Nesting In The 21st Century

Tea Towels and Chess Pie

Here are the wonderful tea towels I received from Denise in the Tea Towel Swap.  I adore the cow one especially and I think Thursday is my new favorite day! 

Check out all the amazing tea towels here. 

Denise also sent two recipes I can't wait to try.  One is for Chess Pie (which I have never made) and another for an Apple Cake which sounds like the perfect dessert on one of these brisk Autumn days.  I love old-fashioned desserts.  Things like banana pudding, coconut cake, homemade chocolate pudding and berry cobbler.  I love the older recipes for them...the kind of recipes you can find in old community cookbooks.  The recipes aren't quite as sweet as some recipes can be today.  Also, they use many types of sweeteners and not just granulated sugar which gives them extra pizzazz.  I collect old community cookbooks and have more than I could ever cook from but I love reading them as others would read a novel...I can't get enough of recipes like  "Mrs. Wilson's Snowflake Cookies" or "Mrs. Smith's Triple Marble Chocolate Fudge".  I especially like it if there is a little something about where the recipe came from or who likes it.  Somehow the fact that Mr. Smith loved that Triple Marble Chocolate Fudge makes me even more eager to try it.   Yep, I can't get enough of those old fashioned desserts.  Thanks for the wonderful swap Denise and thanks also to you Jackie  for putting the whole thing together it was delightful!

Woweee!

How incredibly exciting to receive this most amazing package from Laurie for the Red and Aqua swap.  Delicious.  It was so fun and personal.  The book is divine...it is called "Words In A French Life" and I am halfway through already.  I was actually kind of annoyed that the Pre-School pick up line moved so fast on Monday...I didn't get to read enough.

I am going to knit a dishcloth as Laurie suggested in the cute little card she sent.  I just got the Mason Dixon knitting book and so I have directions!  I have to admit that the chocolate/pretzel candy bar was gone before my mind could even register that I had eaten it.  I was so in love with it that I scooted over to Target to snag some more.  If you haven't tried it I highly recommend the Peanut Butter Pretzel Bar...oh yes...it is even yummier than it sounds and it sounds great. (It is a Choxie brand.)  There are note cards and a little red and aqua bundle of fabric.  Thanks Laurie.  It was so delightful.

I feel kind of back on board again.  I am doing the huge cleaning that I talked about before.  I went to Goodwill once a day all last week and will go again today.   It feels so great to get rid of the excess stuff.  I think I just don't really look at anything anymore.  I keep things because I have always had them instead of really evaluating whether I should keep them around.  Worst of all I don't have space for the things I  love.  I guess I am in the middle of a 10 year clean if there is such a thing. 

Gift Wrapping

This is my favorite inspirational site for gift wrapping, Carolyne Rohem.  If you haven't read her book Presentations you are missing something.  What inspiration!!  She even has a Gift Wrapping Journal to download and print as well as tutorials on How to wrap a gift and How to tie a bow.  Neat.

This has been the month of swaps and this is the Coloriffic Rainbow package that I recieved.  What fun!  Lots of little goodies and treats.  The kids had as much fun as I did opening it. 

You can see more of the wonderful packages floating around the world here.  Such creativity.  I it is really inspiring to go and look at the wonderful packaging.  I like this Flickr group for inspiration as well.

Alicia did some wonderful packages last year.  I love, love, love her idea of choosing one paper and doin' all the packages the same way.  I also love the color scheme she used.  Aqua and red.  Ohhhh...did I tell you I joined another swap?  Yep. Aqua and red.

Mailbox Heaven

My mailbox has been bursting with lots of wonderful goodies from friends old and new.  First off came a package of fabric from Carrie.  She was generous enough to send me (and many more of her blog readers) stacks of fabric.  The colors couldn't have been more perfect.  I haven't decided what to do with it quite yet but as every other project I do these days seems to have pink in it I won't have to wait long to use it.

Happy, happy fabric!  There is even a pink toile tucked in there...I just couldn't be happier.  Thanks for your kindness Carrie.

The next box was from Kim and the Just A Kid swap.  For a "not a swap kind of girl"  I am doin' lots of these things.  What fun to open the cute green box filled with lots of kid fun. I loved the chocolate (luckily this arrived before the massive heat wave.)  The very best part was the handkerchief with blue tulips on it.  That couldn't have been more perfect!.   I adore kinder eggs and there were three in the box also.  They are gone now believe me.

Finally came a lovely set of tiles from Debra.  They are so beautifully made.  There was also a handmade card (my favorite kind) and a cute little magnet.  I do feel quite spoiled!

I have been madly getting things ready to send out also...it is not all incoming.  Orders to fill, Club Little House to send on its merry way to Amy and the Coloriffic and Just A Kid Swap.  This has been a great way to keep myself from really  cleaning this house.  The dust bunnies are threatening to take over so I need to spend this week getting this place habitable. 

A Rainbow Connection

I haven't been one to do many swaps.  I guess I always felt that I "wasn't the swap type of girl."  Well that has changed this month.  I signed up Club Little House and this Coloriffic Swap  (on Flickr.)  I was actually looking for gift wrapping ideas and came upon lots and lots of beautifully wrapped gifts, all in blue and brown.  "What?  Is this a new wrapping trend I haven't heard of?"  I thought.  Turns out it is the Coloriffic Swap.  Each month is a different color theme and all the little gifties should be in those colors.  The fun part is that the wrapping is just as incredible.

My mailbox had cobwebs in it and feeling quite lonely and unappreciated and longing for one of those incredible packages I signed up.  This was before the wonderful Jackie sent me something to brighten my day and my mailbox. 

The August theme....Rainbow!  Now as a teenager rainbow was my theme.  My room was light blue with rainbows.  My comforter had the bottom part of the rainbow and the pillowcases were the arch (remember that set?) I had rainbow sun-catchers in the window.  Doing this theme sure brought back a lot of memories.  I don't have many primary colors in my house today but what the heck, it is just for fun.

My package went out on Wednesday and should be to my swap partner early next week.  It was a fun diversion for the summer.  I think I may be a "swap kind of girl" after all.  Now if I could figure out how to get the links on the sidebar...

Club Little House

I just finished up my Club Little House projects and the twelve little bassinets are on their way to the wonderful Amy.  This has been so fun to participate in. 

I must say I got a bit caught up making these little beds along with reversible comforter (dots on one side, creme chenille on the other), polka dot pillow, mattress and a little bear for each.  They took way longer than I thought they would.  I actually started a completely different thing and then thought it might be more appropriate for a future Club Little House (perhaps in the autumn.)

I am so caught up in baby fever with my newest nephew due in September that I had to go with a baby theme.  I made 14 total so that both my daughter and I could have one as well.

Amy has opened up a Dollhouse Gift Swap  where everyone will be matched up with a partner and do a little swap between the two of you.   Sign ups run through August 14 and everyone will have until August 31 to send their goodies out.  Okay, I admit it, I signed up for the swap as well.  It will tide me over until the next round of Club Little House.