Moo said the mama

Ask away!

2012-01-26T13:47:00.006-06:00

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Are there things you'd like to ask? A question about one of the posts here on the blog or some other burning question you might have?

Today I invite you to leave your questions in the comments section or send them to me via email and I'll go ahead and put together a post for next week with the questions and my answers.

If you want to send your question via email you can find my email address in my blogger profile. When you get to the blogger profile just click on the email link.

I've disabled anonymous comments on the blog posts, so if you want your question to be anonymous email is your best option.

sorta wordless Wednesday

2012-01-25T10:51:00.002-06:00

I've been working on decluttering this week and one of the items I found was an old wig I used to use with my mannequin. Before the girls were born and even a year or two into the Big Girl's life I had a vintage clothing business. Anyway...the girls decided the wig was too precious to donate and wanted to keep it for dress up play. It's ridiculous but they have such fun with it!

my real life home - the morning after the Sabbath

2012-01-24T06:00:00.004-06:00

I know I just wrote yesterday that I probably wouldn't be writing this week, but I just learned about a new blog called Real-Life Homes. I love it!

I decided to do my version of a Real-Life Homes post and took a few snaps of what my real life home looked like yesterday morning (Monday, January 23rd). It was a rare morning where I was up earlyish and the girls were still sleeping, so you only have shots of the downstairs of our home. If you click on the pictures you can see larger versions of them.

Our tour begins in our living room. It's the first room you step into when you enter our home via the front door. This first picture shows the right side of the living room (your right as you're standing inside our doorway). I'm not sure what the strange orbs are in this shot - maybe reflections or maybe I need to clean the lens of the camera.

And this shot shows you the left side of the room. The day before I took these pictures was the Sabbath and I'm trying really really hard to actually observe the Sabbath. That means more picking up and cleaning to do on Mondays, but having a day of true rest might well be worth it! In our real home we have a lot of clutter on top of the computer armoire as well as a bit inside it. We nearly always have toys on that rug near the computer armoire because it's a great sunny spot for the girls to play. The stained glass window is one reason we bought this house ten years ago. I fell in love with the old windows, amount of light in the rooms, and in particular this stained glass window. In the morning it throws squares of colored light across the floor of the room and is magical.

Then we move toward the dining room. Our living room and our dining room are adjacent to each other. Your eye is immediately drawn toward the fingerprints on the glass doors of the china hutch. Honestly I'm not sure what to call that piece of furniture. It was a gift to me from my father years ago. He purchased it at a farm auction for a ridiculously low price because it had been built inside the home and was too large to be removed. He opted to use a saws-all to cut it into two pieces - a top and a bottom - and then had a friend help him carry the two pieces out of the house. It's made four moves with me now and we love having that storage space! Unfortunately the top of the bottom piece is also a convenient catch-all for clutter. Speaking of clutter you probably also notice the crayons, paper, and toys on the dining room table. Again, left-overs from Sabbath play that didn't get picked up.

This next picture is a bad one because the camera didn't appreciate being asked to look into the windows. We're still in the dining room here, but looking to the south at my sewing nook. It's really the dining room window alcove that I've claimed as my sewing nook since I gave my office to the girls years ago to use as a playroom. We used to have a loveseat in this nook and it was a lovely place to lounge and read books.

From the dining room we walk through a small hallway and into the kitchen. Our kitchen is probably one of the most cluttered rooms in the house. The stuff sitting on the kitchen table is stuff that usually lives on top of our portable dishwasher. We remove it every morning when we run the dishwasher. Then, after we empty the clean dishes out of the dishwasher we roll the dishwasher back into the pantry and re-stack the stuff on it. I have a serious lack of cabinetry and countertops in this 1920's era kitchen and we haven't the means to remodel it so we make do.

This view takes your eye toward the north side of the kitchen. You can see the portable dishwasher in front of the stove since I haven't yet emptied the clean dishes and rolled it back into the pantry. You can also see just a bit into the two pantries. And, of course, you see the stack of dirty dishes on top of the stove from dinner the night before. Remember, I'm trying to have a true Sabbath, so dinner dishes were not washed on Sunday.

The other room that we have on the first floor of our real life home is the playroom. This is a small room that used to actually be the original kitchen in this 1880s home. I think former owners might have used it as a bedroom, but we first used it as an office and then it became the playroom for the girls. It's realistically more like a play closet, because they store their toys there but more typically play in the dining room, living room, or kitchen. They really prefer to stay with me while they play. I don't have a modern open floor plan, but the rooms flow nicely and because it's such a small house (about 1200 square feet split between two floors) we're never very far from each other.

And that, my blog friends, is a glimpse into a fairly typical morning in our real life home.

decluttering

2012-01-23T08:27:00.002-06:00

I'm working on decluttering this week. No, you won't be getting any pictures of it. Really, it's just excessive stuff being placed into boxes to cart off to local charity thrift stores.

But it will keep me busy enough (along with crafting for the etsy shop, mothering my two youngins, and running a household) to probably prevent any writing here.

I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating lately with posts. I really want to, but it seems that life is taking so much more of my time lately that I haven't much to share with you all here.

I hope you can be patient and understanding!

~ Blessings

learning homemaking via old books

2012-01-19T14:58:00.018-06:00

In the winter months I tend to cocoon inside the home and focus my energies toward handcrafts and homemaking. Lately I've been having a great deal of fun perusing the old books available as free Kindle downloads. I don't have a Kindle, but you can download Kindle books for the PC, the MAC, ipad, iphone, and all sorts of other platforms.

I've been busy adding to our home library and am thrilled that I haven't needed to spend a dime and I haven't needed any additional shelf space to house the books!

I have plans to share lots of titles with you, but today I'm going to share with you some of my favorite homemaking books that are available as free Kindle downloads.

1. Every Step in Canning by Grace Viall Gray, 1920 - This amazing book dates back to the 1920s and was written by a Home Economics Professor. It's a fun look back at the scientific approach to cold-pack method canning.

2. The American Frugal Housewife by Mrs. Child, 1832 - I love the subtitle of this book, "Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy." The book is a fantastic look back at 19th century housekeeping and cooking practices.

3. The Book of Household Management by Mrs. Beeton, 1861 - this book is very comprehensive and covers all household needs as well as nursing, sanitary considerations, and legal information. It was originally published in 24 monthly parts (like a magazine) and then later published in a bound edition.

4. The Complete Home edited by Clara E. Laughlin, 1906 - This book covers choosing a home, furnishing, housekeeping, and hiring help. It's a very comprehensive coverage of everything a new housewife would need to know in order to run her household.

5. The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking Adapted to Domestic Use or Study in Classes by Helen Campbell, 1893 - This book is a comprehensive course covering all the areas of cookery and housekeeping that a young girl would need to learn. What I love is not only that the topics are covered, but lessons are outlined. There are so many great techniques covered that a modern housewife isn't likely to know.

There are many, many more books I could discuss, but in the interests of keeping this blog post short I'll refer you out to the Pinterest board I put together that has links out to all of the cookery and housekeeping books I found interesting.

ETA - I just wanted to add the link to download the Kindle reader. While I opted to download the Kindle for Windows PC, they have options to read Kindle ebooks on MAC, iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone 7 as well. Also, if you don't want to download the books you can also use your web browser to read the Kindle books using the Kindle Cloud Reader.

my first attempt at Waldorf inspired doll making - part 1

2012-01-12T21:13:00.021-06:00

I've been wanting to try my hand at Waldorf doll making for several years now. Okay, maybe more than several since it's been more like 6 years. As soon as the big girl was a toddler and I contemplated her first doll I wanted to be able to make a Waldorf doll for her. But I was terrified at the thought. Not only did I doubt my doll making skills, but the big girl was a very active toddler and I really didn't get much of a chance to sew once she started moving.

But when I saw that my favorite supplier, Weir Crafts, was having a sale on cotton interlock "doll skin" fabric and velour I bit the bullet and bought some fabric. When it arrived I wondered why I had resisted.

Next I scoured the interwebs for tutorials. I finally decided on trying a pocket doll. It's a great compromise for folks who are not quite feeling ready for a full Waldorf doll.

I settled on using this tutorial from Sooz.

I made some design choices like using cotton velour for the body and hat instead of wool felt and will go for more of the baby doll look.

The first step for me was drawing out my pattern pieces. Lately I've really liked drafting pattern pieces onto upcycled cardboard. I save boxes just for this purpose. This one previously housed natural chicken patties from Costco. The chicken was sealed in plastic bags so the cardboard is absolutely food free and clean.

pattern pieces drafted onto the upcycled cardboard box pieces

After I finished drafting the pattern pieces I quickly labeled them with cutting directions and cut them out.

pattern pieces cut out and labeled - because while I remember today what I plan to do with them it may be so clear next time I pull them out

Then I cut out the pieces for the doll heads. I drafted a pattern for this because I find it more convenient than using my ruler and measuring out the correct sized rectangle each time. It's not really a piece that needs a pattern.

head pieces cut out of the cotton interlock "doll skin" fabric

The next step was cutting out the body pieces and the hat pieces from the cotton velour.

body and hat pieces cut from cotton velour

The only sewing I did this first day was the doll heads. I didn't take any pictures of this process, but I took the folded pieces of cotton interlock and sewed a straight seam along one edge using my sewing machine. Then I threaded a needle and hand sewed a gathering stitch along the top of the doll head. I gathered it together and tied it tightly. Then I stuffed the doll head with unspun carded wool. I again sewed a gathering stitch at the bottom of the doll head and tied it tightly.

I placed pins to mark where I'll be embroidering eyes and a mouth.

doll heads sewn and stuffed with wool - the pins are there to help me in placing the embroidered eyes and mouth

This was as far as I got today in the doll making process, but there will be a part 2 post soon.

(Oh, and I didn't receive any compensation from Weir Crafts. I've been using them as a fabric supplier for several years now and am an extremely satisfied customer and feel compelled to praise their business every chance I have. They have high quality products at competitive prices and their customer service is outstanding. Give them a try, really, they're that good.)

no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies recipe

2012-01-09T14:06:00.003-06:00

This is from way back in October 13, 2011, but a kind reader from New Zealand (hi, Susan!) sent me an email message asking for the recipe. Those of you who follow my facebook page, Moo Said the Mama's Urban Homestead, have already seen these but blog followers who don't use facebook haven't. I didn't want to duplicate posts too much, but Susan helped me realize that followers who don't use facebook still need to have these posts. :)

I was inspired by Pinterest this morning to make some No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3-1/2 cups oats
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa in a heavy saucepan. Heat to boiling and boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with waxed paper. Let cool.

We use natural organic peanut butter in our household so they're a bit looser than the pictures on the Moore's blog, but still VERY tasty!

cheesy crackers recipe

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

I saw a recipe for homemade Cheez-It crackers that Amy over on New Nostalgia posted recently and had to give it a try.

I was intrigued by the concept of making my own crackers. We usually buy the girls Annie's Organic bunny cheese crackers, but they're pricey! I'm all for making wholesome foods and lowering our grocery budget.

As soon as I realized that simple ingredients like flour, butter, shredded cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper were all that was needed I quickly whipped up a batch. And I do mean quickly! Not only is this a simple process, it's also a fast process.

I first preheated the oven to 350 degrees F. While that was warming up I put 1 cup of flour, 4 tablespoons of cold butter cut into small chunks, 8 oz. of shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper into my food processor. I pulsed it a few times until the ingredients stuck together and the mixture was looking crumbly but stuck together.

Then I put the lump of dough between two pieces of waxed paper. In retrospect I wished I would have used parchment paper. It rolled great, but then I had to transfer it to a baking tray lined with parchment paper and if I had just rolled on parchment paper I could have skipped a step. I'm not the greatest at rolling dough so of course I had pieces of varying thickness. I'll try better next time.

Then I transferred the rolled out dough to the parchment lined baking sheet.

I used a pizza cutter to cut it into small shapes. I separated some and left some together to test how we'd like it. We'd prefer next time to have them all separated because then they bake up crispier.

I sprinkled it with kosher salt, but used too heavy a hand. It was saltier than I preferred, but the Hubster liked it just fine with the kosher salt sprinkled over the top. I might make two batches next time - one with added salt and one without.

I baked it in the preheated 350F oven for 25 minutes. The thin ones around the edges were overcooked and the ones we left together were softer. They were still yummy, but more like a soft breadstick than a cracker.

All in all, this was such a simple process and they were so tasty I don't know how many cheesy crackers we'll be buying the future since we can just make them ourselves now!

I also think I'll try using some of my small cookie cutters next time and make some fun shapes for the girls. They'll be able to help and it's nice to have a recipe for a fun no-sugar baked treat.

new year, new goals, and a realization

2012-01-02T11:54:00.014-06:00

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I'm not a New Year's Resolution maker - never have been. It seems silly. A year is such a long time and also such a short time. Which resolutions really fit that time frame? Many of the things I want to change about myself or the way I function will take far longer than a year. Others could be accomplished in an hour, a day, a week... And who decided that January 1 is the right time to begin them?

That said, as I was pulling together my expense sheets for EarthyMamaGoods for 2011 and assembling invoices and whatnot to file my 2011 sales taxes I had some thoughts rush through my head. Goals, objectives, concepts, inspiration all flowed. If someone wanted to call them New Year's resolutions they could. I won't. It was a nice quiet time before the girls woke up. I was relaxed, happy, productive.

I'm definitely keeping the business. It's growing and it provides me with a great deal of satisfaction. I love, love, love the creative outlet. It's more than love, really. It's a need. I have to create and the business gives me an outlet. There just isn't enough space in our little home for all of the toys I want to create. I haven't enough shelf space for all of the sculptures that are inside my heart and head waiting to be sculpted. I need other homes for them.

It also fills another need for me. When I was out in the world of work heading up a career center, supervising employees, counseling college students, networking with employers, and partnering with faculty I received a great deal of feedback. I knew I was accomplishing something. Now as a wife and mother I can also see that I'm accomplishing something and I receive daily feedback - both positive and negative - about my work. But it's not as tangible as running a business. There are no spreadsheets to show me if my daughters characters' are developing properly. And their accomplishments belong to THEM. Yes, I worked hard to assist, but it's not my achievement. They are they and I am I. With the business I'm not just facilitating, assisting, mentoring. The accomplishments (and failures) are MINE. Mine to own, mine to crow about, mine to realize.

I finally understood this morning that the business fulfills a need I hadn't previously recognized as unmet. And I like meeting that need.

So how about you? Do you set New Year's Resolutions?

best of 2011 - well....MY best anyway

2011-12-31T01:00:00.001-06:00

Everyone in blogland seems to do a "Best of 2011" post right about now. I've thought about it, really. I've given the idea some serious thought and wondered about it. There are some merits to the idea. It would give new readers a quick look-see at what was clicked upon most here at the Moo Homestead. But I'm getting some really unusual traffic lately.

For instance, Google.de and Google.at (Germany and Austria) have picked up some pictures of me with my Baby Girl after her homebirth and have them in google images. That's bringing a whole lotta direct traffic to her birth story post. I'm hopeful that it's mothers interested in unassisted homebirth, but the reality is it's probably bringing in some other sort of traffic. So you see, stuff like that really skews the data.

So instead I'm picking my top posts of 2011. These are the posts I think are most relevant to my readership or are posts that I think most accurately represents us.

January 2011

Pressure Canning Venison - a canning tutorial

February 2011

I'm an urban homesteader

March 2011

learning about bears and hibernation

April 2011

dyeing wool with Kool-Aid

May 2011

new garden space in our front yard

June 2011
sorry for neglecting you - an update of sorts

July 2011

tearing up and going back in time

August 2011

making your own homemade fruit pectin from green apples

September 2011

I'm working on making pear mincemeat today

October 2011

elderberry syrup recipe

November 2011

highlights so far this week

December 2011

simple embroidered Christmas tree ornament - a sorta tutorial

workin' while the sun shines, so to speak

2011-12-30T09:44:00.008-06:00

One of the great perks of the Hubster's academic career is that week he has off between Christmas and New Year's. So while he's home I've been busy taking advantage of his increased presence in the household.

He made me this fabulous stand to assist me in taking better photos of my creations for the etsy shop.

It's a simple structure comprised of pvc pipes and fittings. Nothing is glued together as I wanted to be able to take it apart for easy storage between photo shoots. As you can see I use my kitchen table for shooting the photos. The kitchen is the brightest room in the house. There are two south facing windows, two north facing windows, and one west facing window in the room. Also, we have large overhead florescent lights to allow me to shoot photos even on cloudy days. It's an easy color correction in the editing process to compensate for the artificial light.

To create the backdrop I drape two yards of felt over the top and back of the frame. I picked up felt in white to be used for most of my work and also in a light grey to allow me to photograph white and ecru items.

Here's the latest work in progress -

Can you guess what he's destined to become?

And here are a few of the sculptures I've recently finished -

And here is what that last sculpture looked like before the new backdrop system was put in place -

I still have a long way to go in improving my photography, but with the simple equipment I'm using - an old Sony Cybershot point and click camera, basic florescent lighting, and simple backdrops - I'm able to get mostly clear photos to show my work.

So...that's what's been happening around the ole' homestead this week. What's going on at your place?

things to remember for next Christmas

2011-12-26T12:05:00.020-06:00

1. the girls LOVE to make their own ornaments - be ready with printouts, templates, and simple ornament ideas

2. we need more re-useable fabric gift bags in larger sizes - get sewing now!

3. the girls didn't miss all the cookies we usually bake - one or two is just fine for them - don't stress myself out by baking unnecessarily

4. the Christmas Eve smorgasbord is enjoyed just as much when it's simple - again a great way to reduce stress for the mama!

5. the 4-gift process is still working well - Something we want, Something we need, Something to wear, and Something to read.

6. the handmade gifts get more play time than the mass-produced gifts. Continue to purchase handmade gifts like the castle blocks we bought from ClickityClack on etsy.

7. open ended toys are the way to go. the gently used Fisher Price little people set we bought was loved more than the cake and ice cream maker Play-Doh sets. the girls like toys that *don't* tell them how to play.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." ~ Isaiah 9:6-7

pizzelle cookies - a holiday tradition

2011-12-24T07:00:00.008-06:00

On Thursday night I was busy with my pizzelle press making pizzelle (singular is pizzella). They are an Italian cookie that I remember fondly from my childhood.

Our family doesn't have Italian roots, but the area I grew up in had an abundance of Italian immigrants come over in the late 1800s and consequently had generations of Italian Americans living there. We were always gifted boxes and tins of pizzelle from friends during my childhood and I came to associate it with Christmas.

After years of living without pizzelle, I finally purchased my own pizzelle press a few years back. I usually don't like to have on hand appliances that perform limited roles, but the nostalgia pull was strong enough that I did bite the bullet and paid about $40 for a pizzelle press that I use once a year.

Here's the recipe I use:

Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp aluminum-free baking powder
2 tsp. anise extract
confectioners' sugar to dust finished cookies

I pour all of the ingredients into the bowl for my stand mixer and mix until well blended. Then I drop about a Tablespoon of the batter onto my preheated pizzelle press. I close the top of the press and let it bake until I get a green light telling me they're ready. Then I carefully lift the two cookies out of the press and cool on a cooling rack. When mostly cooled I sift some powdered sugar on top and store in containers.

My girls LOVE them!

There are lots of pizzelle versions out there. Some folks make them with vanilla extract and some make chocolate pizzelle, but since this is a nostalgia food for me I always go with the anise flavor and powdered sugar on top.

Do you have a Christmas cookie that you absolutely must have each year?

making beeswax ornaments

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

This isn't a tutorial because I forgot to take pictures during the process. There are plenty of great picture tutorials out there, though, so I hope you can find one you like. :)

The process is super simple. First I made a make-do double boiler with two thrift store purchased old saucepans. I had a really tiny one (probably 2 cup) and a larger one. I filled the larger one with water and set it to boil. Then I chopped my beeswax into small pieces and put them in the smaller saucepan. I placed the smaller saucepan in the larger one, taking care to keep it above the water line.

I used the end of an old wooden spoon to stir the beeswax.

When it was all melted I carefully poured it into molds. I used a silicon baking mold, a cheap silicone "ice cube" mold, and a vintage aluminum jello mold.

After they had cooled I popped them out of their molds. Then I heated a large needle and poked it through the top to create an opening for a hanger. I used hemp twine on some and used ribbon on others.

The scent is absolutely wonderful and I love the golden color.

making our own coloring books

2011-12-22T13:26:00.011-06:00

This morning as the baby girl was waking up she talked to me about her latest obsession - panda bears. An idea popped into my head and I asked her if she'd like a panda bear coloring book.

So we made one.

I used the swagbucks search engine to search for panda bear coloring pages and panda bear clip art. If you don't know about swagbucks yet, you should give it a go! You earn points for ordinary web searchs. Since I've started using it about a year ago I've earned enough swagbucks (the points) to redeem for sixteen $5 Amazon gift cards. That's $80 worth of free purchases through Amazon for just using the Swagbucks search instead of another search engine!

I found an online tutorial showing how to draw panda bears.

And I made a simple title page using MSWord.

I printed out the sheets - 10 in all including cover page and a plain back cover.

Then I used my sewing machine to sew the pages together. You could just as easily staple them, but I thought it would be fun to have the binding run the entire length of the booklet.

I used a wide zig zag stitch and white thread. In retrospect I wished I had changed the color of the thread to have it show up a bit better, but in my typical lazy fashion white was already threaded on the machine so that's what we went with. ;)

Of course I couldn't leave the big girl out. She selected the unicorn and we went through the same process with her. I used the swagbucks search to find unicorn coloring pages and images.

I found this cool tutorial on drawing a Pegasus unicorn, too.

While I gave the coloring books to my kids right away to use, this simple coloring book idea would make great stocking stuffers!

simple embroidered Christmas tree ornament - a sorta tutorial

2011-12-15T07:00:00.002-06:00

I got it into my head that I wanted to make some embroidered Christmas tree ornaments this year. What I envisioned was a linen fabric with simple sort of geometric hand embroidery on it.

Of course I didn't have any linen lying about the house, but I did have a bolt of muslin. Make do, eh.

I started by downloading a simple tree template from Activity Village. I love, love, love the variety of templates they offer. Great fodder for crafting.

I cut one out in the size I liked and then, using a marker, traced it onto some cardboard I found in our recycling bin. Always save that cardboard! I draft clothing patterns onto it, small project patterns, use it to make gift boxes, etc.

But back to the ornament. After I traced the tree onto the cardboard I cut it out and that was what I used as my pattern. This way I only have to trace the pattern onto the fabric and it goes much, much more quickly than pinning a pattern. I've tried pattern weights on paper patterns before and tracing, but honestly I'd much rather hold down a cardboard template and trace that - especially if I'm wanting to make the item in bulk.

pic of my cardboard pattern template on top of a larger tree template printout

I used a plain old blue Sharpie marker to trace the template onto the fabric.

And I traced a whole line of them.

Then I put the end tree in a small embroidery hoop. Here you see the fabric in the hoop along with my needle, scissors, and embroidery floss. I opted to use DMC 498.

And I began to embroider. I opted for a very simple star design that is constructed of 4 straight stitches that criss-cross each other to create an eight-pointed star.

As I embroidered I took care to leave space around the design for the seams. I didn't measure it, but probably left at least 1/4" allowance. Then I removed the embroidery hoop.

The next step was to carefully cut out the tree and a backing piece. I cut just inside the blue line.

Then I got out my baker's twine and cut off a length long enough to create a loop hanger. I tied a tight knot in one end of the loop.

Next I pinned the two pieces of fabric with right sides together with the hanger inside and the knot of the hanging loop out.

Then, using my sewing machine, I sewed the two together using a zig-zag stitch. I set the stitch length at about 1.5. I wanted a fairly narrow stitch. I also made sure to leave a space unsewn so that I could later stuff the ornament with wool roving. I opted to leave the base of the trunk open. In retrospect it would have been easier to leave a larger space open.

Here you see the sewn ornament with the base left open.

Then I turned the ornament right sides out.

I stuffed the ornament with wool roving. To get the wool into the corners I used a wooden chopstick.

I turned the edges of the fabric at the base of the trunk in and pinned it shut. Then I used a needle and thread and sewed the opening closed using a whipstitch.

To make this tutorial semi-official, here is your list of necessary tools and materials to complete this project.

tree template
sharpie marker (or other writing implement to trace template)
cardboard
paper scissors to cut your template and fabric
sharp scissors for cutting fabric
muslin or other fabric
cotton embroidery floss (I used DMC 498)
embroidery needle (needle w/ sharp point & an eye big enough for 3 strands of floss)
embroidery hoop (helpful, but not strictly necessary)
sewing machine and thread (or needle and thread for hand sewing)
straight pins
baker's twine (or other such stringy item to create hanging loop)
wool roving (or other material to stuff the ornament)
chopstick (or pencil or other long thin item to help push stuffing into corners)

Edited addition -

Here are a few more ornament tops I embroidered yesterday after I queued up the post:

another done using DMC 498

with this one I used DMC 797

and here they are all sewn up -

the red one has a baker's twine hanging loop

and the blue one has a ribbon hanging loop

making homemade calzones - calzone recipe

2011-12-14T08:58:00.001-06:00

Following on that Italian theme here is a post I started working on months ago as well. We really must have been on an Italian food kick, but I honestly can't recall...

Anyway, I started with my current favorite bread recipe.

Mix 2 Tablespoons of honey in 2 cups of warm water. Combine well. Then add in 4 teaspoons of yeast. Mix and let proof. While the yeast is proofing add 6 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 4 Tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in proofed yeast mixture. Using a dough hook, slowly mix the ingredients. Then let your mixer knead the dough for 10 minutes. As it's kneading slowly add in about a cup of additional flour. Depending upon the humidity you may need more or less.

If you don't have a stand mixer you can mix the ingredients by hand and then knead for about 8 minutes.

After you complete the kneading let the dough rest while you begin preparing the rest of the ingredients needed for the calzones.

Next up I fried up some mild Italian sausage. This batch I purchased from my local Festival Foods grocery store. The sausage is not locally sourced and it's not organic, but it was as close to the sausage I had growing up as I could find and it tasted YUMMY.

After that was done I assembled the rest of my ingredients - prepared bread dough, pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and sliced mushrooms. You could any ingredients that you prefer, that's just what I selected at the time.

I pulled off a small piece of the dough and patted it flat in a somewhat circular shape.

Then I took a few tablespoons of the pizza sauce and spread it on the dough circle.

I added a bunch of the cheese.

I added a few of the sliced mushrooms.

And then I put a few spoonfuls of the cooked Italian sausage on the top.

To finish the calzone I folded over the bread dough and sealed the edges. You can tell I'm more accustomed to making Cornish pasties than calzones by my technique.

And here you see one pan of the calzones all assembled and ready to go into the oven.

This recipe made enough dough for 10 calzones.

I baked them in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 20 minutes.

making homemade gnocchi - gnocchi recipe

2011-12-11T09:59:00.002-06:00

we sprinkled a bit of shredded cheese (a mix of 6 Italian cheeses) and plated the gnocchi up with some broccoli

It's been so long since I started the draft of this post that I can't remember exactly when we made homemade gnocchi. It may have even been as far back as August.

Regardless, here are the photos and description walking you through the process of making some homemade gnocchi.

The basic recipe is as follows:

ingredients:

2 pounds of Russet potatoes, baked
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaping cup of flour

First step is to scoop the potato out of the peeling and then rice the potatoes. Place those riced potatoes in a mound and create a well in the middle. Sprinkle the salt and flour over the mound. Place the beaten egg in the center. Then, using your hands, mix the ingredients together. Then form gnocchi. To cook, drop gnocchi gently into a pot of rapidly boiling water and let cook for about a minute to two minutes. They're done when they float to the top of the pot.

2 lbs of russet potatoes. First I baked them in the oven until tender. Then I scooped the potato out of the skins and used a potato ricer. What you see in the picture is a mound of riced potatoes.

one organic egg, beaten

used about 1/2 tsp of salt and just over 1 cup of flour

this picture shows the mound of riced potatoes with the salt and flour sprinkled on top. I made a hole in the center where I poured the egg. Then I used my fingers to mix it all together into a dough.

a view of the dough as I'm beginning to cut it down into smaller pieces to make the "snakes"

using the bench scraper to cut the snake into small pieces of dough

here you can see some of the formed gnocchi, two pieces of the dough, and one "snake" of dough

the big girl helped form the gnocchi using the fork tines

here you see some of the formed gnocchi. what is not shown is that I cut the original lump of dough into four pieces and then rolled a piece out into a long tube - called a snake - and then cut it into smaller pieces which I then rolled across the tines of a fork to form into gnocchi.

a closer look at forming the gnocchi

all of the gnocchi is formed

the next step was to drop the formed gnocchi into a pot of boiling salted water

when they're done cooking they rise to the top of the water

then I lifted the cooked gnocchi out and immediately placed them into a pan of hot marinara sauce (this is some of the sauce I made earlier in the day - it went from Roma tomato to marinara sauce to dinner)

here you see a pot of the cooked gnocchi and marinara sauce

It takes a bit of time to form the gnocchi, but it's a very inexpensive pasta and is a great way to use up extra potatoes in the winter months. If you have an excess of potatoes and are looking for a new way to serve them to your family, give homemade gnocchi a try!

my swap package for the 4 Seasons Exchange winter swap

2011-12-10T17:21:00.018-06:00

Here is the swap package I put together for my partner in the 4 Seasons Exchange winter swap.

The first item is a winter solstice spiral playset. I was inspired by Angel's winter solstice spiral and needlefelted this version for my swap partner. I used a felted wool sweater as the base and needle felted a solstice spiral onto it. Then I added a cave for the black bear. Finally I needle felted a black bear. The bear moves around the solstice spiral, one spot daily, until he reaches the center of the spiral. You can either start him at the beginning and count down to Christmas or start him on spot #2 and count down to the winter solstice. When he reaches the center of the spiral it's time for him to hibernate in his cave.

view of the complete playset

view focusing on the black bear

view focusing on the cave

The next item I created was this Christmas gnome. His hat, cape, and outfit are made of 100% wool felt with some embroidery I did using cotton floss. I glued his wool roving beard on with craft glue. His body is a wooden peg doll.

Christmas gnome peg doll

And the final item in this swap package is a needle felted star ornament. The ornament is constructed of wool roving that I needle felted in a star shape and the hanger is hemp twine.

needle felted star ornament

view of the entire swap package

This package will be leaving my home on Monday and flying off to Colorado where it will hopefully be enjoyed by my swap partner, Sara, and her family. :)

showing off some of my custom work

2011-12-07T12:32:00.005-06:00

I've finished a few custom orders recently for etsy customers and thought I'd show them off here. :)

The first order was for two seasonal crowns. One is a winter crown and the other is a spring crown. Both were constructed of 100% wool felt with a cotton fabric covered elastic band in the back.

I've been so busy lately with needle felting that I had forgotten how much I enjoyed designing and sewing the waldorf inspired crowns!

The second custom order was for a needle felted art doll fairy.

I have a few custom pads on order and also will be designing a custom elf ornament for a customer this week.

In addition to those projects I'm also working on some exchange items for the winter 4 seasons exchange.

what's cooking?

2011-11-30T11:15:00.007-06:00

I've been very busy lately working on products for the etsy shop, but I have been cooking and thought I'd share a bit of that with you all.

Here are some of the recipes we've tried so far this week. I apologize for not remembering to take photos for you all!

Turkey Tetrazzini - was a great way to use up some of the leftover Thanksgiving turkey

Tuna Noodle Casserole - I also added some fried onions to the top of this one to give it a bit more crunch (and I had some leftover from Thanksgiving)

Easy Beef and Rosemary Mock Bisquick Bake - I loved the rosemary biscuit crust on the bottom of this ground beef casserole

I also want to share my latest creation with you - cell phone sleeves. They've been such fun to create and would be easy for you all to replicate if you're in the mood to do so.

This one has an owl design needle felted onto the front. The design is really basic - just two pieces of wool felt and two pieces of cotton lining fabric sewn together into a simple pouch design.

Again, if you really want to see it in the shop there are links in the right sidebar on the main page of the blog.

cyber Monday sale in my etsy shop

2011-11-28T10:49:00.006-06:00

Sales are picking up and items are flying out the doors, folks.

If you've been waiting to make a purchase from my etsy shop today may be the day.

Use coupon code CYBERMON2011 to get a 10% discount. This code will be good today (Nov. 28) and tomorrow (Nov. 29). After that it disappears.

I've added these three needle felted gnomes this morning.

how to use that leftover turkey

2011-11-25T14:18:00.004-06:00

Today we're making a batch of turkey stock using the bones from our Thanksgiving turkey. (for instructions look at this post about making homemade turkey stock that we did a while back)

But in addition to making stock we're also left with a fair amount of turkey to use. We had a small turkey this year - just a bit over 10 pounds - so we won't have a lot of turkey to work with.

I put together a board on Pinterest with links out to recipes that can utilize that leftover turkey. Come have a look!

What's your favorite recipe that uses leftover Thanksgiving turkey?

what I'm not doing today

2011-11-25T11:12:00.006-06:00

I'm not shopping today.

I have a few more gifts to buy for the boy. Okay, I have ALL the gifts for the boy left to buy. It's only 4 gifts, though.

Remember our family buys only 4 gifts for each family member.

1. Something we want
2. Something we need
3. Something to wear
4. Something to read

We still need to buy categories 1 and 3 for the girls.

The Hubster and I are discussing how we might want to purchase one large gift the entire family can enjoy rather than buying individual gifts for the two of us.

So that means our remaining Christmas shopping for our immediate family consists of a grand total of 7 gifts left to buy.

I won't be rushing out to the big box stores today to fight the throngs for great bargains. I might look through my fabric stash and decide which flannels would be best for sewing up pjs for the girls. I might peruse etsy and see if any of the handcrafted toys could fit the "Something we want" category for the girls' gifts.

I might order some fabric for the boy so I can get started on a "Something I need" gift for him. We have a new bookstore opening in our mall and amazingly it's a local bookstore, not a chain. I might go there on Saturday to celebrate Small Business Saturday and see if I can find a suitable book for his "Something to read" gift. I might visit the local game store - again not a chain, but a small local business - on Saturday as well to see if they have a "Something I want" gift for him. Clothing is honestly the hardest gift category to buy locally for us. There are a few very high end specialty clothing shops in a nearby town and one variety store type business at a different nearby town that also carries a limited selection of clothing. To buy locally I really do need to make the clothing myself. This year that is possible because the boy is off at college during the daytime and I can sew stealthily without him detecting it.

But whatever I choose to do today it won't be Black Friday sales shopping. Despite what the pundits say I don't believe it's good for my community or for our economy.