Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now that Christmas is over we are all waiting to usher in the New Year so I am taking this time to catch up on "old" stuff and get ready for the new year. 

I want to wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! And have a wonderful 2015!

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Merry Christmas!!

I am taking this week off from posting as to spend time with family, but I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!! 

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Christmas Cookies

Well we are getting down to crunch time for the Christmas holiday. I have all my packages in the mail and on their way so now I can get busy with the baking! :)

This is my recipe for sugar cookies. I have had this recipe for.... I can't remember how long and these have always been a big hit at Christmas time. I think what makes them so soft is that you use powdered sugar for them. So here is the recipe..........

CREAM TOGETHER:

    1 ½ CUPS OF SIFTED POWDERED SUGAR

    1 CUP BUTTER OR MARGERINE (TUB STYLE)

ADD & BLEND IN:

    1 EGG

    1 TSP VANILLA

    ½ TSP ALMOND EXTRACT

STIR IN:

    2 ½ CUPS OF FLOUR

    1 TSP CREAM OF TARTER

    1 TSP BAKING SODA

REFRIGERATE AT LEAST 2 HOURS. HEAT OVEN TO 375 DEGREES. DIVIDE DOUGH IN HALF-ROLL AND PUNCH OUT COOKIE SHAPES. BAKE APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES.

Frost with your choice of frosting. I use powder sugar frosting. And then...walla....you have sugar cookies! :)

Enjoy the Christmas season and have fun baking!

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Handmade Spotlight - JOY

We all need a little joy now and then, this treasury has a lot of JOY to spread. CLICK HERE to see more details about these items.

Thanks for stopping by,
Deena Davis

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Shopping Handmade

Well the Christmas shopping season is in full swing and for those of you that shop your local craft shows to find that one special handmade items we all thank you. For those of you that sell at these craft shows we thank you also. 

I read this story that I thought I would share with all of you as the shopping season progress along. I thought is was pretty good. 

A lady wanted to purchase a beautiful hand crocheted dress and spotted a crafter who did absolutely amazing work, but she charged a good price too. The lady thought that her price was way too high so she approached the crocheter and in quite a brusk fashion stated "I want to buy a dress from you, but I think you charge too much." The crafter was a little taken aback but replied "Ok, how much do you think i should charge?" The lady replied “I think you should charge “X” much, because the yarn will cost this much, and ribbons this much, and buttons this much. I even factored in the price of scissors." The final price the lady had calculated was a lot cheaper than the crafters original price, but she said "Ok, deal. You will get your dress in a week". The customer is very pleased with herself and can’t resist telling all her friends what a fabulous deal she has negotiated and how smart she is, and that in a week she will have her gorgeous crocheted dress. A week later her parcel arrives in a lovely packaged box. She opens it and inside is yarn, ribbons, buttons and even scissors. Angrily she contacts the crafter asking “How could you do this to me? I asked you for a dress and you sent me a box of yarn, ribbon, buttons and scissors?!" The crafter quietly replies "My dear, you got exactly what you paid for, if you think there is something missing, you need to pay for it." 

I thought this was pretty good and the moral of the story, when you buy handmade you are not just buying the materials you are buying the crafters, time, effort, love and dedication that goes into making your items. 

Have fun shopping!

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Handmade Spotlight - Gift Giving Ideas Ornaments and More

What a great group of handmade holiday items. Wouldn't these look great on your tree or possibly somewhere else in your home?

You can see everything in  greater detail by clicking here.

Thank you for stopping by,
Deena Davis
www.ewenmeprintables.com

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Time To Start Decorating

So did all of you eat wayyyyyyy to much for Thanksgiving? I know we sure did. We always eat too much, but it always tastes so good. It takes so long to make it and then....whamo....it is gone in 10 minutes! :)

Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time to start decorating for the Christmas season (and yes I wait until it is over to start decorating. :)) I don't decorate as much as I use to as when my kids were still at home, but I do a little of it. Now my daughter is the decorator! She does great!

This week we are going to learn how to decorate a Christmas wreaths. I found this video from The Flower School/YouTube online and thought some of you might like it if you are looking for idea to decorate a Christmas wreath. :)






Have fun!!
Colleen :)
Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries
Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving has so many traditional dishes and lots of good eating. Of course most of us wayyyyyy overeat on this day. I know we do. I thought I would peruse the web and see what I could find on traditional recipes from turkeys to pumpkin pies. Hope you enjoy. 


So what is the most important food for your Thanksgiving meal? Is it dressing? That certainly is my family's and this recipe from Can't Stay Out of The Kitchen is the exact same one that I use. :)  I have to make lots and lots of this. 

Now of course we have to have gravy with our turkey and when my mom was alive she made the best gravy. I can't make very good gravy so now I cheat......jar gravy for us. I know, I know....how terrible! Here is a recipe from What's Gaby Cooking that you use the pan drippings. I guess I could give it a try again....NOT! :)

Then there is the traditional cranberry sauce. Oh no here we go again......I use the canned cranberry sauce. Man I don't do anything right do I! LOL! :) Closet Cooking has a pretty easy looking recipe for this. 

Then there is the finale to all that eating you did......pumpkin pie. I have to make several of these so they last a few days and yes......I do make these from scratch! Yeah.....did something right. :)  Over at HGTV they have this recipe for the perfect pumpkin pie. 

So no matter what you eat on Thanksgiving enjoy it and have a great time celebrating with family and friends!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Handmade Spotlight - It's Snowing

Have you gotten any snow this week? Here in central Ohio we got about 3.5 inches and it's SO SO COLD, it feels like January. To celebrate the snow and cold I've found a great treasury on etsy featuring all things snow related.

You can CLICK HERE to see everything up close.

Enjoy your day!
Deena Davis
www.ewenmeprintables.com

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Oreo Cookies Treats

Do you need a really cute idea for Thanksgiving table settings that the kids can help with? If so, I was emailed this recipe from Safeway and thought what a great idea!! Now my kids and grandkids don't live close to be able to help me make these, but I am sure plenty of you are fortunate to have them around to help. I haven't tried them yet, but they do look cute. 

INGREDIENTS

• 6 OREO Cookies • 1-oz. semisweet baking chocolate, melted •  30 pieces candy corn • 6 chocolate malted milk balls • 6 small hot cinnamon candies

DIRECTIONS

1. Separate each cookie, leaving all the cream filling on one half of each. Set filling topped halves aside. 2. Use small amount of melted chocolate to attach 5 candy corn pieces, pointed sides down, to each plain cookie half for the turkey's tail. Refrigerate 5 min. or until chocolate is firm. 3. Attach malted milk ball to center of each filling topped cookie half with melted chocolate for the turkey's body. Use dot of melted chocolate to attach cinnamon candy to each body for the head. 4. Attach turkey tails to bodies with remaining melted chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.

RECIPE TIPS How to Separate Cookies To easily separate cookies, refrigerate for 15 min. before carefully twisting cookie top from cookie bottom so that the cream remains entirely on one half of the cookie. Use a knife to smooth filling if necessary. Let us know how they turned out!                             Colleen:)                              Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries                     Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Sunday Blog Party - Show Us Your Handmade Items

Welcome to our Sunday Blog Party. We would for you to show us your...
 Handmade Items.

You are allowed to add 3 links to your shops or your blog.

The rules are simple:
1. Follow our blog
2. Handmade items only.
3. You may list up to 3 items each week.
4. Family friendly items only.

The success of this link party depends on the participants so spread the word to your friends, visit the shops,  post about it on your  blog, in a forum or on your favorite social networking site, grab the button and put it on your blog or website.
Just click on the Add Your Link button below and add your items.
And if you would like to add a link to the party you can grab this button below.

<a href="http://www.byyourhands.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy110/ByYourHands/blogparty.jpg">, </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Turkey Centerpieces Tutorials

Getting closer to the USA holiday of Thanksgiving. Most Thanksgiving tables have turkey for the meal so I thought I would look for some centerpieces that you can make for your table that revolve around turkeys. I must say I found quite a few cute ones. Here are a few that I found....


Here is a cute turkey centerpiece from Bowl of Stamps. This would be nice for the center of your table. 

For all you quilters out there here is a great tutorial for a quilt block from MattandShari that I thought would be nice to set on your table and maybe put a bowl on top of. I know it isn't a turkey, but I loved the colors and the looks of it. :)

Now my children are all grown and gone, but I know a lot of you still have your kids at home and if you are like we were the kids had their own table to sit at since we had such big family get togethers. If you do here are some neat kids crafts that you could use for their table from Get Creative Juice.

And then here is another great idea from Martha Stewart. She always has such neat decorating ideas. :)

So whether you have a big festive Thanksgiving dinner or just a small intimate one it is always nice to decorate your table with all the great ideas of "Turkey Day". 

Happy creating!

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Sunday Blog Party - Show Us Your Handmade Items

Welcome to our Sunday Blog Party. We would for you to show us your...
 Handmade Items.

You are allowed to add 3 links to your shops or your blog.

The rules are simple:
1. Follow our blog
2. Handmade items only.
3. You may list up to 3 items each week.
4. Family friendly items only.

The success of this link party depends on the participants so spread the word to your friends, visit the shops,  post about it on your  blog, in a forum or on your favorite social networking site, grab the button and put it on your blog or website.
Just click on the Add Your Link button below and add your items.
And if you would like to add a link to the party you can grab this button below.

<a href="http://www.byyourhands.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy110/ByYourHands/blogparty.jpg">, </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Handmade Spotlight - Thanksgiving Decor

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.  This group of  handmade items really captures the essence of Thanksgiving. Stop by and see these items by CLICKING HERE.

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Making Thanksgiving Centerpieces

Thanksgiving for our USA friends is a special time of year to be thankful for all the wonderful things we have. Many people get together with family and friends to have a great meal and as some of us do wayyyyyy over eat! :)  And then there is the day full of football if you like to watch the games as we do. 

I thought it would be nice to make some a new centerpieces for your Thanksgiving table. I am not real good at doing this so I thought we would visit "Martha" today and watch this video on how to make a beautiful centerpieces with flowers. 



I don't know if we have any of these flowers locally up here, but I think some of you might. :)

Have fun creating!
Colleen :) Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Sunday Blog Party - Show Us Your Handmade Items

Welcome to our Sunday Blog Party. We would for you to show us your...
 Handmade Items.

You are allowed to add 3 links to your shops or your blog.

The rules are simple:
1. Follow our blog
2. Handmade items only.
3. You may list up to 3 items each week.
4. Family friendly items only.

The success of this link party depends on the participants so spread the word to your friends, visit the shops,  post about it on your  blog, in a forum or on your favorite social networking site, grab the button and put it on your blog or website.
Just click on the Add Your Link button below and add your items.
And if you would like to add a link to the party you can grab this button below.

<a href="http://www.byyourhands.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i782.photobucket.com/albums/yy110/ByYourHands/blogparty.jpg">, </a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Celebrate Handmade

The OFG Etsy Team is having a a celebration.

Click on the graphic above to see all the new and wonderful creations.

Or type in BICOFG on the Etsy search bar.

This fun celebration runs now thru November 9th!

 Here is a sample of some of the great handmade items. 

Stop back and see us again,

Deena Davis

www.ewenmeprintables.com

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries: Almost November

Well Halloween is this week and after all the festivities of that day we will be on to November and what is November.....Thanksgiving! Well for all of our USA friends that is. :)

I thought I would start with some decorating ideas for the Thanksgiving holiday. 


Now I definitely don't have a table like this or the size of table, but I am sure many of you do so I thought this is really a nice centerpiece for a table. FarAboveRubies has some really nice centerpieces to check out.

Fall leaves are always good for fall decorating and what is nice is that you can carry them over to Thanksgiving decorating also. Here is a great idea to use jars and battery lights from MumsMakeList.

I am sure many of you have fireplaces with mantels and if you do those are always nice places to do lots of neat decorating. This mantel decorations from AmericanProfile shows a great way to decorate that mantel. And it looks pretty easy. 

Then if you are me I always like goofy and whimsical things to put on the door and JustPlainAdorable has this really cute door hanger! I just love it!

So if you like to go all out for Thanksgiving or just put a few items around there are so many ideas you can come up with. This is just a few of the many. 

Have fun decorating! 

Colleen :)

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries

Needles-n-Pins Stitcheries Blog

Jacquie's Up-Cycle Nation: Old Farmhouse Gathering Halloween

Halloween primitives embody the up-cycle spirit!  The Etsy group, The Old Farmhouse Gathering, has been busy fashioning primitive pumpkins, dolls, and décor made to look old by incorporating vintage notions, fabric scraps, and found items. Here is just a small sampling of the talented artisans from Team OFG.

 

 

 

To view more fabulous work from the Old Farmhouse Gathering search OFG on Etsy.

LOVE  &  UP-CYCLE NATION!!

 

Jacquie Wheeler

Hand of Bela Peck

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Handofbelapeck?ref=si_shop
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BelaPeckHome

http://handofbelapeck1759.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hand-of-Bela-Peck/294397987277061?ref=hl