IRRESISTIBLE SUGAR COOKIES

If you are snowed in today like us, then why not whip up a delicious batch of sugar cookies complete with your own homemade icing? The kids will thank you, I promise! My family makes a special request every Christmas for me to bring these along. It's a basic recipe, but there are a few tips that I'll tell you about so they turn out extra yummy!

SUGAR COOKIES:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups flour

1. Beat together softened butter and margarine in a large bowl.
TIP #1:
I like to use butter AND margarine. The butter gives the cookies a rich flavor and the margarine makes the dough more manageable and less dry.
2. Beat in sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
3. Beat in vanilla and then the egg.
4. Mix together flour and baking powder in a medium size bowl.
5. Use a mixer to add the flour mixture gradually, beating between additions.
TIP #2:
If it becomes too stiff you can add a little milk.
6. Gather the dough into a ball, cover with wax paper,place in a ziploc bag and refrigerate a few hours.
7. Roll the dough to a scant 1/4" thickness, with a marble (preferable) rolling pin, between two lightly floured sheets of wax paper or parchment.
TIP #3:
If you roll too thin the cookies have a tendency to burn when cooking or break when transfering to the cookie sheet.
8. Cut with desired cookie cutter shapes.
9. Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-12 minutes on ungreased cookie sheets.
10. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.

BUTTER FROSTING
This is a wonderful icing that is rich and very tasty. I like the fact that when it dries it has a hardened surface that doesn't "smush" when other cookies are placed on top. Not like the stuff you buy at the store!

1/4 cup butter
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar
3 to 4 tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream butter in a medium size mixing bowl.
2. Add vanilla and beat.
TIP # 1:
If you want extra white icing use Wilton's Clear Vanilla Extract. You can buy it at Michaels.
3. Gradually beat in icing sugar, adding a tablespoon of milk each time to make the mixture more manageable.
4. Ice cookies and sprinkle with crystallized sugar or non-pareils.
TIP #2 and tremendous time saver:
I put my icing in a disposable plastic icing bag, I use a round #4 Wilton tip to quickly spread the icing over the cookies. It uses a little less icing so it's a lighter on the calories as well.

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas to you all!

SNOWED IN!

We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning with about 4 inches of snow and more on its way! Schools were cancelled, so it looks like we'll be housebound today. These photos were taken in our backyard which is a greenbelt of huge cedars and pine trees. Just beautiful and majestic with their covering of white!

Our little town of Anacortes, WA doesn't have any snow equipment, so life pretty much comes to a screeching halt when we get a winter storm. We already have ice packed roads from unusually low temperatures and snow from earlier this week, so road conditions are particularly treacherous.

I thought we had left all of this weather behind when we left Kansas! Oh, well, it's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

CELEBRATING MY 50TH SALE ON ETSY!

Oh, I know it may not seem like much to some but after being on Etsy for about 8 months, I just had my 50th sale today! I knew I was getting close a couple of weeks ago, but with the economy being the way it is I wasn't holding my breath to get there, but I was still hopeful. I had free shipping sales, sent out a holiday email to previous buyers, handed out my business cards, promoted in the forums and it looks like it paid off!

She doesn't know it yet, but my customer will be receiving an extra pair of earrings with her order as a way to say thanks.

In fact, I am going to celebrate some more by having a special promotion. Everything in my shop ships for just $.50 until Dec. 15th, 2008! I figure that most items can get anywhere in the USA by Christmas even by that date.

Here are a few of my latest listings:

Very Merry...Gorgeous AA Quality Garnet Marquis Briolette Gold Fill Earrings $40

Green Garland... Organic Hoops with Emerald Green Faceted Aventurine Rondelles $18

Foliage...Fine Silver Handcrafted Leaf Pendant and Jasper Necklace $48

And...I'll let you know when I hit 100!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sorry, no turkeys here, just my cat Ace doing what he does best!
Such is the life of a cat.

I know our lives are nothing like our pets whose greatest worry

is that that may fall off the sofa during their nap! But hopefully today you'll take a few moments to think about your blessings. Today I'm thanking the Lord for my wonderful family, my health,

my husband's job, our church family and friends, and a roof over our heads, oh and my kitty too!

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

HOW TO MAKE A DISPLAY FOR EARRING CARDS

Recently a friend of mine invited me to a business group in town and asked me to bring all of my jewelry from my Etsy shop Beadin' By the Sea . Since I'd never had to display my earrings before, I had to come up with a quick way to show them off that was portable, compact and pretty. I made this display in about an hour the day before the meeting. I simply leaned them against a wall at the meeting but you could easily support them with a metal easel because they are very lightweight. I happened to have all of the materials on hand including some beautiful black rayon velvet that I'd been hanging onto for years.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to think of making an earring display like this but a quick search on Google didn't provide me with any links so I thought I'd share with you how you can make your own.

This is a great display for your jewelry especially if you make your own earring cards that are simply cards folded in half with holes punched in them.

STEP 1: GATHER YOUR MATERIALS

Here's what you will need:

1. Foam board cut to 12" X 18" (you can make 2 from a 20" X 30" piece of foam board)

2. Thin cotton batting or polyester batting (I used thin cotton quilt batting)

3. Black velvet fabric or your choice of fabric

4. Black satin ribbon 1/4" wide

5. Light duty staple gun

6. Scissors

7. Right angle ruler
8. Black poster board or thick construction paper for backing

9. Cutting blade/knife

10. Cutting mat

STEP 1: CUT Layers to make a sandwich

Using a sharp blade cut the foam board to 12" X 18" or your desired size. Round the corners a little to make it easier to turn the corners when covering. It's not necessary to use the square ruler when cutting the fabrics. Just cut the velvet about 1 1/2" larger than the foam board and the batting about 1/4" larger than the foam board. Round the corners of the fabrics also.

3. STAPLE fabric to the board:

Starting in the center of the longer side gently tug on the layers of fabric and staple a good 1/8" in from the edge of the fabric. Take extra care on the corners by gathering up the fabric with your fingers and putting in a few extra staples. It also helps to trim the batting a little shorter here so it isn't so bulky underneath. Continue tugging and stapling about 1" - 2" apart until you've gone all the way around and you have no puckers on the sides.

4. ADD RIBBON TRIM:

I attached 4 rows of ribbon trim across the shorter width of the board. The center of the first row of ribbon is 1" from the top of the board and each following row (center of the ribbon) is 5" apart. Pull the ribbon fairly tight so when you hang your cards they don't droop from the weight. You may have to experiment with this a little. My first board is a little looser than the first one! Secure the ribbon on the back with one or two staples, crosswise and lengthwise for extra hold.

5. APPLY BACKING:

Cut your poster board (for backing) about a half inch narrower on all sides from your finished board size. Round the corners as you did the foam board and simply staple every 2-3" apart. You can choose to skip this step but why not make it look really professional and cover all uglies on the back!

6. YOU'RE DONE!

Admire your handiwork and hang the top fold of your earring cards around the ribbon. They can easily be removed and rearranged because they simply hang on the ribbon.

Now you have a great looking display, that was easy to make, light on the pocket book and will show off your designs beautifully!

If you have any comments or questions please leave one below and I'll try to help you out!

OUR BUSY BACKYARD

Now that we live with the back of our house to the "woods" we see all kinds of critters running about in our backyard. I didn't realize that with this house we would inherit our own "natural zoo".

Yesterday this friendly little squirrel was kind enough to pose for me as he sat perched on my porch rail munching away on a morsel of food.

You can see his friend in the background of the second picture.

The third photo is a raccoon that sat staring at us from a huge maple tree last August. We've heard they are pretty onery critters; we tried to scare him off but he wouldn't budge until he decided it was time to leave.

As you can see, my surroundings are just a little different from the golf course neighborhood I left behind in Kansas City, Kansas!

Have a great day everyone, and try to look for the little things in life that make us glad to be where we are for the moment!