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Category Archives: Crafts
DIY Menu Card Collection
I enjoy designing and printing menus for special meals I prepare at home. Sometimes they are very basic (words and images on paper), other times I have made a menu that lights up when the menu is pressed (to complete … Continue reading
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Dumplings Around the World 2024
Last year when I asked my brother what theme he wanted for Christmas this year, he said, “Dumplings Around the World.” My previous Dumplings Around the World dinner was in 2013. For this meal I was not strict with the … Continue reading
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Christmas 2024 with Niece
Here are some photos and meals from the week before Christmas my niece spent with me and my parents. As is our tradition, when my niece visits around Christmas even if it is not the calendar Christmas we designate a … Continue reading
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Trader Joes Woodland Gingerbread House
When my niece visited before Christmas we bought this cute Woodland Animal Gingerbread house kit. She seemed to enjoy decorating and assembled it. I made Royal Icing. My Mom helped with styling the fake snow and provided lights to use. … Continue reading
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White Piped Gingerbread House
I did not make this house. I gave guidance and facilitated the making of it by the 16 year old daughter of an acquaintance. She did a fantastic job! In my Gingerbread Repository it is after my creations in the … Continue reading
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Log Cabin in the Woods Gingerbread House
This year I checked another theme off my Gingerbread House to-do list! I made a pretzel log cabin. Rustic is not my normal design aesthetic (perhaps that is why I did not do a log or thatched roof). I am … Continue reading
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Heart Gingerbread House
This year was my 6th year (non-consecutive) to make gingerbread for Sweet Creations at the Eastman Museum. In my continuing quest to try different things, I have a greenhouse attached to the house with a widow’s walk. It is my first … Continue reading
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Happy Birthday Felt Banner
For a awhile, I thought about having a birthday banner that matched my dining room to use when I host birthday meals for friends or myself. I finally make one! Felt: Joanne Fabric’s thicker felt String: DMC Pearl Cotton Lettering: … Continue reading
Gingerbread Greenhouse
My niece made a gingerbread greenhouse while visiting me this year. I suggested it because I always wanted to make a greenhouse out of gingerbread and I thought she would like it. It is beautiful! Gingerbread Recipe: I used this recipe. Royal … Continue reading
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Pink Gingerbread House
This year because I was busy on a special project at work, I was unable to make gingerbread in time for the Eastman Museum (they need it in the beginning of November) but I was able to make a small … Continue reading
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Easter Themed Food and Crafts
Happy Easter! This is my collection of Easter food and crafts. As with my other collections, I plan to update when I create something new. Updated on 4/18/23. EASTER BASKET Dad’s Easter Basket Bread Cheese Art Bunny and Basket Egg … Continue reading
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Felt Roses Wreath Valentine Deco and Meal
Happy Valentine’s Day! This is my first year decorating my fireplace and mantle for February. Last year I did not yet have the mantle. Also I was too busy working on my house to decorate. I am very pleased with … Continue reading
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Mexican Vegan Birthday Dinner
My friend Deborah’s birthday is this week. I had her over for dinner. I asked for food requests and she said, “Mexican flavors / spices”. I find it so much fun to get menu inspiration from friends. We both enjoyed! … Continue reading
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Gingerbread Sheep Pub
I helped my niece make a gingerbread house this year that was inspired by one of my mom’s fairy houses. At my mom’s lake house my niece sets up the fairy houses, and each year she puts all of the … Continue reading
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Christmas 2022
My first Christmas in my home was special. My 20 year old niece joined my parents and me on December 27. We celebrated Christmas Eve on the 27 and Christmas day with her on the 28. We waited for stockings … Continue reading
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Whimsical Easy Felt Christmas Stockings
For my first Christmas in my house, I enjoyed planning and making decorations for my dining room and fireplace. I decided to make felt stockings to match the room. I bought 2 sets of these stocking holders. They even have … Continue reading
Trader Joes Gingerbread House
This year, during the weeks I normally would make and bring gingerbread to the museum, I had contractors here all day. It was disruptive to my normal life and I did not complete a piece for the show and auction. … Continue reading
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Vegetarian Thanksgiving 2022
My Mom and I prepared a Vegetarian Thanksgiving this year in Delmar, NY. My friend Carol and I drove the 3.5 hours to the Albany, NY area on the morning of Thanksgiving we mostly had the roads to ourselves! There … Continue reading
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Halloween Treats 2022
This was my first Halloween in my new home. It was also my first time to have trick-or-treaters since I last had a house in 2016. I don’t have a prominent porch as I did before. Maybe in future years … Continue reading
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Pink and Green Bedroom
Here is my Pink and Green bedroom with gold accents. When planning this room before I moved into the house, I knew I wanted pink walls as I had in my childhood bedroom. This pink is deliberately softer than the … Continue reading
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Travel Themed Home Office
This is my travel themed home office. I spend a lot of time in this room since I currently work from home. The last photo shows my favorite neighbor. I completed my home office decorating (minus the padded part of … Continue reading
Craft Room
Awhile ago, I completed decorating my new craft room. The theme is fairy tale forest during the day. I am finally getting around to sharing the room here. Of all the various craft rooms I have had, this is my … Continue reading
Gingerbread Japanese Shrine and Garden
This year was my 5th consecutive year making gingerbread for Sweet Creations at the Eastman Museum. This is a concept I have considered since 2016. I am glad that I finally made it. It will be on display at the museum … Continue reading
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2020 Gingerbread Sweet Creations
For the 4th year in a row, I made gingerbread for the Eastman Museum’s Sweet Creations gingerbread show. Things are different this year because of COVID-19. The museum allowed less gingerbread creations. I received a letter in August inviting me to participate because … Continue reading
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Sequined Easter Egg Ornaments
My 20 year old niece and I have a tradition of making egg ornaments for Easter. This was the 9th year. I blew out the eggs the weekend before. On the night of our craft we got takeout from Panera … Continue reading
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Cricut Vinyl Letter Mugs
When my 19 year old niece stayed with me, she brought her Cricut machine with her. She designed and cut the vinyl for each of us to have our own name “K” mug.
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Fourth Flower Show
Two weeks ago, I entered my 4th Flower Show (“Celebrations in May”). I almost didn’t participate but I decided to enter a photo since it is more fun to attend when I have a personal connection to the show. I … Continue reading
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Wax Resist Dyed Easter Egg Ornaments
My 19 year old niece and I have a tradition of decorating eggs for Easter. I am so pleased that we just finished our 8th year of decorating eggs together! This year we used the Ukrainian wax resist technique. Many … Continue reading
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Gingerbread House with Candy Cane Fountain
My 13 year old nephew made a gingerbread house at my place. I love how it turned out! He did not have any special candy requests, he said he wanted to use my leftovers (from my creation for the Eastman … Continue reading
2017 Gingerbread Sweet Creations
I am excited to have a gingerbread creation in a museum! I am part of the 2017 Sweet Creations at the Eastman Museum. This year there are 60 different submissions. I have visited this exhibit at least 5 times in … Continue reading
Posted in Adventures, Crafts, Food, Uncategorized
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Gingerbread Row Houses
My place smelled like gingerbread in October this year. I decided to enter a gingerbread house in Sweet Creations at the Eastman Museum. In September, I was accepted as a participant. My gingerbread had to be delivered by November 1. … Continue reading
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Punched Paper Easter Egg Ornaments
I am happy to say that this was the 7th year for my niece and I to make Easter Egg Ornaments. Both of our lives have changed and she is in college now so we ended up doing the craft … Continue reading
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3rd Flower Show Entry
This week I entered my 3rd Flower Show. I tried to think about what I learned from my 1st and 2nd flower shows when I worked on my entry. Some things I kept in mind were hiding mechanics, something to … Continue reading
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Halloween Treats 2016
I enjoy Halloween at my house. Typically on October 31 I receive 250-300 trick-or-treaters in a 2 hour period from 6 pm until 8 pm. I make it obvious that I am open to hand out treats – carved and … Continue reading
50 Summer Activities
Last year my nephews and I completed 100 Summer Activities. This year it was requested that we only do 50. I was surprised but it might end up being easier for me. Some of these activities are repeats from last … Continue reading
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Diorama Easter Egg Ornaments
This was the 6th year my niece and I decorated blown-out eggs for Easter. I am hopeful that we will do this project again but realistically it could have been our last time since my niece will go to college in … Continue reading
3 Gingerbread Houses and a Bento Lunch
My 11 year old nephew, 17 year old niece and I each made Gingerbread houses this year to enter in my towns contest. I won for my age category (19 and over) and for People’s Choice! My niece won in … Continue reading
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Corn Husk Angel Tutorial Food and Crafts
Sometimes I pick a topic I am interested in and present it to my garden club. It saves money on a speaker (I don’t accept payment from my club) and it gives me the opportunity to research a topic. In … Continue reading
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100 Summer Activities for Tween and Teen Boys
Update: See the end of this post for an update on the changes we made to the list. We completed 100 activities but we did make many changes along the way. This summer I will have my nearly 11 year … Continue reading
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Gardening Trivia Game
I created this Garden Themed Trivia game similar to my Tea Party Trivia Game. You can print (cut and glue or tape) these and use them at a party. There are 59 cards in this set. The photo on the … Continue reading
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2nd Flower Show Entry
My Garden Club district had a flower show and I entered in the Special Exhibits (Arts & Crafts) category. There were 4 advanced reservation spots available to decorate a door panel. The name of the Class was “A Warm Welcome”. … Continue reading
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Marbled Easter Eggs
My niece and I have a tradition of decorating blown out eggs for Easter. Each year we try a different technique but keep with the blue and white color scheme. For this year (our 5th time) we experimented with 4 … Continue reading
Gingerbread Houses and Bento Lunch
This year my 10 year old nephew and I each made Gingerbread houses for a contest in my town. Rules: they need to incorporate a candy cane, they can’t be larger than 12 inches by 12 inches, only the base … Continue reading
Birthday Bento Lunch from Niece
When my 15 year old niece asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year I said painted clothespins to use as clips or a cute bento lunch. My thoughtful niece made both for me! I was delighted to … Continue reading
Easter Themed Dinner and Ribbon Egg Decorating
My niece (15 years old) and I have a tradition of decorating eggs for Easter. Each time we focus on a different technique while keeping with our initial color scheme of blue and white. This year we decided to decorate … Continue reading
Stitched iPhone Case
For several years I have wanted to cross stitch a cell phone case. But I did not have a popular smart phone model and it was difficult to get the right type of case. I could not even find a … Continue reading
Decorated Gourds
Every November my garden club makes some type of arrangement for the Skilled Nursing Facility in our county. Last year we made this arrangement. This year we decorated a variety of orange, white, and multicolor miniature gourdes. We had raffia, … Continue reading
Paris Themed Birthday Party
My niece had a Paris themed birthday party for her 15th birthday party with family. The party colors were purple and white with some black accents. The birthday girl’s favorite color is purple. 25 family members attended the party and … Continue reading
Halloween Treats 2013
We normally get about 250 trick-or-treaters. I usually like to prepare something special for the first 25 kids. This year I prepared special bags for the first 20 kids. I also prepared 111 bundles this year. I took industrial size … Continue reading
DIY Miniatures Frames and Pie
My 11 year old niece and I had a delightful time creating miniatures. We scanned, re-sized, printed, and framed miniature photos of her Grandmother (my Mother). For some of the photos we used Foil Embossed Stickers from the Dollar Tree. … Continue reading
Eclectic Lamb 
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