A Bit of Vintage Stitching...

Good afternoon, everyone!

How's the weekend going so far?  We've been having fun here...very crazy, and there's been very little sleep involved....zzzzzzzzz...{{I wish!}}

Just a couple of things to share with you today...I've been having some fun with Crafty Secrets' new "Sew Nice" Creative Scraps...so many beautiful images!

Here's my first card...

Isn't this a sweet image?  I love the illustration, of course, and the fun colors, which I tried to echo in the cardstock, ribbon, etc. of the card...

This image was all about hand embroidery, so I tried a blanket stitch on a cardstock "flower"...definitely something I haven't tried before!   

These new Creative Scraps had me thinking about a collection of reproduction vintage books that I love...The Mary Frances collection...ever heard of them?

Written by Jane Eayre Fryer around 1913, these adorable books are filled with the sweetest hand-drawn illustrations and simple instructions for young stitchers to begin learning sewing skills.  There's also a book on Cooking, Knitting & Crochet, Gardening, etc...each is charming!  My mother purchased them for us about 10 years ago, and we really love them.

I realized as I found the book on our little shelf, that it's cover and the image I'd just used for my card were one and the same!  Coincidence, yes...but I'm sure it triggered my memory of the books in the first place!

Next, something with a bit of machine stitching...definitely a novice here!

Another sweet image from the same collection...I used the feather stitch on this...one of my favorites. 

The spools of thread and the saying are from Crafty Secrets' "Sew Special" stamp set...

I added some random polkadots of Dazzling Diamonds over the image for just a bit of sparkle...ribbon, gingham, Platinum Stickles and vintage buttons finish the job.

Before I go, I want to share with you the most lovely package I received yesterday from Elizabeth of Creative Breathing...this was for no reason at all, mind you...just the kindness of her heart, and her knowing how much I love her vintage creations!

(I'm using the photos from her post because it's very gloomy here today, and I couldn't get a decent photo of them all!)

She knows how much I love vintage-inspired items with personality--fun faces, feet & hands--I LOVE this sweet pink birthday cake...complete with vintage candles!

This adorable chenille '50's girl fresh from the Sock Hop, complete with her '45 and poodle skirt--and just look at those saddle shoes!

An adorable tag inspired by Twyla and Lindsey...

And this adorable little button holder, made from pieces from a vintage music box...

All this in one package along with some beautiful vintage greeting cards....Oh, Elizabeth...what joy!  Thank-you from the bottom of my heart, dear friend!

Also a thank-you to my friends at Splitcoast for giving me the opportunity to be included in the Dirty Dozen for the next six months--so exciting!  Looking forward to working with all those amazing women!

That's all for me today...I hope your weekend is wonderful in every way!

***I just found the loveliest blog with a very vintage giveaway...please go and say hello to Stephanie at Angelic Accents!

Christmas Elves--Santa's LIttle Helpers...

"The belief in elves originated in the mythical tree spirits of northern Europe and Scandinavia. The Celts worshipped evergreens and the elfin spirits who lived in them. Also known as pixies, brownies, fairies, dryads, and huldefolk, these fairy-like beings could either be benevolent or mischievous to people, depending upon whether or not the people had been on good behavior: Santa Claus himself is the 'first elf' according to Clement Clarke Moore's 1822 poem, 'A Visit from St. Nicholas'." (From "The Christmas Almanac", Ed. by Natasha Tabori-Fried and Lena Tabori)

Good evening, everyone!

Wow! It's been such a busy weekend! I can't believe I haven't posted anything since Thursday--bad blogger!!! Oh, well...here I am now! This IS a busy time of year for all of us, I know. About to leave again, but in the morning, I'm looking forward to catching up with all my favorite blogs...!

Just a couple of things tonight--I've had elves on the brain today--got me remembering a huge part of my Christmases as a child...


...My parents started, when I was young, to inform us around the beginning of December, that we'd better mind our p's and q's, because Santa would be coming soon, and he assigned a special elf to watch over every family...he could be anywhere in the house, at any time! YIKES! If you misbehaved, he'd rush off in a flash to tell Santa what you'd done, and be back in no time to keep a sharp eye out once again!

Needless to say, this worked really well for the six of us kids...if any of us stepped out of line, either my parents, or another sibling, would remind us that Herman Elfie was watching. Yep...His name was Herman Elfie...don't quite know where that came from! I'm sure my Dad made it up--he was always making up magical stories for us...I'll tell you more about them someday!

So, in thinking of Herman Elfie today, I whipped together this little card...this adorable vintage image was kindly shared by Twyla and Lindsey...thanks, ladies! Here it is:

I'm enjoying using my Christmas tree to hold my cards for photos--love the lights in the background, and the branches make great "arms" to hold it just where I want it!

Not sure why this pictures is so much brighter...sorry! Just a little close-up of these cuties!

I printed the image twice, and popped up the elves--love doing that! Some pompom trim, gingham ribbon, and metallic rickrack trim...topped off with a little of my Martha Stewart White Gold glitter, and we're all done!

That's it for tonight! I'm off with the family for a quick visit to Grandma and a Christmas Choral program, but I'll be back tomorrow morning with some really fun stuff! See you then, and sweet dreams!

A Little Pink Fairytale Cottage...and Mom's Amazing Dinner Rolls!

Good evening, all! Wondered if I'd ever get here tonight! It's been a crazy day, and we're not done yet! I think we're all in that mode this week--those of us in the States, anyway! Thanksgiving's not such a big deal elsewhere, is it?!

I don't have too much to show you tonight, but I love what I've got for you!

I have a favorite Mother/Daughter blog--they both write and share their crafting ideas, love vintage, and are so sweet and kind--they've become dear blogging friends of mine...Twyla and Lindsey are the keepers of Two Crazy Crafters, and their blog is just a delight to visit!

When you go and see them, take a peek at their beautiful header--it really jumped out at me the first time I visited, and the little pink cottage on the right just melted my heart! That's where I want to live when I grow up!

I finally got bold and asked if they would mind sharing the image with me so I could do something with it, and they every so graciously said yes! Don't you just love the generosity of creative women in this beautiful blog world???!!! So, here's what I did this morning:

I had so much fun with this! I printed out a few copies, because this little cottage WANTED to be dimensional--nothing I could do about it! The sweet, old image is so unique due to all the pink highlighting, on the clouds, the house, the grass, etc., and I just wanted to keep the feeling the same...it's just so charming! So, I used pink German glass glitter just about everywhere the image had the pink, and I really like the way it turned out! A little silver shavings glitter around the edge of the image, some lace, ribbons and buttons, and that's it!

Here's a bit closer up to see the dimension...

Isn't this the sweetest little cottage?! Thank-you, Twyla and Lindsey! You're the best!

Now, something good for the belly! My Mom is famous for her dinner rolls--and especially her cinnamon rolls! This recipe was given to her at the time of her marriage by a family friend, Ida Steele. Mom's used it for just about every occasion since then, and can even tell you the recipe by heart! It's requested for church socials, Christmas morning breakfast, weddings, just about anything!

Mom has changed it up just a bit over the years to make it easier to make, but just as delicious as the original! I'm grateful for that, as bread making is not my real strength in the kitchen!

I made a quadruple batch today...needed some rolls for dinner tonight, and the dough will stay just fine in the fridge for a few days, so I'll use the rest Thanksgiving morning for some beautiful crescent rolls!

Tonight, however, being in a bit of a hurry, I nipped off a bunch of dough and made some very quick cloverleaf rolls--not quite as elegant as crescents, but every bit as delicious!

Yum! Hot and flaky straight from the oven...!

Here's the recipe: This is the quadrupled recipe--it will make a lot, but since you can keep the dough for days, just think of all the great things you can do with it!

Mom's Dinner Rolls

In good-sized bowl, put 1/2 cup very hot tap water--add 4 Tbsp. yeast--mix gently to make sure all yeast is wet.

In large microwave-safe bowl, heat 4 cups milk for 9 minutes.

While milk is warming, in another bowl, put:

3 sticks butter, sliced

1 cup sugar

4 tsp. salt

Pour hot milk over these ingredients and stir until butter is completely melted. Let cool slightly...meanwhile, in a small bowl:

4 eggs, lightly beaten with fork--add to milk mixture when it's cooled down a bit--don't want to cook the eggs!

Finally, add 14--yep! 14 heaping cups of flour--2 at a time, and mix well--my mixer isn't big enough for all this, so I just do it the old-fashioned way--with my hands!

Keep mixing until dough is well-combined. It should be slightly sticky, but still easy to handle. Refrigerate at this point, or if you're going to use some right away, take some out to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, then form in the desired way, and let rise 1 hour. Then bake in a 425 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until golden on top. Give the rolls a nice brush with some melted butter, and enjoy!

I also made a big pot of thick and delicious split pea soup for dinner--oh, so good! I won't post the recipe here, because I just used the recipe on the bag of peas--easy peasy--literally! The only thing I changed, was instead of adding ham, I cooked up 1 1/2 pounds of bacon and broke it up, then added it to the soup--delicious! So just grab your favorite bag of dry peas, and cook some up!

Just a good old home-cookin' meal!

Hope you enjoy the rolls--try them as cinnamon rolls, too--a great day after Thanksgiving breakfast! Have a wonderful night...sweet dreams!