Rag Quilt

I was feeling creative this week so I raided my fabric stash.  I had some gorgeous quilting fabric I got for my birthday last year I had planned to make a lap quilt out of.  I also had been toying with the idea of making a rag quilt I saw on this website.  I thought, why not combine the two projects and make the rag quilt out of the birthday fabric?  So I went for it and this is the result...

As you can see, I have to share my new quilt...

It took me about 5 days and cost about $40. Not too bad, I think.  This quilt was unusual in that instead of sewing together the top squares, then attaching them to a backing, you actually make little quilt "sandwiches", assembling top, batting, and back, sewing together, then sewing the sandwiches wrong sides together to make the seams on the front.  Snip the seams and it toss in the washer and dryer and there you go!

I just love the finished look!

And I'm not the only one! :)

Forward

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions.  I've been around enough to know that they don't last.  I usually don't stick to much of anything for more than a week or so, if I'm lucky.  I now know better than to use words like "always" and "never".  But words like growing, improving, and striving are friends of mine.  To be able to look back on the previous year and say, "I'm a better person now than I was then," whatever that means to you, is a huge achievement.  I would like to be able to say that.  To always be pressing forward, growing in grace, expanding in knowledge, bettering myself as a wife, mother, and friend.  Not becoming stagnant, but reaching out and making a difference in my little corner of the world.  I think that we can all do that.  By making little changes every day, adding and subtracting what we need to from our lives to slowly mold ourselves into what we want to be.  Knowing that we will inevitably fail, but not letting that stop us from getting back up and pressing forward again.

Here are some things I want to work on over this next year...

• spend less
• give more
• read more books
• watch less TV
• eat more veggies
• eat less sugar
• take more walks
• be outside more
• plant some flowers
• plant some herbs
• speak more softly
• be less easily angered
• repay evil with good
• smile more often
• give more hugs
• talk to strangers
• be thankful
• complain less
• go to bed a little earlier
• get up a little earlier
• write more
• sing more
• paint more
• sew more

Our Thankful Tree

One of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions is our Thankful Tree.  We started this a few years back with the kids and it is always a lot of fun.  We just used colored paper, scissors and tape.  We cut the trunk in sections and taped it together on the hall closet door. Then we cut out lots of curvy branches and taped them on wherever we felt like it. This year we printed out leaves onto the colored paper using this template.  It turned out to be a little tricky cutting all the points and curves, but we managed.  We made a little woven basket out of leftover paper strips and put the leaves, a marker and some tape in it and hung it on the door knob.  As we think of things we are thankful for, we write them on the leaves and tape them to the tree.  It's not the most perfect looking craft, but that's ok.  It was made with lots of loving, thankful little hands and to me it's the most beautiful tree in the world.

Thankful

photo from timeanddate.com

 I have always been bothered by the fact that everyone seems to skip straight from Halloween to Christmas.  This year, the Christmas stuff was in the stores even before Halloween!  Ridiculous.  I never understood why.  Then it struck me... a holiday that focuses on being thankful for what one has just doesn't fit into the modern excessive consumer mentality.  There is nothing for the companies to market.  No costumes, candy, lights, trees, presents, etc.  It is the one holiday that doesn't revolve around spending a lot of money.  It's about good, home cooked food, not buckets of candy.  It's about spending time with your friends and family, not spending tons of money on gifts for everyone and their brother.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas... the real Christmas.  Not the capitalistic, commercialized, consumer driven version it has evolved into.  But Thanksgiving is simply this... giving thanks.  So simple, so beautiful.  In this country we live in where we are constantly being bombarded with messages that what we have is not good enough, big enough, or new enough, how important is it to have that one day to reflect.  To choose to disregard all those lies and focus on what really matters.  To realize how truly blessed we are.  To realize we have all that we need and more.  I hope that maybe some of us will slow down and really think about Thanksgiving this year.  Maybe choose to have a different perspective of the coming Christmas season.  And most of all, remember to be thankful.

Sweet-n-Spicy Popcorn

Popcorn and movies are some of those things that were just meant to be together.  But I've been getting tired of the plain old butter and salt version.  I recently saw a cooking show with a girl making unusual flavored popcorn and it inspired me to create my own.  I wanted something sweet with just a hint of spice.  I came up with this, and it was just the twist the popcorn needed.

Sweet-n-Spicy Popcorn

 What You Need:

1/4 c. unpopped kernels

2 T. butter

2 T. honey

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/16 tsp. cayenne powder

1/4 tsp. sea salt

What You Do:

Pop your popcorn, using either the kettle or air pop method.  

Please don't use microwave popcorn, you will make me cry. 

We got this cool popcorn maker for Christmas last year, so that is what I use.

While your corn is popcorn, melt the butter and honey.

Ok, so I did cheat here and melt it in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup.

Hey, I'm not perfect.

Stir in the cinnamon and cayenne until completely mixed.

Trust me, you don't want to bite into any cayenne clumps.

I only used a pinch of cayenne, 

but of course you can increase it if you like it hotter.

Now put your popcorn in your serving bowl and drizzle the 

sweet and spicy mixture all over the popcorn and toss to coat. 

Sprinkle with the sea salt and toss again.

That's it! So simple and really tasty.

It serves up to 4, if you're being reasonable. 

Of course I'm never reasonable with popcorn and could easily eat it all myself  :)

Cat in the Box

 Our darling girl, Pepper

So stinking cute!

Crocheted Owl Hand Bag

Well, I was trying to use up some leftover yarn I had in cream, brown and blue.  I decided to make a handbag.  Then I thought how cute it would be to make an owl.  Then, alas, too late I realized that the owl belonged on a green and cream handbag.  So away to the store I went to buy some green yarn. *sigh*  I think it's super cute, even if I did defeat the purpose of using up my yarn.  Oh well, I will find a project for the blue, I'm sure...