So much fun at Sweet Woodruff Acres

  

I had the grand kids a few hours early on Christmas Eve-Eve (we celebrated Christmas Eve two nights in a row!).  While we were in the kitchen baking, we somehow got way off track when I taught them how to make a blow up balloon squeal loudly!  Then we three got rowdy and ended up rolling on the kitchen floor in laughter.   I think we were all super excited about Christmas (and maybe had too many sweet by then, too!)

Jessica & Craig had wrapped all their gifts in brown craft paper.  For the tags they had sepia photos of the recipients. The kids absolutely loved this, they didn't have to look for names, but their own faces.  These gifts were so pretty! 

I made plates of gingerbread cookies, Tex-Mex Snack Mix, bags of candies, mini-gingerbread houses and more to give out to neighbors and friends.  

 This is one of the small wood cutting boards I made to give out as gifts.  I took my Scottie Dog cookie cutter and enlarged the pattern.  I cut them out of wood from myrtlewood trees that grow on our property.  Did you know myrtlewood only grows in two places on earth?  Yes, here in Oregon and in Israel.  How cool is that?  I wanted to make more of these, but ran out of time, as well our wood wasn't dry enough yet. It takes at least 6 months to really season it well.



This Oregon state shape cutting board was made the same way as the Scottie Dog one above.  I have an Oregon state shape cookie cutter  that I traced and just enlarged the pattern to the size I wanted.  These cutting boards were one of my favorite crafts this year, right up there with my gingerbread house decorating party!  More on that next post!

Have a great weekend.

May you have 2012 blessing this year!

Hugs, Heidi

(Linked with Cindy's My Romantic Home Show & Tell Friday here.)

No Rhyme or Reason--Review of the Season!

Just some photo reviews of the past month or two!   Life was moving at a fast pace-->
Grandchildren; cookies; Thanksgiving; gratitude; family; friends; Bible; outdoor adventures; food; chocolate; meals; gifts; creating; painting; cutting and pasting (my favorite!); photography; warm fires in the wood stove; gingerbread house making party; and SO MUCH MORE!

Mark has been cutting little wood crafts for the children's church. 

These were wood star ornaments the kids decorated with a verse and  glitter.

Mark and I spent many evenings trying to photograph the moon.  It was a ton of fun wandering out in the dark nights!  This is what the front of our home looked like dressed in the Christmas lights Mark put out.  He loves doing this, and I so enjoy the lights. 

My cookie angel watching over the making of Russian Tea Cakes.

She (my cookie angel) reminded me to roll the cookies in powdered sugar!  I made so many cookies this year, for various events, etc.  I loved and sampled every single one.  I need to run...I slacked on that durring the freeze, and need to not let this rain stop me now!

The Christmas dish is from a set my mother-in-law gave me the first year we were marred (31 years ago this year!  I'm always on the lookout for these at the thrift stores, to increase my set from a set for 4 to a set for 10 or 12, to fit our family now!  I have found 3 plates so far, and a few bowls!)

For the last two years I've held a Gingerbread House Decorating party here at our home.  I invite our grandchildren, of course!, and other children with their moms.  This year our daughter, Melissa, did the same at her house with friends and family from her town.  I went over early to help her finish up her assembly of 21 houses!  Can you imagine how much work she put into making that many gingerbread houses from scratch?  It's a labor of love.   The photo above are a collection of just some of the houses they decorated.  I held my party here the next week.  I'll post photos of that soon.

Melissa and I, after the gingerbread decorating party.  The moms/children bring all the candy, sharing everything they bring.  Melissa made all the frosting tubes for them to use to attach and decorate the gingerbread houses.  She made all the houses with a pattern I drew out a few years ago.

I have a real estate salesperson friend who, every time she closes on a home sale, orders a custom sign for her client!  How cool is that?  The date of the "est." is the date of the home closing.  This is just one of the many signs I've painted.

Guess that's enough photos for this round...more soon,  hope!

May you have 2012 reasons this year to be thankful!

Hugs, Heidi

Fall Seasonal Photos

I'm trying to clean out, arrange, rename, save, delete and use some of my older photos.  So it's your lucky day, you'll get a hdge-podge of photos for your inspiration! These photos were from fall of 2009! 

(I used a vintage chippy plate, added embellishments, stamped the letters

and hung on my kitchen wall!)

(I made kitchen tea towels out of a bolt of muslin, then added the lace,

then stamped the Fruit of the Spirit on them.  Gave out as gifts.)

(A little vintage gift set!  Tea cup and saucer-though not an exact match!- and a set of

children's spoon and fork tied up with tulle.  Don't forget to add the mini-rose!)

(Our McIntosh apple tree in front of our home.  This year-2009-it was loaded. 

Some years are better than others!  We did have enough this year for

some applesauce, apple pie, apple butter, apple cookies, apple bread, apple bobbler...

so far that's what I've made!)

(Mile High Apple Pie......slice and serve with vanilla ice cream

and everyone will be very happy!)

(Apple Prayer Bread ready to go into the hot oven!)

(I saw this idea a few years back online, and it is about the funnest thing

I've ever done with gingerbread houses!  Miniature ones to

top your mugs!  Do make time to make these!)

(Simple to make, you'll need to experiment with your "door" size to fit on the

coffee cup or mug "rim".)

(These are my full size gingerbread houses. This is just a tip...

when you "glue" them together {with icing} use long stick pins to hold them

together just until dry enough to stand on their own.  I don't have to do this

on all of them, but when I have ones that give me a hard time, this is what I do!)

(The grandchildren love grilled cheese sandwiches cut out with cookie cutters. 

It makes lunchtime so much fun!)

(No crusts!  All fun!  Just use your cookie cutters!)

And one last photo....both our girls make excellent cheesecake!

Here's a photo of one that Jessica made Christmas of 2009...

Have a blessed weekend!

Hugs, Heidi

(Linked to Cindy's My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here, Blissful and Domestic Bliss Linky Party here, Friday Flair at Whipperberry here, and Women Living Well Link Up Party here.)

Mary Kay $25 Giveaway

Just a quick note to let you all in on a Mary Kay giveaway!  It's for $25 of Mary Kay product, which you can pick out from her Mary Kay online store.

She's made it easy, just go to her Mary Kay Facebook page and "LIKE" her page, then leave a comment! 

You can place Mary Kay product orders directly on her store site and the projects will be shipped directly to you.  Their products a all wonderful, great make up and facial products (my two favorites).  Everything is guaranteed, so if you didn't like a color or product they will exchange it, with no problems.

Thank you for reading this, as I "toot" my daughter's Mary Kay horn here on my blog!  This is what mothers do!  :)

       *Drawing will be on November 18, 2011*

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Now, because you've been so sweet to go "LIKE" her Facebook page, I'll give you a great little chocolate cookie recipe!  I make these fairly small, so I can eat a bunch and not feel guilty!  The combined flavors of chocolate and almond are delightful!

Recipe:

Chocolate Butter Cookies
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. almond extract
... MIX until light and fluffy, then add..
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Shape into 1" balls and place on Silpat matt on a cookie sheet, (or buttered cookie sheet). Bake 7 to 9 minutes.
Cool then if desired, top with powdered sugar, melted chocolate, etc.
Very easy and yummy!

       ~Blessings!  Heidi

(Linked to Nifty Thrifty Sunday here, and Joy of Dessert Linky Party here.)

Another Really Good Cookie and Another Really Fun Sign

"Another really good cookie" means trouble here.  It means Mark and I can't stop eating them!  I do love to share cookies, but sometimes I'm not fast enough to get them out of the house.  A couple days ago I made the "Spiced Apple Cookie", which I found via Pinterest.  I loved them. 

Then Mark said, could you make an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie but replace the raisins with diced apples? Sure can!

Here's the cookie recipe. I don't give instructions on how to actually "mix the ingredients", such as the order, you can follow any cookie recipe or just start mixing as the ingredients are listed:

HEIDI'S SPICED APPLE OATMEAL COOKIE
1 cup butter (2 cubes)
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla flavoring (or extract)
2 large eggs
2 cups quick cook oatmeal (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup diced apples (peeled, cored first)
*if desired: 1 cup chopped walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.   Mix the ingredients as a cookie dough.  Drop by rounded tablespoons, spacing evenly.   (On Silpat matt, or greased cookie sheet.)  Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool cookies,  then enjoy!

I use a Silpat baking matt--you must get!  I have four, so I can make lots of cookies quickly, if I need to.  Also, when I make gingerbread houses for a Gingerbread House Making Party here, the Silpat matts make the baking so much easier.  I bought mine at our local Fred Meyer store, when they had a BOGOF (buy one get one free) sale.  You can find them online as well, such as here at Amazon.

We've working on making rustic layered board signs.  Here's a couple examples. 

"GRATITUDE:  turns what we have into enough."

"House Rules: 1. Be KIND 2. Always follow rule #1."

These are listed in my Etsy shop here (GRATITUDE) and here (House Rules).

Today I'm going to make and can applesauce and apple butter. I'm still all about apples right now!

Don't forget to change your clocks tomorrow night:  Fall Back! 

Have a blessed weekend,
      Hugs, Heidi

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(Linked to Blissful and Domestic Feature Friday Link Up Party here,  Cindy's Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday here, Whipperberry Friday Link Party here, Simply Sweet Home Friday link party here, and Nifty Thrifty Sunday here.)

Pinterest Pins I Used -- and a few wins!

A few wins, first!  I was just notified I won a copy of the new Stampinton & Company publication called "Mingle".  I'm excited to get to read this when it arrives.  We don't have stores around here that would ever carry this!

At at recent Home Based Business Fair and show I won a set of Tupperware bowls from my consultant!  It's the 3-PC Wonderlier Bowls.  You know you will win when you put your name in drawings, right?  It just takes a few minutes!  I had a Tupperware Party (Linda is my consultant) last year and we had fun making lots of foods with Tupperware products.

One of the first fellow bloggers I connected with years ago is Natelea of Kandeland.  She is one of the most generous bloggers out there!  Very crafty and artsy, and an all around genuine girl.  Her daughter is a Mini-Me to her!  Natalea had a "700th Posting" giveaway a while back and guess who one?  :)   I don't have a photo of what she sent me, but here's a photo that I "borrowed" from her blog:

I have the kit right here on my craft table.........I often save "good stuff" a little too long, thinking I need to do it justice!  I really need to just open it and have fun, not worrying if I will live up to Natalea's artsy craftsy skills!  Thank you, Natalea, you rock girl!

Now to the subject of Pinterest.  I do pin.  I do pin a lot.  Okay, I'm an image lover!  Also, pictures inspire me!  I don't subscribe to magazines anymore, at least at this very moment!  So my pinning on Pinterest is my magazine time!  And I do use what I pin!  Here's a few examples:

I made this pearl nest necklace today:

I learned how to make it after seeing and going to this Pinterest link:

And...let's see....I made these Two Ingredient muffins from a Pinterest link:

Very good. Very easy. Very Pinterest.

I'll just post one more....Gorp!  I found the Pinterest picture right before our camping vacation (which was a blast!).  I made it and we loved it!  Great for hiking, boating, bike riding and snack by the campfire:

The Pinterest photo:

My done-deal-Pinterest:

Thanks for visiting today!  



Apple Dumplings and Tea -- Camp Grandma!

We've got a nice productive McIntosh apple tree, but in addition to that our kind neighbors have given me permission to pick apples from their many trees!  I've got apple sauce and apple butter lined up to make, but couldn't wait to get something sweet going so I made apple dumplings. Apple dumplings have always been one of my favorite desserts. 

Most apple dumpling recipes have you put a whole (skinned and cored) apple in each dumpling.  But I have always preferred smaller chunks of apples.  I pretty much just make what would be an apple pie filling and pie crust recipe.  The only thing I need then is a syrup to pour on top.

I love apple dumplings served with vanilla ice cream, but didn't have any, so I used whipped topping.  Still super good! 

My sister's son and daughter-in-law are expecting what will be my sister's first grandchild!  We are so excited for them and I couldn't wait to give her a special sign I painted:

 She visited with Ellie (our second of three grandchildren) her at my "Camp Grandma, Coos Bay Unit" and taught her how to "have tea".    She'll be a perfect grandma and she'll love the new title! 

Here's my sign, painted 5 years ago (I used to make my signs way smaller then, and on old wood:

Hope you all have a safe and fun weekend!
          Hugs, Heidi

Here's a basic APPLE DUMPLING recipe, it's the one I use:
THE SYRUP:
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tblspn. butter

THE DUMPLING CRUST:
2 1/4 cups four
1/4 TSP. salt
2/3 cup butter
6 to 8 Tblspn iced cold water

FILLING:
6 apples (skinned, cored, and cut in small bite size pieces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Mix the syrup (EXCEPT the butter) ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer, covered for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in butter.
2. Meanwhile mix the crust ingredients and roll out into an 18X12-inch rectangle, then cut into six 6" squares.  (Or get close, like I do!)
3. Mix the apple filling ingredients and divide evenly on the 6 cut squares.
4.  Pull up the four corners of each square into a pocket, or dumpling.  Pitch the edge to keep them closed. Place in a baking pan. 
5. Pour the hot syrup over the dumplings.
6.  Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the crust is lightly browned.
7.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or whipped topping.

Makes 6 servings.
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(Linked to  Cindy's My Romantic Home Show and Tell here. , Six Sisters Struf Your Stuff Saturday here, Be Different and Act Normal Show and Tell Saturday here,  Tator Tots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party here,  Blissful and Domestic Feature Friday Link Up Party here,  Niffty Thrifty Sunday #29 here, Totally Tasty Tuesday at Mandy's Recipe Box here,  Joy of Desserts here,and Frugal Girls Craft Linky Party here.)