COUNTDOWN: nine

Nine days left til Christmas!

Baking!  Baking!  Baking!

Bake your recipient their favourite treat.  It's personal.  It's delicious.  And you know it will be very much appreciated.

Here's a quick little recipe for shortbread.... quick little story:  I had never made shortbread before last week.  For some reason, I always thought it was too finicky to make.  But, in my pursuit to please my guy, I decided to dive in.... and now I'm left feeling rather silly for thinking it was so difficult.  Seriously, 5 ingredients and you have one of the lightest cookies with just the perfect hint of sweetness and buttery-ness (yeah... it's a word)....

You'll need:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup extra fine sugar (you can use regular granulated, you may just get a little crunch)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Whip the butter for 5-10 minutes, yes, that long... please use a hand blender or a stand mixer and save your arms....  Whip, whip, whip!

Add the sugar.... mix, mix, mix for 5-10 minutes more....

Add your yolk and extract.... whip for another 5-10.... oh, my aching arm!

Then do 3 to 4 additions of the flour, using your trusty hand blender for a few minutes between each addition.  By this time, your arm should feel like it's suffered some kind of ancient body stretching torture.... that's when you know you've beaten it enough!

No need to complicate things here, roll into 1 inch balls, throw them onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and squish them down with a fork, bottom of a glass or anything close by.  You're looking to flatten them to about 1/4" thickness.... Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven til the edges are just getting lightly browned.  Again, people, I cannot give you an exact time as ALL ovens vary.... mine runs a little on the hot side, so my cookies are generally finished 4-6 minutes before suggested bake times.  For example, these cookies for me, are ready to take out around 8 to 9 minutes.  Use your judgement, and keep a close eye :)

When all is said and done.... package these little morsels of melt-y marvellous-ness in a unique way.... the thought and effort will be welcomed and enjoyed!

Have a fantastic Thursday folks!  ;)

COUNTDOWN: ten

Only ten shopping days left til the big man appears!

We'll be counting down from today until the 24th by sharing some simple, quick and heartfelt last-minute gift giving ideas....

LAST-MINUTE IDEA #10:

From 3 monkeys archives, the I LOVE YOU JAR.

A super simple little gift that tells someone exactly how you feel about them.  A project that for me, takes the place of and is more doable than scrapbooking.  Whenever I see my children do something new, or funny, or we create another special family memory.... I jot it down and slip it into the jar.... easy-peasy!

All you need is a jar (I love vintage canning jars), pretty scrapbook papers, assorted markers, scissors and your favourite memories, feelings and thoughts about the recipient.

You could also adapt this to create smile jars (jokes), inspiration jars (uplifting quotes).... the possibilities are limitless.... give it a try.... a simple, from the heart gift that will be cherished for a lifetime.

Have a great day everyone.... HO-HO-HO!  ;)

FAMILY DAYS: craft show

While daddy is working away keeping people safe, the monkeys and I will be going to a 'Giant Craft Show' in our little town. 

We've never been before, so it should be fun.... I have one monkey (the oldest) who really doesn't want to go; however, once he gets there I'm sure I'll be hearing a lot of "can you buy this for me?".... the middle monkey, is just like me, he loves anything crafty-artsy-handmade (that's how I know we were meant to be).... and well, the monkey-babe, she just tags along and will undoubtedly be 'hands-on' with EVERYTHING....

One thing's for sure, it will be an adventure - and one that I am happy to share with three out of four of the peeps I love most in this world....

Have a happy, happy family day my lovelies  ;)

HOW-TO-TUESDAY: dryer balls

Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at making homemade dryer balls, there are numerous tutorials all over the Internet.... For those of you who don't know what they are, they are exactly what they say they are; balls that go into the dryer.... Oh, you mean WHATare they for... GOTCHA!

Homemade wool dryer balls are felted wool balls that you use in your dryer (with your laundry) to help eliminate static, speed up drying time (almost by half!) and soften your clothes without the use of chemicals.  I know, they sound too good to be true, don't they?

Well, they do in fact work!  And, AND!  You can make them yourself.... A-and!  I'm going to show you how!

Here's what you'll need to get started:
100% wool yarn
(scraps, new, coloured, non-coloured, but definitely cheap and NOT washable.... washable does not felt)
crochet hook or tapestry needle
socks or nylons
cotton or acrylic yarn or thread

Step one:   Start winding the core of your dryer ball around your fingers like so.... Oh, and I used the jar to keep my scrap yarn from rolling away from me, this also works great for when you're knitting or crocheting....

Step two:  Start winding the yarn across your first few strands, very tightly, like this....

Step three:  Wind, wind, wind.... keep winding....

Step four:  Keep winding, then tuck in your end, til you end up with a nice firm-ish inner core of wool.... Size, you ask?  Whatever size you like....  mine pictured below were about 2 inches across....

Step five:  Take your wool yarn (for the outer portion of this ball I used wool roving, it felts very quickly and easily) and start winding....  For this step, I try not to wind the outer wool quite as tight.... it's still tight, just not loose-y-goose-y....

Step six:  Wind, wind, wind, until you've reached your a little larger than your desired size, remember this ball will shrink.... then tuck in your end....

Step seven:  Here's where the socks or nylons come in.... I used some old baby socks, and slipped them over my yarn balls....

Step eight:  Then took my NON-WOOL, NON-FELTING yarn and tied them into cute little packages like so....  Threw them into the washer with my whites, which I washed using hot water.... then dried, still in the socks....

Step nine:  Finito!  Here are your felted dryer balls.... If you feel they need another wash, go right ahead, it doesn't hurt to run them through the wash more than once just to ensure you don't end up with a matted mess in your dryer....

Now, go enjoy drying your laundry in a very eco-friendly way!

These also make a fantastic housewarming gift to give with some great eco-friendly detergent.... or make them in a rainbow of colours and give them to some lucky baby to play with....

Have a great day folks  ;)

THRIFTY MONDAY: more pyrex love....

I found both of these little pretties at Value Village....  

This pattern is Spring Blossom, first introduced by Pyrex in 1972 to accompany Corelle's Spring Blossom dish set (1970).  Spring Blossom was also relaunched in 1979, no longer in avocado green; it featured a scaled down pattern size and available in lime green and dark green.  The dish in my collection (pictured above) is from the original introduction in 1972, and I'm happy to report that it has been lovingly cared for and shows virtually no signs of use... YAY me!

This pretty turquoise Butterprint dish, is quite possibly the oldest in my meager little collection.  This pattern (Butterprint) was introduced in 1957 and produced until 1968.  Orange and pink versions of this pattern were also printed but discontinued in the early 1960's.  You know I've talked previously about wanting (needing) pink Pyrex....  well, now that I know there are also orange pieces tucked away in someones cupboard, believe me, my want for this colour almost overshadows my need for pink :(    Aaaanyway, this pretty mixing bowl is beautiful on the printed side with one or two little (teeny-tiny, really) scratches; however, the inside looks like it's made a few cakes in it's time.... it's all good though, I still love it completely!

I've come to realize that finding Pyrex in pristine condition, like the first few pieces I purchased, is not so easy.  And I've also realized that since finding those few pristine pieces, that I cannot settle for pieces that are, well,  less than.... It's pretty clear when pieces are washed in a dishwasher, the pattern become etched and faded.... you can imagine just how sad this makes me.  I've found my coveted pink Pyrex, several times, in several locations; sadly, they've all been abused by the dreaded dishwasher one to many times.... I just can't bring myself to adding something so terribly cared for to my collection of gleaming superstars.... is that me just being prejudiced?

Anyhow, there's your Pyrex history lesson for today.  Have a happy, thrifty Monday  ;)