Handmade Gifts

Yes, even boys like to create handmade gifts......I think it is using the sewing machine that makes it so fun!

age 7

age13

Ta- Dah! Gifts for the ladies!

Handmade Gift Tags & Enclosures

Check out what we've been up to.......

 

What's in your jar?

salt dough ornaments

                   This is not your grandma's salt dough style!

 Stamps, paint or pen,

these were so much fun to decorate

        

 My creative and crafty teen assistant & friend Elisabeth, was able to make the dough and decorate with ease.

Salt dough recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

Use a large flat bottom bowl & combine dry ingredients.

Mix in water a little at a time.

Knead 7-10 minutes until dough has a smooth firm consistency.

Too dry- add water/ Too wet -add flour

(To prevent drying, place unused dough in plastic bag)

Roll out dough to 1/4" thickness,use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.

(before you dry them, make sure you use a toothpick to make a hole for the ornament string!)

2 ways to dry:

1- air drying- slow but easier. place cutouts on a screen to allow back & front dry out equally well. Takes approximately 48 hours.

2- baking- 300 degrees for several hours. I found I had to turn mine over to allow them to dry properly.

* tips- If a cutout puffs up, poke with a toothpick to release the air & reduce the oven temperature 50-75 degrees.

*Baking time is determined by the thickness of the cutout.

Do Not Eat!

The Farm Chicks Christmas

This book is filled with fun photographs, recipes, short stories and fun tips for making your holidays personal

and a little retro!

I found myself looking through the pages over & over again.

I was inspired to get busy creating! So I did!

Check out our next post to see what I made!

Handmade Halloween Treats

Chocolate Syrup

for guests to take home 

Chocolate Covered Rice Treats

Chocolate Covered Jumbo Marshmallows



YUMMY! Very Sweet!

Glitter & Chitter Chatter @ Sisters Unique

What a Fun time glittering and meeting new ladies!

 

Yes, we were all covered in ultra fine sparkle glitter......but what young girl inside all of us doesn't like a little glitter?

It was great to get our hands creating and the fall inspiration flowing!

TahDah!

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

Yummies! 

1 16 oz can of pumpkin

4 eggs

3 cups of sugar

2/3 cup water

1 cup of oil

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease and flour 2 loaf pans

Bake @325* 1/2 hour

Reduce to 300* & bake for 40 minutes more.

Cupcake Bar!

 Another Great Cupcake Bar!

This was a Baby Party for a friend. I had as much fun watching the guest create their special cupcake as they had making them. With all the flavors and toppings sometimes it is hard to decide. Extra cupcakes were baked for guest to take home and enjoy! 

 

 

Stay Tuned! More Cupcakes Coming Soon!

Americana Celebration

My take on Americana to celebrate another July 4th at the beach with good friends. I fell in love with Martha Stewart's paper eagle decoration and decided it deserved something  longer lasting than paper to display its whimsy. A fabric banner would do nicely and it can be used year after year. Mine has been made for my friend and her family who invited us to the beach. Each 4th spent at the beach has been embroidered on a star.You may notice I have left plenty of empty stars for future embroidering!

I  too made a cozy throw from a Moda tablecloth and chenille tape. I loved it as a tablecloth ,but love it even more as a throw. I have thoughts of snuggling up after a shower and a day of fun in the sun.

I hope you had a safe and fun 4th!

Book Recommendation

If enjoy sewing, you will want to read Sew Retro,A Stylish History of the Sewing Revolution, by Judi Kettler.
I have have been engrossed in the history and factoids this book shares. From hand sewing, to the first sewing machines,  and how the industrial revolution,war and fashion styles changed home sewing, to modern designers of fabrics and patterns. There are great photographs along the way to place you in a period of time while you read. I began to really appreciate my ability to sew.  "Handmade" is a forgotten art coming back and I am thrilled to be a part of the resurgence. If you decide to read this book, I would love to hear your opinion, just post a comment.

What are Sarah Peters Blocks?

Have you seen them? Sarah Peters Blocks are soft, washable, play blocks for children. These are made from extra quilt squares never used in quilts. Sarah Peters, a neighbor to my mother in law, made these squares by hand. She passed them to my mother in law when she down sized her home, more than 15 years ago. A year ago, my mother in law passed them to Home Spun hoping we could use them for one of our classes. Well, I washed them with high hopes of a great idea. There were not enough squares to make the obvious quilt, so it was going to have to be something  different. A year later, flipping through a magazine I spotted how to assemble fabric blocks and thought, Oh those are cute....the idea to use the quilt squares came later and I got to work. Karen and I are both very pleased and excited with the outcome. Sadly, within a week of completing  the blocks, Sarah Peters passed away. She never heard the story of what came of those quilting squares she passed on so long ago. We very easily decided the blocks would have her name.
Check them out on our store page:                           http://www.hsstudios.com/store/babybaby/babybaby.html

Whew!

Whew! We finally started our blog. Now our high tech-computer whiz-" go to guy" Craig, can relax. Probably not, I think we just created more work for him. Karen and I like to stick to sewing and farming or lying on the beach.