needle & thREAD (and a bonus recipe)
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I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!
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Life's been a mixture of Sugar Plum and Maple Cinnamon Butter lately. Sounds like the kitchen, but it's really the sewing room. Well, and maybe a little kitchen, too. Take a little waltz with me through the pretty pictures?
Mary Beth was pretty bummed when she tried on the costume destined to be the Sugar Plum Fairy costume. I snapped a picture of her in it because my mind started spinning pretty much the moment I saw her face. I'd love to show you the whole picture, but she'd be horrified. I promise her face was well worth a thousand words and none of them were lovely. I did send the picture to K. C. of That's Sew K. C. with Mary Beth's permission. K.C. is the tutu queen and two days later, a box of her beautiful lace arrived at our house. We began the tutu transformation in the studio, where Mary Beth's ballet teacher offered both practical and moral support. The girls were rehearsing. Helen and I were stitching. Oh, and then we moved to some other costuming issues and watched Paddy play soccer at the same time.
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I was on a roll after I left the studio and my mind was whirling with ideas. I had Mary Beth try it on at home and did some pinning. I handstitched late that night (she had her first performance the next day) and awoke early to get back after it. When I read the bodice parts, I felt like the stitching would be better if it were actually being worn while being stitched. Mary Beth was still asleep and I wanted to surprise her anyway. So, Katie volunteered to be my mannequin and Karoline took up the camera.
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Mary Beth was pretty thrilled when she awoke. (And truly, Katie and Karoline were so excited that their enthusiasm carried me for days.). I don't have any pictures of Mary Beth wearing the newly decorated tutu, but she took this one with her phone.
Oh, dear. The Snow Queen's costume is looking a bit shopworn next to the Sugar Plum. Whatever shall we do about that;-)?
There is some Christmas crafting underway at last. A dabbled a bit with this tutorial and that. And I've done a whole lot cutting and a wee bit of sewing. I'm pretty tickled with the results and looking forward to doing a whole bunch of these in the very near future.
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And a little something sweet to go along with the dish towels? Cinnamon Maple Butter! Yes, ma'am.
Cinnamon Maple Butter
yields about 3 half pint jars, with a wee bit left
Ingredients:
3/4 cup REAL maple syrup
2 cups butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
4 half pint canning jars
Cream the butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon in an electric mixer with a whisk attachment until it's all smooth. Spoon it into the canning jars and tie with a scrappy bow. The butter needs to be refrigerated and it spreads much better if it sits out a bit before serving. I'm not eating bread or muffins or all those typical things upon which one might spread this heavenly butter. But, oh my heavens!, it takes baked sweet potatoes to a beautiful, beautiful place.
(Note: Like most things in life, this is all the better if you scrape a vanilla bean into the mixture:-)
As for reading, I'm pretty much enchanted by Amy Welborn's new picture book, Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing. It's the sweet story of a little boy who visits his grandfather in Italy. Amy Welborn does a masterful job of bringing Italy alive as the little boy learns lessons in craftsmanship, forgiveness, and generosity. We learned a bit about the traditions of the presepe and Bambenelli Sunday, enough to want to research more and we all decided that this book went nicely with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey (Is it possible that this book is out of print???). And of course, we have to make our own Bambinelli (Sculpey, clay, wood, peg dolls? A little of everything?)
There's a live event today. Join host Judy Zarick and author Amy Welborn as they introduce her new book for children. Just in time for Christmas, Bambinelli Sunday tells a wonderful story about sharing, comfort, generosity, and forgiveness though the lens of a long-standing Italian tradition.
Join us on December 5th at 3:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. PT). Log in and ask questions through the chat area. Amy Welborn will answer them during her presentation. You must register first.
So tell us all about your reading and stitching!
