Snowflakes Falling

Yes, it's been snowing around here. Lots of flurries, which to us here in the deep South is a big deal! It's supposed to warm up before the weekend so we won't freeze in our wedding attire. Above is a pic of the wedding programs Emily made. Aren't they beatiful? She used a snowflake stamp with embossing ink, sprinkled it with silver embossing powder, and used my heat gun to melt it into a shimmery snowflake.
Sweet Oliver. So sweet. But not so fast! When we came home from a shopping outing yesterday, we found him tangled up in this:

I'd bought this filled bobbin saver in Houston for my applique projects. Total loss. The bobbins that were not chewed were wet with dog drool. It had been sitting near my chair for weeks and he'd never shown interest. He must have been bored and lonely. He seems okay; he ate well last night so I think he hasn't suffered from his playtime. But we're watching him closely to make sure.

I ordered a new one last night.

Christmas Cheer

Okay, so it's not exactly like the picture on the box the kit came in, but whatever. I love it! We quickly gave up on perfect scalloped shingles, perfect wreaths, perfect anything. By the time we were done, the goal was just to squirt some icing and push some candy into it.

Gingerbread houses are so much fun to build and decorate. Plus they make a nice centerpiece for the holidays.

Lots going on around here. Daughter 2 is home from Italy. Only ONE WEEK until Daughter 1's wedding!!!! We've been getting dental appointments and hair appointments out of the way. I jumped off my Mom's dead battery and took her Christmas shopping. My Christmas shopping is all done. Something about having a December wedding makes you get everything done early!

This week we'll be doing some holiday cookie baking. I want to have lots of goodies on hand for any out-of-town friends and relatives who will be in town for the wedding next weekend. Hubby and Daughter 1 will both be off work on Thursday and Friday so we can take care of last minute wedding prep, though Emily has everything so organized that there will not be much to do. We absolutely can't wait for the big day!

I've even had some quilting time. Emily helped me baste a quilt today. Tomorrow I have a date with my HQ sit-down machine. I've missed her!

That's One Funky Angel

Can you believe it? I've made a start on my 2011 block of the month project! The January block in the Baltimore Christmase pattern has four horn playing angels, with holly in between. The pattern called for pale pink dresses and brown wings. Definitely not me! So my angels are decked out in Kaffe with polka dot wings. One down, three to go!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

With Daughter 1's wedding less than three weeks away, I wanted to veer away from the usual red and green Christmas decorations. Her wedding colors will be silver and ivory, so I wanted to stick to that theme. So I took all the red stuff of our door wreath, including the big red bow. I wired silver ornaments around and about. I was planning to try to buy some big white bows at a craft store, but then I had a light bulb moment. Roc Lon Multipurpose Cloth!!!

It was easy peasy. I pulled out my scissors and a stapler and voila! I had a wonderful big white bow!

House is Done!

All our remodeling is complete (yay!), both the inside and outside are decorated for Christmas (yay yay!!), and Daughter 2 is coming coming home from Italy this week (yay yay yay!!!) It was a wonderful and busy weekend. Thursday was for stuffing ourselves. Friday was for football. Saturday was for shopping and tree trimming. And today we finished up with the outside decorations. Whew!

Above is the house block I made for Love Laugh Quilt's challenge. I couldn't resist. All I had to do was make a 12 inch house block and mail it to her by January 1. It only took 15 minutes to make, and it was quite fun. I'd love to make more funky houses. She's going to draw names after the first of the year and a few lucky quilters will receive a nice pile of house blocks. It's not to late to join in - just leave her a comment and she'll e-mail her mailing address. Just make sure to put your name or blog name on the block.
Here's a partial shot of the latest t-shirt quilt project. Fun and done! I also got the binding on my flutterby quilt last week.
And a quick shop of Oliver and Prince: Ollie is getting older and more awkward. Friday he attempted to lie down on his bed in front of the fireplace. Somehow he misjudged, planting his rear on said fireplace.
He actually stayed like this for several minutes. Funny dog!

Tomorrow I'll show a pic of some of our outside decorations. I got creative with Roc Lon Multi-purpose Cloth!

Wedding Shower and Another Block of the Month

Here's a pic from Emily and Tommy's wedding shower Sunday - it was a Christmas ornament shower. What a great idea! They got some really nice ornaments to hang on their tree. That's me on the left, with Tommy and Emily, and my 86 year old father. It's a miracle that Dad is smiling - he never smiles!

Ever since our girls were born, I've been getting them each an ornament every Christmas. Emily was born on Mickey Mouse's birthday (Nov. 18) so she has always received a Mickey ornament. When Elizabeth was little, she wanted to know whose birthday she shared, since Emily had such a fun b-day partner. I thought a bit and told her she was born on an angel's birthday; so she gets an angel ornament every year.

Okay, so you want to see my second block-of-the-month project for 2011. This is it! This will certainly be an adventure! I'm getting all the fabrics, threads, etc., delivered to me each month. I noticed that it's now sold out, but they are taking a waiting list, just in case someone backs out. According to the delivery schedule, I will not get my kit until the fourth week of every month. So I"ll try to do the Xmas BOM during the first part of the month. Sounds like a plan!

How to Brine a Turkey

My camera is MIA; I know it's around here somewhere, but I couldn't put my hands on it this morning. And I have quilty things I wanted to show! Hopefully, Mr. Camera will turn up later today and I can get some photos posted.

I haven't shared a recipe in some time, and felt this was the perfect time to share my Turkey Brine recipe. Last year was the first time I'd ever tried this. And I must say, it was the most delicious, moist, and flavorful turkey I have ever roasted! Who knew that this could make such a difference! I've always preferred the side dishes over the turkey at Thanksgiving because every roasted turkey I'd ever tasted was dry and bland. But now I know the secret!

Here's the recipe I use.

I put the brine and turkey in the biggest bowl I have, and I usually brine it for a couple of days instead of the 12 hours they suggest. Make sure the turkey is already thawed, if you bought it frozen. I also flip the turkey over in the brine half way through the brining time.

This year, I'm only roasting a turkey breast since we aren't having a crowd: just hubby, me, and Daughter 1. So the meal will be a bit pared down and simple. But we are all looking forward to a nice, quiet Thanksgiving.