Wool Rug is Coming Along…

A week ago, I started this rug idea I had in my head. I really wanted to try out my Christmas frame and had been stewing over it for every it seemed. I’m so glad that I finally gave myself permission to get started on it. Been at it for about a week now and I’ve got about 1/8th of it hooked. It’s coming along nicely. It’s about 17 by 22 in sized, maybe a bit longer than that. I’m making it more as a wall hanging, I think. It’s got sunflowers and a banjo and some crows on it, just because. I like all those.

It’s been fun working on it a little here and there. I left it out so that I would work on it. I like taking a half hour here and there and just zoning out for a little bit, stitching the little wool strips into place. Ever since about 20 years ago when I saw my first wool loop rug, I just fell in love with the look. So many designs are just sort of primitive looking, simple, but that is the charm. I just love the look. But it’s taken me 20 years to get the nerve up to give it a whirl. This is only my second rug hooking. I’m already thinking about my next one, I believe it will have sheep on it! And maybe a willow tree. And stars and a moon. Yeah. Cool.


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Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Wow… these were super easy and fun to make! We will definately make them again… and… again…. and…. ah…. again again! (haha)

All you need is a small cup pan, and some little paper cups. We got our pan on eBay a while back, for making little mini-muffin bites. Never have much done them, but the pan is PERFECT for PBCups!

This is so easy. You get one or two of those big block Herhsey’s chocolate bars. Break up about one bar into a microwavable cup, like a measuring cup or a glass bowl. Microwave a minute at a time, just until you get them nice and liquidy hot. I used just a little teaspoon to stir it up. Once it’s hot…. You just ladle in about half the cup full of chocolate. A little less than a full spoon was perfect. Tap the pan a little on the counter and it will settle nicely. Let them cool for a few minutes.

In another cup, take 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and add to this 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Start with one tablespoon of sugar and start to stir. You want to stiffen up the peanut butter a bit, so you can roll a little ball with your fingers. You’ll see it go from a butter to a sort of crumbly thick dough, almost. That’s perfect. Then just snitch a little pinch of this dough and make it a little ball in your fingers. When done, squish it a little bit, like a thick coin. Don’t make it too wide, or it won’t fit in your cup and you won’t be able to get the chocolate to seal in around it. (Don’t ask how we know this… Hmmmmm)

My picture shows the peanut centers a little sticky, and our second batch we added a little bit more sugar to make them a bit less sticky. Of course, I forgot to take a picture, but you will see pretty quick what we’re talking about. Even sticky, they worked fine.

Once you have all the little cup insides placed into the half filled cups, you just warm up the rest of the chocolate and ladle it over the centers. The hot sort of melts the peanut butter dough nicely and with a little tap tap at the end, it settles in nicely around the center. It’s really easy. Took less than a half hour to make a double batch!

The hardest part was letting them cool and set up nicely. I ended up setting them in a little container and setting them into the frig. They were so good. And just really neat to make. Who would have thought they would be so easy? I have always avoided making candy because I was afraid of all the thermometers and double boilers and just all that hard and fancy cooking! Now, of course, these were not totally from scratch, and really very easy, but you know it’s little things like this that give you the confidence to try a little harder recipes. And then to learn some of the more fancy recipes. My next goal is to learn how to make little chocolate covered mint patties! They are my absolute favorite candy! Next to peanut butter cups.

Now, just so I don’t loose my homesteading/homemaker license… I must tell you. These peanut butter cups tasted SOOOOO good! And you know what went in them. It’s amazing just how good homemade stuff tastes! I was in a hurry this morning to get some errands done before a meeting with a friend, that I skipped breakfast and grabbed a breakfast sandwich at a fast food place. After I got done paying $4 something for this combo disaster, I sat there and thought, this tastes awful. It looked NOTHING like the beautiful picture on the menu board and it was just blah and nasty. For $4 I could have made a half dozen of these at home and they would have been wonderful. Thank goodness I’m finally starting to ween myself and my family off this fast food crap. It’s just so rarely does it measure up anymore. Learning to make special treats is just another fun way to experience the wonderful taste of homemade. And the feeling of accomplishment when you succeed!

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Busy Sewing Sunday


It all started with this kind of ugly air conditioner and a need to make some nicer little drapes. Something that was in two pieces so I could open it up a bit for when we wanted the air conditioner on. But something to sort of hide it away for the rest of the year.

So, I decided in my computer free time on Sundays, that I would sew a little. I had a few “Want to DO” cards that included sewing, so I got started. Didn’t take me long to make up some little drapes out of an old sheet I was saving. I’m thinking this worked out fine.


And I’ve been wanting to sew up a little cell phone pouch, with just enough room for a little cash, perhaps some cough drops or mints and that sort of thing. Mostly for bluegrass events, because I sorta hate draggin my purse around when I’m gigging or jamming. The boys don’t do that. And I hate having too much stuff in my pockets, I’m just not for that. So, I made alittle pouch, lined it with purple felt to give it a little stiffness to protect my phone from getting bumped around. It’s cute and I can’t wait to give it a try.


Well, I was on a roll, so I figured, I’d keep rolling!

I saw a while back that someone had made a cute skirt from an old pair of jeans. Well, it just so happened I had a pair of jeans that were just getting too thin in the knees and I’d patched a few too many times. It would be perfect to try out. All I had in long enough material was some fun sunflower fabric, so I figured why not. It actually looks cute with the faded jeans. I’m thinking a nice plan white t shirt and I’m going to be a gardening mama this summer.

It was a great afternoon and I got three want cards done! Just took my time and enjoyed the act of creating. Didn’t really cost me anything, all the fabric I either had in my stash for ages or was recycled from an old worn sheet. The head and the foot were perfectly fine, so I thought it would be worth it to save the sheet for some project and I found it.

I have these two pictures of neat tunics that I saw somewhere on the web… I just might have to try and figure out a pattern for something close… maybe next weekend! We’ll see. I just love the sort of Bohemian gypsy hippy look, it’s fun. And they look very comfy and light to wear. Might have to do a little experimenting with the left over sheet and see if I can get close to the design. It’s fun to mess around with old fabric and try and design with it. Once you get the pieces right, THEN you can go and get some nice fabric and make as many as you want!


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