Oh MAN I am behind...

ON

* Laundry
* mopping/sweeping
* cleaning piled up sewing/computer room
* BOTM blocks...so. far. behind.
* Christmas gift making
* Deciding on said Christmas gifts to make
* work stuff
* creating Etsy inventory
* cookie baking
* new recipe trying
* emails
* blog reading
* blog posting

you name it and I'm probably behind at it.

As my good friend and mentor Cheryl used to say "the hurrieder I go the behinder I get!

I just noticed that some of my favorite bloggers have posted four + times since I last read and those are just the ones I follow in my dashboard! Who KNOWS how many times the others I have bookmarked have posted!!

And this weekend I have a lot going on...shooot...I have to finish a quilt block before Saturday that I can't finish Friday 'cause I'll be at the Taste of Home Cooking School Holiday show and I can't do it Thursday 'cause I promised my sister I"d make her cookies and clearly tonight I have to make a blog post because what would I do if I couldn't procrastinate???

Good For What Ails Ya...

I think I have The Plague. But this helps. For certain.

Vintage Thingies (on my stove)

I love vintage kitchen items...especially those of the whimsical variety! These vintage thingies live on my stove.

I think this guy is called Jolly Chef. I like the name anyway! This spoon rest is the newest addition to the stove top family. An egg separator that I picked up at a flea market makes a nice neighbor.And my favorite stove top residents, the anthropomorphic pear S&P shakers. You gotta watch these guys...they tend to get a little rowdy at times!
For more Vintage Thingies, head to Confessions of an Apron Queen.

European Vacation--The Wurstelprater, Vienna. And Yes, I'm Scared of Heights

Tonight, I feel the need to post more of the over one thousand of photos I took in Europe. Oh how I miss you, Vienna!On our last night in Vienna we made our way to the Prater to take a gander at the giant Ferris Wheel. The Prater is a huge park in Vienna and within it is the Wurstelprater, an amusement park.

We arrived when it was just getting dark, so we didn't get to visit the park but we did wander around the Wurstelprater for quite some time.

The park has been described on a couple of Austrian websites as being "seedy" "scruffy" or "filthy". I didn't see that at all. The place was most assuredly neat and tidy and I never felt unsafe or that I was in some seedy part of town.

At the Prater is one Vienna's landmarks and one of the destinations I was most excited about, the giant ferris wheel. As I mentioned it was growing dark as we approached, making my photos a bit on the dark side, but here's a link to a daytime photo.The ferris wheel, or Wiener Riesenrad as it's known in Austria, was originally built in 1896 and is one of the oldest(that's still running) in the world. During WWII it was bombed but rebuilt between 1945-1947. There is a small museum at the entrance which houses several of the gondolas and has historical information about the ferris wheel. Here's the official site for the Riensenrad. It's in German, but there's a link for English....and some more photos from around the park...
Because it is not a Vienna landmark, has no history behind it and is too freakin' tall, I had no desire to ride THIS ferris wheel. But it did make a purty picture.After all my wanting to see it and ride, I almost didn't get on the Riesenrad. I have a slight problem w/heights as in I am scared. of. heights. but I realized I would probably never have the chance again and it was either Jackie or Scott who told me I'd regret not riding. SO I rode.

It wasn't bad, really! See, I'm smiling! Note the absense of my sister? She's even more afraid of heights than I am. The views were amazing! Well worth the fear.

Hot Mamma Apron Swap

I'll admit I am neither hot nor a mamma, but Val let me in on her fun apron swap just the same! Hot drinks for Hot Mamma's was the theme. We were to send our partner an apron to fit the theme of her favorite cool weather beverage and three "little somethings".

I received my swap package from Leah this weekend and it was FABULOUS! She sent me this adorable hot chocolate themed apron. It fit the "hot drinks" theme perfectly and I love it!She sent along a Betty Crocker cookbook, some of her family's favorite hot chocolate, a bag of marshmallows to go with the hot chocolate(yum), a chili kit perfect for the cool weather that we're bound to get sometime soon, and an adorable vintage Frosty the Snowman book! It was Christmas in October, I tell ya! Thanks again Leah!

Here's what I sent to my partner, the ADD Housewife. I couldn't find any fabric that fit in w/her favorite hot drink, apple cider(that didn't have apples on it) so I choose her favorite colors instead and embroidered a cup bearing a hot drink on the pocket to make it fit the theme. I also sent her some additional goodies as well...blue/brown notecards, earrings, various flavors of cocoa and a little "party" cookbook.

Thanks again to Val for hosting this fun fun fun swap!

Now...time for me to get busy on the Sassy Apron Swap apron!

Vintage Thingies Thursday -- Polly Pal

Today's Vintage Thingie is my Polly Pal doll. I was 8-9 in this photo. I loved this doll. I can't remember if Mom made her or if she had her made...regardless, she was one of my favorites. As was Ballerina Barbie who is in my other hand!I have searched and searched and my parents have searched and searched for Polly Pal, but alas, she has gone the way of most of my childhood toys and simply disappeared.

After I began my adventures in sewing I decided to see if I could find a pattern for Polly Pal. I scored this one on ebay!

Decided to try and make her. I've not made it very far. I changed her face a bit 'cause none would ever replace my own Polly. The body wasn't so hard. The clothes and the hair are a much more daunting task. Perhaps I will finish her someday. In the meantime, if y'all come across MY sweet Polly Pal w/her red hair and polka dot dress, send her home, please.

For more Vintage Thingies, head on over to Confessions of an Apron Queen.

Roll Out Sugar Cookies

Last summer I published my own cookbook. I collected recipes from family, friends, and co-workers, added photos, paid a nominal fee and 'viola! I have a cookbook of my very own. I did it on this website.

Lately, I've become addicted to making these sugar cookies that a friend and co-worker told me about. Her recipe(and story about the recipe) is below as it is listed in my cookbook. They are scrumptious as far as sugar cookies go! In fact, I'm making more tomorrow night!

Roll Out Sugar Cookies

Alfreda tells me, "This is our all time favorite cookie, even if it is a

sugar cookie. I got the recipe from a friend at church who had Jules in

Bible School when she was little. I now bake these all the time and

with my kids at school for certain holidays. The dough is the perfect

consistency for cutting out shapes. I usually just use sprinkles

appropriate for each holiday or season instead of the icing before

baking. We love them better like that."

1 cup softened butter ( 2 sticks)

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 tsp. Baking powder

3 cups flour (all-purpose)

Set oven at 375 . Mix all ingredients together. Roll our dough 1/8 in.

thick, beginning with a dusting of flour on the rolling surface. Cut

cookies, decorate with sprinkle candies, place on an air-bake cookie

sheet. Bake for 7 - 8 minutes. Cookies will not look brown or done but

remove them from the oven to cool.

Icing

2 lb. bag powdered sugar

1 cup Crisco

(dash of salt)

1/2 cup hot water

1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix together til smooth.

*Mix with Wilton brand food coloring . Do not use liquid food

coloring as it will make the icing too thin.

***the only thing I have done differently is add a tbs. of milk. I goofed up my first time out and HAD to add milk in order to mix the dough. They turned out yummy despite my goof up and I've added that little bit of milk each time.

The icing on these is soooo good! The black icing you see is store bought Cookie Decorating icing that comes in a handy pouch for decorating. Here's my first attempt at using it to outline a cat. Yeah. Sad, huh?Second try was a little better.

OK. Lipstick Jungle starts in 9 minutes. I'm outta here!

Pure Geek

I've been over at Patty's. She makes me laugh and she posts lots of crafty/stitchy linkyliciousness on her blog. While I was there I found out about the Dork, Nerd, Geek test and took it. My results were...

Pure Geek 39 % Nerd, 57% Geek, 48% Dork Which one are you? Take the test and find out.

Then I read on until I come to this dare:

Instructions:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair - just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.

Post these instructions with the picture.

So I take the photo. But my pic is scary and Halloweenish, not in a good way. So I took three more pics thinking I might just lie and pretend that I took the dare, but then think "I don't wanna lie...where's the fun in that?". And besides I would feel guilty about lying...and that's no lie.

Yeah, pure geek pretty much sums it up.

Bloggy Apron Giveaways!

***THANKS to everyone who entered my giveaway!****
The winners are:
Jingle who said..."These are great! I would most like to win the owl apron. It's a really cute pattern!" Her choice was the owl apron.
AND
Misty who said..."etsy: i can't decide b/twn pink giraffes or toile dogs. :)"Her apron of choice was the funky artsy fartsy one.

I'll be contacting you gals!

It's time for another Bloggy Giveaways Carnival, y'all! WooHoo! These are so much fun!

This time around I'm giving away two aprons! The first is this cafe style Owl Apron, I debated on whether or not to put it in the Etsy shop and ultimately decided it'd be more fun to give it away! So here's a look. It's a one pocket cafe style apron. I love love love this owl print. And for those of you who like your aprons on the wacky and/or recycled side, I'm giving away this artsy-fartsy apron that I made from a 1970's mu-mu/house dress, a dotted swiss window valance and a funky bandanna. If you'd like to win, please leave a comment and tell me which of these aprons you'd most like to tie on...it's as simple as that! You do not have to be a blogger to win, but please leave a way for me to contact you if you do win.

If you'd like to be entered twice you can go to my Etsy shop, have a look around...come back here and tell me which Etsy apron is your favorite in a second comment.

I'll announce and contact the winners on Sunday November 2.

Looking for more giveaways? There' a little something for everyone over on the Bloggy Giveways Carnival ! Bloggers from around the blogsophere are giving away everything under the sun! Head on over to get in on all the action!

OK now, go ahead & give me some apron love.

I can barely contain the excitement!

November 18th, Louisville Palace. Oh yes, I will be there!

Vintage Thingies Thursday -- Vintage Sewing Patterns

I thought I'd share some adorabe craft patterns with y'all today for my vintage thingies. Most of these are from the 70's, so I hope I'm not cheating by calling them "vintage". But dang, they are cute!

I don't know that I'll ever make any of these...but I had to have them!

This summer, I went into a tiny shop in Prague where a sweet lady who didn't speak a lick of English(why should she?) sold toys that she had made by hand. Many of them remind me of these three little guys.I love love love the little owl pillow in this pattern.This one just tickled me when I saw it. I don't know which is cuter, the hippo in his jaunty red cap or the croc wearing glasses!And today I made a quick stop in our local Salvation Army store and picked up several vintage patterns for .29 each. Among them this pelican. It helps the kiddos learn to count! The cutest! And I was pleasantly surprised to find a fish that had been tucked away in the pattern.
For more vintage thingies, head over to The Apron Queen's place.

Back in Business

The is back in business!

Tell your friends! Tell your neighbors! Tell your friend's neighbors that they can go here to buy cute handmade aprons!

More aprons to come over the next few weeks.

***Warning ***Apron Heavy Post***

I am almost ready to reopen my Etsy shop! Woo Hoo! I have several aprons made and now I just need to take measurements and actually sit down and get them listed.

Tonight, I'd rather watch TV. There's a movie starring Harry Connick Jr. on Lifetime that I NEED to watch.

Here's a look at what I've accomplished lately on the sewing front.

My favorite, hands down. For this one I took pieces of different patterns and put them together in a way I liked better than either apron on it's own. Does that make me a designer?I love a simple cafe' apron. Pink giraffes! 'Nuff said! A Smurfy apron. My friend Rhonda has the other one that I didn't photograph. I think hers is way cuter...a cafe style apron w/gingham pocket/waist. Not sure if I want to sellthis one or not. There are a few "age spots"... but it IS over made from a sheet that's over 20 years old after all. Thoughts on selling a sheet turned apron? This is a vintage style pattern using 30's reproduction fabrics. I wasn't happy with the gathered waist treatment as shown for this so I gave it a straight(and I think more flattering) waist. LOVE this pattern.This one is SO much cuter in person. My superskinny mannequin does not do it justice at all. There are pockets on the side in a contrasting fabric.And I think you've seen these before. They've been waiting in the wings a while.Now...Harry calls.