The Garden Tomb at Night
Last Christmas, my mom presented each of her children with an original photo art print. Mine is her photo of the Garden Tomb at night. For this, I broke my tradition of letting new wall accessories sit on my floor for months on end before finding a suitable place in my home and hung it immediately. I’ve seen many pictures of the Garden Tomb…but can’t recall ever seeing it at night. I love seeing it on my wall, and knowing that it came from someone I love makes it that much more dear to my heart. Thanks Mom!
Heritage Cookbook Album
I was asked to come up with a few projects for my ward’s “Super Saturday” coming up in October (I’ll share the others later), and one of the projects was a “Heritage Cookbook”. I must make a confession here: I am not a scrapbooker. For many years I secretly longed to be…but just couldn’t find the time or space to dig in and do it. When digital products started to really hit the scene, I jumped on them…I like that I don’t have to find storage space or put everything away when I’m finished with a project. Even so, I’ve not yet spent much time playing with them, much less started in on real albums. So, here was a new opportunity for me. I was a bit overwhelmed…where to start? I enlisted the help of a talented lady in my ward and dug in using the French Countryside digi-kit from Shabby Princess along with ribbons and buttons from my stash.
I approached my 8×8 album as a record of my family’s favorite recipes…one favorite for each member, including grandparents. I’d love to expand it with pictures and recipes from great-grandparents…I need to get that done before they’re all gone. So, without further adieu, here it is, my first real album (sorry the pictures aren’t perfect, but you can still read most of our favorite recipes if you view the larger images!):
Grandma’s Quilt
Just after I finished high school, my mother’s mother came to stay with my family for a few summers. I remember thinking it was pretty cool, because she slept in my bed and I got to move out to the camper for a few months…it was always fun to sleep in the big bed out there. At the end of the summer, she would return to stay with my aunts down south.
At the time, I was helping out in my mom’s company, cutting, inspecting and tacking bows on frilly little dresses for her store. We had huge boxes filled with scraps of all kinds of fabric. Grandma asked if she could have some, and we happily sent a bunch of them with her when she left. Just before my wedding a few years later, when her health was such that she could no longer make the arduous trip, a big box arrived from my sweet grandmother, and this log-cabin quilt was inside. It means more to me every day, I remember working with most of these prints, and the thought of her putting her love into it is priceless.
Firsts
Ta-da! I finally did it…I canned something. Inspired by a lovely bowl of freshly canned peaches at the home of my friend’s parents on my weekend visit to the Seattle area (mmm…they were really good with that grilled cheese sandwich…funny how things taste so much better when someone else cooks!), I found myself a couple boxes of Utah peaches, rounded up the supplies I needed, googled a recipe, and dug in late last Friday night. To my surprise, my husband jumped right in and helped me figure it all out. We made it through one box that night, and then Miss J helped me with the last box on Monday night–she peeled all those peaches herself, and it went nice and smooth.
More firsts…on Saturday, my mom and I took my girls for a drive to my favorite local fabric boutique to meet the fabulous Sandi. I gobbled up some of her yummy new fabric, and can’t wait to dig into my pretty new pile. Afterwards, we took the girls to their first home show and soaked up a gazillion beautiful decorating ideas. Sigh, my head’s full of things to do–wish there were more hours in the day!
Twilight Detour
The day after our little trip to Canada, my friend and I hopped in the car and took a drive through the Olympic National Forest to the little logging town of Forks (who had celebrated Bella’s 20th birthday over the weekend). We scouted the local hospital parking lot for this:
And then we drove out to La Push to experience the majestic First Beach:
Weekend Walking Tour
I got to sneak out of town this weekend to explore the Pacific Northwest with a good friend. We spent a fun day in Seattle, then headed west to her home on the Olympic Peninsula. Early the next morning we caught the ferry for a 90 minute ride across the Straight of Juan de Fuca to Victoria, B.C. and spent an absolutely lovely day walking around that truly charming city and the spectacular Butchart Gardens.
Drive-By Ruffle Pant Fitting
Amid the running and chaos of this busy week, I managed to scrape out a bit of time to work on a pattern adjustment for One Small Child…needed to fit test it, so I whipped up these cuties from my scrap pile and ran them over to try on a friend’s tiny darling girl. They fit just right, so I left them with her–better to let someone enjoy them than lose them in one of my piles. Check! Pattern works, scraps used, on to the next task on my list!
Boo-Boo Bags
I was shopping for a last-minute gift for my lovely mother-in-law last week, when I remembered seeing this tutorial for making rice bags last year. I was excited to make them–we have a similar little bag that I keep in the freezer for boo-boos, and I love having it handy for puffy eyes, minor bumps and abrasions, tummy aches and childhood hot-flashes. They can also go in the microwave for a quick warm up if that’s what’s needed. These were so simple and easy–just using pretty bits of leftover fabric. I think I need to make some for me too!
No-Bake Cookies for Preschool
My little guy started pre-school last week. I’ve been a bit worried that he would refuse to come out of his shell and participate, but so far all is well–he’s playing along and really enjoying it! We were assigned to bring snacks this week, and he helped me make these simple but yummy no-bake treats (I think the peanut butter in the recipe makes them extra special!):
No-Bake Chocolate Fudge Cookies
2 c. sugar (I used a little less)
1/2 c. milk
1 stick butter
3-4 T. cocoa
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 1/2-3 c. oatmeal
1 t. vanilla
Boil sugar, milk, butter and cocoa for 1-1/2 minutes (start timing when mixture reaches a full boil).
Remove from heat.
Add peanut butter, oatmeal and vanilla.
Beat until blended, then drop on waxed paper.
Fresh Poppies Tote
Last week, my little sister requested a birthday treat for her good friend, so I played around with a new version of my music tote bags and ended up with this pretty little carry-all. (Hope you like it Heather!) I was getting low on inspiring fabric, but a trip to the nearest big town took care of that little problem this week. No excuses now, got to get more sewing done!
Sage Meadow Studio 
