Mrs Claus is Busy!

I don't know about the other Mrs. Claus's out there... but this one has been busy!

The Christmas cards mentioned in my previous post were finished at about 11:30 last night, and are now signed, addressed and ready to go to the post office.

The mountain of gifts in my basement are still patiently waiting to be wrapped (Good thing my kids are too young to notice the mysterious pile under a blanket).

The first round of my baking has been completed. (There will not need to be a round 2 if my husband and I can leave the treats alone!) To celebrate my accomplishment in the kitchen, I thought I would share the recipe for my favorite Christmas treat!

 

This recipe was given to my Grandma by her cousin Chester. There was never an official name that came with this recipe, so our family has always called them "Chester Bars."

 



Chester Bars
1/2 Cup butter
3/4 Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 Cup flour
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 Cups mini marshmallows
1 1/2 Cup rice krispies
6 oz chocolate chips
1 Cup peanut butter
Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and nuts. Spread into greased 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15 min. Remove from oven and sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven for 3 minutes. In large saucepan, melt chips and peanut butter. Add cereal and spread over marshmallow layer. Cool and cut into bars.

I hope you give these a try - and enjoy them as much as I do!

Mrs. Claus has to get back to work!

Good thing I have a cute little elf to keep me company!

Have a great afternoon everyone!



WIP Wednesday... And a finish!



Maternity leave is slowly ticking away. I only opted to take 6 weeks (not counting the 2 weeks for bed rest), so on Friday, I will officially be half way done. Bummer. I am really enjoying being home all day with my little ones, and this is causing me to rethink how much I really like my 9-5 (No weekends, No holidays) desk job, and if I really want to go back to 12-hour shifts at the hospital.

First off, the baby needed a stocking. In the frenzy of bed rest and the new baby, my sewing space became a disaster area/catch-all.

So in order to make the stocking, I had to organize first:

We have built-in cutouts surrounding our basement, making it a perfect place to store my stash. Half of this fabric was sitting in a laundry basket from when we had juggled bedrooms in prep for the baby. I love that it's sitting out now! When I was folding and organizing it, I was so inspired for a ton of new projects! So many ideas... so little time.

Organizing opened up plenty of space for my little guy to help me out:

This kid loves to play in my scraps!

I made the baby's stocking to follow suite of her brother's stocking that I made for his first Christmas last year. I have a Simplicity pattern (#4842) that I use for the base of the stocking, then I kind of just improvise from there. 

I used the fabric line Bella! by Amanda Murphy for Blend for the outer stocking and cuff. The applique is Nancy's Holiday favorites by Nancy Halvorsen for Bernatex. The lining was something I pulled out of my stash... most likely from JoAnn's.

I quilted the stocking with feathers... my favorite. It felt so good to do a little machine quilting. That is one of my favorite parts of putting a quilt together. Makes me itch to finish my Scrappy Stash QAL quilt!

I was able to get it finished today...

...because someone decided to sleep so sweetly:

 

So I've hung the stockings, but need to find another command strip for the dog's stocking...

...or I could try one of the idea's I've seen on Pinterest! I have become so addicted to that site. I downloaded the app on my phone while I was on bed rest, and have been hooked since!

Usually, things are much more festive around my house this time of year. I love decorating for Christmas. With the baby, I'm happy that the tree is up, and that she has a stocking!

 

Now for my WIP's:

In the spirit of using what I have around the house and saving money, (Maternity leave over X-mas is no fun financially) I am making my own Christmas cards.

I have my prototype made:

I feel like it needs a little something else... some kind of embellishment, like glitter or ribbon (luckily, I have plenty of both in my crafty cabinets).

And my Scrappy Stash QAL quilt still hangs on my design wall. I sit and look at it longingly, waiting for a chance to work on it...

And for the fist time in a while...

I'm linking up with Lee for WIP Wednesday! 



 

Have a great afternoon everyone!