Scrapbook Retreat

My daughter invited me to go with her and her church to a scrapbook retreat. I went on-line and checked out the place, Las Brisas Farm in Fayetteville, Texas. A great place for weddings and retreats. Since I'm learning how to use my camera, I thought this would be a great place to take some shots. WOW, it was beautiful. I took alot of pictures and these are the ones I kept.

National Tie One On Day

National Tie One On Day™ – November 25, 2009

“Women clad in aprons have traditionally prepared the Thanksgiving meal, and it is within our historical linkage to share our bounty.” EllynAnne Geisel


Four years ago, I noticed that Thanksgiving was talked about in terms more commonly associated with stress, than joy. I remembered my mother’s absolute love of Thanksgiving, as a day more than anything else of sharing and gratefulness. So I created National Tie One On Day™ as an annual opportunity to return the “give” to Thanksgiving by sharing our good fortune with someone in need of a kind gesture.


National Tie One On Day™ has nothing to do with purchasing anything special or even driving!


Participation is simple. On the day before Thanksgiving, November 25th this year, pause in the preparation of your own meal, wrap a loaf of bread or other baked good in an apron, tuck a prayer or note of encouragement in the pocket, and tie one on…an apron, of course! and deliver the wrapped bundle to someone without your bounty… a neighbor, friend or family member in need of physical or spiritual sustenance, a bit of recognition or just a kind word.

I know it to be true that whether you live in a high rise apartment building or on a quiet block, no matter which direction you walk out of your own front door, someone deserving of a gesture of kindness is close by.

YoYo Barettes

I made these Halloween YoYo Barettes for my granddaughter. Go to heatherbailey.typepad.com and she shows you how to make a yoyo. The orange curls are called Korker Bows. I took grosgain ribbon and wrapped it around a wooden dowel, secure both ends with a wooden clothes pin, spritz it with water and bake it at 275 degrees for 20 minutes. I added felt shapes, buttons and a plastic spider ring with the ring part cut off. She hasn't seen the one with the spider on it yet, so I don't know if she will wear that one. Below is a picture of her with a matching skirt. Now I need to make her a BOO shirt.

Cake Mix Cookies

1 Lemon or Strawberry cake mix
4 oz. of thawed Cool Whip
1 egg

Set oven to 325 degrees. Spray your cookie sheet with oil. I cover my cookie sheet with foil and spray the foil so when I'm finished I just throw the foil away and I don't have to wash the pan. Mix the dry cake mix with cool whip and egg. The batter will be very thick and may be hard to stir. Drop by tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet.Bake for 12 minutes or untill the cookie is slightly browned. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. For extra cute cookies drizzle warmed frosting over the cookie and add sprinkles. This recipe makes about 45 cookies.

*Pampered Chef has a great small scoop (= 1 tablespoon)

HayStacks

12oz. can of Planter's Cocktail Peanuts
5oz can of La Choy Chow Mein Noodles
(2) 12oz packages of Butterscotch bits

Melt butterscotch bits in a double boiler or microwave
Add peanuts & chow mein noodles, stir.
Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper and let cool.

Nestle Toll House Cookie Plate

So, I got this e-mail from Nestle saying if I send in 3 UPC codes and receipts they would send me a free cookie plate. This looked like fun so I decided to send off for the plate. Sure enough this plate arrives in the mail with an instruction card and a Sharpie marker. See the second photo, this is Sam, Amy and Alec modeling the plate for me. So I made some Haystack cookies and hand them to my son-n-law. I told him Sarah (My daughter) had to make some cookies, log the cookies in and pass the plate or I would give it to someone else. My sweet son-n-law looked at her and said, Oh, she will do it....that was my plan. Now occasionally I will log into pleasesendcookies.com and type in my plate #001359 and see where my plate has been and where it is now. With the Sharpie marker I wrote the e-mail address on the back of the plate and the plate number. This is so fun.

October's Party

October's Party, by George Cooper, 1840-1927

October gave a party,
The leaves by hundreds came--
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

Fleece Ragged Quilt

I made this quilt for our family reunion auction. I will place it in a basket with items the other girls are bringing. I got the directions from joann.com. The instructions call it a weekend project and I think that is pretty acurate. The only problem I had was finding matching fleece. I live out in the country and went from store to store till I was satisified with the colors, I probably should have stayed with all solid colors. Silly me, I forgot, the hard part is laying them out and keeping them the way I laid them out, that was a bit tricky. Next time I will just make the blanket with the knots on the edges.    

Flower Headband

I made this flower head band for my friend's granddaughter. The baby dosen't live in Texas (awwwww) so I made the head band adjustable. My grandson's head (who is older) measures 17" so I made the headband so it would fit a baby with a head 16"-18". I sewed the lace and ribbon together and then turned the ends under and sewed them down for clean ends. On one end I sewed 3" of the loop (soft) velcro, on the other end I sewed 1" of the hook (rough) velcro. Done. I took a flower apart and hot glued it back together with a jewel in the center. I took the plastic pieces out of the flower so when I glued the flower back together I cupped the sides up so it would keep it's shape. I hand stitched the flower onto the headband, so it wont scratch the baby. I can't wait to see this on her. Now I'm off to make one for my niece's daughter.