Weekend Crafting Retreat

Weekend Crafting Retreat

This weekend, I left my kiddos and my husband (for the first time ever) and went out to a lodge on a beautiful lake and spent the weekend crafting and visiting with old and new friends.

Our 'crafting' and 'quilting' space. Click to view larger.

I worked on three different things over the weekend. I offered a craft for scrabble tiles, worked on t-shirts and the majority of my time was spent on decorations for my kiddo's birthdays.

Scrabble Tiles

These our my customized scrabble tiles:

Link to more information if you'd like to order wood, kits or a completed set...

I sell them completed for $2 a tile but I also offer them in kits for $1 a tile. Most people did the "Home" version, with states like Washington, Utah, Michigan and Missouri. The one below was a lady who wanted "Ocean" to match a theme in her home.

Birthdays

The majority of my time was spent on crafts for my kid's birthdays. My son wanted a theme related to his favorite Netflix show. My daughter wanted Fairies. While crafting, I did a lot of little things, like home made wands and cupcake toppers, along with birthday invitations but I did some bigger crafts that my daughter can use as bedroom decor as well. These are pictured below.

I used a gold gift bag from the dollar store to make the circles. The other half of the bag I used to make golden fairy silhouettes for cupcake toppers.

It was fun coming home and seeing their faces as I pulled things out one-by-one for their parties. I don't know if I can do it every year but it certainly was fun for this year!

I purchased the fairies from the Silhouette Store.

T-Shirts

Lara Allsopps shared these first two files with me. Aren't they amazing? I did the upside down shirt for my husband. The weeding was tedious but it was worth it to see how pleased he was to have it. If we decide to dress down for Halloween this next year, I think these would be fun matching couple shirts to wear.

I also made another one of my tribal shirts to thank and surprise (haha hopefully she's not reading this before she gets it) my sister-in-law who lives in the tri-cities.

You know that thought, "If I could just craft for hours", well it was a dream come true. It was a lot of fun, I got a lot done. I strengthened friendships and made many new ones. It was so good being home with my family but I would be excited and up for another one next year!

Ghost Chili

One of my favorite recipes to have at my Halloween Parties is Ghost Chili. I got the original recipe from a friend and then changed some things here and there over the years. One of the things I love about this recipe is that the longer it sits, the better it tastes, so if you make it the day before, all you have to do is warm it up and the flavors are perfect.

Ghost Chili

Ingredients

1 lb chicken
1 drained can garbanzo beans
2 cans of diced green chili
2 large cans of white hominy
4 teaspoons of chicken broth paste
Half a diced onion
2 crushed/dice cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of chili powder
Dash of cayenne pepper
6 oz shredded white cheddar cheese
Cubed block of cream cheese

Directions

Sautee garlic and onion with a little bit of olive oil or butter until the onion is turning golden brown. Add the liquid from the hominy cans and broth paste. Simmer on low, adding in spices (cumin, chili powder and cayenne). Once it starts to dissolve, add in all cans of beans and chili. Add in cubed chicken, shredded cheese, cubed cream cheese. Keep on low, stirring occasionally for one-two hours. If you choose to eat it the next day, you can also put it in a crock pot and let it sit on "warm" throughout the day. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do and Happy Halloween!

Summer Garden Party

One more post for this evening. Mostly because the last one was about parties and this summertime one is fun to remember, especially with tulips and daffodils starting to peek up with the promise of spring. Last August, I threw a garden party for my sister. There weren't as many decorations involved (unless you count our roses!), except for the food. It was really fun to make!

Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil

PC: Wendy Holt

Parties Galore

I love decorating for parties. I try and find an excuse often so that I can dive into some decoration creations. I'm an introvert, completely. So my parties usually just have a handful of family members or close friends but it is always exciting to prepare for. This last month was my daughter and son's birthdays. I had lots of little people and it was a lot of fun. Here are some decorations. I have a mini banner stand, my wood-working husband helped me make. They are about a foot tall. I'm hoping to make more. The great thing is that they can be painted to any color scheme. He also put little notches at the top so that the ribbon/string doesn't slide down and you can interchange banners: