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Top Ten Family Favorites That I Cannot Escape Thanksgiving Without Serving

10. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

9. Green Bean Casserole

8. Spice Brined Turkey

7. Sweet Potatoes, two dishes, one with marshmallows for the little kids, one with praline topping for the big kids.

8. Big bowl of mixed nuts, in shells, so that everyone can crack their own and scatter the shells all over the sun room.

7. Parker House Rolls.

6. Dressing, in a dish and NOT in the turkey, with onions, celery and mushrooms.

5. Spiced Cider

4. Pumpkin Pie

3. Cranberry Jezabel

2. Toad Suck Sunshine Salad

1. Black olives, the jumbo size, enough so that every child my hubby’s age and younger can stick an olive on the end of each finger and wave at me across the table.

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So True

Found this link in the sidebar at ::clevergirl:: – thank you, Antoinette for that! Just what I needed to hear read this morning.

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Purse Accessories Tutorial – Pay It Forward

My second Pay It Forward went to Jenni R. – a set of purse accessories! This included a key ring, a business card holder and a checkbook cover. I had this wonderful Amy Butler fabric in my stash, leftover pieces from my early summer hat and swing bag project.

PIF7

The instructions for the business card holder are found here, at the Amy Butler website.

PIF8

The key ring tutorial came from Amy’s wonderful site, The Idea Room. Honestly, you need to pop over there right now and look around. Amy is Mom to a whole crew of beautiful children, and she posts something amzingly creative or fantastically fun every day!

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As for the checkbook cover – I simply “reverse engineered” my own Vera Bradley checkbook cover. I didn’t take any photos during construction; however, I did remember to write down the dimensions so that I could provide a written tutorial here.

Fabric Checkbook Cover

Materials
1/4 yard of cotton quilting fabric for exterior
1/4 yard of cotton quilting fabric for interior
1/4 yard heavy cotton duck
15″ coordinating ribbon
matching thread

1. From both the exterior and interior fabrics, cut rectangles 14-1/8″x 7-5/8″.

2. From the cotton duck fabric, cut a rectangle 13-1/8″ x 6-5/8″.

3. Center the cotton duck on the reverse side of exterior fabric rectangle. Baste around the edges to hold the duck in place.

4. On the right side of the exterior fabric, lay the piece of ribbon to the right of center. The left side would look just as well – it’s your choice! Pin in place and stitch the ribbon along both edges.

5. Lay the interior fabric over the exterior fabric, right sides together. Pin, then stitch around the edges with a 1/2″ seam all the way around, leaving a 2 – 3″ opening in one long side. You will be sewing right at the edge of the duck fabric; it’s okay if you do not catch it in the seam.

6. Trim seams to 1/4″ and clip corners.

7. Turn, using a knitting needle to get the corners nice and crisp, and to smooth out the interior layer of duck fabric. Press, making sure the seamed edges are smooth.

8. Fold over each of the short edges 2 3/4″ to form the pockets for slipping in the checkbook and pin in place. Edge stitch around the entire piece.