Christmas Candle Gifts

These are the candles I "made" for gifts this year. I didn't make the candles, I just embroidered the flowers and glued them on. The pattern in from Embroidery Library (as usual.) I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

This Year's Christmas Ornament

I make a Christmas ornament for my family members every year. Lately, they've been machine embroidered. Here's this year's ornament, made from a pattern purchased at Embroidery Library. They take a while to stitch out, but they turned out beautiful.

An Easy and Adorable Bag

This bag is made from a purchased (very cheap) canvas bag embellished with ruffles and flowers. I got the idea from UCreate! I pinked the edges of my ruffles instead of stitching them (saved time and looks better) and I ran a gathering stitch and pulled it up instead of gathering the way it says in the tutorial.

This was my first attempt at fabric flowers, and I got ideas from several places on the web. I think there's room for improvement, but I'm fairly happy with these for a first try. This one is for a gift -- I just might have to make one for myself!

Bookmark Mania!

I've been making bookmarks for gifts. I'm going to give them to my book club kids, among others. I still have some more ideas, but here's what I've got so far.

I love magnetic book marks. I think they work GREAT. You don't have to worry about them falling out of your book, and you can even position them on the side of the book precisely where you left off on the page. So, the ones in the middle are magnetic, made of fabric with Heat-n-Bond between the layers. You just glue on thin magnet strips (I used an old magnetic business card off the refrigerator and cut it up.) The heart one is laminated, but I don't like that one as much. I'm also planning on making some out of some pretty scrap booking paper. You could get really creative and do a patchwork design, or use ribbons, etc. The possibilities are endless.

The one on the left is a lace lily bookmark, machine embroidered using a pattern from Embroidery Library.

The one on the left is a book thong, made with beads and boggles from my stash. I'm planning on doing some more of these too.

Let me know what you think!

Spinach & Artichoke Baked Pasta

As Rachel would say, Yum-OH! We really liked this Spinach and Artichoke Baked Pasta. But, do you know how expensive Gruyere cheese is???? Too much for me (over $14 for about 6 oz.) I used regular baby Swiss cheese, and I used more than the recipe called for. Next time I would use even more cheese and a little less spinach. If you like the dip, you should give this one a try!

Buffalo Chicken Mac 'n Cheese

It's fall, and my favorite time to cook. This weekend I made Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese, and it was a huge hit. I think I followed the recipe almost exactly. There was a lot of cheese sauce; so much that the 13 x 9 pan ran over. Next time I will use a lasagna pan that I have that holds more. This would be a great recipe for a pot luck. If I make it again just for us, I would half the recipe -- it makes A LOT. Yum Yum. BTW, this was probably the most unhealthy thing I've made in the past year.

Again, this is not my picture. I keep forgetting to take pictures.....

Shrimp Puffs

I made appetizers for dinner last night in honor of the Cardinal's World Series game. These shrimp puffs were very good. I don't have mini muffin pans, so I used regular muffins pans and didn't split the biscuits. I baked them about 3 extra minutes. I also used two cans of the little baby shrimp, and that worked quite well. I also didn't use dill--I used some Old Bay seasoning instead. Also added a little Tabasco.

This is not my picture; it's from the web site. I forgot to take one!

Embroidered Cards

Wow! It's been so long since I've posted anything. I've been making things, just not been very good about posting. I made a dress for my niece's wedding, and I really loved it. But ended up not getting any pictures of me in it! I'll take one the next time I wear it.

Aren't these the cutest cards? The are made from embroidery patterns from SewAZ Designs. Go check them out. These were really quick and easy to stitch, and a lot of fun. The variegated thread makes them easy, and looks good. I'm glad to get a chance to use it, since I rarely have a patter that's appropriate. There are 12 designs in the pack I purchased; these are just a few....

Peach and Strawberry Crumble

I just have to tell you about this one. It was SOOOOOO good. I would not have thought to put peaches and strawberries together, but this is an excellent combination. The addition of the almonds in the crumb topping also was delightful. Peaches are one of my favorite fruits, and I used peaches fresh from the family orchard to make this Peach and Strawberry Crumble. The whole family raved about it, so you should give it a try!

Grains & Fruit Summer Salad

Wow! It's been so long since I've posted. It's not that I haven't been doing anything, I just haven't posted about any of it. I went on a trip to Georgia with my husband (he was on business, I wasn't!) Then, we had a week at the lake with my entire family.

So last night I made a main-dish salad recipe that I found in Better Homes & Garden's magazine (July 2011) called Grains & Fruit Summer Salad. You may have to sign up to the BHG site to get the link to work. My picture doesn't look like their picture because I mixed my salad up -- there's is all separated in piles. Here's the changes I made:

The store didn't have any cantaloupe, so I left it out.
I used red cherry tomatoes.
I used brown rice for the grain
I used cucumber instead of zucchini (I don't usually eat raw zucchini, do you?)
I used pecans instead of walnuts.
I did used salmon, but not smoked salmon (and that was a mistake -- used the smoked!)
I didn't bother with the fresh herbs -- didn't think it was necessary.

I liked it. My hubby said it was strange, but he ate it. I don't think I'll make this one again, but I'm not sorry I tried it.

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Muffins

I tried a new Raspberry-Cream Cheese Muffin recipe. This one isn't particularly healthy, although it came from Cooking Light. Next time I might try a little whole wheat flour. I used pecans instead of walnuts, and substituted  Splenda in place of some of the sugar. I used frozen raspberries. These are absolutely delicious. They are very cakey, so could be used for a dessert as well as for breakfast (or a snack!) I highly recommend trying this recipe.

Spaghetti and No-Meat Balls

I tried another "experimental" dish. Spaghetti and No-Meat Balls is a food network recipe that uses mushrooms and tofu to make meatballs instead of meat. Surprisingly, this turned out pretty good. I had to use more bread crumbs than it called for, to make the meatballs hold up. I also added some Italian seasoning -- or you could use seasoned bread crumbs, because I though it would be too bland with just the salt and pepper for seasoning. I think I could have used a bit more seasoning. I also wish I would have put some Parmesan cheese in the tofu mixture -- I think that would have added a lot.

I used a jarred spaghetti sauce instead of making the one in the recipe. I'm not sure I'll try this one again. I guess if I get adventurous. It was a little labor intensive, and I'm not sure it was good enough for that.