Friday, December 6, 2019

Virtual Cookie Exchange 2019 Day Five And My Day

I always feel sad on the last day of any blog hop, but especially the Virtual Cookie Exchange.
It's so fun to see the yummy goodies and sweet projects that make us all smile.
I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!


These are one of the Monkey Boys favorite recipes and I have to agree, I love them, too!

Indoor S'mores Bars


I did some designing for Therm O Web's "Christmas Joy Sew Along" recently and so that's what 
I'm sharing today. The blocks are free and each block, appliqued and pieced, will measure 
unfinished at 8½” x 8½”. You can use them in a 50” x 58” quilt, “Christmas Joy”, which will be 
released December 11th. Click on each design to get the PDF downloadable pattern. 

Snowman (make 2)


Santa (make 2)


Christmas Tree (make 5)


Stocking (make 4)


There are pieced blocks in this quilt, too. 

HSTs (make 12 for quilt)

Cut 6 – 9½” x 9½” dark squares (hourglass block)
Cut 6 – 9½” x 9½” light squares (hourglass block)
You’ll need one light square and one dark square to make two blocks. 

Draw a line diagonally on wrong side of light square. 
Place right sides of squares together. Sew a 1/4" seam along both sides of the drawn line. 


Cut the block along the drawn line to create two blocks. 
Open and press fabrics to the dark side.

On one of the blocks, draw a diagonal line opposite from the seam on the wrong side of fabric.  
With right sides together and nesting the seam, sew 1/4" along both sides of the drawn line. 
Cut the blocks along the drawn line. Open and press seams toward the side. 
Trim blocks to 8½” x 8½”. Repeat to make a total of 12 blocks.

For the whole quilt you'll need:

White – 1 5/8 yard
Dark Green – 7/8 yard pieced borders or 1 1/2 yards borders cut lengthwise
Yellow – 3/8 yard
Red – 1 1/2 yards pieced borders or 1 3/4 yards borders cut lengthwise
Light Green – 1/4 yard
Black – 1/8 yard
Quilt backing – 3 3/4 yards (add extra if needed for quilting)

This is one of my Christmas patterns in my Etsy store HERE.



We've already done our traditional gingerbread house making event.
I found some already put together houses at Target and it made things so much easier.
No crumbled messes! Messes, but they weren't the houses...just candy.

Fun times with all the family!
Yes, I went crazy taking pictures, and yes, there were dinosaurs and toy cars
thanks to my son-in-law, Eric. He's just a big kid like the rest of us!













Monkey Baby enjoyed decorating his house this year!


There's a giveaway, too! 



I love Quilt Taffy's online store and I think you would, too. After you visit all the
blogs, you might just want to take a look around the store...so many fun things!
One lucky winner will win a $20 shopping spree in Quilt Taffy's store..

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Look at this list of amazing Virtual Cookie Exchange blog hoppers!

December 2nd

December 3rd

December 4th

December 5th

December 6th



The Winter Blues Blog Hop still has openings!

Find more information by clicking HERE.
We have big plans for next year!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to visit all the blogs!
There's a Pinterest page for this year's Virtual Cookie Exchange HERE.

50 comments:

  1. Carol, your Christmas blocks are so cute. Looks like it was a lovely time with family. I remember making gingerbread houses with my boys when the were little. It always turned into gingerbread mounds. Tasty though. lol Thanks for sharing your recipe.

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  2. Your cookies look so delicious! Can't wait to try the recipe! Every year I make goodie bags for friends and family and try to find easy, fun snacks to add to the bags. This recipe looks like a winner! I hope you are doing a December Daily book, or at least keeping a memory book filled with your photos. Love that dinosaur! Thank you for the link to the quilt-along and for the give-away! And thank you for another fantastic hop! This has been great fun!

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  3. Thank you SO much for organizing this blog hop Carol I had so much fun reading everyone's blogs for the day. There are a couple of recipes that look SO good, I might get to try them for Christmas this year.
    In South Africa December is summer time and our local traditions are a little different, but biscuits are always welcome.
    Thank you again for all your effort.
    Ronelle

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  4. OH Carol, those look sooooo good! My family loves golden grahams, I'm going to have to try this. Thank you. I love your pics of the family making houses, what a fun event!! And your blocks are cute, that will be a darling quilt. Thanks for sharing and thanks for a great blog hop, Merry Christmas!!

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  5. Carol thanks for hosting this wonderful yummy blog hop! It certainly looks like everyone had fun decorating the gingerbread houses. Wishing you a wonderful fun filled holiday season!

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  6. Yum! That s'mores recipe has to be good, with all those good ingredients! Love the photos of the gingerbread house decorating. My sister-in-law does that with her grandkids too and they have a great time. Lots of good memories.

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  7. Hi Carol! Oh boy, the decorating committee looks like they had a blast working on the gingerbread houses. So very creative and serious - the boys are really growing up, aren't they. Even baby Monkey boy . . . he's not a baby any more. {{Hugs}} That recipe looks nice and easy and one that I could easily whip up this weekend. I've got to get serious about my baking SOON. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Carol! I'm off to read the details about the January hop as well as yesterday's Likes. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  8. Such a beautiful family. Thanks so much for all you give us, Carol. Have a wonderful Christmas

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  9. Looks like everyone has had fun with the gingerbread house decorating! - Loved doing that when my children were younger. Thanks for organizing this!

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  10. What a fun time with your family creating beautiful gingerbread houses!! Those memories are even sweeter than the Indoor S'mores Bars!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe and the fun, creative time you had with family!!!

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  11. Oh Gosh, Never into the gingerbread houses much but they were fun when I did participate. And the messes, YES. I was finding non-perils under the hutch, buffet and other odds and ends for months afterward. Hhahahah.

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  12. A wonderful hop! What a sweet family you have & very delicious houses! Thanks for the great recipes, Susan

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  13. I loved seeing the pictures of the annual gingerbread houses. It looks like such a fun party and must be so fun to watch the little ones grow into participation age. The s’mores sound really yummy.

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  14. Oh my goodness those smores sound wonderful. It looks like you have a great time decorating gingerbread houses. What fun for you and what fun for us having all those sweet little holiday designs for us to stitch. Thanks for being the hostess with the mostess! Merry Christmas my friend!

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  15. Looks like you all had a grand time. I have never made a gingerbread house. I did try making a house out of graham crackers once. Wasn't very successful. LOL

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  16. What a great idea for each to have their own house to decorate! Making fun memories with your family is the best :-) The cookies look delish...as does some Essex linen on the Etsy website! Happy Christmas! Thank you for a fun blog hop!

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  17. I love Indoor Smores! Can't wait to see how the Therm o Web quilt is finished, the blocks are so cute. It's been fun seeing all of the cookie recipes.

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  18. What a fun time with your family and the gingerbread houses! I love your Christmas quilt blocks, too - so cute! Thanks again for hosting the blog hop. I've really enjoyed both participating and visiting all the blogs!

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  19. Your Christmas blocks are adorable! I've been seeing them on the ThermOWeb blog! And I love all the pics with your family and decorating the gingerbread houses. That sounds like fun. That is a great idea for my little ones. Looks like it's time for a Target run! LOL And thanks for the Indoor S'more recipe! Our Thanksgiving tradition is on that night, we keep the kids while the parents go shopping. We get out the Little Red Campfire and usually roast wieners and make S'mores. This year we had hamburgers because one has developed an aversion to hot dogs! Then they roasted marshmallows and we made s'mores! Fun! Thanks for sharing.

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  20. Thank you for this wonderful blog hop. Christmas cookie making has always been a highlight of the season for me.

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  21. Looks like you all are having great fun! I enjoy making cookies year round but Christmas time is the best. Always glad to get a few new recipes to try. Smores are a favorite, i'll even make them in the microwave if I get a craving for one. {It's fun to watch the marshmallows puff up.} Thanks!

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  22. Carol, once again you've organized an amazing hop -- such fun it's been visiting all the participants! Thank you!

    Love your recipe for the Indoor S'more Bars! They look like something my grandgirls would love to help make and eat!! The pattern is just darling! Thank you!! I also enjoyed scrolling through your family fun photos! Everyone does such fun things with their gingerbread houses!!! What fabulous memories! :)

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  23. It looks like you had a lot of fun. Any time the family gathers is the best as far as I am concerned. I just am sorry we all live so far apart. We lived in Illinois and our children and their families lived in Alabama, California, and the state of Washington. After we retired we started traveling to visit them. 6 years ago we moved to Alabama to be near our oldest daughter. We spend Christmas with our youngest daughter and her family. They have moved from Washington to Virginia so it is an easier drive. We visited the California crew in October. This has been a fun hop to follow. Nancy A: SewingGranda@gmail.com

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  24. Thanks so much for the cookie recipe. They look delicious! Thanks too for the quilt instructions again. I was having a hard time saving them to my Ipad, and had gotten frustrated with Apple's new upgrade making things so much harder. I got some of those kits from Target too. Just waiting for the grandkids to come over again. Thanks again for such a great hop. I always love this one so much!

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  25. Thanks for hosting Carol, your quilt blocks look so cute and those pictures are wonderful. Looks like a great day of family fun :)

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  26. Your entire family looks like they are having a blast decorating their gingerbread houses. There's definitely nothing wrong with being a big kid, and at 83, I'm still one, and I love it. I'd love to see the finished gingerbread houses, and hope you had help cleaning it all up.

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  27. I could see lots of concentration going on...perfectly wonderful houses. I saw lots of fun going on, too. Good idea to just use pre-baked gingerbread houses. Do you actually eat the houses or are they just for fun and viewing? Thanks for that Christmasy quilt directions. Another fun hop, Carol. I always find at least one recipe that I try out for Christmas.

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  28. How clever to add dinosaurs and other things to make it a less 'girly' craft for the guys!

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  29. I look forward to trying this I may need to substitute the cereal with something else.

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  30. Oh what fun that looks like and yummy leftovers too I bet--
    great family memories in the making,as well!!!
    have had fun this week collecting some great recipes--
    now if I can just my 'elves' to stop by and make them all up for me!!!!!
    luv, di

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  31. Those gingerbread houses are so cute! And everyone got into the act too. This is my first experience with the virtual exchange and I've enjoyed seeing everyone's posts.

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  32. You shared such lovely photos of your family gathering. The gang went all out in decorating. Your patterns are all so sweet. I really love the truck with the tree and present. And I did look around at the website. She does have some really lovely whimsical fabrics.

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  33. Your cookies look yummy. I love the pics of the family decorating the gingerbread houses. All those blocks from thermo web are cute.

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  34. Well that looks like a cookie recipe for us non bakers. Sounds yummie. I love the looks of concentration on the house decorators faces. Thanks once again for a great week of hopping. Looking forward to 2020

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  35. I enjoyed your photos. What fun to have a family tradition of making gingerbread houses! How do you make the houses? (They look so perfect) I want to mention, I loved the cow in the background of one of your photos. Is it painted? Compliments to the artist!

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  36. Thanks for hosting another fun Blog Hop!! I appreciate all of the projects shared, but my hips aren't SEW happy with all the new cookie recipes to try. LOL

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  37. Thanks for hosting a wonderful Virtual Cookie Exchange! Such great recipes, projects & inspiration from everyone involved. Loved it!

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  38. I've so enjoyed visiting all the blogs and drooling over each recipe. Can one gain weight just reading recipies? I think so!! Thank you for a great blog post and all the family Christmas fun photos.

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  39. Thank you lovely Carol for this blogshop. It has been so fun to enjoy all the recipes and the Christmas projects.

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  40. What a fun time! It's so clear that memories are being made--good for you, for capturing this in pictures. Time goes by really fast...

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  41. What a fun family project with the houses. I did them with my kids and now my daughter does them with hers - don't think I've seen dinosaurs, but matchbox cars yes.

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  42. You are one busy cookie! And those cookies are now in my recipe app...love the fast ones. And, I think I can make these for my son who is allergic to milk with the right marshamallows/chips/margarine! He doesn't get stuff like this often so eventhough he is 26 I still like to do these things once in awhile!

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  43. Love all the different cookies and baked goods being featured. It makes me want to start baking. I usually do some early baking and put my cookie dough in the freezer, ready to use when I’m ready,
    Thanks,
    Peggy
    Peggy_verdongibbs@att.net

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  44. Gingerbread house decorating family style - love all the finished cookies! Truly great family memories you continue to make. Thanks for all the fun stuff you post & share with us all.
    Merry Christmas to you & yours!

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  45. I get so excited about all the Christmas theme projects.

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  46. Thank you for the quilt block patterns, all so cute. Many thanks for hosting this fun blog hop as well. Thanks for the chance to win the gift certificate as well. Looks like you and your family all had a wonderful time too.

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  47. Prehistoric gingerbread houses with dinosaurs... I love it. Your patterns are cute, and so is your Monkey Baby, his face as he is concentrating on his task is adorable.

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  48. Thank you for another great hop! I feel like I'm part of your family celebration each year with the gingerbread house decorating. I am a little embarrassed I am so late leaving a comment. (I thought I had... OOPS) Your recipe is certainly a must-try and your quilt blocks are amazing as your designs are always.

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  49. I just love all the gingerbread house decorating photos. What a great tradition for the kiddos (and the older kiddos).

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  50. Looks like such a fun party! Indoor smores sound really good. And your blocks are darling. Hapoy Holidays!

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Comments are always appreciated!

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