Molly’s Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

This is the week that everyone returned to school, and I had the blessing of spending some time with our little Molly while her siblings were off for their first day of school.  We wanted to make them some cookies for them to celebrate and my idea was to make my Peanut Butter Honey Cookies, but Molly thought a Peanut Butter Nutella was what they would want.  She is the sweetest little sister to know just what everyone would love, so I had to get creative with my favorite Peanut Butter Cookie recipe. 

I used my basic recipe, divided the dough in half, added peanut better to one half of the dough and a big dose of the chocolate hazelnut goodness to the other half of the dough.  Then lightly swirled the two doughs together and baked.  Molly wanted to add a little extra chocolate with the colors of M & M's .  We had so much fun baking these special back to school cookies.  It only took an hour and they were gone in about that same amount of time!  

Here's the ingredients....

1/2 Cup Softened Butter

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed

1/4 Cup White Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Teas. Real Vanilla

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1/2 Teas Baking Soda

1/4 Teas Salt

1/3 Cup Peanut Butter

1/3 Cup Nutella

M & M's

Step 1.  In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Step 2.  In a separate bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda and sift together. 

Step 3.  Add to wet ingredients and mix together.  

Step 4.  Divide the dough in half and place in two separate bowls.

Step 5.  Mix the peanut butter into one of the bowls of dough and mix the Nutella into the other bowl of dough.  

Step 6.  Place the two doughs back into the mixer bowl and with a wooden spoon or dough whisk,  lightly fold the two doughs together.

Step 7.  Chill in refrigerator for a half hour and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

Step 8.  After the dough has chilled for a half hour and the oven is heated, roll the dough into balls the size of a golf ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  

Step 9.  Bake for 7 to 9 minutes.  Remove from oven when they are light golden on the bottom.  Let cool on baking sheet.  

Step 10.  Press an M & M into the center of each while cooling.  

Molly was a super smart and creative baker to come up with a special cookie with peanut butter and Nutella.  They were so good!  The kids had a great first day, and she had a big smile on her face when they all came home.  It's tough being the only little one at home.   We hope you enjoy this recipe.  These are super simple cookies to make and freeze well too.  Enjoy!

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Molly’s Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

Millie's Cardinal Barn Quilt

Every morning we would climb onto Grandma's couch that slide up to the table in front of the window to look out for the birds that visited the feeders she and my Grandpa tended to.  On the breakfast table was a pair of binoculars and a bird identification book.  Maybe they helped us look for birds to keep us little one's busy, but we loved the time looking for one very special bird, the Cardinal.  

She loved those bright red birds, especially against the white snow that drifted on the hills around the farm.  We could see them everywhere when snow fell.  Here is the west I don't see them in the wild, just the ones that have been gifted to me from her collection, and a few my sweetheart has given me to keep the tradition alive.  During the summer her ceramic Cardinal sits in my birdbath and it feels like she loved seeing it too.  

Inspired by my Grandma, I have designed Millie's Cardinal Barn Quilt in the style of our Little Pieces Collection of barn quilts.  We had so much fun adding the half-squares as pines and all the beautiful reds in the Prairie Collection to give each triangle dimension and life. 

This barn quilt has been added to Our Shop today.  We hope you love it as much as I do.  If my family in NY sees this post...one is coming your way.  Mille's Cardinal belongs there and on the barns of all who loved this most beautiful bird.  
Our Paint It sale is going on this week!  Use code PaintIt and save 25% on all orders.  

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Millie's Cardinal Barn Quilt

Farm and Hive Workshop

Hi all!  We are right in the middle of summer and loving all of the long sunny days, with flowers growing and bees a buzzing.  One of my favorite "bee friends" has invited us to come to her new farm in Idaho to teach a two day workshop in October.  Farm and Hive  is where we will be on October 13th and 14th and we can't wait to share the details with you.  

We have been blessed to know Susie Goodspeed for many years.  We met at an event in Midway, Utah where she was selling her honey and beeswax products and we were selling our barn quilts.  We were across the isle from each other and in between customer visits, we got to know each other.  Since then we have had several workshops together painting barn quilts and loving her warm and happy slice of heaven.  Her farm doors are always open to all and you leave feeling so positive about life.  I just love her!

Last year, she and her husband Tyler sold their Utah farm and moved to Inkom, Idaho to live out a much larger dream.  Her farm is growing, with babies of all kinds and lots of products that are handmade by her and her family.  Her candles and ornaments have been my favorite gifts to share.  

One of the things we share is a love of painting barn quilts.  It's the time away from chores and family needs, a moment to think, create and share together that brings us together.  So, we are beyond excited to be driving our Tweetle Dee Mae Classroom up to Susie's farm for a two day workshop in October. 

The workshop will begin with an embroidery workshop where we will learn the basic embroidery stitches while making our My Soul Belongs to Wildflowers denim sampler while sampling honey and cider.  

The next day we will gather at the farm for our How to Paint a Barn Quilt Workshop where you get to choose from our barn quilt pattern collection to paint your own barn quilt, using our gorgeous Prairie Paints.  We will enjoy a farm lunch together and end the day finishing your barn quilt with our special finishing techniques that will give you a beautiful barn quilt to take home and love for years to come.
To register go to Our Shop and sign up.  There are options to attend the entire two days or just one.  We hope you can make it for both and enjoy two whole days of celebrating, dreaming and creating together.  
For questions regarding this event please email me at tweetledeedesigns@gmail.com. 

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Farm and Hive Workshop

Pink Patriot Barn Quilt

Happy 4th of July!  We hope you are having a wonderful summer full of sun, water and lots of flowers.  In honor of the holiday we are releasing our newest barn quilt, the Pink Patriot.  We wanted to design a quilt and barn quilt this year with the soft color of pink in it to pay tribute to the hard working, and hopeful women who who have made sacrifices on behalf of our country.  
There are numerous stories of women in active service away from their loved ones, and women at home in service working to support their loved ones and their country.  I am thankful for their service and hope in making a difference. 
This Pink Patriot Barn Quilt is available for orders today, with the pattern releasing this week.  The Prairie Paint colors in this barn quilt are set off by the subtle pink in Peach Blossom.  One of my favorite pinks.  

You can watch our IG stories for the progress on the fabric quilt as well.  We have a discount code of PinkPatriot this week.  Use it to get 25% off on all orders.  We wish you and yours a wonderful celebration.  

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Pink Patriot Barn Quilt

New Wilde Bloem Flowers

Our two new Wilde Bloem flowers are releasing today.  We are excited to add Bloeming Sunflowers and Wilde Clover to our growing collection of floral inspired barn quilts, barn quilt kits and patterns.   Both of these flowers are dear to our hearts because of the symbolism in each of them.  All of the Wilde Bloem flowers were chosen for their meanings and for design elements that make them extra beautiful in paint and cloth quilts.

Bloeming Sunflower Barn Quilt

Bloeming Sunflower Barn Quilt Kit

The Bloeming Sunflower and Wilde Clover Barn Quilt Kits include a Farmhouse Planked Barn Quilt Board, a pattern and our Prairie Paints to complete each of the barn quilt designs.  The barn quilt boards are 12" square and when painted in a set, make a beautiful piece of wall art, they are also pretty darling as individual quilts.

Bloeming Sunflower and Wilde Clover Barn Quilt Patterns

The Wilde Bloem Barn Quilt Patterns come in full color print that we can ship to you or in a PDF download that you can print yourself.  All of our 183 patterns can be found in Our Shop .  All of our pattern include a full color diagram of the barn quilt, a line pattern, Prairie Paint color selections, and our How To Paint a Barn Quilt instructions.  These patterns have been a reason to celebrate, dream and create for many DIY barn quilters and we hope these designs inspire you to paint one too!

Wilde Clover Mini Barn Quilt

Wilde Bloem Barn Quilt Kit
The Wilde Clover is the symbol of good luck, blessings and fortune and we loved painting this in our freshest Prairie Paint colors.  My favorite is the Alfalfa Bloom, which is the dark and vibrant pink.  Then again, two of my most loved greens are there beside it.  You will love painting with our own blend of gel-chalk paints which have superior coverage and vintage inspired colors you will love.
We hope you are inspired by this Wilde Bloem Collection and will find something to stitch, paint, quilt and love about these special flowers.  

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New Wilde Bloem Flowers

Wildflower Pottery

The day our snow is melted we are out looking through the grasses and rocks on the mountain for the first peeks of those colorful blooms.  This year I wanted to preserve the first of the blooms with these farmhouse pottery slabs.  So, I went for a walk in the field to find a few beautiful flowers.  

They are so easy to make and so beautiful hung in a collection on a wall, or displayed with your favorite blooms.  It is also a great way to preserve special blooms from bridal bouquets and other special occasions.  You can make them tiny for a single petal or bud and wear as a necklace or you can make a big slab and recreate your garden in pottery.  There are no limits to the ways this technique can be used to bring lasting wild flowers into your home.

The materials are few and relatively inexpensive.  You will want Polymer Clay.   I have tried using Air Dry Clay and it is so temperamental and brittle, it is sad to loose your blooms to weak clay, so I clearly recommend using the Polymer Clay.  I love to use Sculpey Polymer Clay .  It comes in lots of colors and is so smooth and easy to work with.  The directions were straight on correct and my projects always turn out perfectly using their clay.  So get some!  Price point is anywhere from $2.50 to $9.00 for a pack which will make 3 to 4 floral pottery pieces.

The Polymer Clay comes out hard like a brick.  You will want to break off a piece and knead it in your hands until it gets soft and workable.  Polymer Clay is made of plastic PVC material and softens as it is worked.  So kneads a piece and roll it out to be a 1/4 inch thick.  I like my edges to look like a slap of clay and not perfectly cut.  You can cut your shapes and edges with a knife, but again I love the natural look of rounded fingered shapes.  Use a toothpick or dowel to make a hole in the top to hang it from and place on a non-stick baking pan.

If you are wanting a relief of a flower, lay it down on the clay where you want it to mold and lightly roll over it with a rolling pin to make the indenture.  Lift the flower off of the clay and bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes.  

If you want to preserve fresh wildflowers with all their color, pick blooms that are soft and will flatten well.  Lay your blooms onto the clay in the place you want them to be and roll over to flatten them into the clay.   Use tweezers to position any petals that are out of place and tap lightly into the clay.  Pick off any that are standing upright and will not lay down.  Heat your oven to 275 degrees and bake for 20 minuets.

The baking process will dry out the flowers and the colors will dull just a bit, but the sealer will refresh them in the next process.  Let the clay cool.

Use your finger to lightly brush off any loose petal crumbs or leaves that popped up during the baking/drying process.

To seal your wildflowers, lightly brush over the baked flowers and clay background with the Sculpey Satin Glaze.  This liquid is the same component as the Polymer Clay but without the fillers, so just as the Polymer Clay dried hard, this satin glaze dries clear and hard over your clay piece to seal in the petals and other parts that may not have laid perfectly flat.  

After you have lightly brushed this over your clay piece, return it to the over for 5 to 10 minutes to bake it clear.  Watch closely as you can over bake it and turn your piece brown...(I know).    Bring it out of the oven and let cool.  

Use the tip of a needle or other tiny sharp object to clear the hole back out and your DIY Wild Flower Pottery piece is ready to hang! 

If you are looking for suppliers of the Sculpey products, I found mine at my local Hobby Lobby.  I hope you enjoy this DIY project!  It is one of my favorite of all time.  I know I say that often, but for real, this was so easy and relatively quick to make.  

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Wildflower Pottery

A Good Place

The Thistle is a flower with special meaning to my family in New York.  I grew up hearing how the land the farm was built on was chosen by a blind, many greats grandfather named Conrad Lasher.  He traveled to Steuben County with family who were commenting on how big and tall the thistles were growing on the prospective land. 

He asked to feel them and was led to the field and said after touching the purple flowers, "Any land that can grow Thistles this tall, is good land".  They bought the farm and the woods and it all grew, just like the Wild Thistles.  

Today I had a long walk through the farm fields along the river near my home that is 2000+ miles away from the family farm in NY.  The rainy summer we have had, with it's afternoon thunderstorms has reminded me of my NY summers.  As I came around the long stretch of waving fields, there was one very tall and beautiful Thistle.  Behind it, the mountain we love on. 

I walked past the pink flower and then turned around to go back and take a picture.  As I looked through the lens I saw this one lone thistle plant and our home behind it.  I paused and took a deep breath in.  One of those that you remember always and then as I was heading home I looked to my left and saw the two tall blue Harvestor silos across the river and field.  

On our farm in New York were two Harvestor's just like the two in the field in front of me.  I walk this trail several times a week and they are a landmark for me, reminding me of home.  The rain, the thistle and the silos all combined this morning to bring a little bit of my NY home to me in Utah.  

The message I took in is just like my Greats Grandfather Lasher said, a couple hundred years ago, "Any land that can grow Thistles that tall is good land." and so this land that we have made our home is "good land" too.   It's all good when we receive it, with a heart willing to love it and share it.  

So, this was my Celebrate, Dream Create moment for the week.  Maybe, there will be a few more.  I celebrate the words of the past and the experiences I had growing up that made me fall in love with the peace only nature can bring, and the home we have grown into.  It took a weed to symbolize the dream and hope of growth.  That is a message to think about too this week.  

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead full of things to celebrate, hope for and lots of creating.  

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A Good Place

Boho Rag Flags

Happy Flag Day!  It's time for the red, white, & blue or Purple, gold, green & a whole lot of vintage yumminess!  You all know how much I love my florals and old lace, so when I was asked to create something for the summer holidays, I had to combine the two and create a Vintage Inspired DIY Flag.  

They are so colorful and rich with texture that I plan to keep mine up year round...well, maybe down at Christmas, but you get my passion.  These are simple to make because they are sew-free, meaning everything is glued.  To complete this project you will need.

Materials 

 Wood Dowel

Base Fabric (burlap or muslin)

Fabric Glue or Low-Temp Hot Glue

Scraps of Fabric, Lace, Trim, etc.

Twine

Sponge Stencil Brush

Star Stencil

Deco Art Vintage Wash Paint

Scissors

I am leaving the size of dowel and yardage of fabric/trims off of the material list because the amounts will vary depending on the size you are wanting to make.  To make the smaller Boho-Vintage Flag at the top of this post you will want a half yard of base fabric and fabric and trim that is a half yard or so in length.  To make the Red, White and Blue Vintage Flag I used one and a half yard of base fabric and fabric and trim that was a yard and a half long.

Instructions
1.  Cut your dowel to the desired width you want your flag to be plus four inches.  Stain it a desired color or you can paint it, or leave it plain.  All three options look great.
2.  Cut your background fabric into a long rectangle the width of your dowel minus four inches.  I hope that isn't too complicated.  You want to make sure your background fabric rectangle isn't larger than your dowel.  The smaller Boho Vintage Flag was 24" wide and 44" inches long.  
3.  Lay the background fabric on a flat surface and fold the top down two inches to create a sleeve for the dowel to go through.  Once you have folded it over, use the hot glue or fabric glue to secure the edge down.  Let dry.

4.  Turn the background fabric right side up with the sleeve to the back.  Cut a piece of smaller rectangle to create the Field of Stars.  To get the measurement, take half the width of your flag for the width of the "field" piece and the length would be figured at a third of the length of your background flag piece.  You are creating another long-ish rectangle for the stars.

5.  Using glue, attach the top of the Field of Stars piece to the top of the background fabric.  I positioned mine about an inch and a half below the top to allow space for extra trim and for the background fabric to show.  Because these are Vintage "Inspried" Flags and not a perfect correct replica of the American Flag, I positioned my Field of Stars on the right side of the background piece.  If you want to create a replica that matches the American Flag in perfect correctness, you will want to position your Field of Stars on the upper left side.  My flags hang at an angle to look like the flag is draped, and I was not concerned about the Field of Stars being on the left.  It is totally your choice which side you place them on.  Glue the outer edge down as well.  Leave the bottom and the left side unglued for now.

6.  After the Field of Star piece is attached on the outer and top side, it is time to add the layers of fabric and trims.  Cut a piece about two inches wide and as long as your background piece.  Using glue, attach it at the top just under the inner side of the Field of Star piece.  Then glue the strip to the background piece just to the end of the Field of Star piece.  You want your strips of fabric to wave free, so only attach this first piece to the corner of the Field of Stars.  Layer the Field of Star piece over the first strip and glue down in place.
7.  Cut another piece of fabric two inches wide and glue it only to the top of the flag aligned with the Field of Star piece and the first strip.  Repeat this all the way across.  I like to leave the edge of the background fabric showing about a half inch.  As you are layering fabric, you can overlap trims and fringe over pieces glued down to create a luscious layered look.  A few pieces of mine were purposefully pieced together using a tiny amount of glue to give it even more of a scrappy look.

8.  After you have gone across the top, position the smaller pieces under the bottom of the Field of Star piece and glue the Field of Star Piece down to the strips of fabric once you have the fabric strips glued down.  
9.  Now that your flag is filled in with strips of fabric, you can glue old lace trims around the Field of Stars to finish off the edge.  I love to layer trims and lace, so have fun choosing a look to finish it off.  Glue the pieces down and let dry.
10.  Once the trims dry, take a pair of scissors and cut the background piece up to the top and the the top of the Field of Stars piece going in between the strips of fabric.  This gives you a layered look to your flag.  Trust me, you are going to love it waving.  After I cut the strips I frayed the edges of the background pieces to give it a worn look.  I did this by running my fingers across the edge and pulling threads to create a frayed look.  It's easy!

11.  To create the stars I used the Deco Art Vintage Effect Wash Paint, a sponge stencil brush and a star stencil.  I couldn't find a star stencil to match the size I wanted, so I took a wood cout out of a star I liked, traced it onto cardstock paper and trimmed the inside of the star shape with a knife to create the perfect star stencil.  I used a minimal amount of Vintage Effect Wash and lightly tapped the sponge stencil brush over the shape stencil to create a faded star look.  
I love the Vintage Effect Wash Paint from Deco Art!  It works as a paint, a stain, or a wash depending on how many layers you add.  For other ideas on how to use this amazing paint go to their site Deco Art!
12.  Let your paint dry and then all you have left to do is tie a string to both ends of the wood dowel to create a hanger.  Seriously,  wasn't that so easy?

If you love the traditional Red, White & Blue you can find a little inspiration below.  I used ribbon, lace strips, trims, burlap, and fabric to create this huge front porch flag.  Instead of gluing the pieces together I added a couple of "pieced" pieces to it by tying a knot in two different fabrics.  I love the shabby vintage look of it.  Be sure to tie off any trims to the end of the flag at the dowel for extra oomph!

I hope this project has inspired you to look through your stash of fabric and create a flag for your summer and beyond.   If you would like to watch a tutorial for the Vintage Inspired DIY Flags, you can go to KUTV Fresh Living and see us make the Boho version on air.  It will be so fun!
If you are wanting to purchase a flag already made for you, both versions of the flag will be up in My Shop for pre-order this week.  Ship dates the first week of June.  There will be limited quantity so when they are gone, they will be gone.  Go ahead and get your pre-order in.  
As always, keep Celebrating, Dreaming and Creating something magical in your life.  xo

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Boho Rag Flags

New Embroidery Classes

New to our class schedule for 2023 is three embroidery classes!  You all know my love of stitching and these three classes I choose for the year are simple and beautiful and will give you all the skills to hand embroider like a hoop-art pro.  

My Soul Belongs to the Wildflowers Embroidery Workshop

Each workshop comes with a kit to complete each project, instruction, lunch and laughs.  We love our embroidery classes because of the slow pace we set to really enjoy the art of embroidered florals.  

Field of Flowers Embroidery Workshop

You can find the schedule for the upcoming classes on the sidebar of our blog with registration in The Shop.  All classes registrations are on sale with code Workshop15 giving you 15% off.  This sale ends next Monday so don't delay.  

Hand Embroidered Jewlery Workshop
We hope to have you join us for a class or two.  We are hoping to offer these online as well, so if you are not able to travel to Utah, watch for upcoming live online classes.  These classes are geared for beginner to intermediate so wherever you are in your experience there is a seat for you here at our Tweetle Dee Embroidery Workshops .

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New Embroidery Classes

Print Shop Collection

 We are so excited to share with you the newest addition to the Tweetle Dee family.  We have been collecting our favorite photographic prints and barn quilt photographs from our past five years and now have a fabulous new way to share them with you.  

These beautiful pieces are printed on linen in full color and technology that allows for every aged color, stained wood knots, blades of grass, etc. show in amazing depth and texture.  When placed side by side you can see all the character of each classic piece.  

Each photograph tells a story and we are so pleased to bring them to our shop with free shipping on each framed piece.

Farmer's Daughter Print

Corn and Beans Star Barn Quilt Print

Prairie Trail Print

The Feathered Star Barn Quilt Print

Going Home Print

Home on the Mountain Print

The Texas Star Barn Quilt Print

These beautiful prints are statements pieces that tell a story.  Make them a part of your home in varied sizes, all framed in walnut.  They also make amazing gifts!  Go to the shop and order yours today.  

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Print Shop Collection