Valentine's Day Puzzle & Tic-Tac-Toe

Felt Tic-Tac-Toe Game in a pouch I made for Gracie this year for Valentine's Day.

Love Always Wins!

Last year's gift was these puzzle cubes, painted with acrylic craft paints in six colors.

Nina's Cookie Shop Update

I was doing some blog editing and inadvertently reposted the announcement from over a year ago about the start of Nina's Cookie Shop.

The real news is that I'm taking a break from the cookie shop, but have lots of ideas to use photographs of my cookies on greeting cards and other paper and home goods, and maybe even develop some ideas for children's books.

Stay tuned for more details as they develop!

Rosebud Bunny

A rosebud bunny with pin dot ears, my second Baby Bunny using a pattern from Funky Friends Factory.

My girl approves and happily helped me wrap it up as a gift for a young friend.

Mexican Sunflowers

Late in the summer Gracie and I planted some seeds, including these Mexican Sunflowers.

The plants grew and grew and grew, taller and taller and taller. FINALLY, they formed some buds about a week ago, and we have one small flower. It's way at the top of the tallest plant. Do you see that speck of orange near the top of the photo? That's it!

Here's a close-up. This isn't quite the festive display I was hoping for, but I'm happy we have a bloom!

The 8th Wedding Anniversary is Bronze

The traditional gift for the 8th wedding anniversary is bronze. I considered a lot of ideas but nothing seemed quite right until I decided on the simple and logical gift of cookies!

I still wanted something bronze, so I painted the lid of a jar.

I don't know that I'd call it bronze but it looks nice! I filled the jar with lemon poppyseed cookies in the shape of the number 8.

The letter S is for hanging on the wall, also in a bronze finish.

Happy 8th Anniversary to my Sweetie!

Spring Flower Photographs

A bit of spring color from the park...

 And our garden.

Ginger Snap Pogens

Do you remember Ginger Snap Pogens?

When I was growing up in Southern California in the 70s and 80s, these were a delicious store-bought treat. They were thin, crisp, and spicy, and in the shape of animals with minimal detail, often just an eye poked into the dough.

I made these using this Pogens Gingersnaps Recipe with a few variations. I added 1/2 cup flour, chilled the dough, rolled it to 1/8" and cut shapes with cookie cutters.

I love the simplicity of these cookies.

These are even simpler! It was nice to take a break from fancy decorated cookies.

This project was a yummy trip down memory lane, and the results were very close to the cookies I remember.

Thanks to a fellow blogger, I was able to track down this Pogens brochure. I'd love to find a photo of the original cookies!