Friday, December 31, 2010

COOKING IN CAST IRON

I have been cooking in Cast Iron Skillets for years....just no other way to make your food absorb all the flavors and you get a bonus..."iron", yes the food you cook in cast iron does absorb iron which is good for you. I have 2 sets of cast iron skillets, a cast iron fryer (I use when cooking large amount of stir fry), a cast iron dutch oven and some extra cast iron pieces. I would love to have some cast iron pots and a cast iron biscuit pan, maybe I should ask for them for Christmas next year, or maybe my Birthday. I cooked deer tenderloin with brown gravy and fried cornbread the other night in my cast iron, added some left over green beans and a baked potato.....my kind of meal.


This is my favorite gravy stir thingy (had it for years) and can not find another one like it, I just hope it never breaks!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

TEAPOT APRON

This apron I made for my mother-in-law, she collects teapots so I thought this would make a great gift for her. I could tell when she opened it she loved it, but she is so appreciative of anything, especially hand-made items. She doesn't get to sew much anymore and I know she misses it dearly, she is such a crafty woman herself. She takes used greeting cards and cuts them down and makes great gift tags from them. Maybe I will get a chance later to post some of them on my blog.

 The pocket is actually divided into 2 pockets just by stitching down the middle.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

LOVE THIS FARM!



This is a farm in Benton County, TN, I went with our grandsons class from their local library. We had a blast and I would love to go again next year. There were so many animals to see and the owners were great host. I should mention "all" of the kids were great!

FOR A FRIEND

I made this apron for a good friend of mine for a Christmas gift. She is always giving me great craft ideas and when she finds something at a yard sale she likes, she buys it (real cheap)  and brings it to me to see if I can make it. My friend is the "Queen" of yard sales, no kidding! We get together every once in a while for coffee just to catch up on stuff and talk about what's going on in the neighborhood. She also volunteers at the gift shop one day a week at our hospital, sometimes she gets great ideas from the gift shop for me. She is a dear friend and I am glad I met her a few years ago.

TIC TAC TOE Anyone

I made my two sweet grandsons this Tic Tac Toe game for Christmas. I found this in one of my craft books I have and altered it some. It was a hit!! I used felt for the front and game squares, I cut out the game pieces from felt and I used fabric (that I already had) for the back and the buttons I already had. Let me tell you...I have buttons... I love buttons! If anyone ever wants to give me anything, they can give me "buttons", especially unusual ones. Back to the game...It folds nicely, as you can see in the photo, for storage.
 All laid out with the game pieces, cut from felt.
 Yes, it is made to open to store all the game pieces inside.
 This is so cool how it folds for storage.
Ready to be tucked away until time to play again.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hand-Made Gifts From the Heart

Shhhhh...this purse I made is for my mom for Christmas....so if you know her please don't tell her, I want her to be surprised. I made the little black flowers out of strips of fabric and covered buttons with coordinating red fabric for the center of the flower. I lined it with black fabric and both sides of  lining have 3 pockets for plenty of storage. The purse is fastened with a heavy duty magnetic snap. I added 4 black buttons to the bottom, one on each corner, to keep it from getting dirty. The large gold heart shape pin is one I have had for a long time. I enjoy crafting and making special gifts for special people in my life. Sometimes I spend lots of hours on one gift, to get it just like I want it. When I feel its right and completed with lots of "Love" then I am happy to give it to that someone special.
 
I will be posting more after Christmas......after everyone has received their gifts. My mom does not have a computer so that is why I am posting her gift now. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES

What are your favorite Christmas movies, or don't you have one? There are not many Christmas movies that I don't like. My all time favorite is "It's A Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart, I watch this every year, it is such a touching movie. I even like some of the kids cartoon Christmas movies/shows, we have one called "Magic Gift of The Snowman", it is a kids musical holiday adventure movie but it has a real story in it. I watched one the other day with our oldest grandson called "Mary, Mother of Jesus", great movie!
"It's A Wonderful Life"   
 Leave a comment with your favorite Christmas Movie!

ARE YOU READY?????

It's almost here.....CHRISTMAS!!!!
I love this time of the year, getting with family and friends, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. I love the decorating, making everything sparkle with lights, the smell of cinnamon, breads and cookies baking in the oven. I love to make gifts that someone would love and appreciate, I don't spend a lot of money, even though I probably do spend too much on the grand-kids. They are only little once and I love to see them happy and excited. I love sitting around curled up with a blanket with the fireplace going and watching Christmas movies, one of my favorites is It's A Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart.
This is our tree this year and I would love to see your Christmas tree... post a comment with a pic of your tree.