Weekending-The Last One Of 2013

This weekend was a busy one, but again, no panorama of photos.

On Saturday I spent most of the day rehearsing for the show that opens tomorrow night.  It's coming together nicely.  After that I went to Costco and got cheese and butter and other Costco-ian items.  I got home just in time for R to take Li to The Hobbit while O and I hung out.

Yesterday, I spent the day dyeing, cutting fabric, tidying up the craft/TV room(boy does that room get real wild real fast) and last night we watched Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone.  It was my kids first time to see it, and seeing it through their eyes made me enjoy it much more than I did when I watched it over a decade ago.

And, for those of you that have a burning desire to know, I DID end up making those Christmas cookies.  And NO, they did not kill me.

Hmm, Food Friday?

Can this weeks food friday be about how much I love Christmas cookies?  I think that's what it'll be about.

I love Christmas cookies.  I mean, they have fun shapes.  And they are cookies.  So, where can you go wrong in that?  Except, well, I haven't actually MADE Christmas cookies in a few years.  This years dough is still in the fridge.  I am watching a couple of extra monkeys today, so maybe we will roll out the dough and make cookies.

My Sis in Law-Rachael-Makes a great Christmas cookie.  I will be trying her recipe this year.  And hopefully, since it has no milk or egg in it, it won't kill us since it's been sitting in the fridge for a few days.  If I die, know that it was a Christmas cookie that killed me, and it was delicious.

Workin' It 12/26/2013

Yesterday was Christmas and we had a lovely day with family, so this week, I will post my works today instead of Wednesday!

I hand painted some shirts this week.


I made these shirts to go with the pajama pants that I made for the boys.  O wanted Star Trek, Li Star Wars.  I did a image search and drew the images with a marking pencil before I painted.  I think I did a pretty good job.

   This one we did for my mom.  O and Li's hands are the antlers, Ray's thumb is the nose, my thumbs are the eyes and ears.  It turned out way cute!

This I made for a fellow Whovian friend of mine.  Again, I did an image search, penciled on the image, then painted with t-shirt paint.  I have plans to make one for myself too.

I also finished up the boys Christmas socks...They both say that they are very comfy.

While Lego-ing was happening, I took the opportunity to ply some yarn.

 I plan on cable plying these two together today.

Lego-ing in their new jimmijams.

And I had a bit of a Christmas day knitters tragedy.  When we headed to my dads house, I grabbed up my shawl which you may see I have made my way towards the yellow on, and we went on our sleepy and merry way.  We get there, I greet everyone, and I sit to knit.  I knit one row-and then-my needle tip separated from the cable.  I sat there and tried to ootch the cable back throughout the dangling stitches but there was just a little bump of glue on the end that made it hard to do.  Then I had a bright Idea-'Daaaaad?  Do you have any shish kabob skewers?'.  Luckily, he did.  So I ootched the stitches onto one.  However, as I did that, I lost MORE stitches, so needed another skewer to save them as well.  So, this week, I am gonna have to spend some time correcting this mistake.  I am sad not only because there are over a hundred stitches that need saving, but because this was only the 3rd or 4th project that I have done on these needles.  I really liked them too!

Weekending-12/21-12/22

I have no panorama of pictures from this past weekend.  It was a pretty normal one.

I had rehearsal on Saturday morning and went shopping with my mom to help her pick out what she was getting for the boys.  Yesterday, the boys participated in the church Christmas program and it was nice and simple.  Instead of recreating the story with them in costumes, they read from scripture and had a felt board type thing that they moved figures on to show the different scenes.  Both of them did very well and despite their coughs, were well heard.  I felt bad for one of their church chums, because he was obviously afraid of being up in front of a big group of people.  But, even though you couldn't understand what he was saying, he still did it and I gotta give him props for that.

Yesterday I also went to The Knitting Fairy, a yarn shop in a town near here and joined their knitting circle for the afternoon.  I worked on my projects and one knitter had a birthday and brought some fabulous cupcakes that she substituted coconut oil for the vegetable oil that the recipe called for.  They were really delicious.  I had a lot of fun and was surprised that the time passed so quickly.  I was tempted by some of her lovely yarn, but did not succumb to the temptation.

Last night we watched the live action Grinch movie.  I thought it was merely okay.  I much prefer the old school cartoon.

Tonight, plans include Christmas cookies and It's a Wonderful Life.

Happy Christmas Ya'll!

Boxed Macaroni and Cheese

This is a post about how to make your boxed mac n cheese taste a little fancier.  It is never gonna taste like to bona fide home made baked stuff, but it can get better!

Here are some tricks that we employ-

1.  Reverse the milk and butter quantities.  i.e. If your box says 'Add 3 Tbsp Milk and 2 Tbsp Butter' then do the opposite.  Such a simple modification and it really makes it taste yummier.

2.  Add plain yogurt instead of the milk.  This makes the mac n cheese taste cheesier according to my boys.

3.  Add 1/4 cup grated cheese or parmesan to the mix when you are stirring it all together.

4.  Add just a touch of your personal seasoning-like basil, dill, chili powder, etc.

5.  Add a little meat, like a couple of hot dogs, a can of tuna, some cooked ground beef, or some diced cooked chicken breast.

Comment on this blog with things that you like to do to fancy up YOUR boxed mac n cheese.

I am off to study lines for rehearsal tomorrow and knit for Christmas!

Workin' It Wednesday, December 18

Hey team Brazen!  This week I have been working on the shawl that I started last week.
Got to the pink, but that has been on the back burner the last 2 days so I could make...

This Ribbed Hat for someone out of some Berrocco Comfort that I had banging around in the stash.

 And I also started sock 4 of 4 for my boys for Christmas.

We are gearing up for Christmas and I am having my knit group's Christmas party here tomorrow night and my living room is all torn apart.  So I know what I will be doing tomorrow!

Weekending, Dec 14/15

This weekend we had our only weekend of shows for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever due to the prior weekends inclement weather.

 I made Liam's hair look like this for every performance for his portrayal for Ollie Herdman.

 My mom, dad, Li, and I.  O had disappeared because I told him he had to change clothes if he wanted to eat the candy bar my dad had bought for him.

Everyone else is smiling, but O is busily chewing on his candy bar.

Most of the cast of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever 2013 Edition.

 Happy Herdmans...

 Mean Herdmans...

I am back to real life just in time for the Holidays and for the next show I am doing, Cash On Delivery.

Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies

These are a favorite of Otha's and are delicious while still warm and gooey and fresh.

What You're Gonna Need:
-a cookie sheet
-small baking cups
-'classic bag' of Reeses Miniature Peanut Butter Cups
-Peanut Butter Cookie Dough (refrigerated, homemade, betty crocker cookie bags-whichever.  I get the bagged cookie mix that makes 3 dozen cookies)

This makes 3 dozen cookies.

Spread out your small baking cups, then get ya a spoon outta your drawer and spoon dough into your cups like so...

 Cook at 375 Degrees for about 10 minutes.

While they are in the oven, peel your mini PB cups.  Make sure you get the inner paper off-some of those sneaky things have 2 papers on them.

 This is what they're gonna look like when you take them outta the oven.

 Then, quickly push the PB cups into the center of the cookies.

 And this is what they look like when they're done.

Let them cool for a few minutes, and then enjoy the melty chocolate peanut butter combination.

Workin' It Wednesday-12/11/2013

This week I sewed 3 aprons, made a TARDIS mouse, finished sock 3 of 4, started a shawl, and started some crochet squares.

The Aprons...

Cute owl apron available for giveaway in an earlier post...

 Mrs. Slocums apron for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever...

 And Mrs. Clarks apron for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.(With the lovely Meagan in her costume)

I knit the most random thing I have ever knit.  It's a TARDIS Mouse.

 That's right-That's what you read-A TARDIS Mouse.  I knit it up in one afternoon with my young friend Brynana in mind.  It's random and nerdy-just like her.

Finished tube sock 3 of 4 for Christmas...

Started some granny squares for an acquaintance that has a teen in the hospital.  I followed this VIDEO that made it possible for this knitter to learn a new trick.  I would like to make 6-8 more of them before I send them on to be pieced into the larger blanket.

And last, I started this Harry Shawl last night out of some Little Monkey Stitch and Spin gradient yarn in the color way 'Flame'.

Small Business Saturday

The Saturday after Black Friday is called 'Small Business Saturday' and I did my part this year to support small business.


I got this bag

 And this woven scarf (just in the nick of time for the cold weather) from Tracy at TraftyCracy on etsy.  I love her bags as much as my own.

 I got these stitch markers and this cool stitch marker holder necklace at Little Monkey Stitch and Spin.  Bonus points-she's a fellow Texan.

 I got this bumper sticker from Zippy Pins to replace the one that the Texas sun has destroyed on our 4Runner.

 And this skein of yarn

 and this braid from Gritty Knits.  Also, a fellow Texan.

I feel very spoiled!  And these are all things that will bring me hours of enjoyment.

Weekending, Icepocalypse 2013

This weekend did not go as planned.  It was supposed to be our opening weekend of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  However, starting Thursday night through Friday morning it rained and sleeted and got pretty cold for around here.  Friday and Saturday it did not even get above 32 degrees and it was pretty cloudy.  Our street was a solid sheet of ice until yesterday afternoon.  So, most of the theaters around here were dark for safety reasons.  Because, driving on ice is not like driving on snow.  And around here, since the roads tend to melt down during daylight, the road crews only salt the big ol' bridges.

Frankly, I was surprised at just how quickly the freeze happened.  We were out on Thursday evening at the kids theatre classes and our play was canceled that night.  I thought it was unnecessary because it had just been 80 degrees the day before and it wasn't really raining or anything-it was just sort of misty.  So, we head home after class ends at 7 and all was fine,  UNTIL we crossed over a wee little bridge over a creek and slid a little.  It was then that I changed my mind about the severity of the weather.

So, this was our weekend...
Backyard playing

 Front yard playing...

 Daddy helping...

 Coming up the hill...

 Dog Torturing...

 Christmas Tree decorating...

 Cat Torturing...

 Ice Carving...

 Lotsa lights...

 Singing songs...

December Giveaway-Christmas Owl Apron.

Hey all!  It's time for the December giveaway here at Brazen Stitchery!

This months giveaway is a super cute Christmas themed owl apron.  I made this out of pre washed cotton and it is sassy cute!

 This is my 'Are you taking a picture' face.

 Detail on the apron front.

How to Enter:

If you'd like to enter to win this apron, go to Brazen Stitchery , find a listing you love, and write about it in the comment section below. You can get extra entries by sharing on Facebook, tweeting, or joining the Ravelry group -Just come back and put a comment for each 'extra' that you do!

I will pick a winner December 16, 2013.



Cat Not Included.