Snow and Happy New Year!

We got a wonderful surprise for the first of the year...snow!

   It hasn't snowed here in around 10 years so its not a usual occurance. There was a very cold arctic front that came down from Canada that dropped rain and snow in our area.

 Here are a few photos

This photo was taken from some dear friends of ours who live in the neighboring town of Wildomar.

This is in the rural area of Menifee..up in the hills...I don't think the palm trees knew quite what to think! We took our grandson up there to play in the snow and he didn't appreciate the cold factor.

Of course, he ran right back to the car once the photo was taken and I don't blame him. We're really not prepared for the cold stuff. He wanted to go so badly to see it but I don't think he realized how cold it was.

Merry Christmas!

                                       Wishing everyone a joyous and peaceful Christmas!

The Christmas Scale

Christmas decorating

Here is our little tree corner, finally got the tree up this last week. Alan's feeling alot better and no more low blood sugar episodes. Thank you all for your prayers. We love the traditional colors of Christmas as you can see and there is always one cat under the tree. The cats seem to take turns enjoying it.
            I also decorated the wash board for the holiday.

I love the cardinals, found them at the Dollar Tree store which really made it, I think.
The tree skirt I made a number of years ago, I used a base of dark quilted green cotton and the attached about 300 Christmas yo yos to it. Added buttons also and trimmed it with some vintage crochet. It was alot of work but we've enjoyed it and glad it didn't get destroyed in the fire we had about 4 years ago.

My friend, Nancy Huggins sent me a package for the family and in it was my gift..this darling primitive doll..isn't she cute?

                       I love the embroidery hoop!
Wishing you, the reader, a wonderful weekend as we prepare for Jesus's birthday and wish you many blessings this next week.

Tea Towels

Just a note to let everyone know that I do custom order tea towels. This is just an example of my stitching work. The lady that I did these for was very happy with them and if you would like a set in the next year, you can message me. They run around $40.00 which includes shipping. That is for 3 towels. If you'd like just two, the cost is $30.00. (Sorry, its too late to get these finished now before Christmas.)

 The towels are very nice high quality with a hanging loop and you can order them in several colors, black, blue, yellow, red or green stripe. I also stitch on flour sack towels, and those are around $25 for 3 towels. Flour sack towels are great for drying glassware as they leave no lint. Below is an example of two flour sack towels that are now being sent to another customer.

       Please give me around 3-4 weeks for delivery.




         Below is another set of towels, these  have been very popular.

Ginger Crinkles and More!

I made these the other day and they're sooo good! Chewy and full of flavor. I thought I'd share the recipe plus a funny story. For years and years my mom would try to make ginger cookies, and Dad would always say.." They're good, but not like Mom used to make. She made the best ginger cookies"
Finally, getting not a little frustrated, when her mother- in- law (my grandma) came to visit, Mom asked her what her secret was. Grandma looked surprised and said "Oh, those cookies? I always bought them".

This recipe is from the old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, circa 1974.

Ginger Crinkles
2 1/4 c. flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1 c. packed brown sugar
3/4 c. cooking oil
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg

Stir together the first 5 ingredients and1/4 t. salt. Combine the remaining ingredients and beat well. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture. (in  other words mix dry ingredients into the wet) beat well.
Form 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place  on a ungreased cooky sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Makes 48 cookies.

Just a report about Alan's doctor visit...she took him off the night time insulin and just one shot a day now in the mornings. She's having him do a diary of his sugar levels in the morning and he has another appointment next week. She also had some blood work done. So far he's been alot better and had no more visits to the ER.Thanking the Lord for prayers and good doctors.

I found this great youtube video with some really good last minute ideas for Christmas..these are great!

Diabetes

Sorry I haven't posted more. My husband Alan has been rather ill with his diabetes. We've had to go to the ER twice in the last 10 days as his blood sugar got so low overnight that he suffered from hypoglycemia. He didn't recognize me or any of the family and was acting extremely strange. He refused any help like orange juice so I had to call 911 twice. The paramedics were wonderful and so was the ER doctors. It was rather amazing to see him be himself again with only a little glucose.
(Since the last episode, I bought some emergency glucose just in case.)

I've been getting up in the night at least every few hours to help him check his blood sugar levels and helped him so he wouldn't get too low and have repeat symptoms. We go to the doctor today and I'm praying (asking for prayer please) that the doctor can help. It could be the insulin levels that he's been taking.  The doctor had prescribed a higher dosage so it could be too much for him.

I wanted to share a wonderful Diabetic site with you that  funds diabetic research. Its called Diabetic Awareness  and has tons of nice items (Christmas?) that helps fund research so a cure can be reached one day.

I love this polar fleece jacket on the site and this is just one example of what they offer.

Hope you're getting ready for Christmas and the holidays. I've not decorated much yet with the health problems here but hopefully this week will be different.

A Wet Monday

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.We had an nice traditional dinner of roast turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy (excellent this year), steamed brussel spouts and green bean casserole, cranberry salad, with two pies for dessert.
 You may have noticed I changed my blog page to a Christmas one. What do you think?

Its raining here today, yeah!! California so needs it and its always a blessing. I'm making turkey soup today and the house smells yummy.

 Here are the two sets of tags that I spoke about earlier.

 Gingerbread Men

                                Angels Gather Here


They look alot better than these photos as my camera just doesn't focus well now having been dropped numerous times. I've improved the tags somewhat also. Both sets of tags have beading on them as well has being hand stitched. These will be the last I will do this year so if you would like any tags now is the time to order them. You can find the complete selection on Facebook, Huggins Haven Handicrafts just to the album section and click on Dani's Tags. There is lots of other goodies there too so take time to look around. The tags are still on sale through the holidays, $3.50 each or 3 for $9.00 and free shipping.

I'm now working on a special order of 3 kitchen towels. I will show you those when they're done which should be later this week. Plus I have another order of towels from some one else. So I'm busy busy!

Some Thanksgiving Vintage Postcards

 

 

As you may know, I collect vintage postcards occasionally and just love the old graphics. I thought I'd share a few with you today and wish you all a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving. 

As I type this, the turkey is thawing and I've checked to make sure we have everything for a nice meal on Thursday. I have two pies in the works, and have gathered everything to make them, probably tomorrow. A nice pumpkin and also an apple pie, both from scratch. On the menu is turkey of course, mashed potatoes, plenty of gravy (our oldest son's favorite), the class green bean casserole (also his favorite) candied sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts (our favorite), assorted relishes, rolls and of course, pie for dessert. 

I'm so thankful that the Lord has provided for us this year as its been a struggle at times. Actually, the last few years have been the same, and God has always come through for us. A life of faith isn't easy but very fulfilling on many levels. 

I also wanted to share this podcast on the first Thanksgiving. I found it very informative and interesting..

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2014/11/20/the-pilgrim-story-you-werent-taught-in-school/

well, evidently you will have to paste the above address to listen to this...but again, well worth it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

More Tags!

I love to see  how friends use my fabric tags in decorating. These tags were used to decorate a tree by her beautiful fireplace...
I finished two more sets of tags....the sale is still going on..$3.50 each or $9.00 for 3. Primitive fabric tags.

                               These glum little reindeer always crack me up a little, so serious!

Christmas Tags

I want to thank everyone who ordered tags and the sale is continuing until the end of November. I will mail out the orders shortly but today was a hold up because of the Veterans Holiday.  I got a new Snowman pattern to stitch so I'll show that to you another day. Its really cute. All tags are only $3.50 each or 3 for $9.00. I'm waiting for a new shipment of supplies but that should be coming any day so go ahead and order in confidence. This is so helping me have a better Christmas for my family.

There may be color variations on the ones  you receive but they'll all be traditional Christmas colors. If you'd like different non traditional colors, let me know when you order. To order, just comment what you'd like and I will get right back to you. Many of the tags are beaded also and always hand stitched. Done in the primitive style, the designs are from Primitive Stitches.

If you are interested, please email me at vargasondanielle@gmail.com or comment here and I'll get back to you.

Christmas Fabric Tags

I'm having a sale on my fabric tags...only $3.50 each or 3 for $9.00..just in time for the holidays. Be sure to order them early as the time is really flying by. You can contact me here by commenting or message me through Facebook on our selling page, Huggins Haven.. I don't have the above tags in stock yet, but will be stitching them this week.

I have a  large selection of tags and they're really nice to add to a gift basket, or as a bookmark gift. Great for the tree also as they won't break if you have pets or small children. I plan on tucking a few in Christmas cards this year. All  the patterns are from Primitive Stitches in case you'd rather stitch them yourself. They're rather fun to do.
I'm using the funds to have a better Christmas for my grandchildren and family. We're on a slim budget as seniors so it all helps!

Huggins Haven

Our group on Facebook has alot of cute things for sale now. Nancy Huggins just listed some darling little pillows like the one above. Very reasonably priced also as its on clearance. Only $3.50 plus shipping. She has others also so hope you will take a look.  Huggins Haven...
I just finished and listed another set of fabric stitched holiday tags also...and showed how to use them in various ways.

Christmas is coming so fast now, just a few short weeks until Thanksgiving and then POW!
We will be sure to get any orders out asap so you'll have them in plenty of time. Don't wait too long.

Pie!

Oh! It's fall now here in Southern California and with it comes baking. At least in our house. I've been baking pies lately, two last week, one of which was this Sweet Potato Pie. Personally, I prefer sweet potato to pumpkin any day of the week,it seems to have a  richer flavor. The other pie I made was an apple raisin...

Earlier in the last week, I made a batch of pie crusts and have them in the freezer. Any time I feel like baking, its easy to thaw them out and get going on the fun part. If you need a good pie crust recipe, you'll find it here!
I used a sugar free apple pie filling for the apple pie and added raisins.. So I won't share any special recipe.
Here is the recipe for the Sweet Potato Pie and its a good one.

Sweet Potato Pie

1 lb of sweet potatoes

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 cup white sugar ( I used Splenda)

1/2 c. milk

2 eggs

1.2 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. vanilla

1 9" unbaked pie crust

Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40-50 minutes or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato and remove the skin.

Break apart the sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into a unbaked pie crust.

Baking at 350 for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink as it cools. Serve with whipped cream.

The only thing I'd do differently would be to add a bit more spice..I'd up the nutmeg and cinnamon to a teaspoon each

Emma Grace

Our grand daughter, Emma Grace came over on Halloween,,isn't she a doll? Her mama even put glitter in her hair and her shoes had glitter also..a little princess for sure.
 

 

She's 18 months and such a cutie!

She had alot of fun for her first Halloween and our grandson Jayden did also. I didn't get a photo of him in his costume, he went as a Medic. His dad took him around and was dressed as a giant yellow banana.

We weren't going to give out candy this year due to financial issues but our son came home from the grocery story with several bags so we went ahead and had fun ourselves giving out it out to all the kids. We had around 40 Trick or Treaters.  Jayden did the neighborhood early and then came home to help give out candy. I think he enjoyed doing that as much as he did trick or treating.

Today he sat sorting out his candy hoard and eating his fill. We both figured it was ok once a year to indulge and all the sugar didn't seem to effect him. His dad had to go to work right after he walked with Jayden and worked all night  as did his mom so we watched him today until they got their rest. We're both tired tonight after a full day of cartoons and running after a 3 year old! But its a good tired. 

Please remember!

Vintage Halloween Black Cat Postcards

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday.

We don't celebrate Halloween very much but I do love vintage postcards.

Here are a few more for your enjoyment.