AMANDA'S BASKETS: ANOTHER ONE..., BAKING & FELTED CREATION FINISHED

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

ANOTHER ONE..., BAKING & FELTED CREATION FINISHED

'And another one bites the dust...' (times four!!!)

So, today was another nor'easter that really wasn't. Clouds, a little bit of rain, a little bit of snow, a little bit of wind and finally sunshine!

I felt a little bit like baking!!! So I made some pumpkin muffins...

And some refrigerator cookies. By that I mean that I made the cookie dough myself, rolled it out and kept it in the refrigerator until I felt like having a few cookies around. These are called Depression Brown Sugar Cookies, not too sweet and a bit crunchy with a soft inside...

Unlike the two kitties who decided to sleep away most of the day...that is when they weren't annoying each other...

(By the way, that afghan they are sleeping on is 47 years old...really. It was the first afghan my husband every made. The pattern was broomstick lace and it washes up beautifully. It is the only afghan that has lasted that long and looks that great!!!

As I said, unlike the kitties, I worked all day finishing up the felted piece. I started out with this piece...

Began adding beads...

And here it is finished...

A couple close-ups...

I wish everyone could see it in person. It simply shimmers in the light. I also decided to go with red because I thought the red brought out the lightness in the background. Next I will mount it on a 12 by 12 canvas.

Then I have decide which of the two pieces to put in the show, unless they let us put in more than one. I'll let you know later which one goes in.

Have you adjusted to the new time? I haven't. Wish we would pick one and just stay with it.

That's all for today...
Thanks for spending a few minutes here...
Talk with you tomorrow...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?