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New Garage Doors

December 1, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

They’re here! They’re here! My new garage doors are here!

The old doors were in pretty sorry shape. They were chipped and cracking beyond repair. They corners of the garage doors had funny angles that made the house look very 90’s too. The picture below doesn’t look too horrible, but that’s because it was taken in the Summer and everything looks pretty with hanging baskets and flowers. Trust me, the garage doors were past their prime.

The new doors were done by Premium Garage Doors and I couldn’t be happier. We had the funny notches on the house cut out so the door corners are now at 90 degree angles.

Fun hardware was on my “must have” list. I love it! They had the option of magnetic hardware, so you didn’t have to put it permanently on the doors. I opted for the permanent version because I was afraid my family would mess with me and change the hardware around, just to bug me.

We still need to paint the trim on the house, but the exterior is looking pretty good!

It’s garage door happiness, Friends!

Super Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

November 22, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

The invention of the gingerbread cookie is right up there with the invention chocolate chips, in my book. This is one of those recipes that has been part of the Holidays for as long as I can remember. My mom says the recipe came from a newspaper many, many years ago. The original recipe calls these cookies Molasses Cookie Cutouts.

My mom had awesome cookie cutters when I was little. I loved her Halloween cookie cutters. They were orange plastic owl, witch, cat, and pumpkins. The gingerbread man was my favorite.

I found these pictures of cookie cutters for sale on Ebay. I think they are just like my mom’s.

A couple of years ago my sister-in-law and I decided to find them on Ebay. We were able to replace her broken gingerbread man and I bought one for myself too. These must have been really popular, back in the day, because they weren’t too hard to find.

I’m always asked what my recipe is for the frosting I use on my cookies. I just use powdered sugar and milk. I put powdered sugar in a bowl and add a tiny bit of milk. I stir that until I get the consistency that I want. The kids love to frost their own cookies and they are finally getting pretty good at it. They always ask me how my cookies look so neatly frosted and I remind them that I have had about 35 years of practice. I have been frosting cookies with my mom since the time I needed a stool to reach the counters.

Enjoy! Happy baking and Happy Thanksgiving!

Super Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

CuisineCookies

Super Soft Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

CuisineCookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
3 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cloves

Servings:

Instructions

Mix butter and sugar. Add Molasses and egg. Add dry ingredients. Chill for 3 hours.
Roll dough to 1/4 in thickness on a floured board. Cut into shapes Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes.

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Farm Girl Vintage Quilt

October 23, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I don’t consider myself to be very artistic, but I do follow directions well. I think that may be why I love quilting so much. I really want to be an artistic person, but I just don’t have that gene. My sister got that one. Once I discovered quilting, I found that I could follow the directions for a pattern, add my own twist by choosing fabrics, and as long as I stuck with a particular fabric line it was a no fail piece of artwork. Plus, as a bonus, I could curl up with the finished product at the end of the day.

One of my most recent projects is called Farm Girl Vintage. I has blocks filled with everything I love. There are traditional blocks mixed with canning jars, mixing bowls, red barns, and fall leaves. Quilters always say that their favorite quilt is the one they are currently working on, but this time I really think it’s true.

Farm Girl Vintage Quilt

I bought the book several months ago after seeing some adorable blocks on Instagram.

Farm Girl Vintage Book

Then I started collecting vintage fabrics. Specialty quilt shops are my favorite places to go for quilting fabric. When I first started sewing, I couldn’t understand why anyone would pay the price at a quilt store, rather than the local Jo-Ann. I finally get it. The quality of the material is so much better and the fabric lines are coordinated to go together. It’s a no-fail way to select fabric you know will go together.

Vintage fabrics

Today I finished my pumpkin block.

Pumpkin Block

Last week I whipped out a maple leaf block.

Maple Leaf Block

The Baking Day block was the reason I bought the book in the first place. I fell in love with this adorable block and knew I had to make the quilt.

Baking Day Block

One by one, the blocks are getting done. It’s going to be a big project and take a lot of time to complete. I’ve never tried a Sampler Quilt before, so it will be an artistic adventure.

Churn Dash Block

It’s hard to decide which block I like the best!

If you are interested in the book, you can find it at local quilt shops or on Amazon (although it’s not available in Prime). I’d say this is a more advanced quilt, but if you can follow directions and sew a straight line, you can do it!

Canning Season Block

Happy Sewing.

Farm Girl Vintage Quilt Project

September 15, 2016 By Becca 1 Comment

I’ve decided I just need more hours in the day. I know everyone probably feels like that, but I need time to spend on my hobbies. Crafty projects make me feel like a whole person, plus when I finish a project I get to add the cuteness to my house.

I found the Farm Girl Vintage book on Instagram, after I saw the adorable Baking Day block. I fell in love and HAD to have the pattern. This was the first block I completed in this awesome sampler.

Baking Day Block

The Canning Season block was just too cute to pass up. I finished this one second.

Canning Season Block

The blocks were very simple to make. I wouldn’t call it a beginning quilt, but it’s a good project for an intermediate quilter.

There are so many blocks to choose from. The barn block is another favorite and it’s been on my “to do” list for quite a long time.

I think it’s time to start cutting into the vintage fabrics and get sewing!

I’m promising myself some quality time with my sewing machine this weekend!

Happy sewing!

Welcome to Our House

August 9, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I have often said that the inside of my house is a Fall house. It has the colors and coziness of a crisp Fall day and the smell of warm cookies and hot apple cider. The outside of my house is another story. It is, most certainly, a 4th of July house.

I live by my watering a fertilizing schedule in the Summer and I love my hanging baskets and window boxes. I fill my baskets with red and white flowers and tuck little flags in everywhere.

Geraniums line the stairs on my tiny porch and more flags are there to greet people.

I may have a slight obsession with using flags as decor and it might be time to take the 4th of July decor down and store it for next year.

I bought a new variety of hydrangea for the front of my house. This a brand new variety from Monrovia, called Bobo. It’s a compact hydrangea, so I’m hoping it will stay nice and short. I also planted some Blue Star Creeper, which will fill in nicely as a ground cover.

Here’s my Bobo

I finally got rid of my old benches in the front of the house, and we bought some pretty Adirondak chairs from World Market. We also dug up all of the overgrown hydrangeas and moved them to the back yard, replacing them with Bobos as well.

I planted a pretty little basket for the front of the house to add a little color to the white chairs.

I did save two Annabelle hydrangeas, because who can live without Annabelles?

I can’t wait until my flowers fill in! They will grow up to be so pretty!

It’s almost time to start figuring out how to turn my 4th of July house into a Fall house. Until then, I’m just going to hold on to Summer. Welcome to our house!

Tomato and Basil Planter Box

July 22, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

Here’s a great surprise. I bought a friend a tomato plant for his birthday. (We have a common love of tomatoes and he and his family just moved to a new house with plenty of room for growing tomatoes.) My friend decided to build himself a planter box and then built one for ME too!

I have this planter box on my deck, right up against the wall so it would get lots of afternoon sunshine.

My basil loves the heat and the controlled amount of water. I started the tomatoes inside, with my Miracle Grow Aero Garden and then moved them outside to my new planter.

I’m not sure what it is with my big garden this year, but the tomatoes and basil aren’t looking too great. They look kind of scraggly, so I’m happy to have my new planter. I now have tomatoes and basil to cook with!

Thanks for my planter, Kenny!

New Outdoor Furniture

July 20, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I have some new outdoor furniture on the deck and I’m loving it!

We had a set of outdoor furniture that I really loved, but we’ve had it for 9 years and it was beginning to show signs of many parties, a fire pit that was too close to the chairs, and too much lounging on warm summer days. The cushions had seen better days. I started shopping for outdoor fabric, assuming that I would recover everything. Once I started adding up the cost of outdoor fabric and the foam I needed to replace, I started thinking that it would be cheaper to just buy new cushions. Ummm…. Have you ever looked at the cost of new outdoor cushions? Oh. My. Goodness. It was going to be almost $600 to replace just the cushions and they weren’t even a perfect fit. I was going to have to do some reconstruction. The fabric and foam was nearly the same cost, so it was looking like that wasn’t going to happen either.

At that point my hubby and I started shopping for a new outdoor set altogether. We checked around in a few stores, but everything was getting sold out. Hello, it was only the end of June so, of course, it was time for the stores to start bringing out Christmas decorations. We ended up finding our new set on Wayfair.

It had a couch, two chairs, two huge ottomans, and a side table. We found the fire table on Amazon. I added a few quilts to cozy it up and bought some outdoor pillows, on clearance, from Pier 1 Imports. I am in love with our outdoor space.

Our old furniture is still on the deck and I’m kind of hoping to keep it for times when we have bigger parties. I just pushed it off to the side, hoping my hubby is just ignoring the fact that I’m hoarding furniture.

I had a little table on the deck, but it was really out of place. I moved that to the corner and put a bunch of herbs on it. It’s the perfect mini kitchen garden.

It’s also a great place to display my new treasures that we dug up while on vacation in Central Oregon. (I’m kind of a rock-nerd.)

I’m loving my view from the deck. The flowers are blooming and it’s a perfect place to sit and relax.

Another little perk to having new furniture is that I have a great little table for the lower area of our backyard. This is the old firepit.

I guess I’m proof that Wayfair has just what I need. I’m sure you can guess that shipping was free! (Sorry to put the song from the commercial into your brain!)

Happy decorating!

The Story of the Garden – July 19th

July 19, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

The story of my garden isn’t actually IN the garden this week. It’s FROM the garden but we’re going to stay inside today.

The chocolate mint, in the containers on my deck, is absolutely overflowing. It was time for a haircut but I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do with all of it. I put some in a jar on the kitchen counter, just because it smells good and looks pretty.

Then, I got the bright idea to make mint chocolate chip ice cream. I love making homemade ice cream. (I’ll share the recipe in another post.) It was VERY yummy. My daughter didn’t like it, but the rest of us did.

My oregano was also getting out of control, so I cut and washed a bunch of that too. It is currently hanging from my pot rack in the kitchen, drying. I’m thinking I’ll probably have to do some oven drying with it too, since it’s pretty wet and humid in the Pacific Northwest.

Of course, Summer wouldn’t be complete without bouquets of my Annabelle hydrangeas! I love my galvanized container that I got from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. It’s the perfect spot to display my Annabelles.

Annabelles are known to be gigantic, but sometimes there will be a few tiny flowers toward the bottom. I cut those and put them in my latest Goodwill find. I got this little wire container for $2.99 and then put a few glass jars in it to make it complete. It’s perfect for my kitchen table!

So, that’s the story from the garden this week! I’m enjoying all of the treasures I’ve been growing. I love summer!

Happy gardening!

Salt Air Summer Projects

June 28, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I can remember a time in my sewing life, when I walked into a Joann store and said to myself, “I don’t understand why anyone would shop at one of those fancy quilt stores, when you have all these choices at Joann AND you can use your coupon!”

Those were the good old days. I’ve found, over the years, that I have become a fabric snob. I still shop at Joann. I still use my coupons. But, a specialty quilt shop is my happy place. I’ve even started stalking some of the Moda fabric blogs to see the new lines that will be coming out. I love how a fabric line will have 20+ different fabrics that all coordinate. I can pick and choose my look, but know that it all goes together. It takes the guess work out of fabric selection. Not only that, but the quality of Moda (my favorite) fabrics is so much higher. It makes a much nicer quilt, I must say, when you are working with a higher quality fabric.

A few summers ago, we were in a small little town in Eastern Washington. We were just passing through, and had stopped for lunch. When I spotted the quilt shop across the street, I couldn’t resist. I bought a few fabrics from the Salt Air line. Here’s a peek at some of the projects they’ve been turned into.

So far, there are two quilts. I played around with different designs on a computer quilting program I have, and came up with these. I can’t tell you how much fun I had designing my own quilts.

I made a bunch of floor pillows too. Our family room has comfy seating for about 3 people. After that, it’s pillows and blankets on the floor. Joann (see I do still shop there) sells giant 27″ square pillow inserts. I make all of my pillows with zipper enclosures so I can trade the covers out. I like to change my look with the seasons. The Moda Salt Air fabrics are definitely going to be my Summer look.

I think I may even take these quilts to the beach with us, and snap a few pictures. How can you resist taking pictures of projects made with Salt Air, when you’re at the beach. (Ok, that just shows how incredibly dorky I am.)

Happy fabric shopping!

By the way, if you’re a quilter but have not ventured into a quilt shop, it’s time. Go in, browse around, and pick a line that jumps out to you. Moda is my favorite brand. I love the Moda fabrics designed by French General, V and Co., Fig Tree, and Camille Roskelley. Ask the nice ladies in the shop to show you where those are. You may just find your happy place too!

The Story of the Garden – June 24th

June 24, 2016 By Becca Leave a Comment

I have some new additions to the garden, and I don’t mean plants! Last weekend, after my son’s basketball game, we went to the Edmonds Art Festival to grab some dinner. Since it was Father’s Day, I told my hubby that we didn’t have to walk around and look at arts and crafts. We had a few minutes to kill before the next basketball game started so he kindly let me wander around. It’s been years since I’ve been to the Edmonds Art Festival, so it was fun to see the variety of artwork.

One booth that caught my eye had art work that had been transferred onto wood planks. They also had these cute little garden markers that I fell in love with.

I don’t have too much art out in the garden, so these were a nice addition.

They add a little more color and give you something else to look at.

We were there on the last day of the festival, so they only had a few garden markers left. I bought a couple of markers, but I wish they had more of the items I had planted.

I think they are pretty cute additions and I had forgotten how much I love a good arts and crafts festival! You never know where you’ll find fun things to add to the garden!

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