Scrooge hits Montello

Sometime after 7pm on Thanksgiving night and before 9 am on Friday a SCROOGE snatched one of the white Christmas trees from in front of the shop. It's not bad enough that the city didi'nt get the decorations up in town yet, or that the banners announcing this weekends event weren't put up. NOW, the tree was STOLEN ! Someone must have really needed a tree bad and the funny part is, if they had asked I would have given them one of the many we have in the shop. So....Merry Christmas anyways and I hope the rest of the season goes better than this first holiday weekend!

Upcoming shows and events

Things are beginning to look alot like Christmas around here. The windows are trimmed and there are snowmen and santas in every corner. I am busy painting for 2 upcoming shows and a tv appearance. On top of that we have Holiday Happenings Thanksgiving weekend here in Montello and I have a make it , take it ornament activity going in the shop as well as refreshments and direstions to all the other thinhgs happening that day in town.

Tuesday November 25th I will be in Oshkosh at the Aurora Hospital Holiday Show. It runs from 6 to 4 and the assortment of vendors is just wonderful.

Thanksgiving Weekend in Montello

Refreshments all around town
Cranberry Cook - Off at The Garden Center
Drawings for Gifts Baskets
Carolers and 5pm Tree Lighting
Gift Certificates Available
November 28,29, & 30th, 2008 Open House Hours Friday 9 to 5 Saturday 9 to 6

Sunday 10 to 4

Take a step back and enjoy the holidays thru the eyes of a child! The way it was meant to be !

December 12th at 6:40 I will be on Channel 15 NBC in Madison to show some of my items and talk about the upcoming Trunk show in Madison.

Visit me and other talented etsians and the second annual wisconsin street team holiday trunk show.when: saturday, december 13th from 5pm to 9pmwhere: lazy jane's cafe, 1358 williamson street in madison, wisconsin... complimentary hot apple cider (from the orchard of one of our vendors!) and champagne means fun and good times. plus, the first 30 guests will receive free bags o' swag

At Pattibears we are busy making some new items for this years gift giving and decorating. The Gingerbread and santas are well under way with some new ornaments in the works. Window displays are under way to make Pattibears look like every little ones dream. We will be having an ornament make it take it Thanksgiving weekend so we hope to see alot of our locals as well as old and new friends drop in. The cocoa and cider will be hot and each morning we will have FREE coffee and muffins to get the shopping day off to a good start! Hope to see you there !

Montello is getting ready to celebrate the holidays like they should be!
Take a step back and enjoy the holidays thru the eyes of a child.....the way it was meant to be!
Visit local downtown shops and share in the refreshments, friendly service and small town atmosphere that you can find here in Montello. Personal service and those special touches the big chain stores no longer give. From gift wrapping and one on one help finding that JUST right gift to strolling carolers and hot cocoa or cider and delicious cookies and snacks all with a smile and Happy Holidays wish!
Grab the family and friends and come to Montello Thanksgiving weekend November 28, 29 and 30th and enjoy the season. We will slow down the pace and take the time to make every moment count!
Friday 9 to 5
refreshments and Black Friday specials throughout town
Saturday 9 to 6
cranberry cook off at the Garden Center
enter your favorite recipe in the contest by 9am that morning or Taste and vote on your favorite!
Door prizes and refreshment all around town
Make and take ornaments at Pattibears Place
City Tree Lighting at 5pm followed by coca and cookies

Thursday

It is Thursday already and the shop is undergoing some BIG rearranging. Hopefully with the Oktoberfest advertising and some wonderful fall specials I can get some good sales this weekend and next. I have been busy trying out new pumpkin recipes for the Pumpkin cook-off and have one to share. It turned out great and was pretty easy.

Pumpkin bread recipe with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin purée
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
Preparation:Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin and oil.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; add pumpkin mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Makes 2 loaves of pumpkin bread.

I am not quite sure if this is the one I will go with yet, I have a couple more to try over the next week before that most important decision is made LOL

Well, back to my cleaning and painting. The Dress-Me Welcome Frinds need pumpkin outfits painted!

Last minute touches

I am trying to finalize my choices for the upcoming PUMPKIN Cook-off. This is not an easy task. Last years entries were delicious and I took third place. This year I am aiming for the top. Not to be beaten by one of my granddaughters who are also entering or my daughter who once again is entering our family favorite pumpkin squares recipe. Ladies from all over town enter their favorite and best Pumpkin recipe, whether it is a cake, pie, cookie that dsoesnt matter as long as it is Pumpkin. People drop in and taste test all day and vote on their favorite. I am going to gain 10 lbs just testing to get to the final recipe LOL.

At the shop I am busy looking for some new patterns that are gingerbread men. The personalized families are painted and ready for final touches and I have just about caught up on the recent online orders. With weatherrmen calling for more snow than usual I have found a few more places to list my items online and maybe keep me busier this winter. Etsy, indiepublic and silkfair. The Dress-Me Welcome Friends are always dependable year round so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I realize that money is tight , so with my prices being reasonable and an assortment of gift ideas and home decor I am hoping to at least coast thru this winter.

Harvest Fest is over

Saturday started out with rain and a pretty gloomy outlook. But, as the morning went on the rain let up and a few crafters braved the elements to set up in Daggett Park. There were not as many scarecrows decorating local businesses as we would have liked but the scarecrows and cornstalks were up on the lightpoles around town to set the scene. The apple contest was delicious as always. Three winners were chosen and I have to say I was not one of them. So I will try again next time. We had our weekly meeting this morning and have decided to have a cupcake walk along with oktoberfest since it falls on National cupcake day! That should be tasty.
I have decided to do a few local craft shows and am in the middle of a great order for my solar lit logs. A new customer Cindy who raises Yorkies has ordered three logs with pictures of her yorkies on , they are coming along pretty good. I am then going to have to get down to painting outfits for the Dress-Me Friends as those orders come in quickly.

Busy Week

At our Morning meeting of The New Monttello Group we discussed the fund raiser form for the school. A meeting is set for next wednesday to show it to the school and see if it is something they can work with this season. It is a great idea to have the local fundraiser for the schools, people can come in to any of the shops and see what they are ordering before they have to order. The local businesses can make sales as well as the school earning 30%. We discussed this Saturdays Harvest Fest activities, the corn stalks are being cut for display on the downtown light poles, Bill has a tent that can be put up on Friday afternnon for some of the crafters. By placing this event at the waterfall park it can be easily seen no matter what way people come into town. Bright blue barrels will be placed around town for a food drive to help fill the shelves at our local food bank. With winter coming soon and heating costs higher all the time the need for the food bank is growing all the time. Are abusinesses are also making scarecrows for a contest to be voted on by our shoppers during harvest fest.
Back at the shop I got things ready for a rock painting class at noon. Gingerbreadmen are drying and will be on hand for this weekends event. Hopefully we can get people into the shopping spirit this early in the season to try and catch up from the very slow summer.

Middle of the week catch -up

The weekend was amazing.. The weather was perfect for families to come to the City Park and enjoy all that was going on. So with this event behind us I am busy getting ready for Harvest Fest ... downtown.
As I paint to try and get a little ahead before I set off on my great adventure.
My daughter has booked us ( her, my 10 year old grandson and myself) on a wonderful train trip to Washington DC. I am so excited and my granson has our 3 days there all mapped out. Tour busses, George Washingtons House and his favorite .....The Library of Congress !!!!
I have always wanted to take a train trip to be able to sit back and enjoy the sights ( PS I dont drive ) and this will be fun to not only see these sights for myself but through his eyes.
As the paint dries I am busy looking for activities for the kids to do at Harvest Fest as well as some new crafters and vendors. Then I still need to find that prize winning apple recipe. At my house we take these contests seriously, I have won, two granddaughters have won, my daughter and grandson have all taken first , second or third in a contest. They are tough to beat !!! If you have a good apple recipe please leave it in a comment I could use the help or any harvest fest suggestions

Final Prep for Father Marquette Days

The park is a buzz with workers all volunteers getting ready for this weeks event. Here at Pattibears we were in charge of crafters for the event. Right up until the last minute we are accepting crafters, ( with such a big park, space is not a problem). Yesterfays appearance on Madison CW Channel 57"s Daily Buzz with Emmy Fink turned out so well and hopefully will let all of the Madison viewing area see just what Montello has to offer. Emmy and her crew came to Pattibears Place to start the day , but then also visited the historical society, city park, of course the waterfalls and did an amazing job. So for the rest of today I will be painting away to fill the walls for this weekends visitors. Not only can they come to the park and get some great food and see the crafters and BINGO, but they can stroll downtown and see what the local shops have to offer. So, I am off to paint hoping to get alot done while the weather is so perfect!

Tuesday Tutorial

Creating Vacation Memories
By: Rachel Paxton

My daughter and I recently had the opportunity to spend a week at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We were totally overwhelmed with all the things there were to do, and I had no idea how we would ever be able to remember it all.

We decided to put together a scrapbook of our Disney World memories. We wanted this to be as inexpensive as possible, while at the same time creative. Before we left on our trip my husband's mom gave us some scrapbook pages she got from our local craft store that already had Disney World characters and themes throughout them. So we knew we wanted to put together a scrapbook of some kind.

While visiting the Animal Kingdom in Disney World, we were browsing through one of many gift shops, gawking at the incredibly high prices. While looking through the photo albums I happened upon some discontinued scrapbooks that were marked down 50% to only $8! I couldn't believe our luck. It was spiral-bound with animal designs imprinted on every page. Perfect.

So we brought home the album, photos we had taken, and we already had scrapbooking pages to liven it up a bit, but it needed something else.

I had also saved whatever memorabilia I could think of, like plane tickets, the credit cards you get to open your hotel door, the meal vouchers we had received, our luggage tags, post cards, and our theme park passes. All of these items combined (with a little imagination and some glue!) make up a very inexpensive memory (less than $20 total) that will last a lifetime.


Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For scrapbooking, card making, gift-giving ideas, and more family memory-making activities, visit www.crafty-moms.com.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

This article may be reprinted for free so long as the author's resource box is kept intact and all links remain live and clickable. The Article Source must also be included. All rights are reserved by the author.

another apple recipe

I have bee trying new recipes in hopes of winning another ribbon at this years Harvesy Fest on September 13th. As I try them out I thought I would share them here.
Servings:
Makes 12 muffins

Nutrition Information:
Protein: 4g; Fat: 3g; Carbohydrate: 21g; Fiber: 3g; Sodium: 134mg; Cholesterol: 18mg; Calories: 121.



Low in cholesterol and saturated fat, thee scrumptious homemade muffins are much healthier than the average store-bought variety.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oat bran
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups peeled, cored, and finely chopped Golden
Delicious apples



Method:

1) Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease twelve 3-inch muffin cups or line with paper liners. In large bowl, combine both flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In medium bowl, beat buttermilk, oat bran, brown sugar, oil, and egg until blended. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Fold in apples.

2) Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool muffins in pan 5 minutes; remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Tv personality in the making

Well the family has started to settle down after Fridays visit from Madison's CW Emmy Fink and her crew. What a good time we all had talking with her and the kids are thrilled that they got to help with "you're buzzed into Madison" at the end of the shoot.
Maybe now we can start to prepare for Father Marquette Days and Harvest Fest. So much to do and right in the middle I will be taking a vacatiion.....is there time for this. Maybe not but what a treat. Washington DC with my daughter and grandson Mike, it is his idea he wants to see the Library of Congree. What a great kid!

Emmy Fink in Montello

Friday was an exciting day for all of us here at Pattibears. The grandkids were waiting to get a chance to talk again to Emmy form Madison's CW Channel 57. She not only visited with us at the shop she got to see some of Montello and discuss the upcoming Father Marquette Days with Bill Lind at the City Park, Cathy McQuin showed her around the Dr. Bass exhibit at the Historical Society and more! All of this will be on TV next Thursday morning at 6:50, 7:50 and 8:50 then in repeats on Friday morning. You can also see it on the Madison Cw channel 57 website later in the day on Thursday.

Wednesday and busy as a bee...

This photo is from EMMY'S visit in May with my grandson Mike
I just returned from Rendezvous where we have our New Montello meetings each week. We tried to get our fundraiser flyer ironed out, talked about Harvest Fest on September13th and pick our monthly winner of The Shop Local campaign. Bery excited that one of the winners was a new customer of mine. So, congrats to the Kraak Family. We also talked about our upcoming visit from Madison's CW , EMMY FINK. She called yesterday and moved her visit up to THIS Friday morning. I can't wait... it will be wonderful to get some t.v. coverage for Montello and hopefully get some more traffic thru town. So, today and tommorrow I will spend dusting and filling in around the shop so it, looks its best.

Monday again.....

Well after last nights storms today is grey and humid. A good day to stay in aget some work done at the shop. Although that also seems to be what the tourists and locals must be doing today since it is sooooo quiet.

I am using this time to try and get more items added to the website and to get some projects finished in the shop. Next Monday we are going to be visited by Emmy Fink from Madison's CW channel 57. What a thrill, she was so nice last time she came out we can't wait to visit with her again.

I have also been trying out some new apple recipes trying to get a GREAT on for our upcoming Apple cook-off on Sept. 16th. This is no time to diet as my whole family are judging each and every recipe I try LOL.

slideshow