#Shiplap, Fairies and Gnomes!

Grandson was enchanted by the
fairy house in his great-great-
great grandmother's enamel pan.

I had a wonderful birthday this year.
I planned it to include
Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas. 

My youngest daughter accompanied on the trip
from Austin where my dearest friend met us. 

 It was magical. We started at the Magnolia Bakery
with a selection of cupcakes so yummy no pictures
 were taken. They had to get in our bellies!

My dearest friend bought me this fabulous t-shirt.
People stop me in the grocery store to ask where I got it.
Yes, they are jealous!

Dax offered great customer service
and a hearty "Happy Birthday!"

The fairy houses in the garden section of Magnolia Market
inspired me to create one of my own. My intent was to
preserve an enamel pan which belonged to my great- grand-
mother. Many a bean has been snapped and black-eyed pea
shelled in this pan. It's full of memories for me and
I wanted to create some new memories for my grandchildren.

I added some succulents I brought from our old home in Texas,
pine seedlings, rocks and moss to create a magical garden.
The kids love it!

I decided if I had a fairy house, I needed a Gnome house too! I stink at growing strawberries. I do better with plants that thrive on a rigorous routine of neglect. Thus, I had a lonely, empty strawberry pot.

I bought my starter items at Hobby Lobby.

Added low maintenance plants.

To create a whimsical accessory to my almost
empty flower bed!

I love it as much as the children do.

Tip: Choose items that kids can play with and move around.
Kids will entertain themselves for minutes. Hey, they have
short attention spans. What did you expect?
Hours?
.

WINTER ONEDERLAND!!!

WINTER ONEDERLAND!!!

To celebrate my granddaughter's first birthday in early January, my daughter gave me her ideas (via Pinterest) for a Winterland Onederland theme. All I need is a theme and my little brain is smokin'! I put on my shopping shoes and scoured after-Christmas sale bins to decorate on a budget. 

My niece Ashley made the beautiful banner. Find her on Facebook at Looks Like A Party. She is reasonably priced and does beautiful work. She took everything my daughter and I had accumulated and turned it into a spectacular display.The milk glasses dishes were gathered from various family members. The other grandmother made the smash cake for the birthday girl and cupcakes for her guests. So what I'm trying to say is that it was a team effort!

This beauty was marked waaay down to $9 because
a wood flower was missing. I slapped a bow on
it and called it good! 

The sleigh, also in the bargain bin, held pine cones and potpourri. I re-purposed it to hold plates. I found the tablecloth, runner, plates, and napkins 50% off in the wedding section of Hobby Lobby.

The glitter-coated pine cones from the sleigh, silver candles, and battery-operated tea lights turned a wooden box into a sparkly centerpiece.

Our Hot Chocolate Bar was big hit! The kids loved adding crushed peppermints, all sizes of marshmallows, and gobs of whipped cream to their to their cups. I saw more than one adult snag a handful of marshmallows just for the pure joy of eating them.

My proudest accomplishment was making the whipped cream can blend with the rest of the decor. We couldn't have a red and white can in the middle of our winter wonderland.  ;)

Can you believe I came across the snowflake-shaped white chocolate covered pretzels at Braums?!! We stopped to get the girls a cone and there were the pretzels at the check-out counter.

Penguin punch and thawed ice were available for those so inclined.

Chocolate chip cookies and  glazed spritz cookies accompanied hot chocolate cheesecake dip. Recipe below.  

The birthday girl and one of her older sisters, T-Bug, helped me make several batches of spritz cookies. We used the recipe on the back of the box. the cookies lacked sparkle. I made a little glaze to hold on edible glitter. A white Sixlet from the wedding department adorned the top. Now these cookies were worthy of the Winter Onederland theme. We kept the food simple and recruited plenty of help to make the day a huge success.

HOT CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE DIP
Ingredients

Baking & Spices

• 4 oz Cool Whip
• 2 tbsp Vanilla mini-mallow bits

Dairy

• 1 (8 oz.) package Cream cheese

Desserts

• 4 (.73 oz) envelopes Cocoa mix without marshmallows.

The perfect dip for your cookies! It's filled with tiny marshmallows and hot cocoa flavor. Next time I would add more Cool Whip and mini marshmallows.

Hope you enjoy!

Burp Cloths for Baby!

It must have been a cold winter cause we are seeing a bumper crop of babies this fall. With new babies comes baby showers. I like to make handmade blankets, silkies, and pillowcases for our precious additions. I created this basket for my beautiful friend, Amy. Her baby girl will be born this Friday. She opted to have a shower after the baby is born, so along with the handmade items I put together a few necessities: diapers, towels, washcloths, wipes, shampoo, baby wash, and lotion. As you can tell I found a few other surprises to go in my basket. After I delivered my basket of goodies, I realized I forgot to make burp cloths! This is an easy project you can make in 20 to 30 minutes. 

Buy cloth diapers

Iron flat.

Measure length of diaper

and width. Cut decorative fabric one
inch longer and one inch wider than
diaper. Mine was 5 x 20 inches.

Press under 1/2 inch on each side. If you don't sew use
fuseable tape to iron the fabric onto the diaper,

Or turn the fabric over and pin it to the diaper,

And use a decorative or zig-zag stitch.
on all four sides. You are finished!

Instead of fabric, I sometimes buy a 99 cent bandana to apply to the diaper. 

I can get three burp cloths
from one bandana.

For this little boy, I put the necessities
in a basket for momma to carry from
room to room as she needs to change him. 

As you can see, not everything fit
into the basket. I love babies and
sometimes I get carried away!

Cooking with Amy

     Twenty-three year-old psychology student Amy is getting married in December. She's beautiful, bright, and articulate, but she doesn't know the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon. My wedding gift to the groom is to teach her how to cook. We aren't attempting anything complicated, just meals you can throw together after work, but tasty enough to invite another couple over for dinner. Our first Menu:

• Bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella and fresh basil
• Baked Ravioli with Italian meatballs
• Sauteed zucchini and yellow squash
• Field greens with sliced strawberries, goat cheese and candied pecans, drizzled with Paul Newman's Vinegar & Oil
• Fresh fruit pizza with lemon curd

We gathered all our ingredients.

Layer frozen ravioli in bottom of sprayed 9 x 13" pan.

Place half of the meatballs on top.

Covered with half a jar of pasta sauce.

Top with cheese of your choice, sliced or shredded. I needed
to use up these slices of colby-jack, but any cheese will do.

Repeat the first three layers (leave the cheese off the top).

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

While ravioli is baking, saute onions, celery and red peppers.

Slice two yellow squash and two zucchini,

Add squash to pan when onion is translucent. 
Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

For a quick, hot, appetizer, slice
 ciabatta rolls in half lengthwise.

Spread a tablespoon of sun-dried tomato spread on each half.

Top with shredded cheese

I used Sargento's six cheese mix, and 
California sun-dry tomato spread.

Broil for 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted.
Set a timer or stand close by cause time flies when you are broiling.

Our salad was an easy mix of romaine lettuce with sliced
strawberries, crumbled goat cheese and candied pecans.
Use your favorite dressing. I used Paul Newman's
Vinegar and Olive Oil because it has no sugar.

While we were enjoying our appetizer and salad the
timer went off for the ravioli. I took off the foil, topped
it with cheese, and put it back in the oven until we
finished our salads.

After eating squash and ravioli we were too full for dessert.

But I'll share my Fresh Fruit Pizza with Lemon Curd next week. Enjoy!