What goes around, comes around...

In need of a hostess gift for a Christmas party that we are attending tonight, I had to channel my inner Martha Stewart. What to do? What to make? I immediately thought of my friend Yolande's macaroons. Yolande is THE best macaroon maker ever. Fortunately, I have her recipe, (and you will too at the end of this post). I've shared it before in years past, but it is so worth repeating and maybe some of my new blog readers will appreciate it.


They look like coconut snowballs, don't they? The recipe is supposed to yield a dozen cookies, but somehow I ended up with thirteen. Hey, that's no problem. That one will be my test cookie.

This little plate will work perfectly for them.

See?

And here they are all wrapped up and ready to go. You might be wondering what the blog title has to do with making cookies. Well, Yolande will also be at the party and maybe she'll have one of my (her) macaroons.

Also, the cute cellophane bags were bought one day while out shopping with tonight's hostess. I'm fairly certain she took home the very same bags for her own homemade goodies. Maybe she'll get a laugh out of getting one back.

Yolande's Macaroons

Beat 4 large egg whites until frothy.

Add 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2/3 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup flour. Beat until well-mixed.

Stir in 3 1/2 cups lightly packed sweetened flaked coconut.

Drop dough in 1/4 cup portions on a buttered and floured cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees until macaroons are golden~about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon birds and orange slices...

On my last post, I mentioned that I was going to try my hand at drying orange slices to decorate a small tree. Any normal Arizonan would simply lay the slices out in the sunshine to dry. Eventually, that is exactly what I did, but first I went surfing the net to find a faster way. My Google search led me to this site. Thinking that the microwave way sounded easy, I went that route first. I followed the directions just like it said, and lets just say the slices resembled well-done barbecued potato chips. Not exactly the look I was going for. I then tried the oven method with slightly better results. Not wanting to spend 3-4 hours flipping orange slices every half an hour, outside they went after a short turn. I let them dry for most of the afternoon and they were ready to hang. I think they are really primitive and simple, exactly what I wanted.

The cinnamon birds were super easy to make, and they smell wonderful. Here is my recipe:

3/4 cup applesauce

1 bottle (4.12 oz.) ground cinnamon

1. Mix applesauce with cinnamon in a small bowl to form a stiff dough.

2. Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll out to 1/4 in. thickness. Cut with cookie cutters.

Make a hole in the top of the ornament for hanging.

3. Bake on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours. Place on a rack to cool. Use ribbon or yarn to hang.

Here is Scarlett peeking out from her spot on my (okay, her) chair. Our three Bostons do not like to be cold, and they all have to burrow down under a blanket to sleep. Talk about spoiled...

Thank you for all the enthusiasm and love for Sarah. I'll get busy charting her soon.

Meet Sarah Elizabeth

Christmas has come a little early. I had been drooling, obsessing, ogling, and dreaming about this antique sampler since September. She arrived from England last week, and is now front and center and the focus of my craft room wall. To say that I'm one happy girl is putting it mildly. Thank you, Mr. B. She has everything I love about samplers including the big red house, birds, and four dogs. As a friend said, "it's definitely a Tanya sampler." Did I mention it has a big red house, lol? The verse is wonderful, too. I'm always amazed at the ages of these young girls. Sarah was 11 yrs. old when she stitched this in 1842. I will be reproducing her in the near future. I can already picture the linen and fibers in my head. I think I had that done before I even saw her in person. Here she proudly hangs:

I am finishing the model for Maria Tilley any day now. I hope to show pictures soon. When my eyes can't take any more of Maria's 45ct linen, I put a few stitches in Lady's Garden from Carriage House Samplings.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure went straight into Christmas, didn't we? I spent yesterday decorating the house. It's exhausting, but I love the results. My next adventure will be making cinnamon ornaments and drying orange slices for a small tree. Stay tuned to see how that turns out...

Still playing with paper

As you can see, I'm still in the paper crafting mode. I had so much fun making the journals that I thought I'd give some note cards a try. Of course, they have a sampler theme. My husband would say "what else is new?" I can't help it. If one is going to make things, it should be what one enjoys, right? They come in a set of six with two of each design and are available through my Etsy shop. Email me if you have questions or would prefer one design only.

Have you seen the upcoming repro from Shakespeare's Peddler? My friend Katrina, who is also THE Master Enabler couldn't wait to point it out, and all I can say is WOW. It is going to be fabulous and I'll be looking forward to that one. I've now reached the top portion of Maria Tilley which includes a brick house and a very cool cow. I hope to have it ready soon.

In unrelated news, the Midwest relatives are flocking to AZ. It's been a little warm for November, but it's making my garden grow. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is three weeks away and the stores are already promoting Christmas. The holidays all seem to blur into each other these days. It seems like only yesterday it was last December and I was thinking of stitching more tiny samplers for the feather tree. Have I started? No, I have not. I'll be lucky to have even one finished for this season.

Making Journals

No stitching to show you, but I am making good progress on the model for Maria Tilley. Now that my planting is done and my garden is in, I had an urge to make some journals. These are currently available in my Etsy shop. This one kind of makes me laugh. I hope all you stash queens find it funny, too.

I love these sweet vintage images...and the birds. Gotta have birds.

What a look on her face! I wouldn't want to be her teacher.

I made this collage a couple of years ago, and I kind of forgot about it. I recently found it while cleaning the craft room. I call it the Scissor Sisters.

And last is the grungy fairy.

Planting time

It's the time of year that we love in AZ. While most of the country is preparing for cold weather, we are shopping for plants and flowers and enjoying outdoor living once again. Last weekend was spent trimming and planting. One more monsoon storm roared through last week and the yard was a mess. The temps are starting to fall and soon the 90+ degrees will be behind us. The old galvanized tub holds some chives, parsley, sweet cherry tomatoes, and marigolds for color.

The patio is my favorite "room" of our house. We literally spend most of our time out here. I love Boston ferns, so I hope these three will thrive. I used to have a huge one inside, but they can be so messy. As usual, I planted red geraniums. They are so easy and kind of my thing. If you look close at the ruby red grapefruit tree, you can see lots of fruit. It's going to be a great crop this year. If you get sick of winter...come for a visit.

This is what I came upon when I came in from taking pictures of outside. Mr. HB must think he's a cat. Lately he's been sleeping on the top edge of the sofa. It is sort of soft and squishy, but what a nut! He is a never ending source of entertainment.

Resuming Country Life...Literally!

Once Jane Tindall was ready for market, I worked a little on Country Life again. It is such a cool sampler, but that border...Geesh! Getting one flower finished is a major accomplishment. I probably won't get too far along as I am also working on another model for Needle Work Press. Next up is Maria Tilley 1835. I finished the chart before our vacation to Iowa, but I wasn't able to stitch on her much. I am using 45ct linen, and it was too hard to see in the car.

Here are some photos from the trip. We took our bikes along, and this path was near the lake that my in-laws live on. I was riding as fast as I could because there were snakes...lots and lots of snakes. I saw at least thirteen. They were only Gartner snakes and most of them had been run over, but they were still SNAKES. And we all know that I hate snakes.


Loved checking out this huge tree...while keeping an eye out for snakes, of course.

This is the lake that my hubby grew up on.

I wish we had more of the blue skies, but unfortunately it was cool and rainy most of the time. I skipped the county fair because it was a nippy 41 degrees. How was I to eat fair food in the freezing rain? Paul went without me and probably ate enough junk for the both of us.

Henry, Ruby, and Scarlett are now sailing dogs. They took a ride in the pontoon boat.

Bad weather can't stopped me from antiquing. I hit every store that I could. My favorite find is this pewter canister or tea caddy. I'm using it to store my tea, so that's what we'll call it. I've wanted one for some time but the prices always stopped me. This one was a deal.

I always look for more canning jars for my craft room. This one came filled with buttons, so in the cart it went.

Naturally, I found a couple of crocks that needed a home.

On the way to Iowa, we made a stop in Colorado Springs so I could see my good friend, Katrina. It was so fun to meet up with her, and we had a great time talking, eating Mexican food and looking through each other's stitching bags.

Many thanks for the very sweet comments left on my last post about Jane. It meant the world.