Tassel Necklaces

The Soul Sisters got together last week for lunch and a craft!  We had great food, laughs and came away with something cute, as usual.

Tassel Necklaces seem to be everywhere lately and we wanted to try to make them for ourselves.  One problem...tassels are hard to make and expensive to buy.

I found this thing called a "Chair Tie" at Joann Fabrics that had 2 tassels per package for under 8 bucks!

We snipped the cord and using a needle and cord up through the center from underneath, fed cord through the top to string with seed beads:

Some of us strung the whole length with beads and some added chain for a necklace about 34 inches long:

So, grab some home decor tassels and go crazy!

Soul Sisters Ornament Exchange Party - 2015 version

We had our annual Soul Sister Ornament Exchange Party last night!  The food was great, the wine was flowing, the laughs came easily and the ornaments were amazing as usual!

 

So, you remember the rules, right? All ornaments must be handmade and the supplies must cost less than 20 bucks. Let the games begin!

I went first and gave the Santa's Belly Ornament I taught you how to make earlier this week: 

 

Next, Treat Girl gave us this gorgeous Holy Family wooden ornament (she made it last January and totally avoided the whole stress of a time crunch. We hated her):

 

Then Joy gave us this amazing origami-style Christmas Dress with tiny clothes pins and a handmade hanger!

And finally, Marzipan gave us this beautiful hand cross-stitched Christmas Tree ornament:

 

 Dessert Break!

 

Cheers to another great SS Christmas Party!

 

Transitions...And Cinnamon Buns!

I've reached that point in my boys' lives when I'm not as needed at school, leaving me with a lot of time during the day.  Due to the recent changes in Etsy's policies my frame sales have plummeted. My hand-painted art is lost among the machine fabricated resold items and it's just so frustrating! I finally have the time to devote to my business...but no business.

I'm in a weird transitional phase right now. I love that I have gotten to spend these years raising my boys and I'd never trade that.  I've kept myself busy, but since my first child was born I've only worked for myself. I sold Pampered Chef for a few years, worked as a free-lance marketing person drumming up business for a local chiropractor, then started my home business, Hope Studios...are any of those things resume-worthy?  Is it possible to be relevant in a "regular job" at this point? Do I want a regular job?

I feel like I've come to a crossroads and I need to commit to reestablishing my business or move on to something else.  What do I know how to do?  Could I start a business centered around our concept of Soul Sisters?  So many thoughts racing through my head. So many questions as to whether I want to play it safe and look for work on Craig's List or do I want to stick my neck out and create something new? Any ideas?

I discussed my predicament with my Soul Sisters last week while Marzipan taught us how to make Cinnamon Buns - then promptly ate 7 of them that afternoon.

Cinnamon Swirl Buns with Cream Cheese Glaze

Molly Wizenberg, Bon Appetit

Dough:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 1/2 cups (or more) unbleached all purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast (from 2 envelopes yeast)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Filling:

• 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

Glaze:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dough:

Combine milk and butter in small pan. Heat on med/high until butter melts and mixture is just warmed to 120°F to 130°F.

Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt. Beat on low speed 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat on low until flour is absorbed and dough is sticky, scraping down sides of bowl. If dough is very sticky, add more flour by tablespoonfuls until dough begins to form ball and pulls away from sides of bowl.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticky, about 8 minutes. Form into ball.

Lightly oil large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Ours took a little longer to rise since it was a chilly day, but don't give up! It will happen if your milk was the right temp!

Filling:

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.

Punch down dough. Transfer to floured work surface. Roll out to 15x11-inch rectangle - stretch and pull it if you need to.

Spread butter over dough, leaving 1/2-inch border. Just smear it all over the dough with your hands. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over butter, then spread that almost to the edges with your hands too.

Starting at long side, roll dough into log, pinching gently to keep it rolled up. Give it a little squeeze and pull it if necessary to make sure the log is uniform thickness.

With seam side down, cut dough crosswise with thin sharp knife into 18 equal slices (each about 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide).Marzipan pulled out a kitchen ruler to make sure the rolls were the same...who knew?

Butter two 9-inch square glass baking dishes. Divide rolls between baking dishes, arranging cut side up (there will be almost no space between rolls). Cover baking dishes with plastic wrap, then kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until almost doubled in volume, 40 to 45 minutes.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Bake rolls until tops are golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and invert immediately onto rack. Cool 10 minutes.

Glaze:

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Spread glaze on rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature. (I even ate some of mine stale and they were still delicious!)

Annual Soul Sister's Ornament Exchange!

It was another fun night of good food, laughter, waitress name guessing, and ornament exchanging again this year!  I'm not sure if anyone else in the place had as much fun as we did, but we had enough fun for everyone.

Marzipan went first and gave a sweet, beaded curly wire Christmas Tree that stores flat in the box then springs into action when you pull on the ribbon to hang it on the tree.

See it sparkle by the light of the tree?

Treat Girl went next and gave this sweet little Claus couple she made in her ceramics class that we teased her about endlessly!

Look at the shy expression on Mrs. Clause and the eyes are amazingly full of life!

Joy was inspired by the magazine article she is holding up that used cut branches to make a huge art installation:

She gathered each tiny twig and cut it and glued it into a star-shaped cookie cutter. She covered the cutter with this sweet candy cane striped ribbon and some tiny jingle bells!

Megan went after her and gave us these amazing balls filled with feathers from her backyard guinea hens!

The feathers are naturally beautiful and glow in the lights of the tree.  Check out the perfect polka dots made by nature!

I went last and gave my Melted Snowman ornament I taught you how to make last week:

 

Some kids' clay and a few more supplies helped these snowmen come together quickly.

Have a great Christmas Eve Eve!

A "Full Tea" Birthday

The Soul Sisters field trip for this month was to celebrate Joy's birthday.  She loves a nice cup of tea and the Johnston House Tea Room was the perfect spot to celebrate.


We were served a traditional Full Tea with savories on the bottom, scones with clotted cream and preserves in the center and sweets on the top.

We were inspired by some of the tiny creations and talked about creating our own.

There were tiny phyllo cups (from your grocer's freezer) filled with spinach and feta and baked, tiny croissants cut in half and stuffed with chicken salad then dipped in slivered almonds, and small slices of red pepper quiche.  Any of these little snacks would be easy to recreate at home.

The sweets tray had slices of blueberry quick bread with an icing glaze, chocolate dipped strawberries, and tiny "butterfly cakes".  It looks like they baked tiny vanilla cakes then sliced off the tops.  Fill the cupcake bottom with whipped cream frosting, cut the top of the cupcake in half, then place in the frosting to resemble wings.  Easy peasy!

Did you know there is a directory so you can locate a tea house in your area?  Check out the directory at Tea Map to find a tea house in your area.  Or better yet, use the ideas above to create your OWN tea!

The Birthday Girl

The Soul Sisters gathered at our favorite "nook" in our favorite restaurant to celebrate The Treat Girl's birthday last night and what a hoot! It was the first time all 5 of us had been together in months and we talked and laughed away our precious few hours.

Treat Girl opened my gift of a giant "M" and a wishing necklace to get her through some changes that may be upcoming.



More laughing and ridiculous ordering of drinks such as "Can I have Pinot Grigio ... in a glass?" WHAT?!? This dissolved us in laughter, so, from that point on we all ordered everything in a similar fashion "Chicken tortilla soup ... in a bowl, please." Or "I'll have the Naked Lamb Roll, and could you put that on a plate, please?" "Thanks for the Blue Moon, I'm so happy you remembered to put it in a glass!" Our waiter was about 60% entertained, 20% annoyed, 30% confused, and 10% bad at math, as am I.

After all the antics, he delivered our order, and it looked like this:



We were stunned into silence then dubbed it "Dog Dick on a Stick" and Treat Girl attempted to eat it amidst much camera flashing (is there no dignity?):



Finally, to wrap up the evening, my hand grazed my chin and I swear I felt a beard! Further investigation revealed a long hair that had been laying low while growing under my chin...more camera flashes and laughter through tears ensued:



It may have been a Wednesday night, but we treated it like Friday for our Treat Girl! Happy birthday, friend!

Quality Time with My Girls

Our "girl's club" (as yet unnamed, any suggestions?) had our monthly get-together today for a day trip to McConnel's Mill for a hike and some craftiness, organized this time by our own treatgirl.

We all gathered lunches, kids, craft supplies, toys, 5 friends and 13 kids (pictured above), and headed out. We started out with lunch and I marvelled at some of the amazing picnics these girls brought. Now, keep in mind that I showed up with an insulated cooler bag filled with Smucker's Uncrustables, a 1/2 bag of Sun chips and some random grapes. Well, my friends showed up with lovely, colorful picnic baskets filled with delicacies such as fresh fruit salad, rhubarb pie, "Caramel, Caramel Popcorn", and home made sandwiches, just to name a few. I scarfed down my lunch and tried to wink at my other friend with a similarly packed lunch. Really, we can't all be so perfect all the time. It just isn't natural.

Treatgirl then taught us how to make a leather beaded bracelet (hemp twine for the kids) she saw on vacation out west. Tutorial tomorrow!

Then we set off on a hike

to gather plants for our second activity, terrariums! We scavenged four different types of moss, tiny ferns, a cute patch of clover and some other miscellaneous plants while hiking along a stream. We took tons of photos, climbed rocks, and scouted out waterfalls. At least one person got pinched by a crayfish and another fell down repeatedly, (no names to protect the guilty). Then it was time to turn around and do the whole thing all over again on the hike back.


After we got back to our original spot we all showed off our bounty and began construction of our terrariums (tutorial later this week!)


Some pie, more "Caramel, Caramel Popcorn" and some water then time to count heads and pack it up for another time. Another perfectly executed girl's day out. I sucked up enough estrogen to get me through another month.

Get Set For a Sewing Bee!

I'm so excited for next week!!! My girlfriends and I have planned a "Sewing Bee" :) to all learn how to make this great bag my friend just made! We are all loading up the kids and setting up our sewing machines on my back patio hooked up to a power strip so we can watch kids and sew all afternoon. Hey, I need to suck up the estrogen where I can get it. You don't know what it's like living here in this sea of testosterone!

I'm excited about it, but each time I bring it up my husband blurts out some comment..."How old are you guys, anyway?" "Sounds like torture to me!" "I won't be there." Yes, it's an old lady thing, but it's not like we're making a quilt! This bag is fun and funky and I think we can bring the sewing bee concept into this century. Oh, and this cuts down on the number of times he has to bitch about me buying a new bag...win win!

This is my group of girls who meet for coffee once a month, each of us always brings whatever it is we're working on at the moment and everyone else ooohs, and ahhhs, and asks questions...it's so fun! The last time we got together everyone brought their laptops and we all taught each other the details of blogging the others didn't know. Between the 4 of us we figured out how to add music, a live link, a blog list...it was so informative. Did I mention I was stuffing my face with lemon pound cake the whole time? Yeah, learning and food - count me in.

I'll take some pictures and let you know how it went. If you need me I'll be at Joann's Fabric picking out my fabric.