Winner of the Giveaway........is

Here are some photos of Santa's Gift Shoppe
Boutique we had Fri/Sat....It was Wonderful!!!!
Hope you had a chance to be a partaker of this
fun boutique!! It was great to meet New friends
& have reunions with friends we haven't seen for
a while!!!!

But first I'd like to Congratulate....
Jennifer from Fresno, California....
as the most recent winner in our Giveaway!!!!

She received a beautiful gold charger w/the
three wisemen & a wonderful saying on it...
She was really happy to receive it as she
finished her shopping @ Santa's Gift Shoppe....

Back to your Tour.....Below is a pic of the
"Contemporary" Section or Black & White
Section of the Boutique...I really had fun
setting it up!! Some of my favorite things were
the Aprons & the "Kiss the Cook" plates...
they also were fun to make...

A friend of mine had a great idea!!! Give the
"Kiss the Cook" plates to the husbands
& the aprons to their wives!!! (with recipes)

********I think after the new year begins
they will be available to buy from the blog...
You'll have to keep checking back as
to when I start getting that all pulled
together!!!!


This is the kitchen filled with breads, candies,
Cookies, & Jams..

The above 2 pics are some of the great gift ideas

we had for you...Note: The Nativity with tiny lights

behind the Glass...Gives a great effect!!

These are some of the Italian Stones (in various

shapes & sizes & different sayings) A Great Gift

for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, any

occasion...

I absolutely love these aprons...They were in

all colors for children & adults.....There are only

a few left...They went flying off the shelves.....

These are some pics of "Stackers", blocks &

Chargers with the vinyl sayings on them...

They are such a Hit!!

This is looking into the kitchen where there

was such a variety to choose from!!!

Below is the jewelry Section...With Swarovski

accented jewelry....sparkling!!

Below we look at the Family Room filled with

Chargers, ornaments of all kinds, Glass, novelty

items & fun stocking stuffers....

And the popular polka-dot hair bows, & flowers!!!

Always adoreable on our little girls or grand-

daughters!!!

And last..The Giveaways!! Below are the great

Giveaways we had at Santa's Gift Shoppe...

They went to 6 Lucky people....

Hope you had fun on our Virtual Tour

of Santa's Gift Shoppe!!!! Come back & see

us very soon... We love giving you ideas to

make your holiday more memorable.....

Vinyl Lettering on Plates & Glass Cubes

I LOVE these!!! I especially like the
way the Vinyl Lettering looks on these
plates..The gold & the red are so classic..

I love the sayings as well.

(In the photo below) it shows the

Nativity & Wise Men still seek him..

& what it looks like with little white lights

behind the cubes..

The photo following that..shows it

without lights...a different type of

atmosphere.

Below are some of the 1/2 glass cubes with specific

words on them...This is the year of POLKA-DOTS..

Fun loving bright colors with Polka-Dots....

I LOVE them!!!! They are fun to do....I have

Cutie-Pie Aprons for little girls/Adults...&

Cutie-Pie Bows...& now Polka-Dot ribbons w/

Glass Cubes... These Polka-Dots are contagious!

I could totally see moms getting them for young

women...for birthdays, graduation, Christmas.

They are a great gift for any occasion...or just

for yourself... a daughter-in-law,sister,aunt,

grandmother...the ideas are endless!!!

For the FAMILY...That is one of the Main Themes

for this Boutique..These would look great in a

FAMILY ROOM, Living Room, Study...really

any room in the house...

Come check these out along with a wide

assortment of other Home decor items @

Santa's Gift Shoppe Boutique...Dec.4th & 5th.

Another "Sneak Peek" of Santa's Gift Shoppe (STACKERS w/Vinyl Lettering)

Here is another "Sneak Peek" at some of the
items you'll see at this years "Santa's Gift Shoppe
Boutique" (Fri. Dec. 4th 10-7pm & Sat. Dec. 5th
10-4pm)

The above item is called a "STACKER" (you
can put whatever phrase or words of vinyl
lettering that will fit on it)

This particular one is painted "Italian Sage" and
was a gift for a darling young couple in my church who
just had their first child (a baby boy a few weeks ago)
I took dinner into them last night (Chicken Tetricini)
I'll give you guys the recipe in one of the next
posts...it's delicious...(got it from a wonderful friend)
and got to see him... he is sooo cute....and he sleeps a
lot, too...his mom said

These "STACKERS" are a GREAT way to put
important stats and memorable moments
on home decor items for all to share in....
sharing some Family History, if you will....
(another love of mine)

These "STACKERS" are more in keeping with the
Holiday Season & have cute sayings that are
"whimsical"...but isn't that just like the
holiday season..a bit magical...wondrous...

This "STACKER" (above) is one of my Favorites....
I love the sentiment as well as envisioning the
sacred event.....Also the ribbon is a really pretty
silver & complements the black...

This "STACKER" (above) is very contemporary...

I really like the saying on this one a lot as well... The

color on the wood is "Butter Pecan" w/ Black

Satin Ribbon..It could go pretty much anywhere

in your home...or if you wanted to give it as a gift....

Last of all....This is another take on the "Holiday

Season"...It's just the colors are reversed red/

green/red but you could put any "Christmas"/

Holiday Greeting etc. sayings on these...they

are very versatile....

***************GIVEAWAY ALERT*************

*********KEEP CHECKING BACK WITH US....

SOON WE WILL BE HAVING OUR 1st

GIVE AWAY .......A chance to receive a NICE

GIFT FOR YOURSELF (or to give to someone else)

"Sneak Peek" of the Vinyl Lettering on Italian Stones for the Christmas Boutique

I wanted to give you a "sneak peek" into some
of the projects we are working on for the "Santa's
Gift Shoppe Christmas Boutique" this year......

Fri. Dec. 4th 10am-7pm,
Sat. Dec. 5th 10am-4pm

If you would like to come...just email me @
Santasgiftshoppe1@hotmail.com & leave
your email address, or regular mailing address
if you do not use email & I will get back to you
asap.

These make absolutely the best Christmas,
Birthdays, Anniversaries, House-Warming,
Wedding, (YOU name it kind of gift) there is.
All different price ranges, & sizes...... Something
for everybody........

........an added bonus I found out last year (when
customers let me know)....you could SEND them in

the FLAT RATE boxes from the Post Office)
just wrap them well in bubble-wrap & into the

FLAT RATE BOX....&....OFF THEY GO.......

No matter how heavy they are...I had one

lady send a few at a time to her daughters...

Great Idea!!!

These have only been a small sample...There are

many other sayings, colors of Italian Stones,

etc. to see....Hope you can come and see

for yourself. P.S. One of these stones will be

1 of 6 Free GIVEAWAY GIFTS @ the Boutique...

Quilling for Scrapbooking, Cards, & Ornaments

This is a sample of what "Quilling" is.........

It's definitely a lost art....It's quite beautiful &

unique all at the same time.

It's the "Art" of rolling thin strips of paper,

to form a shape, thus a design....& making

it into something..beautiful...like Betsy does.

Betsy K. is our "Quilling Elf" and we will have

a nice selection of her quilling to choose from @

Santa's Gift Shoppe Boutique (Dec. 4th, 5th)

****Want to get on our mailing list so you

don't miss out on free giveaways....free

raffle prizes, etc.??? Leave an email for me @

Santasgiftshoppe1@hotmail.com & I'll send

you one a few weeks before Dec. 4th.......&

you can get in on all the fun.

As seen in the above photos...there are words

for handmade cards or phrases to make a

scrapbook page "POP".

Tip***You just take a bit of glue....put it on

a toothpick...put it on the quilling and

place on the pg. or card you want it to go &

hold for a few seconds......It's done...

The Snowflake Ornaments are really pretty.

They glisten as the light hits them.

There are many "smaller quillings" to choose from

such as teacher items, seashore, nature, hearts,

etc. They would add alot to a "scrapbook page" or

"handmade card"....

The prices are lower than reasonable...especially

the smaller items...when you look at the stores (they

charge so very much more for the same kind of items)

Most "Quillings" now....are in museums dating back

from the 19th century...but it's coming back...

Thanks to people with a love of creativity and have

the patience to make them....It's a time consuming

art...as are most hand crafted items made with LOVE.

Its origin... dates back to the 16th century...
but some believe it started long before that.
The items that have been found...suggest that.....
monks & nuns started it to duplicate ornate metal
designs (they had seen) but had to make them out

of edges of paper because of the cost..... So, now

you know a little more about Quilling than you probably

wanted....but as Martha would say "It's a Good Thing."

One-Stroke Ornaments

One of my Passions is One-Stroke Painting..

These are Hand-painted One-Stroke

Ornaments....that will be @ my Home

Boutique (Santa's Gift Shoppe

Boutique)

If you are going to be in the Fresno/Clovis

area of California (Dec. 3rd & 4th, 2010)

come join the fun/Prize Giveaways too!

*** IF INTERESTED IN COMING TO

THE BOUTIQUE email me @

santasgiftshoppe1@hotmail.com

& I'll email you directions & include

you on our GUEST LIST.

Keep them as a keepsake for yourself or

give them as a gift to someone else..

They make a lovely gift.

****WANT TO LEARN HOW TO

PAINT ONE-STROKE???? Donna

Dewberry shows you how....

HERE IS A LINK TO PAINTING

ONE-STROKE****CLICK HERE

Fast & Easy Homemade Salsa #2 (Medium)

Sorry it's been more than a couple of days

since I last did a post.....To catch you up.....our

freezer bit the dust......Filled to the brim with food

& fruit pulp for my jams, I was forced to do

another 60 more jams so that the pulp would not

be wasted.....So now we are at 206 jars and counting!

Now for today's blog....I have had so many people

log on to the blogspot for the recipe of the Homemade

Salsa #1....that I thought I would give Homemade

Salsa Recipe #2... to everybody as well....

As I told you before.........I wasn't much in the way of

Peppers or otherwise.....but after a Home Canning

Seminar....I decided to try Home Canning.....& now

I want to can everything....(I'll be letting you know

how that turns out in the future)

As my mother taught me about cooking & baking..

mainly from scratch....(because that was her

generation.)..I admire & appreciate all she taught

me......however, I have so many things I love to do, I

try & balance, Family, Family History, (Crafts

for the Christmas Boutique in Dec) Canning,

Scrapbooking, etc.. so when I can find a Recipe that

gets the job done faster & easier.... I do it that way.

Which leads us into today's FAST & EASY

HOMEMADE SALSA #2 (Medium Hot)The

photos above show you the end result with corn

chips, and how it looks in jars (Home-Canned)

After doing the 1st Homemade Salsa (which you have

to boil, peel, & cut the tomatoes into pieces.....) I decided

to try & find an easier way...which I did.....

This particular Salsa #2 is a little hotter than #1 &

my friends have told me (that are Salsa connoisseurs

in my opinion) that it isn't that hot...So let's just

call it MEDIUM HOT......but Faster & Easier

than Salsa #1...

RECIPE (SALSA #2...MEDIUM HOT)

6 cans (14.5 oz. each) petite diced tomatoes or

6 lbs. fresh tomatoes (about 18 medium)

(but the easier way are the cans)

1/2 c. white or cider vinegar

1 pouch Mrs. Wages Salsa Tomato Mix (from Walmart)

it has a mixture of onion, green bell pepper,

Jalapeno, Chili Peppers, Garlic, Salt, & other

Spices

1 c. chopped cilantro

Using the canned tomatoes, open

& pour all 6 cans of tomatoes into a pot....

*(all the liquid in the can as well)

Combine tomatoes, vinegar, salsa mix,

& cilantro & bring to a boil.

Stir occasionally...Reduce heat &

simmer 10 minutes...

TO CAN: Pour hot salsa into clean,

sterilized pint canning jars, leaving 1/2"

head space. Cap each jar when filled.

PROCESS 40 MINUTES in boiling

water bath...

Test Jars for airtight seals according to

manufacturer's directions. (Can be stored

up to a year) If jars do not completely

seal, refridgerate & consume within 1

week....ENJOY & SHARE THE RECIPE..