I Met Marie!

I have only been in this blogger world now for about 6 weeks and almost the very first person to comment on it (after my children, who are almost obligated to,of course) was Marie from A Year at Oak cottage. Maybe she felt somehow connected because of our cottage names or something but she has been a faithful reader and leaves insightful comments for me. Well, I was privileged to be able to meet her tonight at the airport when she flew in from England via Atlanta. I really kind of barged my way into my daughter's car as she had made all the arrangements with Marie and those she is staying with here but still it was an honor to finally meet her in person. We were so excited waiting with our sign Marie from Oak Cottage that we held so that she would know who we were. Marie had been on the plane for hours and hours an yet she was so cordial and wonderful. We were able to drive her to her friends ( Lura @ grammysnews and Erin @ Patrick and Erin )who will take her to Boise to see her daughter in the Special Olympics there. It was great to meet these new blogging friends. I was happy to be a part of her night. I consider this a red letter day and count my blessings. Check Jen at TatorTots and Jello for pictures. (Why didn't I bring my camera? Maybe I was too excited.)
Have a wonderful trip, Marie!

Thrifty Momma!

My new name is Thrifty Momma!

Last Friday, I picked up my friend, Nancy, from the airport and we were on our way to a cute shopping center when I spied a thrift store. A really large thrift store! I turned the car around so fast as I was telling her that we had to stop to see if they had any sweaters. I am sure she thought I was crazy or else very, very cold. We spent about an hour rummaging through the racks and found 9 sweaters, which I promptly bought. I won't mention that she had not had any food on the plane, hadn't eaten since morning, and it was past dinner time. But, this was my opportunity to get these sweaters that I had wanted ever since I saw the segment on our local TV station a couple of weeks ago. So, here are the really great purses that we stayed up until 1:00 am making from those sweaters. I think they are very cute and way cool. My friend loved making them and was glad we stopped at the thrift store so I guess all is right in the world. I have the tutorial for this at the end from studio 5 1.The main things are that they have to be 100% wool.

2. You wash them in HOT water and I dried them in the dryer too. (All the things you usually wouldn't do to sweaters!)

Mark where you want to cut it. 3.Cut the sleeves, and neck out. 4.Turn inside out and with seams together, stitch the bottom.

5.Turn right side out and fold handles in half and stitch about 1/2 way down each handle.

6. Embellish, and voile, it turns into a tote or purse!

Not bad for about $6.00, or free if you happen to have a sweater in your closet that you want to use.

Tell me what you think of this idea.

For Today, February 2, 2009 (Ground Hog Day)

Outside my window... Snow is still on the ground and as I took my trash cans out for pick-up this morning, I saw the footprints of the deer making a path across my front walkway. They were so kind as to leave their little calling card droppings too!

I am wondering...why we hang our hopes of spring on a little underground creature that lives many states away from us!

I am thankful for...A kind and loving God who looks after me personally. Also, family and home. Also, eyes to see and ears to hear all that is on this earth.

I am creating...several things this week. Some are for Valentines and others are not. I will post them as I chronicle the steps in picture form.

I am going...to my class this morning to see if my little crocheted hat has any mistakes in it. I think it looks darling for my little grandson.

I am reading...These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. Thank you Sally for the suggestion. Actually I thought I had read a book by that name, but it was about a little boy so I guess I got the name of it confused. At any rate, I am enjoying this one immensely. I really need to change the time when I read because this reading at night in bed doesn't give me much time before I fall asleep. I think I have read each page twice now. I should have it all memorized by the time I finish it!

I am hoping... to be with my grandchildren sometime this week. I must plan that out.

I am heariing... the cars whizzing by going to work I suppose. Inside I have not yet turned on the news but will as I get dressed for the day. I like to know what the weather is going to be, what is happening locally and around the world so I feel like I am an informed citizen.

Around the house.... things are pretty clean except for my studio where my houseguest and I created until the wee hours of the night this weekend. I will post what we made. Laundry needs to be done but in all it looks pretty good.

One of my favorite things... is coming home from being in the cold outside weather and feeling the welcoming warmth of my house. I love being warm!

A few plans for the rest of the week: This evening is our Pot Luck and Speaker group. So I have to come up with a wonderful food to take there. I think the speaker is "a woman with remarkable achievements in the arts, business, in church and community service". It should be interesting. I am having a Valentine card-making party on Friday so I will make cookies and cupcakes Tuesday, decorate them Wednesday and Thursday clean the house for the party. I will post the recipe and video clip of the beautiful way to decorate the cookies.

Here is picture thought I am sharing..
To learn more about the Simple Woman's daybook click here.

Let's Make Pizza!

First you make the easy dough (recipe follows). Then you pat it out in a circle.

This is a pretty good circle.Everyone pats it out in their own way.

If you are brave you try to twirl it into a circle.

Every age thinks this is fun.

Good job!Then you add your toppings--these are bacon and cheese.
Last you bake in a very hot oven, and voile--Pizza. Yum!

These are Margarita, Roasted Tomato with Olives, and Cheese

Pizza Dough (from the Cuisinart food processor book)

This makes 1 3/4 pound dough, three 12-inch or six 6-7 inch crusts / 6 servings

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1-1/4 cup warm water (105-115F)

3-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp extra virgin olive oil

In a 2-cup liquid measure, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until foamy about 3-5 minutes. Insert dough blade in work bowl of food processor and add flour, salt and 2 tsp of olive oil.

With machine running on dough speed, pour liquid through small feed tube as fast as flour will absorb it. Process until dough cleans sides ow work bowl and forms a ball. Then process for 30 seconds to knead dough. Dough may be slightly sticky. Coat dough evenly with 2 tsp. olive oil; transfer to a plastic food storage bag and seal the top. Let rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes. While dough is rising, prepare any pizza toppings.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and punch down. Roll into desired crust sizes. Add toppings. Bake in hot oven 450 for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Have a great day!

Be Mine

Here are two quick Valentine ideas:

1. Save your Valentines this year to make a quick Valentine banner. These are cards from last year's valentines-making party that are just clothespinned onto a ribbon. Last year, and I intent to do it this year, I invited a dozen friends over, bought blank cards and scrapbook paper from the craft store, cut out some paper hearts, made some heart-shaped sugar cookies and cupcakes and had a fun party. Everyone used their creativity and left with valentines that they could then send or give to others. Here are a few examples from the banner. 2. The BE MINE picture is an old window that was painted on the reverse side with acrylic paint. You can find old windows (and a lot of other cool stuff) at salvage or junk stores inexpensively. Just remember to reverse the lettering on it so it is readable from the right side.

As Martha would say, "It's a good thing!" Have a happy day.

HGTV Dream Home

HGTV Dream Home

Just want everyone to know about the biggest Give-Away--the HGTV dream home. It was built in Sonoma, CA a nice little town about 45 minutes north of San Francisco. My daughter's and I went there in November for a Girl's Weekend. There are many wonderful Spa's there. Of course Sonoma is in the Napa Valley so there are lots of vineyards but also it is a quaint little town with a cute town square surrounded with unique shops. At any rate, you can register to win this 2 million dollar home every day until Feb. 19. It will be showcased on HGTV on Feb 6. It looks fantastic. I would love winning it and put in my vote everyday! I have put their link here for you. (But then I shouldn't have told you; my chances won't be that good!)