Sell-A-Brate Good Times!

Yesterday was my SAB Open House. It was also Super Bowl Sunday and one of the coldest days of the year so far. I think both of those factors cut into the attendance, however, I had a fun day because some of my favorite stampin' family and friends did make it and we had a good time visiting and stamping. I think everyone liked the make & take projects and the door prizes I had for them. First, we did a 6x6 scrapbook page using the Delight in Life stamp set. The next project was a Valentine card using the So Very stamp set. Keeping with the Valentine theme, our next project was a Red Hots candy pouch using the 2 tag punches and the Tags So Much stamp set. Finally, we finished our afternoon of stamping by creating an all occasion card using the Happy Harmony set.

Everyone who attended received a door prize. The first prizes chosen were the "sweet" little tin mail boxes that I had decorated with stamped paper and filled with Dove chocolate, Lindt truffles and Hershey kisses. Who doesn't like chocolate, right? That's why I also made a "So Very Sweet" wrapped Hershey bar for my little cousin Julia who I knew was coming.

Everyone loved the homemade vegetable soup I made for lunch. It sure was the perfect weather for soup, and I think it warmed everyone up. I used my Aunt Roberta's Famous Minestrone Soup recipe and many asked for the recipe, so here it is:

Aunt Roberta's Famous Minestrone Soup

Spoon 3T “Better Than Bouillon” vegetable base to a 4-quart Crock-Pot
Add 1c hot water and stir until blended.
Add the following ingredients:

2 - 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
2 – 15 ½-ounce cans kidney beans
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (or 30 turns with a pepper mill)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into ½-inch pieces
1 medium zucchini, scrubbed, quartered into ½-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced

Cover; cook on high 4 to 5 hours.

I made a few changes to this recipe. First, I couldn't find the Better Than Bouillon vegetable base so I used vegetable broth and eliminated the water. I used Del Monte Italian style diced tomatoes which have garlic and herbs in them so I eliminated the marjoram and the minced garlic. I also substituted frozen cut green beans for the zucchini.

As they left, everyone got to take a cute little Nugget Purse as a thank you for attending my open house. I made these using the large tag punch, the Spot On wheel, Little Pieces and Fancy Flexible Phrases stamp sets. I found the excellent instructions to make these adorable little purses posted at another stamping blog.

I hope everyone had a good time!