Feelin' Festive: 4th of July Edition

Seriously?!  I didn't think it had been that long since I've been here, but apparently it has been 4 months.  I won't go into why or make excuses, although I'm sure I could come up with some.  I apologize. 

I feel like I haven't had much time to devote to the things I typically write about--primarily cooking and crafting.  But, the other day our nanny said something to the effect of: "I am amazed by what you have been able to accomplish."  And when I thought about it, she was right.  In the midst of a busy work schedule, a 7 month old, travel and just the tasks of everyday life, I have still managed to do some of the things that I love.

Recently, a friend posted on her Facebook that she needed to stop spending all her time pinning things on Pinterest and actually make some of the things that she's pinned.  Good idea, Lindsey.  One of my favorite boards that I've been adding things to is my "Feelin' Festive" board, which is a place for all things that are holiday related.  With the 4th of July just this month, most of my pins featured glorious red, white and blue (a favorite color combo of mine, with or without the patriotic undertones).  So, on a recent weekend at our family's lake home, I managed to recreate one of my favorite pins--a rag wreath.  It was simple and turned out so perfect--every time I walk in my front door I have to smile.

The tutorial that I borrowed the idea from is great, so there's no need for me to redesign the wheel--just check out the instructions here.  I don't know for sure what size wreath she used, but mine is 19" in diameter.  I ended up using about 3 yards of fabric and my little bunting says "America the Beautiful."

I can picture myself making another one of these for the fall.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Today, I feel the need to share just a few of life's simple pleasures.  I'll let them speak for themselves.

• Green Beans with Lemon Pepper.  I was introduced to this amazing combination by my sister-in-law's mother.    It's as easy as that--cook your green beans your favorite way (steam, simmer, saute, whatever) and then just toss them with some lemon pepper.  Fresh, tasty and way less calories than the butter I would usually use.
• iPhone "My Shopping List" app.  This handy, dandy app puts your grocery list in order by department.  Since I make my list by going through each meal for the week, it used to take me forever to do my grocery shopping---everything was on the list by meal.  Now, I simple put the item into my list on the phone and Voila!  Everything appears in it's correct category like meat, dairy, baked goods, fruits & veggies, etc.
• Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman.  Part parenting book, part cultural study, this book which compares parenting in the U.S. to parenting in France was funny, practical, and offered a little mental vacation to Paris.

• Onion and Rosemary Focaccia Bread.  I made this from the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" book and it is delicious. 
• Sunny warm days.
• Bright Daffodils

On  slightly different note, I just read about this "My Favorite Things" party idea and would love to do one!  I love the idea of sharing all these little things with my friends!  Read more about it here My Favorite Things Party. 

One of my life goals...

Something I have always wanted to do is to enter something in a county fair.  Last spring, I started to work on a quilt that the further I got in the process, the more I was certain that it was my fair entry piece.  I should have finished it a long time ago--especially since I have had it back from the quilter since August and all it needed was the binding.  But, I just wasn't in the mood.

Well, finally during the course of several stolen moments the last couple of weeks I was able to get the binding put on and I am SUPER happy with the result.  It is something that I will be proud to enter in the fair and excited to hear what the judges have to say.  I used exclusively1930's reproduction prints to create this lovely, sunny quilt.  I don't really have a place to display it or use it, but I'm sure I'll think of something!

Baptism Brunch

Baptism Day
 February 12, 2012

We recently celebrated our daughter's baptism and it was a wonderful day, surrounded by family and good friends.  Following the baptism service at our church, we enjoyed a lovely Sunday morning brunch at our house that gave me the chance to show off some new recipes (and include some old favorites!)

Pink roses for Charlotte and the baptism robe given by our church.

One of the things that made the brunch possible was my friend Melanie, who volunteered to be my kitchen witch for the morning.  Now, I had never heard of the term "kitchen witch" before.  Basically, it is a friend who comes over to your house and takes care of all the details of a meal which you cannot do because you are attending the event directly before (or I suppose they might also come so that you could be a part of something you were hosting). In any case, Melanie came over while we were at church to put the egg bake in the oven, slice and display all of the breads, adding the finishing touches to the table, and in this case, brought the dessert.  It was so wonderful to come home and, instead of rushing to get the meal ready, simply grab a plate and begin.  It took a lot of the stress out of the morning and I was able to really enjoy the time with my family.

To make the brunch special, I used a combination of favorites and then classed it up with a couple of what I would consider to be luxe additions. 

The Brunch Spread

Menu

Egg Casserole with Sage Sausage

Lemon Poppy Seed, Pumpkin and Banana Breads

Spinach Salad

Mixed Fruit Salad

Crab Cheesecake

Citrusy Champagne Sangria

Chocolate Truffle and Strawberry Cupcakes

Pecan Torte Coffee

Now, I don't know about you, but crab cheesecake and Champagne sangria are not "normal" brunch items at our house.  Especially considering that the cheesecake is garnished with creme fraiche and caviar, but these were fantastic additions that really added to the menu. My sister introduced me to the egg bake recipe a couple of years ago, and it has become a favorite.  It is easy to prep/make ahead and comes together very easily.

Laura's Egg & Sausage Casserole

INGREDIENTS

    * 1 pound sage pork sausage

    * 1 (8 ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough

    * 10 eggs, beaten

    * 3/4 cup milk

    * 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

    * 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

    * 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning

DIRECTIONS

   1. Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.

   2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

   3. Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with crescent roll dough, and sprinkle with crumbled sausage. In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs, mozzarella, and Cheddar. Season the mixture with oregano, and pour over the sausage and crescent rolls.

   4. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, then lower to 325 and bake for 20 more minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 12

One of my  favorite moments of the day was when my husband and I gave Charlotte her baptism gift. 

Putting on Charlotte's little bracelet.

I wanted to get her something pretty, special, and symbolic.  So after a lengthy Internet search I decided on a bracelet from Tiny Blessings.   I loved how it has her name on it.  The pearls represent that she is a "pearl of great worth" and the tiny jewels symbolize that she was "bought at a price."  She doesn't wear it everyday, but I think that makes it even more special.  I am also excited that the company offers resizing at a very reasonable price so that as my baby girl grows, her jewels will always fit.

All in all, it was an incredible day that I will not soon forget.  Check other these links for some of the other brunch recipes.

Crab Cheesecake
(recipe is for Lobster, but reviews recommended both crab and shrimp as well)
Citrusy Champagne Sangria
(I used raspberries for the pomegranate--our grocery store didn't have them.)
Ginger Pumpkin Bread

 

A Slice of Nostalgia

My mom was an amazing cook and baker.  She knew how to make a meal special and how to find great recipes.  I know that my love of cooking and appreciation for delicious, home-y foods comes from her.  For a long time I have searched for a banana bread recipe that was as good as hers--dense, moist, and irresistible with a slather of peanut butter.  Unfortunately, none of the recipes I tried came close.

Finally, it dawned on me that I knew which cookbook my mom's favorite banana bread recipe came from and I remembered to ask my dad to bring it to me at Christmas time.  Of course, this cookbook, being a church fundraiser cookbook, has SIX banana bread recipes in it.  I figured I'd just start with the first one, and cook my way through them until I found the one. 

Then, as I started to look at the recipes, one of them jogged my memory.  It called for 1 2/3 cups of bananas...and for whatever reason I knew that this was the one my mom used.  Of course I had made it myself when I was in high school, but who would have thought, when all of the recipes were so similar, that was the detail that would stick.  I baked up a loaf and, behold, there was the long searched for loaf of golden goodness.

So, here's the recipe, courtesy of Marie R. Hartman and the St. Vincent DePaul Parish Council of Catholic Women from Seward, Nebraska circa 1988.

Banana Bread

1 3/4 c. Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. nuts (pecans or walnuts) chopped
1 2/3 c. banana, mashed
2/3 c sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 c butter, melted

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nuts.  In a large bowl combine the bananas, sugar, vanilla, eggs and butter.  Fold in the dray ingredients, stirring only to blend.  Pour into a greased and floured 9x3" loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until golden and toothpick comes out clean.

Ah, the perfection!

Blog Addiction & Truth-telling Serum

 

An exhausted early momma moment.

I have found that even with all my new momma duties, I have been able to keep up with reading books.  I am caught up for book club--The Happiness Project-- and have also managed to read a few others for fun on the side. (Thank you whoever created e-books and their amazing one-handed operationalism!!!) It has been a lot harder to keep up with my favorite blogs, mainly because the computer is designed for people with TWO free hands.

I hate the days where I don't get a chance to check in with all my favorite people (most of whom I don't actually know) via their blogs.  I think it is probably the combination of diary-magazine-conversation that makes blogs so compelling for me.

There are a lot of reasons to read a blog.  To keep up with people who live far away.  To get new ideas.  To get a little glimpse into the heart of someone who you will never meet that is something like you.  While I love the craft, cooking and quilt blogs that I look at for their wonderful ideas, colors and inspiration, they aren't the ones that really connect with my heart.

The blogs that truly connect with my heart are the ones who have figured out how to tell the truth about their everyday lives--they aren't sugarcoating things.  These people are the ones who have really helped me through the last two months of beginning to figure out momma-hood.  A lot of moms talk about how happy, glorious and amazing momma-hood is (and don't get me wrong, there are lots of those moments), but more often than not these early days have been exhausting, frustrating, anxious, and full of doubt.  Those women who are able to acknowledge those tough feelings are the ones that I want to check in with, because it is affirming.  It is a powerful thing to know that you are not alone and others have been there before and that it does get better.

I also love the women who know how to write about God in the midst of all of this.  Their words are graceful, hopeful, and a reminder to me.  They remind me that the antidotes to exhaustion, frustration, anxiety and doubt is rest, peace, hope and faith.  Their words have been life giving and helpful in these early weeks.  These are my favorite and I encourage you to check them out.

The Momastery
Becca Groves: My Life in Stories

Plus, only God knows when I'll get around to needing inspiration for a quilting project again.



Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Image source

To say that a baby completely changes your life is an understatement.  And anyone who says that having a baby is easy is a big liar.  It is good though.  O, so good. It challenges you and pushes all kinds of boundaries that you thought you had.  Endless reserves of patience?  Not so much.  A clean, clutter-free abode?  No longer.  Pride in the fact that you never watch TV? Ooo...look "What Not to Wear" is on again.  That makes 7 episodes this week and it's only Tuesday.  Time to blog?  Huh, that was over a month ago already.  Yikes.  So, yeah, to say that things are different at our house goes without saying.  But being a momma is good and there are lots of great moments everyday. 

One of the things that has really been challenging for me is being able to cook and bake.  I love to cook and, before baby, it was my outlet.  I'd come home from work, rest a little by curling up with a book, and then dive into the cathartic and wonderful mode of making dinner.  Unfortunately that time no longer exists.  By that point in the day, Charlotte is most often tired, fussy and overstimulated and wants nothing more that to be held close and told that it will all be okay.  Of course, I can't even count on that by that time of day.

One thing I can count on though is a nice period of time in the morning while she naps.  Which has led me to explore more slow-cooker meals.  I used to poo-poo slow cooker meals as being for lazy people.  I would say to myself, "How hard is it to take 45 minutes to cook a meal?  Seriously."  Uh, yeah.  Now I know.  The good part is that I've discovered some yummy, quick to prep, and interesting meals.  Here's what we've tried so far:

Green Chicken and Rice Soup
Buffalo Chicken Soup
Creamy Crock Pot Meatballs
Pork Roast in the Crock Pot

They were all delicious and I highly recommend it.  The Buffalo Chicken Soup was my favorite of the bunch (put blue cheese sprinkles on anything and I'm a goner) and my husband really liked the Green Chicken and Rice Soup a lot. 

Of course, people with babies aren't the only ones who use a slow cooker.  My friend Melanie uses hers a lot because it makes dinner quick and easy when she gets home from work.  Slow cookers make tender, moist perfect roasts.  They are a staple of church pot lucks. 

There's a reason for that--slow cookers make life easy!  I don't know what took me so long to figure this out...

The Ultimate Homemade Adventure

I have to say that having a baby is the ultimate homemade adventure. It has been a little bit crazy and different, but in a really good way.  Little Charlotte is now just over a week old and is kind of amazing.  She eats and sleeps like a champ, and has already surpassed her birth weight. 

Since she's been born, I've had family here to celebrate Christmas and hosted my book club Christmas party.  Both were amazing.  I loved having my family here and wished they could have stayed much longer.  As it was we were contented with a spectacular Christmas feast, including my first turkey (and the most delicious turkey recipe I've ever had!).  And while I did the menu planning it was truly a whole family affair to get it on the table.

Our holiday table included a salad with pears, dried cherries and goat cheese.  The Bourbon Roasted turkey followed with apple-cranberry stuffing, and Sweet Potato Casserole, plus a pecan pie for dessert.  The recipe for the turkey came from the November 2011 Country Living magazine, and while the recipe is not on their website any longer, some dear soul has posted the recipe here Maple Bourbon Roasted Turkey.  This is seriously the most delicious turkey I've ever had, and the gravy is spectacular (and I even normally hate gravy).

So far, being a mommy is the best homemade adventure ever.  I think Miss Charlotte and I have lots of cooking, baking and crafting ahead in our future!

Welcome to my homemade life Charlotte!

Making Merry

Even though it feels too early to me to be thinking about Christmas, I feel like this year (because of baby) I have kind of had to.  I've done a little Christmas shopping, which feels really wrong since I've always been so adamant about not starting until after Thanksgiving.  The past couple of years I have made Christmas presents, and I loved it.  It's fun for me to make them, and fun to give people handmade, one of a kind items as well.  I didn't feel like I could commit to that this year though--what if baby comes and I don't get it all done?!?!  So, I am doing store bought presents, but in order to keep up the craftiness, I have done a couple small Christmas sewing projects.

My family has the tradition of filling eat other's stockings (you get a big present and a stocking stuffer from each person).  So, when I was in high school, my mom made pretty, quilted stockings for our family.  Then, as we've added more family members with me and my sister's husbands, we've made stockings for them as well.  This year, we'll have two little babies for Christmas, so it felt right to make them stockings as well.  They really are a quick and easy project.  I drew my own pattern and then used this tutorial to figure out how to put it together.  They really only took me about 45 minutes each. 

The one on the left is for my nephew and the one on the right is for Baby B.  I just did a little big of quilting on each one, and you really only have to do it on the front of the stocking.  I did both sides on Baby B's and it actually makes the stocking a little thick and hard to get things in and out of with all the fabric layers.  Oh, well.

I also had picked up a piece of flannel after the Christmas season last year.  I don't know what I thought I'd make out of it at the time since I bought about 4 yards of fabric, but it was cheap and I tucked it away.  As I was looking through my fabric bin last Friday, I decided that the flannel with it's cheery holly and red-striped print would make really cute flannel lounge pants.  So, I made a pair for myself.   Then, because there was still fabric left over, I decided to make a little pair for Baby B as well.  I used a basic unisex pattern from Simplicity for my pants (Lounge Pant Pattern--except not the plus size pattern, since this pattern runs HUGE!  I didn't see the regular one on their website though.)  For baby's pants, I used this adorable pattern from Jackie Clark called Britches and Bloomers.  Both patterns are super easy and only took about an hour each to make (if that.)  Check 'em out:

Here's a better picture of baby's pants.  I am thinking that I may be able to make a little embellished onesie to go with them. This is the backside with it's cute pockets.

At Home Photo Shoot

It's kind of amazing what you can accomplish with a friend who has a nice camera and a little pretty scenery around your house.  I wanted to create a photo shoot to record the last days of my pregnant belly--we did our shoot at 36 weeks.  Our original plan had been to go our to an apple orchard and take advantage of the scenery there, but with limited time we decided to just make use of the area around our house. 

Putting together the photo shoot wasn't difficult.  If you have a decent eye for spacial reasoning, color and design (which most crafty types do) you can come up with some clever shots on your own--or simply search the Internet for "maternity images" and you can see all kinds of ideas.

Here are the props that we used:

• Our countdown chalk board (which usually hangs in our dining room)
• A pumpkin
• A antique quilt
• A mum

That's it.  Then, of course we had a couple of different clothing options, because it makes you feel like a model.  I think it felt a lot like our engagement photo shoot, except with a lot more focus on my belly.  We wanted to look comfortable, happy, and excited.  I think that comes through in the photos.  Check out the results:

This one was taken on our front porch. 

I had found the inspiration for this photo online.  In the photo I found the couple was using a soccer ball, but I thought that being the day before Halloween and that our baby is a fall baby, the pumpkin was cute.

You'd never guess, but many of these shots are taken in a tiny corner of what would be considered our back yard.  Our house actually backs up to a parking lot, and so we have only a 20'x20' space that borders a marsh that would be considered our 'yard', however, with the trees, leaves, and tall grasses, it make a great background.

I had my sister do just a little bit of photo editing on the first shot in the blog...Our day was very cloudy and we didn't really have great light for the shoot, but after she did a little color correcting and added some more shadows, it almost looks like it was sunny!

Cozy, wee things

A few weeks ago, I picked up a pattern to make a sweet little baby bunting.  With all of the super cute polar fleece available, I thought it was worth a shot--even though sewing clothing is not my strength.  However, with this super easy pattern and a couple of hours to work, I managed to produce a darling little bunting that will surely keep my little baby warm this winter!

This pattern was even more simple than I thought it would be.  I have very limited experience with putting in zippers, and even that was a piece of cake.  The hardest part was actually the hat!

Also, if you are craving some cozy, yummy fall foods, have I got a couple of links for you.  Below are a couple of my favorite fall recipes that I've compiled from other blogs.  Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Crumble
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Chipotle Chocolate Chili

Homemade Baby Room

Over the last couple of months, I have been busy creating the things that decorate my little baby's new home.  It's almost ready for her to arrive (just a few more things to get) and I can't wait to see the space I've created in use. I thought I would share some photos of what I've been making.

As you enter the nursery to your right is my rocker and reading area.  The walls are a very light yellow (Behr Premium in "Cream Puff"), which my dear father-in-law painted for us a couple of months ago.  I pieced the quilt and recovered the cushions on the glider and ottoman.

Also, on this side of the nursery is this lovely Ikea cabinet (love, love, love it!) for books and storage.  On the walls are a couple of nursery rhyme prints.



In the corner we have our crib.  I made the smaller crib quilt, and the organizer on the end of the crib.  I also made the artwork which features teddy bear and kitty paper dolls that I had as a kid.



By the crib we also have this awesome golden moon hanging, which was in my room at home when I was a teenager.

We also have  a red dresser from Ikea for our changing table, and above it is artwork that I created out of paper dolls that are little mice (they are one of my favorite paper dolls ever--so cute!)

The artwork was simple to make with Ikea frames (they come with mats) and fabric in the back ground and then the table with the lamp was also one that I've had for years, and just dressed up the shade a little by adding ribbon, rickrack, buttons and the pre-pleated eyelet lace.



The little coat rack in the corner was given to me by Jane, and it was hers when she was a little girl.  I also made this stuffed owl for baby girl from a pattern I found at Heavenly Patchwork in Waconia.  Such a great pattern--simple directions and fun to make in a couple of hours.

One of my favorite things in baby's room is a stuffed animal that I picked up at the Handmade Market at the Creative Connection Event last weekend.  I must have went back to the booth 3 times before just buying it.  Turns out, the woman who creates them is from Northfield, Minnesota.  She was so friendly and her animals are so sweet.  Her blog is Little Big Pants and you can see some of her creations there.  I bought this gal.

She is a marsupial bunny named Amelie (she came with the name).  Her baby didn't have a name, so I named him Francois.  He comes out of her little pocket.  Amelie is super cuddly and I like to sit in the glider and hold her while I read stories to the baby.  My husband thinks it's kind of silly that I read stories to the bunny baby.  Last night we read the "Little Miss Austen" book Pride & Prejudice, which might be the most adorable baby book ever.  You can check it out here Little Miss Austen Pride & Prejudice.

I'm so in love with this room.  I can't wait for baby to move in!

Stocking Up for Winter

A new tradition for Jane and I is to can tomatoes in August.  Last year we did a 1/2 bushel, which gave us each about 9 pints to enjoy in soups and pasta throughout the winter.  The only problem was that the 9 pints only made it until about December--that left us with a lot of winter where we didn't have our own little jars of summer left to use.

So, this year, we decided to do double the amount we did last year--a whole bushel.  We ended up with 33 pints this time, which probably still won't get us all the way through winter, but hopefully at least until February.

The tomatoes we had this year were fairly small and round.  They also weren't quite as ripe as we would have liked (it make peeling them more difficult.)  These were from the Minneapolis Farmer's Market.

 



Jane bought our tomatoes at the Minneapolis farmers market.

 
I don't know how many times we filled and refilled the giant bowls with the cut tomatoes.  It seemed like so many when we were doing it! 



A big bowl of peeled and cut tomatoes.

 To peel the tomatoes, you first have to dip them in boiling water, and then immerse them in ice water and in theory the peel slide right off.  It worked most of the time.



One of the things that I admire about women years ago who canned a lot is that tomatoes are ready at the hottest time of year and with all the boiling of water it takes to prep them and can them, the kitchen gets really hot. Those women did all of this hot work in non-air conditioned environments.  It is very long hot work!  I also can't figure out how they decided how much they needed to do.  Jane and I kind of just pick an amount and know that if we run out, we can always just pick some up at the store.



Here I am with some of our bounty. I can't wait to use these in my favorite recipes--especially in the Butternut Squash Crumble.  Oh, baby, does it taste like fall!



Me with my baby belly and a about half of the job done.



Up close with the tomatoes





 

 

Pizza Night at Two Ponies Gardens

One of my all-time favorite, under the radar places is Two Ponies Gardens located just a few miles from my home.  I stumbled across this gorgeous little hideaway last summer when I was looking for service projects for the students at work.  I've taken students there to volunteer a couple of times, but even better is that I love going out and enjoying the events! I've attended their Dahlia Open House and attended a Harvest Dinner last fall (one of the most Martha Stewart worthy moments of my life.) 
Last summer they were in the process of building a wood-burning brick oven at the farm.  Siri and Lisa (the two awesome women who run the farm) were hoping that once it was done they'd be able to have pizza nights at the farm.
Well, the oven is done and pizza night is awesome.  My husband and I attended along with my friend Heidi.  It was a fun night.

The menu---we brought our own drinks and cupcakes (which is allowed!)

The front pizza was the basil, tomato and mozzarella pizza.  The back one was the prosciutto, pesto and chevre.  Both were DELICIOUS!

The pizza makers rolling out the crust (the oven is that stone thing in the background.)

Heidi and I looking hot.  Because we were sweltering and melting (it was probably 90 degrees that night.)

Wanna check out other events at Two Ponies?  Check out their website.  Two Ponies Garden Website

Really? It's been that long?!

So, I know that I am waaaay behind in writing and it is combination of things that has kept me from being really present here.  I didn't realize until just now that it had been almost two months though!  Argh!  I'm sorry, dear readers.  Some of the reasons (not to justify, but more to explain):

• No batteries for the camera...easily remedied, but forgotten about many times until yesterday.  No camera, no pictures.  No pictures in my mind means really boring blog.
• Baby Berger mania.  Yes, my husband and I are expecting a baby in November.  Not that I have been consumed with getting ready for it.  Yet.  It's just that in my free time I would rather pour over my book "Bring Back Beatrice" (fun little baby name book) rather than sit down and blog.
• Planning, prepping and pulling off The Soul Sisterhood Retreat.  A rather momentous week, all fabulous and fun, but a ton of work.  I kind of felt like I'd been hit by a truck when it was all over and it took me a week to recover.
• Just life in general...summer seems to be whizzing by and I'm wondering where all the time has gone.
• And although I am really happy and excited about life right now, I just haven't felt very interesting.  I've been crafting, but not ready to post about.  Cooking, but nothing really new or different.  Dreaming, but not ready to share yet. ;-)

So, lame-o excuses out of the way, I think perhaps I've come across the perfect summer project for my blog.  I've been reading a glorious book called "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp and it is so inspiring.  Basically, the premise is to find, record, and delight in one thousand things that you love.

One Thousand Gifts


It is an exercise in cultivating gratitude and a recognizing all of God's grace and glory made present in our world.  My friend Becca, is doing the One Thousand Gifts challenge this summer on her blog (http://www.beccagroves.blogspot.com/).  I want to try this out too.  It will probably take longer than summer, but it is something fun to try!  I don't have a plan for how often I want to post, but I plan to use this as my place to record my one thousand things.

Crafty Day




Lindsey working on her rolled fabric flowers for our last Crafty Day in April.

 Once a month, I get together with a group of fun women to craft.  It's sort of like a book club, but we make stuff instead.  In fact, we have Crafty Day on Saturday, so I thought it would be fun to talk about some of our past Crafty Days. 


The quilted tablerunner, from February 2011.

 

It started out with just Melanie and I, and then other people have joined us.  We've done several fun projects as well--sewing Christmas presents, working on quilts, making a table runner, a spring wreath, and this month, we're going to tackle mosaic flower pots.

We typically pick a Saturday morning and then someone hosts (providing both the craft idea and lunch) and we meet at their house to work.  Some Crafty Days have lasted all day, while others have just been a couple of hours.  The food is always delicious and the conversation is great too.  The worst Crafty Day for me was the one where I remembered to bring every supply except my sewing machine...for making a quilted table runner.  Luckily, Kara was gracious enough to share with me that day!




Our finished April project--the rolled fabric flowers were fun and easy to make.

 

It's such a perfect excuse to get together with friends and be creative--plus it makes you try new projects and learn new creative techniques.  Most of our ideas come off of various blogs and websites, but it doesn't even have to be as complicated as some of these.  (Honestly, the wreath with the rolled fabric flowers was the first project I've ever accomplished during Crafty Day--I usually have to finish it up at home!)

Little Easter Babies

Little Hank and I bonded.  It turns out that he is a fan of Mumford and Sons, too.

Just 3 weeks ago, my sister gave birth to a wonderful little guy named Henry Joseph and I've been dying to see him in person, so when we had a long Easter weekend, we decided to spend it in Peoria.  I loved spending Easter with my new nephew, Hank.  He is so small and sweet, but he has giant loud farts.  It's hilarious!  Hank tolerated having house guests very well and I'm hoping he'll let us come visit again.

It is amazing to see how much stuff one little baby has.  And especially the fact that right now, he really doesn't use any of it.  He's too small to appreciate all the stuffed animals and books (I read him stories anyway.)  It is also crazy how when you see baby clothes at the store, they look so tiny and then once you put them on the baby, he still has room to grow.  It's a little staggering, really, to think we all start out that small!

Hank wasn't the only baby to be celebrated on Easter.  My friend Elizabeth had her baby, Easton, that day.  I can't wait to meet him, but he was a little early so he has to stay in the NICU for a little bit.  It's a lot of fun all these babies in my world right now...not to mentioned that there are still 15 more to come from other friends yet this year!

Spring on the Inside

The view from my kitchen this morning.

Well, it's a gorgeous spring day in Minnesota.  As one of my girls put it at Girls Group Monday night, "If Mother Nature was a real person, someone would have murdered her by now."  I think we are all sort of feeling that way.  But, I guess if we can't have spring outside, then the next best thing is spring on the inside--and it was definitely spring at our fundraiser for the Soul Sisterhood Retreat this weekend!

We had a sunny, although chilly, day for our fundraiser, but it was warm and fun inside.  We had a silent auction, bake sale, raffle, dessert buffet and a great speaker, Jessica Zuehlke.  Sixty-four people attended, and $2500 was raised to support our summer camp for girls.  It was wonderful.  Here's some of the highlights:

Our dessert buffet included cheesecake, peach cobbler, angel food cupcakes, Oreo truffles, lemon bars, raspberry bars, Oreo cupcakes, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcakes, brownie pops, Raspberry Truffle cups, and yogurt parfaits. Oh, and Chocolate covered strawberries.  There were probably other things as well, but I can't remember all of it.

We decorated the tables with vintage linens (from my personal collection), gorgeous clusters of daffodils, and we also gave each of the women who came a merit badge as a token of thanks for their support for the Soul Sisterhood Retreat.

The bake sale was not huge, but featured yummy goodies like banana bread and muffins, red velvet cheesecake brownies, lemon drop cookies, pumpkin bread, lemon poppyseed bread,  Raspberry bars and Oreo cupcakes.  (Some of the women brought home treats for their deserving husbands and children!)

These are some of the silent auction prizes.  The quilt on the left is the one that I made for the event.  It received many oooh's and ahhhh's.  We also had homemade soaps, jewelry, a garden basket and other great prizes.  Everyone was so generous with their talents!

These were a sampling of the raffle prizes too.  We had cookbooks, gift certificates and some more jewelry.

This was our speaker, Jessica Zuehlke, who along with her husband wrote the musical The Church Basement Ladies.  She was so funny, personable, and encouraging.  She talked about her creative process and her writing, and how she creates the characters and the settings and action in her work.  She really encouraged people to just try writing.  One of my middle school girls (who is a writer and actress) even wanted to follow up with Jessica for advice.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon and everyone had a great time.  I have to admit though...I really don't want to spend any time in the kitchen right now.