Thursday Blog Hopping

Making Special Friends

My granddaughter, who will be three in January, has such a wonderful imagination.  I just love listening to her when she's playing with her dolls or her Yo Gabba Gabba friends.  I remember that when I was a little girl I had a very special doll - like no one else had.  So, I thought I'd see to it that Adison had one also.  So..............

Everybody needs a friend and a little stuffed bear or doll often becomes that friend for young children.  Follow the steps listed to make a beanbag doll or bear.  Your grandchildren will enjoy watching and waiting while their little friend comes to life.  All it takes is a snip here and there and a few stitches.

Beanbag Doll or Bear

Scrap of felt or other fabric (size depends on how big you want to make it)

Needle, thread, buttons, yarn, dried beans (or stuffing material)

Fold your sheet of fabric in half and pin to hold; draw a teddy bear or gingerbread figure outline on the fabric and cut it out. 

Sew two large buttons for eyes and a smaller one for the nose to the face on the front of one of your pieces of fabric (or use heavy thread or yarn and sew circles or designs for the eyes and nose).  Stitch on a small piece of yarn for the mouth.    A heart shaped mouth is cute for the little doll and a zig-zag for the bear.  If you are not going to add clothing, sew two or three buttons on the chest (or stitch them). 

Now let your grandchild name the doll or bear (you can embroider the name [or your grandchild's name]) to the back.

Place the two pieces of fabric together, front sides facing each other and sew the edges together, leaving a large enough opening for the beans or cloth stuffing.  If sewing by hand, be sure to keep the stitches close together so that the beans can't slip out.  If you're making a girl doll with yarn hair, fold long pieces of yarn in half and place them between the two fabric pieces at the top of the head.  Leave about 1/2 inch of yarn sticking out and sew the edges of fabric tightly together.

Turn the doll or bear right side out and stuff a generous amount of beans or stuffing into it and sew the opening closed.

For a bear you could make a little vest if you wish.  For a doll, trim the pieces of yarn shorter for bangs and make her a little dress, apron or skirt.

Enjoy watching your grandchild having fun with

his/her new doll or bear!  I just love

some of the old-fashioned things
you can make or do!

CSN Stores $35 Giveaway ends October 9

Don't foget to enter my CSN Stores $35 Giveaway. 

See details posted below

Contest ends October 9.

One Lovely Blog Award Sent My Way Again . . .many thanks!

I was given this blog award from AtoZforMomsLikeMe.   

The Rules:1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

Sunday Hops

CSN Stores $35 Giveaway ends October 9

With the arrival of fall and seeing all of the Halloween decorations out, I know that Thanksgiving is not far off.  I mentioned before that we're planning our big family gathering and it's time to think about turning our church fellowship hall into the family dining room.  I want to  decorate everything. . .the walls, doorways, dining tables, etc.    I can buy just about everything I need right here, online, at CSN Stores. 

GIVEAWAY

CSN has offered  a$35 giveaway for me to pass on to my viewers. 

RULES

Giveaway ends on October 9, 11:59 pm.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Please leave your email address in at least one comment.

Winner will have 48 hours to respond to me via email to claim their prize.

US & CAN residents only, additional shipping may apply to CAN addresses.

ENTRIES

1 entry Visit  http://www.csnstores.com/ and tell me which product you like the best. Mandatory entry!
1 entry Follow LindaLovesblog on Google Friend Connect.


1 entry Like CSN Stores on Facebook.
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1 entry Follow CSN Stores on Twitter
2 entry follow Lindalovesblog on Twitter
2 entries Grab my button and post it to your website or blog (leave url where it can be found).
5 entries Blog about this giveaway, including a link back to this post  and CSN Stores.
2 entries daily Share this giveaway on Facebook up to 2x daily Share: Enter to win a $35 CSNstores giveaway at http://tinyurl.com/2a3gonj 
2 entries daily Tweet this giveaway (comment with tweet url) up to 2x daily. Tweet: @CSNstores $35 #giveaway @LindaLovesblog http://tinyurl.com/2a3gonj **RT Please!

I was not compensated for this post .  All opinions expressed are my own. 



An Elegant Tea Party

My granddaughter, Adison, just loves tea parties.  We have so many 'pretend' parties where she serves "tea and snacks".   The first tea set I gave her, for her first Christmas, was by Fisher Price and the teapot sings as you pour.  She now has 4 tea sets and we just love to 'party'.  I just found a Curious George tea set which will be under Grandma's Christmas tree for her this year; still looking for one for that 3rd birthday in January.

Grandma and Adison will have a special tea party with scones, fresh fruit, dainty sliced cucumber sandwiches and a nice tea.  Adison loves her fruit and veggies so this will be ideal for us and the special treat will be Grandma's scones (makes 6 servings).

Ingredients

1 1/2 c white flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/3 c sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

6 Tbs chilled, unsalted butter

1/3 c baking raisins

1/2 c heavy whipping cream

2 large eggs, beaten

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2.  In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar and baking powder.

3.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, scissor fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the raisins, mixing well.

4.  Combine heavy cream, reserving 1 Tbs, and 1 beaten egg in a small bowl.  Add to flour mixture.  Stir.

5.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently.  Roll or pat the dough into a circle about 7 inches round and 1 1/2 inches thick.

6.  Lightly flour the rim of a glass and press into dough, making perfect rounds.  Repeat until all dough is used.  Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet.

7.  Whisk egg and 1 Tbs heavy cream.  Brush egg mixture over scones.

8.  Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

9. These are especially delicious when served warm with butter and preserves.

ENJOY!!

Got Green Tomatoes????

End of the summer!  Do you still have green tomatoes??  Well, here are a couple of recipes to help you use them up.  The first is a Green Tomato Vegetable Stir Fry (my best friend gave me this recipe many years ago).  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ingredients

1/4 c olive oil or veg oil

3 1/2 c green pepper strips

3 1/2 c red pepper strips

2 1/2 c sliced mushrooms

1 c sliced celery

1/2 c chopped onion

 1/2 clove garlic, crushed (I use a little more garlic)

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves

3/4 tsp salt

few twists freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp wine vinegar

2 green tomatoes cut in to wedges

In a large skillet, heat oil; add vegetables, garlic, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper.

Stir-fry over medium-high heat until peppers are crisp and tender.  Add vinegar and green tomatoes and cook until heated through.  Enjoy!

Well, that didn't use up too many of those left over green tomatoes!  How about this?????  Green Tomato Relish!

Grind together the following:

1 peck Green tomatoes (approx 15 lbs)

4 red peppers

6 large onions

Put in a large kettle and add 1/2 c salt and cover well with water and let stand overnight.  In the am, drain well in colander.  Put back in kettle; add 2 lbs sugar, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp allspice.  Stir in 2 quarts of vinegar.  Cook until tender.  Put into jars and seal.

p.s.  an added touch - 1/2 c prepared horseradish.  Yummy!!  Enjoy.

>

A New Blog Hop for Me . . . come on over and hop

WOW, My Second Award . . . . .

WOW,  I've just received the "One Lovely Blog Award"

from Lil Bits, Big World.  How exciting is that!
Thanks so Much!!   And after going through the rest
of my comments saw that it was also awarded dto
me by He is my Beloved!  Thanks to Mel also!!

Here are the rules of the award:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Forward it to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen. 

I have chosen the following:

Lilac City Momma
13 Woodhouse Road
One Little Mister
Bassgiraffe's Thoughts
Closer to Lucy
Cranberry Morning
Pink Dandy Chatter
Sueberry Lane
Grammy Girlfriend
Linda's Lunacy
Mrs. Mama Drama
Obviously Marvelous

To the Top Tuesday Blog Hop 9/21

Tuesday Hopping

What to do with those apples!!

Well, I went apple picking a couple weeks ago with my daughter and granddaughter and need to do some more baking.  I've been looking for this recipe for Apple Kuchen for sometime now and finally found it a few minutes ago.  It's a recipe that my sister gave to me years ago and was always one of the apple favorites in my house.  So, here goes!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift together:

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Cut in:

1/4 c shortening

(butter, margarine or Crisco)

Stir in:

1/2 c milk

1 beaten egg

Spread mixture in 9 x 12 greased pan.

Put sliced apples on mixture, overlapping.  Sprinkle with a mixture of 1/4 c sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes and ENJOY!!

Coming Soon . . . . .Review of GoD and DoG

I just received a copy of GoD and DoG and my review

of this book by Wendy Francisco will

be posted shortly.

Getting Ready for Friday Hop

Hosted by Let's Just Give It Away, Made♥ By♥Jess,

And Then There Were 4, Buzzing The Day Away,

and Whirlwind of Surprises

Thursday Blog Hop

Hop on Over . . . . .

Follow The Coupon Scoop and Jessica’s Coupons, the hostess blogs for Blog Hop Skip and Jump Wednesday.

Follow your hosts (Nicole) One Little Mister and (Mer) Mommy Is Crafty. (They WILL follow you back, so you're guaranteed 2 new followers from this! And this is required to participate.)

Follow the co-host – Traci66 

Hosted by:   Every Mom Has Her Day + Stash Mama

Welcome to Making Friends Monday Blog Hop, hosted by Living on Love and Cents, The Thrifty Things, Reviewed By Mom , and Coupons are Great.

 

Blog Hop on Over . . . .

Hosted by:

Simply Stacie, This Mama Loves Her Bargains and A little of this A little of that…

How does this blog hop work?

1. Make sure to follow Pink Dandy Chatter and This Crazy Life so that we can follow you back!!

2. To ensure that Pink Dandy Chatter will follow you back, you need to make sure and leave a comment (below on this post) saying that you are a new follower and also leave a link to your blog.

3. Add your blog name and the URL to one of your favorite posts on the Linky below.

4. Please follow at-least 2 blogs on the list that appeal to you

5. Your blog must be family friendly ONLY. Explicit sites will be removed from the list.

Here are the rules...

Wait, there are no rules! That is the whole point behind "Relax & Surf".

Sensational Saturday/Sunday Social!

Brownie Banana Bonanza

    While I was talking to my sister one day, she told me about this dessert that her family really liked. Since it involved  chocolate, I knew my daughter would love it. So, I tried it and YES, she did love it. I've also brought it to my brothers for picnics and get-togethers and all of the grand kids, nieces and nephews loved it too.   I've come across it again and am going to make it for our next card night.  So, here goes:

Ingredients

15 oz Brownie Mix

2 bananas

Vanilla Instant Pudding  

1 1/2 c milk

2 1/2 c cool whip

Hershey Chocolate Bar (Optional)

Make the brownies according to package directions in a square baking pan.  Cool.  Cover with sliced bananas,  ***  Spread the pudding mixture over the top and add grated Hershey chocolate bar (Optional).  Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.

***While brownies are cooling, make the vanilla pudding.  Fold in the cool whip.

ENJOY

Hosted by Let's Just Give It Away, Made♥ By♥Jess,
 And Then There Were 4, Buzzing The Day Away,and Whirlwind of Surprises

Excited for the "Big Day" . . . .

    The big day is coming.  Two and a half year old Adison is sleeping at Grandma's this Saturday night; and on Sunday morning . . .we're off to church and Adison's first visit to Sunday School.  

    I'm the one who has been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks now.  I used to love Sunday School when I was a little girl and when I was older, I taught the little ones at the church I attended.  When I had my own two children, they attended the Sunday School where I currently go to church.  Now it's Adison's turn!  She's been to church with me but this will be something new for her. 

   Sunday is Rally Day - the Sunday School year's beginning after a long summer vacation.  And what a beginning it will be!   Erin's (one of my friends daughters) girl scout troop "spruced up" the Sunday School rooms and none of us have seen them yet.  This was done as the project to earn their Silver Award.  So, during our worship service when the children are announced and go downstairs to their classrooms, we'll all be going for the "ribbon cutting".  The Girl Scout Troop will be there and we'll have a special coffee hour too!  So, the big day is coming.

Hop on Over and Follow Me!!

Talkative Thursday Blog Hop is hosted by Mommy of One and co hosted by Lucas Journey with SPD.

 

Follow your hostesses, Mrs. Mama Drama and Belly Charms

Friendly Wednesday 9/8

Come on over and blog hop!!

To-the-TOP Tuesday Blog Hop!

Come On Over and Make Friends with Me!!

Welcome to Making Friends Monday Blog Hop, hosted by Living on Love and Cents,  

 The Thrifty Things,  Reviewed By Mom , and  Coupons are Great.

A Good Weekend . . . . .

    My nephew Bobby and his boys are in town for the weekend visiting from Pennsylvania.  So, I made those mini cheesecakes I talked about in another post.  (8 dozen, in fact).  This time I used peach pie filling topping for some of them and they were DELICIOUS.  Everybody really loved the peaches.  The cherry ones were also good; it was a great mix.  

    A brisk morning today and I am loving the cooler weather.  It was just 65 degrees when I went by the bank after church this morning.  LOVIN' it.  I just love the fall - cooler weather, apple picking, getting ready for the holidays.  

   Having lots of fun with my granddaughter - she just never stops talking!  We went to see YOGABBAGABBA this past Thursday at the Times Union Center in Albany.  We all had so much fun because of the good time she was having, dancing and singing with the characters.  She knows all of the songs they do (she does have quite a few DVDs of YoGabbaGabba so it's not surprising that she knows them).

   Well, enough rambling for now.  I need to get some more of my favorite holiday recipes out to get ready to post in the upcoming weeks.  Have a great day!

WOW, Look What I Received . . . . .

I was awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by 5 Eyeliners and a Gloss.  Thank you ladies; as a new blogger and still learning I truly appreciate this.  Have an awesome weekend.

Now I must  Reveal 5 secrets about Me or My Blog as part of my acceptance of this Award. . .so here goes:

1. My daughter is the force behind my blog!
2. I spend more time blogging now than anything else I'm doing.
3. My daughter is the only family member that has read my blog.
4. I miss the friends that my husband and I had together before he passed away.
5. I spend too much time watching TV and not enough time reading.

     The rules say that I  now I need to pass the award to 5 bloggers who I think are stylish and here they are:

MommyisCrafty 

CranberryMorning 

Gramma Ann

Obviously-Marvelous

BeaderBubbe

Hosted by Let's Just Give It Away, Made♥ By♥Jess,
 And Then There Were 4, Buzzing The Day Away,

 and Whirlwind of Surprises

The hostesses: are  Heck of a Bunch and Traci66.

It's Week 2 for Think of Me Thursday. Hosted by Mrs. Mama Drama and Belly Charms

 

This blog hop is hosted by
Obviously MARvelous & For The Love Of 4