Christmas Crafting & FUN!

So, my sewing machine has been getting a little workout lately.  Unfortunately I haven't made a ton of progress on my Christmas presents because I took a slight detour to sew a new purse for me!

I made the purse from a little kit from Springs Creative (a company from Rock Hill, SC) that I picked up at a Hancock Fabrics store on Black Friday for about $7.  I actually planned to make it as a gift for someone eventually, but when I started working with the brown and black fabric I decided that it would go with pretty much everything I wear.  So Merry Christmas to me! :)  

We have had so much Christmas fun lately.  My work threw a great Christmas party Friday night and we were able to hang out with a great work friend Starr and her husband Daniel afterwards.  Yesterday, John and I braved the crowds to finish our Christmas shopping -- everything that was to be purchased is now sitting under my tree in the bags from the stores.  We also got our gifts for each other because they required the other person to try them on:  nice new sunglasses for me and shoes for John!  

We have friends coming over tonight so I'm going to hustle to wrap up those gifts!  I'm hoping to get moving on those makeup brush rolls that I'm sewing tonight or tomorrow night.  Happy Christmas crafting to you!

Christmas Crafting

Howdy, friends!  I know, I know.  It's been so long.  It's all my fault.  You know how it goes: life gets busy and the blog just gets...forgotten.  And I'm sooo sorry.  Can we be friends again? 

Okay, great, thanks, because I'm ready to blog again!

My friend Katie has asked people to mention what homemade gifts they are making for Christmas this year, and I've found tons of inspiring ideas from craft bloggers out there.  For example, the family tree that my friend Liz channeled Martha Stewart to make is stunning and I will totally be copying that idea next Christmas!

Well, John and I traveled down to SC for Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled up in one, so many of our Christmas presents have already been exchanged (since my side of the family is much bigger than his) and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the homemade ones!  Of course, part of that is because my digital camera does not want to work properly right now, so I didn't take any pictures at Thanksgiving/Christmas at all!

I used a cute navy floral fabric to make pillows for my sister-in-law's couch using (roughly) Amy Butler's pillow pattern.  I actually used the pattern from her book, In Stitches, but she has posted a very similar pillow pattern on her website for free here!  The one in her book does not have the hourglass design, so it is just one fabric.  I used a different fabric for the covered button in the middle.  Her patterns and fabrics are so gorgeous that one day I might just have to try one of her quilt designs! 

I also made a knitting needle case from the same two fabrics using a free pattern that I picked up at Joann's a while ago.  It was really fun to make and super easy.  It was pretty much just simple cutting, straight seams, and a lot of ironing.  No fancy stitches, which is good since I don't really know how to use my machine very well yet!  I got it last Christmas but I really haven't used it much until recently.  I'm dreading the day (soon) when my bobbin thread runs out or when I don't want to sew with navy blue thread!

Because that project was fun, I'm making these cute make up brush rolls from Little Big Girl Studio next to give as gifts to John's sister and step-mom.  I got them both a small makeup bag from 31gifts, so I picked out coordinating fabrics last night (on sale!) to make the make up brush rolls to go with them.  I'm not quite ready to transition to fully homemade gifts because I don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities yet!   

When holiday fabrics are on sale after Christmas, I think I'll make some fabric gift bags to use next year (and the years to come).  I know we currently fill several trash bags with wrapping paper, tissue, etc. after gift opening time with my family!  These are some cute ideas I can't wait to try from Lark Crafts and the Green Bag Lady! 

Let's see how much of this list I actually get done...

I'm Still Here!

Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately.  I had to actually get out my planner to see what the heck I've been so busy doing for the last month.  It's honestly quite a blur.

Turns out that mostly I just worked, nothing too exciting.  Since I work at a small college the beginning of a new school year was pretty busy at work!  I did go to Greenville at the end of August to visit my family and see my 1 niece and 5 nephews.  That was fun!  In the past month I've also run/walked a 5K, attended a really fun girls' night party, helped with a fairly elaborate birthday celebration for a co-worker, and hosted our small group from church.  Also, I've started taking an education class -- it's actually only 1 night a week, but it's been fairly time-consuming with the homework, papers, group work, required online forum posting, etc.  It's also the first class that I've ever had that required a full weekend "retreat!"  That's a first!!  Oh, I guess the other things we've had going on were John's first P3 exam block, hanging out with friends a good bit, and finally having our kitchen ceiling replaced after it fell in.  I can't remember if I ever posted pictures, but if not I will soon.

Okay, tonight I seem to be into exclamation points, so that's probably a sign that I'm tired and need to stop posting...

Wooot wooot!

Thankful Thursday came 3 days early this week! My iPad arrived! John has taken my laptop to use for school since his laptop was stolen early this year. We decided that it would make sense to get an iPad for me to use as my main home computer - much less expensive than a whole new Mac. I'm on the computer all day at work so I just wanted to be able to do some light web browsing at home. I can't wait to learn how to use it! Did I mention that John had it loaded with my iTunes and photos when I got home? He had even downloaded iBooks and Pride and Prejudice for me!

How YOU doin'?

I haven't updated the blog in a while, so I thought I'd check in and let y'all know how things are going...

School - John has started back to school, so we're adjusting our schedules to get used to a "school schedule" again.  It's nice this year because it's not a huge change from the summer.  While he had to work crazy retail hours last summer, he was given fairly standard Mon - Fri work hours this summer.  The adjustment for John will be spending his evening hours studying again; the hard part for me is that my evenings will be lonely again because he'll be off studying at school! 

Hobbies - I'm hoping to fill some of that evening time by dabbling in various hobbies.  I really want to take advantage of my evenings and be creative -- I know it's a total luxury to be home between 5 and 6:30 pm and not have kids to watch over, homework, etc!  This summer I've focused on my patio garden and learning a bit about canning.  For the fall I think I'll try to get going on the sewing machine again...

Home - I've made some fun changes around the apartment lately.  I tend to re-decorate and re-arrange whenever I feel like things start to feel...static.  John thinks that's pretty weird.  We moved our little dining room table into the kitchen recently, which has been great.  We use it a lot more in the kitchen -- John will sit and work on homework on his laptop and talk to me while I'm making dinner. :)  This weekend I decided to turn the old dining room into more of a study (his desk, printer, big map, lots of bookshelves, etc.).  We had my desk in there, but it's typically a COMPLETE disaster, so I've instead moved it into our extra bedroom to be more out of sight.  The extra bedroom used to be John's "study" but he doesn't ever use it, so I'm taking over!  I'll have to post some pictures when I'm finished.  Right now our house looks pretty bad because I've been moving furniture from room to room.  John asked me about my "mess" and I said he should instead call it my "project -- a mess with a purpose." 

Church - Oh, I love our church.  We got a new pastor recently and he's really good.  I was skeptical because I liked our old pastor (he's still around, just in a more administrative/director type role) and it's always an adjustment to listen to someone new.  But he's great, so I'm psyched.  I'm also excited about all that we've been learning in our financial group -- it's nice to go through this together so early in our marriage so that we know our priorities are aligned.

Career -  My current job is going well -- it's getting really busy!  Sometimes I still feel "new," but I've actually been at this job for 6 months!  It's not the most exciting job in the whole world, but I really like my co-workers and the work environment.  We were talking with some friends last night about work, and it reminded me once again that I am very lucky to work in a place that respects work-life balance.  As far as any future career plans...today I officially submitted my application for the MLIS (library) program, so keep your fingers crossed for me.  It's a step! 

Philadelphia

John and I returned Sunday night from a great trip to Philadelphia, Bensalem, and Hershey, PA.  We followed his mom up there (she left TN the day before us) to visit his aunt who lives in Bensalem.  His aunt Peggy has had some back trouble lately and we were really excited to just be able to hang out with her and see her.  We flew out of Nashville Friday night and they picked us up at the airport.  We expected to sleep on the floor at Peggy's apartment, but they decided to treat us for our anniversary and put us up in a hotel for our trip and gave us authentic PA chocolates!  That was a great surprise -- especially because our flight had been delayed and we were pretty exhausted.

Mmmm...chocolate pretzels

The next morning we headed up the PA Turnpike to visit my mother-in-law's best friend, Maureen.  They've been best friends since high school!  Maureen and her family (husband + 4 teen-age/college-age sons) hosted us for a lovely relaxed lunch and she showed us around Hershey.  Of course we had to visit Chocolate World! 

Yay...more chocolate

After visiting the free mini-museum and taking the tour/ride that explains to kids how chocolate is made, we hung out at the food court area that has booths selling every type of chocolate product imaginable and tons of non-chocolate Hershey's merchandise.  Unfortunately they no longer give tours of the real manufacturing process.  I didn't feel well from the drive and I'm not as chocolate-loving as my dear husband, so I had a nibble of my free sample and purchased a Christmas ornament instead.

No more for me, please

Hershey, PA (the city itself) really impressed me.  Milton Hershey wanted to provide well for his employees, so he built a model town all around the plant, providing his workers with lovely homes, community pools and recreation centers, schools, etc.  All this in the early 1900s.  Sort of like the SC mill towns, but nice. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hershey had no children so they started a boarding school for orphans or youth from difficult family situations to give them an education and a trade.  It is still open today and it is NICE!  Let me tell you, I'd go there!  The area has beautiful farmland too -- all that chocolate needs milk, and all those cows need corn or other feed, so you see corn fields on every corner.  One other thing I noticed about this area of PA is the lack of chain stores or " 's " restaurants -- most shops are mom and pop establishments, which is refreshing.

The city with Kisses for streetlights

The actual Hershey's plant

I think that's a dorm

After a delicious dinner that evening, we checked out the Penn's Landing, Front Street, and South Street area on foot.  We saw fireworks being shot off on the Jersey side of Penn's Landing!  We also saw several historic landmarks like Christ Church.  We had a great tour guide -- John's mom, Kathy.  She was raised in Philly so she knew the area well and pointed out the great restaurants, etc. 

On Sunday morning we went to Mass with John's aunt, had "authentic" philly cheesesteaks from her favorite diner, and headed off to hit some of the touristy sites: Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, a portrait museum in the old Second US Bank, and the Museum of Modern Art.  We even ran into a historical marker for the American Pharmacists Association.  After a whirlwind tour -- and LOTS of walking -- we were back on a plane to Nashville! 

Big stuff happened here

I'm told these are the "Rocky steps"

I always win in Wii boxing

Awkward tourist picture - take it fast!

Jam & Bread

I've loved reading my friend Liz blog about her canning and pickling adventures this summer, so I thought I'd share my first canning experience. 

I tried strawberry freezer jam this summer and it worked!  I got the recipe from a co-worker.  She's a true TN grandma so I figured her jam was probably fantastic -- and it was!  Here is her simple recipe:

Buy a package of ‘Sur Jel’ not sure of spelling, it would be in the section of ‘canning’ jars I think.
Or possibly in area of jello but more likely in the canning area.
As best I remember, you put certain amount of water with pkg. of sur jel & bring to boil to dissolve.
You mash the strawberries in layers, I think about 2 -3 cups.
Then add LOTS of sugar (maybe 3 or 4 cups) - yes, it’s mostly sugar.
You stir & stir; stir & stir; let set a few minutes,
then add the sur gel mixture & stir; stir & stir; stir some more.
Pour in jars & seal; let sit out over night, then put in freezer.
Just take jar from freezer, spread on biscuits with butter - yummy.
Put remainder back in freezer. It’s ok to have frozen & then re-freeze.

When I picked up the Sure Jell at the store, I opted for the low-sugar variety so I wouldn't have to add the full 3-4 cups of sugar in our jam.  Bev's recipe made it sound so laid back and easy, but the instructions in the package were extreme!  I felt like they were written by evil grandmothers.  Basically, you had to follow them exactly -- no lowering the quantity or sugar content from what was posted, etc.  DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THIS RECIPE OR YOUR JAM WILL BE TERRIBLE.  I'm not a big recipe follower, so it was torture.  I was hoping to add in some mint, fresh herbs, or orange zest but I caved to the printed instructions of the evil grandmothers and just used fresh strawberries and sugar.

In the end, I was shocked that I actually created jam/jelly.  Of course, freezer jam is totally taking the "easy" way and I didn't have to boil the jars and lids and do canning the "real" way......but it was still a new adventure for me!

Next up: trying my sister-in-law's "easy" recipe for bread!