Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my Good Things Friends and families. You are a good gift all year long. Prayers and good wishes for another year of lots of GOOD THINGS like celebrating our GOOD GOD! ,good times together, good health, good food and good gift exchanges (had to throw that last one in!) Love, Chrissy

Chrissy's Lemon Curd-YUMMY!

Chrissy makes YUMMY lemon curd!!!
I baked gingerbread muffins this morning, just to use as a vehicle,
to eat the beautiful lemon curd you gave me this week.
YUM, dear friend!! Thanks a Zillion!

And, another big Thanks for hosting this month's meeting!
Your home looked so pretty & full of festive cheer~
What a fabulous Hostess you are~

My cookies are already gone...
we ate them morning, noon, & night all week long.
I just Love being a part of "Good Things"!

Thanks for the cookies and the goodies!!!

Hey everyone! I had such a good time at the exchange. Chrissy, your house was so beautiful and festive and it was so nice to have some good yummy appetizers. Thanks for all your hard work and for getting us in the spirit of christmas. The cookies were fun to taste and enjoy together. The gift exchange was good too. Looks like most of us went home with what we wanted too. All the goodies from everyone were so fun to open. Thanks for all the fun things. I shared my cookies today with my parents and they enjoyed seeing the packaging and sitting down for a cup of tea. Mom says hello to everyone too. Sydnee has a special tea party planned with me tomarrow after school if she gets her homework done. She's been looking forward to the ladies cookies and using her tea party dished again. Merry Christmas to all!!! I am thankful to all of you for your friendship andall the laughs. Lori

Cookie amount adjustment

Hello, ladies!
I just got a call from my mom, and she is not going to be able to come to the cookie exchange, so she said not to worry about making her portion. There have been a lot of dramas with her house recently, the latest one being that the heater just went out, and they've got to get it fixed tomorrow. (I can attest that her house can get mighty chilly!)
She is very depressed at not getting to come, and believe me, I tried to figure out a way to make it work, but no go. She says she will miss everyone and wishes you all a Merry Christmas!

Cookie Exchange Time!!! Anyone???

Have you got your recipe books out Girls?
Made the big decision yet?
Fired up your ovens?
Let's get BAKING!!!!!
Only 4 days to go... so get your gifts wrapped...
Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday...

Look at my monkeys!

We went to the park on Saturday to take some pictures. I am so excited about these that I felt the need to share. Enjoy!

It's My First Time

Be gentle with me! I hope this works! Loved the pictures and captions Carey and yes, be very afraid because the games are back and they are required. Hint: brush up on your Christmas songs and a famous Christmas story.You will play and you will have fun and that's an order! Looks like five and a half dozen cookies or six cookies each for 9 ladies and one dozen to share for a total of 66 cookies. This includes our Christmas buddy Virginia. I will have some savory snacks to ward off diabetic comas. And bring your $20 gift for the infamous exchange. Well, I must be tired beacuse I spelled just about every word in the last sentence wrong!! That teacher breakfast was way too early. I had a great time last night and sorry I had to leave early. Thank you Carolyn and Lori. You make a great team! And Happy Thanksgiving ladies. I am very thankful for each of you. Love, Chrissy

A Sweeeet time

Thanks Lori and Caroline for a fabulous evening. Here's photographic proof we were all giddy with happiness. Really, a picture tells the whole story, right? Um... I do remember having a good time....

Exhibit A:

Terror grips Cheri as she realizes Christmas shopping season is here.

Exhibit B:

Cindy reacts to the news that Chrissy is planning games at our Christmas gathering.

Exhibit C:

Lori has just calculated the size of the gift card she will be getting from the Dollar Tree.

Good News is a Good Thing

Hey everyone,

Chrissy posted a comment to the post below saying her report came back cancer-free, and she is on the mend! Wanted to make sure everyone saw that.

We are overjoyed Chrissy, and yes, our prayers were answered. Get better soon, and we love you!

November Good Things

Ok everyone, I don't have a beautiful picture to post for the November Good Things but I do have some fun things planned. Nola gave me a magazine page with fun things to make out of candy canes and gumdrops and such and I showed you some things last planning meeting, so come prepared to glue and make something festive for the holidays. I'll probably have a minimal fee of a few dollars depending on which projects you choose to do. There are adorable candy candlesticks, gumdrop wreaths and trees made of candy canes.

What can you bring? Thanks for asking: Please bring your glue gun and some glue sticks. Please also bring a box (or cookie sheet) and tissue to carry home your delicate projects so they don't break. Bring your candle sticks (optional) if you'd like to make some fun candy candles. I think they will do best being assembled on the candle stick that night. Bring some thin red or green ribbon (optional) if you really want to be different and some thick red ribbon (optional) if you want to make the gumdrop wreath. I'll bring these things if you don't but I know some of you like to be individuals. Depending on how fast you are you may even get a couple of projects done that night so come to Carolyns house at 7 pm where we can sip some cider and get in the festive mood. Hope to see you there. Lori

Gosh, I sure hope the stores start putting out the candy canes soon. (I can't believe I just said that~!!!)

Apple Cake Recipe

Here is a copy of the Apple Cake Recipe:
4 cups raw apples peeled and shredded or cup up finely
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups nuts.
Raisins are optional
Mix sugar, oil and eggs. Add apples. Mix well. Add dry
ingredients. Mix well. Add nuts and raisins if desired.
Bake in 9x13 pan for 45 minutes at 350.
I served with Cool Whip or whipped cream and
drizzled with caramel ice cream topping. Enjoy.

It was great seeing those who could make our meeting and I enjoyed meeting Janice. The projects were fun. Thank you Cindy for all your hard work. We missed you Tammi and Cheri. I am looking forward to next time already. Lori we hope you are much better by now.

More felt!

Carey's soaps look good - here's a photo of my candy-corn soap and the gift card holder we made. Jean, I'll get you the pattern, I didn't forget you. In fact, I may try to upload it somehow. Let me work on that, then Cheri and Tammi can have it too. It's pretty much a triangle.

Anyway, we also made cute little flowers from a posting I saw on whipup.net. Look here for the post and template. I really recommend looking at the site, lots of cute things. Tracy and Carey made their flowers out of purple, and put french knots on it and made it look like a violet. So cute.

We had a fun evening, sorry to miss Cheri and Tammi. I was glad you all got to meet Janice! She is a one woman fiber expert!

Boy, that FELT good!

Thanks, Janice, for teaching us how to felt! Good clean fun with friends new and old is always needed. Thanks, Cindy, for some fun projects and NolaMom, for "FALLing" for the holiday the way you did, with all those pumpkins everywhere! What a treat!

We missed those who had family stuff, smoke alarms, stuck husbands and the like. We really "felt" for you... OK girls, all puns aside, let's remember to pray for Lori's surgery today, and Chrissy's on the 20th.

And, here's my soap!

I will be coming to the felt night and I'm looking forward to felting with everyone!!! See ya then, Lori

Fall Never FELT Better!

Ready for a craft? October's Good Things is going to be a fibery good time - and we're not talkin' bran here ladies!



We will be making felted soap (soap wearing a little sweater to create a lathery, scrubby good time) and we will be making a felt gift card holder for fall - that can be adapted for all sorts of occasions.



Date: THURSDAY, October 9 (day after Carey's birthday)

Time: 7 pm

Place: Nolamom's house, 769 E. Magill

Cost: $5.00 for all materials

Please bring: dishwashing-type rubber gloves to protect your delicate hands. No goofy hats required this time, but if you really want to wear your clothes backward go right ahead. We won't stop you.



We may have a special guest expert in felting join us for the evening, if her schedule permits. It promises to leave you all warm and fuzzy, in more ways than one! Please rsvp by commenting to the blog!

Topsy Turvy Tea

I've got a few questions here...

Aren't those HOSTESSES are wearing

their aprons BACKWARDS...

Don't you just LOVE

our HATS?

And...

Isn't it a GOOD THING

to get to play TEA PARTY?

I am so glad I went to the tea!!

Yes, I get it. We are all backwards. You certainly scared me for a minute. I had to read the post over a couple of times. I don't need to bring anything? Can it be any kind of hat or are we going for sunday morning looking hats? I have a spare crazy hat if anyone doesn't have a hat and needs to borrow. Looking forward to having a simply marvelous time!! Lori

Thanks again for coming to the Tea Party!

It was so kind of all of you to attend our tea party. Wasn't it nice to be pampered and not have to bring a thing except yourselves, hat and joke? I know I had a mahvelous time!

Thank you for coming to the Topsy Turvy Tea!

Dear Good Things Girls,

Thank you for coming to the Topsy Turvy Tea. We had a fantastic time together, all of you brought such great jokes/funny stories to tell. Everyone looked so great in their hats. Cheri's scones were delicious and the dessert was too yummy. Of course, we can never say enough about a hot cup of tea.

Once again, Thank you for coming to Tammi's house on September 2nd at 7:00pm.

Fun, Laughter, Tea and Friends what a GOOD THING!

P.S. Thank you for your RSVP to the Blog.

Jean is a very good thing!

So, I'm here. I'm in Marshfield, Wisconsin, visiting our very good friend -- and always a good thing -- Jean, and her husband, Mark. Their home is lovely and they've shown us a very good time. I'm blessed to have been able to visit. I'll tell more later, but here's a few snapshots from our evening. By the way... I would have called, Mom, but no cell service! (Aaah, but I've hacked on to somebody's unsecured wireless network!)

On the way... the most awesome sight of sunflowers as far as the eyes could see. Breathtaking!

Jean and Mark in front of their lovely home.

Did I mention that in the back yard is a river? And wildlife is everywhere. Jean said this morning she had wild turkeys in the back, and that deer always visit to sample her raspberries. If you look closely in this photo, you will see wildlife of another kind... Buddy, the pug, playing while Jean is being silly!

Tomorrow is breakfast before we head back to Chicago and the Stassens go to work. We had a lovely visit. I'm blessed to have been able to visit such good friends.

Check This Out! Wow!

Did anyone notice the article in today's newspaper about the new program on KNXT, Channel 49 on Monday night at 8:30? It is Lisa Hendey's Catholic Mom. For those of you who are new, Lisa used to be a member of Good Things. She is still a very special friend so if you have some time on Monday night tune in to her program.

Final movie night info

... Mom asked me to post for her. Our RSVP total is this: Carolyn, Lori, Chrissy, Cindy, Carey, Nola Mom and Tracy. I sorta heard from Cheri, who may be bringing Kathy, her sister, but nothing's official. We've not heard from Tami or Elisha at all.

Cindy and Carolyn are meeting at Fuzio at RiverPark at 6. The movie starts at 7 at Edwards. We are seeing Swing Vote. If you aren't joining the cocktail hour, just buy your ticket and meet in the theater. I understand that Nola Mom may be sneaking in some special movie-time treat....

Can't wait to see everybody!

RSVPing

Ok, I'm posting, I'm RSVPing... and I'll be there at the movie night unless my husband gets called to fight a fire and there's lots of that going on. The movie sounds like fun. Lori

August Movie Night

It is time to get together and celebrate the last days of summer by going to a movie.

Movie: Swing Vote

Date: Tuesday, August 5

Time: To be determined when
schedule is available

Location: Edward's Cinemas

We hope we can all get together and have a fun evening. Please RSVP.

July meeting... we missed you... and some group thoughts

Boy you guys missed out! We had stuff galore to trade. I, for one, came home with some killer cookbooks and a couch. Thanks, Cheri, for a fun evening and some great Jell-O cake. (And those couches, too! I can't wait for those silly boys to stop complaining about the heat and go pick 'em up!)

Anyway, we missed everybody who was unable to attend. We know that summertime is hard, but it is sad when our gatherings are small, as they have been here and there this year.

The folks who were at this week's meeting thought it was time to revisit some of our Good Things rules. We started Good Things because we wanted to create a group that got together monthly to share interests, share our lives and make some crafts and giggle. We never were a group to have too many rules, but we do have a few designed to keep the group fair for all who are involved.

We like people to participate by regularly attending and RSVPing and by hosting, volunteering a craft or by making a desert for one or two meetings a year.

RSVPs

• If you're the one planning the craft, it is great to know that a steady number will be there each month. That's one reason the blog was created. Please regularly use the blog or the phone to RSVP to the project or home coordinator.
• And, if something comes up at the last minute, please immediately let the project coordinator know you will not be attending. If your RSVP cancellation is last-minute and supplies have been purchased for you, it is your responsibility to reimburse the host for the money spent.

Participation and attendance

• If you're in the group now and your priorities and commitments have changed since you joined, that's OK. We understand. If you aren't able to do your part by hosting or working with a partner to coordinate a meeting one or two times a year, it is OK to step back from the group or take a break until you are more free to give your time to the group.
• The same goes for scheduling problems and busy schedules. If you aren't able to regularly attend, there won't be any hard feelings if you let us know the group just isn't working for you right now.

The bottom line is we want Good Things to be a loving, dedicated group of women who look forward to each month's meetings. I know I love Good Things and I want it to continue to grow and develop throughout the years. We've seen members come and go as lives have changed and people have grown in other areas. Change is always difficult, but it is a part of life.

July Meeting Info

Hello, Ladies!
Here is the scoop on this month's meeting. We will be meeting at Cheri's house on Tuesday, July 8 at 7:00 p.m. for a night of swapping and munching. We'll have light appetizers and dessert. Please bring any ideas or tips (household, health, etc) you would like to share with the group. You may also bring any stuff you would like to get rid of (decorations you are tired of or that no longer go with your decor, craft items you know you'll never use, etc.). This is your chance to purge and get organized! We will draw numbers to determine the order in which we get to grab a goodie, and we'll keep going around until all the stuff is gone or we are no longer interested! I'll make arrangements for Salvation Army to pick up any leftovers. RSVP to the blog, or call me at 323-5576. See you next week!

New Banner

Hello ladies, it's Emily, Cindy's daughter. I made you yet another banner! I thought a sunflower looked like summertime, but now I realize I should've made a 4th of July theme. Oh well.

Have an extraordinary summer, stay cool, and enjoy the graphic. :)

-Emily

The Night in Pictures

Thank you!

Thank you Tammi for your hospitality and for hosting our Summer gift exchange. I am enjoying my tea pot and I hope that everyone is enjoying the gift that they took home. Good job shoping this year!

It was nice to see everyone. Chrissy we missed you and had to give your job as designated present opener to Elisha.

Thank you everyone for the fun little gifts that we exchanged. I enjoyed going through my basked today and taking my time to look at each one.

Have a good July 4th!

Note to Carolyn

I am happy to report that I got the little house to work by changing one of the bulbs. It is too cute!

Info for the masses and Carey

Hey, ladies!

My mom would like to attend the steal-and-eat meeting next week. Just thought I'd send that piece of info out there.

Carey, if you are still printing pages for the cookbook, I'd like them with the protectors. Thanks!

June Gathering date Change!

Please be advised the Good things meeting scheduled for June 10th has been changed to June 17th.

Please repost your rsvp for the new date on the blog.

Thanks,
Tammi

What's Cooking... part 2

OK Gals... I have rsvp for cookbook pages from Mom, Cindy and Tracy. Any other takers? I'll be printing this weekend.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, scroll down....several posts ago, I gave the details. )

RSVP

Hey, Pal! I'll be there ready to steal!

SPARKS will be FLYING!!!!

Good Things Summer Gift Exchange

June 10th 7:00pm

Tammi's House

Summertime snacks and dessert will be provided.

RSVP to the Blog by June 8th or call 294-1338

STARTING SUMMER OFF WITH A BANG IS A GOOD THING!

What's cookin?

So... miracles do happen. The Good Things cookbook update is DONE!

If you would like a copy of the 25-page cookbook update, just let me know. I'm charging a small fee to cover expenses like ink, paper and page protectors.

If you want the whole 25-page deal, page protectors and all the cost will be $4.
If you just want the printed pages and will supply your own protectors, the cost will be $2.

Let me know and I'll have them for you at the next meeting.

Carey-tell me about your camera

Hi Carey-Would you give me the make and model of your camera please? Also, is yours different from Nola's? They both take nice pictures and we are looking for a new one for Lizzie for graduation. Good to see you Sunday. Your feet looked better. Hope your pulse is behaving.
Missed seeing you on Sunday Nola. How come we didn't see you Wilson girls on the big screen?
Nola and Carey and hubbies, are you going to the picnic Saturday? -Chrissy

Elisha is a good thing!

Elisha, we missed you when we made our stepping stone. However, John and I were fortunate enough to attend the Philharmonic last night and hear you play. We were very proud of you. Keep up the good work and we hope to see you next month at our meeting. It will be fun and it sounds like everyone has already been shopping. There should be great gifts to steal! See you then.

Patriotic Stepping Stones

Thanks for coming last night ladies. It was good to see everybody. We missed you Bonnie. I am praying for your dad Lori and your mom Tammi. Tracy so glad you survived the game of lost and found in the neighborhood. I pass your street everytime good things is there so I guess we're even! Carey I hope you have ankles again soon. I am praying for you to get over that uncomfortable side effect soon. Ladies your stones looked great and I enjoyed the pet conversation. My wacky dogs always do a major surveillance after everyone leaves and they are released from their prison. Even the cat came out for a look see last night. See you all in June for the exchange. Cheri, no Uncle Sams with the legs cut off please. Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mommies. Enjoy your special day and know that you are loved and appreciated. Love ya-Chrissy

May Meeting

Thank you Chrissy for the invitation to make a patriotic stepping stone for our May meeting. I will be delighted to attend the meeting. If I can help you with anything, please let me know.

Wedding Bells are a VERY good thing!

Elisha has done it! She's now a Wilson girl!

This evening, Elisha married Jeff, Cheri's brother and Cindy and my cousin. Congrats to both Jeff and Elisha for saying "I do!" in such a beautiful, loving and God-pleasing way. Elisha made a beautiful bride (and Jeff's handsome, too!)

By the way, they weren't the only smiling couple there! Love's such a good thing! Here's Cheri and Eric.

April meeting update

So... We haven't heard from Tami and Bonnie doesn't yet know about her husband's schedule. The only official "no" we have is from Elisha, who has a really good excuse -- her honeymoon! The rest of us will be there with bells on! :0)

Don't forget to bring a small photo, some scrapbooking adhesive (like Mono adhesive) and some cash... I'll provide the rest. Odds are the project will end up being around $2.

See ya next week...
and for Tammi and Bonnie, I'll be making my supply packets Thursday evening. If you RSVP before then, you are welcome to do the project. If not, you can still come, but I won't have paper cut for you.

April 8 Meeting

I hope everybody had a good Easter. it seems like a million years since I've seen some of you. I miss all my Good Things friends! Good thing our next meeting will be here before we know it. :-)

Please let me know if you do or do not plan to attend the meeting at 7 p.m. April 8 at Tracy's house by April 1. I have to prepare supplies for you to create ultra cute scrapbook-like creations. I've included a glimpse of what I've got planned below. It should be a fun evening!...

You will need to bring scrapbook adhesive, sharp detail scissors and a small, small photo -- no bigger than 2 by 2. The rest of the supplies should cost under $5... I'm still working out the details.

RSVP by making a comment here. Thanks!

Egg-stra special time!

What a fun evening. I'm sad some of you didn't make it, but for those of us who did, we had an "egg-stra" special time learning how to create the Ukranian eggs. Kristen did a great job sharing her craft with us. Thanks Kristen for being our guest!

Here's what we did:

1. We ate! And we got to know our newest member, Elisha!


2. We met Kristen!






3. We sketched!







4. We used a "kiska" to put wax on our eggs in the design we sketched.








5. We melted the wax and wiped it away, leaving either the white of the egg shell or the dyed color we started with. (So ultra cool.)

hi good things gals-I will be serving savory and sweet treats on the 11th, so make it dinner!
see you next week. Chrissy

March Egg-stravaganza!

Hey everybody!

Let's get together 7 p.m. March 11 at Chrissy's house to learn the art of Ukranian Easter egg decorating, called pysanky. One of my staff members at The Bee learned this art from her Ukranian grandmother. She has agreed to share what she knows with us and let us try a very simple design.

Supplies: A No. 2 pencil
Fee: $5

Kristen will provide everything. I'll provide the eggs.

RSVP to the blog!

hey good things girls-I need your help please. I am working on an album for Lizzie's baton teacher and one technique I want to use is to cut out a shape on vellum paper and have part of a photo show through with a cololored sheet underneath. How do I produce a clean cut of the frame shape (.i.e., square, star or heart?) Size is probably 3"+ or so. Do they make punches for that? I'm about eight years behind on scrapbooking techniques so any help is appreciated. Thanks. Do something good today! Love ya! Chrissy P.S. Tracy-WOW!! You are amazing! How about a styro egg for easter? Wouldn't that look cute in an egg cup?

Emily thanks for the new banner-your a good thing girl!! Chrissy

Hi everyone,
I finally finshed my tree today. Alittle after valentines but that's OK. Sydnee loved my tree and wanted to do one of her own so off to town she went. I'll try to teach myself how to download pictures of each. Hope everyone had a great presidents day off. See you soon, Lori

Well, seems I can't figure out how to download the pictures but I'll try again. Cindy can you call me for some help with this. It says it won't download my pictures because they aren't in jpeg but they are. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Emily good job on the banner!
Lori

Ooh La La!

Hello Good Things Girls.

I've made you a new, cleaner looking banner. It's not as big as the previous one. When I get time, I'll shrink it down and make a button for you to use. :)

I hope you guys like it!

- Emily

Another Cute Button Tree!!

Look at Nolamom's darling creation.

I love the use of her kitchen's colors for an everyday decoration.

You GO GIRL!!

Has anyone else made another tree??

I am thinking a green one would do double duty for St. Pat's day and then it could get added to the Red tree I've already done, as a Christmas Duo....Sound like a plan?

Button Trees Completed (Well, some of them)

Okay, Here are some of the completed trees created by the good things girls this past Thursday night!!!

A little Easter Pastel or Valentine's Reds, Pinks, & Purples Anyone??

This craft was fun to do-and everyone only poked themselves with their pins just a couple times...

A few of us didn't quite make it to the top of the cone, so hopefully we'll all see the completed masterpieces at next month's meeting....if not before...here, on the blog...that's a hint, ladies...you can do it...post a photo...it doesn't hurt at all...try it...really, it's fun!!

I even included a photo of my tree-on it's stand, at home, in the middle of my Valentine's Table-I hope yours are adorning your living spaces by now as well.

I made it Cindy!! I had an email from Google about my account and had to change my password, but bottom line is I am here!! Thanks for your help. Good to see everybody. Lori I got your phone message when I got home! I had left a couple of hours before going to Carolyn's for an eye appt. and errands. Thanks for the call though re: carpooling. Happy Valentine's to all and thanks for all the treats. A quote from my favorite book for valentine's: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Cor 13:13 Love ya-Chrissy

Just a reminder

Hi everyone!

Just to clarify in case not everyone remembers --

Thursday February 7, 7 pm at Carolyn's house

You need to bring:

Buttons (Tracy found a good source at Reflections of the Heart at Bullard and West)
Pins (go to Walmart for white, Joanns for colors)
Some sort of dish to set it in (if you don't have this it is okay you can get it later)
A fancy button for the top (again, don't stress over this)

I will provide:

Cone
Fabric to cover cone in a valentine color

Cost for cone and fabric $2.

This is a fun craft and I enjoyed it a lot. I think all the effort to find the buttons etc. will be worth it.

See you on Thursday!

I'm here too!

Sorry for the delay! Things have been hectic and I had to wait until I had the final confirmation on my husband's schedule. I will be there on Thursday. The Valentine fabric sounds perfect. Now I just have to find myself some of those buttons and pins and I'll be all set. :) Looking forward to seeing everyone soon! ~Bonnie

Hi! I'm here!

Yes, I would like the valentine fabric, but where in the world did you find all those buttons? I can only find little packages at Michael's and Joann's, and they are $2-$4 ea. Should we get the pearl pins, or will they be provided?

Cheri

Bonnie and Cheri -- Where are you?

Hi Ladies,

I have heard from everyone except Cheri and Bonnie about next Thursday - does that mean you all want valentine colored fabric? I haven't heard otherwise.

As you may have noticed, when you respond to the blogger invitation, you show up on the sidebar as a blog member. Everyone except Tammi, Cheri, and Chrissy have done that. Once you are a member, you can do a post, just like this one, only maybe a little more entertaining!

I found a little glass "thing" to put under my tree that was in the candle section at Target. It fits pretty well. The base of the tree is about the same size as a pillar candle, if that helps anyone. A saucer would work well too.

As for the top, I ended up finding a cute shank-type heart button, and bent the pin and used the bent pin to turn the button into a "tree topper." So look for a cute bigger button to use as a topper.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Thursday at Carolyn's - I will be explaining more about the blog too, so that we all figure out how to work this little thing.

Thanks guys!

Another Popcorn Recipe

Striped Chocolate Popcorn
2 bags of microwave popcorn popped
2 cups miniature pretzels
1 cup pecan halves toasted
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 pkg white candy melts
2 oz milk chocolate or colored candy melts
In a large bowl combine popcorn, pretzels and pecans. Drizzle with butter and toss. Place white candy coating in bowl. Microwave, uncovered for about 2-3 minutes until melted. Drizzle over popcorn mixture. Toss to coat. Spread on foil lined cookie sheet. Melt chocolate or colored candy melts mixture 1-2 miutes and drizzle over popcorn. Let stand until set. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container. Enjoy.

This recipe was found in Taste of Home Magazine.

Red Hot Valentine Popcorn

At our last meeting Tammi asked about the recipe for the Red Hot Valentine Popcorn. In case anyone else is interested here it is:

Red Hot Valentine Popcorn
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 pkg Red Hot cinnamon candies
8 qts popcorn or 2 pkgs microwave popcorn
Pop popcorn and pour into a large greased sheet cake pan. Combine butter, corn syrup and Red Hots in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir constantly over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Pour over popcorn, lightly mix and spread out in the pan. Bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Break up popcorn into bite sized pieces. Store in an airtight container.

This recipe is from Paper Crafts Magazine.

Hi Cindy,
Well, I made it here so that's good. I love the tree Cindy. I'm so happy to see it as I went shopping but really came home with nothing since I didn't know what to buy. I love how beautiful it is. It may take the whole time so I'll make sure not to be late!!!! I also loved seeing the other lady's blog to see it in a different color. I can't wait to do the project. I know what to get at the store now.

I'm so excited to do a button craft. What fun!
See you soon, Lori

Welcome Good Things Girls!

We now have a blog! Hooray!

This is where we can create our invitations, check in with what is new with each other, post photos, recipes, and all sorts of "good things." 

I know what you are thinking, and I promise it is easy, and I'll show you how.

For now, let's talk about what we are making in February-

Above is a photo of the button tree I made today. It was fun and I only poked myself once. 

I will provide the styrofoam cone and fabric to wrap the cone with. I will bring pinks, reds, or pastels (solid or semi solid is best so it is not to busy looking, and you just barely see the fabric under all the buttons). The cost for this is $2 (thank you Dollar Tree). If you have some other color scheme in mind, please call me because I'm sure I can supply the fabric in any color you desire.

You will provide:

1. buttons (a variety of sizes in a multi pack is best. I ordered mine on the internet at buttonsgalore.com) You will need lots. Sorry that is as exact as I can be. 

2. pins - I used white ones from WalMart and pearly pink ones from JoAnns. I went for as cheap as possible, and WalMart is the cheapest for white. I used white on the first layer and then used the pearly ones on the top layer. I used 1 1/2 small boxes of white and one full box of pink.

3. If you can find something for the top, great. I didn't have much luck with this and ended up with three bigger buttons on top. The blog I got this from used an earring. 

4. Something to put it in. The blog I saw used a cute little candy dish, but I think a saucer would work too. I haven't found the perfect dish yet for mine. If I find a great source, I will let you know.

Speaking of which, this idea came from this blog. Click on the word blog to see it. Scroll down to the November 17 post. 

If you have any problems finding your supplies, please let me know and I will do my best to help. Remember, you can make yours any color you desire, it doesn't have to be for Valentines.

We'll see you at Carolyn's on February 7 at 7 pm. 

Please leave a comment to this post to RSVP. Isn't technology great!