It's Fair time!

It's time for the East Texas State Fair!  Doesn't that name sound grand?  I think that's why they use it. 

My little family and I (plus my husband's friend) trudged out to the fair on Saturday night.  I forced them to go that night because the Bellamy Brothers were in concert on the "big" stage at 8 pm.  I've loved the Bellamy Brothers since I was about 12 and heard them in concert at Fan Fair (a country music festival in Nashville, TN) way back in the early 80's.  They were really funny and entertaining back then and they still are.  Plus, they're songs are fun and catchy.

Our first stop was the Arts and Crafts building so that I could see my pincushions and see what ribbons I got, if any.  Excitement!  My "Flower Garden" set got a blue ribbon!  YAY!  First place!

And my Christmas ornament set got third place.  yay!  I was not as excited about that but I do realize they could have been better.  I'm going to start working on more and I'm going to take Nancy's suggestion that I put the ribbons on the outside with decorative buttons.   Thanks for the suggestion, Nancy!!  I'll let you all know how that turns out.

Then of course, we gorged ourselves on foot long corn dogs and batter fried brownies.  We got pie to go and brought it home.  The food is actually the best part of our fair.  We have tons of food booths that are owned by local churches and restaurants, so it's not the usualy carny food.  It's yummy!!  And fair food calories don't count!!

At 8 pm, I ditched the family (they went to watch my son ride on the rides and play the games - he won a stuffed penguin) and I went to the concert.  It was awesome!  They've just gotten better with age.  Still fun on stage and I still love their songs.

Christmas

New Christmas aprons coming soon!

Feature!

Every Monday the EtsyMom Team features a different EtsyMom and this week the feature is ME!
Read all about me and Handmade Whimzy here.

I'm also doing a promo during my feature week.  15% off total purchase from Handmade Whimzy from today (9/20) until Sunday (9/26) - does not include shipping charges.  All you have to do is put "Etsymom Team" in the notes to seller to get your discount.  You do not have to be a member of the EtsyMom Team to get the discount but I would love it if you read my feature article :)

Christmas already!

I've listed my first Christmas apron for the upcoming holiday season. 

Christmas is only 3 months away so we need to get ready now, right?  Plus there's only 1 more week of summer so that means it's practically winter!  LOL

Here it is:

Fabrics by Moda's Twelve Days of Christmas line.  Very sweet and festive.

I have 2 more Christmas aprons cut out and fabric for several more.  YAY!

Etsy Treasuries

I've created 2 treasuries on Etsy.  One for each of my teams!

Here is the link to the Chartreuse?  Lime Green?  Treasury of Etsymom Team members:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c8bf7e055a78eef9b8e71ce/chartreuse-lime-green?index=0

And here is my Fall in Texas treasury for the Etsy Texas Crafters team:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c9237aecabf8eeffc5abf8e/fall-in-texas?index=1

Both are full of beautiful items from both teams.  Please click and comment!

More pincushions!

On Saturday, I took my 2 sets of bottlecap pincushions that I had made to the fair grounds to enter them into the Arts and Crafts contest.
I'll be sure to post what I win (if anything!).

Here is the second set that I made.  They are bottlecap pincushion ornaments.  I'm not happy with the way I sewed the ribbons in so if anyone has a suggestion for a better way, PLEASE let me know.  On the tree and 'be merry' ornaments, I just stuffed the ribbon into the pincushion and blanket stitched them in place.  On the snowman one, I sewed the ribbon to the inside of the pincushion first and then blanket stitched around the top.  You can see a little pucker on that one so I'm thinking that wasn't the best idea.

These little buggers are addictive though.  They make you want to see what else you can make little and tiny.

I'd like to make some of the Christmas ones for gifts this year but I need to perfect them first.

Here's a pic where you can see the pucker on the snowman pincushion:

Also, yesterday I bought some metallic silver embroidery thread, so the next one I make, I'll use that for the snowflakes and maybe even around the snowman.

I'd love to hear comments about my little creations!  And please leave suggestions on how I can fix my ribbon problem!

Blondie Brownies with Maple Butter Frosting - YUMM!!

Last week I made Blondie Brownies for my family.  I've had the one at Applebee's before and it is yummy good.

So, after searching AllRecipes.com for a recipe, I settled on the Tollhouse Blonde Brownie recipe which is actually surprising because I don't like their cookie recipe.
I did add chocolate chips to them just because I like them but my family has requested that I leave those out next time which would make it more of a true blonde brownie.
I also added Maple Butter Frosting to them - yumm! 

They were really good.  I highly recommend them.  If you add chocolate chips, they resemble a chocolate chip cookie cake but taste a little bit different.

Here are the recipes:

Tollhouse Blonde Brownies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12 ounce) package NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (optional)

Directions
1.PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan.  (I didn't use a jelly roll pan.  I just used a 9x13 pan)
2.COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Spread into prepared pan.
3.BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack
 
Maple Butter Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons cream (I used skim milk instead of cream)
1/2 teaspoon maple flavored extract

Directions
1.Beat the butter or margarine, confectioner's sugar, milk, and maple flavoring in a bowl until smooth. Add more milk or confectioner's sugar as need. Makes enough to frost one 8 or 9 inch round cake or 1 8x8 inch square cake.