Happy Valentine's Day

It's coming...  you either hate it or you love it... Valentine's Day!

If you've got kids, you've got to love it.  I'm sure, like most of you, my kids like to put a little treat with the Valentine.  I went to get this treat at Target yesterday and couldn't bring myself to spend $20 on candy.  M said, "Ya know, ya really don't have to send candy.  The card would be enough."  What?  Are you kidding?  ME nurture withOUT food.  No way.  It's just not who I am!  Sad but true.

Plan B:

I bought the treat bags and emailed the sister-in-law for this FABULOUS popcorn recipe.  If you're in a school district where the kids can still bring homemade snacks, I guarantee this will be a hit.  Make a double batch so there's enough left for the tikes after you finish "trying it".

POPCORN GOODNESS

{I don't really know what it's called, but this sums it up!}

3-4 bags microwave popcorn

(natural or plain.. no butter or saltI use Orville Natural - approx 14 cups)

3/4 cup peanut butter (creamy)

1 1/2 LBS almond bark

3 cups rice krispies

2 cups peanuts

Remove all hulls and seeds from popcorn. Mix together dry ingredients. Melt almond bark and peanut butter. Pour this mixture over dry ingredients. Stir. Spread out on wax paper to dry. (1/2 - 1hr)

Bag it up and send it with the Valentines.

Enjoy!

XO - B

Utility Apron

Nice title... to the point...no wit.

This is the best little apron I've ever seen.  Wear it when you craft, cook, sew, wrap presents, clean, etc. 

Maybe it just happens at my house, but when I clean, my jeans are usually full of trash and broken toys by the time I'm finished.  Enter the utility apron - POCKETS FOR ALL THAT JUNK and a pen and paper for when someone calls to tell you something very important that you know you won't remember by the time you press "end".

I wish I could take credit for the design but alas I cannot. 

Visit this talented lady for the full pattern and details.

Rosey Corner Creations

Sidebar:

Let's talk about topstitching for a moment.  I believe that well-done-topstitching is the icing on the cake, the sprinkles on the cupcake, the butter on the toast, the cream in the coffee... {Clearly, I'm hungry!}  What I'm trying to say is that it gives the garment/sewn item a finished look.  Don't ya think?  I do it a lot... a lot.

I made several of these for my 'girls' for Christmas.  To the rest of my 'girls':  can you guess what you're getting for the next holiday/special occasion/birthday...?

Not only functional and cute, they are CHEAP to make.

(Mom would say, "please say inexpensive".) 

I bought 1 yard each of 3 different coordinating fabrics and made 5 aprons from those 3 yards.

This particular Valentine apron is for a very special lady. 

{We'll call her "Moose"... cause that's what everyone else calls her.} 

She lost her Valentine right before Christmas. 

Her Valentine just happened to be my Grandfather. 

They met after my Grandmother passed away in 1988 and had been like

peas and carrots ever since.

Grandpa:

I love that someone wrote 'Daddy'.

Isn't he handsome?!

I miss him... he called me 'Becksy'.

Go make some aprons.  After you get the parts cut out, it takes only about 1/2 hour to put together.  As you can see in the next pic it's more than appropriate to wear with ones church coat.

Blessings - 'Becksy'

Be Mine

I love to do all these creative things for seasonal decorating but...

WHERE DO YOU PUT ALL OF THIS CRAP?

It's dangerous to open any of our closets and the garage is beginning to look like Sanford & Son.

That aside, a couple of Valentine/Winter projects from the kitchen:

These are made from 2 layers of either red ticking or muslin with a layer of batting in between.  I stained them with a mixture of coffee, vanilla, nutmeg, and anything else that smelled good.  THEN - I found these fabulous sheets of canvas that you can use with your printer.  Voila- the little labels sewn to the hearts.

These are just artists' canvas that I covered with scrapbook paper and then used the

Cricut to add the X and the O.

This I made last winter.  It's suppose to have lots more embroidery and embellishments but I'm not one for too much bling.  I like the little guys just the way they are.  The pattern came from this book-

I've spent the last 2 days painting the dining room a deep chocolatey brown.  Pics to follow sometime this week.  The winter is getting long and I see fault with every room in the house.  M doesn't understand that there IS a statute of limitations on paint color.  Boys! Ugh!

Blessings-B