Merry Christmas to Me!!!

Aren't they THE. CUTEST. COUPLE EEEEVVVVER???? They make me soooooo happy! I have embarked on a new craftiness venue and I'm so excited about it...Ceramics! It started when I was trying to find the christmas tree with all of multi-colored lights on the tips that my mom made when I was a little girl. Come to find out she gave it away...I saw some at a craft show over the summer....but they were pretty pricey. A friend at the gym told me about a ceramics shop in a nearby town...in the meantime, I remembered my mother-in-law had made a tree like the one I was looking for.....So I turned my attention to a  Mr. and Mrs. Claus that I has seen on ebay.

I called the ceramics shop a week ago Wednesday to see if they happed to have them, and they did! Helen, the owner of the shop, asked if I wanted them done for THIS Christmas? Well, duh...Of course! She said she didn't think even she could get them done in time....Well, that's all I needed to hear! There are classes on Wednesday nights and Saturdays......I ran right down there that night and got started. I painted and painted...I brought them home and worked on them for hours....Went back last Saturday for hours, painted more hours at home and finished them up last Wednesday....Ms. Helen does the faces for you and sprays the protective coat.....But all in all, I am just thrilled with my first project. I'm hooked!!!! Ms. Helen declared that I was her best new student she ever had.  I can see a lot more ceramics in my future. It's like when I was little and loved to color....and the results are much quicker than knitting :)

While I was waiting for Ms. Helen to work on the faces and spray Mr. and Mrs. Claus I made a few other little treasures. Look how sweet this ornament is....

And Santa's little boot, too!

There are shelves full of things beckoning to be painted....I just need more shelves in my house to hold everything I want to make!

I've also been very busy doing a few other little things that have made me happy this Christmas season....

                                               

  We've lived in our house for ten years now and I've toyed with the idea of decorating our banister several times...but just never did. Well, this was the year. I got the garland for $5....and the rest of the stuff from the Dollar Tree and snowflaked it out.

 I just love it! I wish I had a plug nearby....I'd wrap some little white twinkle lights in it....but oh well. It's pretty the way it is :)

Remember when I made pickles at my dad's over the summer? After my lesson I sent the pictures to my Aunt Emily, and in return she send me this picture Christmas card from my first Christmas. I c an't believe she still had it 47 years later????  I just had to frame it :)

Here is the craft I put together for Cub's class at his Holiday party at school. Another thing I'll treasure always.

Oh...ANOTHER treasure. I had a little note Cub wrote to Santa 2 years ago....I copied it on the copier and framed it too!

While I was looking around on ebay for the Mr. and Mrs. Claus I wanted to paint....I came across these cutie patooties. i just had to have them...they're vintage and take me back to when I was a little girl.

And I conned the kiddos into painting me these sweet little ornaments. I know they really didn't want to....but they played along. When they dried, of course I slapped some Mod Podge on them and glittered them up! 

I was feeling a little stressed last week when my wrapping and baking wasn't done....but  look at all of these things I was doing? And all of it got done.....I have to keep reminding myself it always does. So in these last few days I hope you're enjoying the season. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Hustle and Bustle

Wow!! It's December and the holidays are in full swing!!! We spent Thanksgiving in New York City and had a fantastic time.....Here is a family photo from the Big Apple. It has been non-stop since we got home....decorating, shopping, crafting and making yummy things in the kitchen. Hope you're all enjoying every minute!!!

Bruuuuuccce!!!

I'm still on cloud 9. THE.MOST.AMAZING.NIGHT. Last Saturday The Boss came back to Pittsburgh. I had already seen him this tour up in Buffalo with my sister....but this concert was just fantastic. We started up in nosebleed heaven with our friends we always go with...They got the seats this time. But hubs came through and scored us all seats in THE FIFTH row! I just was just sooooooooo excited to be so close.

He went down to will call and they had these seats at face value for $98!! .

Here's Clarence's nephew Jake jammin' with Bruce.

I love this man.

The night was flying by....and I kept having to pinch myself at how fantastic the whole thing was.

He's letting the pit play his guitar!

With a few songs left to go, 6 people in the second row got their coats on and left....well.....The Treatgirl bolted right down there. One of Bruce's best friends lives in Pittsburgh...Joe Grushecky. His wife was in the first row right in front of us...Here he's asking her up on the stage to dance with him....For a second I thought he wanted me!!!!!!

A big, huge thank you to Chip for making me so happy :)

Dill Pickles

Hi there! I know you were all sooooo sick of seeing those granny squares...hopefully you won't be seeing these pickles that long!!! :) I've been wanting to make these dill pickles for a very long time. My Great Aunt Emily wrote out my great grandmother's recipe for me at a family reunion in 1994. She made them every summer and always gave a jar of them to my dad for his birthday in July. It turned in a crazy project....I spent days running around trying to find dill....I got some pickles, but not enough. I was nervous to start and kept calling my dad up in Buffalo talking about my dill problem. I had left a message at my aunts...but she never called me back. Here, she doesn't have long distance????? Yikes! But we all determined that it would be best if I drove up to Buffalo for a visit and had a pickle making lesson. So.........I went. I learned they are much easier to make than I thought they would be. First, you need to wash the pickles and let them stand in water overnight. In the morning wipe each one dry with a towel, slice them and pack them in a jar. None of us could determine why we had to dry them....that's just what you do.

You cut up the dill into little pieces and pack that in the jar with the pickles...along with 1/2 of a hot pepper, 1/2 tsp. of alum and a few cloves of garlic.

Here's Aunt Emily (on the right) and her baby sister, Aunt Irene....They had 8 siblings all together. They would help their mother make these pickles for their tavern they ran....to serve along with a sandwich.

Be sure to fit as many pickles as you can into each jar.

To make the brine boil 1 1/2 quarts water, 2 quarts vinegar and 1 cup of salt in a big pot until it just boils. Pour this hot brine over the pickles. Then screw on the caps tightly.

Don't they look pretty????? Let them sit for two weeks and they're done! I was sooooo happy they turned out my very first time....because at the end of my recipe Aunt Emily wrote...."Pam, Don't expect perfection on the first try. Good Luck" Well, I lucked out....they're very good. It was one of my very favorite afternoons of the summer....spending time with my family learning to make these pickles. I am happy to carry on the tradition...hopefully teaching someone else someday too. A big thank you to my dad for driving me around to the farmer's market, picking up the aunts, letting us use your kitchen making us lunch! It was fun :)

Granny Square Update

Ta DAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! It's done! My so happy to show off my Granny Square afghan! You may remember I learned how to make granny squares last fall...click HERE to see. I really got rolling on them this past January. Well, I've just finished sewing them all together and adding an edge to it. I needed to pick a border color to add to all of the squares so that when I sewed them together it looked nice. Cubby picked black for me....I've worked on adding the border to all of the squares several nights a week as I sit at football practice. I'm pleased with the results for my first attempt....Just another wonderful hobby for the crafty Treatgirl to enjoy :)

BIG SCORE!!!!!!

I may have been terribly busy this summer....but I did manage to sneak into my Goodwill once or twice. And just look at these two super, HUGE scores!!! First, a gorgeous pair of Brighton loafers. I knew from far away before I even picked them up that they were nice....and expensive. They had that "look". And they were!! I paid $4.99 for them....but when I got home and looked them up on the Brighton website they retail for $195!!!!!!!!

Look how pretty the silver detail is????

Then just a few days later after dropping Cindylou off for work...my van just veered right back into the Goodwill. It just knew there was another good for for me :)....And, YEP!!! There was! A GOR.GE.EOUS pair of Sperry loafers. Black patent leather. Worn just once!!!!!!

And look how super cute they are inside.....purple with gold. I grabbed them and felt the rush of scoring again :)

See......$4.99 and in perfect shape! Of course I ran home and checked out the Sperry website and they are listed for $98. A savings of $93 for the Treatgirl. I love it for me :) Let me know about your great scores....I love success stories!

Bread and Butter Pickles

Ok. For some reason I got it in my brain to make pickles this year. I've had a dill pickle recipe from my Dad's Aunt Emily since our family reunion in 1994. Unfortunately I've been running around all week trying to find the right dill....the kind that looks like Queen Anne's Lace....so I'm going to hold off on making those until I go to Buffalo next weekend. In the meantime I made these super easy Bread and Butter pickles the other day.

You start by washing, then soaking your pickles for an hour. Then slice them up into thin slices.

I just used a package from Mrs. Wages.....the ingredients and instructions are very easy.

You pack your pickles in sterilized jars.....

Bring the brine just to a boil...then pour over the pickles to within a 1/2" of the top of the jar. Wipe the tops of the jar with a clean towel...then screw the lids on. These can be stored in the fridge for 6 months. I boiled mine for 20 minutes so they will have a shelf life of 1 year. The only change I would make would be to add thinly sliced onions to each jar. I didn't realize the recipe didn't call for them until I got home and started making a batch. Don't be afraid.....they are super easy and really delicious.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Wowza. It's been a while....I'm so sorry life has gotten in the way of my blogging :( Craziness in May and June. I started a new little part time job, end of the school year stuff with the kiddos, Memorial Day weekend, soccer, family reunions, college reunions, etc.........You know the drill. But I've been really wanting to share these scrumptious Pink Lemonade cupcakes with you. They turned out fantastic!!! I took a bunch of them to work for my girlfriends there and they all loved them. I'm soooooo excited! Another great thing about my job is that I can bake to my heart's content and I can share everything there. It's great! I can now have just one or two...and not overdose on anything. Let me get to the nitty gritty.....I just used 1 box of Betty Crocker white cake mix. I followed the directions, but used 1/4 cup of thawed pink lemonade concentrate, 1 cup water and 1 tsp. lemon extract. 4 drops of red food coloring made them a really pretty pink. For the frosting I used my buttercream recipe....then added lemon extract and a bit more red food coloring. I got RAVE reviews!!!!! Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum :)

Lilly of the Valley

Lilly of the Valley are one of my favorite flowers....the are the official flower of the month of May and are sometimes referred to as May bells. My birthday is in May, so it works out perfect :) Grace Kelly carried a beautiful bouquet of them when she married in Monaco years ago.

I have transplanted my plants from my mom's house up in Buffalo before she sold it and moved to her home in Florida full time. They spread quickly and every spring I'm always asking people if they'd like to stop by and take some.

They don't last long....just a week or so, but they're soooooooooo fragrant!

I snipped a bunch to take inside and put in a pretty little cut glass vase. They make my whole kitchen cheery. I hope you all have been having a lovely spring.

Ya Gotta Love Coconut Cake

Soooooooooooo GOOD!! I was organizing my pantry a few weeks ago and came across THREE bags of coconut???! So like any good girl, I went on Pinterest to find a recipe to make with it. I found this oh-so-yummy one...an instant favorite over here.

The recipe needs Coconut Milk (Found in the Hispanic section) and Coconut Cream (Found in the mixed drink section).

Ok. So here we go......... Ingredients: 1 box Betty Crocker white cake mix (The girl who invented this said a box mix worked much better than making it from scratch) 1 1/4 cup coconut milk 1 can cream of coconut 8 oz. container of Cool Whip (This was NOT enough for the Treatgirl, and I used a BIG container) 1 cup flaked coconut (Also, not enough for the Treatgirl...I used a lot more :) Directions: 1. Prepare cake mix according to the directions on the box, substituting coconut milk for the water in the mix. Bake in a 9x13" pan. 2. While the cake is still warm, poke holes all over the cake. 3. Warm cream of coconut for 1 1/2 minutes on HIGH in the microwave and pour over the cake. Chill. 4. Frost with container of thawed Cool Whip. Sprinkle with flaked coconut. Keep refrigerated. *********OK. Once again, I REALLY, REALLY DO NOT LIKE this new BLOGGER AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't figure out why I type my directions out all lined up to the left....and they keep turning out all in a paragraph like that?????? aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhh!!! ************** Oh, and I'm linking up to Jennifer Juniper's Tutorial Tuesday Linky party...Check it out......ALWAYS tons of great stuff!

Favorite Friday

Hi! Another week flew by......and every day I used my new Magic Bullet!! MY MOST favorite thing this week. I've been wanting one forever and this past weekend someone surprised me with one. It's even more fabulous than I thought. I've been using it to make my protein smoothies everyday....but it can do soooo much more! It comes with several cups, lids, gadgets and a recipe book. I can get rid of my blender, because it makes wonderful frozen drinks...and my little food processor because I can use it to chop onions and garlic too. It should be called the Miracle Magic Bullet. Do any of you have one????? Do you love it too??? Can you share any little tips or tricks? Let me know and have a terrific weekend.

Wheh! My First Afghan is Done!!

I've been working non-stop on this pretty afghan since the beginning of February. I actually started it last summer and worked on it for just a little bit before life got in the way. I got started on it again to finish it in time for a birthday present for my mom. She is a knitter too....and I've found over the years knitters tend to knit for everyone else except themselves. So I thought she would love having someone knit something for her :) I knit the large afghan....and it's really big.....I think I may knit one for me someday...but the smaller size would be plenty big enough.

I found the pattern online...and for the life of me I can't remember where????? But it's really easy....the pattern goes fast and it's not hard to remember.

All you need is 40 oz. 4 ply worsted weight yarn for a large afghan. Here are the directions: For a large afghan cast on 210 sts, for a small one cast on 144 sts. Pattern is a multiple of 11 sts. + 1. Row 1: K1, *yo, k3, k2tog, k2tog, k3, yo, k1. Repeat from * to end. Row 2: Purl Row 3: Knit Repeat rows 1-3 until desired length. I'm linking up to Hope Studios Tutorial Linky Party....Go on over and check it out.
******Okay. I am writing this post and blogger is all new and different and I don't think I like it :( When I typed the directions out for the afghan they are listed with a space in between each row....and are easy to follow. When I previewed it they are now like that and I can't figure out why???? Sorry :( Anyone else having trouble??? Do you like it??????*********