Happy Solstice!

Happy Solstice everyone! After today we can look forward to the days getting longer and Spring's eventual return.



We experienced one of our rare winter snows this past weekend,



lovely coming down



and mostly gone by today, typical for NC. Some of the Nest residents were not at all happy with the snow, but they found the bird watching to be excellent.

Decking the Nest and A Recipe Too!

Well the tree is up, some of the presents are wrapped, carols are in heavy rotation ( my favorites being Jethro Tull's Christmas Album and The Sounding Joy by The Mair Davie Duo...good stuff!) and the cookie making is about to commence! I thought I'd share some pictures of my tree and a great easy cookie recipe. First the tree and it's trims...




As you can see, it's a mix of handmade, antique, and just plain silly...note the crab? Also it was recently pointed out to me that a lot of the ornaments are vertical...well I do love icicles and of course I have all those gorgeous okra!

This last ornament is very special to me because it once belonged to my great aunt Florence. She was my grandmother's older sister and one of my favorite people of all time. Her own grandchildren lived far away, so she lavished all of her huge store of affection on the four of us...in her eyes we could do no wrong. Aunt Florence was a fantastic cook and going to her house always meant some wonderful treat would be waiting for my siblings and me. This recipe was one of our favorites and in my mind Christmas just isn't the same without these yummy cookies.

Flossie's Party Cookies

1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sifted white flour
10 oz. milk chocolate ( can sub bittersweet chocolate)
chopped nuts ( for Xmas can sub crushed peppermint
candy)

Cream butter and sugar until light. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla then flour. Blend well. spread in an 11x17 jelly roll pan and bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with broken bits of chocolate. Let these sit for 1-2 minutes, so they melt, and then spread evenly over the cookies with a knife. sprinkle with the chopped nuts (or peppermint). When cool, cut into squares and store in a tightly covered container in a cool place.

To give credit where it is due, the dark chocolate and peppermint idea comes from my sister and it really does make for a lovely and yummy Xmas version.

Last Ones!

Well the last ones for this year anyway. I loaded these ladies into the shop this morning and now I'll be working on presents for the next few weeks. Every year I say I'll get them made in advance, and every year I end up with a bunch to make right before the holidays...I must be a pressure junkie. I'm planning on closing the shop on the 14th so I can concentrate on cookie making, present wrapping, egg nog drinking and all that other fun holiday stuff, but I promise to still keep updating my blog until I reopen in January. So wish me luck and no tangles as I delve into my tasks... and I will see you soon!

...and in the same Holiday spirit, I made a fun Ornament treasury today that you should definitely take a peek at here!

A Winter Fae and an Okra Digression

Well I managed to get her finished in time for the last day of free shipping in my shop...Whew!

And since I have you here, I thought we might discuss Okra. For those of you wondering what the heck does okra have to do with anything...I'll get to that. Since some might not even know what okra is, let me start there. Okra is widely grown and eaten here in the South. It's used to thicken stews, sauteed and frequently dipped in batter and fried. Frankly I'm not a fan, I think it's slimey and disgusting however you cook it. BUT a dear friend of mine has for years now been making the most incredibly beautiful ornaments out of dried okra ...the best use for it in my humble opinion! Each one takes an incredible amount of time to make, all that hand painting and gluing of individual beads, and they are simply stunning on a Christmas/Solstice tree. I have about 30 on mine that I've acquired over the years so I can attest that they are fantastically durable too. But probably the best thing would be to show you, so check these out.....



Aren't they amazing? I would go blind putting on those beads! She also turns tiny ones into beautiful brooches.
And the best part is that she has now opened a shop on Etsy, Fabricated By Dena, so go right now and take a peek. If you're looking for something truly unique to add to your wishlist this year, I think you may have found it... and you don't even have to eat this okra to love it!

Free Shipping!

Don't miss out on Free Shipping world wide on all items frommy Etsy shop, the Fairies' Nest, today and tomorrow only. And just in time I've added a couple more pixies to the shop ...


I'm hoping to add another bigger doll as well so stay tuned!

New Dolls at last and a bit of a Sale!

At last... meet Holly my new art doll! Yes, I have finally finished a new art doll as well as a couple of little holiday dolls. There are two more of the larger dolls on my table almost ready and I'm all caught up on commissions, so I'm feeling pretty productive these days. Of course I'm spending the rest of today and tomorrow getting ready to serve Thanksgiving for 23 people so I imagine that feeling will be very short lived.
But here's a little Holly pixie as well....

And in the big news folks it's sale time once more! All items in my Etsy Shop will have free shipping for 4 days; Friday Nov. 27th through Monday Nov. 5th. So come by and take a peek!

As I mentioned, Thanksgiving is almost upon us and I am very thankful for all the wonderful folks that I've met through my blog this year, thank you so much for the support and love you've shown myself and my creations.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Welcome to the Nest!

I've been nose to the grindstone the past week...I've always wondered about that phrase, how could a bloody nose possible infer hard work? but I digress...and I have lots of work in progress but nothing that's ready to show yet. So I thought that this week that I'd take you on a virtual tour of my studio. Ready?














As you can see I tend to be ridiculously organized...except for work table which, despite last weeks excavations, is already starting to be lost under piles of fabric again. It's not there yet but I bet by the end of next week we'll be talking serious mess...okay maybe just serious for me the neat freak.


I have added a couple more mice sets to the shop (and they're pretty darn cute) as I was able to carry them with me when we went out of town last weekend to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday. A delightful party was hosted by my sister, and my brothers actually managed not to set fire to anything, so a good time was had by all. (Seriously, the fire thing is an issue with them but we love them anyway.) Hopefully I'll have some new dolls next week and a bit of news as well. See you then!