Menu Planning - Part 4 A Great Grocery List

A great menu plan goes hand-in-hand with a great menu and grocery list. I have been using a notebook for this purpose.
Thank you Kate for providing a wonderful downloadable menu and grocery list. Visit Design Sponge for this great tutorial with free downloads for the list. This is a fun and practical project.
Baskets of Blessings,
Nancy

A Nativity Scene Woven from Horsehair

Dear Friends,


Mickie Johnson and her husband are serving as Missionaries in Southern Chili and had posted this photo on their blog Our Mission To Chili along with other nativity sets they had seen. I found this one fascinating as it is woven from HORSEHAIR! If you remember I've shown a picture of a Horeshair basket HERE woven by Pamela Zimmerman. How fascinating to see an entire nativity set woven like this. The detail is incredible.


Thank you Mickie for giving me permission to post this on my blog. I am so glad to get to show it off to others. May God continue to bless you and your husband for the work you are both doing through Him.


Have a Blessed Sunday everyone,


Nancy

Basket Weaving Printable Calendar Page and Basketmakers

Dear Friends,
I've mentioned Susi Nuss's free printable calendar pages before but with this being a brand new year I wanted to send you a quick reminder. You can get to it HERE. She will link to her Flicker pages and gives very easy directions for printing this out on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. Her photography is beautiful.
Susi is the owner/editor of the website Basketmakers. Basketmakers is chuck full of weaving information and is a wonderful resource. If you haven't stopped by that website be sure to do so. It is a place you will want to bookmark and return to again and again.
Baskets of blessings,
Nancy

Feature a Basketweaving Friend - Deb

Dear Friends,

It is always a happy e-mail day when I receive a note from a fellow basket weaver. (hint hint my e-mail is on my left side bar)

Today I want to introduce you to Deb who has been learning how to do the braided rim. The top photo shows a double braided rim and the bottom a basket with a single braid. These baskets were given one as a Christmas gift and one as a bridal shower gift. (I think the recipients of these baskets are pretty lucky if you as me!)

Deb has been weaving for 7 years now and enjoys many hobbies with basket weaving being one of them.

Thanks Deb for sending me the pictures and letting me share them. The baskets are beautiful!

Baskets of Blessings Everyone,

Nancy

Free Basket Weaving Pattern - My YouTube Mini Muffin Basket

Remember friends you can make this basket following my step by step videos here on on my YouTube channel HERE.

Mini Muffin Basket
With Solid Bottom Base
Pattern Written by Nancy Jacobs ©2009

Finished Size 7 1/2”l x 4 1/4”w x 2 3/4” high
Materials Required
• 5/8” flat reed
• 3/8” flat reed
• 1/4” flat or flat/oval reed (I used dyed reed for this)
• #3 round reed

Directions
1. Cut stakes from 5/8” flat reed 7 pieces 14” long.
2. Cut stakes from 5/8” flat reed 4 pieces 18” long.
3. Cut fillers from 3/8” flat reed 3 pieces 15” long.
4. Lay out horizontally the 4 pieces 18” stakes rough side up.
5. Lay out horizontally the 3 filler pieces from 3/8” flat smooth side up.
6. Begin weaving with the center stake, a vertical 5/8” piece that is 14” long. With this center piece weave over the filler stakes and under the 5/8” pieces. These vertical pieces are also rough side up.
7. Weave in the remaining 6 vertical pieces that are 14” long. Three pieces woven on each side of the center stake. All weaving is a basic over/under weave.
8. Even up the base so that it measures close to 7 ½” x 4 ¼”.
9. Turn the basket upside down, smooth side up, and fold back the fillers cutting and tucking them in. Turn the basket over again so you are now back to rough side up.
10. Twine one row with #2 or #3 round reed to hold the shape of the base.
11. Upset the stakes.
12. Weave rows 1, 2, and 3 using 3/8” flat reed. Again, all weaving is basic over/under.
13. Weave row 4 with ¼” flat or flat/oval reed
14. Row 5 is 3/8” flat reed
15. Row 6 is ¼” flat or flat/oval reed
16. Twine around the basket with #2 or #3 round reed for 2 rows.
17. Tuck in all stakes.


Making the Rim
1. Cut 22 pieces of #2 or #3 round reed 22” long. The round reed is called “spokes”.
2. Insert one end of each piece of round reed up through the twining on each stake stake. Now take the other end of each piece of round reed, skip one stake to the right and insert it up through the twining 2 stakes to the right of the first end. Pull the ends up evenly to form a scallop. Do the same with each piece of round reed. Try to make your scallops the same size. All the loose ends of the round reed should be pointing upward and should be even. Each stake should have 2 ends of round reed coming up from the twining. The two ends of the round reed are now worked together as one and are called a “pair of spokes”.
3. First step. Take any pair of spokes and go behind the pair to the right and out to the front of the basket. Repeat this step around the basket. You will have one set remaining. Push the beginning set up slightly and take the last pair behind the beginning pair and out to the front. Snug the first row of the braid to the basket, making sure that the round reeds are not twisted.
4. Second step. Take any pair of spokes and go over the set of spokes to the right and to the inside of the basket. Again snug this row and make sure the round reed is not twisted.
5. Third step. This is exactly the same as the First Step.
6. Fourth step. This is exactly the same as the Second Step. It is the third and fourth steps that give a double braid appearance.
7. Let the basket dry and then trim the ends. This will prevent one of the ends from accidentally getting cut too short and popping out.

To make a bow, cut a 12” piece of ¼” reed and begin by inserting under the center stake horizontally. Center up the ends. Loop the ends over and insert down under the next row of weaving. Trim to desired length.

This has always been one of my favorite baskets to weave. It is the perfect size for 6 mini muffins or 2 coffee cups with a small package of gourmet coffee. It makes a beautiful gift.
Also, be sure to visit my blog at www.basketmasterweavings.blogspot.com or my website at www.basketmasterweavings.com I’d love to see a picture of your finished basket!
Enjoy.... Nancy

Feature a Basketweaving Friend - Nita

Dear Friends,
I'd like to introduce you to Nita who e-mailed me with these beautiful photos. Nita started weaving in 1988 and had only ONE class! After that she got a book and was off weaving on her own. Just look at the variety of beautiful baskets.
In the photo below I want to call your attention to the basket with the steer head. That is a coiled basket with round reed and raffia. Beautiful!

Thank you so much Nita for letting me share your photos with everyone. We all love the inspiration you have given us.

Baskets of Blessings to you all,

Nancy

Fastest way to Peel a Potato - Seriously

Never in my life have I seen such a fast way to peel a potato.

This video is just over a minute long and you will be amazed. It's going to save me a TON of time.

Blessings,

Nancy

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

For those of you who are menu planning with me, how are you doing?
For those of you who would like to menu plan you can read my posts HERE, HERE and HERE.

So far, I'm off to a good start. With the food we had over the holidays, I was able to freeze some of it and we often have leftovers for lunch. Breakfast is easy so supper is the only meal I have needed to really concentrate on thus far.

I wanted to let you know that over at Money Saving Mom and over at Life as a Mom you can join in their Eat From the Pantry Challenge. I don't know about the rest of you, but after all the holidays, my pantry floweth over with lots of extras and things we need to finish up. My pantry has lots of items in it that I only needed to use half a box or half a bag for a recipe. Also with my menu planning, I've stocked up enough for about two weeks of meals that I've planned right now. The Moms in the challenge want you to try and see if you can make it to the grocery store only three times that month. That is a challenge I definitely want to take on! I do NOT like to grocery shop. They also give suggestions as to what to do with your grocery savings. As for me, I think my savings will be put towards a new vehicle for me. It is seriously getting time for something new. My minivan, aka. taxi, is nine years old now and it is time. Following our mortgage, food is our next biggest expense in our family. I'm hoping by menu planning and now by the Eat From the Pantry Challenge, that this expense will be decreasing.

Let me know if you decided to do the challenge with me. We can support each other!

Have a wonderful day everyone. I don't know if I will be doing any weaving this week, but I do hope to get to some crafty projects that are sitting on the table waiting for me.

Blessings,

Nancy

Share a Basket Sunday - Pine Cone Basket

Good Morning Friends,

I wanted to share this basket I designed to hold pine cones. It could hold anything really of course and it is a rather large basket, but I was thinking of the scented pine cones or the paraffin coated pine cones that make great fireplace starters. Hence, I named it my "Pine Cone Basket". The ribbon is a pretty wired Christmas ribbon that is about 2 1/2" wide.

Baskets of Blessings,

Nancy

Make Your Home a Haven

Good Morning Friends,

Today is a day of cleaning, straightening, organizing and the beginning of putting away the Christmas decorations. It is a day of making our home a haven. Our company has now gone and it is time to get things back in order.

I have read much about people making their home a haven and it is something I try and strive for especially while on a major cleaning and organizing spree such as today.

I'd like to share just a few tips I use and think about when trying to make my home a haven.

• Pray throughout each room and ask God to bless the room and those who use it. I try to make sure the items in each room are uplifting. May we all have positive attitudes throughout our house.


• 1st Corinthians 10:31 Therefore whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. As I go through each room I am doing this for God.


• Work on the house some every day. I'm a horrible procrastinator but I do try to do a bit every day so that things don't get out of control with the cleaning. Surprisingly I stay on top of our laundry without any trouble. That is one chore I don't mind. ;-)


• If I see things that cause my family stress, I try to deal with those things first, whatever it may be.

I want my home to be comfortable, clean, relaxed, inviting, and loving. Today I am making my home a haven. What tips do you have for making your home a haven? I'd love to hear them.

Blessings,
Nancy