Vintage Antique Heirloom Stockings

Do you ever wonder what to do with your heirloom nicknacks? You know, your Grandmas old antique pillow cases, old coins and things? Well, since we added a new little person to our family 7 months ago, it was time to make a Christmas stocking for my little man. Only the ones I made for my husband, my daughter and I , were a little outdates. Or shall we say, I just got tired of them. So I came up with this idea. I was going to take an old pillowcase that used to be my husbands Grandmothers. When we got it, I always wondered what I would use it for, since it was so old and all, but I kept them and they have sure come in handy! I also have collected many little treasures, things that used to be my great grandmothers, old coins from when I grew up in Denmark, old Danish "Nipse Naale"= antique glass needles, etc. This is what I created with it. I used;

• Antique pillow case (my husbands belated Grandmothers)
• 1 "Nipse Naal"= Antique glass needles; super traditionally antique from Denmark that I used to collect as a little girl. You could buy them at this specialty antique toy giftshop found in my hometown of Odense down this little cobblestone street, located in a over 100 yr old building. 
• Antique silver necklace (used to be my great grandmother Alices's)
• Antique button pouch found in my great grandmothers 1920's sewing machine (she was a seamstress in Denmark)
• A few old Danish coins 
• Ribbon, Toile, pompom ribbon edging, initial letters ($1 each at Target), and some additional "Jewel-Bling"
• Self adhesive iron on felt, and a few extra scraps of cream colored fabric to substitute for more stockings when i ran out of my pillowcase.

If You want to make your own version of these, just look thru your old stuff and use whatever means something to you. It is always a waste it seems to me to keep all the lovely heirlooms we get in a closet or such, I make it my goal to find new, fun, modern ways to display these treasures that I may enjoy them as much as the last person did. Most of my Christmas decor is inspired from this idea. Well most of EVERYTHING I have is. I love it.

Here are my knick knacks;

And old Mccalls stocking pattern

Iron on self adhedseve linning, to make the stocking "thicker".

my hubbys stocking with my great grandmothers old button pouch and my "nipse naale"

My Daughters stocking, blinged out, toile and a little piece of my great grandmothers necklace

My Stocking, with an added coin from Denmark, that is the Queen of Denmark on there...fitting for myself, hehehe:-) Also a piece of my great grandmothers necklace.

And this is my baby boys stocking, a few old coins, and again the old necklace.

All together. I CANT TELL you how MUCH these mean to me! Something special I can for sure pass down to my own kiddies. I AM IN LOVE! 

Merry Advent!

Its the first day of ADVENT today:-) Hooray!
YES, I do know it is a little early, but I have started the tradition of putting up all of our Christmas Decor the day after Thanksgiving. This all stemmed from my American In-laws, and I was a totally strict on when we should put our tree and things up; the first week or two of December.BUT...THAN I saw how cute and excited they all got, and well, I joined them (because of jealousy, I was like "Hey I want to do that too, they are so Happy"! And now I am Happy too!! :-) Lol)
Here is what I have been busy with this weekend. We have a little apartment that we live in. Well it is more like a condo. We want to build our Dream Home someday, but until than this is home. Our living room is SUPER, I mean SUPER narrow. Not even room for a coffee table so a big old Christmas tree just doesn't fit. (Oh Coffee table how I long for you to be part of my life someday!) We use instead these 3 small skinny trees.  They work and are super cute, plus when we do move I can use them as my front porch lighted trees:-) 

Next is my makeshift Mantle. No I dont have a fireplace, BUT I I have used this cute bookcase that I redid this summer instead as my focal point. And OHHH HOW I LOVE IT!  I really cant wait to have a real mantle with this antique cream color. Divine! :-) 

Who needs a mantle ANYWAYS, hehehe! No really, I want one, but right now this will do:-) A girl can dream right? :-)

And now last but not least my homemade ADVENT WREATH. I am sure you have heard of the ADVENT CALENDARS, but the WREATH is also something we do in Denmark as a special tradition. Here is the definition of what it is all about;

The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and prayers. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. Some Advent wreaths include a fifth, "Christ" candle which can be lit at Christmas. The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services.

And here is mine!; We add singing Christmas carols too when we light ours. So "HYGGELIGHT" =danish word for Cozy.

Well there u have it! Oh and if u want me to post a "how to" on the Advent wreath I would be more than happy to do so, I just get so busy around here with my kiddies and my growing photography business, I forget when I am creating to write and photograph for a tutorial as I go. BUT I would love to share if anyone wants:-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

SUPER SOFT GINGER SNAPS; my Favorite

I have two favorite cookies: Oatmeal Raisin and of course Chocolate chip. But I think that these are a good contender for either of those! Soft Gingersnap Cookies. I saw this recipe on TV the other day and simply had to try them. HOME RUN, there were THE BEST!

Ok, let me say it again....;"Oh my goodness, these are GOOD"! I absolutely love the molasses cookies you can buy in the store, but these homemade soft gingersnaps are even better! One must try these :-) My little 3 yr old could not stop sneaking her little hands into the cookies jar for the next few days, until they were all gone!

And best of all they are a "Snap" to make!
I think that perhaps next time I make these I will add a bit more ginger, to give it a little "kick" and than perhaps Bella will stay away from my cookies;-)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 c. corn oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 2 cups + 2 T. flour
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 t. ground ginger
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. salt

Method:

Combine butter and oil in mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the egg, sugar and molasses. Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and salt together. Add to the egg mixture to form a dough.

Roll into 1" balls and coat with additional sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until puffed. Cook on the cookie sheet for several minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 4 dozen.

Recipe from the Junior League of Salt Lake City's Always in Season Cookbook featured on Studio 5 KSL

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=13101061

Ready~ Set~ GO!

I am just anxiously awaiting for Friday, so I can start putting up my Christmas Decor! More to come soon:-)...No I will not be shopping....I value my life too much! :-) Will be doing a bit shopping ONLINE though, with a cup of Hot cocoa, and in my PJ's:-)

Simple Fall Decor~ Very simple

~Simple small REAL pumpkins~

The other day I took my babies out for a "Nature" outing. I wanted to check out a new photo shoot location, a nearby park. We started gathering all the bright colored leaves and a few pinecones and took them home. Pulled out an old Harvest Figurine that I had,  added a few nuts to the ensemble and now, presto, we have our fall decor! All natural...all FREE! lol! And kind of Pottery Barnish'. So there you have it, a fall decor idea! So easy, so fun!

Butternut Squash & Pear Soup, sooo good!

My sister and her boyfriend came over for dinner this evening, and I wanted to make something special and in season.. So after some research and combining a few different recipes I came up with this one. It is was a HiT! 

This is a YUMMY soup for a nice cold Fall Day! It is savory & sweet with a little spicy {kick} to it, (not too spicy mind you, because I dont like spicy but this one is delish! 

BUTTERNUT Squash & PEAR Soup

2 tablespoons salted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 small leeks (rinsed & chopped)

2 tablespoons mild Curry Powder

6 pounds Butternut squash (about 2 large)

3 ripe Pears

2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 cups chicken stock

Gorgonzola crumbles for garnish

Directions:

Warm the butter, olive oil, leeks, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the pears. Cut into chunks.

Add the squash, pears, salt, pepper, and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and pears are very soft. Puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. (You will have to do this in batches since it is a lot.)

Pour the soup back into the pot. It should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Once served in bowls, add a bit of Gorgonzola crumbles for garnish. 

Danish Rhubarb Custard Recipe from Petersgaard Manor

This recipe I had to tweak a little to get the right temperatures for cooking. The original recipe called to bake it for 30 min at 395F, but I found that baking it as I state below works better. I made this for the first time the other night and my whole family loved it. Even my sweet all American hubby thought it was yummy:-) I will be making this more! 

On the very south of Denmark, on the Island of Sjaelland, amidst yellow fields, green forests and pastures lies Petersgaard Manor.  Built in the early 1700, as part of Frederick IV's national riding districts. Now the manor is run by the Iuel family. Here is a delicious dessert recipe that they make at the Manor. It is actually called a Rhubarb Cake, but is more like a custard in consistency with a "creme broulee" type of crust. YUM!!

Rhubarb Custard 

2 1/2 lbs fresh Rhubarb

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 vanilla bean pod

1 quart whipping cream

6 eggs + 2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla sugar or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean pod

1 Tbs Cornstarch

1/2 cup granulated sugar

The strained rhubarb juice

1. Rinse Rhubarb stalks and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Place in greased baking dish with the 1 cup sugar and open sliced down the middle 1/2 Vanilla bean. Cover with aluminum foil and let bake in 395F preheated oven for 1hr or until the Rhubarb becomes cooked all the way thru.
2. Remove the compote to a strainer over a pan and let all rhubarb juices drip for about 1 hr. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, whip the cream until it become fluffy. Than place whipped cream, 8 egg yolks, vanilla, cornstarch and sugar in a large thick based pot over low heat. With a whisk blend it all together, and do NOT LET IT COOK. It needs to become thick and airy. Remove from heat and let it cool. 
4. Once it is cool, add the 6 beaten (till stiff) egg whites to the cream mixture. 
5. In a 9x11 greased dish, place the rhubarb compote to cover the whole bottom. Than the whip cream mixture on top, making sure not to fill all the way to the top (as it can tend to poor over during cooking).
6. Place it on a covered baking sheet on middle rack in a preheated 395F oven for  about 15 min. This will give it a "creme brulee" type of crust. (Make sure not to burn). Than once it gets the darkness of crust that you prefer turn oven down to 350F for 30-45 min, until custard is stiff around edges and still a little jiggly in the middle. 
7. Remove from oven and let sit until cool. (It will stiffen the colder it gets).
8. To serve drizzle a tiny bit of the strained rhubarb juice on top. (Optional)

"Velbekommen!"