Category: Sewing

Concert, Craft and Cookie Exchange Day!

Hi folks, it’s Krisgo here– Today is my annual cookie exchange day with a small group of family and friends. (Which is why it’s been a little dry for posts this weekend) Thought you’d like to know some of the details that make a party like this work. We’ve been doing it for about 15+ years.

First, what are you wanting out of it?? Us? We want cookies (enough to take to work, or present at our holiday parties: at least a good tray’s worth of variety) With a small group like ours, 8-10 people, 2 batches seems to be enough if the cookies are small.

Question: Do I ask that the guests bake and bring the cookies ahead of time? No. not anymore. It’s much more fun to bring the dough, or ingredients and bake them at the party. (plus the cookies are fresher). One exception is me… since I’m hosting the party, I always make fudge the day ahead. Here are the varieties I’ve made for this year:

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Candy Bar Fudge: always a hit. This time I did a Reese’s PB Cup and a Twix version. (It’s what was on sale!)

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Cotton Candy Fudge: I made mine simple and topped with some cotton candy jelly beans that were on sale. A special treat for the kids.

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Butter Pecan Fudge: a new favorite from my friend Sue at work – she brought these in and I ate way too many- they are soooo good. And really very easy – less than 10 min to make.

Also, we want to have some fun. Maybe play a game. A simple game. Like a get to know you game if there are several new people to the group. (Us, we are a little past this point… we all know each other very well. But occasionally, someone will bring a new face – like this year, my daughter might bring a new college friend.)

Is it only cookies?? NO!! We want something else to take home… A couple of years we did an (inexpensive) ornament exchange. Bring a wrapped ornament and we played a simple dice game to get your prize. What’s better though is to craft something at the party. Something easy, and fun. This year, I’m having the guests make 2 ornaments. (More on these later) I Special note: know your guests…. last year we made the cardinal ornaments.. They did turn out lovely – BUT some people have no patience for sewing! (New party rule, no sewing!! haha)

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Don’t forget to feed you’re guests too -Of course, we’ll have some cookies to sample (don’t forget the milk!) We always have a big pot of chili. I make a very easy, mild chili. I always think, there are so many different flavors going on with all the cookies, so a mild chili is perfect for dinner. Basically, I use: 2 lbs cooked hamburger, 2 packets of chili seasoning, 2 cans of kidney beans, one light and one dark, 2 cans of tomato chunks, and enough tomato sauce to make it to a desirable consistency.

So, by now, you may be wondering where the ‘concert’ part of the title fits in…. well it just so happens that the local high school is putting on a concert today at 2pm. (My son is in the band) So I’ve invited everyone to come to the concert first, then to come on over for the cooking and crafting. I’m excited!!!

As always, thanks for visiting doitandhow. I really enjoy it and i hope you do too–and most of all I hope it inspires you to try a few crafts or recipes that are new to you.  I’ll post some pics of the party and more recipes afterwards.

Rag Quilting: UPDATE!

I’ve made my first rag quilt. (Yay!)  It’s a baby quilt….. It’s not even really big enough for a crib, jut a receiving blanket type quilt. It measures roughly 25″ X 25″. Instructions were first posted on doitandhow HERE.

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I bought fabric cotton remnants of 2 patterns, and one color for the back in pink flannel. I cut the remnants and flannel into 6″ X 6″ squares. Instead of using a fabric batting, I picked up a roll of thin quilt batting and cut 5″ X 5″ squares. I pinned them so: right side down pink, batting, right side up remnant. I made 36 of these (18 of each pattern). I sewed all with an X shape right along the edge of the batting . Then in alternating pattern (a,b,a,b,a,b) I sewed them so that the seam would show on the remnant side. I made 6 lines of 6 blocks each. Then sewed the lines together the same way; making sure I ended up with a checkerboard pattern of the remnant fabrics. I then cut snips along all the edges, to encourage the rag effect. Afterwards I decided to fold over the side edges for a more permanent looking edging. Then sent it through 2 loads in the washer and dryer to help get those edges to ‘rag’ up.

Thoughts:

This is by far the easiest quilt I’ve ever made. (It’s also the smallest, so that might have something to do with it too!!)

The cutting of the squares took the longest, and that was even using a rotary cutter and mat.

If I knew I was going to fold over the edges for the more finished look, I would’ve made the edge squares longer to accommodate that. You can tell in the photos that the edge squares are no longer squares.

I’m looking forward to making more quilts like this! Maybe with a pattern though, like this one.

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Pocket Pals Hand Warmers

Awesome stocking stuffers: Poly-fleece shapes filled with rice. Sew up the edges. Just pop these little cuties in the microwave for 30 seconds and then slip them into coat pockets to keep hands warm for up to an hour. Great way to use those scraps! via pinterest.