Dream Whip
1 package pistachio instant pudding

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients for cake in a large bowl until well-blended.
3. Bake in greased bundt pan for 50 minutes.
4. Cool for 15 minutes in pan and then remove from pan and place on cooling rack.
5. Once cake is cool, split into two layers.
6. For icing, mix all ingredients on high speed until thick (at least five minutes).
7. Ice in between layers and place together, then ice the rest of the cake. (The icing will be a pale green. In honor of the Christmas season, I then sprinkled red sugar crystals on top and it gave the cake a "wreath" look.)

i hope you enjoy! beki, i haven't forgotten your tag. i am going to do it tomorrow.

gift update

i finished this wall art for my cousin, whose name i drew for christmas. she is a teenager and just updated her room and used red and yellow. i got the idea from the martha stewart show. the project and template for the bird are here. this was fun and easy. the only downside was using red paint. man, it takes so many coats to cover with red! here is a close-up.

our house is all ready for christmas. the tree is complete and all the garland is up inside and on the front porch. but, my gifts are far from complete. i still have quite a few to go before christmas. i actually have three knitting projects going right now (which is quite a lot for a girl who can barely knit). i had forgotten that i still need to finish stockings for me and michael. i made stockings for the kids last year, but never made it around to ours. gotta get that done, too! will there be enough time? how are you all doing on christmas gifts?