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This is brilliant. Decluttering in mini steps. Download a calender with one small daily task at My Simpler Life.
MANY thanks!

Top Ten Hand Quilting Tips

I love hand quilting. I love to sit and stitch. I love the way hand quilting looks. But my hands and wrists can't take much of it. Some of my solutions:

1. Machine quilt structural lines. Sew around the borders of blocks. Then add a bit of hand quilting where it really shows.
2. Hand quilt every other item. I just stitched around 56 yo-yos, instead of all 121! The back of the quilt looks adorable, too.
3. Set a goal of stitching half an hour a day. Leave the project out near your favorite chair. Throw it in the car, and do it while waiting in the dentist office. You'd be amazed how far you can get with just a few minutes a day!
4. Wear a wrist brace. It helps a lot.
5. Takes lots of breaks. Get up and walk around, roll your shoulders and stretch your arms.
6. Use a new high quality needle. I am loving the size 8 milliner needles by John James. They fit my hands. Experiment, and find the needle that works for you. Just found some size 8 milliner needles at my Mom's that were my Grandmas. We had the same thumb. Hmmmmm.
7. Set up extra lamps to avoid squinting.
8. Baste with safety pins, saving yourself some time and some hand stitching.
9. Personalize your quilt. Add a name, a birthday, a quote. Just draw it on with a marking pencil that washes out, and that is heat-safe in case you find yourself ironing.
10. Use cotton thread. Your quilt might be around in the next century!

Almost Done!

Five days, five pairs of pajama pants!
Tip: Use a scrap to make a 2" x 1/4" strip. Use this to make a loop. Tuck  it onto the back of the waistband to mark the back of the pants!
Hope you are enjoying your holiday sewing projects.

Holiday Salad

Holiday Salad

• 2 C green cabbage, shredded or chopped
• 2 C red cabbage, shredded or chopped
• 1 C dried cranberries
• 1/4 C red onions, diced
• 1/3 C vegetable oil
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1/3 C cider vinegar
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 package feta cheese
• 1 C chopped pecans or walnuts

Combine everything but the feta and nuts, Marinate 3 hours, then drain the liquid. Add the cheese and nuts.
Good up to 5 days!
Many thanks to my sister and her friend who share recipes!

Advent Calender

  

Here is a last minute advent calender for everyone who had Christmas sneak up on them. I made this in under 2 hours, which included coordinating events with our schedule. Each of the 25 spools has a piece of paper coiled around it, containing an advent activity. Then they were 'wrapped' with ribbons, and numbered with a sticker.

Here are my family's activities:

1. Decorate for Christmas and drink peppermint hot chocolate.
2. Make a card, and write a special message to the person of your choice.
3. Pick out a Christmas tree.
4. Decorate the tree and drink eggnog.
5. Bake a batch of Christmas cookies.
6. Family game night!
7. Make doughnuts.
8. Bake another batch of Christmas cookies and share with the neighbors.
9. Is the sky clear? Try star gazing, or, if not clear, go for a nighttime walk with your lanterns. Take along hot chocolate.
10. Make fudge.
11. Make a list of ten things you are thankful for. Hang it where you can see it every day.
12. Sing carols.
13. Sleep under the Christmas tree. Read together.
14. Breakfast in bed!
15. Make paper snowflakes and decorate the windows.
16. Go to a Christmas concert.
17. Make chocolate covered pretzels.
18. Make and hang edible gifts for the birds and squirrels.
19. Go look at the Christmas lights.
20. Wrapping party! Watch a Christmas movie.
21. Observe the winter solstice with an outdoor campfire.
22. Go sledding-or watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas.
23. Ski or ice skate!
24. Make dog cookies for Opus.
25. It’s Christmas Day. Remember you have a family who loves you.

I was inspired by these Creative Advent Calenders, and want to thank everyone for their ideas: http://www.flickr.com/groups/561389@N24/

I can't believe it's been 3 years since I posted this! I am happy to share this with the Where Women Create group 

Perfect Pie Crust

Craig’s Pie Crust(and he follows the recipe!)

•  Keep fats cold and firm: coat the flour, don’t let flour absorb warm fat.
•  Add only cold liquid to flour and fat mix.
• Use a pastry blender with rigid blades rather than flexible wires.
• Start with (firmer) butter, then add (softer) shortening. ( Avoid overworking the softer fat and creating a mealier shortbread type dough).
•  Add liquid slowly and only enough to make mixture adhere. Avoid crumbly dough or a sticky dough.
• Rest and chill the dough before rolling.
• Keep work surface lightly floured at all times so the dough will slide along.
• Put dough in pie plate and chill it before baking. This solidifies the fat and allows the gluten to rest.
•  For a flaky, crisp texture, blend the fat less intimately into the flour before adding the liquid, so the fragments of fat are like peas.

Flo Braker’s Classic Pie Crust, from the Sacramento Bee

Makes one 9 in. pie crust

1 cup unsifted all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

2 ½ Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled

1/3 cup chilled Crisco

3-4 Tbsp ice water(Stef’s Mom adds ice to water to chill it)

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Divide cold butter into 6-8 pieces and scatter them over the flour. With pastry blender, cut in butter until largest pieces remaining are the size of peas. Divide shortening into 6-8 pieces and scatter them over the butter-flour mix; cut in with a pastry blender until fragments of shortening range from the size of bread crumbs to lima beans.

Pour ice water into a liquid cup measure. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp evenly over flour mix, using a fork to toss and distribute moisture. Add more ice water until mix is moist enough to stick together.

With your hands, gather the moistened particles together, using the side of the bowl to shape it. Transfer it onto a sheet of plastic wrap, press into a round, flat disc, wrap. Massage its surface into a cohesive round, flat disk about 4 ½ inches across. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Or wrap in foil and freeze for up to one month.)

Roll on a lightly floured surface, lifting and rotating dough a one eighth turn clockwise to keep the dough circular. Roll from the middle away from you but never roll off the edges. This makes thin edges which easily stick to surface and tear the dough. Roll until 1/8 inch thick, about 12-13” in diameter. Drape over the rolling pin, then ease into baking pan. Carefully fit against the pan to remove any air bubbles. Trim the dough with scissors to give a uniform overhang, about ¾”. Fold the overhang under to form two layers of pastry(like making a hem on clothes). Flute the edges.

Refrigerate until time for filling and baking.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

I got the original recipe from Libby's-but I can't follow a recipe to save my life! Here is my version:

2 c flour
1/4 c flax seed meal
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1 and 3/4 c sugar
1 T pumpkin pie spice(or a dash from ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and a lot of cinnamon)
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c veg oil
2 c peeled, finely chopped apples

• Combine flour, sugar, spice, soda, salt in a large bowl. 
• Combine eggs, pumpkin and oil in a separate bowl. 
• Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Stir in apples. 
• Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin pans. Sprinkle Streusel topping over batter. 
• Bake at 350 for 25+ minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Streusel Topping:
2 T flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
4 t butter

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.