Christmas Makes Me FAT!

This weekend has been dedicated to baking and some last minute stitching!!! And it's not the stitching that makes me fat. I love to bake but I don't do it very often because I can't afford the calories. But at Christmas I really enjoy making up "goodie" plates for the mail carrier, the fab folks at our vet's office, my hairdresser aka "The Miracle Worker", just to mention a few. And I get a real kick out of  certain people requesting seconds! I don't bake a lot of cookies, but I have some wonderful treats that I make every year. Here's a real quickie that no one will ever suspect is so easy. Enjoy!

Poor Man's Toffee

1 sleeve of saltines

2 sticks of butter (1 cup)

1/2 cup suger

1 large (12 oz) bag of semi sweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Melt butter and sugar in a small sauce pan. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Lay saltines on foil in a single layer. Spread melted butter/sugar over saltines. Bake for exactly 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over top. Return to oven for 2 minutes. Remove from oven and spread chocolate. Cool. Break into pieces.

Here are a few more ornaments that I've stitched. You'll have to wait til after Christmas to see the non-ornament things I've stitched recently. You just never know who's reading my blog.

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I Feel SOOOO Productive!

I finished some more ornaments and just wanted to share them.

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Handmade Ornaments from Some of My Friends

Not only do I stitch ornaments, I BUY handmade ornaments! I just love them. Here are three that I bought this year from some wonderful artisans on Etsy. And all of them are hanging on my tree this year! Treat yourself to some too. You can't go wrong with handmade!

The stained glass Moravian star is from LAGlass . I was particularly thrilled to find these because I am Moravian and this is a traditional Christmas symbol of our Christian denomination.

The precious quilted ice skate ornament is made by TheQuiltedHouse. She has lovely quilted items including more skates and stocking ornaments.

The gorgeous fabric pine cone ornament is just one of several colors created by WhimsicalWinston. And I know from personal experience that all of them are stunning! Not that I'm giving away any secrets or anything.

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I've been in a finishing frenzy, which is not to say that I'm a great finisher, but I can't give ornaments with ragged edges and no hanger. So I do what I can to make 'em look pretty on the tree. Here are a few more that my family and friends will recieve this year.

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Busy, Busy, Busy

I know, you don't even recognize me anymore. I apologize, dear Blog, for neglecting you. But you see, so many people want stitch markers and scissor fobs and counting pins for cross stitch and needlepoint, that I've been chained to my workbench.  I feel a little like one of the elves, but not as cute.  And when I'm not working on needlework bling or bookmarks I'm stitching away on ornaments for my family and friends.

For those of you who think you might be getting one this year, it might be one of these! ...or it might not be. :)

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Woohoo! Shores of Hawk Run Hollow is Done!

I finally finished it! I was going to wait until it was framed, but who knows how long that will take. So here it is!

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Fall is Here!

The weather in southeastern NC has finally cooled off a bit. Yes, we had a week of rain, but frankly, I welcomed it. It allowed me to get some stitching done without feeling guilty for not being outside. I have to rationalize stitching during the day, you know.  Plus we were 16 inches behind in annual rainfall. Although we really didn't need to get it all back in 3 days!  Fortunately, living on sand means it drains pretty quickly.

I know I have neglected my blog lately. But I have been stitching. I've been doing semi small projects, not to be confused with the eternal, hopefully soon to be done Shores of Hawk Run Hollow!

I finished "Acorn Hill" and it will be on it's way to someone soon.

 And I picked up this little gem from La D Da just because.  Sometimes you have to do that to reestablish your love of stitching. Not that I ever quit loving to stitch, but there are so many projects I feel I have to do that working on something just for the heck of it is a nice break.

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