Swap Mail

Nature Girl got swap mail yesterday. I signed up for Plush Swap 3 so she would get a plush in her favorite colors orange & pink. This cute little dolly arrived yesterday from Hope. Nature Girl was thrilled to get the package and see her surprise. She's still trying to come up with a name for her. I think she's sooo cute and I'd love to steal her for myself. Does that make me a bad mom?!

I had to create a plush for Becky, whose favorite colors were blue and white. She is a lover of birds and chickens so this chick is what I finally came up with. I think the the third time is a charm. The birds below were my first and second design attempts.

The white bird was first but attaching the tail was a problem. Then I moved on to the two blue chickens inspired by Swirlyarts Chicken Doorstop But the original was much better & I wasn't thrilled with my version. In the end I decided to send the blue swirly chicken and the chick above. Surprisingly creating a bird plush was much harder than I thought. Enough of regaling you with the plush swap.
For those of you still reading to the end of the post we had three black bears in our yard this evening. I missed it since I was walking the floor with a fussy baby. I have two of my sister's girls overnight. The baby is usually very happy but not tonight. Apparently no one has told her the sleep over rules ... no fussing just fun! Anyway our neighbors across the street saw a mother black bear with her two cubs in our front yard. When my husband drove in tonight the neighbors stopped to tell him. We live in a rural area so it's not a huge surprise. We've just never seen any. Three summers ago a neighbor saw a moose in our yard,. Yeah we missed that too!

Recipe Box Swap

Randi from i have to say is hosting another recipe box swap. The theme this month is cookies & bars. If you're looking for a new cookie recipe you should check here:

I'm sharing a recipe for molasses cookies. The recipe was given to me by my sister. It was passed down from her husband's grandmother. I hope you enjoy them! I don't know if biscotti counts as a cookie but while you're here check out my Pecan Toffee Biscotti recipe from this previous post.

Molasses Cookies

ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Cream shortening and sugar. Add egg and molasses. Now add the dry ingredients. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Roll dough into balls, then roll balls in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.



This is the project I worked on today while Nature Girl was at school. I stitched the cupcake from one of my doodles and decided to work it into a mini quilt for my friend Susan. She was kind enough to review my tutorials for me so I wanted to say thanks. I'm new to quilting and wanted to try this small project before heading on to my next project, a mini quilt for the Miniature Booty Swap. I learned a lot from this project so I hope the next one will turn out better. If nothing else I think it will make a great potholder! Susan & Tracy have started a new 6 " mini quilt trading swap group on Flickr and are holding sign ups for the swap.

Two rainy Days in Vermont & the Best Treasure

We're back after three days in Vermont visiting my mom and grandmother. My mom lives on a country dirt road surrounded by fields and woods. This the rainy view from her front porch. Everything was starting to green up, no wonder since it rained for two days. We did enjoy a nature walk before the rain started but spent most of the visit inside because of the weather. We were all looking forward to attending the auction. Rain or shine you can always go treasure hunting. There weren't any major treasures to be found at the auction but that was alright, we discovered a treasure far greater. We were able to spend three days with my grandmother, mother, my sister and two nephews. Time with family is precious and is the greatest treasure you can have!


We had four generations of women together. We took this photo which represents each generation. I love the idea that our hands show the experience and wisdom of each of us. This photo is a treasure we'll cherish for a long time to come.


The auction wasn't a total bust. I got 12 sets of these melamine plates and the green glass jar. The plates will go into our picnic basket while the saucers and cups will be used for kid tea parties.

It was very soggy, but we did get to visit the Dog Chapel. We visited last year and had a great time taking pictures and looking at all the art work. The rain limited the number of pictures this year but it was still an enjoyable visit. Nature Girl is shown sitting on a fish bench holding a carved fish. She's wearing the Dora garden gloves her Mimi gave her. She had to wear them everywhere we went!
The neat thing about the Dog Chapel is that you can write a note to a deceased pet and leave it pinned on the wall of the Chapel. Our cat Jack died last March. During our visit last year Nature Girl made some scribbles and I wrote "We miss you Jack Cat." We pinned it to the wall before we left. We were surprised to see it was still there. Nature Girl thought we needed to leave another note this year. She drew a cat's face(it looked like a cat this time) then she dictated a note for me to write. It said " We miss you Jack Cat. Sometimes we're going to get a new cat. I think he'll like to play with your toys. I'm at the Dog Chapel. Love Nature Girl." It was very sweet and so honest. She really wants a new cat, but we have to talk her dad into it first. She has decided it must be an orange cat this time.
While visiting with my family I tried Chicken Scratch for the first time. I used the bookmark patterns from Kerri Made and plan to sew it into a bookmark this week. If you haven't tried it yet you should. It's very addicting!
I have some crafty things to work on this week and I hope to catch up on blog reading during the next few days. I'm wondering what you have all been up to the last few days.

Cracking the Eggs

Here are the thrifted drapes I talked about yesterday. I don't know why but I love them and can't wait to cut them up. I purchased two panels and a valance type piece. They'll have to wait a few days before being re-purposed.
Nature Girl and I are heading off to visit my mom for a few days. We're planning to attend an auction and hope to bring back some treasures. We also hope to visit Dog Mountain and get Stephen Huneck's latest book.

I spent the night cooking and prepping for our trip. We'll be celebrating my mom's 58th birthday so we baked a cake. Nature girl cracked the eggs herself. It seemed a bit risky handing half a dozen eggs over to a 4 year old, saying "Sure you can crack them yourself." She did an amazing job, not a single shell in them! I decorated the cake myself then made ham ranch BLT wraps and fresh salsa for the birthday luncheon. We're looking forward to the party and the visit with my mother and grandmother. We'll be back in a few days with pictures and hopefully some treasures. Wish us luck at the auction!

A Good Day

I had planned a day at home for cleaning and a trip to the park with our neighbors today. These aren't necessarily events to blog about but it turned out to be a good day. Our trip to the park was fun. While the kids played I sat on the bench and muddled my way through my first ever crochet project. The pattern for this crocheted flower necklace came from Crochet Me. Since I'm a newbie crocheter I thought this project would be a good way to practice crocheting but end up with a finished project. It's silly but I'm so excited about it! I actually crocheted something that I can use. . . yeah for me!
I tried to take a picture in the mirror but the flash was too bright. So I tried having Nature Girl take my picture but those didn't turn out either. In the end I settled for this picture of Nature Girl wearing my new crocheted necklace. There's no picture to post of me wearing my new necklace but that's ok I was having a bad hair day anyway!
We headed out to our favorite thrift store this afternoon and I bought some cool drapes to cut up and sew. They're in the dryer now so I don't have a picture yet. I think they might become one of Kerri's Crafty toolbelts By the way check out Kerri's blog and see her sling bag, it's gorgeous! It's the first one I've seen made with my tutorial.


When my husband got home tonight he brought in our mail. There was a package for me from Barb at So How Was Your Day? I won some goodies in Barb's give away. Nature Girl was just as excited as I was to see what was in the package. Barb sent us a tissue holder and a card wallet in a flamingo print. As I predicted Nature Girl was thrilled with the flamingo gifts. I love them but so does she. Nature Girl called dibs on the card wallet since I already have a big wallet I didn't need it. For a four year old she really knows how to plead her case. A small discussion and a pout ensued, then we finally agreed that we could share them and take turns. I also had to promise to look for more flamingo fabric to make something for her.
Thanks Barb for the goodies. It turned out to be a really good day!

Biscotti & Crocheting

Biscotti and crocheting may not usually go together but today they did. I invited my friend Cindy over for coffee and biscotti in exchange for a crochet lesson. Really I haven't seen her all winter and wanted to visit and catch up, the crochet lesson was a bonus. Cindy stopped by this morning and after catching up for a bit, a couple cups of coffee and a few pieces of biscotti the lesson started. I learned to single crochet and double crochet. From the picture you can see I struggled a bit and need to keep practicing. It looks like a kid made it, but you have to start somewhere. Right? I really want to be able to make this basket and this bag. So I'll continue to practice. I hope to continue to have coffee & crochet lessons each month. Getting to visit with a friend is always nice and maybe I'll learn how to make these tortoises for Nature Girl. Now on to the biscotti recipe I promised.


My mom loves biscotti, so I would buy Nonni's biscotti for her. True to my nature I thought "I can make that myself." So I did. I found a recipe and modified it to create Pecan Toffee Biscotti. My mom loves it so I've put a few pieces in the freezer and will take them to her this weekend. You can freeze any leftover biscotti and take it out as you need it, however we've never had any left to freeze. We tend to share it with friends and family so it disappears fast.
Today's biscotti was super yummy so I've already had two pieces. I'm sure I'll be having another piece with tea tonight. It's a nice treat for my husband and I after Nature Girl is asleep. Now it's your turn to enjoy some biscotti so get baking. Let me know if you have any questions on the biscotti recipe.

Pecan Toffee Biscotti

Ingredients

4 to 4-1/2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons almond extract
1 8oz. package toffee pieces (I prefer almond toffee pieces.)
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. In medium-sized bowl, combine 4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add almond extract to butter mixture and beat well. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended.

With spoon, stir in toffee and nuts. If dough is too soft to shape, stir in some of the remaining 1/2 cup flour. Divide dough into six equal pieces. Shape each piece into an 8 x 2-inch log and place across a large baking sheet. Bake logs 30 minutes or until firm and golden brown. ( I tend to cheat and make 3 larger logs. You have to increase the cooking time but it's a little less work.)

Transfer biscotti to cutting board. Using serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut diagonally into 1 inch thick slices. Arrange slices on baking sheet. Bake slices 15 minutes. Cool slices on wire rack and store in airtight container. Will keep for 2 months or so. In the freezer, they will keep up to 6 months. Enjoy with coffee, tea or hot chocolate!

Busy Girls

We've been busy girls sewing, planting and baking. The owl stitchery is now a sling bag for Nature Girl. She loves it and proudly announced today that she will never leave home without it. We'll see how long that lasts but for today she brought it with her. She's pictured here on a bench outside our local library modeling her sling bag and her owl sticker. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's just what I pictured for the owl stitchery.

Planting:
We planted seeds yesterday using the newspaper pots from Dave's Garden. I say "we" but really Nature Girl helped plant the first eight pots then went off to ride her bike, which she informed me is good for the earth. I finished planting while she rode her bike around the driveway pretending she was visiting her friends and cousins. It was very entertaining! She looked at my bike that has been hanging in the garage since before she was born and told me I should start riding my bike too. Nice thought but not likely no matter how good it is for the planet.

Sewing:
I haven't posted any pictures on the Sparkle Power Sew Along Flickr Group, but I have been sewing. I made these green capri pajama pants using thrifted knit fabric and a pair of my favorite pajamas as a pattern. They're super comfy. Not bad for 50 cents worth of thrifted fabric! Sorry the picture is pretty poor but I hope you get the idea.

I whipped up this simple skirt yesterday from another thrifted fabric I bought a few weeks ago. It's not fancy but I like it. We went to see Horton Hears a Who today and I wore my new skirt. I even have a piece of the fabric left to make something for Nature Girl. I have a few other projects I've been working on that aren't finished and many more that are on my to do list. That list never gets shorter because I'm always finding something new I want to make. Check out Kerri Made for her chicken scratch gingham and her crafty tool belt tutorial.


Baking:
I'll leave you with one more picture for tonight. The batter doesn't look appetizing, but this Pecan Toffee Biscotti is delicious. I'll take a few more pictures of the finished product and post the recipe tomorrow or the next day. Trust me this biscotti is so yummy it's worth checking back for the recipe. I'm enjoying a piece right now!