Leaping Backwards A Bit. Part Two

Still February 29!

Leaping backwards to December and 

my White Christmas Tag Swap 2

The first White Christmas Tag Swap, in December 2010, was so much fun that I just had to do it again for 2011! Wonderful swappers and so many gorgeous Christmas tags!

Chris - Perfectly Printed

 Dawn B

 Dawn T

Jackye

Jessica

Jonnelle

Kathy

Kimberly

Lisa

Susan

Wanda

Wendy - with a crocheted ornament too!

And my tag too!

Hosting this swap was every bit as much fun as the first one in December 2010.  I want to do it one more time, but it'll be better if we can get the tags made before Thanksgiving. It's such a busy time of year. If you'd like to join the 2012 White Christmas Tag Swap, just let me know - and put it on your calendar. Nothing like planning ahead - especially when I'm just now posting the photos!

Leaping Backwards A Bit. Part One

Is it OK to Make a Backwards Leap on Februay 29 - Leap Day?!

How about all the way back to Christmastime? I can hardly believe that I didn't get my Christmas swaps posted back in December, or at least in January! And now, it's just barely still February! Worst of all, it must be in the 80s today, although it was down in the 40s just a day or two ago. 

Despite the weather, I'm thinking snow while looking (again) at these beautiful Christmas swaps ........

Cindy's House Ornament Swap

Cindy, of Rickrack and Gingham, always has such creative ideas for her swaps! Wouldn't want to miss one of them, and I really, really loved this one.  So much fun to make the little houses - and then to see  what kind the others made! Of course, hanging them up to decorate was the best part!

Sweet Bee of  Sweet Bee's Cottage made a wonderful beehive! 

A sweet cottage from Becky of Sweet Cottage Dreams

Renee's cute house and tag - My Vintage Mending

Paula's Palace of AltAred Art - Paula's house on wheels

 Cindy, our swap hostess, sewed these cute houses 

of gingham, with rickrack trim, of course!

Cozy Blanket (Debby)'s cozy cottage

And here's mine! I didn't want to make a log cabin, 

so made a candy cottage instead.

The backs of all of these are just as cute as the fronts, I believe.  It was so much fun, both to make the houses and to receive all these darling house ornaments from these lovely swappers.  Thank you so much, Cindy, for hosting this wonderful swap!

It's still February - and Love is (still) in the Air!

Love is in the Air Tag Swap

Jacqueline Reed, Swap Hostess

My last Valentine swap - just squeaking in here at almost the end of the month! Jackye was a new member of our White Christmas tag swap in December, and kindly offered to host the Valentine swap. Great job, Jackye! 

All the tags are so beautiful - thanks so much to all the swappers! 

Jeanelle, Jackye, Tami

June, Jonnelle, Maija

Jane, Dawn, Jeanne

Lisa, Laurie, Jessica

Chris - back- both sides are so pretty!

 

 Chris - front

Valentine tags might be the most fun of all! 

More Valentines!

Kimberly's Valentine ATC Swap

Really enjoyed swapping ATCs! Just a "little" slow posting about the swap!  In spite of all my good intentions, I don't seem to keep up very well.

My ATCs 

All five of mine were basically the same, with just a few slight variations.

Look at the beautiful ATCs I received!

Mercedes Scott (http://mercedesscott.typepad.com) - Butterfly Kisses - such a sweet wrapper!                      

My Cup of Tea (www.donnascupoftea.blogspot.com)

Debbie Kayner 

Sugar - by Peace Schuyler (theheartofpeace.blogspot.com)

And our wonderful hostess, Kimberly (ArtJoyStuff.blogspot.com)

Kimberly also sent us a darling domino charm!  

It was such a great swap!  Thanks, girls, for making these beautiful ATCs! Love them!  And, thank you  so much, Kimberly, for hosting another terrific swap!  I'm so happy I was able to participate!

p.s. My photos, which aren't so good to begin with, are not showing up as I thought they would - Sorry! I'd try to fix it but it's time for "Downton Abbey" now!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mini Candy Bar Wrappers from U-Create

It seems I've lost a month or so!  What happened to January?!

Cozy Blanket's Valentine Heart Swap - Debby's heart -- so sweet!  I love it!

Along with a big birthday party, and  some other things, plus January laziness, I've been working on swaps like crazy! Had to complete one rather large swap - more about that later - and then onto the Valentine swaps. Just three Valentine swaps this year, but they were all fun!

The heart I sent Debby - mine was paper, although most were fabric. 

I forgot to take a photo before mailing my heart, so I was very happy to see it on Cozy Blanket today!  Thanks for swapping with me, Debby!

I bought this heart at a craft fair last November. Hope to learn how to make them 

before next Valentine's Day!

We've had a wonderfully mild winter so far, but the last couple of days were cold and dreary.  I took these photos this morning before going to my daughter's school to help with her book fair, so they're rather dark. I need to learn to take better photos!

Hope to post pictures of the other two Valentine swaps tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

January 6 - The Twelfth Day of Christmas

Twelfth Night - Twelfth Day - Epiphany

Today's the Twelfth Day of Christmas, but some call tonight Twelfth Night while others call last night Twelfth Night! Maybe better just to call it Epiphany. At any rate, it's the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Carnival if you live in certain areas, which I don't. 

A couple of years ago a friend and I decided to try making King Cakes. That was fun! We made three for Epiphany + three crowns for those who found the tiny plastic baby in their slice of cake.  They were the Three Kings for the night.  

Forgot to take a picture after I'd transferred it to a clean plate!

 Then I think we made a couple more of the cakes for the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper - Mardi Gras!  Guess we got it out of our system because neither of us made the cakes last year and as far as I know we have no plans for this year. It was one of those things that's fun to do once!

Time to take down my Christmas tree and decorations now!

Christmas Baking

Christmas Cookies

Baking cookies has been a part of our Christmas celebration for as long as I can remember.  My mother always baked up a storm, so it wouldn't seem like Christmas without some of our special family cookies. Have cut back quite a bit, but still baked several batches.

Lizzies - getting started

First the raisins are soaked for an hour in bourbon! Lizzies are kind of like little baby fruitcakes - not so popular these days as they once were, but still delicious.

The recipe makes a LOT of cookies!

And here they are! Yum - anyone for a cup of tea and a Lizzie?

"Peeps on a Stick" and friends! The big pink peppermint marshmallows are so cute - they make me think of 'sugar plums'!

Mr. and Mrs. Santa - we've had these for many, many years, a gift from sweet mother-in-law

back when our kids were little.

Also baked Gingerbread Men, Swedish Crescents, Molasses Crinkles, Chocolate Drops with Peppermint Kisses on top, a chocolate cake, Mincemeat Pie with apples & pecans, Cranberry-Apple Pie, and dipped lots of pretzels in chocolate. 

January's usually cool or even cold here, so might bake some more. The only problem with that is that I eat too many of them!

Happy Eleventh Day of Christmas!