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Showing posts from November, 2010

Gingerbread Playdough

Let's start the season off right with some fun C h r i s t m a s crafts. This is one the kids will love and smells yummy too! Gingerbread Play-Dough 1 Cup flour 1/2 Cup salt 2 tsp. cream of tartar 1 cup water 1 tsp. vegetable oil Spices--Cinnamon, Allspice, Ginger, Nutmeg & Cloves (I used cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves and it smelled so good!) DIRECTIONS-- 1. Mix the dry ingredients. Experiment with the spices until you get a scent and color that you like. 2. Mix water and oil together first and then add them to the dry ingredients and stir. 3. In a pot, cook the mixture for three to five minutes on low/medium, stirring constantly. 4. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pot and stick together in a large ball. I take it out of the pan when I see a VERY faint brown skin on the dough one each side when I flip it. 5. Take the dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth. 6. Allow the dough to cool and then store it in an airtight con

Very Thick & Cheesy Chicken, Bacon & Rice Soup

I have been trying new recipes lately. Here is one I made to warm my family up on a cold winter night. It was yummy!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Very Thick & Cheesy Chicken, Bacon & Rice Soup 3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin olive oil 1 Medium onion, finely chopped 3 Stalks of celery, finely chopped 3 Large carrots, finely chopped 1 1/2 cups Zucchini, diced 2 Tbsp. fresh minced garlic 2 cups cooked & shredded rotisserie chicken~I just used canned chicken 2 cups steamed white rice 4 Tbsp. butter 1/4 C. all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1/4 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper 3 1/2 C. chicken broth 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese 1 C. cooked & crumbled bacon Heat oil into a soup pot over medium heat. Saute onions, celery, carrots & zucchini for 10 min. or until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 min. then add chicken & rice. Reduce heat to low. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in flour, salt & pepper. Slowly

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes I made these pumpkin pancakes for my family and they loved them! So I thought I would share the recipe. Pumpkin Pancakes 1 C. pumpkin 1 1/2 C. milk 6 Tbsp. melted butter 1 Tbsp. vanilla 4 eggs, separated 2 C. flour 2 Tbsp. baking powder 1 Tbsp. sugar 1 Tbsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. coriander 1/4 tsp. salt In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin, milk, butter, vanilla & egg yolks. In a medium bowl mix together the remaining dry ingredients. Pour dry ingredients into the wet and whisk well. In small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and fold into batter. Cook & enjoy!

Thanksgiving Quiz

H a p py T h a n k s g i v i n g ! What a great day to take time to spend with family and reflect on all that we are blessed with. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Here is a quiz you can take to see how well you know your Thanksgiving facts. Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz We're all good at eating the Thanksgiving meal. Some of us are good at preparing Thanksgiving dinner. But, how much do you really know about this Thanksgiving Holiday we celebrate every year? See how well you do with this Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz! 1. A spooked turkey can run ... A. 50 miles/hr B. 5 miles/hr C. 20 miles/hr D. 60 miles/hr 2. What utensils did the Pilgrims eat with at the 1st Thanksgiving? A. They were proper Englishmen. They had all the proper utensils. B. Their hands C. A spoon and knife D. A fork E. B and C F. C and D 3. Where did the male "tom" turkey get its name? A. The popular Tom and Jerry Show B. Benjamin Franklin named it after Thomas Jefferson when he would not allow the turkey to

Let's Bake!

This was the first class for both of these girls. They had little sewing experience. They were able to pick out their fabric and get to work on thier aprons. By the time class was over they had a completed apron. They were beaming with pride in what they were able to accomplish. What's for dinner girls?!! Stephanie, 11 yrs. old Danielle, 11 yrs. old I will be offering additonal sewing classes during Christmas break. Check back for class times or sign up on my email list. I would love to work with your child too!

Quillows

Alexa, Bailey, Leah & Aubrey made these darling quillows in class today. They all picked out their own fabric out of my stash. Great job girls!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is a pillow when you fold it up and a quilt when it is not. Great for traveling, company or just to throw on your bed.

Pink Satin Ruffle Tree

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New & improved!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was teaching a class on my student Bailey suggested that I put bling on the tree. What a great idea! It is so cute and just what it needed! Thanks Bailey!! These cute little "blings" are stickers. You just peel and stick! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am gearing up for Christmas and wanted a unique Christmas tree in my studio. I had this Styrofoam cone in my craft supplies and some pink satin ruffle that I bought for something else and never used. I just used small straight pins to attach the ruffle to the styrofoam . Pin the ruffle as you wrap it around the styrofoam. Keep wrapping it around the cone until you get to the top. Take the ruffle and fold under the raw edge and then pin some more to really secure it. I used alot of pins to make sure it wouldn't come undone. I added some pink feather boa to the top to hide the pins. Super cute and easy!! Now I am ready for C h r i s t m a s .

Passion or Obession?!!

This is a picture of me, my mom and my sister Amy. I always get asked who taught me how to sew? as well as when did I start sewing? Well...when I was a kid, probably about 8 years old, my mom started teaching me. I would say that my mom has many obsessions er...I mean passions. One of which is sewing. She loves it. She rarely travels without a sewing machine. She is a great seamstress. If I ever get stuck on something she is the 1st person that I call. She has been working so hard with the Az State Fair the last few months that her & my dad decided to go on a little trip together to get away from it all. However.... at 6:22 a.m. I received this text from my mom. This is what she said "Just like my sewing room at home, minus the toilet" I am sure my dad is still sleeping and so she had to retreat to the only other room in their hotel room...the bathroom! We spent a few weeks up in Utah this summer and here she is at the kitchen table sewing away. She brought 4 people i

Bake Sale

Fall Bake Sale Thurs. Nov. 18th $10.00 pan of cinnamon rolls $5.00 dessert toppings Your choice of hot fudge, buttermilk carmel or spiced apple cider syrup. They are all to die for ! Samples available when you pick up. With the weather cooling down & the holidays around the corner it is the perfect time for some hot fresh homemade cinnamon rolls dripping with cream cheese frosting. YUM! (my mouth is watering already!) Contact me to order yours. Available for pick up by noon. Extra cream cheese avaialable for $1.00 Fresh baked rolls available Wed. Nov. 24th for Thanksgiving!

I'd rather have roses on my table then diamonds around my neck ~Emma Goldman

To my surprise my sweet student Madelyn brought me flowers when she came sewing class yesterday. She has done this several times before. Aren't they gorgeous?!! I found the perfect spot for them. Her mom own a flower shop and her prices are great. She has done beautiful arrangements. If you are needing flowers for Thanksgiving or anything else check out Blooming Mill I love my tulips! Thanks Jodi & Madelyn!! You made my day!

Support Handmade

I was able to participate in 7 different boutiques this season. One thing I noticed was the lack of handmade items. So many booths had retail jewelry, purses, clothes etc... Which is fine but, since I make all of my own things I can appreciate the work that goes into creating all of these fabulous products. I found this great purse for my daughter for Christmas at one of the boutiques. She loved it! It is well made and was only $36.00!! With all the classes and orders I have to make I don't have the time to stop and make something like this. It was worth it to me to buy it. Here is a cute little wallet that she picked out to go with the purse. It was cute and only $6.00! I absolutely love these!! My aunt used to send me her homemade washcloths every year for Christmas. She has gotten older and hasn't been making them lately. I picked these up at a boutique as well. The round scrubber is a washcloth on one side and scrubber on the other. If you have not tried these you are miss

Bags & Flowers

Carlie made this darling reversible bag. She choose blue & brown polka dots to match with the brown & white polka dots. She can switch the sides with her mood. Way cute! Love the buttons in the middle. Lauren made this "Disney" ruffled bag. She used the ruffler foot to make the ruffle on the front and added some flowers in Disney colors. So cute!!

More boutiques to check out.

Boutique #1 at Az Community Church Boutique #2 at Fulton Elementary & HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE EXTRAVAGANZA FRIDAY , NOVEMBER 12TH FROM 10 A.M. TO 2 P.M. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH FROM 10A.M. TO 3 P.M. 3104 E. VALLEJO DR. GILBERT 85298 JOIN US FOR FANTASTIC SHOPPING, FEATURING FABULISIOUS, WILLOW HOUSE, SENTSY, STELLA AND DOT JEWELRY, DOVE CHOCOLATES, READY AND WELL, TIGER LILLY CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES, LIA SOPHIA JEWELRY, CREATE YOUR OWN JOY , BEIJO BAGS, DISCOVERY TOYS, MARKET HOUSE, BUY YOUR GOLD AND MORE. GET YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING DONE WITH THIS ONE STOP SHOPPING EXTRAGANZA. BRING YOUR OLD GOLD FOR CASH ON THE SPOT! FOR MORE INFO CALL 602.451.7078 Boutique #3

New Patterns

Colbey at Make Your Day Designs sent me some darling patterns for me to try out with my students. I can't wait to get started on them! Take a look at her website . She designs her own patterns and has cute stuff!! I love the fabric that she uses. Oh... to have such talent!! Thanks Colbey!

Believe Boutique

Believe Boutique Nov. 5th 5-9:30 Nov. 6th 9-3 p.m. This is an amazing boutique with over 100 vendors. I was in this boutique last year and was amazed at how fabulous it was. So many talented people in one place. You won't want to miss it!! Alma School/202 Cornerstone Church

Country Chic Boutique

If you are in the Phoenix area this weekend there are a few must see boutiques. This is one of them! Country Chic Boutique It runs Nov. 4-6 th from 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Check out some of the fabulous stuff they have. Crib bedding that I made. So many choices. Tons of stuff. How adorable! Love these! I made some dessert toppings that are fabulous. The cinnamon rolls are to die for! Yummy treats! They even had samples!!