project #4 (fcp)

My mom and I have been obsessed with buttons this week. So my latest project was finishing this 10-foot button garland for the tree. It is easy to make, but if you try it, be careful to keep it from getting tangled. I used a heavy silky cotton embroidery thread. The whites, creams, ivories and sand colors appear iridescent like seashells. Martha would think it is a good thing indeed.
"Day has put on his jacket,
and around his burning bosom
buttoned it with stars"
Oliver Wendell Holmes (one of my favorite quotes!)

Gingerbread Hearts-Project # 3 (fcp)

Jo sewed this felt gingerbread ornament, and I loved putting it in the painting above (even though paint doesn't smell nearly as heavenly as gingerbread)
"Had I but one penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread!"...William Shakespeare

Project number three

Here's the thing . . . the house smells so good!

This recipe is for a house. But I make it just as it says and use cookie cutters for the ornaments - which makes a lot. So, hang half and eat half . . .

Molasses Gingerbread Cookie Dough

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar
3/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Combine brown sugar, molasses, butter, spices, and salt in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Stir in milk. Remove from heat, and let cool.
2. Pour milk mixture into a mixing bowl; add baking powder and flour. With an electric mixer, and beginning on low speed and increasing to medium, beat until well combined. Divide dough in half; shape into disks. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate overnight. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month; thaw in the refrigerator before using.
3. PS - thanks Martha.
   

Project number two

celebrate the beauty of nature. just use some of Martha's glitter . . . .












Glittered Pinecone Ornaments How-To
To glitter pinecones, hold a cone carefully, and brush craft glue over tips of scales.

Then, holding cone over bowl, spoon fine glitter over scales.

For drop ornaments, hot glue a miniature glass ball at the top of the pinecone. You can snip off the end of each pinecone, if necessary, to make a flat place to glue a ball. Run twine through the hole in top ball for a hanger.

Martha Stewart Living

Project One (fcp)

While my most recent project was painting, my all-encompassing "current project" has centered around putting the house back together now that the painters have packed up and moved on.
I love your Martha ornaments--come over and let's dig into a big pile of felt and see what we can make!
"Chaos is a friend of mine"...Mr. Dylan

Project number one

This and the next three posts are projects I am working on. I have competed this one - thanks to my best friend. I would add to the instructions provided in the kit: use paper clips to hold the edges together. Use a firm, straight edge (like the backside of a knife) for bending. And, last but not least - not for small children! Big women only.