My Favorite Christmas Decoration

I have quite a large assortment of Christmas decorations that I've accumulated over the years.

I don't put everything out every year, but there is ONE item in particular that I always display.

It just wouldn't be Christmas without it!

It's a fairly large ornament that my younger brother gave me about 25 years or so ago.

In fact, it's hand made by my sister-in-law, the Soup Kitsch Blogger!

First, you need to know the short story behind it.

When we were kids, we used to try making up rhymes about our names.

My younger brother's rhyme went like this:  "John the Mahn who spins a baton. " (or something like that!)

My older brother's was:  "Keith the thief who steels all the teeth."

My sister's name is Christine so we had trouble rhyming that, but I seem to remember the words "pistine" and "sistine"....whatever that means!  Hey, we were kids!  We were allowed to make up words!

And then there was me.

My rhyme was :  "Juliana the Banana that looks like Santa."

And that is how this Christmas decoration was born.

Do you LOVE it?

It makes me laugh every time I see it!
I usually hang it from a floor lamp next to the couch, and I've had many people look at it over the years and ask, "What's that?"
Isn't it obvious?
Probably what they really want to know is...."WHY that?"


Apparently, my brother and his wife found the banana at a furniture store, got a little stuffed santa and began a bit of santa surgery!
Now she is not a seamstress, so this was quite an accomplishment for her, right down to the embroidered "J" on the banana!
I thought it was just so cute and clever and original, and it's probably one of my favorite gifts of all time!

I just love things that defy convention, and this certainly fills the bill!

Soup Kitsch

I just discovered yesterday that my lovely sister-in-law (my brother's wife) has started a new blog....and for all you hungry people out there, it's all about FOOD!  

She LOVES to cook (unlike me!) and she's not afraid to try new things (also unlike me!)!!!

She's been posting a lot about food on Facebook lately and making me drool!

It may be just the inspiration I need to get creative in the kitchen, but if not....I may just pack up my bags and head on down to visit for an extended period of time!

(With a sign on my chest that reads: WILL CLEAN FOR FOOD)

So here's the link....check it out!

"Have Yourself a Nice Hot Bowl of Blog!"

Soup Kitsch  

"Spoonin' some slurpy stuff about the world's drippiest drool !"

I Made it!

Well I did it....I made it through National Blog posting month and posted every single day for 30 days!

To those of you who commented regularly or read faithfully, THANK YOU.
You are what kept me going and it means more to me than you will ever know.

I've decorated my blog for the Holidays but will be taking a break for a while to get  myself into Christmas mode....I still have all my shopping to do!

I hope you've enjoyed my thirty days of posts.  It was definitely a challenge for me, but one that I enjoyed!

See you soon!

Free Bread Basket Pattern and a Recipe

Continuing with the Gift Basket Theme, I hereby present to you another pattern I wrote, this time for a "Bread Basket" and a recipe for Beer Batter Bread!

Last year I gave bread baskets as gifts filled with a Beer Batter Bread Mix (the dry ingredients from the recipe that I put into baggies), two bottles of beer included for the recipe, instructions, and the recipe to make your OWN mix, as well as a couple of linen napkins, small bread plates, small jars of honey and jam, and some chocolates!

(The baskets I made were bigger than this one, so they held a lot, but I think they were a bit too big to use as an everyday bread basket... but this one is the perfect  size!)

Of course, you can make a loaf of homemade bread or cookies and put them in the basket lined with a pretty napkin or two instead! 

The Beer Bread recipe is one I found online, although I don't remember where....just google beer bread and you'll find TONS of recipes that rival Tastefully Simple's version, for a fraction of the price!  The one I am sharing with you is one that I've actually tried and found to come pretty close.

Beer Batter Bread

3 cups flour

3 T. packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. salt

1 12-oz. beer or soda (best at room temp)

4 T. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix all ingredients EXCEPT butter.  Spread into a greased loaf pan (batter will be thick).  Pour melted butter on top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Cool in the pan for five minutes before removing.

Note:  I used a "light" beer and had no problems at all.  Some places online will tell you not to use light beer.

 

The base of the bread basket is a filled base (see the photo above) and measures 12 x 5. The top opening is 14 1/2 x 8 and it is 3 3/4" tall.

I made mine with smoked and natural reed, but of course, you can use all natural and/or add color as you wish!

Bread Basket Pattern

by Juliana Deen

Materials List:

3/4" flat reed - spokes

1/4" flat smoked reed - base fillers and lashing

1/2" flat smoked reed - weavers

1/2" flat/oval reed- rim

3/8" flat natural - rim row

#2 RR for twining

seagrass for rim filler

1.  From the 3/4" flat reed, cut 5 spokes @25" and 11 spokes @ 18".  From the 1/4" flat smoked reed, cut 4 pieces @ 18" for the fillers.

2.  Mark the centers on all the spokes and fillers and soak.

3.  Lay out the 5 (five) 25" spokes horizontally with the 4 pieces of 1/4" flat smoked between.

4.  Weave one of the 18" spokes across the center marks on the horizontal spokes, making sure that it passes UNDER the filler pieces.  Weave in the remaining 18" spokes , five on each side of the center spoke.  True the base to measure 12 x 5.

5.  Bend all the filler spokes to the inside of the basket and tuck them under the third spoke in from the ends.

6.  Twine around the base ONCE with the #2 RR.  Upset the spokes.

7.  Weave 6 rows of start.stop weaving with the 1/2" flat smoked reed.  Weave a rim row with the 3/8" flat natural reed.

8.  Rim the top with the 1/2" flat/oval reed, placing seagrass between the rim pieces.

9.  Lash the rim on with the 1/4" flat smoked reed.

10.  Sign and date your basket!

ENJOY!!!

Free Basket Pattern - Small Oval Gift Basket

It can be a challenge coming up with gift ideas for everyone on your list.

That's why gift baskets are so popular....they can be personalized so easily to suit the person receiving it.

Several years ago I wrote a pattern for a gift basket that wasn't too big, or too small, and that would be useful for any number of things, long after the contents are gone.

 

They are quick and easy to weave, and perfect for a beginning weaver!

As my gift to you this Holiday Season, I'll be sharing that pattern with you!

Measures 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" at the base

Top opening is 6 1/2" x 8 1/2" and is 3" tall (excluding handles)

Small Oval Gift Basket

By Juliana Deen

Materials Needed:

1/2" flat reed - stakes and  side handles

#2 RR - twining

1/4" flat reed, natural - weavers

1/4" flat, dyed - weavers (optional)

3/8" flat/oval - rim

3/16" flat/oval - lashing the rim

Sea grass - rim filler

1.  From the 1/2" flat reed, cut 7 stakes @ 16" and 4 stakes @ 19".  Mark the centers and soak.

2.  Lay out the four 19"spokes horizontally.  Weave a 16" stake vertically through the center of the horizontal stakes, then 3 to each side.  True the base to measure 3 1/2" X 6 1/2".

3.  Twine once around the base with #2 RR.  Upset stakes.

4.  Weave a total of 10 rows with 1/4" flat reed.  In my example, the weaving sequence is as follows:

      5 rows of 1/4" flat, natural

      1 row 1/4" flat, dyed hunter green

      1 row 1/4" flat, dyed cherry red

      3 rows 1/4" flat, natural

    Use your imagination and weave any combination you like!

Allow the basket to round out at the corners.

5.  Cut two pieces from the 1/2" flat reed @ 12".  Insert the ends of one piece down behind two rows of weaving on the inside of the basket at each of the outside spokes at the narrow ends of the basket.  Bend the ends back up and insert under a row of weaving.  The top of the handle should be about 1 1/2" above the rim.  Repeat this on the other narrow side of the basket.

6.  Rim the top with 3/8" flat/oval, inside and outside, placing the  sea grass between..  Lash the rim  with a piece of 3/16" flat/oval reed.

To turn this into a gift basket, just line the bottom of the basket with tissue paper, then place enough pieces of crumpled newspaper inside so that it comes about 2/3 of the way up the inside of the basket.  Place decorative shred on top to cover the newspaper.  Arrange gift items on top of the shred, put the whole thing in a basket bag, tie with a bow, and you're done!

ENJOY!!!