Christmas Archives - Spindles Designs by Mary and Mags

“Winter Chill” A Pattern for Pillows

November 25, 2020 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

I love little things. Anything, it doesn’t really matter what it is. It seam to be a family trait. This year I rediscovered little pillows. Little pillows are fun at Christmas. They are great to decorate with, I set them in my Christmas tree. I have some that are made with hangers so they can actually be called an ornament. Putting them in arrangement also works. As a result, we’d like to introduce our new “Winter Chill” a pattern for pillows. Mini pillows.

This new pattern include appliques and instructions for 6 different mini pillows. I had purchased an embroidery pattern for little pillows. After making them the thought came, I need more. Open the fabric stash….

as a Result, inspiration. “Winter Chill” was the inspired theme. All those lovely cool blue winter fabrics just called out to me. Now, what kind of pillows to make. Because I had all these great winter blues the designs came. Snow, snowman, boots, mittens, snowflake and just a pretty patchwork.

Find this great “Winter Chill” Mini Pillows pattern in our Etsy Shop. Make them to match our Snowman Table Runner for a wintery table decoration.

Snowman Table Runner

September 16, 2020 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

We have been keeping a secret! We are excited to announce that Spindles is to be published! Holiday Crafts 2020 magazine is publishing our Snowman Table Runner Pattern. The issue will be on newsstands starting September 18.

Used with permission from Holiday Crafts magazine. ©2020 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Editorial Project Manager of Holiday Crafts magazine contacted us in February. She said she had seen the patterns in our Etsy shop and would like to feature our Snowman Table Runner pattern in the magazine to be on the newsstands in September. Holiday Crafts magazine is a Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publication.

We were so excited! What a great new adventure! Let the process begin. They wanted a physical table runner for their photographers to take pictures and a copy of the pattern. Well, we didn’t have an actual table runner to send. Because it was requested that the finished runner and pattern be mailed in a little over 2 weeks time, we needed to make one… fast. It was fun we got together and picked out special fabrics. We wanted the finished product to be as close as possible to the one in the pictures she had seen. We reread the pattern to check for errors and off it went with the finished table runner to the publisher. After some paperwork and lots of emails back and forth it is really happening. The magazine hits the newsstands this Friday. WOW!

This is one of those things that you hope for but can’t believe it’s true. It is just a little scary and we are still pinching ourselves.

Pumpkin Honey Muffins

August 27, 2020 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

It’s getting to be that time of year with Fall just around the corner. Not that I need a special time to prepare something with pumpkin in it because let’s face it why wait until Fall. Pumpkin is a flavor we like and we use a lot of honey in our baking so when my husband found this recipe for Pumpkin Honey Muffins we thought we had to try it. I wish I knew where so I could give credit where credit is due. But at least I can share it.

Oh, and lets not forget the pecans. Pumpkin, honey and pecans…I’m in heaven.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp backing soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 ground nutmeg

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup honey

1 large egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Shimmer Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. In an electric mixer, beat butter until light in color, about 2 minutes. Add honey, egg, and pumpkin and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Slowly add flour mixture and mix until just blended and no flour streaks remain. Fold in pecans.

Using about 1/4 cup of batter evenly distribute batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp Shimmer Sugar over each muffin. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and cool on rack.

Like other pumpkin treats their great for dessert but these are not super sweet so they are a great breakfast muffin. Great for after school snacks too!

Molasses Cookies

July 22, 2020 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

Last week we bought some Molasses Cookies that tasted really good but there were only 1 dozen in the package. They lasted about 20 minutes, well really a couple of days. So we bought another package and well…out came the recipe books combining an old with a new recipe, I came up with this “Molasses Cookies” recipe.

When my children were little ours was the cookie house. The cookie jar almost always had cookies in it and all the kids in the neighborhood new it. Most of the time they were chocolate chip cookies but I was always trying new kinds. Another favorite was Molasses Bars. I just didn’t want a bar cookie this time.

Molasses Cookies

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup butter, softened (not quit room temp)

3/4 cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg

Shimmer Sugar

In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until it forms a grainy paste. Scrape sides of bowl, add molasses and egg. Beat until fluffy. Sift together dry ingredients and blend into sugar mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. The dough is very sticky. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half in waxed paper forming 2 inch diameter rolls. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Unwrap chilled dough, slice about 1/2 in thick and place on un-greased cookie sheet. I use silicone baking sheets. Sprinkle with shimmer sugar. Bake at 325 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen yummy soft Molasses Cookies.

Enjoy!

Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies

April 12, 2020 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

Last October my husband and I went on a cruise to Hawaii. On one of our excursions we went to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Farm on the Island of Hawaii. We were happy to find that they sold small packages of already chopped nuts. We stocked up. Coconut Macadamia Nut Cookies are a big favorite in our family. Even those who don’t like coconut love these cookies.

Recipe

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups coconut

1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nut

With and electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Sift dry ingredients together and mix into sugar mixture. Add coconut and nuts, mix until just blended. Drop by Tbsp or ( use a small scoop ) onto a greased cookie sheep. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 mins or until golden brown and centers are a little soft. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

These are my husbands very favorite. Unfortunately for him I don’t make them very often. They are a wonderful chewy treat.