Quiet Holidays

Is there anything better than a quiet holiday season at home full of your favorite things?  It's my favorite way to celebrate!

Puppies in Christmas sweaters....
Staycations with champagne minis and lots of sewing.....
The Twelve Days of Christmas in cross stitch....
Lots of yummy food to nibble on.....

And a quick Daycation to the winter wonderland of Yosemite.....

I hope your holiday season has been merry and bright, warm and fun and full of everything that makes your heart happy!

Hugs,
Jenny

Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year!  So, it's that time of year when we're supposed to look back and reflect on the previous year and make all sorts of plans for the next year.  In a way it seems so silly because there's nothing inherently special or significant about the first day of January but for some reason I still really like the whole idea of starting a brand new chapter with a clean slate.

This past year has been.....well.....pretty unremarkable for me.  As I look back on the year there weren't any really BIG events in my life.  I finished a few projects.....I took care of a few sick pets.....I ran a lot.....I re-discovered my love of dollhouses.....I worked hard.....I staycationed hard.....I got a hot tub for my birthday.....but there were really no big, defining moments of 2012 for me.  It was the year where Col. Sew Fab was promoted to Colonel and he had his final flight in the F-15 and he started a new job so it was definitely a big year for him so I kind of had a BIG year by association, right?!  I guess 2012 was the year where I was just along for the ride!

But I'm making all sorts of big plans for 2013!  I'm taking about a week to figure out what my goals for the year are - quilts, dollhouses, business, home organization, exercise (half marathon in 2013?) and all of those big secret projects that got put on hold over the holidays.  And once I have all of my goals written out I think I'm going to hand the list over to Col. Sew Fab and let him work out the details and make a yearlong schedule for me and tell me how on earth I'm going to accomplish everything - LOL!  He's really good at that!

And if you're wondering......the photo is Col. Sew Fab.....on New Year's Eve.....holding lit fireworks with kitchen tongs and running around the backyard.   Fighter Pilots know how to celebrate and have a good time!

Hope you're having a great year so far and I'd love to hear what your plans/resolutions are for the year!

Hugs,
Jenny

Merry Christmas

Merry Late Christmas!  We've had a wonderfully lazy and indulgent holiday season.....sleeping late.....nibbling on prime rib and bacon and blue macaroni and cheese and rum cake and peanut butter truffles......sipping champagne.....watching movies....sitting in the hot tub....and just hanging out.  Perfection.

The kitties also had a wonderful Christmas and Daisy (who is doing amazing well!) fully dedicated herself to guarding all of the new toys and kitty treats.....

While Emma was dedicated to shredding every last piece of tissue paper that dared to cross her path....

And I attempted to learn how to use my new Christmas present from Col. Sew Fab.  Watch out Katniss 'cause here I come!

And of course I "surprised" John with our yearly matching Christmas pajama pants!  This year I had my heart set on using a pink fabric from the Alpine Wonderland collection but I was kind enough to make Col. Sew Fab's pants using a blue fabric from the same collection.  Even though I think he'd look fabulous in pink!  But I still don't think I'll be able to get a picture of him in the actual pants so this will have to do.....

And now I'm kind of looking forward to getting back to some post-holiday "normalcy"......even though I'll miss eating truffles with wild abandon at all hours of the day because for some reason chocolate seems to become an inappropriate breakfast food after December 31!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  I used the Sew Easy Pajama Pants pattern for my pants and the Sleep Well pattern for Col. Sew Fab's pants.

Fun Mail

Don't you just LOVE getting fun stuff in the mail.  These little goodies arrived in my mailbox today and I can't wait to play with them during my Staycation next week.....

Oh yes....on the left is a teeny, tiny kit for making itty, bitty cupcakes out of modeling clay.  I think they're going to be about the size of chocolate chips!  And the kit on the right....well....that's a kit to make itty, bitty glitter houses WITH LIGHTS inside that will go on the top of my dollhouse mantle.  My own house doesn't have light up glitter houses.....but my dollhouse will have them!

And these are some of the goodies that I bought at Michaels earlier this week......

I'll cut up the bead garland and use the individual balls as ornaments for the dollhouse Christmas tree.  And I'll attach little threads to the stickers and those will also become ornaments.

And the greens on the right are from the dollhouse Christmas tree kit that I bought on etsy a few days ago.

Now, if I could just get my super huge, super secret project done I'll actually get to play with these very soon!

Hugs,
Jenny

P.S.  I bought the cupcake kit and the glitter house kits from True2Scale and the Christmas tree kit is from HartsDesireMinis.  Both are shops on etsy.

Random Acts Of Kindness

Tis the season for random acts of kindness!  I did a very small favor for my neighbor and this is how she thanked me......

It's a giant box full of organic fruits and vegetables.  I'll be feasting on heirloom cherry tomatoes, avocados, peppers, cilantro, portobello mushrooms, carrots, chard, butter lettuce, green onions, sunburst squash (I had to look that one up because I had NO IDEA what they were!), apples, pears and grapefruit.  And yes, the herbs are nicely wrapped in tissue paper.  Absolutely heavenly!

And as for the rest of my life.....here's what's happening.....

-Thanksgiving was wonderful.  The dogs all miss Col. Sew Fab's family as they showered them with bites of turkey and homemade bread and potatoes and basically anything that was on the table!  Can you say spoiled rotten???!!!

-I haven't touched a needle and thread in about two weeks.  Oh the horror!

-I have a naked Christmas tree that's been in my living room for a week now.  It looks so sad!  It's time to get her "dressed" and ready for the holidays......just as soon as I find the beginning of this tangled mess!

-I've spent more time on the Christmas tree for my dollhouse than on my "real" tree!  I bought a tiny Christmas tree kit on etsy and I found some beads and scrapbook doo-dads at Michaels to use as ornaments and some Sculpey to make even more ornaments and I even ordered little lights for my witty bitty tree!  It's going to be sooooo cute!

-I'm working on a huge and secret project that I can't tell you about just yet!  Actually, there are a few secret projects I'm working on but one of them should be complete in about a week or two.  And it's a HUGE project and I wish I could tell you but we'll just have to wait a little while longer, o.k?

-And.....I'm planning a Staycation for next week!  I haven't "taken" one in soooo long and I'm overdue for a bit of "Jenny Time."  Col. Sew Fab will be on a Mancation doing guy things next week (he seemed genuinely surprised that I didn't want to go mountain biking in Chile) and I'll be hanging out "playing" with my dollhouse and my sewing projects and baking and eating and sipping wine in the middle of the day and sitting in my hot tub and watching "girly" t.v. shows and movies.

And now I better get back to the HUGE and secret project because Staycation can't start until I get it done.  Eeek!  I've got a lot of work to do!

Hugs,

Jenny

Oink, Snort, Moo

Happy Day After Halloween (aka Candy Hangover Day)!  We celebrated Halloween by committing random acts of Dog Shaming at casa de la Sew Fab!

Emma was so happy to celebrate Halloween as a pig......

And Sammy was thrilled beyond words to be a holstein cow.......

And I am now trapped.....home alone.......in a house full of chocolate because all of the trick or treaters seemed to skip our street and go to the street where someone had basically set up a haunted house in their front yard.  They even hired "zombies" to roam around their front yard scaring people. It was seriously cool!

Now, I just need to summon all of my strength and will power so I can ignore the candy bowl.  If "Eating Massive Amounts of Chocolate" isn't on the schedule I can't do it, right?!

Hugs,
Jenny
 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! We hope you're having a wonderful holiday season full of health, happiness and love!

Big Hugs,
Jenny, John, Cassi, Daisy, Bailey, Emma and Sammy

Cocoa, Canines and Cookies

So how's your Christmas prep coming along? I'm so happy to say that I'm pretty much done with Christmas shopping, Christmas cards and all that other anxiety inducing prep work! And because I'm really trying to simplify my life this year I decided I was going to cut back on the massive amounts of homemade Christmas cookies that I normally make to give as gifts and try to do something a little different: Hot cocoa mixes in pretty jars.
After much taste-testing (it was a rough job but somebodies gotta do it) and recipe tweaking I finally found what I consider to be the perfect cocoa mix. Here it is:

-1 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 cup powdered milk
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
-1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

You layer all of the ingredients in a pretty jar, tie it with a bow and attach a tag with the directions.
This recipe was supposed to fit in a 1 quart jar but for some reason it wouldn't fit in the 1 quart jars that I bought. I'm reallllyyyyy glad I did a test jar before I started my assembly line of cocoa jars! I would have had a major cocoa-tastrophe if I hadn't tested things first! So, for the remaining jars I just reduced the amount of each ingredient a little bit but kept the proportions the same. For my jars, I had to remove 1 tablespoon for each 1/2 cup of ingredient in the mix.

I downloaded some cute, free tags here, printed them on cardstock and wrote "Classic Hot Cocoa Mix" on the front and the directions on the back:
-Mix contents together in large bowl
-For each serving place 1/4 cup of mix and 1 cup water in saucepan and whisk together
-Heat over med-high heat for 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally
-Store remaining mix in jar
You can also make this in the microwave. You just have to stir 1/4 cup mix and 1 cup water together in a mug. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, stir well, microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir for another minute after microwaving. It takes a while for all those mini chocolate chips to melt!

I DO NOT recommend placing the mix in a mug and pouring hot water into the mug. It turned out pretty gross and chunky when I tried it that way. It's definitely better when the mix and water are combined before heating.
And voila! I now have a bunch of adorable, semi-homemade gifts to give out. But a few warnings if you're going to attempt to do this.....you will most likely get COVERED in cocoa powder as you make these! That stuff was not agreeable about going into the jars and I had to "funnel" it in using a baggie with a corner snipped off. And if you have a Golden Retriever, please lock him/her up while you make this. Otherwise you will be pulling marshmallows out of their fur for DAYS!

And now it's time to start making some sugar cookies. I said I was cutting back on the cookie making.....not eliminating it. I haven't gone completely mad! A girls gotta have some homemade Christmas cookies every year!

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

The Easter Tree!

Happy Easter! I'm one of those people who likes to have a tree (or two or three) for every holiday. And this is my Easter tree. I just finished those ornaments yesterday - nothing like getting something done just in the nick of time!

If it looks familiar that's because Martha Stewart magazine had a tree like this on the cover about four years ago and that's where I got the idea and the directions. You can see the directions on Martha's website here.

Each styrofoam egg is slowly and tediously wrapped with perle cotton thread and Tacky Glue....o.k.....it wasn't that bad....it only took about 30 minutes per egg.....
And then I added all sorts of pretty ribbon and flower embellishments from Tinsel Trading Company and Michaels.....and I even dyed some leaves with Rit Dye so they'd perfectly match the green thread on some of the eggs.....
And now they're all happily perched on my fluffy white feather tree....

I hope you're having a wonderful Easter weekend. I'm gonna go nibble on some Easter candy now!
Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Happy New Year 2011!

Happy New Year Everybody! I know it's just another date on the calendar but I love the idea of a clean slate and a fresh start. And after such a.....shall we say "odd" year last year I'm looking forward to starting anew!

But I better tell you about the cupcakes before I start rambling on about New Years stuff! I made those on New Year's Eve so we'd have a yummy treat to go with our champagne. And if you're wondering......we just stay home for New Year's Eve, make a nice dinner and have some champagne. Simple. Easy. Relaxed.

The directions for the cupcakes are in the awesome book "Hello, Cupcake." But for some reason I was the only one who ate a cupcake! Everyone else said "Too cute, can't do it!" Come on.....just look at that face......he wants you to nibble on his sweet, sugary little coconut covered face....
Oh well.....that just means there are more cupcakes for me!

Anyway, how was your year last year? Mine was interesting. It started like a sledge hammer to my life and ended like a nice, warm cozy hug. Here's what I did in 2010......

-Awesome 10 day ski trip to Telluride for my birthday on January 14. So. Much. Fun. (Obviously that wasn't part of the sledge hammer).

-Got a kidney stone on January 24. Yes, that's where the sledge hammer comes in. OUCH.

-Max went to Doggy Heaven on February 28. He would have turned 9 years old on March 1.

-Sammy came into our life exactly one month later. She was more of a tornado and less of a sledge hammer!

-John got a 6 month very hard, very time consuming job assignment and I barely saw him from April through September.

-John was able to escape for 1 week in June and we went to the Bahamas. Ahhhh....a whole week of boats, beaches, bikinis and tropical drinks!
-John had his Fini-Flight in the F-15 at Tyndall. He still gets to fly on occasion but the F-15's have all left Tyndall - boo hoo!
-John had some work trips to Washington, DC and Tucson, AZ in the fall and I tagged along. And I went to Quilt Market in Houston and John tagged along.

-I moved to Tyndall in November so John and I could actually spend some time together.

-We had a relaxing end to the year with lots of time off, lots of relaxing, lots of good food, lots of fun holidays and a lot less stress!

And now here we are ready to start a new year. My main goal for the year is to SEW MORE! And yes I also have all the usual goals/resolutions of lose the holiday weight (while continuing to eat cupcakes), fix up the house, get more organized, etc. But right now all I want to do is plan lots of sewing projects for 2011!

First up is Hooterville. I've been dying to make a Hooterville Quilt since it first came out.
And I keep looking at this bucket full of Lakehouse fabrics that I've been hoarding for years and years and I keep thinking that a bright, preppy, pink & green Hooterville Quilt just might be the cutest thing ever.
Then I want to make something with Penelope once it arrives later this month! I've been waiting for this fabric since I first saw it at Quilt Market in May!!!
And the second Penelope arrives I'm going to start making a pink and black Girl In Paris Quilt. I think that fabric and this pattern are perfect together!
I've also been wanting to make a State Fair Quilt.....
Using my Tickled Pink & Aqua Fat Quarter Bundle.....
And I'd love to finish some of the zillions of projects that I've already started that are in various stages of completion!

Oh, and do you remember how last year I said I wanted to make a new kit for the shop once a month.....ummm......yeah.....that didn't go as planned. So, hopefully this year I'll reach that goal!

That's what I've got planned so far. What are your plans for the New Year???

Happy New Year and Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! And Ahhhhhhhhh!!! Look what I found under the tree on Christmas morning - A brand new Hot Pink Hello Kitty Bike!!! It's every girls dream come true! I dropped everything I was holding and screamed like a little girl when I saw it! John hid the bike at the neighbors house and then snuck out at 4:00 a.m. to get it and put it under the tree! How sweet is that???

And I may regret posting this next picture.....of me.....with no makeup.....on Christmas morning! But oh well.....I'm too excited to use common sense right now!
And did ya notice my outfit??? Yes - I put on an outfit to match my new bike!

And guess what else I found under the tree! A pink gift basket from Wine Country Gift Baskets full of snacks and goodies with a bottle of PINK Hello Kitty Champagne in it.....
Amazing! How does John find these things???

Oh, and I got John a Kinect for the XBox for Christmas. That thing is amazing....and so much fun....and exhausting!

After playing with our new toys all day we had a wonderful dinner of tenderloin, gourmet mac & cheese, roast green beans and sauteed mushrooms followed by chocolate souffles! Yummy!

Emma spent her day carrying her new toys, one by one to the bedroom....and then feel asleep completely exhausted surrounded by her new "friends."
I hope you had a wonderful holiday too!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Jenny

Whew....What A Week!

Wow! It has been quite a crazy week around here! It all started last Sunday when I attempted to decorate the Christmas tree. I turned on "Elf", made myself a cup of hot cocoa and happily started pulling out all the ornaments. You'd think that decorating a Christmas tree would be a safe and fun activity wouldn't you??? But nooooo.....not when the Queen of Clumsy is involved! I managed to smack myself right in the eye with a tree branch and scratched my cornea! Ouch! Don't worry - I'm o.k. now! And I didn't let the tree win! I eventually got all those ornaments on it and I won!
Then a few days later little Miss Don't I Look All Sweet And Cute And Innocent decided to jump ACROSS the coffee table and knock over a glass of RED wine. Yup. Red.
The glass shattered and red wine and broken glass ended up all over me, our white sofa, white chair and white ottoman, the carpet, the Christmas cards I was addressing, some paperwork, a silk and linen cross-stitch I was working on and my fluffy white bathrobe. And Emma also got covered in red wine, got scared, ran off and hopped onto our white bedding! And seriously.....the glass was only half full.....but it looked like a full bottle or two had been sprayed over the entire house!

After two days of doing laundry I put the freshly cleaned slipcovers back on the furniture. And Emma immediately jumped onto the ottoman with muddy paws. Shortly after that I locked my keys in the car. First time in my life I've ever done that! Serenity Now!!!

Well, I was trying to look at the bright side. John had been gone all week on a work trip in Oregon and was supposed to get home Saturday morning after catching a Red Eye flight on Friday night. Yay! I'd have my sweetie back home to comfort me! No such luck. Delays and bad weather and flight cancellations have kept him in Oregon ALL weekend. He finally got a flight out on Sunday and sent me this lovely picture of the plane he is taking from Klamath Falls, OR to Portland (the first of 3 flights he has to take to get from Oregon to Florida).....
Ummmmm......seriously dude.....you're gonna get on that plane??? John's a pilot so this didn't bother him in the least. I'm feeling lightheaded just looking at that!

So, after all the insanity of the week I decided to take the weekend OFF! I normally spend the weekends working and doing errands and chores. But instead I had my own little perfect Jenny "Staycation" this weekend. I worked on a quilt that I started a few years......
Yeah....I'm the type of person who starts a project, gets distracted by another project and then finishes the original project a few years later. But, eventually those bits of fabric that were cut into squares two years ago will look like this.....
And I had lots of help with my quilt in the form of Bailey sitting in the window over my sewing table acting as supervisor......
And my sweet puppers, Emma laying at my feet.....
Oh....and did you notice the perfect spot on top of Emma's head??? Yes, Emma is perfect. In every way.

And since my week definitely called for some chocolate and sugar therapy I made these to soothe my wearied soul.....
They're called Candy Bar Brownies and they taste like a fancy Snickers bar! I was gonna post the recipe but it's really long and complicated. If you want the recipe please send me an e-mail and I'm more than happy to send it to you!  So many of you have asked for the recipe that I decided to put it at the bottom of this post.  But be warned.....these aren't easy to make. Four layers.....and each layer involves slowly and carefully melting something.......and you need to let each layer cool/set before adding the next one. Ugh. A lotta work but they are SOOOOO worth it!

I think I'm gonna go have some Candy Bar Brownies for dinner with some red wine.....in a sippy cup! Here's to hoping that this coming week is a little less "eventful."

Happy Sewing,
Jenny

Candy Bar Brownies

Ingredients for Brownies:

¾ cup butter softened

2 Tablespoons water

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

Ingredients for Candy Bar Topping:

1 cup sugar

¼ cup butter

¼ cup milk

1 cup marshmallow crème

½ cup creamy peanut butter

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups dry-roasted peanuts

40 caramels

¼ cup water

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

¼ cup butterscotch chips

1 – Heat over to 350.  Line bottom and sides of 13 x 9 pan with foil.  Spray foil with cooking spray.

2 – Melt ¾ cup butter, 2 Tablespoons water and 2/3 cup sugar over low heat.  Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips until melted.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla and the eggs until well mixed.  Stir in flour and baking powder.  Pour batter into pan.

3 – Bake 18 – 23 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely (at least 30 minutes).

4 – In a saucepan heat 1 cup sugar, ¼ butter and the milk to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil 5 minutes while stirring CONSTANTLY.  Remove from heat.  Stir in marshmallow crème, ¼ cup of the peanut butter (not all the peanut butter, just ¼ cup of it!) and ½ teaspoon vanilla.  Pour over cooled brownies.  After that layer is firm sprinkle peanuts over top.

5 – In a saucepan heat caramels and ¼ cup water over medium-low heat stirring constantly until caramels are melted.  Pour over peanuts.

6 – In a saucepan melt 1 cup chocolate chips and the butterscotch chips over low heat until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Stir in remaining ¼ cup peanut butter.  Spread over caramel layer.

7 – Refrigerate at least one hour before cutting.  I refrigerate it for one hour and then put it in the freezer for ½ hour before cutting.  Cut bars into 8 rows by 6 rows.  Store in the refrigerator.