For Dad... Woodland

This time of year makes me think of nature and the woods from when I was a child and I went camping with my dad in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. That's where the inspiration for this treasury came from. So dad, this one is for you! Love ya!

As usual, I love clicks and comments!

Shortbread Cookies

This afternoon while sewing, my sweet tooth kicked in so I decided to make some cookies. I made these for friends and family last year and put them in little decorative bags with ribbon and they were a hit. So, I made them today minus the peppermint (because I didn't have any), and added in some cocoa. Ya know, for that chocolate fix too. Here is the original recipe for the Peppermint Candy Shortbread Cookies. If you want to make them chocolate like I did, add in 1 tablespoon of cocoa to the dough. These are delcious! Don't mind the different sized cookies, I had little helpers.

Peppermint Candy Shortbread Cookies

cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup peppermint candy, crushed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon of cocoa (optional)

frosting
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons peppermint candies, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F

2. Cream butter, sugar, crushed candy, and vanilla thoroughly using an electric mixer. Gradually blend in flour and cornstarch.

3. Form dough into 1-inch balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Gently press down on each cookie to flatten, either using fingers or a flat-bottomed drinking glass that has been dipped in sugar to prevent sticking.

4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown.

5. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

6. For frosting: combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly until frosting is smooth. Drizzle cookies with frosting and sprinkle with crushed candy.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Halloween Decor

With fall and Halloween quickly approaching, I've been shopping around Etsy for fun, new decorations. So when a treasury opened up this afternoon, I decided to use all my Halloween finds in it. Check it out and leave me a comment!

Meet ME!

This week's EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival Topic is either show yourself or your studio. Since I don't really have a studio, I'm showing me! LOL.

Let's see.... I'm Jordan, I'm sure you never guessed that (haha) and that is where I got my biz name from. I thought for weeks on a biz name and came back to my own name. I have two sons, Cody who is 4 years old and Carter who is 2 years old. They keep me VERY busy but somewhere better all the breaking up of fights I manage to get some work done. :) I've been with my love Scott for the past 5 years and we live here in North Carolina with our 2 boys.

More about sewing... I often get asked how long I've been sewing or how I learned. I think I learned to sewing when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I was involved in 4-H and took a holiday class to learn how to make a vest. That was my very first project. There were several others in the class that had an interest in sewing as well so a sewing club was formed. I learned a lot more in the club about sewing and techniques and that next Christmas, Santa brought me my very own sewing machine. Up until a couple months ago, I've still be sewing on that same machine. There was a period of time in my teenage years when I probably didn't touch my sewing machine for years, but right after my second son was born in 2007, I picked it up again and here I am!

New Items!

I've added several new items to my shop in the last couple days including some very cute Halloween bags! Check it out!

GIVEAWAY!

I'm having a giveaway on Twitter for the handbag below. Follow me on twitter here and go find my first tweet about it. 361st RT (retweet) wins. Please, no more than 1 RT per hour.

Sewing Machine Day

Ok, so I meant to post this last night but I fell asleep and forgot so it is a day late. Anyway, yesterday was Sewing Machine Day. The sewing machine was patented on September 10, 1846. I made a treasury in honor of it. Clicks and comments are appreciated!