My Christmas Village: Day Five

 

It's the last day of my Christmas Open House and it's time for the big reveal: my very special little village in all its cozy, wintery, Christmassy glory! Enjoy!

Another year in the books! I hope you've enjoyed visiting my Christmas village. I have about half a dozen more buildings/shops I'd like to add in the coming years, including at least a couple of "renovations" similar to the Main Gate and the Pottery shop. This has been a really fun project and it turned out just as I hoped it would, very personal, with each building reminding me of someone or something I love. If you'd like to see how I made the invisible display stands for my village, come back tomorrow for a first-ever Christmas Open House Bonus Post!

Thank you so much for joining me this year, and for all the kind comments you've left. It's so heartwarming to know there are so many of you who look forward to this every year, and it's humbling to be a part of your Christmas. I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe holiday season, and that Santa brings you lots of stash, or more time to stitch, whichever is tops on your list! 

From our home to yours: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My Christmas Village: Day Four

 

Today is all about meee! No Christmas village would be complete without an LNS, so I just made myself one: Bee's Needlework Shop! I have been really blessed to be near a good shop for most of the last (almost) 40 years, but the closest ones to our current duty station are both about two hours away. I have spent countless contented hours in needlework shops since my teenage years, and wish every stitcher could have a shop nearby.

You know what else an ideal village has, but is almost more scarce than needlework shops? A good tea room. We had a wonderful tea room in Texas many years ago, run by two English sisters. I spent many happy hours there with my mom. I changed the coffee shop into a tea room and stitched a wee teapot above the door.

Finally, I changed the Hometown diner into Honeybee's. You really can't beat a good diner. Those are becoming rarer, too. Between running a needlework shop and a diner, I don't know where I'll find the time to stitch!

Today's recipe is probably familiar, as it's been around for a while, but it never hurts to share a good thing. It's known as 3-2-1 Cake, but I call it Emergency Cake. There are a number of "emergency cake" recipes out there, but I don't think there's one faster or easier, which is what you want in an emergency. A cake emergency. Which happens during the holidays. This makes a very small, somewhat spongey cake in one minute, which might be the only thing standing between you and a meltdown someday.

Emergency Cake

1 box cake mix, any flavor (Chocolate. Chocolate is the appropriate flavor for emergencies.)

1 box angel food cake mix

Combine cake mixes and store in an airtight container. 

For cake:

3 Tablespoons mix +

2 Tablespoons water +

1 minute in the microwave

Your microwave may vary, so you may have to experiment. Also, I add some mini chocolate chips to mine, because you can't really overdo chocolate cake.

Gift bag/basket idea: give a cute jar of the mix, a jar of chocolate chips, a nice ramekin, and the recipe.

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Tomorrow is the big reveal! Don't miss it!

My Christmas Village: Day Three

 

Today's part of the village is a tribute to my mom and dad. My dad had a huge collection of antique clocks and when I was growing up he kept them all running. For a few minutes around the turn of every hour, the house would be filled with the sound of chiming clocks of every kind. At the half hour, they would strike a solitary note, and some of them also chimed the quarter hours. We were so used to it, the sound never bothered us, but he would have to stop them when we had overnight guests! The clock shop is the first thing I stitched after he passed. I added his birth year to the building. 

For my mom, I renamed the grocery store "Mom's Market." I don't really remember her teaching me to cook; I think I absorbed most of her knowledge through just watching her in the kitchen. And I have so many of her handwritten recipes that I will never, ever convert to digital. The recipes my female relatives have written down for me are among my treasures. Their handwriting brings them to mind almost more vividly than a photograph. 

Speaking of my mom's recipes, here's one I grew up on. I've always loved the name, as it reminds me of the titles of recipes in vintage cookbooks, especially ones that have a "sick room" section. I have no idea how old it is, but I'm 52 and it's been in her recipe box all my life. Is this a scientifically proven, doctor-approved recipe? Nope. But it sure was comforting to a little kid who was feeling poorly... and a big kid, too, for that matter. Sometimes you just need to get some fluids, and sugar, and vitamin C into a cranky munchkin.

Mom's Hot Drink for the Sick (I love this!)

1 c. boiling water

1 box cherry Jell-O

1 c. chilled pineapple juice

*Don't put this in the fridge or it will set!

Gift bag/basket idea: keep the Jell-O and pineapple juice on hand through the holidays so you can fly to the rescue of anyone who gets sick (or yourself), because it always happens!

*****

Back tomorrow with my part of town! 

My Christmas Village: Day Two

 

Welcome back to Day Two of my Christmas Open House! Today is our 24th wedding anniversary so this part of the village has some places that are special to Mr. Wonderful and me. 

We have spent many, many hours exploring old books stores and Mr. Wonderful has a huge library, so this is his book store. I stitched his initials and birth year on the sign.

We collect pottery and some of our favorite memories are of the excursions we've been on and the shops we've come to love around the country. I converted the florist into a pottery shop because my ideal village would have one! (And I would have no money!)

Of course precious Tiger Lily had to have a place in my village. She was with us for 16 1/2 years, at duty stations from Texas (where she was born), to every part of the country: west, east, middle, and south. I stitched one of her nicknames above the door of the pet shop.

Today's recipe is an old favorite I shared long ago. I love to keep this on hand in the pantry, especially in the colder months. It's a very customizable recipe, too: use sugar-free or sugar substitute ingredients, choose different creamer flavors, use decaf coffee. 

Vanilla Cappuccino Mix

1 1/3 c. sugar (or sugar substitute)

8 oz. jar of French Vanilla creamer (or sugar-free, or another flavor)

2/3 c. powdered instant dry milk

2/3 c. instant coffee (regular or decaf)

Use 1/8 c. mix (or to taste) per mug of boiling water.

Gift bag/basket idea: Package cappuccino mix with a pretty mug and a coffee scoop (usually 1/8 c.) and include the recipe.

*****

See y'all tomorrow for a very special part of the village tour!

My Christmas Village: Day One

 

Welcome, welcome, welcome to my 11th Annual Christmas Open House! I'm so glad you're here! Settle in for a week of Christmas stitching and some simple recipes to make your own holidays a bit more cozy, or to give as quick and easy gifts. The sewing room and kitchen are open!

I've always liked the tradition of setting up a Christmas village but have never had one of my own, partly because I've never seen one that was just right for me, and partly because they take up a lot of storage space I don't have.

This year I chose to just make my own Christmas village using the Hometown Holiday series by Little House Needleworks, but with a very special twist: I personalized each and every building. The result is a very unique little village that is just right for me. Come along for a visit!

The very first chart in this charming series is a house you can personalize with your family name, so that's where I started. I stitched my village on 28 ct. raw linen, and pretty much used the suggested threads, except I always used DMC 3865 for the snow and snowflakes, for a brighter look. The raw linen cord I used for finishing was from Hobby Lobby, and I've been hoarding it for years. Sadly, it appears it's no longer available.

I've spent almost my entire life on military bases, so my village had to have a Main Gate. I renovated the fire station and added a Military Working Dog to guard it, in tribute to these remarkable dogs that have been helping keep me safe for over 50 years. Mr. Wonderful says when he was in Afghanistan, he always felt calmer when the dogs were around. I agree. When you see them, you know things are under control. They have their own memorial in Texas.

Our first recipe this week is one of our Thanksgiving favorites. This Honey & Spice Glaze really perks up turkey. If you don't like heat, don't be alarmed at the ingredients. It's very nicely balanced and isn't hot. Since there are only two of us, I use a 3 lb. turkey breast and this recipe makes plenty of glaze, but if you have a larger one, you'll want to increase the amounts. Also, because it only takes a couple of hours for a small turkey breast to cook, I glaze it before I put it in the oven and have never had a problem with the glaze getting too brown or burning. If you're worried about it for a longer cooking time, just wait to glaze until later in the cooking process.

Honey & Spice Glaze for turkey

1 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground allspice or ground cloves

1/8 tsp. cumin

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 TBsp. honey

1/2 tsp. cold water

Gift bag/basket idea: Mix the spices together in a small container, and add a cute little jar of honey, along with the recipe.

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We're off and running... er... moseying through town. Fill up your cocoa mug and come on back tomorrow to see where we go next.