Happy new year

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!
We're taking the long weekend to relax and visit with loved ones.  Hope you can do the same.  If you're into big time partying keep safe.  This last year was wonderful and I'm looking forward to what 2012 has in store.

spice mixes

Some of the recipes I used for my spice mixes I gave as gifts this year.


Paula Deen house seasoning. 
This is a great blend to use for all your everyday cooking.  I find myself reaching for it all the time.
1C Kosher or sea salt
1/4C pepper, use coarse ground
1/4C garlic powder
Mix well and store in an air tight container

Bread dipping mix
1tsp red pepper flakes
1T black pepper, rosemarty, oregano, basli, parsley
2T garlic powder
1tsp salt (optional)
Mix everything together and store in an air tight container.  To use as a dip mix 1T with 1/2 good quality olive oil.  I often make slices in a loaf of Italian bread but don't cut all the way through and brush the mix/olive oil combo beteewn the slices.  Wrap in foil and heat.YUM!!


Ranch dip
I didn't get around to this one but it sounds great and my family eats ranch dressing as a main course not a condiment.
3T onion flakes
21/2 tsp paprika
1T parsley
2tsp salt, sugar, pepper
11/2tsp garlic powder
To make a dip use 1T with 1C sour cream
To make dressing use 1-2T with 1C both mayo and buttermilk

Christmas goodies

Some times you want to give a gift that isn't expensive or large but looks great.  Here's what I did with some dry spice mixes I put together for family and friends this year.  Recipes for mixes will be added later.



Empty jars, I just rinsed and let them dry.



Cover the out side with pretty paper and add a label.



Glass jars I only bought a few because they were too expensive.  I also recycled a few glass jars and spray painted the lids then added a label.  It's the one in the center back.







Under construction.  A bowl for $1, plastic bags in the bottom to make it fuller and fancy shreds.  All that was left was a little fluffing and a large clear basket bag with a ribbon bow and tag.  They look great.



I boxed the rest of the mixes in plastic cups with lids 5@$1 added a label and stacked them into small bakery bags, tied then off and added a name tag.  They made cute useful gifts for everyone on my list.

winter centerpiece

Red twig dogwood branches from the yard.





Spary branches lightly over newspaper and sprinkle with crystal glitter.



Dollar store 6" star ornament, cute but not the look I'm going for.  2 coats of white spray paint and a little glitter make them look much better.



Fill clear vases with sugar, salt or sand, stick branches in.  Place on a tray, add pine cones, stars and a few snowflakes.  it's wintery without screaming Christmas so I can leave it up a while.




I added a few battery votives tucked behind to stars and pinecones.  They're much safer than regular candles.  These were 3 for a dollar at Dollar Tree.  You just gotta love that place.



Merry Christmas

May your Christmas be filled with joy, great food and most especially those you love.  Give your family and friends a hug and thank them for being part of your life.  Then thank God for his son, which is the reason for the season.

jesse james kill or cure syurp

My grandfathers name really was Jesse James.  He was the ultimate do it yourselfer and made this cough syrup every year.  Even if it didn't stop your cough(which it does) you really won't care.  I've managed to pick up a cold this week and thought this was a good time to share this recipe.

1# rock candy I bought mine at an Amish  place near by.
3oz red hots
2oz glycerin
1/2tsp oil of eucalyptus
Whirl your rock candy and red hots with 1/2C whiskey in the food processor or blender until they are dissolved.
Mix with the remainder of a fifth of bourbon or blended whiskey.  Transfer to smaller bottles or just keep it in the whiskey bottle, but there will be a little over, so put that in a jar.  This is fully preserved with the booze and will last for ages.  Not for children.  Take 2T every 4 hours for a cough or sore throat.

It's a beautiful red color, smells like cinnamon and has a kick.  Don't take too much at one time.

fudge

It just is not Christmas without fudge.  I could eat the stuff for any meal, but I do try to be responsible.
Recipes abound on the Internet and in cookbooks for centuries.  My favorite has always been the Fantasy Fudge that was on the back of the Kraft marshmallow cream jar.  A few years ago some insane person decided to change the recipe, don't bother it stinks and will scorch before you know it.  Just type in original fantasy fudge recipe on your computer and it will pop up.  Try it in peanut butter too.  Or layer a batch of chocolate over a batch of peanut butter YUM!.  One hint I will give you is if only part of the family likes nuts instead of mixing them in just sprinkle on top and press lightly, that way every one can have what they want.  You might as well double the recipe and hide it well or it will never last til Christmas.

old time laundry soap

No Pictures with this one.  As adventurous as I am, I don't want to try this recipe.  My Mom sent me this and the note  attached said she and my grandma made this frequently.
6# fat  melted in a large iron or enamel kettle and cooled to 80 degrees.
Combine 1 can of lye and 5C of cold water in an enamel pan and stir with a wooden paddle until dissolved.  Cool to 70 degrees.  Add graduallly to fat, stir until creamy then add 2T of borax, mix well.  Pour into molds.
 There is a note that says heavy cardboard boxes make good molds.  Cool without moving for 24 hours.  When firm remove from molds and cut into bars with string.  Let dry for 2 weeks before using.
I would guess you would grate this to do laundry.  Can you imagine the hours this took?  Making the stuff I do takes less than 5 minutes and is ready instantly.
Makes a big ol jug of Tide look pretty good.

junking bonanza

 I went with a friend to a relative of hers that is downsizing from a huge old farm house.  Now this is my idea of fun on a Sunday afternoon.  Rosa was junker before the name was invented and has years of accumulation in her sewing room.  We had a ball digging through old baskets, drawers and closets searching out old sewing supplies, fabric and buttons.  Her stories about different thing made it an even better adventure.  I came home with seven bags and boxes of stuff and barely made a dent.  Rosa has headed south for the winter but has invited us back in the Spring.  I am so there!!!


boxes of buttons, this is just a handful




piles of zippers, tape, spools and yards of laces.  I feel down right wealthy.

People ask me all the time how I find all this great junk.  It mostly seems to find me but I do keep my eyes open, let people know what your looking for and be open to the posibilities you may have never thought of.

candle ring

 Making a candle ring is just like doing a wreath with a few exceptions.  I cut a piece of Oasis into thirds, soaked it and then put it on a glass tray with a slightly raised edge.  I stuck wood skewers into the foam to hold the blocks in place. You can also buy Oasis rings but this is what I had to work with.  Add your greens evenly around the foam from the center out.  Be sure to leave room for your candle or lantern.  Finish with flowers, ornaments or other embellishments and add your candle.  Be sure to keep it watered and it will last for weeks.

Chocolate cherry cake

I  love to give little cakes and breads to friends and neighbors for the holidays they freeze well so they can save them for later when there aren't so many treats around.  This is a new one but I'm thinking it  will be a keeper.
1 18.5oz chocolate cake mix with the pudding in it
1/3C creme de cacao or use bourbon
1C sour cream
3 eggs
2 jars maraschino cherries drained and chopped
1 pkg of chopped dates
12 oz chocolate chips
Grease and flour 5 mini bread pans or 1 bundt pan
Mix the cake mix, booze,eggs sour cream until well blended about 2 minutes
Dump in the rest of the ingredients and divide into the pans.
Bake 35-40 minutes for the small pans 60-70 for the bundt pan
Remove from pans and cool If you want you can mix 1/4C each corn syrup and cream de cacao and  brush on for a shinny finish.
Cool and wrap tightly this will freeze well or last 2 weeks in the frig(Yeah Right)

flower face pin

I wear this pin on my winter coat and always get complements.  Here's what you need:
1 large flat silk flower this is a Gerber daisy
Picture of a face printed from the computer or cut from a magazine.  This one came from  graphicsfairy.com
clear spray
1 glass glob you can buy bags of these from the dollar store or a craft store
Heavy duty glue like E6000
Small piece of felt
Pin back
Cut out your face by placing the glass glob over it and tracing around the edge,  Spray with sealer then glue onto the back flat part of the glue.
Take your flower apart and glue the layers of petals together.  Glue your face to your petals.  Attach a pin back (or a safety pin in a pinch) by sewing or gluing it to a 2" circle of felt. attach the petal to the felt and weight down to dry.
It's about as easy to make several of these at one time so make some for your friends or family.

almond bark

Almond bark is a yummy Christmas goodie that I have to hide to keep AH from eating it all before Christmas.  This is the third batch so far.
1 pkg almond bark you find this by the baking chocolate
1 pkg dried cherries
1pkg dried apricots chopped
2C pecans or walnuts
Melt the almond bark in the microwave in 1 minute intervals until melted
Pour onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet with sides so you don't loose any.  Immediately sprinkle on the fruit and nuts. Press into the bark.   Let harden and break into large chunks.

Of course you can use any kind of fruit and nuts you want.  I also made this with the chocolate bark adding marshmallows, cried cherries and pecans for a rocky road version but AH at it all before I could take a picture.  This looks beautiful piled in a crystal bowl, but it won't last long so just double the recipe from the start.

Christmas greens

boxwood is beautiful and long lasting.  Sometime you need floral foam for arrangements, sometimes you don't.



Red twig dogwood adds an interesting touch and height to an arrangement.  Here everything was just popped into a vase.




Mix greens with your collectibles



Big ball small urn a perfect match

I love to use fresh greens for the holidays.  Just gather a few arm loads of cedar, boxwood, evergreens or arbiviate.  Insert in vases and boxes or anything that will hold water or you can hide a glass with water.  Check water often.  Arrangements like this should last about 3 weeks, by that time you'll be tired of them and you can buy a big bouquet of fresh flowers for Christmas dinner.

give thanks

Put food out and they will come.  R-L Ronnie, Ty, SIL Cathy and Carolyn

DIL Brandi, BIL Mike and Rich  Mouths open per usual

BIL HJ he's one of the quieter ones of the bunch

Nathan and Barb were the hosts, this was there first big holiday in their new house

Food and lots of it is the order of the day

Thanksgiving with the family is always a great time.  We eat, talk, joke around, eat and repeat.  The food is always plentiful, the company wonderful.
Count your blessings every day, you won't believe how abundant they are.  The biggest blessings are the people in your life.

volunteering

Every year I am honored to help run a community program called Christmas is a Child.  Our tiny area has been hit hard by the downturn in the economy.  While the national percentage of people living at or below the poverty level is 14%, here it is 50%.  For five years now we have held a toy drive to help those in need each November.  Every year we are able to provide toys, gifts and gift cards to 100-125 kids in our area.  This takes and army of volunteers and huge open hearts to be able to continue.  While the final figures aren't in for this year, I'm sure we have served more than usual.  The wonderful helper elves give their time and money to make this program happen.  I couldn't be prouder to live in this little town.

The back of my van trip 4.




L-R Ellen,Dustin,Skyler,TJ, Doug, Lacy, Ms Williams and Marney.  Our senior English class that did all the writing and advertising this year.  

 



The Saturday elf patrol, sorry I forgot my camera to capture the Friday crowd.

The church had 13 tables brimming with gifts for all ages.



Happy Birthday

Today is my mothers birthday.  I won't tell you how old because she'd kill me, but a little hint; she was 20 when she had me.  She is without a doubt my hero, and I know I can never be as strong, brave or good natured no matter how hard I try. 
Born after the end of the depression the midwest was still reeling from its effects.  She grew up at the height of WW 2 and maried Dad at 19.  He went back into the Navy and she had to move every year or so.  With 3 kids under 6 in tow she traveled half way around the world to Japan, Okinawa, California, Illinois and Florida.  She had to single handedly raise us kids while Dad was onboard a ship.  She was one of the first working women I knew in the early 60's.  She had a sucessful career, got us grown and has gone on to be a dedicated volunteer and fabulous quilter.  All this while keeping my father in line(a full time job in itsself). 
Your three children  love you beyond measure.  We are so blessed to have you.
If you still have your mother give her a hug and tell her you love her.

laundry soap

No pics on this one all the stuff is white anyway.  I've had several people ask me about the ;laundry soap I mentioned in a previous blog so here's the recipe:
Mix 1 bar of grated Ivory soap, 1C washing soda and 1C Borax.  That's it, easy as can be.
Use 1T per load. 2T if things are especially grungy.
The savings on this are amazing, if you make it yourself the cost is about 2cents per load. compare that to 32-35cents per load for Tide.  It's better for the environment and your clothes won't have a lingering scent. It will work in all washer types including high efficiency and front loaders.
Of course if you don't want to mess with it we also sell it through Vintage Cottage,  just  contacting us.
Happy washing
This time of year  you also need softener.  You can use a regular dryer sheet, spray vinegar on the wet clothes when you put them in the dryer or add about 1T of liquid softener to a damp wash cloth and toss that into the wet load of laundry.  The big laundry manufacturers will never tell you, but the biggest reason for washer breakdowns is the works getting gunked up with fabric softener, you should never use it in your washer.

more wrapping ideas

Even the simplest gifts become more special when they are wrapped in a beautiful way.  Take the idea of the bakery bag you can find anywhere this season.  Pop in your gift and tie on a pretty bow add a tag and you're done..

Fabric bags are also a big hit.  They are easy to make and reusable.  Guestimate how big your sack needs to be to hold your gift and gather the top to tie it closed.  Cut 2 pieces that size plus 1/2" for seams.  Sew 3 sides together, use pinking shears on the top or fold over the top edges and stitch down.  Turn inside out and add your gift That's it instant gift bag.

packaging

The holidays are getting closer every minute and it's time to think about all that wrapping.  Now I'm known for plopping the gift in a bag with a couple of sheets of tissue poking out more often than not.  This year I've been searching for new and creative ideas for gifts.  Here's one  for those small little gifts, jewelry, ornaments, cosmetics, Chinese take out boxes.  They are cute, sturdy and easy to find.



these are 8 and 16oz boxes.



A quick Christmas stamp add your gift wrapped in tissue if you're feeling fancy and a bow around the handle.  You could even hang these on the tree to give to your visitors.

I'll use  mine for little soaps and lotions for tall those little gifts I like to give.

Thanks and giving

What a great weekend celebrating with the family.  The company was wonderful and the food was never ending.  I was however greatly saddened when watching TV by the greed and nastiness of people as they tried to get the best deals on black Friday.  Seriously people how important is getting the latest video game or $20 off on the latest clothing trend?
How blessed are we that live in a country of such plenty.  As you go through this holiday remember what it really is all about.  The birth of our Lord was the ultimate gift.  When you are out doing your shopping think for just a minute about those close to your home who are without enough food to eat, warm clothes to wear and possibly no place to live.  Every community has people with these needs and many more.  Give where you can.  You're are not promised a rich  life and all the things in the world can be gone in an instant.
Fill your coat pocket with dollar bills and give them every time you see a bell ringer.  Buy two of some of your groceries and donate  it to your local food pantry.  But a coat, hat or gloves for someone with out.  Donate the cost of one dinner out to a children's charity.  If we all did these simple things think about how much of the need in each of our communities we could take care of one dollar, one can one coat and one meal at a time.

Thaksgiving

Give thanks for all you have today.  Tell your  family you love them and try not eat too much.  Have a blessed day!

first public appearance

 We made our first public appearance as a business this weekend.  It was tons of work, totally exhausting and we learned  a lot.  The customers were interested and the response to our products was great.  We can't call ourselves rich with the money we made but we looked at this as a test of what needed work, what would sell what we can change to get our name and products out to the public.  I did craft shows back in the dark ages and had forgotten how physically hard this kind of show can be. 


Our booth  caught a lot of attention mostly because of our  display  and eye catching products.  We also learned we had way too much on our tables and should have stuck more under the tables and brought it out as necessary.




The lifts were great.  they could have been better spaced  maybe a different color.



Goats milk soap.  It's beautiful but didn't sell well.  We did have a tray with each kind of soap out so people could smell them.  Maybe some kind of info on the advantages of goats milk.





Bath salts too crowded and we were so busy we couldn't tell people what they were. 

 It was a great learning experience and the other vendors, Sandy and Michelle who ran the show and the customers couldn't have been nicer.  I don't really want to go back to the days of shows every weekend, but one every once in a while would be OK.
The biggest surprise of the day?  Our natural laundry soap.  We've been working on this one and had only brought a few jars to sell.  People went nuts over it.  I'll share the recipe someday.

holiday wreaths

My friend Kathy's birthday was last week and I wanted to make her something she could enjoy not just for Christmas but for all the winter season.  She had admired a wreath at a recent craft show we went to so I used that idea as my inspiration.
I bought basic green wreaths  and picked up some picks, flowers and snowflakes at the dollar store.


fluff the branches of the wreath to give it a fuller look



I like to put all of my materials in front of me before I start, here I'm using 2 kinds of little white flowers. Just hot glue them in so the bottoms are nestled into the wreath.



Add your focal materials.  Here I've used frosted looking fruit picks.




The last detail I added was 4" snowflakes and gold berries.  Yes that's my head casting the shadow.  I'm still not a good photographer.




The final product. 

The wreaths can be used through the winter season, on a door, as a candle ring or 2 wreaths stacked one above the other on a door or wall.  Total cost $15.00for the pair because I bought everything new.  Total time 35 minutes.

puzzle pumkins

I made these pumpkins a few years ago.  They are simple and inexpensive and my grand kids love them.  Sorry no before pics but you can get the general idea.
Here's what you need:
1X12 lumber for 2 times the size of pumpkins you're making.
Paint
Clear spray
Draw out the shape of a pumpkin on newspaper first.  Notice mine are all slightly different shapes.  Cut a slot 3/4" from the top half way down on one side, from the bottom half way up on the other.  This sounds way more confusing than it really is. Make sure the pieces will fit together.  Sand your pieces and paint with 2 coats of your base color.  Add high lites and shading to suggest the pumpkins ridges and curves, keep it simple.  Let dry and spray with 2-3 coats of sealer.  Store as flat pieces just so they don't get stuck together.