Naughty Or Nice Holiday Party - Day 5

Fa-la-la-la-la. Fun party! Thanks for dropping by. Keep coming back because we have a few more days left. Don't forget to go to the following posts to enter: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4. Good luck!

Here are the general guidelines for this party. Each day we will feature the answers of the questions that we posed to the designers. You will find out about their holiday habits and each day you will have the opportunity to share your thoughts. You will be eligible to win a fabulous bundle of fabric. All you have to do is answer the question on the blog [and/or on Facebook] for a chance to win the bundle of fabric of the day. No substitutions. You can enter on the blog and/or Facebook for two chances to win per day. You have until midnight December 9th to enter and all winners must claim their prizes until midnight December 13th or the prize is forfeited and we will announce a new winner.

Thank you for visiting our website, blog and Facebook page. It has been a great year for the Henry Glass designers. They've been busy working on a big project with the folks at Martingale & Co. The book will be released next fall and we know that you are going to love it. Stay tuned to our blog and Facebook or sign up for our newsletter to receive news about some exciting announcements in the new year.

For this blog party we asked the designers the following questions:

1. What was your favorite gift? Worst?

2. Early or late shopper? Earliest or latest that you've shopped?

3. Favorite holiday drink? Alcohol or none? Recipe?

4. Are you likely one to return a present or to suck it up and keep it?

5. As a child were you likely to make the naughty or nice list?


Kim Diehl sat down and gave us this great post for our party. We don't know how she has the time because she is constantly traveling and teaching. She has been working on many different lines of fabric for Henry Glass. Her latest offerings are Hearthside Seasons, Perfect Pairings and More Perfect Pairings [available in March 2014]. Besides working on her fabric, she has been busy working on a top secret project for us which will make its official debut in the quilt shops next year. Today we are going to give you a sneak peek.

Henry Glass is teaming up with Kim Diehl to bring you Simple Whatnots" - an all new "quilt shops" only club featuring exclusive quilt and project designs stitched entirely from Kim's collections of fabrics. Further details can be seen on our website here and your local quilt shops will have more about the program in the new year.

1.  The gifts I remember the most are from when I was a little girl – my very own record player and a shiny red Schwinn bicycle with colored streamers and a horn. I nearly wore out the record player listening to a kid’s story about the last of the Mohicans, some of my mom’s old 45’s, and my Partridge Family record over and over again (I was madly in love with David Cassidy). Worst gift ever put under my tree:  a pocket piano from the dollar store….and it was broken!

2.  I’ve heard rumors that there is such a thing as shopping early and beating the holiday rush, but I’m not one of those people. I tend to put things in a super secret safe place, and then I promptly forget about them. The silver lining is that I usually find my hidden gifts in the spring and then everyone gets “Happy Easter” presents. My husband and I almost always shop together in December and try to tackle the family gifts in one outing. We pick a morning at an early time when most people are still in bed, take the “divide and conquer” approach, and get everything handled all at once. Then, I make sure he witnesses my hiding places. Ho, ho, ho…works like a charm!

3.   Hot Mulled Cider is one of my favorite holiday drinks, because I love how it makes the house smell like Christmas. I also like how the spicy scents wafting out of the kitchen take me back to my childhood and my grandma’s house during the holidays. Here is my super simple recipe:

HOT MULLED CIDER

2 quarts of apple cider

1 teaspoon of orange zest (or do like I do, and toss in a few chunks of orange peel)

1 tablespoon of cinnamon candy (red hots)

1/2 teaspoon of whole allspice

1/4 teaspoon of mace

1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander

1 teaspoon of whole cloves

1/8 teaspoon of salt

3 short cinnamon sticks, or 1 long stick, broken into pieces

Place all ingredients (except for the apple cider) into a coffee filter, gather up the edges, and tie it tightly with string. Drop the spice bag into a kettle of cider, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes. Remove the spice bag, ladle into mugs, and serve!

4.  A present has to be REALLY bad for me to return it.  To me, Christmas is about so much more than gifts, so I’m happy with most anything…except for dollar store pocket pianos.

5.  Define naughty.  (wink)  I think I was mostly good, but I’m sure my mother would tell you that I had my moments. As a kid, I only considered that I was naughty if I got caught…and I was pretty sneaky. 

As a fun little holiday extra from me to you, I thought I’d share project directions for my Snippets and Bits Mug Mats. Pair one of these with my Hot Mulled Cider recipe, include a mug, and you’ve got a quick gift for a special friend. And because I think more is definitely more, I’ve included choices for three different color combinations – just download, raid your fabric stash, and start stitching!

[HG: You can download the pattern here.]

Next we visit with the designers at Cathy Heck Studio.  Cathy and Ellen Heck, mother-daughter designing duo, work together on projects for Henry Glass, often finishing the art work of the other. You can learn more about life in a family business by following their fun blog. Here is their multi-generational set of holiday answers for our holiday party.

Cuteville Country Fair is their first line with Henry Glass Fabrics. You can view the entire line on our website and download the free projects that accompany it.

Cuteville County Fair

1.  Cathy: About twenty years ago, we moved into a mid-century modern ranch home that had been built in 1958.  Although our main Christmas tree looked like an ornament-laden Victorian phantasmagoria, I thought our house might look snazzy with a shiny silver 1950’s tree.  But I knew Santa would have to be super-magic to find a 40-year-old tinsel tree. That Christmas morning, when I walked into the entry, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a shiny aluminum tree with its very own rotating rainbow light.  I heard through the grapevine that Santa found it in a thrift shop in its original box! To this day, it is the first decoration up, and with Brenda Lee playing in the background, we are ready for a Christmas party hop.

Ellen: In 1991, Santa brought us matching easels with original Santa sketches already on them! Here’s a photo of us that morning rocking some matching plaid nightgowns. That’s mom and me sketching together like we have for the last twenty years, and Julianna in the foreground sharpening a peppermint pencil.

2.  Ellen: Hmm. I guess I’m a little early, because I’m mostly a cyber shopper these days.  In the last few years, I’ve loved being able to shop from people on Etsy and more recently, Kickstarter.

Cathy: I am a medium-early shopper.  If it needs to be shipped, I try to be early, so that the shipping doesn’t cost more than the gift. (Been there, done that.)  If we decide to make handmade gifts, like something delicious, we often wait for our college-aged elves to arrive home and help with the assembly line. We have as much fun making the gifts as giving them, and of course, the quality-control taste-testing is required.

3.  3. Favorite holiday drink? Alcohol or none? Recipe?

Ellen: Hot Chocolate.  And, I think I’m going to try Jill Finley’s recipe from this blog party right away. It sounds delicious.

Cathy: Milk Punch.  My first sip was from Green Pastures, a restaurant housed in a charming Texas estate, where they served an excellent creamy white milk punch for brunch.  Later, we moved to New Orleans, where the milk punch was brown, and, let me just say that the brown was not from chocolate. When we moved back to Austin, I was assigned the holiday beverage for a party.  I decided that the white recipe would lead to a far better tomorrow than the brown recipe, and happily found the original Green Pastures instructions. P.S. We always make a spirits-less pitcher for the kids. PPS. It’s a good idea to mark the containers accordingly.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients: 3 cups vanilla ice cream, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/2 cup bourbon, 1/4 cup white rum,

1 jigger brandy, 3 ice cubes, nutmeg

Combine ice cream, milk, bourbon, rum, brandy and ice cubes in blender.  Blend until ice cream is liquefied and mixture has smooth texture of a thin milk shake.  Serve in wine glasses and sprinkle nutmeg on top.  Makes about 5 cups. (Tricks: It fits in the blender more easily if you make it in half-batches.  We don’t add the ice cubes if we are taking it to a party. It’s even better if you grate your own nutmeg, and your guests will be amazed with your culinary prowess.)

4.  Ellen: I don’t think I’ve ever returned a present. Also, a few years ago, our youngest sister revolutionized how our family shops for each other by sending an emailed wish list with links. We’ve all adopted it, and it’s made for several years of spot-on stocking stuffers!

Cathy: I will return it if it doesn’t fit, because, well, it doesn’t fit. If it is hand-made by any of my children, I will save it forever in my “Special Things” box.  Below is a drawing from Cathy’s Special Things Box.  A mom’s Christmas gift just doesn’t get any better than this!

5.  Cathy: I think I would have made the nice list.  However, I’m pretty sure that Santa knew the whole story, and yet he still made my Christmas wishes come true.  I love that guy ... and his cute wife.

Ellen: Ditto! Santa and Mrs. Claus are a really great couple. So great, in fact, that I think they deserve extra glasses of milk punch this year ...

Cathy and Ellen:  And just to get a few more nice points with the Clauses this year, we would love to give away a nice fat set of fat-quarters from our new Henry Glass collection, Cuteville County Fair.  You could whip up some festive holiday pot holders while you are sipping on the holiday punch of choice. Just comment with your planned project, even if you’re starting early for next year! Happy holidays from Cuteville, North Pole.

In addition to the Cuteville County Fair giveaway, you can win today's featured fabric by telling us your favorite dish to make for the holidays. Today's fabric is Heartstrings by Marie Cole.

Good luck!

-hg