Simple Things

So when I was a little girl I just loved the idea of a perfect home with a perfect little life. My dad made me the best playhouse in the world. It had a full kitchen, a living room and a bedroom. It was awesome! My mother made me curtains, bedding for my baby bed and sweet cushions for my living room chairs. Sadly I don't have a single picture of this perfect abode. I had a welcoming front porch where I would greet my guests from a split swing door. To start my play day I would swing open my shutters and tie back my curtains. I spent hours in there playing make believe house and greeting my friends who came by to visit from across the street or next door.

We would sit and visit in my red plastic chairs and when we were done, we would step outside to the swing set right next door to my little brown playhouse. It was all a little girl could ask for.

As I reflect on those days I look around at children today and playhouses made from the heart and with a lot of sweat equity have been replaced with cookie cutter playhouses made in China. The houses even come complete with curtains and built in kitchens. I know I am guilty of the same.  I purchased a playhouse earlier this year for my son (or should I say rugged cabin) and my father and I assembled it in a single afternoon. Although I love it and I added my my own personal touches to it, it really doesn't compare to the beautiful playhouse my dad built me so many years ago.

So this year as I began to think about Christmas presents and I worked down the list to my niece who is two I knew I had to give her something that was from the heart. I LOVE to go to First Monday Trade Days in Canton.  Ask any one of my friends and they will tell you that there are all sorts of treasures in my home from there (but that blog is for another day). So during my annual trek to Canton in September I made a stop at one of the raw wood shops. There are several there and I am not loyal to any one since they are all very competitive. I saw an old fashioned baby doll crib. I immediately knew that was for my niece. I could imagine it, painted with handmade bedding in it just perfect to keep her sweet baby warm.

So I snatched it up for a bargain price. I ran it over to my neighbor's house - he is a painter and asked him to spray it for me. When I got it back my plan of using scraps to assemble the bedding just would not do. So I ran to Jo-Ann's to see what I could find. Well, I found the most amazing flannels just perfect for my niece's baby doll.

I found a sweet bird pattern and a complimentary pink paisley. Now, I would be lying if I told you it took me forever to make this bedding.  I think it took me all of an hour to whip out all three pieces. But when I was finished I just loved it! My son asked me if I was going to wrap it. I am not sure that I will, but I might just put a great big bow on it and that is it. The real gift is the fact that it comes from the heart and I hope she will enjoy it as much I would have when I was a child. My gift to her is that she will create sweet memories of days when she sang, rocked and cared for her baby doll in the bed and bedding her Aunt Lydia made for her. I hope her days will be filled with hours of make believe play before she grows up and those are just beautiful memories that she reflects on as an adult.

I hope this Christmas all children receive a gift from the heart and full of special memories to come!

Even if you were good, you will want these sweet lumps of coal

So last year I slaved over cookies for Roman's class, I really just put all I had into the cookies, I even made three kinds - sugar, gingerbread and chocolate sugar. They were good and they were awesome looking, but they were a BEATING!

My mom gingerly told me that maybe I put too much effort into it all because this day in age most people don't understand what went into those cookies. I thought about it and decided she was right!

So here we are in 2011. Things have changed, life is much more demanding and I have only made ONE batch of cookies so far this Christmas Season. So tomorrow is Roman's class party. I could not send him empty handed - I just could not do that but, I had not prepared ANYTHING for his class. But, thanks to my new found obsession - PINTREST, I found a simple recipe called "Lumps of Coal." It is no bake, no hassle and finished in about 20 minutes. How you decide to dress it up is entirely up to you.

Recipe:

 

One single package of Oreos

One bag of marshmallows

4 tbs butter

In your food processor, process the Oreos down to fine crumbs.

Once you are complete with that step, measure off 5 cups of marshmallows and your butter.

Place them in a large microwave bowl.

Heat them up until the marshmallows are puffed up. (aprox. 1.5 minutes to 2 minutes)

Fold in the Oreos. This is going to take muscle and you will want to work quickly.

Once the mixture is complete spread the cookies on a non-stick surface.  I used my Silpat mat for this.

I pressed them out with my hands until the mixture was about 1" thick.

Using a small square cookie cutter I began to cut the "Lumps of Coal."

I re-rolled the excess until I only had small pieces that I could not work with.

Let them set for about 20 minutes.

And package!

I found these really cute tags on this blog called eighteen25. Here is the link for the free printables!

And there you go - FINISHED. I think it has taken me longer to write the blog entry for this than it did to make the concotion. It is all genius and very simple. See, you can be a MARTHA STEWART!

Enjoy!

Let me introduce myself

Hi there. Thank you for stopping by! After months and months of thinking about creating a blog, I finally did it. I really have no explanation why I decided to do this today, but I just followed my instinct. After several months and many projects of posting on Facebook, I decided I should journal my journey through quilting and crafting in a blog.

My hope is to share with you my projects and even some guidance through some processes for those who might follow the blog that are new to sewing. Along the way I am sure there will be some funny stories of mishaps. But most of all I just want to give you an insight to my passion.

Each quilt I have created has been crafted with a lot of thought and even more heart. So far every quilt I have completed has been a gift for a special friend or family member. It might be a new baby, a "Thank you" or a special birthday for a close friend. My first quilt that we have kept here at home were two different quilts.

1. 12 Days of Christmas - I used last year's Kate Spain's fabric by Moda. The quilt was made for my guest bed and finished as a full size quilt. I LOVE IT!

2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - I made this for my son's bed. Each night he tells me I made it for him and that he is thankful for it. He is 3 and those sweet little words warm my heart.

Currently I am working on some Holiday table runners for friends. I just sent off one of the table runners to my aunt who lives in the panhandle. I can't wait until she opens the package! I am so excited!

Sew Sassy Friends!