best of 2011 - well....MY best anyway

Everyone in blogland seems to do a "Best of 2011" post right about now. I've thought about it, really. I've given the idea some serious thought and wondered about it. There are some merits to the idea. It would give new readers a quick look-see at what was clicked upon most here at the Moo Homestead. But I'm getting some really unusual traffic lately.

For instance, Google.de and Google.at (Germany and Austria) have picked up some pictures of me with my Baby Girl after her homebirth and have them in google images. That's bringing a whole lotta direct traffic to her birth story post. I'm hopeful that it's mothers interested in unassisted homebirth, but the reality is it's probably bringing in some other sort of traffic. So you see, stuff like that really skews the data.

So instead I'm picking my top posts of 2011. These are the posts I think are most relevant to my readership or are posts that I think most accurately represents us.



January 2011

Pressure Canning Venison - a canning tutorial


February 2011

I'm an urban homesteader



March 2011

learning about bears and hibernation



April 2011

dyeing wool with Kool-Aid



May 2011

new garden space in our front yard



June 2011
sorry for neglecting you - an update of sorts



July 2011

tearing up and going back in time



August 2011

making your own homemade fruit pectin from green apples



September 2011

I'm working on making pear mincemeat today



October 2011

elderberry syrup recipe



November 2011

highlights so far this week



December 2011

simple embroidered Christmas tree ornament - a sorta tutorial

workin' while the sun shines, so to speak

One of the great perks of the Hubster's academic career is that week he has off between Christmas and New Year's. So while he's home I've been busy taking advantage of his increased presence in the household.

He made me this fabulous stand to assist me in taking better photos of my creations for the etsy shop.



It's a simple structure comprised of pvc pipes and fittings. Nothing is glued together as I wanted to be able to take it apart for easy storage between photo shoots. As you can see I use my kitchen table for shooting the photos. The kitchen is the brightest room in the house. There are two south facing windows, two north facing windows, and one west facing window in the room. Also, we have large overhead florescent lights to allow me to shoot photos even on cloudy days. It's an easy color correction in the editing process to compensate for the artificial light.

To create the backdrop I drape two yards of felt over the top and back of the frame. I picked up felt in white to be used for most of my work and also in a light grey to allow me to photograph white and ecru items.





Here's the latest work in progress -



Can you guess what he's destined to become?

And here are a few of the sculptures I've recently finished -





And here is what that last sculpture looked like before the new backdrop system was put in place -



I still have a long way to go in improving my photography, but with the simple equipment I'm using - an old Sony Cybershot point and click camera, basic florescent lighting, and simple backdrops - I'm able to get mostly clear photos to show my work.

So...that's what's been happening around the ole' homestead this week. What's going on at your place?

things to remember for next Christmas

1. the girls LOVE to make their own ornaments - be ready with printouts, templates, and simple ornament ideas

2. we need more re-useable fabric gift bags in larger sizes - get sewing now!



3. the girls didn't miss all the cookies we usually bake - one or two is just fine for them - don't stress myself out by baking unnecessarily

4. the Christmas Eve smorgasbord is enjoyed just as much when it's simple - again a great way to reduce stress for the mama!



5. the 4-gift process is still working well - Something we want, Something we need, Something to wear, and Something to read.

6. the handmade gifts get more play time than the mass-produced gifts. Continue to purchase handmade gifts like the castle blocks we bought from ClickityClack on etsy.



7. open ended toys are the way to go. the gently used Fisher Price little people set we bought was loved more than the cake and ice cream maker Play-Doh sets. the girls like toys that *don't* tell them how to play.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!



"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." ~ Isaiah 9:6-7

pizzelle cookies - a holiday tradition

On Thursday night I was busy with my pizzelle press making pizzelle (singular is pizzella). They are an Italian cookie that I remember fondly from my childhood.

Our family doesn't have Italian roots, but the area I grew up in had an abundance of Italian immigrants come over in the late 1800s and consequently had generations of Italian Americans living there. We were always gifted boxes and tins of pizzelle from friends during my childhood and I came to associate it with Christmas.



After years of living without pizzelle, I finally purchased my own pizzelle press a few years back. I usually don't like to have on hand appliances that perform limited roles, but the nostalgia pull was strong enough that I did bite the bullet and paid about $40 for a pizzelle press that I use once a year.



Here's the recipe I use:

Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp aluminum-free baking powder
2 tsp. anise extract
confectioners' sugar to dust finished cookies

I pour all of the ingredients into the bowl for my stand mixer and mix until well blended. Then I drop about a Tablespoon of the batter onto my preheated pizzelle press. I close the top of the press and let it bake until I get a green light telling me they're ready. Then I carefully lift the two cookies out of the press and cool on a cooling rack. When mostly cooled I sift some powdered sugar on top and store in containers.

My girls LOVE them!

There are lots of pizzelle versions out there. Some folks make them with vanilla extract and some make chocolate pizzelle, but since this is a nostalgia food for me I always go with the anise flavor and powdered sugar on top.

Do you have a Christmas cookie that you absolutely must have each year?

making beeswax ornaments

This isn't a tutorial because I forgot to take pictures during the process. There are plenty of great picture tutorials out there, though, so I hope you can find one you like. :)

The process is super simple. First I made a make-do double boiler with two thrift store purchased old saucepans. I had a really tiny one (probably 2 cup) and a larger one. I filled the larger one with water and set it to boil. Then I chopped my beeswax into small pieces and put them in the smaller saucepan. I placed the smaller saucepan in the larger one, taking care to keep it above the water line.

I used the end of an old wooden spoon to stir the beeswax.

When it was all melted I carefully poured it into molds. I used a silicon baking mold, a cheap silicone "ice cube" mold, and a vintage aluminum jello mold.



After they had cooled I popped them out of their molds. Then I heated a large needle and poked it through the top to create an opening for a hanger. I used hemp twine on some and used ribbon on others.



The scent is absolutely wonderful and I love the golden color.

making our own coloring books

This morning as the baby girl was waking up she talked to me about her latest obsession - panda bears. An idea popped into my head and I asked her if she'd like a panda bear coloring book.

So we made one.

I used the swagbucks search engine to search for panda bear coloring pages and panda bear clip art. If you don't know about swagbucks yet, you should give it a go! You earn points for ordinary web searchs. Since I've started using it about a year ago I've earned enough swagbucks (the points) to redeem for sixteen $5 Amazon gift cards. That's $80 worth of free purchases through Amazon for just using the Swagbucks search instead of another search engine!





I found an online tutorial showing how to draw panda bears.



And I made a simple title page using MSWord.



I printed out the sheets - 10 in all including cover page and a plain back cover.

Then I used my sewing machine to sew the pages together. You could just as easily staple them, but I thought it would be fun to have the binding run the entire length of the booklet.

I used a wide zig zag stitch and white thread. In retrospect I wished I had changed the color of the thread to have it show up a bit better, but in my typical lazy fashion white was already threaded on the machine so that's what we went with. ;)








Of course I couldn't leave the big girl out. She selected the unicorn and we went through the same process with her. I used the swagbucks search to find unicorn coloring pages and images.







I found this cool tutorial on drawing a Pegasus unicorn, too.





While I gave the coloring books to my kids right away to use, this simple coloring book idea would make great stocking stuffers!

simple embroidered Christmas tree ornament - a sorta tutorial

I got it into my head that I wanted to make some embroidered Christmas tree ornaments this year. What I envisioned was a linen fabric with simple sort of geometric hand embroidery on it.

Of course I didn't have any linen lying about the house, but I did have a bolt of muslin. Make do, eh.

I started by downloading a simple tree template from Activity Village. I love, love, love the variety of templates they offer. Great fodder for crafting.

I cut one out in the size I liked and then, using a marker, traced it onto some cardboard I found in our recycling bin. Always save that cardboard! I draft clothing patterns onto it, small project patterns, use it to make gift boxes, etc.

But back to the ornament. After I traced the tree onto the cardboard I cut it out and that was what I used as my pattern. This way I only have to trace the pattern onto the fabric and it goes much, much more quickly than pinning a pattern. I've tried pattern weights on paper patterns before and tracing, but honestly I'd much rather hold down a cardboard template and trace that - especially if I'm wanting to make the item in bulk.


pic of my cardboard pattern template on top of a larger tree template printout

I used a plain old blue Sharpie marker to trace the template onto the fabric.



And I traced a whole line of them.



Then I put the end tree in a small embroidery hoop. Here you see the fabric in the hoop along with my needle, scissors, and embroidery floss. I opted to use DMC 498.



And I began to embroider. I opted for a very simple star design that is constructed of 4 straight stitches that criss-cross each other to create an eight-pointed star.



As I embroidered I took care to leave space around the design for the seams. I didn't measure it, but probably left at least 1/4" allowance. Then I removed the embroidery hoop.



The next step was to carefully cut out the tree and a backing piece. I cut just inside the blue line.



Then I got out my baker's twine and cut off a length long enough to create a loop hanger. I tied a tight knot in one end of the loop.



Next I pinned the two pieces of fabric with right sides together with the hanger inside and the knot of the hanging loop out.



Then, using my sewing machine, I sewed the two together using a zig-zag stitch. I set the stitch length at about 1.5. I wanted a fairly narrow stitch. I also made sure to leave a space unsewn so that I could later stuff the ornament with wool roving. I opted to leave the base of the trunk open. In retrospect it would have been easier to leave a larger space open.



Here you see the sewn ornament with the base left open.



Then I turned the ornament right sides out.



I stuffed the ornament with wool roving. To get the wool into the corners I used a wooden chopstick.



I turned the edges of the fabric at the base of the trunk in and pinned it shut. Then I used a needle and thread and sewed the opening closed using a whipstitch.







To make this tutorial semi-official, here is your list of necessary tools and materials to complete this project.

tree template
sharpie marker (or other writing implement to trace template)
cardboard
paper scissors to cut your template and fabric
sharp scissors for cutting fabric
muslin or other fabric
cotton embroidery floss (I used DMC 498)
embroidery needle (needle w/ sharp point & an eye big enough for 3 strands of floss)
embroidery hoop (helpful, but not strictly necessary)
sewing machine and thread (or needle and thread for hand sewing)
straight pins
baker's twine (or other such stringy item to create hanging loop)
wool roving (or other material to stuff the ornament)
chopstick (or pencil or other long thin item to help push stuffing into corners)

Edited addition -

Here are a few more ornament tops I embroidered yesterday after I queued up the post:


another done using DMC 498


with this one I used DMC 797

and here they are all sewn up -


the red one has a baker's twine hanging loop


and the blue one has a ribbon hanging loop