Old Fashioned Home Made Holiday Hard Candy ...by isewcute

I've been busy in the kitchen making huge batches of old fashioned holiday candy for a local craft bazaar ....& some for gift-giving too.
I use an old family recipe, but if you'd like to try making hard candy, there are some recipes printed within the packaging of some of the flavor oils you can buy in the candy & cake decorating sections of your local craft store.
Besides the ingredients you'll need to make the candy & the flavor oils, you just need a heavy pot, a candy thermometer, kitchen shears for cutting the candy, a cast iron skillet to pour the melted candy onto, powdered sugar to keep the pieces from sticking to one another after it's cut, & jars to store the candy in.

Each of the jars is embellished with a label I created which has a drawing of my hubby's grandma on it. (it was her recipe after all...so credit is given where credit is due)

...a tag is also added to each jar with twine... calling out the flavors included in each mix.

I absolutely love making it! You can just imagine how the smell of candy just fills the entire house! It smells like Christmas to me...& it lingers too for a couple of days!

If you're local to the Dayton, Ohio area... you can get some! It's available now at the State Road Methodist Church in Germantown... 15020 State Rt. 725... the craft bazaar is going on today & tomorrow!

It makes a great holiday gift for a hostess, teacher, coworker, friend, & family.

Getting Crafty with Leaves...How to Embellish a Shirt for Fall

Please excuse the wrinkles... I was so excited at how well this turned out that I didn't bother ironing before taking photos!
This is a shirt I embellished for my mother in law by printing a pattern along the neckline using real leaves.

Materials to make this project include:
a shirt,
some fabric paint,
a sponge brush,
scrap paper,
something to line the shirt with to prevent the paint from bleeding through (I used a plastic lid from a storage bin)
...and of course a selection of leaves. Make sure your leaves are not too dried out...you don't want them to crumble mid-project!

After preparing the shirt by lining it with my storage bin lid & smoothing out the neckline where I wanted my leaf pattern to go, I mixed up a palette of fabric paints in fall leaf colors. The brands of paint I used were matte Tulip brand soft fabric paint & Lumiere Metallic Acrylic...mixed together for added glitz.

I brushed the color on thick...coating each leaf evenly.

Then lay the leaves onto the shirt...paint side down in the pattern you desire.

To get the pattern to transfer well...you'll want to cover the leaves with a piece of scrap paper...and burnish the back of the paper gently yet firmly... with your fingertips, but be sure to not move the leaves out of their position or you'll get a smudgy pattern.

Finally lift off the scrap paper carefully...and then pull up the leaf by the stem slowly...so as to not smudge the design.

I think this project came out so nice & this color green really sets off the contrasting color of the leaves nicely.

My mother in law looks really good in green! I can hardly wait to give it to her!

:o)

Recipe for Nuts and Bolts aka: Chex Party Mix

I just made a double batch of chex mix this morning... & toasted our pumpkin seeds using the same seasoning & thought I'd share my version of this yummy snack with you all!




Nuts & Bolts (aka chex party mix by isewcute)

INGREDIENTS:

1 stick of margarine
2 Tbsp. Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. onion powder
3 cups corn chex
3 cups rice chex
3 cups cheerios...we like them better than the wheat chex in the original recipe.
2 cups mixed nuts...sometimes I just use cashews only...they're soooo good!
2 cups pretzel sticks...broken in half


Melt the margarine in a saucepan & add the seasonings. Blend well with a small wisk. Remove from heat. Mix all the cereals & nuts & pretzels in a large bowl....then spread it out on a couple of baking sheets. Use a basting brush to brush the liquid onto the cereal & nut mix...be sure to coat evenly.


Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours... but be sure stir it about every 15 min. or so ... that way it toasts evenly & the seasonings are well blended into the mix.


Let cool & store in an airtight container to maintain freshness. Enjoy!
*I always double this recipe because it goes fast & it's great to share!



My grandma & great aunt used to call this mix 'Nuts and Bolts' ...it was a real treat to go over to their house as a kid & find they had made up a batch!

:o)

Sesame Street Has Been Around for 40 Years! Can you believe it?

This is the stuff I grew up on!
I entertained myself for hours as a preschooler... listening to Sesame Street records. Sesame Street sure has come a long way since the 1970's.
Now I get a real kick out of the album art & how styles & characters have changed in 30+ years.

Oscar was orange? I don't even remember that... must've been before I was born....and check out the mutton chops!

Big Bird looked so awkward....and his voice had a goofy twang to it in some of the songs he sang.


Elmo wasn't around until 1983.

...and who can forget Mr. Hooper?

I think it's wonderful that Sesame Street has been around so long...and I hope they'll be around for another 40 years teaching kids to read, share, and have fun learning.

:o)

Corn Bread Recipe ...goes real well with chili!

Some folks have asked me for my cornbread recipe... so here goes:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups of yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup shortening
3 Tbsp. molasses
1 egg - beaten
1 cup milk

Mix the wet ingredients in one bowl & set aside. In another bowl... blend together the dry ingredients then cut in the shortening with a pastry blender. Add the wet ingredients & mix just until everything is blended... don't over mix.

Pour into a greased 8 x 8" square pan & bake at 425 degrees for 20-27 min.... until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Fall is a Fun Time to Play Outside

It's not too hot & not yet too cold. We had a ball playing in the leaves the other day. It seems they're falling fast & now there are more on the ground than on the trees.

I'm going to miss all the colors... at least until we get some sparkles on snow.

We are getting all ready for Halloween!!!!

We went to a local farm & picked out our pumpkins...then carved them up all scary cute!

The kiddos are really getting into the fun of Halloween this year.

...the cutest thing was babygirl walking around with a little wagon...trying to find a pumpkin that wasn't 'too big'. This pie pumpkin was just what she was looking for. Carving it was a real pain though...it was one tough little pumpkin!

If you have 3 of anything...it's a collection!

There are things that I've always been attracted to... had a desire to collect... you know, needful things.

It's so funny that these things can bring happiness & comfort to one's soul...either reminding us of a golden moment...or people we loved.

I believe it's that force which drives us to want more of the good feeling which translates into getting more of the thing that made us feel that way.... then we end up with a bunch of stuff... forever seeking more of that good feeling we get in a never ending cycle.

I'm not big on monetary value...it always comes down to an emotional connection to an object for me. I collect what I like & don't consider it's value now...nor what it will be down the road. I guess I'm not that kind of collector.

When I was a kid, I collected cat figurines. Maybe I started collecting them because we always had cats growing up. Usually there were 4 or so under our roof at a time...& they were such a joy to have. Each had it's own personality & I have fond memories being surrounded by them as a kid on up to adulthood. You can imagine that over the years...we had a lot of cats come & go. I had a sizable cat collection... with cats made of various materials: glass, porcelain, resin, wood, & even one cat that had been carved from a lump of coal. I still wouldn't consider myself a 'cat person'... in fact I do have a special fondness for dogs... we just never managed to keep one & there were always cats around.

Now that I'm grown... even though I'm a big kid at heart... my collections have evolved to fit my lifestyle. I don't care for dusting...so now my kitty collection is put away in a box. I can visit them any time I'd like, but don't have to dust every nook & cranny & rearrange them every time I clean the house.

I may pass on my kitties to my kids when they are a little bit older & they may find some joy in playing with them. They love all animals & we do have a kitty now.

I really love collectible things that have a function...besides collecting dust. One of my current favorite collections is kept in the kitchen & we use it nearly everyday! It's an ecclectic mix of children's novelty spoons. My collection started with 3 spoons that I had from my own childhood. Over the years I have added to it because of that emotional attachment to my wonder years. Being an illustrator/toydesigner I really feel the need to keep the wonderment & fun of childhood alive... not to mention I'm a mommy & love to nurture my kids fantasies with fabulous things! I have found a spoon here or there at antique stores, flea markets, & in online auctions. My collection resides in an old jelly jar for easy access & every time one of the kiddos need a spoon...I pull one from the collection.

It makes me so happy that I can share something I love with my kids & hopefully the spoons are just one of the building blocks to wonderful memories for them!

If you'd like to share your collections with me...please leave a comment! I'd love to know what you collect & why!

:o)

Wordless Wednesday... The Carnival at Twilight... one of my summer vacation series

I took several pictures on our vacation this summer...we saw so many great things & visited so many wonderful places. Finally took some time to upload a few.

Comments appreciated! :o)

I dyed my own embroidery floss! Yes indeedy!

A couple weeks back I couldn't find the right color embroidery floss for a craftster swap project... looking for the right kind of gradient. Having had past tie dying experience this summer I thought why not try dying white embroidery floss with the tie dyes?

It worked like a charm you can see for yourself... just remember that color varies from monitor to monitor & I'm so thrilled with how it turned out!

For this project, I used the tulip one step tie dye kit in bright rainbow colors...following manufacturers instructions for mixing & preparing my work area just as I had when doing T-shirts.

I soaked the skeins of floss in the soda ash water mixture for over half an hour first... then spread it out on a protected card table. Rather than 'tying' the floss...I just dripped the color onto the areas I wanted...then popped the skeins into baggies for the color to set.

For some lighter...less saturated colors, I simply pressed fresh white floss onto a previously dyed skein as it lay on the table...& the colors came out softer looking as the dye was transferred.

If you dye your own floss too ...either using this method or another one, I'd love to hear about it!

:o)