Chocolatey Chip Cookies

i am a cookie monster. sometimes, when cookies are in the house, i eat them until they are gone.

this is a recipe i've had and made since the beginning of our marriage. i got it from a long ago friend. they are my favorite.

{for those of you who haven't seen him lately, how do you like his haircut?}

i make these cookies in parts. that's how i have it on my paper. so that's how i'm going to write it here.

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2/3 cup softened butter

2/3 cup shortening

in a large bowl, mix the above ingredients together with a spoon.

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

in a small bowl, mix the above ingredients together with a wisk. then pour this bowl into the large bowl and stir everything together with a spoon.

3 cups flour

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (1/3 bag)

4 ounces milk chocolate chips (1/3 bag)

first mix the flour into the large bowl with the other ingredients. after the dough is made, stir in the chocolate chips.

make into small balls and place on cookie sheets. bake @ 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. this actually may be longer depending on your oven. it takes my oven 15 minutes to bake. so make sure you watch your cookies the first few times you make this recipe! i like my cookies to be soft and chewy, so when they start getting golden brown around the edges, i take them out.

What Do YOU See?

we read brown bear, brown bear today. i love the illustrations and repetition.

then we made and read our own books.

the two littlest have had a monster cold for a week now. i've had it too. just not as bad. because, you know, mom's don't get sick.

Felt Feather Tutorial

i thought i would share how i made the feathers for the brave headband i made for the birthday powwow.

once made, the feathers can be used for all sorts of projects.

materials:

3-6 different colors of felt (i used light pink, dark pink, white, purple, dark gray)

scissors

sewing machine or needle and thread

for the solid color feather...

first, make a template out of scrap felt measuring 2.25 inches by 6.5 inches. (you can make your feather any size you want!)

next, place the template on the light pink felt and...

cut it out. (i didn't trace around the shape i just carefully cut around it.)

then  place the light pink felt shape onto the dark pink felt.

and cut around the felt shape again, leaving a small .25 inch border.

then take the two felt shapes to the sewing machine (or use a needle and thread). start at one end and...

sew toward the other end slowly and with a slight curve. about an inch before the other end, stop. leaving the needle in the felt, turn the felt around and sew back to the starting end.

to get a cute feather detail, cut out a few triangles on each side of the felt shape. make sure and only cut the little triangles out of the top piece of felt.

for the eagle feather...

 make two felt shapes just like above. one of white felt and one of purple felt.

take the white felt shape and place it on the gray piece of felt.

{the following two pictures would not upload correctly. both are turned sideways. i apologize.}

cut carefully around the white felt. this gray piece will be the feather tip.

now place this felt piece on top of the white felt.

pin the gray felt to the white felt. cut the bottom off at a very slight angle. (this is just a personal preference. i think it gives a little character.)

now, cut out the little triangle details on both sides of the felt feather shape.

sew the felt shapes together the same way as above. making sure to sew onto the gray felt piece.

and there you have it! FELT FEATHERS.

First Socks

i set myself a goal this year.

.learn to knit socks.

you see, socks have been sort of intimidating for me. they seemed tricky and hard. so i kept putting it off.

i decided that NOW was the time.

not exactly identical, but i still like 'em.



the pattern is Most Basic Kids Socks. i read about it on soulemama a long while ago.

my notes can be found here.

Felt Horses

i made these felt horses as a christmas present for the four-year old. i love how they turned out. the wool felt was so nice to use. and i got better after each one.

the only problem?

he would rather be riding his bike!

that's a good thing too. his dad taught him during the christmas break. and he feels so grown up.



the pattern is the felt horse pattern from beardance crafts. the wool felt is from weir dolls and crafts.

Crochet Chain Garland

this was, perhaps, my favorite christmas decoration.

my little seven-year old spent some time last year making this! she used a j hook to make 2-3 foot lengths of simple chains. in lots of different colors of yarn. then, tied the ends to each other.

we hung them and swagged them onto our christmas tree. ( her big sister and i helped make a few chain lengths at the very end.) the garland added just the right touch.

this is going to be a great new year for making! i can feel it.