St. Patty's Day, Shamrocks, and Luck

We have a few FREE activities for St. Patty's Day that we would like to share with all of you lucky folk who have stumbled upon us!

For the kids, we have a bit of a challenge with a word search and some coloring pages, designed by yours truly. You can have the kids color while some lovely bagpipe music plays in the background... doesn't that sound glorious?! :)  Click below on what your heart desires.

I bundled these up in groups of 2 pages per link, just click and enjoy:

-WORD SEARCH and Celtic Cross (coloring page)
-SHAMROCK (coloring page) and LEPRECHAUN with POT OF GOLD (coloring page)
-POT Of GOLD (coloring page) and Leprechaun (coloring page)
-DIY SHAMROCK PIN (in case you forget to wear something green)

 

And for the Grown-ups out there, we have put together free cupcake toppers to adorn your party cupcakes!  OR breakfast muffins, in my case.

Click here for the free template---> CUPCAKE TOPPERS 

Also, I found an online Irish dictionary that translates into Gaelic which is very interesting HERE if you are in to that sort of thing.  Or how about some IRISH SLANG... This is even more fun and it's in english.  Try slipping some of the slang into your words with your friends on St. Patrick's Day.

Don't forget to wear green and have a lucky, fun Awesome DAY!

Mardi-Gras Masked Fun! (FREE Templates!)

Mardi-Gras is a time for Celebration! Let's start the party!!

For this party, you need a mask.  Any mask will do, and you can buy one already made at any costume store or make one yourself.  There are plastic plain masks available at your local craft store to decorate -OR- you can make one out of cardstock, thin cardboard, or plain paper.

It also depends on how elaborate you want your mask to be. Cardstock or cardboard are better to handle heaver items like feathers, beads, and anything else you may be gluing. However, if you are just having fun and don't want to spend a lot of money you can choose to opt for regular paper and decorate with stickers, crayons, markers, etc. As for colors, you can decorate however you wish, but tradition uses Purple (Justice), Gold (Power), and Green (Faith).

Materials needed:

• Cardstock or Paper printable
• Newspaper or some sort of sheet for easy clean up
• Construction Paper
• Scissors (or x-acto knife)
• Glue or scotch tape
• Glitter or Glitter Glue
• Feathers/Cotton Balls/Craft Pom-Poms
• Stickers
• Pencil/Pipe Cleaners/ Popsicle stick (for the handle)
• Markers/Crayons

I will be making a mask for myself and for my dog Sadie!

I originally wanted to just make a fun sparkly one with feathers and glitter but I seem to have lost my feather stash.  So, if you have feathers feel free to use them. For my mask, I made a simple mask. I cut out the SIMPLE mask template and cut out some random shapes from my construction paper collection to dazzle up my mask. Each piece has some glitter on it.  (NOW as a word of warning, lay out some newspaper or a plastic/paper sheet if you use glitter to make clean up easier). I cut slits in the top to make a feather like appearance out of my paper.

Once you have your mask done, you need a handle. A stick or pencil can be attached to side of the mask by gluing or taping it.  If you are coloring the mask, it will not be as heavy as one with a lot of glue on it and you could use a pipe cleaner as the handle.

For Sadie,  I will be making the Cat mask.  I printed it off on a lavender colored cardstock. This one was colored with markers and jewel stickers applied to it.

It's tough being a model... :)

Free printables are available below as a template for your mask. Click below for the template of your choice.

• SIMPLE Mask
• Mardi-Gras Mask 1
• Mardi-Gras Mask 2
• Joker Mask
• Cat Mask
• Coloring Page Masks

Once you have your mask created, dress up in costume and accessorize with beaded necklaces or feathery boas! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have a great day whether you are single or have someone special to celebrate with.

Go out with friends, or out to dinner with the one/s you love. Print some valentine days cards out if you don't have time to get to the store or if you forgot!

Enjoy your day! Celebrate all the love you have in your life, be it a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, friends, parents, or kids.

If all else fails and you get ditched, dumped, or simply don't have a valentine, go to the store and buy some candy, it's on sale by now. 

And remember, Sasquatch loves you!

Knitted Hearts -FREE Pattern!

A cute little project to make when being crafty, or bored in my case. I knitted this cute little plush heart that is about 3x4 inches.  It took me about a half hour to complete the whole project.

I used novelty fluff yarn from Plymouth yarn, it is called Heaven.  It is super soft!

You can make regular ones or dazzle them up with faces, either way they are super cute!

I set the pdf to smallest file possible to make it easier to download, however it beat the pictures to death.  They are all grainy, though they are probably horrible visual aids anyway.  I'm not a pro photographer, nor do I wish to be, so don't judge please. 

You can download the free pattern HERE.  YEp I said Free! Please make for fun and for yourself, I do not authorize commercial use.  If there are any errors in this pattern, I apologize.  I will fix the post asap if there is a flaw.  This is my first original pattern of the plush heart.  Click here!


Or if you would like this happy heart (featured above) you can check out the Sasquatch Willow ETSY store and buy it!

Have fun and modify it if you wish! Be Creative!  

FREE PATTERN PDF

Merry Christmas!

Hope you are enjoying a nice day with family and friends!

Remember, Sleep in tomorrow! And eats lots of left overs!

Katie, Kay & Nicole

Christmas Colored Ribbon Layered Jello!

Sorry, Nicole... I know you dislike jello, possibly even hate it.  BUT... THIS IS DELICIOUS and it is SUPER EASY TO MAKE!!!!

Serves 10-15 people

2 (3 oz.) pkg. orange jello

2 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon jello

2 (3 oz.) pkg. lime jello

2 (3 oz.) pkg. cherry or raspberry jello

3 (13 oz.) can condensed milk

Lightly grease a 9x13 glass pan with oil.  Mix 1 package with orange jello with 3/4 cup hot and 3/4 cup cold water.  Pour into pan and let set for 30 minutes in refrigerator.  Next layers take about 15 minutes.  Make second package orange jello with 3/4 cup hot water and 3/4 cup cold condensed milk (mix but do not whip: STIR). Pour over first layer and refrigerate.  Proceed in same manner with each package of jello in order given. 

WE used Lemon,  Cherry, and Lime jello for Christmas and topped it with whipped cream!

 MMM... Delicious!  

This makes a wonderful dessert for a party or other occasion!  You can  use whatever jello you wish for your holiday or event!

Baking Tip List - Cookie Week

The final recipe for Cookie Week has been posted, but we're not done yet! We've compiled a few baking tips to help you in the kitchen this holiday season.



1. Out of powdered sugar? You can can make your own if you don't want to brave the stores. Just put regular, granulated, sugar 1/2 a cup at a time in a food processor or coffee grinder and pulse until you have powdered sugar. Voila!


2. If you’re like me, you forget to take the butter out of the fridge for softened butter in recipes. Cut butter into even chunks and microwave on low for 10 seconds. Check the butter and repeat if necessary, be careful to not let it melt. Properly softened butter is the secret to many a good cookie recipe!


3. If you have multiple pans in the oven, do not let them touch. It can create hot spots and the touching spots might over cook.


4. When melting chocolate for dipping or coating, WATER IS EVIL. It will cause the chocolate to separate and that is a terrible thing. Also white chocolate is more prone to burning, so watch the temperature.


5. When I have a lot of chocolate dipping I need to do, like if I am making cake balls, dipping fruit or other food, I use a mini crock-pot for melting. It’s the perfect size, and it keeps a constant temperature.


6. Coat candy or fruit with flour before putting into batter. It will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake or cookie.


7. When baking cookies, it's important that they are all the same size to ensure even cooking. For drop cookies, use an ice cream scoop or cookie scoop, like this one, to take the guess work out of evenly sized cookies. (Hint: Do the same thing for cupcakes & muffins!)


8. If a cookie recipe isn't as soft or crisp as you'd like, adjust the baking time. Pulling the cookies out of the oven when the centers are still a little gooey will give you a softer cookie. Leave them in longer if you like more of a crunch (but not so long that they burn!) Also, you can make a cookie softer by swapping in a little light brown sugar for regular, granulated sugar. 


9. Parchment paper makes clean up a breeze. I use it all the time instead of greasing my baking sheet!


And the most important baking tip...
10. Turn the oven off after you're finished baking. We don't want any fires now, do we?


Do you have any baking tips to share? Post them in the comment section!

Gingersnaps!

GINGERSNAPS!

Recipe

       3/4 cups butter

  1 cup sugar

          1/3 cup molasses

1 egg

               2 cups plus 2 T. flour

1/2 t. salt

2 t. soda

                                   1/2 t. cinnamon, cloves, and ginger

Mix the above ingredients together. Chill in the refrigerator 2-3 hours.

3 T sugar- make small balls of cookies and dip into sugar. Place cookies on greased cookie sheets.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen medium delicious cookies.

It's not food! But... its cute!

SO,

I knitted it as a birthday gift, which was much loved! 

its a cupcake with a cherry on top.

So... I don't have a recipe, or I should say pattern (as i'm suppose to call it).  I did this with cream colored yarn and  a combo of speckled pink and fluff pink yarn.  EVERYTHING WAS KNITTED USING STOCKINETTE STITCH.

I dont have a pattern to give out because I didn't make it with a pattern but you can find patterns out there on other sites, such as....

Pompomemporium.com- Knitted Cupcake pattern
Bittersweetblog- knitted and crochet patterns
Littlecottonrabbits- free decoration pattern
knitforyourlife- free pattern

BE CREATIVE... you don't have to follow every instruction.  If you dont like the way it looks, make the next one the way you want it.  

Welcome!

Why hello there. It appears you've found the collaborative blog of Katie, Kay, and Nicole.
Heaven help you.

Okay, so it's not that dramatic. We're actually very excited to share our pretty handmade things and yummy baked goods with the world, adding a little inspiration to boot.

Won't you sip on a cup of tea & join us?

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