Advent Calendar

December 22, 2013



My sister-in-law, Caitie, and I decided we each wanted to make our own Advent Calendar this year. We gathered ideas from Pinterest and planned out what we wanted to make. Caitie had some Christmas fabric and I had some felt. We knew we wanted a large calendar so we decided on 21.5” x 51” for our dimensions.  Here is what we did to create our calendar:

1.       Cut 4.5 inch squares from the fabric and 4 inch squares from the felt for our pockets.

2.        Lay out squares (so we could see what colors we wanted to use for our numbers).

3.        Cut out numbers using the felt. We cut them free hand, no patterns.

4.        Attach the numbers to the fabric/felt using Heat'n Bond Lite Quilt Edge Tape.

5.       Fold and iron and sew one side of our fabric squares. This will be the top of the pocket.

6.       Iron the body of the fabric and lay out to attach our pockets.

7.       Fold and iron the other 3 sides of the fabric pockets.

8.       Arrange and pin the pockets to the large piece of fabric.

9.       Sew all of the pockets to the fabric.

10.   Iron the back fabric and lay out.

11.   Place top of fabric onto the back fabric to fold and create an edge to the calendar.

12.   Sew tabs using the back fabric and attach to the top.

13.   Embellish top and/or bottom.

We used branches from my yard and twine to hold up the calendar. This was a fun project to work on together and we were really happy with the results.

 

Swag Decoration for Stairway

December 6, 2013

I was so excited to decorate my house this year for Christmas. We moved into our new house in the spring of 2013 and I now have a banister and a fireplace mantel that I got to decorate. I took to Pinterest to get ideas of how I wanted the banister to look. I decided I wanted to put swags on the railing, so this is what I did:

We are lucky enough to have several types of evergreen trees and bushes in our yard, but you can get the same materials from your local nursery. I went out and cut my e...


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Grilled Avocado

October 9, 2013

Serves 6

1 C of diced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
1/2 C of sliced green onion
1/2 C of crumbled goat cheese
1 T of Olive oil
2 tsp of Lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients and set aside.  Cut 3 avocadoes in half, length wise.  Brush with olive oil and place on hot grill for 2 minutes.  Adjust avocadoes on the grill to get the grill marks and leave for another 2 minutes.  Remove from grill and put mixture on top of the avocado.   


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Fall Entrance 2013

October 8, 2013

Hi all! I am posting a picture of my entrance. Since I have last posted we have moved into our dream house, and have a new blank slate to work with. Needless to say I love it and here is my first attempt at decorating. 

Gathering some inspiration from pintrest, I carved out some real pumpkins to use as a planter for my mums.  You can also use the fake pumpkins that are sold at the craft stores.  If you are using the fake pumpkins make sure you place something heavy in the bottom so they don't ...


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Pumpkin Bars

October 8, 2013

2 C     all purpose flour

1 1/2 C     sugar

2 tsp     baking powder

2 tsp     ground cinnamon

1 tsp     baking soda

1/4 tsp     salt

1/4 tsp     ground cloves

4 beaten     eggs

2 - 15 oz     canned pumpkin

1 C cooking oil

Combine all ingredients and spread into ungreased 13x9 cake pan.  Bake at 350 deg for 35 minutes.  Insert toothpick near the center.  If it comes out clean no additional cooking time is needed.  Cool before adding frosting.

 

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 - 8 oz     package of cream cheese

1/2 ...


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