Fabric coasters in three styles to make for little gifts

Front (at top) and back (below) of "patchwork" Coca-Cola coasters

I love coasters, and this time of year I especially love fabric ones that absorb condensation so much better than wood or other materials.  I have made a number of fabric coasters, most from this pattern that is so easy.  The Coca-Cola ones above are only a few of the ones I've made.

The pattern I'm sharing today, by Amy at Positively Splendid, is so versatile as it can be made in three different shapes: circle, square, and geometric.  

This looks so simple, yet by varying the fabrics and shapes one can make a lovely variety of coasters.  It's a free download from Positively Splendid, which is even nicer.  

Have fun with this idea!  Coasters can be paired with a gift of coffee, tea, hot cocoa or any other beverage to make a wonderful hostess gift or neighbor gift.

A fun Christmas fabric collection -- Cozy Cabin!

 Here is this week's Christmas fabric collection!  It is Cozy Cabin by Mia Charro for FreeSpirit Fabrics.  The description at Fat Quarter Shop reads: "Christmas Cabin features beautiful Christmas-inspired designs of lovely deer, curious hedgehogs, and studious owls, along with blooming poinsettias and cozy plaids."

Here are some of the items in this collection that caught my eye:

The Cozy Christmas quilt panel

Blue Owl Magic yardage

Linen Joy Pines yardage

Green Winter Floral yardage

Aqua Tartan Tradition yardage

What would you make with these fabrics?

Some Christmasy projects I'm working on this July

 

 I'm working on a few projects with a Christmasy vibe, this July, in whatever snippets of spare time I find.

At top is a crocheted scalloped hot mat, a pattern I turn to again and again.  Here's the link: Crocheted Scalloped Hot Mat.  I can't even guess how many of these I have made over the years, but I love the vintage look and the ease of the pattern.  You can't really see it in the photo unless you look really close, but this ombre Christmas yarn has gold threads glinting in it too.  I'm just at the stage of crocheting the two layers together.

I had planned on making a few dishcloths from this pattern -- Dori's Dishcloth -- which has become my favorite, in Christmasy colors.  I've made a red one and recently finished this green one.

And lastly, I'm working sporadically on the Poinsettias and Pines winter sampler from Blue Ribbon Designs, which I would love to finish before December.  But we will see.

 
And that's the current state of my Christmasy crafting!

A sweet little Christmas card

 

This sweet card, with its nostalgic farmyard scene, just sold in my Etsy shop, so I thought I would share it with you readers today as well.

This small unused Christmas card by Marian Heath is likely from the 1980s. It features a beautiful scene of a New England farm in winter. The illustration is in shades of white, gray, red, blue, and brown. The central element in the design is a large red barn with cupola and weather vane, along with white trim and a gray shingled roof. A man dressed in green is shoveling snow in front of the barn and waves a red-mittened hand to the man passing by in a horse-drawn sleigh with a wagon full of Christmas trees. Mountains and evergreens may be seen behind the barn. In the distance is another driveway leading to a red barn and house. There are a couple of leafless hardwood trees, including a large tree at the left of the scene. 

Inside the card is a truly meaningful message in a vintage red italic font:

"Christmas again! And may you have the real joys that make the season mean so much; -- warm remembrance, friendly greetings, and hearty good cheer."

Isn't it lovely?  And there are still a few more in the shop.

Santa's Whiskers -- another recipe from Visions of Sugarplums

 

 Lucie commented that she was very intrigued by the recipe for Santa's Whiskers cookies I mentioned in the list from the little Visions of Sugarplums booklet.  So, just for you, Lucie, here it is.  They are the cookies at right, next to the mug, in the photo above.  It seems that the name Santa's Whiskers likely comes from the coconut topping.  

SANTA'S WHISKERS
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon each vanilla and coconut extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
3 cups shredded coconut
1 cup red and/or green candied cherries, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 350º.  

Beat butter, sugar, egg, milk, extracts and salt in a large bowl with mixer on medium speed until blended.  (Mixture may appear curdled; don't worry.) On low speed, beat in flour until combined.  Stir in 1 cup coconut and the cherries.  

Place remaining coconut in a bowl.  Drop rounded teaspoons of dough into coconut 1 teaspoon at a time; turn each gently to coat.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes or until coconut is toasted and cookies are set.  Cool slightly on the baking sheet on a wire rack before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes 5 dozen.

Store these in an airtight container with wax paper between the layers.  May be stored at room temperature up to 1 week, in the fridge up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

A unique project: transferring a picture to a candle

 

 I've had this idea saved for awhile, and it occurs to me that summer might be a nice time to try it.  This is not the same as what I have pictured at top; that one was made very simply with card stock cutouts and ribbon.  As you will see, the project I'm linking to today does not involve an actual candle, but the flameless type which makes the procedure much safer.

This tutorial is from Diana at Dreams Factory: How to Put a Picture on a Candle.  

The tutorial includes some beautiful printables to create candles for either Christmas 

or Autumn.

Other than the printables, supplies needed include a printer (laser for best results); tissue paper (plus paper tape and card stock to use in the tissue paper printing process); scissors; wax paper; flameless battery-operated WAX candles (not plastic); and a hair dryer or heat gun.

After printing your design of choice on tissue paper following Diana's directions, you then proceed to apply it to the candle using wax paper and a heat gun or hair dryer.  I won't go into detail here; you can read Diana's post for yourself and see just how it's done.

What do you think?  Is this a technique you would attempt?  The result is certainly beautiful!

An adorable Christmas pillow to sew!

 

Okay, so first I have to tell you about this gorgeous Christmas fabric, Santa's Tree Farm by Lisa Audit for Riley Blake Designs.  Then I can tell you about the pillow.  I had in mind to only post about fabrics once a week, but this fabric is too lovely, and is essential to the pillow project, so I have no choice but to post about it. 😃

Here's how Riley Blake Designs describes the fabric: "Grab a mug of cocoa as you peruse the main and coordinating prints of snowy scenes, woodland creatures, snowflakes, plaids, berries and boughs. The cozy palette of sky, green, snowy, forest and Rudolph will have you dreaming of a white Christmas and making all kinds of project plans for those wintry days ahead."

The link in the first paragraph should take you to the storyboard where all of the fabrics are pictured.   (There's also a free quilt pattern, among other goodies.)  They are beautiful!  Here are just a few of my favorites that I took screenshots of.

Here is Berries & Boughs in the Forest color, plus Green Plaid and Sky Snowflakes.

Snowy Plaid and Snowy Snowflakes

This is Berries & Boughs in the Sky color

Now, for the pillow.  It's Santa's Tree Farm Applique Pillow, and it's designed by Sara B. of @SaraBQuilts.  Sara has shared a great tutorial as to how she designed and sewed the pillow.

 
Isn't it sweet?  This is a project I would love to sew!

Pink Lemonade Bars

 

 I mentioned a few days ago that I would try and post the recipe for Pink Lemonade Bars featured in the little cookie booklet Visions of Sugarplums.  To me these would be perfect for a summer cookie tray, but they would be pretty at Christmas time as well.

PINK LEMONADE BARS

Crust:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Topping:
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 Tblsp. freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
5 drops red liquid food coloring

Confectioners sugar for topping

Heat oven to 350º.  Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil, letting foil extend above pan at both ends.  Coat foil with nonstick baking spray.

For crust, beat butter, flour, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with mixer until blended and crumbly.  Press over bottom of prepared pan.  Bake 15 minutes or until light golden.  Remove from oven but do not turn the oven off.

While crust is baking, make topping.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice, flour and baking powder with mixer to combine.  Add food coloring and beat until topping is pink in color.  Pour over the hot crust.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes until top is golden and topping has set.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Lift foil by ends to cutting board.  Cut bars in 6 rows lengthwise and 8 crosswise to make 48 bars.  Dust with confectioners sugar.  Makes 48 bars.

(No mention of when to remove the foil.  I think I would do it before cutting the bars, so as not to get shreds of foil mixed in with them.)  

There it is!  Enjoy!

Mistletoe & Holly -- another gorgeous Christmas fabric collection!

 

1950s Christmas card

 Wow, here is more glorious Christmas fabric!  This Mistletoe & Holly collection is from one of my favorite designers, Beverly McCullough, who does so much more than simply designing fabrics.  Visit her at Flamingo Toes for more inspiration for sewing, embroidery, and more -  and to visit her shop.  You are sure to be charmed and inspired.

But on to Mistletoe & Holly!  I will just share a few of my favorites from this collection.

Mistletoe & Holly Forest main yardage

Cloud Snowflakes yardage

Sage Snowflakes yardage

Silver Mistletoe yardage

Sage Floral yardage

Cloud Plaid yardage

 
Aren't they beautiful?  I love the vintage look.  I can think of many projects I would use these fabrics for.  In addition to the yardage, there is a full variety of precuts in this collection and also a good number of panels to make different projects from.

A beautiful Christmas card -- "The Lights of Friendship"

 

This is not a super old card -- it's a Leanin' Tree design, likely from the late 1990s -- but I loved the sentiment and the detail in the artwork.  The cover features an original painting by artist Clayton Nicles.  I'm sure if you double-click on the card image you will be able to see it better.

Look at the lovely details: -- a ball of green yarn and a basket of knitting beside the rocking chair; a teacup and bowl of apples at the ready; the teakettle heating over the fire; a well-worn Bible on the mantel.

The tree is simply trimmed with popcorn strings and clip-on candles. 

Gifts are everywhere including in the pocket of the plaid jacket hanging on a hook at left.

And the dear message: "In every home, in every heart the lights of friendship glow."  Don't you love that?  Somehow in our world and culture today we have gotten away from that.  

I want this sentiment to be true of my heart and home.  Wouldn't you agree?  Let's keep the lights on for friendship!

More Readerville projects for handmade gifts

 

Today I will post links to a few more of the gifts I made using the Readerville fabric.  The tote was the first thing I made, and I actually made two of these for book-loving granddaughters.  

I had saved this pattern some time ago: Three-Ten Tote Bag -- three fabrics, ten steps -- and let me tell you, I am so thankful that I did save it and finally got around to making it.  As I mentioned, I made two and they will not be the last ones that I make.

I also made a bookmark, as mentioned earlier, and a pocket size tissue cover.

And then I also made a mug mat (I can't find the pattern I used, but you can see it is six squares of equal size for each side).

and coaster -- 

because both girls are aspiring writers and might enjoy coffee and/or a snack as they work at their computers.

This fun to make gift ensemble was very well received!

Visions of Sugarplums -- a fun find!

 

This fun little find was the Woman's Day annual Christmas cookie cookbook for 2005, bound into its magazine pages.   

The cookie recipes include Shortbread Trees, Cherry Checkerboards, Peppermint Tea Cakes, Honey Hazelnut Triangles, Raspberry Brownie Cups, Pink Lemonade Bars, Chocolate-Dipped Pistachio Biscotti, Santa's Whiskers, Cranberry Double-Chip Cookies, Ginger Drops, Almond-Orange Macaroons, and Lime Snowflakes & Ornaments.

The Pink Lemonade Bars are pretty and sound so perfect for a summer day!  Essentially it seems one might add 5 drops of red food coloring to a regular lemon bar recipe.  I will try and share the recipe later this week.  

Are there other cookies from this booklet that sound tempting to you?  Let me know and I will share.

Easy Quilted Fabric Bookmarks

 

A bookmark is a small gift that almost anyone can use!  Even with all of the books available to read on phones, iPads or tablets, many people (of all ages) still prefer an actual book.  So a bookmark can make a wonderful stocking stuffer or is also a nice flat small gift to give or mail inside of a Christmas card.  

When I made the above tote bag from Readerville fabric by Kris Stammers for Maywood Studio, I had some scraps left over and wanted to make some coordinating pieces to go with the bag.  I had patterns for a coaster, mug rug and tissue holder, but had to go looking for a pattern for a fabric bookmark.

This one, from Pin Cut Sew Studio, really fit the bill: Easy Quilted Fabric Bookmark.  

 

Photo from Pin Cut Sew Studio

This pattern is a really nice one and I especially like that one can use smaller fabric scraps to piece the bookmarks, or just use an entire piece of fabric, as I did.  In the photo above, you can see that the bookmarks on the right and left are pieced from scraps, while the center one is made using larger scraps in their entirety and then simply quilted.  That's the method I chose to use, as I felt my fabric was busy enough without piecing it.  But I do love the look of the pieced and quilted bookmarks too.

Have fun with this idea!  I hope to share the links for the other Readerville projects too -- if not tomorrow, then later in the week.

Christmas in July sale at my Etsy shop!!

 

Just a little public service announcement!  I'm running a Christmas in July sale over at my Etsy shop, 

A New Hampshire Attic.

Now through July 24, all items in the vintage Christmas category are 25% off.  There are approximately 70 listings in this category, which includes vintage Christmas cards, both new and preowned, vintage craft books, candy boxes and even a couple of handmade crafts.  Hopefully I will be listing a few more items before the 24th.

Head on over to browse and shop!

Salted Butterscotch Bars

 

Time for a cookie recipe! I like bar cookies, especially in summer, because they are so quick and easy to make.  The oven is not on for long, and a 13x9 pan usually yields at least 24 bars.

These Salted Butterscotch Bars come from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life.  I've shared before how much I appreciate Jocelyn's recipes.  She has a great instinct about putting flavors together and what's going to work in a recipe, plus she keeps the recipes simple.

The bars are made with melted butterscotch chips and brown sugar, along with basic ingredients like butter, eggs, flour, vanilla and salt.  The frosting is made with salted caramel chips (or, if you can't find those, more butterscotch chips) and whipping cream, plus coarse sea salt for the garnish.

Photo from Inside Brucrew Life

 
From my limited research, it looks like Hershey's may not make the sea salt caramel baking chips any longer, but it seems that perhaps some other companies (Lily's, Trader Joe's) do.  In any case it's good to know what to substitute if you can't find the caramel sea salt ones.

Hope you enjoy this recipe if you try it!

Jingle Bells Christmas fabric!

 

Even if you know me in person, you might not know I'm a Christmas fabric hoarder.  I tend to save even tiny scraps.  I'm also a vintage hoarder, especially drawn to Christmas ephemera from the 1950s and early 1960s.  (I don't hoard it all; I do sell lots of vintage Christmas goodies in my Etsy shop!)  When the love of vintage and the love of Christmas fabric intersect, watch out!

This is one of those times.  This Jingle Bells fabric by Lindsay Wilkes, in a gorgeous vintage green color called "Cottage",  just checks all the boxes for me.  The classic bells, embellished with ribbon and pine, the retro green -- well, I just love everything about it.

This fabric would make lovely pillow covers or even a tree skirt.  Maybe a table runner or place mats.  What would you make with this lovely Christmas fabric?

Christmas in July iced tea!

 

Recently on Instagram I noticed a giveaway for Christmas in July cranberry hibiscus iced tea.  I was intrigued!  Although I didn't meet the criteria for entering the giveaway, I absolutely had to visit the Republic of Tea website and check it out.

It's a limited edition -- only available while supplies last! -- and this is the description: "This juicy caffeine-free herbal blend has a base of sweet-tart ruby hibiscus and cranberries and finishes with a touch of yuletide spice."

These are the ingredients: Hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, carob bits, apple bits, sweet blackberry leaves, cardamom seeds, natural flavors, chicory root, pepper, cloves, cranberry bits and star anise.  

What an amazing blend of flavors!  It sounds so delicious for a hot July day, don't you agree?

A wartime Christmas greeting from a serviceman

 

Today I am sharing a special vintage Christmas card.  This beautiful pre-owned card is a keepsake from the 1940s and World War II. The die-cut card front features a design of red poinsettias, green holly leaves with red berries, a lighted candle in brass holder, and an ornate-looking album in pale green and pink. The words "Merry Christmas Wishes" appear in a pretty black vintage font on the center of the album, which has a wide blue bookmark in place. This design has a colorful yet classic vintage Christmas look that is very appealing.

Inside the card is the message "May Christmas be merry And gay with good-cheer, And may you be happy Through all the New Year!" in black in the same pretty vintage font. There is a poinsettia and sprays of holly at bottom right, setting off the words. At the top and right is the suggestion of the edges of the allbum pages. An army corporal has signed the card in blue ink.

On the back of the card, the corporal has written a note in the same blue ink.

This keepsake card is currently listed in my Etsy shop. I thought it would be the perfect thing to share for July 4, as this serviceman was part of the Greatest Generation.  We are able to still celebrate Independence Day in a free land thanks to their generation's sacrifice.

A holiday e-book to download for Christmas baking

 

 Some time ago a friend and I were having a conversation regarding molasses.  I don't even recall the context, though it surely must have had to do with using molasses in a recipe or recipes.

I love the old-fashioned flavor of molasses in baked goods.  Growing up, the only way milk tasted good to me was to stir in a spoonful of molasses.

Many older Christmas recipes for cookies and cakes call for molasses, which is a plus in my book.  

As my friend and I chatted I mentioned that I like the Crosby's molasses, a Canadian brand which our local supermarkets sell.  She was not familiar with the brand, so I looked up the website to send her a link.  In so doing, I discovered that Crosby's has a nice variety of recipe e-books.  You can check them out here: Crosby e-books.

Today I just want to share one of the recipe books.  This one is called simply The Holiday Book.  Here's a screenshot.

 
The description at the beginning reads:

There’s an appealing nostalgia around
molasses. The word alone is rich with
memories of cozy kitchens and warming food:
a slice of gingerbread with butterscotch sauce,
warm buttery biscuits drizzled with molasses,
crispy gingersnaps dunked in hot cocoa...

There are 23 recipes in this ebook, and more than half are cookie recipes.  There are also recipes for candy, snacks, and a couple of beverages.  The cookies pictured on the cover are Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies.  The cookie recipe that caught my eye is a molasses cookie stuffed with cut-up Lindt white chocolate truffles!  Not anything I would have thought of doing, but they look delicious.

If you enjoy baking with molasses at the holidays, you will want to download this ebook!

Thinking way ahead to Christmas baking

 Last winter our old nut chopper bit the dust.  Unbeknownst to us, the threads at the top of the glass jar began to disintegrate.  The way we discovered this was somewhat disconcerting.  We had made some coffee cakes over the Christmas season, and had frozen the leftover squares of various coffee cakes.  Enjoying a snack of these leftovers one evening, we came upon small shards of glass in the nut topping on one of them.  It took a bit of detective work and careful inspection of the nut chopper to figure out the source of the problem.

We immediately threw our nut chopper away (along with the remaining squares of that coffee cake!).  If we've needed chopped nuts for anything,  I've used a handheld metal chopper that we've had for years.  But I knew that we were going to need to find a good replacement before any Christmas baking could begin.

Fast-forward to June.  Friends suggested a day trip to the Vermont Country Store in Weston, Vermont.  And -- although we weren't specifically looking for one as we browsed -- there we found this nut chopper that was just what we've been looking for.

The quality looked good and the price was right.  It feels good to have that detail for Christmas baking all taken care of so far ahead of time!