Christmas Craft Shows

One of the best places to look for really great and unique gifts for anyone on your Christmas list is definitely at a craft show. If you're like me, (and if you're reading this, chances are you probably agree with this!) handmade items can be so much better than then generic "I need to give this person a gift, so I'll just grab this thing" type of present. If you're someone who doesn't give gifts to every person who you say hello to and instead only give to family and close friends, then why not really show those people how much you care about them with something handmade? I love making gifts for the people on my list. Although, there is always those people that you have to get something for that don't really appreciate the time or thought that goes into these gifts.

Anyhow, this past weekend, I was a vendor at a local Christmas craft show. I did this show last Decemeber and was pretty excited for this year's show. I always like doing local craft shows around where I live. You get to know a lot of the other crafty people who participate and even get to know some of the repeat customers. I like having people I know who may not be familiar with my crafts, get to see what I really do and how much time I put into it.

The show went very well and was a fun time getting to see everyone. The building the show was in used to be an old bank, so it looked really nice. However, the ceilings were very high and the heat wasn't really working, so it was quite cold. But aside, from that it was a good show. Kinsey and I were able to take a little time during the show to pick up a few things.

Here's some sauces we got for a local company. We ended up getting a mustard based barbecue sauce, a mild sauce, and a spicy sauce. It even came in this little carrying bag.




We also got some Christmas postcards, too. Not your usual happy holidays type of cards, huh? We ended up getting seven different cards.






This was the last show of the year for us, so it's kind of a nice feeling to have a little break. Now I can focus on getting on those gifts made!

~Beth

Thanksgiving Meal and December Already!

Happy December! It’s hard to believe it’s the last month of the year already! As I talked about in the last entry, Kinsey and I were going to make our own Thanksgiving dinner this year. Anyone who has ever had the experience of having to go to multiple Thanksgiving dinners in a single afternoon knows that it can be a little overwhelming. We’ve done that routine for the past three years, and we were anxious to begin our own traditions with the day. Our dinner turned out to be wonderful and very tasty. Here was our menu:

~Herb and Lemon Roasted Turkey Breast
~Cornbread Stuffing
~Sweet Potato Casserole
~Baked Corn
~Cranberry Orange Relish
~Homemade Rosemary Herb Biscuits
~Fruity Red Wine….(I’m not sure of the name offhand or if a fruity red wine would even be considered by wine enthusiasts to be suitable to drink with this meal, but it was quite good. And I’m not even a big fan of wine usually.)

Anyhow, everything turned out well. This was the first time we’ve ever roasted a turkey, (or actually really any large piece of meat….we’re not really big meat eaters.) and we’re thrilled with the finished golden brown bird. Here’s some pictures from our meal:







My favorite Thanksgiving side dishes are definitely the stuffing and cranberry relish. The relish should definitely not be from the can. I used to like the can molded sauce when I was younger, but of course there’s some tastes you outgrow pretty fast. Here’s my own recipe for the cranberry relish I made:

Cranberry Orange Relish (makes about 3 cups)


* 1 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 TBSP ground ginger
* small dash of ground cinnamon
* 1 navel orange; peeled and cut into chunks


1. Cook cranberries, sugar, ginger, and cinnamon in a medium pan over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until the cranberries begin to burst; about 6-8 minutes.
2. Add 1 cup of water and simmer until thickened; about 5 minutes.
3. Add orange pieces and stir. Keep on heat for another 1-2 minutes so flavors can mend together.
4. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to eat.


This relish turned out really good and I would recommend making a double batch if you’re serving more than four people. Or if you’re serving two people crazy for cranberries.



This is the last day for the after Thanksgiving sales in our shop. Free shipping in the US! Buy two felt ornaments, get the third free! We will be adding a few new items this week, but more will come next week. We have a Christmas craft show this Saturday and are busy getting things ready for it!

~Beth