Pinecone Gnome

Really, can you believe how many things a person can make with pinecones? This is like my 10th thing and there are lots and lots more I could do! But fear not - I'm almost done (even I'm a little over the pinecone thing, you guys must be tired and rolling your eyes by now LOL!)... ;)

Today it's this little gnome - these Scandinavian-inspired gnomes have popped up everywhere - I see them in just about every store I go in, including the grocery store! Very popular is the little stuffed fat ones that you can prop on a shelf or something, but I've seen all kinds - they all have the big hat and nose sticking out in common tho. So that's what I've made using a pinecone as the body - these would be cute as tree ornaments or package toppers, or just prop him up somewhere.

All you need is a pinecone, wood ball for the head, small wood ball for the nose (or a big round bead), felt for the hat, fuzzy material for the hat brim, some sort of fluffy material for the beard (think pillow stuffing, fleece, yarn, cotton ball), hot glue, and a needle and thread to sew up the hat (I bet you could just glue the hat if you don't want to sew it!).

I made the hat just like I did for the elves (click here for that post and better directions); cut a tall skinny triangle from whatever color felt you want (make sure it's wide enough to fit over the larger wood ball once you've sewn the triangle into the hat), sew up the sides to create an upside-down cone shape and hot glue onto the wood ball for his head. Add a small strip of fuzzy material around the base of the hat, covering about 1/2 of the ball. Hot glue a small wood ball on for the nose - note, I didn't have a small enough wood ball so I used a round bead instead. Glue the head in place on the top of a pinecone, you might need to snip out some of the center of the pinecone to give the head a solid place to sit. Glue on a wad of pillow stuffing or a cotton ball (or some other fluffy material) for the big beard. If you want to hang him, sew on a piece of embroidery thread or light twine to the tip of his hat.

inspiration for this project found here

Pinecone Elves

Just a couple more pinecone crafts, promise! This one is a tiny bit harder than the others only because I had to play around with getting the size of the felt shapes right - don't get scared, it isn't "hard" hard and they turned out so stinkin' cute that it's worth a couple minutes to figure out. 

You'll need a couple different colors of felt shapes - cut a tall thin triangle for the hat, 2 mittens, a long strip for a scarf, and the feet/base is an upside down heart; a pinecone, a small wooden ball for the head, a bell or pompom for the top of the hat, needle and thread, markers, hot glue.

Tip - draw the templates for the hat, feet, and mittens on paper to determine the right sizes before cutting them out of felt.  

Note: play around with the size of the triangle for the hat - you need to be able to fit it snugly over the small wooden ball/head once you've sewn it into a hat (it resembles an upside down ice cream cone once it's done).

Start by folding the triangle in half and stitch along the side to keep it closed and form a cone. I started at the bottom of the hat and then added the mini bell or pompom to the very top to finish. Make sure it fits snugly over the wood ball and then pipe a thin circle of hot clue around the inside bottom of the hat, and put the ball inside so almost half of it is covered.

Next, hot glue the head to the top of the pinecone - you might need to snip out a bit of the center of the pinecone to give the head a solid place to sit.

Hot glue the mittens to the sides of the pinecones, and the feet/heart shape to the bottom making sure it is sticking out a bit in the front so it looks like toes peaking out. If your pinecone is lopsided at this point and won't stand up, just add another piece of felt to the underside to give it balance.

When I first made these I thought I'd like them without faces - but changed my mind and added 2 small black marker dots for eyes, and one red dot for a nose.

click here for original source of thee cutie elves

Cathy's Rolled Oats Cake

Cathy's been telling me about this cake for awhile now, and kept saying she had to make it for us...and I'm SO happy to report that she made it for our "last meal" before we fled the snow like the snowbirds we are, and it is delicious. It's a moist, flavorful, spice cake with a crunchy-nutty frosting (note: Dave is allergic to nuts so she frosted 1/2 of the cake with the same frosting but left the nuts out - both halves are great so if you don't want to add the nuts you don't have to!), it's not a delicate cake and would transport very easily (this is important to know if you've ever labored making a pretty layered decorated cake and then had it totally fall apart while transporting it to someone else's house -  or have the frosting completely slide right off the cake while riding in the car...don't ask). 

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups water, boiling
• 1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Frosting Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 1/8 cups coconut flakes
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350'
2. Pour boiling water over oats and let stand for 20 minutes. 
3. Cream butter, add sugars and beat well. Add eggs, beat again. Add the rest of the cake ingredients and mix well.
4. Bake in greased 13x9 cake pan for 35-40 minutes.
5. Mix together the frosting ingredients, spread over hot cake. Put under the broiler for about 10 minutes, watching carefully that it doesn't burn. 

Pinecone Angels

These little pinecone angels are all over Pinterest so not sure who to credit with the original idea...they are so so super cute!! I will be making lots of these, I love them!

Like all my other pinecone crafts lately (did you see the turkeys, owls, birds, and the wreath?), these are very easy and quick to make - and this time there's no felt involved. You'll need a small wood ball (the size will depend on how big the pinecone is, find them in a bag at the craft store), a sharpie, blush and a brush, a piece of twine, ribbon, and a short piece of metallic pipe cleaner.

I saw someone make the rosy cheeks using blush, I thought a light pink marker would work (plus I didn't want to walk all the way downstairs to find some blush!) but it didn't, even the lightest shade was too obvious. So...use blush and apply with a small brush to create a very light pink tint for the cheeks. Then draw on the face with a fine-tipped sharpie.

Attach the head to the top of a pinecone, you might need to cut out a little of the pinecone to give the ball a solid place to rest. My pinecone didn't want to stand up straight, so I attached a small circle of felt to make it more stable - it'll depend on your pinecone if you need to create a base of sorts.

Tie a piece of twine between the head and the pinecone. Attach a bow of ribbon at the back for wings.   Bend the pipe cleaner into a small circle for the halo and hot glue in place.

Miss Lori's Gossamer Christmas Wreath

I got this email from Miss Lori about a wreath she made inspired from the plastic baggie wreath (click here for that post, she also made a Halloween baggie wreath that turned out great and cost all of $3), this turned out so pretty and I love that she she changed from baggies to this beautiful aqua gossamer fabric. Isn't this sooooo pretty? I love that she was inspired by the baggie wreath I posted (and I was inspired by Michelle's baggie wreath) and now I'm inspired to make her gossamer wreath! The inspiration/creative circle never ends!! Thanks for sharing this Miss Lori!

Here's the project in her words:

My Mom is doing an aqua Christmas decor this year so I used the plastic bag idea and cut up squares of gossamer (that I had already), tied them on like the baggies and embellished with $7.00 worth of goodies!  I’m going to take to her tomorrow!

The gossamer I used comes in a roll that is 19” wide (I attached a pic) and I used about 9 yards.  You can get about 15 baggie size pieces out of a yard.

I like the softer look of gossamer as opposed to tulle and it comes in great colors!  I happen to have this roll because I was going to use it for party decor and then ended up going with a different plan.  I got it online from Shindigz and it is a BIG roll but I bet you can get it other places in smaller quantities.

I also like that the gossamer has a “stick to it” quality - everything on the wreath is just, “stuck” on, nothing is glued, so we can change it if my Mom wants to - maybe for Easter?!

Around the Campfire (week 47)

Dear Campers ~

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving week - anyone try any new recipes you want to share? I made mashed squash that turned out great, I posted it the other day if you want to check it out. Here's a recap of this weeks happenings:

Posts you might have missed ~

11/18: around the campfire (week 46)
11/19: wrapped pumpkin decor (aka: toilet paper craft!)
11/20: pumpkin vase 
11/21: Sarge's 6th birthday! lightbulb pear
11/22: mashed butternut and acorn squash
11/23: fabric bread basket
11/24: Cathy updated a dining room table and chairs

I can't share our menu's from this week because we have been basically eating hand to mouth without much thought this week! Settling in here at the condo, eating up what's in the freezer and pantry - just hodgepodging dinners together amidst the mess :)

the pinecone wreath I made last week is on my table
with a big candle in the middle - looks good! Now
I'm going to attempt to spray paint it...wish me luck ;)

Hope you'll stop by the blog this week and see some more fun projects I've been working on - and you have to see the gorgeous wreath Miss Lori made, I love it and you will too!

Sincerely ~



Jill, your camp counselor

Cathy re-does a Dining Room Set

Cathy updated this black dining room table and chairs, and they turned out so good I asked her if I can post them to show you - and maybe inspire you to look at things around the house that you aren't loving and change them up instead of replacing. I'm looking at you, ugly guest room dresser - you're next!

First she sanded the seat and top front of the chairs (with help from her granddaughter); followed by spray painting the backs and legs grey, once that dried she followed with a coat of white. Once the paint was dry she lightly sanded them to give a distressed look. Then she stained the seat and top brown to match the table (she sanded and re-stained that as well). How great did this turn out?!

Fabric Bread Basket

Made this bread basket to carry the herb bubble bread I took to Al and Cathy's (click here for the bread recipe). They said to bring "nothing" which drives me crazy - I always tell them I'm going to bring something, they might as well tell me what they want LOL. But they wouldn't, so they got bread and this simple bread basket I whipped up at the last minute. Seriously, it's a very quick project if your sewing machine is ready to go and you have some scrap fabric on hand that is - if not, it's still very easy once you have the material!

Cut two pieces of fabric 16" square. Iron on a matching piece of fusible interface to the wrong side of one of the fabric pieces (it'll help give it a little structure, not necessary tho if you want to skip this step - your basket will be a little flimsier but it still works and is fine). Sew the two fabric squares together, right sides facing, leaving a small gap in one side - the turn it right sides out thru the small gap. Insert a skewer or something long and pointy into the hole between the two sides and poke into each corner to get them all as square as possible (sometimes the material gets jammed up in the corners), then sew up the gap with either the sewing machine or by hand. Iron the square to make it nice and smooth.

 Measure 3" in on each corner and sew a straight line creating a point, almost like little wings.

That's it! Once all of the corners are sewn into points the basket takes its shape. The space where the bread goes is about 9" square which perfectly holds the pan of bubble bread I made. If you are using a different size pan you might want to change to a coordinating basket size when you cut the squares of fabric. I did 16" squares of fabric with 1" being the seam allowance (that's how much of the fabric gets used to sew the squares together, think of it as sort of the "hem", you need extra material to sew on) and each side wall is 3" so I ended up with a 9" basket. Measure your pan and add 7 inches to get the right size (1" for seam allowance, 3" for the sides times two). Hope that makes sense!

One year ago:

What's your Black Friday look like? Did you get up at 5am (or worse, sleep outside of the store?) to shop? Spending the day getting Christmas stuff out? I'm planning to have a nice easy day, steering clear of the mall, making stuff, and hopefully avoid getting in the car! I'm not posting anything I made today - unless I made you chuckle with these funnies in which case I did make something LOL!! Have a good day!

Mashed Butternut and Acorn Squash

I'm going simple this year with our Thanksgiving menu - Dave just wants turkey and stuffing (nothing else, he's so weird) but I love green bean casserole so we are having that too...I make it in the crockpot and it's sooooo easy (click here for the recipe). I decided at the last minute this morning, after Tesha told me she was making it, that I also want mashed squash. I was going to just boil some butternut squash chunks but when Tesha told me how she's making hers I decided to copy...er, I mean be inspired by haha... her method. Very easy so it's perfect for my simple dinner plans.

look how pretty this cut acorn is!

I cut a small butternut and a small acorn squash in half, scooped out the seeds, roasted the squash in a 350' oven until soft (I sort of forgot they were roasting so don't know how long it actually takes, mine were in there almost an hour before I remembered them!). Let the squash cool, then scrape out of the shell. I put it in the food processor so it'd get very smooth - don't know what Tesha did - normally I would add a little sweetener (maple syrup or brown sugar) but these squash are really sweet already so I didn't add any additional sugar. Taste yours before deciding if you need to make it sweeter. After processing the squash until smooth I streamed in 2 tablespoons of melted butter mixed with a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt until they were incorporated into the squash. Transfer to a 9" baking dish; about 1/2 hour before we were ready to eat popped it into a 350' oven until it was heated thru.

This turned out SO good, I'm not saving this simple recipe just for my holiday meals - it's a winner any time of the year!

PS: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Lightbulb Pear

I'm sure you've figured out by now how much I like to turn random objects into cute projects (think recycled k-cup crafts like these little birds, or a wreath made from sandwich baggies); here's another one made from a burned out lightbulb, twine, and a stick.

That's it. I pretty much just told you how to make it hahaha. Ok, ok, more details needed? Let's see...

1. save a burned out lightbulb in case you ever want to make something out of it. This is totally different than being a hoarding pack rat, promise.
2. hot glue twine around the lightbulb, starting at the round bulb end.
3. before you completely cover the screw end, hot glue a small stick to the base and finish wrapping twine around it.

Saw this idea on Pinterest, have no idea who the original source is.

One year ago: yarn-wrapped bottle
Two years ago: how to make turkey gravy
Three years ago: Sarge's birthday pupcakes

Pumpkin Vase

Remember my little peeping pumpkin from last month? Since I didn't carve it, this little pumpkin has held up well - so I turned it into a vase by cutting a big hole in the top and remove the guts and seeds (clean the seeds and put on parchment paper to dry them out before roasting them). Then I played around with what I wanted to put in the pumpkin - a small plant, succulents, a candle and faux leaves...it all looks good! My favorite is the candle surrounded by fake leaves; if you want it to hold a candle just make sure the size of the hole you cut in the top will tightly hold the candle. And note: I'm pretty sure fake plants are going to catch on fire and/or melt if they get too close to a flame, so use caution and be careful when and if you light the candle!! Better idea - use a flameless candle ;)

one year ago: yarn wrapped wheat
two years ago: Jen's spinach salad
three years ago: leaf lanterns

Wrapped Pumpkin Decor

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to call this. Tesha sent me the photo and instructions, and it's really cute - but if I call it what it is you're gonna roll your eyes and not give it a chance. So I'm calling it a 'wrapped pumpkin' so you'll at least look at it before judging this toilet paper craft LOL!!!

These were centerpieces made for a fall-themed wedding shower that Tesha went to, she was the winner at the table and got to take it home.  I would never have thought up this clever idea - who looks at a roll of t.p. and thinks "pumpkin decor"?

Wrap a roll of toilet paper in a solid piece of orange material and tuck in the top of the roll. Cut a rectangle piece of green material using pinking shears, tuck that into the top of the roll. Add a bit of straw or raffia if you want, then push a Tootsie Roll down in the middle of all of it to hold in place.

Around the Campfire (week 46)

Dear Campers ~

We are making our cross country road trip this week, but I made a bunch of things ahead of time so I could still post while sitting in the camper at night. Obviously I went on a pinecone craft roll, this week was 3 different birds and a pinecone wreath. And I still have a couple more to show you later! Hope you enjoyed my silly birds :)

Here's a quick little craft that would be super cute as part of your Thanksgiving decorations - acorn gift holders. Hot glue twine around the top of a plastic egg leaving a little tab sticking out on top to make the stem of the acorn. Add treats or small gifts inside the egg then attach the twine top. Looks like an acorn - how easy is that?

Posts you might have missed ~

11/11: around the campfire (week 45)
11/12: herb bubble bread
11/13: pinecone turkeys
11/14: pinecone owls
11/15: pinecone birds
11/16: pinecone wreath
11/17: homemade applesauce

It's been a very cold trip, freezing every night, so Dave didn't want to do his usual grilling at the campground - so I planned ahead and made a few dinners ahead of time (I had a very busy week before getting in the motorhome with all the crafting and cooking!) that could be finished inside instead of on the grill.

What's Cooking ~

• Al and Cathy made us smoked pulled pork with fixings and a delicious cake that I'll share soon
• my sister made us "Quebec Chicken" before we left - we love this SO much!
• pre-grilled chicken breast, long grain rice, mixed veggies, steamed spinach
• tuna noodle casserole, salad
• chicken enchilada suizas, chopped salad with tomatoes and avocado
• meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies
• chicken parmigiana, salad

It's almost Thanksgiving - everyone ready? Got your menu planned and know what you're making? I'm not sure where we'll be; if I end up cooking for just Dave and I maybe I can find a turkey breast and make this recipe for roasted turkey breast and stuffing again, and just make gravy using butter instead of turkey fat. Oh great, now I'm hungry ;)

Sincerely ~



Jill, your camp counselor

Homemade Applesauce

Cathy's neighbor, Jane (yes, candied bacon Jane!), told me about a different way she makes and preserves applesauce that I had to try for myself. She was spot on with that bacon so I'm totally trusting her!  First of all, she cooks it in a crockpot so it's super easy and hands-off; second, she doesn't process the filled jars in a water bath (I had no idea you could do this by the way). Her unusual way is after filling the jars, wipe the rim clean, add a hot lid (note: put the lids in a small saucepan of water on the stove, bring to a simmer), and screw on a ring. Then place the jars upside down on a towel for 10 minutes, turn right side up and wait for the "pop" indicating it's sealed. You'll know if they've sealed by pushing in the center of the lid, there should be no give. Tighten the ring after you turn them over if it is loose.

That's it! She follows the recipe found here except she cuts the sugar to 1/4 cup, I followed her lead and did the same thing. I didn't try hers but my batch is a little tart, a little sweet, and the perfect consistency (note: not sure what Jane does but the recipe says you can put in food processor if you want a smoother consistency - I did not need to put mine in a food processor, it just turned into the right consistency when it cooked down).

Peel, core, cut the apples into chunks. I can't tell you how many it'll take to fill your crockpot - depends on how big the apples are and what size crock-pot you have. I used my big oval 6qt. slow cooker and an assortment of apples, some were big, some little - I mixed northern spy, courtland, macintosh, and honey crisp and it took quite a few of them to fill my crockpot. Note the recipe says she fills 3/4 of crockpot, I listened to Jane and filled it to the top.

Put the apples in the crockpot, pour 3/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla over the apples.

Mix all together and cook on low for 5-8 hours until the apples are broken down and it looks like applesauce!

I didn't take a picture of the filled jars, but you can see
them in the background behind the green tomato jam...

Pinecone Wreath

Ok, I realize the last couple days have been all about pinecones with beaks...turkeys, owls, birds, oh my... so today let's change it up with a simple wreath made with a whole bunch of "found" pinecones (note: I may or may not have combed the neighborhood for pinecones...I have a rule to not go into anyone's yard to gather craft materials hahaha, but if it's on the sidewalk it's fair game...or if it's on a pine tree that's within grabbing distance from the sidewalk it's mine. Hopefully Mrs. Williams wasn't watching me jump for pinecones in her tree that was very very close to the sidewalk!). I actually looked at the craft store to purchase pinecones and then had a "what the heck am I thinking?" moment  and just went for a couple walks to gather them! Duh...

Since the pinecones came off the ground and trees, they are surprisingly full of creepy crawly little bugs (you don't want to know how I came to that realization...) so I read about a very easy way to stop that little problem...lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pop into a 220' oven for about 20 minutes. Interestingly enough, baking them for a few minutes not only gets rid of the bugs, it also turned them different colors which made for a pretty cool wreath.

This is super easy - just wire the cones to a wire wreath form. I did a base layer of bigger cones, and then filled in spaces by hot gluing smaller pinecones and small bits of broken cones onto the wreath until I couldn't add any more! There were a couple places where I could still see the green wire, so I added a few little sticks and feathers to cover those up.

I especially love that the pinecones sort of look like flowers when I cut them in half, the one that is anchoring the bunch of feathers really looks pretty. Agree?

I'm thinking I'll lay this wreath on my round dining room table and put a large candle in the center...and then once Thanksgiving is over I'm planning to remove the feathers and spray paint the whole wreath to make it a Christmasy/wintery wreath. I'll show you how that turns out (if it turns out, I'm not very good at spray painting - once again you don't want to know - so we'll see).