Just popping in to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.  I'm signing off until 2010.  Thank you for stopping by my little space.  I truly appreciate your kind words and love having all my readers along on my crafty adventures.  I'm looking forward to many more in the new year.  Blessings to you all.

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And before I forget, the winner of Applique Your Way is commenter 208 - Maryellen.  Thanks for playing along and congrats to Maryellen.

Looking for a quick, inexpensive, non-cookie food item for gift giving?  This year, I have been popping lots of corn.

First up is Molly's recipe for Caramel Popcorn with Salted Peanuts.  UNBELIEVABLE.  It is really, really good.  And quite easy to make.  Follow her suggestions, have everything at the ready and you will be in great shape.  A candy thermometer is a must here.  I didn't have one so I picked one up at the grocery store for about $12 last week.  I have used it about five times since I bought it and will probably use it again today.  Well worth the investment.

Maple Popcorn is the other variety I have been giving this season.  I found this recipe from Jennie.  I love this one because it is super simple and you can double or triple the recipe.  Maple syrup, popcorn, salt and oil are the only ingredients making this a vegan treat - super nice for your vegetarian friends or those with dairy allergies.  A candy thermometer comes in handy with this recipe, too.  I packed some of it up in jars I bought at Target last year (I think they still sell them, though) and tied some red and white string around the lids.  I made the label in photoshop using the Reprodepot Flora Pattern disc.  (I have the Folk Pattern disc, too.  I have used them both in various ways and really like them --- they probably deserve a post of their own).

Back tomorrow with the winner of Applique Your Way.

I have been following Kayte Terry's blog, this is love forever, for a few years now and was anxious to get my hands on her new book, Applique Your Way, for many reasons.  First, I love applique.  I think it is one of the best ways to make something that is a little ho-hum into something fabulous with a little time and few supplies.  Plus, Kayte's aesthetic really appeals to me.  She combines materials and fabrics in unexpected ways and ends up with completely charming results.  Also, Jennifer Causey, of simply photo and simply breakfast, was the photographer for this book, so I knew that it would be a visual treat as well.  I pre-ordered it, waited paitently and it finally arrived a few weeks ago.

I wasn't disppointed.  It is a fantastic book with many great projects.  Kayte has included great instructions on many different ways to applique (hand sewn, machine sewn, reverse applique and more) and the projects are very inspiring.  They include things to wear, things to give and things for decorating your home.  I like the mix of techniques - some of the projects you sew from start to end and with others you embellish something you already own.  I, for one, have clothes hanging around that could benefit from a little face lift.  I bet you do too.

Here are a few of the projects that immediately caught my eye:

I think the Coco Sweater is fantastic.  I adore the idea of adding felted wool and new buttons to spruce up a cardigan.

 

The apples on this market tote are so cute!  Kayte gives directions on how to sew the bag, but I think that adding them to a pre-made canvas tote would be just as cute.

The Doily Trivets are fantastic! I don't think I have seen anything like these before.  I think they would make a great gift.  I think I might have to make a set of my own.

These are just a sampling of what Applique Your Way has in store.  The other projects include napkins, note cards, embellished skirts and dresses, a fabulous ribbon belt, pillows and more.  Bonus:  many of the projects are simple enough that they could be done in a day or two at the most.  You know how I like fast crafting!

The generous people at Chronicle Books have offered a copy of Applique Your Way to one of my readers.  If you are interested in a chance to win this book, leave a comment on this post before Monday, December 21 at 5:00 p.m.  I'll announce the winner on Tuesday.

Trust me.  You do.

I was sitting in the carpool line, chatting on the phone when it hit me:  tonight is Kate's last piano lesson before Christmas.  We need a gift.  Now!

We drove straight from school to Starbucks where I bought each of the kids an after school treat and a gift card for the piano teacher.  I came home and retreated immediately to the sewing room and whipped up this coffee cozy.  It took less than a half an hour, start to finish.  Granted, my machine is set up, the pattern was at hand and I have made dozens of these so I don't have to look at directions.  But picking out the button and then sewing it on by hand easily took 7 of those 30 minutes.  Fast, I tell you!

 
The pattern is here.  It makes a great gift for just about anyone:  teachers, babysitters, dog walkers, paper delivery people and on and on.  Making them assembly line works really well, too.

What are you waiting for?  Go on....get sewing.

You guys are the best!  Seriously.  You had so many great ideas to solve my costume dilemma.  I went with the first one - I think it was Autum's.  I took some off-white curtain lining and ripped six strips that were about 2" by the width (54" or so).  Then I sewed two strips together along the short end so I would end up with three long strips.  About four minutes later, I had a nice long braid.  Easy, fast, free.  Yay!  I whipped up a super simple skirt - one seam, one hem, one elastic casing - and cut an old brown t-shirt of mine into a tunic.  All in all it took less than an hour and Kate's pretty pleased.  I'll try to take a photo of it when the sun comes out.

I've been meaning to share these little trees with you.  I made them as part of Betz White's online holiday workshop awhile back.  I think it was in October.  I can't share details of how they were made, but I will tell you that I find them quite addictive.  I've been searching thrift stores for white and cream wool sweaters because I can just see a whole forest of these lining our sun room mantel or on the black chest in the kitchen.  Bonus is that they would look just as nice all winter long....not super Christmas-y, but festive nonetheless.

Still have my cold.  Still sucks.  Still shopping.  Haven't addressed the cards.  Cookies to bake and aprons to make.  Then wrapping and shipping out of town gifts.  So yeah.  That's what I am doing.  But being back at habit this month has made me realize how much I miss blogging regularly.  And how much I had lost my photo mojo.  So I am going to try....really try....to be in this space a little more often.

And gosh, if it's going to be so cold outside, could it please just snow?

* I love brussels sprouts, but never make them.  Yesterday while grocery shopping, I grabbed a bag.  I trimmed them, cut them in half, tossed with some olive oil and salt and roasted them.  Everyone ate them, but I ate the most.  The leftovers are in the fridge and will be part of my lunch.

* The holidays are stressing me out.  Too much to do and not enough time.  And I am not even making gifts this year.  Except for some aprons.  I forgot about those for a second.  And I do have to make an Innkeeper's costume for Kate's Christmas program on Thursday.  I have a plan and I don't think it will be hard.  Anyone have an idea for a rope-ish belt that isn't really rope?  I'm hoping for something that isn't going to cost me any money or a make me take a trip to the store.

* I still have my cold.  It just sucks.  I wake up feeling horrible despite sleeping pretty well.

* No more camera straps in 2009.  I wish I could have rallied for those of you wanting one, but it just wasn't meant to be.  A brand new package of my sewing labels has gone missing and I have spent a great deal of time looking for them.  Just when I resigned myself to the idea that they had most likely been thrown away, my sister-in-law told me that she saw them over Thanksgiving weekend.  And because I haven't trashed out the sewing room/playroom/guest room since then, I have hope they are hidden somplace in there.  I have offered a reward to my children, but I guess $5 isn't enough motivation for them to look.  Grrr.  So no labels = no camera straps.  That's just the way it is.

* There are so many things that I want to make, but I think I will leave that list for a post of its own.

* I'm making this Cashew Chicken for dinner tonight.  It's a crowd pleaser - fast and easy too.

* I hope Whole Foods gets peonies this year.  I could really use some peonies in December.

* I want it to snow.  Mostly because I love my new boots.

17 camera straps were just put up in the shop.  Thanks! 

I love twinkle lights.  And this year, I threw caution to the wind and loaded up the tree.

The shop update will be tomorrow at 11am EST.  It's a smaller update than I had hoped for - only 17 camera straps in three colorways.  I wish I had more to offer, but I am feeling pretty ill.  It's just a cold, but it has wiped me out.  If I am feeling better this weekend, I will probably sew up some more to offer next week.  No promises, though.

Back to my chicken soup.