Merry Christmas!!

I had soooo much fun making these dear little snowmen cards.  Wish I could take credit for the idea, but I saw it on Pinterest (where else!).  I only had a few white buttons in my collection that had two holes vs. four, so I sifted through the button box at my local thrift shop for the rest (enjoyed that part too!).  

Blessings on your Christmas!!

Love, Andrea

Happy Fourth of July!!

Sour Cherry Pie

My collection of red, white and blue of vintage jewelry, all from my local thrift shop.  :)

Memorial Day...

For as long as I can remember, on the Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend, my parents would make their annual trek to the local cemeteries to place flowers on the grave sites of close relatives that had passed on.  This rite was especially important to my father in later years.  So, this evening, the PA siblings carried on the sacred tradition in honor of our parents.

My favorite stop was this especially lovely old cemetery in Mercersburg, PA.  It was a spectacular spring evening and there was breathtaking beauty to behold in every direction, especially the enormous old trees...

Our final stop was my parents' burial site.  

So very bittersweet....

New Easter Traditions

There are plenty of church services in this area to attend to prepare for the intensely spiritual meaning of Easter, but I find I still need to do something a bit more personal for Easter to truly resonate in my heart.  I've made butter on Easter morning the last four years, but no longer have access to a good source of cream.  So, I needed a new tradition....

Even though it seems a bit sacrilegious to do outside work on Easter Sunday (although I have to admit, Sunday afternoons are my favorite time to putter around outdoors), it felt important to me to place a few seeds in the ground as a new tradition.  As I planted, I reflected on the fact that death always has to happen for new growth to start, that death isn't the enemy, that as a Christian there is always hope even when it looks like things are over, and that Christ's death brings redemption, restoration and renewal to every situation in my life.

Blessings on your Easter day!

Different Interpretations

My nephew and I got together to bake and decorate Easter cookies today.  We differed in our interpretation of this shape - he saw a beehive; I saw a basket!

(Don't you love his bees?!)

:)

Getting ready...

 

 

for Christmas cookie baking and candy making!

 

:)

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to Me!

 

 

I was so excited to get these yummy threads in the mail today!  My mom always did my birthday and Christmas shopping for her and Dad, but after she passed away 10 years ago, my dad took up the mantel.  He faithfully sent me a $50 check for my birthday and then again at Christmas.  He always wrote "for fluff" on the memo  line of the check.  That endearing directive always gave me the freedom to purchase something special, maybe a little extravagant, but always something I wouldn't have justified on my own. I often purchased something creative, as my dad was a very handy, resourceful person.  I always looked forward to those special purchases....  

 

Now that my dad is gone, I decided to continue that tradition to keep his legacy warm and alive in my heart.  So, my "for fluff" purchases this year were the beautiful threads pictured above,

 

 

and these delicious Flower Sugar fabrics.  You can read more here about my purchases.

 

:)

Easter Traditions

Making butter (for the fourth year in a row)...

... and coloring eggs, of course!

Happy Easter to Me

Doesn't the title of this post sound totally narcissistic??!  I think you'll understand and give me grace after I explain myself.  So here goes.

I LOVED Easter as a kid.  I loved getting up on Easter morning and racing downstairs to see what might be in our Easter baskets.  Without fail, all four baskets would be neatly lined up on the top of the bookshelf in the living room with little Easter treasures inside.  We did not have any extra money when I was growing up, and there was never anything fancy or expensive in our baskets, but to this day I have such fond memories of those little Easter gifts and candies.  So, in recent years, I decided to recreate that tradition myself using the very same Easter basket I used as a child, and it's been terribly enjoyable and nostalgic.

In addition to those wonderful hollow chocolate Easter bunnies, this year's treasures include...

an Easter-colored ratchet pruner I picked up at the Philadelphia Flower Show earlier this month,

some Clover Wonder Clips that I've been wanting to try;  I picked them up at the AQS quilt show in Lancaster just two weekends ago,

along with these "Quilters Tips".

Happy Easter, Everyone!





Fabulous Christmas Gifts

Love this....

Some wonderful quilting books...

A great garden photography book by Matthew Benson whom I fell in love with after hearing him speak at the Garden Expo this past February.



A fabulous tile of Tuscany....  Can I take this as a sign that I'm supposed to go to Italy????!!!!

Some PURE maple syrup...

and some fabulous and fun fabric for a quilt....

(My nephew tells me I use those "F" words too much!)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Fun and Flavors

  Ricky and I got together this afternoon for pumpkin food and carving.  I cooked; he carved.  :)  Then, we had a fun time making some yummy Rice Krispie Candy-Corn Treats to share with others.

 The menu:

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Breadcrumbs and Lemon

Waldorf Salad

Marbled Chocolate-Pumpkin Brownies

(My sister preferred the no-carving-necessary approach!)

Rice Krispie Candy-Corn Treats

These were lots of fun to make, and easy too!  And, everyone who sampled them loved the bright, unexpected flavor from the orange and lemon zest.

Enjoy!

Source:  Everyday Food magazine, October 2012

9 T. unsalted butter, divided

12 c. miniature marshmallows, divided

3/4 t. fine salt, divided

9 c. crisp puffed-rice cereal, divided

1 T. grated orange zest

yellow and red food coloring

1 T. grated lemon zest

Lightly coat a 5x9" loaf pan with cooking spray.  In a large saucepan, melt 3 T. butter over medium heat.  Add 4 c. miniature marshmallows and 1/4 t. salt; stir until melted.  Stir in 3 c. cereal and immediately transfer to pan.  Coat an offset spatula with cooking spray and firmly press mixture into an even layer.

Rinse saucepan.  Repeat step 1 twice:  To second batch, add orange zest and enough yellow and red food coloring to tine marshmallow mixture orange before adding cereal, then press into pan.  To third batch, add lemon zest and enough yellow food coloring to tint marshmallow mixture yellow.  Press third batch into pan.

Let set 2 hours (or overnight).  Run a small knife around edges of pan and invert loaf onto a cutting board.  With a serrated knife, cut loaf into 10 slices.  Cut each slice in half crosswise.

Using your hands, gently mold each treat into a candy-corn shape.

Easter Traditions

Today was a busy day of preparation and celebration, but I had just enough time to make butter again this year, my annual Easter tradition for the third year now.  I know it sounds a little goofy, but I am comforted in knowing that my dear friend Phyllis gets the significance of my tradition too.  :)

A quart of raw milk cream yields approximately 1 1/4 lbs. of butter.  Believe it or not, that usually lasts me until Easter rolls around again.  The logs store nicely in the freezer wrapped in parchment paper, then in a plastic freezer bag.  Of course, I use it very sparingly since it's such a sacred commodity, and a bit pricey too (I paid $11.00 for the quart of cream from grass-fed cows at the farm down the road).  But it works great; I use commercial butter for baking, use olive oil as much as possible when I can, and save this for the times that nothing other than butter will do.

Valentine's Day Crafting

Martha Stewart 3-D Valentine's Day Cards

24 Advent Gifts

I love this idea for an advent chain, featured in the December 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.  My Aunt Maude always sent us an advent calendar every December, and I loved opening those doors every morning.  So, I was eager to create an advent activity for my nephew.

While I HATE posting something about Christmas in November, this is one Christmas project that needs a bit of preparation before December 1.  It takes a bit of time to wrap all the packages and string them together.  I found that boxes work best.  Be sure to use sturdy ribbon or twine.

I was determined not to spend much money on the gifts, so I scoured the house for fun little things that I was sure Ricky would enjoy. 

(Yes, he enjoys using my lint roller!)

A Christmas ornament stitched by my mother.

I did break down and bought a few things, but was able to keep the cost under $5.00.  Thankfully 8-year-olds aren't too difficult to please!

Note:  Be sure to use ribbon that isn't slippery; twine or string will probably work best. The ribbon I used allowed the packages to slide out, resulting in a mess when I presented the string of gifts to my nephew!  I was able to get everything back together, but I'll be sure to use something that works better next year!

Turkey Centerpiece

This adorable turkey centerpiece was featured in the November 2011 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  

It was such an inexpensive craft - I grabbed a pine cone from my Christmas stash, had some leftover googly eyes from last year's Thanksgiving craft with Ricky, and simply needed to purchase a few sheets of cardstock from A.C. Moore for a grand total of $1.08!

The scorer blade...

... on the Fiskar cutter worked great...

for making fold lines for the feathers.

Happy Thanksgiving!