¡Feliz 2010!

¡Feliz Navidad!

Christmas is just around the corner...

I just love Christmas time and all the decorations and plans! Now it's even getting a bit cooler here and this weekend we made hot chocolate at night and for breakfast too! So cozy and warm!

This was my breakast today...

¿No te gusta cuando la Navidad se va acercando? Todos los adornos, los planes, las decoraciones y el frío que está empezando a haber ya por Tenerife... Este fin de semana lo hemos aprovechado para hacer chocolate caliente y también hicimos churros de los del Mercadona al horno que están para chuparse los dedos!!!

... and this was dinner last night for Henry and me! Great Saturday night!
Well, I am trying to make things in decoupage and I discovered that Ikea food savers (I love them) are so cute to decoupage with Christmas fabrics. I started with this flower fabric and loved the result. My kid took the pics and they're really good!!! Don't you think so? lol...

Quiero aprender a hacer cosas en decoupage y creo que los botes de Ikea son ideales por su tamaño y porque la base blanca queda muy bien con las telas de Navidad. Lo primero que hice fue con esta tela de flores tan bonita y que me parece que quedó muy chulo. Las fotos las hizo mi hijo y creo que quedaron muy bien, no crees?
Firts of all a bit of sanding...

Primero que nada un poco de lija...
Later a bit of primer...

Luego un poco de Gesso para tapar el azul del bote...
And then just Mod Podge acting...

Y ya luego la maravillad el Modge Podge...
Tachan!!!!!
And then I discovered myself just admiring my Mackenzie Childs pots. I love them and I feel so lucky I ordered some before they stopped making them. Love them!!!

SI seré maruja que hay veces que fregando los cacharros me quedo embelesada con mis calderos! Me encantan! Y eso casi nunca me pasa ni con zapatos ni nada de eso... jiji...
And this weekend also has been so good for my husband's work at home! Look at these before & after pics!

Mi marido también ha aprovechado este fin de semana para seguir con sus trabajos en el balcón y mira qué chulas las fotos del antes y el después!

Yummy!!!!

God, I made this apple pie from Bea's blog recipe and I have to say it tastes just like no other I've ever made! I used an already made crust and I think that's why I can't cut the pie in pieces; it has so much juice but I am eating it from the pan with a spoon!!!! God, it's delicious!!!! Go to her blog and try the recipe!
I like to add some banana and raisins to the apple pie and so I did with this great recipe too!

Didn't have enough dough to make the cover so just had some stars instead, lol...

Yesterday I made some mince pies also following her blog post and I looooved them! Don't judge them by the way they look, lol... so ugly but so yummy!!!!!

Thanks God I met Bea!!! lol... Although my clothes aren't thinking the same way! lol...

Is coming!

Christmas holidays are coming! Tomorrow we'll start with the advent calendars and all the magic will start! And all the chocolate!!! lol...

I changed my blog look for the holidays and here I am posting also some of my home decorations as I did last year! Mostly the same but in different places! lol... I haven't finished with the decoration yet but, isn't it part of the season magic?? lol...

Here are some...

I am now searching for a nice Christmas tablecloth for the table. The tree skirt is my first one; I did sew it yesterday and I am not so happy with the results but will be there for the Holidays! lol...

I truly love my collection of Lladró Holidays ornaments. I have each one of the years we've been together in this house and special ones for the years when the kids were born.


I made this star with the Bernat Handicrafter Christmas yarn and I have to admit I just haaaaate it!!!! It's awful and a nightmare to work with but got 10 skeins that I have to use in anything!!! lol... And the results aren't bad fr the eyes, but awful for my fingers! The pattern is from Red Heart

Friend, one gin tonic!

The title of this post means everything to me since this last Sunday.

I want to excuse myself for talking so bad english but will do my best to express what I am feeling now.

This November 14 my cousin Techi died after a so long disease. But she was strong, she was a Benitez woman and that means in my family that you are brave enough to carry even with the hardest thing. And she was.

This last Sunday she taught me more than she could ever imagine. And she started just when I first came in the room where she was. On the coffin I saw a flower bouquet and the ribbon had a message. I was seated just in front of it and tried to read what it said but couldn't see the whole phrase but then as she could see me moving in my seat to read the entire ribbon, someone came and moved it. And I had to make an effort not to laugh when I read; "Friend, one gin tonic!" and signed as Viky.

And I laughed (for myself of course, lol...) because she was that phrase! She was the best friend and she enjoyed life with friends and gin tonics. But gin tonics in the whole meaning, not just the drink but the situation. She loved music, God, and family. We were not so close as friends but I knew all that from her becasue in a second you could see how she was, how she was from the bottom.

The mass before her burial was more a tribute to her than a mass; it was a tribute to a good woman. To a woman that knew she was going to die, that had the best ever husband that took care of her till the end as he did at the beginning. She had a cruel disease but her heart was so strong that all she radiate was positive.

And her and that phrase have been with me since yesterday. I can't stop thinking how close is this phrase to what life means. Friends or family or anyone to share a gin tonic with. I want my life to be just that; a gin tonic with all the people I love, and then that gin tonic will be a smile to my beloved ones when I'll die as it was to Techi's friends yesterday. They all laughed about the phrase and how much she would have loved it!

I want to have lots of gin tonics to remember with my friends and family and Techi teached me that yesterday.

Halloween

Shame on me

No words for my lack of posting. So here they are new pics...

How long is my hair!!! I think since high school I haven't had it soooo long....

Well, lately I've been mostly around the kitchen, maybe because I am in kind of a diet, lol... (hope this makes sense...)

This is something I loveeeeeeee... Rossejat! Is kind of a paella but made with noodles. I love it!!! And if you have a bit of alioli to add then it's just yummy, yummy! 
And also I've been trying to make my kids dinner as fun as I can so they eat more... lol... Henry really likes it but Celita is still more on the classic way...
ANd now the crafty part of it all... A market bag I made for Elma's birthday with that lovely Ikea fabric. I love it, full of hearts!
And also I added some crochet brooches that are now so in! She bought a really cozy cardigan and I think they match it perfectly!

Oh, and my last apple pie. I have just made it today with bananas and raisins too! But I don't really know what went bad but it isn't the best ever one!!! lol...

Long post!

I can't believe  it took me so long to post again. Maybe it's because of the summer, or just that I am a lazy bloger, lol...

Well, this is going to be a long and mixed post as I have many crafty things to show. And I want to start with my "azotea" (rooftop) makeover. I truly like how it looks like now. I promise better pics of the finish look tomorrow! 

It's not so big but enough for the 4 of us, but we got it so unused and forgotten... lol... We wanted to make a cozy and comfortable place to enjoy summer afternoons. 

This is the BEFORE pic

We tried different options
But then just decided to put some faux grass and a wood platform where we could enjoy our Ikea Tüllero set (it was love at first time for me!). I want to paint the set but will make it next year, maybe in bright coastal colors
I also made  a cushion cover with a nautical style fabric from Ikea too.
Henry helped so much adding the marble stones

We also created a "chill-out" zone where we can rest a bit in the sun and this is the view we have from down there... lol 

Tomorrow I'll make more nice pics from the final look! But, do you like it?
And now let's talk about serious things.... Yarn! lol...

God, I love this Knitpicks yarn! It's the shine line. I love both worsted or sport weight! I am ordering also some Organic cotton now because I'd love to make a baby blanket with it. 

Enjoy all these colors! I am making a granny afghan now without any pattern, just adding colors as they come out from the bag! Love it!


I was so excited when all the yarn came that couldn't stop looking at it, lol... I got to my bed and worked in the final steps of the baby blanket I was making while admiring my new yarn colors. 

Love Knitpicks!
This is the blanket I was finishing! I like so much how it look like! I can't tell anything else of it just in case the Mommy who's going to receive this gift reads the blog, lol... But I can tell I made it with a lovely Katia yarn called Austral (Ravelry link)
And this is the first project I made with my shine worsted yarn. It was a cushion I made for Elmita's birthday. I made it using the same flannel I used last year for her winter bedding crib set. I think it came out so cute, what do you think?
Oh, and now I am so proud to show you the beginnings of my lovely, cozy, full or memories new quilt. I made it with all my husband's old t-shirts. There are all from sweet memories of our family; some from our honeymoon trip, some from our travels, some bring us memories of our kids... Every and each one of them has a little story to tell. I think it's the sweetest project I have ever made for this family! I have all the t-shirts already sewn and just waiting for the batting and backing. 
Some travel memories
This is the first layout, I made some changes but it's almost the same as here.
And well, I told you it will be a long post, lol... cause I've been baking too! Since we came back home from our holidays trip in the northern Europe, I am obsessed with apple pies and apfelstrudels! This is the pic from one I made with sour cream from a Goseberry Patch's recipe! Loved it!

The kids don't like apple pies so I made a chocolate birthday cake for them and they ate it all!!!!! lol... Just because of the chocolate, I bet!
Oh, and this next pic is my own (ugly as my husband says) recipe. You just need to put a spoon of olive oil in a saucepan, when it gets hot add a small can of sweet corn, and then a tuna can. Then add tomato soup or sauce and mix until it get thick, then just add 1/2 cup raisins and mozarella cheese. Just yummy!!!!
Oh, and finally my question about the crisis... How can everything get sooooo expensive when people has less money?? Guess how much this cost me..... In the packet there's only meat, not jamón serrano... lol... Well, it was 73 euros!!!! ($104) Can you imagine???? I was terrified!