Christmas 2011

It's now pear blossom season in southern Oregon. The weather is warming up and the trees are blooming. So naturally I'm writing about Christmas. I know I'm late in following up on My Handmade Christmas but it's still worth sharing. All in all it was successful. I didn't do everything that I planned to do and I did a lot that I hadn't thought of at all. As I planned, I made the blue plaid bear and the road sign scarf. The scarf was easy once I asked my grandmother for help. The bear was not so easy. I'm still working on my skills with following a pattern. I cut a lot of corners and didn't really read much of it at all. But it came out cute. Not very durable, but cute.

I also made an in-door play fort. It's a big piece of heavy fabric to throw over the table for the kids to crawl under. You may have seen one before. They're pretty popular among sewing moms these days. I made my own pattern for this one. Well, actually I just rolled out the fabric and started cutting. I didn't even hem the sides. I probably will some day but it wasn't a requirement to do to have it done by Christmas. They love it., and I love to here my kids actually laughing and playing together.

 I crocheted my son some really cool fingerless mittens and some pink ones for my niece. It was just a strait cylinder. I skipped a few stitches for the thumb hole and stitched around it a few times. I'd like to put the pattern up for sale on my etsy shop soon so look out for that if you are interested. I actually made my nieces too small the first time so I think I’ll give the little ones to my baby girl this year.

One of my favorite things to do was to paint two adorable( if I do say so myself) little wooden train ornaments with the kids names painted on the bottom. I bought the trains at Michael's craft store and I used regular acrylic craft paint. I coated them with some Mod Podge to make them glossy. The kids each got to hang there own train on the tree though they often took them off again to play with. It was precious.

  Now, my kids were not the only ones treated with homemade goodness. I made some delightfully festive gift baskets for family and friends. If you follow this blog you may know about the spiced plum preserves and the strawberry syrup I canned last year. Well. As was planed, I gave them all away with many other sweet expressions of my Christmas cheer. We had chocolate dipped spoons (for hot coco) rolled in crushed red and green M&M's and pretzel rods wrapped with a string of caramel and chocolate dipped (also with M&M's). There were various flavored chocolates made simply by melting down chocolate chips, adding flavors like raspberry extract and pouring it into candy molds.

 The banana bread was extra moist and flavorful with extra bananas and tied with a piece of Christmas ribbon. The caramel apples were a challenge. I melted the caramel in one of those little warmers that sometimes come with a crock pot. So rather than dipping the apples, I spooned the caramel onto them. Next, I striped them with chocolate. I just filled a zip-up sandwich bag with chocolate chips and melted them under hot water, cut a small piece off the corner and squeezed it out. The oranges are pierced with whole cloves. This was both decorative and added festive spice to the oranges. I delivered the goodies in red and green baskets wrapped in red plastic all from the dollar store. It was a sweet and wholesome Christmas season. I hope to have many more just like it and I hope that I have inspired you to create and to share your Christmas love with charity and gifts from your heart.



Purrrrfect!

My little girl had a birthday in October and I crocheted her a little stuffed cat. I always make up my own patterns though this little cat was inspired by something I saw at Joann’s fabrics. I can't remember the name, but if I find out I’ll let you know. This one took me a few weeks of working here and there on it. I started crocheting animals when I was expecting my first child. I made a little blue dog but it came out looking more like a pig. This one, the cat, looks more professional.

The dog/pig Is still one of my sons favorite toys though, and he will always know that I made it with love. You should never feel like you're not good enough to make things for your kids. That is how you learn, and they will want to create by your example. One thing I learned with this project is that you cannot substitute toy stuffing with regular pillow stuffing. I thought I was saving money but the toy just goes limp with pillow stuffing. They cost about the same anyway.

Each part is stuffed individually. I made the body the same way as the dog, adding and subtracting stitches to get the right shape. On the face I just stitched lines for eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. For the ears I made little cone shapes and stitched them on flat. The arms and legs are strait cylinders. Long enough for the cat to cross them. The tail was not easy. I did a really thin cylinder(hard) and then I stitched sightly along one side of it all the way up to get it to curl and then I stuffed it.

 My daughter loves it. She holds it in her chubby little arms and rocks it like a baby. crocheted toys are great for children but it is time consuming. I personally would save it for very special gifts for my family. Happy crafting.

Plum Crazy

My aunt Lori, the one who owns and runs the beautiful Stage Coach Farm, gave me a bunch of purple plums. So I thought, how could I make something for Christmas with this? Hmm… plums, plums. Sugar plums! So I look up a recipe for sugarplums and it turns out not only are they a candy that would go bad before Christmas. They are not even made with plums. Most recipes call for apricots or dates. So I made spiced plum preserves. I call it preserves because like the strawberry syrup I’m not sure what the consistency will be. That’s what happens when you experiment. Here are the ingredients.

30 plums or 5 cups peeled and chopped (Tip: cut them in half and scoop out the innards with a melon scoop)

3 cups sugar

4 TBSP corn starch

dash nutmeg

dash cloves

big dash cinnamon

little dash ground coriander seed

Mix the sugar and cornstarch and set aside. Boil the plums till it is all juicy. Add sugar mixture and stir occasionally. When it starts bubbling, stir constantly. You’ll want to keep the temp at like 6 or 7. Do this for like 5 minute. Have 3, one pint jars and lids ready and add the spices. Once it’s all goopy it’s done. I suppose if you want it thicker you could cook it for longer but I have never tried it. Now put it in your jars, wipe the edges and seal in boiling water for 30 minutes. For details on sealing, read my older post Looks Like Syrup.

Officially I call it Sugarplum Butter because it has the consistency of apple butter and oh my gosh it is so good. I think it goes best on biscuits. Try it for thanksgiving dinner. Your family will love it.

My Handmade Christmas

Ah, autumn. Orange leaves, cool winds, thunderstorms. Southern Oregon is one of nature’s garden spots. In September you can actually smell the sweet harvest of so many different fields and orchards all at once. You need only to slow down and breath. It’s also the time I get started on handmade Christmas gifts. I know, most people are so annoyed to see red and green on the shelf this early but I prefer it. I want to have all my gifts made and stowed away by the time I’m trimming the tree. That way I have the time to enjoy all the bright eyed child-like wonder of Christmas with my family.

Last year I found myself in a situation where I either had to make toys or Santa got stuck in the chimney. I made a stuffed frog and a striped scarf out of fleece. I painted an ABC block toy box and purchased blank thermal pajamas, ironed on a photo of Thomas the tank engine and drew silver and gold tracks all over them. It was a success. My two-year-old loved it.

Making gifts is a wonderful way to treat your young children and to teach them the value of creativity. But don’t underestimate your older child’s appreciation for your hard work. A handmade gift from Mom or Dad can be cherished for a lifetime. Combining Christmas with handmade skills is a wonderful way to create family heirlooms to last generations. And all the more fun if they get to watch you make it.

This year I plan to make a blue plaid teddy bear, a black and yellow road sign scarf and maybe a stuffed monster. And that’s just for one child. My daughter will get a stuffed toy (like a bunny or a cat) and a new crocheted Christmas dress. I also plan to make scarves and shawls for extended family. Canning is a really fun way to treat your friends. I like to do sweets like jams, syrups, and pie fillings decorated with a piece of festive fabric under the ring.

So have fun, get creative and don’t wait 'till carolers are singing to get started. Make the season last. If you’re looking for patterns or handmade gifts on line, check out my etsy shop. It’s here on the blog. There’s more to come so keep checking. Peace on earth and good will toward men.