Sewing Crafts

I want one of these tub caddy’s by PegandAwl. I always get bored sitting in the tub & if I bring a book it’ll inevitably get wet. This would be perfect for preventing that!

I forgot until this morning that these things needed the metallic hangers stitched! Here they are with Kreinik metallic ribbon – 1/1/6″ – worked several different ways on each one, as it’s very versatile. I used some silver, as well as my favorite 002V.

This seems a bit redundant, as I’ve already shown these things with the “important” things stitched, but as the tops really finish them off, I wanted to show them again completed.

There is a new round one being worked, that will have lots of seaweed, sea grasses, and a fish – and some beads, as bubbles ascending to the surface. I didn’t have time to get it finished for my deadline, but that’s the way I seem to work – the best ideas at the last minute or beyond.

On the second one, I removed the seaweed I already had, as it didn’t show up at all, and I wanted it to shine – so used DMC Satin Floss in the great buttonhole stitch I found on Sharon B’s blog (with her permission I am using it.)

There are, of course, things I’m still not happy with – but they are only ornaments, after all, so I won’t remove my errors or point them out. I’ll just know to do it differently next time! Learning and experimenting is what this is about.

I have certainly enjoyed, also, researching the sea grasses and corals – fascinating!!

Here’s a fun, bright necklace by corazondegalleta to add some colour to this snowy day.

This carnival’s host is Handmade By Sandi. The choices were:
#1 What’s the best vacation your ever had?
#2 Of all the places in the world, where would you like to go and why?

I decided to go with #1 since, well, there is no one place I really long to go. I know, boring, but true. I am not a hug fan of beaches. I adore the water, but not the sand. There just is not enough to do. Okay, you can sit around and read, but I’d rather do that somewhere other than under the sun. Hubby, now he’d take a lazy beach vacation any day. I’d want to do something, something active, something I normally would not. Which is kind of funny considering my fave vaca.

It’s cliche, but my favorite vacation was my honeymoon. We went to Toronto. I was there way back when during a fifth grade field trip, but remembered nothing from that. This one, I remember
We traveled by train – which I loved….first class sure did not hurt. When we arrived we walked across the street to our hotel, the Royal York…VIP floor. Very nice.

In the morning we woke up and walked down the hall to the suite thingy where they had coffee & breakfast. Yum! The rest of the day…guess…no! Not that! We walked. All. Day. Long. And it was great! We wound our way up and down nearly every street. Went in to too many shops to remember. Ate tons of great food. It is the best way to really get to know a city.
We even got what we now refer to as our family seal there…at a tattoo shop – one of the best I might add. Just don’t ask me to remember the name of it…I do have their card somewhere around here though.We hit the touristy spots too, like the CN Tower and even took in a baseball game. We thought it was fitting since that is what we did after the wedding reception…and before the bar hopping. All in my gown by the way

Here’s the entrance to the tower…loved the moose!!!

And us at, well, near, the top. And no, no pics of me on the glass floor…uh uh – no way!

I had to throw in this pic to since, while it may not be from my fave vaca, it is my fave vaca pic….

I. Love. Ice. Box. Cake. I know I’m a cookie gal, but I can’t resist ice box cake. Given a choice for dessert? Ice box cake will always win.

I have no secrets to share with this post. No original recipe. I’m merely spreading the ice box cake love. Ice box cake is easy to make and entirely decadent.

All you need:*
Nabisco’s Famous Chocolate Wafers
one pint heavy whipping cream
one teaspoon vanilla extract
couple spoonfuls of sugar

*Find the wafers in the cookie or baking aisle of the supermarket. If your store doesn’t carry them, beg and plead for them to. And please please use real whipping cream (not dessert topping).

Simply follow the recipe found HERE (whip the cream, blend in the vanilla. I also add a wee bit of sugar to the whipped cream and blend, then spoon a spoonful on each wafer, stack, line up in rows, frost with the remaining cream to cover and stick in the fridge for 6 hours). Be sure to slice at an angle when serving!!

I haven’t taken time this morning to find a beautiful picture to show with this, but one really should not miss the post Emma Broidery has made on her blog about the in depth history of needlepoint and X-stitch, as well as the total history of the DMC corporation. Well done, entertaining, and fascinating! Do go see her blog here.

My serving dish (that matches my dishes) came in! It’s adorable!

Yes – definitely more ruffles today. And some cute birds – you really can’t get much better than that! This gorgeous vase by jmrpottery deserves a spot of honour where it can bring a smile to your face every time you walk by it.

My sparkly mod cookie pops from were a bit of a hit, so I’ve brought them back. I used the same exact instructions HERE, but used only a swirl design on a basic sugar cookie (not chocolate). They are a slightly smaller circle, too, which is perfect for my 2-year old… she can hold and eat the entire cookie without dropping a bit.

If you look closely, these cookies also appear in the background of my soon-to-be-published peek inside my kitchen (updates on that to come).