An Inland Empire Christmas and Handmade gifts

Christmas 2011 was spent in the Inland Empire in sunny California.  My daughter hosted her first Christmas and cooked her first turkey.  Everything turned out great from the table decorations we used from my mom's Christmas tea to the turkey and all the trimmings.  Yummy!  She did a fabulous job on everything.  This year I made all the adult girls in our family a bunchy scarf.  I also made soup mixes and homemade treats for the kids - chocolate covered marshmallows with candy cane stick. It was wonderful spending time with most of our family.  We missed our loved ones who could not make the trip.

                               The beautiful decor

Homemade soup mix

Yummy chocolate marshmallow treats

The bunchy scarf

Christmas Jars

These jars turned out so cute.  I used everything I had stored away in boxes to create these Christmas jars.  They are waterless snowglobes using  canning jars.  I glued the trees and figures in the bottom of the jar with Tacky glue and then added the snow.  I painted the lids black with acrylic paint and added a snowflake ornament with red rafia.  I plan to give these as gifts to special people.  Making gifts this year has been economical and a lot of fun.

Sheet Music Roses for Packages

I just love these roses.  They are made from sheet music or old book pages.  They are a beautiful addition to any gift, especially for Christmas. 

 

First you take a piece of sheet music and copy it - double sided.  If you are using a book page with words rather than music on it, just find an old book and tear out the pages one by one.  Your flowers will be smaller using a book. 

Cut a perfect square out of the page and then draw a spiral circle on the page.Then cut the page following the lines you just drew.  You will then have a long spiral looking piece of paper.  Start rolling from the big end in and keep the center tight.  You will soon have a beautiful rose.  Secure the bottom of the rose with  hot glue to hold in place.   Enjoy

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Merry Mantles

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  I have the most fun doing holiday mantles.  This year I used shades of purple on my mantle.  I found sales at Michaels and Joanns to add sparkle to my mantle along with some canned snow.   I'm also posting a previous mantle done in red.  Happy Holidays everyone. 

Easy Christmas Table Decor

I just love using muslin to decorate. It's affordable and has many uses. I had a bolt of white muslin left from a patio canopy I made last summer and decided to use it around the house for my Christmas decorations. I first used it around the base of my Christmas tree and then decided to use it under my gingerbread village to give it a snowy look. It turned out great. I also wanted to share some pics from a Christmas Tea Party my mom had today that I helped her decorate for.

Gingerbread village on muslin

Christmas Tea Party

Gratitude is an Attitude

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Even though life is difficult for everyone, if we stop every day and count the things we are grateful for and give thanks, it all seems bearable. Gratitude is an Attitude. I've begun to adopt a new way of thinking. I keep a little tea cup in my kitchen near my plants that's always full of water to remind me that my cup is full, not empty. I say outloud all the things I'm grateful for every day. As I drive the streets of CA and see so many homeless people, I say a prayer outloud thanking God for everything I have and asking him to provide homes for those people. Take a moment this Thanksgiving and remember all that you have and you will be surprised how long this list it. Enjoy your turkey and pumpkin pie and don't forget those who are less fortunate at this time of year and reach out to them if you can. Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween 2011 everyone. I've been busy creating this week. Here are some pics of my fun Halloween nails, peanut butter halloween pops and my fall tree I just got up and decorated. Have a fun and safe Halloween.....

It's the most wonderful time of the year.......

I love Fall. I pulled out all my fall decor this week. My centerpiece is a pumpkin from the craft store that I cut open and filled with dried flowers and use from year to year on my diningroom table. My mantle was a labor of love. I had the best time doing that last week with everything I already had in the house. Enjoy.

Faux Kitchen Treats

Looks good enough to eat? I hope so, but they are fake cakes I made for my kitchen. So fun. Now I know why they cost so much to buy. It took some time and patience but they turned out well.

Sewing Projects

I’ve decided to do some fall sewing projects on the weekends. I love the look of these gathered scarves and bought the fabric and elastic thread to try my hand at them in three colors – grey, pink and camel. I’ve also wanted to make some rose headbands and have added them to my project list. I’ll post my finished projects soon and hope to use some for holiday gifts. Happy autumn everyone.

The Color Purple

I just love purple and lavendar. Purple is the color of good judgment. It is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple is a good color to use in meditation. Purple has been used to symbolize magic and mystery, as well as royalty. Being the combination of red and blue, the warmest and coolest colors, purple is believed to be the ideal color. Most children love the color purple. Purple is the color most favored by artists.

For Chocolate Lovers Only

We just celebrated my daughter's birthday. As I looked at various options for cakes, I decided a homemade cake would be the best. I made a chocolate fudge bunt cake and filled it with my "famous" chocolate mousse filling. It's made from milk, hershey bar and marshmellows melted together and blended with cool whip. I cut the cake in half and filled the bottom layer with the chocolate mousse and then frosted it with creamy chocolate frosting. The candy bar on top was made from a Hershey bar melted in a mold and dusted with edible silver dust. This picture doesn't do it justice because we had already cut into the cake, but it gives you a good idea what it looked like. It was delicious.

Cherished Keepsakes

I feel very honored and blessed to come from a family of great women. My maternal grandmother lived to be 97 years old and my mother is now 78. My great great grandmother traveled from the East Coast to the Midwest as a child in a covered wagon in the 1800's. She raised her 5 grandchildren when her daughter suddenly died and made a living as a seamstress after her husband headed West to the gold rush and never returned. I have a heritage to be proud of. I was absolutely thrilled when my mother gave me my grandmother's vintage fostoria dishes. I use them for very special occasions and will pass them down to my daughter and granddaughters.

1st Birthday Cupcakes

My precious little grandaughter just turned one. I volunteered to make the cupcakes and try my hand at some new recipes. Much to my surprise, they turned out wonderful. I made chocolate with peanut butter mousse filling, white with raspberry mousse filling and red velvet with cream cheese mousse filling. They were the hit of the party.

A Vase For All Seasons

In 2006 we hired a wonderful florist for my daughter's wedding. One of the centerpieces was in a heavy, square glass vase. I've since used this vase for many occasions, and many more to come.

Wedding Centerpiece 2006

Christmas 2009

Easter 2010

Mother's Day 2011