Pillow Pincushions

I love making these little pincushions. They get my mind away from routine tasks to a place where I can play a little and dream a little.

This one is made out of a natural linen teamed with a delicate red and ivory cotton.
It has a cute loop of Japanese import tape on the end with buttons and pins printed onto it. It's great for hanging onto places for easy access.
Stuffed nicely with fiberfill.

Almond Shortbread Cookies dusted in Icing Sugar

Hubby and I were invited to his sister's place on Easter Sunday so I made these almond shortbread cookies to have with our afternoon tea.
I usually get about 50 cookies from my recipe using 1/2 cup of butter, 2 cups of flour, 3 tbs sugar, some vanilla essence and 1 cup of roasted almonds.

While they are still warm I lightly dust them with pure icing sugar. I think that gives them a lovely finish. I was a bit heavy handed here but they tasted just as good.

Sometimes I place the cooled cookies in one of those glass pickling jars that you can find at most supermarkets, then wrap the jar up nicely with cellophane and ribbon. They make really lovely gifts.