Friday, December 26, 2008

Make-A-Shake

Now that Christmas is over, I can post a few pictures of some gifts I enjoyed making.
On the non-food related front, I cross-stitched my little heart out. Here are some of the ornaments I made.

My experiments at making grapevine wreaths were a bit of a failure (snap, crackle, pop are not the noises I was hoping to hear) so I ended up buying these wreaths. I'll try again with the grapevines, earlier next year so they aren't so dry.





Though I am not much of a seamstress, I was inspired to try making a t-shirt quilt after I saw the one adorning the bed of one of my son's friends. His had a sports theme, but I made this one out of my son's marching band t-shirts, so its motif is music. The white fabric around the outer edges is sprinkled with musical notes, and the backing, black fabric has musical instruments scattered across it.


This is a close-up of the center square, a nine-patch pattern made up of the front pocket designs from five of the shirts. Can you see the actual quilting, done in musical notes and treble clefs? God bless the quilting shop that had the machine that could do this! If I'd had to quilt it myself, it would be one of those projects perpetually unfinished.


Back to food: my husband and I teamed up to produce a "favorite smoothies" recipe book. I provided the recipes and text; he provided the photos and layout expertise. Copying and binding, by Kinko's.


And finally, the recipe portion of the post. You thought I forgot this was a recipe blog, didn't you?
This Make-A-Shake jar is filled with layers of crushed Oreo cookies and M & Ms. Alternate the layers, and include a gift tag instructing the recipient to pour half the jar into the blender, add a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream and 1/4 c. of milk. Blend and voila! Instant sugar rush.
So now the question is . . . did you have time to make any gifts this year? I'd love to hear about them.

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8 Comments:

Blogger John and Lisa said...

Lynn,

I love the things you've made! The quilt is such a cool idea- especially for a guy. So many quilt patterns are a little bit feminine for a young man to appreciate. I am sure he will treasure this one. The Smoothie Book is great too! One of my resolutions/goals for 2009 is to get my recipe collection better organized. (I think I have been saying that for about 10 years now and it's not getting any better.) Maybe I will "publish" some mini cookbooks like this. Thanks for the inspiration!

I posted about some of the gift items that the girls and I made as well: http://elbowsonourtable.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-craftiness.html

December 26, 2008 at 7:26 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Thanks, Lisa, for your comments. I'm heading straight over to your blog now to see what gifts you and your girls have been making at your house :)

December 26, 2008 at 7:56 PM  
Blogger Sandra said...

That quilt is great. Now that we are retired and he doesn't need them any more, I am thinking about making an attempt at a quilt top of ties!

I love the recipe for the oreo/M&M smoothie. I have a friend who likes to say she makes her own trail mix -- she mixes a bag of M&M's with -- a bag of peanut M&M's!

Re. what gifts I made this year, I made kitchen hand towels -- the kind you can hook on the handle of the stove. I don't usually make any gifts, so it was fun to give those this year.

December 27, 2008 at 2:45 AM  
Blogger Sharon said...

Love the quilt and the Oreo/MM recipe.
I made cookies, and altered a plain white box into a secret keeper for my VBFF, both are on my blog.
Blessings

December 27, 2008 at 5:43 AM  
Blogger Lynn said...

Sandra, I think a quilt top of ties is a great idea! You'll have to let us know if you do it. At the very least, maybe you could do a pillow :) Those kitchen towels with the handle make nice gifts, too.

Sharon, I checked out your blog and saw the cookies and the white box you decorated. Very festive! I hope your VBFF loved it.

December 27, 2008 at 11:10 AM  
Blogger Sandra said...

Lynn -- A pillow is a great idea! And, a smaller project, much more likely to get done. Thanks for the suggestion.

December 28, 2008 at 2:29 AM  
Blogger The Bumbles said...

I have seen old t-shirts turned into throw pillows perfect for decorating a dorm room, etc. I think that quilt you did totally rocks - I may pursue something like that myself. Not that I have any idea how to sew either - but just like cooking I am very good at finding other people who do ;0)

December 28, 2008 at 8:55 PM  
Blogger Lynn said...

The Bumbles: I had no idea how to make a t-shirt quilt either, so I just googled "t-shirt quilt" and "how to" and a bunch of helpful sites came up. Thank goodness for internet wisdom :)

December 28, 2008 at 9:55 PM  

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