BB In A Boxcar Or What

Now that Christmas is over I feel like two BB's in a boxcar. I'm all over the place!

There's way too many sewing ideas bouncing around in my head.

Which reminds me about a book I read as a child, The Boxcar Children.

I loved this book! I remember checking it out over and over from the library.

As for my sewing...

I feel like a bouncing ball that can't seem to land anywhere in particular and keeps hitting walls.

Kind of like Mitch Miller's bouncing ball...the one he had you follow along to sing.
I loved watching his show and had fun singing along as the ball bounced over the words.

Uh, back to my confused state of sewing decisions...
it appears that I have the attention span of a two year old Monkey Boy!

Oh look! He's playing Heads Up with the phone. If you've played the game with your family,
you know he has the phone backwards making it impossible to play the game.
Yes, that's chocolate on his face. I wonder if I have some chocolate leftover from Christmas?

Uh, where was I?
Oh, that's right. What to sew, what to sew, what to sew.

There's this cross stitching thing I'm working on for the next blog hop, Tammy 4 All Seasons.

It's far from perfect, but I've learned what not to do when cross stitching.

There's the We Support You blog hop that I just started working on.
Surprise, surprise...I keep changing my mind what to make.

I started this quilt a month or so ago for the second oldest Monkey Boy.
I put borders on it yesterday.

The label he drew needs to be embroidered before I can make the back of the quilt.

It's close to being done...well, sort of close.

Last night I started this other piece for Tammy 4 All Seasons.

I have no idea why I started it when the other one isn't done, yet.

Like I said...BB in a boxcar, bouncing ball, blah, blah, blah!

Maybe there's a little procrastination going on because I'm sitting here blogging instead of sewing.
Or, I may be sitting here because my head hurts from bouncing all over the place!

Maybe I should go take down the Christmas stuff and put it away.
Maybe not.

I hope you're all having a fun (and focused) day of sewing!

A Drum Roll Please

The Monkey Boy's mom said it was "okay" so look what this sweet boy got from his grandma

 and grandpa for Christmas. He loved it and we loved his face when he sat down to play!

Time to get back in the quilting, sewing, and stitching mode in my VERY quiet and peaceful house.

I don't imagine it's very quiet and peaceful in the Monkey Boy's house now!

Did you know Madame Samm has a new blog about stitching...check it out!

Two blog hops coming, too!

Just A Holly Jolly Christmas To You

I hope your Christmas is totally jolly this year!

Have a holly jolly Christmas
It's the best time of the year
Well I don't know if there'll be snow
But have a cup of cheer

Have a holly jolly Christmas
And when you walk down the street
Say hello to friends you know
And everyone you meet

Ho ho the mistletoe
Hung where you can see
Somebody waits for you
Kiss her once for me

Have a holly jolly Christmas
And in case you didn't hear
Oh, by golly
Have a holly jolly Christmas
This year!

Have a Merry Christmas week!

Fudge, Caramel, And Pretzels Works For Me

I've never made fudge.

No, really! I've never, ever made fudge.

But then I saw a recipe I HAD to try!

Wowzers! It was amazing!

It had chocolate, caramel, and pretzels...yum!

Thanks to Real House Moms for this delicious fudge recipe!

Want the recipe? It's HERE!

Peanut Butter Blossoms Are Just The Best Cookie

I know, I know...there are lots of "Best Cookies" but I just love

Peanut Butter Blossoms!

I think Santa would love to find a plate of these waiting for him on Christmas Eve!

I bought the traditional Hershey's kisses and then...whoa...is that a caramel kiss in the bag?

Yep!

It adds a whole different taste to those Peanut Butter Blossoms!

Here's the recipe I always use...it makes a lot, but it's a great cookie for the kids to help with.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

One big bag of Hershey's Kisses (unwrapped, of course), about 100 of them

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup of butter, softened (that's two sticks)

1 1/2 cup of peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

2/3 cup white sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Extra white sugar to roll the cookies in

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat the butter and peanut butter until combined.

Add white and brown sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs, milk and vanilla; beat until well combined.

Gradually beat in the flour.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in white sugar.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet an inch or so apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Remove from oven and immediately press a Hershey Kiss in the center of cookie.

Let the cookies sit on the pan for a couple of minutes before removing them to a wire rack.

Cool.

Eat.

Yum!

I think my sewing machine is lonely. Too bad! I'm baking for Christmas!

What do you think is the best cookie ever?

An Ammo Box Holds Treasures

Last year the Monkey Boys and I talked about having a treasure box to store the special items they

would accumulate throughout their childhood. Plastic boxes tend to break, cardboard can get soggy if

it gets wet, but an AMMO BOX...now that's solid! It's the perfect place to keep treasures!

Ace Hardware had just the right size ammo boxes and a little stenciling personalized each one with

their name and the word "Treasures." The Monkey Boys are gonna love these!

Shhh...it's one of their gifts for Christmas...in 7 days!

I have fond memories of an ammo box my parents had while I was growing up. 

It was really special! 

No, it wasn't filled with any ammo, just first aid items.

Linda at Food Storage Moms made one that looks just like the one my parents had.

Love it! She said I could use her pic. Thanks, Linda!

 That ammo box was always filled with band aids, gauze, and antiseptic like that orange stuff.

Who remembers Mercurochrome or Merthiolate? 

Those cuts or skinned knees burned so bad when that stuff was put on it! 

Of course, you had to blow on the Mercurochrome to make it dry and to stop that painful feeling,

plus the orange color on your skin definitely displayed the injury for all to see!

Treasure boxes or first aid kits...ammo boxes work great for both of them!

I can't wait to see what treasures the Monkey Boys will put in their ammo boxes!

I'm sure they will fill it up quickly!

Let The Christmas Game Begin

Every year on Christmas Eve my family gets together to play a gift exchange type of game.

Sometimes the gifts are a bit unusual, but it's great to get together and have a good laugh.

This year we'll be playing a different game, but hopefully it will still be fun and memorable.

The game is called "What's In the Stocking?"

For this game I'll be using 18 numbered Christmas stockings, each with a small item inside.

The stockings will be passed around for each person to feel and guess what's inside.

They will then write their answers next to the corresponding numbers on a paper.
The adults can help the little monkeys write things down.

The person who guesses the most correct amount of items will get to pick the stocking they want.
After that, the youngest person in the room will pass out the remaining stockings to everyone.
The items are inexpensive so I doubt there will be much fighting over any particular stocking.
They can trade them around if they want to.

The stockings could have been either store-bought or homemade.

I went with homemade because I had lots of felt waiting to be used for something like this.

Using a stocking pattern I found online (there's lots of them out there), I cut out 10" felt stockings. 

Note to self: Next year make them a little bigger to accommodate larger objects. 

 I needed18 stockings, but any amount could be made depending on the size of the crowd.

Using stencils I purchased at a craft store and some craft paint, I added numbers to each stocking.

I just dabbed the paint on, removed the stencil while it was wet, and then let it dry.

I love that blue painter's tape! It's great for so many things!

Here they are all lined up and ready to be sewn together.

I did a simple straight stitch around them and pinked the edges...easy and fast!

My hubby and I had a great time finding inexpensive items to fill these bags.

We wanted things that were not too easy to identify, but would be fun for all ages.
Toys, tools, candy, gift cards, and whatever would fit in the stockings were perfect for us.

Once the item was in the bag, I just straight stitched across the top to close it.

Next year I'll add Velcro or a drawstring to the opening so they can be used over-and-over.

I'm hoping the Monkey Boys (and the rest of the family) will enjoy this game.

Just 7 more days to game time and 
8 more days until Christmas!
I can't wait!

Hold That Potholder!

I really need new pot holders, but making them has been at the bottom of my list.

There's not a lot of need for them anyway...not much baking going on here!

Then I saw that Crafty Gemini made a pot holder oven mitt that was so easy.

Just what I need right now!

You can find her post about it HERE and she also included a template to make it even easier.

You could even trace around your hand or your favorite mitt to get the size you want.

I used her pattern...it fit me perfectly and I don't have tiny hands.

It took me about 30 minutes from start to finish, not including baking the chocolate chip cookies.

A great quick gift for any occasion! 

I like rolling the inside lining out to create a cuff...gives it a different look.

What's great about this oven mitt is the length (if you don't roll out the cuff.)

No more burned wrists!

I was so inspired by the oven mitt, I made those chocolate chip cookies.

Hmmm...what else can I go bake?

The Christmas Mood Winner

Congratulations to Mary at Needled Mom!

(An email has been sent to her.)

I hope this helps her get in the mood for Christmas!

Creepy Bunny And Cute Monkeys

Creepy Bunny just finished his Christmas card and he wanted to share.

He also wants me to remind you about the Christmas giveaway that ends tomorrow...HERE.

I've been hanging out with the Monkey Boys so no sewing going on for me.

Lovin' every minute of it!

The Christmas Card Is Ready To Mail

My Christmas photo has been printed and stuck in an envelope to be mailed.
Whew! With only a short time until Christmas I'm cutting it a little close!

Almost every year of our married life we've taken a photo for our Christmas card.

I have all my Christmas photos in several red albums that I drag out at Christmas time to get all
of us mushy and sentimental. Right now they are somewhere in storage and have yet to be found.

I'm sure they are there somewhere!

Here's a couple Christmas cards that I managed to find on my computer.
Fortunately, my photo taking has improved over the years thanks to a better camera.

All the pets HAD to be included in this one...Wanda, my iguana, was there too!
(Some info was removed to protect the not-so-innocents.)

This one was created using my newly learned, but not so good photo editing skills.

To continue this crazy tradition, my hubby and I went on an adventure to take our 2014 photo.

We didn't take along a professional photographer, just my camera and it's handy little timer.

To get to the place for our "photo shoot" we had to walk miles and miles...it took hours!

My hubby said it wasn't that long.
Really?

He said it was only about a half mile and it took 15 to 20 minutes.

Are you sure?
It seemed like such a long walk uphill the whole way there and back!

There was some beautiful scenery along the way...

This small mountain of rock has some nests embedded in it. Can you see them?

They look pretty cool on this rock! I counted at least seven, but I'm sure there were more.

Swallows can get pretty determined where they build their nests and will rebuild even if you knock
them down or try washing them away. It can be crazy and whole neighborhoods can be taken over!
 It's no fun if they pick your house to build them on!

We found a great spot on the boardwalk to take pics.

Sunglasses on...no.

 A little romantic tilt of the head...no.

The strangle hold...definitely no, no, and more no.

Is the camera done taking pictures? Silly timer!

Seriously, is it still taking pics...dang that timer!

I'll check the camera.

Where'd she go?

Let the hubby check the camera.

Finally...success!

Do you send photo cards at Christmas?