Cold weather and quilting....

I am looking to make one of these. It is a wool blanket that is made from 3 wool tweed coats. You can either recycle them from your own closet, or get some from Goodwill. This is what I plan to do. I will probably be heading out to Goodwill tomorrow and see what kind they have. I know they are relatively inexpensive. I have priced them before. $3.00 a coat. Boy, you can't beat that. I got the idea and the directions from Martha Stewarts website. You can read about it here:http://www.marthastewart.com/article/wool-tweed-patchwork-throw?backto=true

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

I will be back posting on Friday morning to blog.Pin It Now!

The kiddos are happy

Christmas break is starting early. We got covered with an ice storm last night. So a little sleeping in was done.

The rest of the day may be just as slow....

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season this year.

Be safe all,
CherylPin It Now!

FAMILY CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

Do you have any family Christmas traditions you would like to share?

I will share a few with you. Growing up, my sister and I always put out milk and cookies for Santa and we always had the traditional picture taken with Santa. My mom sewed all our clothes that we wore back then, so we always got a new pair of pajamas for Christmas each year. I almot forgot this tradition. Every year our parents would read Twas the Night Before Christmas to me and my sister. I actually still have the book packed away in a box somewhere. It's been so many years. It's starting to tatter. When I got married and we had our first child, my father gave it to me to read to my children during the holidays.

Now that I am married and have kids, my husband and I have started traditions of our own. We always attend a candlelight service at our church. My husband usually sings my very favorite Christmas song.... O Holy Night. Afterwards we usually get invited to a Christmas open house by some friends and hang out for a while and then head home. Now this next Christmas tradition we need to stop. After arriving home from the open house my husband and I usually spend another hour and a half awake because we are wrapping gifts. Now, mind you, are children are no longer small. They are teenagers. So, really, we need to get these things wrapped as we buy them and not wait so late. Maybe that will change this year. Another tradition we started with our children when they were toddlers was receiving only three gifts just like baby Jesus did. They each have a stocking and they usually get an orange and some candy and one or two fun things in it. Each year since the children were born we have bought a Christmas CD or two. So now we have an eclectic collection of Christmas music. Everything from the oldies like Nat King Cole to Brenda Lee and the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Makes listening to Christmas music throughout the holidays more enjoyable.

This year, I am starting a new tradition. I will be making cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas Day....and I will be posting the recipe to share with you all. But first let me entice you with a pic of the finished product. Now you can't tell me that doesn't look tasty. Shoot, if I had the time today, I would make some right now, but I don't. Another tradition we have is baking cookies. Now my family loves Chocolate Chip cookies, so those are a given. I like something called a Mexican Wedding cookie. This year we will try two new ones. Some shortbread cookies and some Linzer cookies. Unfortunately, both are loaded with butter, but are a beautiful , tasty cookie when done.




Speedy Cinnamon Rolls



SERVINGS: 18
CATEGORY: Breads
METHOD: Baked
TIME: Prep: 10 min. + rising Bake: 25 min.





Ingredients:
1 loaf (1 pound) frozen bread dough, thawed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream


Directions: On a floured surface, roll dough into an 18-in. x 6-in. rectangle; brush with butter. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. Roll up, jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal. Cut into 16 slices. Place, cut side down, in two greased 8-in. round baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 50 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup cream over each pan. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.



Immediately invert onto serving plates. Yield: 1-1/2 dozen.



Here is another recipe for you. If you like giving out bark at Christmas, then this recipe is for you....and no, I don't mean tree bark. This is white chocolate peppermint bark. It is delicious.

Again, I will enitce you with another picture first and then the recipe



Peppermint Bark

Cook Time
10 min
Yield: about 2 pounds of candy
Ingredients
Crushed candy canes, to yield 1 cup
2 pounds white chocolate

Directions
Place candy canes in a plastic bag and hammer into 1/4-inch chunks or smaller. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Combine candy cane chunks with chocolate (add peppermint flavoring at this point if desired.) Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet layered with parchment or waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 45 minutes or until firm. Remove from cookie sheet and break into pieces (like peanut brittle.)


For packaging ideas, check out Martha Stewarts website. She has some good ideas.

Well, that's all for now. This should keep you all busy and wanting to get into the spirit of the Christmas Season.



Have a blessed day!
CherylPin It Now!

Christmas Decorating

We have been so busy around here. Our weekends for this month started filling up last month. I tidied up the house yesterday and brought up all the Christmas decorations, etc. up. I will decking the house out inside and out today. I will be posting pics later this afternoon or evening. So be sure to check back and take a peek. I don't have lots of decorations, but just enough to showcase something in each room on our first floor.Pin It Now!

LET'S SURF A LITTLE

I have added some new blogs to my "blogs I like to read" list. Go and check them out. Lotsa talented ladies that like to craft, cook , sew and do photography.

Enjoy!Pin It Now!

Holiday Greetings

HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS AND A JOYOUS NEW YEAR!

Posting this a bit early as blogger has been a stinker with me on and off for a long while so I may not be able to get back in for a while. I wanted to be able to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday with friends and family.

I have been to sewmamasews blog quite a bit this month for inspiration. There is something there for everyone on your Christmas list to make something handmade. They have been doing giveaways as well. So go check them out.
http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=653

Monica over at http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/ has been sharing some delightful projects for the Christmas season that she has made. So go give her a look see as well. She also just opened the http://therustyrobin.blogspot.com/ She sells her handmades at this site. One tradition that she has started with her girls this year is something called a "jesse tree." You can read about it here and she even gives you ideas on how to put your own together as well as a link about the Jesse tree.http://thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/2008/12/jesse-tree.html What a wonderful tradition to start with your children. A sweet reminder to them that Jesus is the reason for the season!

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THE HARVEST

We had loads of veggies this summer to pick from our own garden that we planted. We had tomatoes well into late October early November. The cucumbers and green beans didn't do so well. There is a tree next to our garden and that tree got invaded by some kind of beetle. We had carrots, tomatoes and green, red, and yellow peppers to eat throughout the summer and fall. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to go out into the garden early in the morning and water it and later in the day be able to pick a couple of things to use in a salad at night. Below is a pic of some of the tomatoes I picked one day. I thought it was kind of cute how they stair stepped in size, so I snapped their photo.
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WOOOHOO!!

So excited! I finally was able to get into my blog today. YAY!!!

I have been wanting to share some pictures with you all for a very long time, but due to blogger not letting me get in, I couldn't.

Anyhow, I shared in a previous post that last year for Christmas my dear husband gave me a new camera. A digital SLR camera. I love it and have been snapping away the past few months. I am hoping to be able to one day take pics like this.
http://stacyrichardsonphotography.com/blog/

She take fabulous pictures. She doesn't use a flash for any of her photos and her photos are what she calls done in photojournalism form. They tell a story. Check out her blog and her photography site.

The first pic I would like to share with you is a pic of my daughter late summer. She found a big ball of these dandelion fluffs. I thought, how cool. It would be cool to get a profile pic of her blowing on it and have them blow away. So, I did. The photo is below. One thing I learned about taking pictures outside in natural light is to not take a pic when the sun is at the height of the day. I should of taken this pic later that evening and the natural light wouldn't of been as harsh on her face.




Then later in the fall I took some of this shrub we have in front of our house. It's commonly referred to as a burning bush. I love the deep dark red leaves on it in the fall. So pretty.

I took several pics of this bush at different angles. No flash. Taken early in the morning. Haven't learned anything about photoshop yet, so all these pics are RAW and untouched.
Here are two more



My daughter asked me to take her senior photos this year. So hopefully when it warms up in the spring I can share those pics. We missed getting some photos taken in the fall when the colors on the leaves were beautiful.Pin It Now!