A Bag, A Cookie, & A Goal

Cleanliness is next to impossible.

~Author Unknown

Yesterday we spent the morning putting away the Christmas clutter. Yes, clutter. The minute Christmas is over I feel like every piece of Christmas decor is clutter. It is now all boxed away and put where it belongs and I have my home back to normal. Not that it's clean, mind you, there are still doggie (dust) bunnies and a fine layer of dust on all of the furniture. Luckily for me, the house cleaner comes tomorrow to take care of that kind of thing. Did everyone have a nice New Year celebration? For New Year's Eve we stayed home, played some Wii, had dinner brought in, and watched Iron Man 2 - well my DH did - I saw most of it but some of it was seen through my eyelids ;) We went to bed around 10:00 but were awakened about 11:40 by some very large, illegal aerial fireworks followed by banging of pots and pans, yelling, normal fireworks and the occasional gun fire. Back to sleep and actually stayed in bed until 7:00! We watched the Rose Parade - I think the floats were more beautiful this year than they had been for a few years. We then watched 2 1/3 football games followed by an hour of Wii. I would say we had a great New Years Day!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Lladro Eskimos

This pair of Lladro Eskimos sat on my MIL's baby grand piano for as long as I knew her.  When my DH's parents passed on, we were lucky enough to inherit these wonderful pieces.  The Lladro company was founded in 1953 by three brothers, Juan, José and Vicente Lladró, in the village of Almácera near Valencia. Starting with items such as vases and jugs, it wasn't until 1956 that they started producing the sculptures for which they are now most famous. Enthusiasm for the items produced by the Lladró brothers saw their small workshop expand several times until eventually they moved to Tavernes Blanques in 1958.  These two figurines have become treasured items by our family.

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Over the weekend I was able to complete the Reusable Market Bag for my hairdresser - best way to watch football for me - lol!

I used a panel piece by Lorelei for the pocket and then used coordinating fabric from Connecting Threads.  This is the same pattern I used to make the previous Reusable Market Bag for my cleaning gal.  I did straight line quilting again using black thread on the red fabric and red thread on the white and black fabric.

Here you can see where I hand stitched Erica's name on the pocket to make it just a little bit more personalized.

Here is a picture of the upper edge of the lining where I used the edge from the panel of Lorelei fabrics.  Today I hope to get a coordinated snap bag made and possibly make a tissue cover too.  I have to have it all done today because I'm giving it to her this evening when I go get my hair cut.

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How about a recipe for today?  I know you are probably all sweetened out over the holidays but maybe you could use this some time in the future when you want an easy cookie recipe.  This is a recipe from my Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls.  This was the first cook book that I ever received, it was for  Christmas when I was 9 years old.  The recipe is a sugar cookie recipe that I have altered ever so slightly to make it a snickerdoodle recipe.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 egg, unbeaten

2 tablespoons milk

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 400 degrees F. 

2.  Blend together the shortening, salt and sugar.  Beat in 1 egg and 2 tablespoons milk.  Stir in the flour baking powder and baking soda. 

3.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on lightly greased baking sheet.

4.  Grease bottom of a glass.  Dip glass in sugar and flatten each cookie.

5.  Sprinkle each cookie with cinnamon.

6.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until light golden.

7.  Remove from oven, and cool on a rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Personal Notes:

1.  These have always been a family favorite

2.  Best to keep the cookies in an airtight container

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GOAL FOR THE DAY

I am going to start something new.  I have decided to list my goal for the day each day.  I hope to make it attainable and not make it something that really seems impossible.  And if I should get more done - so much the better.  So my goal for the days is......

Make a coordinated snap bag to go with the Reusable Market Bag

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GIVEAWAYS

Ryan over at I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts is having a calender giveaway.  But this isn't just any calendar.  It is a calender of barn quilts.  If you hop over to his blog you can read about how the barn quilts got started and make sure to enter his giveaway by Friday, January 7th.

Kate n Libby ~ Design Divas, are having a New Year's giveaway.  You could win a Martini bag, or a great book using two blocks called "Pairing Up" by Nancy Mahoney, or a copy of their pattern called Crossroads thru Connecticut.  They will draw the winner on Saturday, January 8th.

My friend Leona over at Leona's Quilting Adventure is celebrating the New Year with a bloggy giveaway!  You could win a pair of Fast & Fun pillowcase kit, One Thimble Blossoms Dainty Table Topper Pattern, and eleven pink fat quarters to celebrate 2011!  Leona will draw a winner on Saturday, January 8th.

We Love Quilting is having a January giveaway.  She is destashing and will be filling a box with all sorts of goodies.  Not sure when this one ends :(

Have you entered my 300+ Followers Thank You Giveaway?  You could win a beautiful pattern plus the 7 1/8 yards of fabric you need to make it - well, everything but the backing.  This ends Sunday so don't miss out.

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FINAL THOUGHT
I didn't and haven't made a New Years resolution - haven't for years.  That is why I decided a daily goal might be better.  I like having a plan for the day, I seem to get more done.  However, I don't like it when I try to 'put more on my plate than I can eat'.  It's frustrating and discouraging.  Now, if you can accomplish more than your daily goal - so much more the better.  Do you try to set goals or just wing it and get done whatever happens to come your way?  I would like to know how you organize your day.

Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.
~John Dewey


Starting off the New Year creatively - I hope you can too!