monkey business.

There's something about this ooey-gooey cinnamon-y bread that makes it perfect for special occasions or Saturday mornings. And the fact that it goes together in a snap is enough to make us happy. We like to serve it for breakfast every holiday, with a big glass of milk!

Monkey Bread

20 frozen dinner rolls (we like Rhodes best)

3/4 to 1 c. brown sugar

1/2 pkg. (or more) cook and serve vanilla pudding

1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

6 TBSP butter

Coat a bundt pan thoroughly with cooking spray. Place your frozen rolls in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle over rolls – brown sugar, pudding, cinnamon. Top it all off with small chunks of butter. (You can use more butter if you like your bread more syrup-y.) Cover bundt pan with greased waxed paper and place in a warm area overnight. In the morning, bake your Monkey Bread at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes. While hot, flip your bread onto a pretty platter, and scoop any gooey goodness out on top of the bread. Enjoy!

We always double this. Somehow, one bundt pan is never enough.

xo, the Long ladies

Ps. This bread has been known to fall over the sides of the pan. We would suggest popping an empty cookie sheet onto the oven shelf below. (To prevent any monkey business, you know.)

Better late than never—-

See! We're finally getting around to posting about our Fall Quilt Market experience. In this case our motto is better late than never. Sadly not all of us Long ladies were able to make it, so Nanny got to come along with us (Apphia & Achaia)— which was so much fun! Even though we all missed our other half. The above picture is us on the first day, planning out our Schoolhouse classes. It was a full day!

On our way down with our friends from Bittersweet (who were so kind to let us tag along…) we stopped at the Moda warehouse in Dallas. It's absolutely amazing! See those bolts of fabric?? There are rows upon rows of them! It was also exciting to see our patterns happily sitting on some of the warehouse shelves. Yay!

Pretty dress

Here is a new Japanese line we're so excited about— Garden. We were completely smitten with it, and it's now sitting on our shelves here in the studio! It should be on the site within the week, so keep an eye out! The handle on it is just lovely. So smooth. We're sewing up some fun stuff for ourselves out of it!
Garden 1 Garden 2

Carmen collage

On the left is a happy portion of Pillow & Maxfield's booth, highlighting their Gypsy Bandana. We love how bright and happy it is! Speaking of Gypsy Bandana… we loved it so much (and you all seem to love it too) we went back and got a few more new bolts! The new ones are primarily red and blue— so pretty! The picture on the right is Anna Griffin's collage of Carmen. We loved the way it showcased all the prettiness of it!

Rhapsody in Bloom. Big red cabbage roses, dots, stripey florals. This quilt sealed the fact that we needed to have this fabric line in our shop. So! It, too, should be on the site by the end of the week, so stay tuned!

With Jenny! We could hardly believe we were finally meeting her in person! (Hello, Jenny!) When we got home our other half (aka Mom, Abigail, and Abiah) had to hear about everything we talked about. This picture was taken at about 11 o'clock at night in our hotel room, right after supper— pizza & salad. One of the funniest times of the trip was probably when Jenny had to drive all of us in her husband's adorable little red car! There were 5 of us— Apphia, Achaia, and Nanny + our two friends from Bittersweet. It was quite a trip! (And it was a good thing we were only a few blocks away from the hotel…)

AH! A beautiful booth, belonging to one of the ladies that designs fabric for Lecien. We practically had to drag Nanny away from this one. We stopped there a few times over the course of the three days we were walking the floor (which none of us complained about). Ahem. We're all five just like our Nan. **happy sigh**

There! A sneak peek at our little Houston trip. We had dozens of pictures, and there were so many wonderful things to see! xxx us

cutie-pies!

A dress, a girl, and her dog.

Hurrah for Abigail's new red and white polka dot dress! (The dog is really cute too.)

Aren't those adorable boots?? She found them for $11 at a flea market several weeks back, and had to have them. We all wish we'd seen them first! They have just the perfect amount of a "worn" look to them.

No, Abigail and Bo didn't play fetch while they were out there. Bo is a wonderful dog, but he doesn't quite have the fetch concept down. It's goes something more like this: You throw– he watches you– you go pick up the stick– he walks right beside you. But we love him anyway!

The adorable show buttons are so cute too. And the way Abs trimmed it out is just perfect.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

How cute are these?! We loved them so much, that we had to share them with all of you. Are you doing something special today?

Lots of love~ the Long ladies

XOXO

Ps. One of our dear friends is having a marie-madeline giveaway right over here. Take some time to read Ashley's blog – it is one of our favorites!

amelia…

Versatility. That was one thing we thought about a lot when working on amelia. We wanted something that would be perfect year-round. And something in a classic style that would go with everything. Enter, the peasant! Here's a little bit more about our version…

~pattern comes with full-sized pattern pieces and fully illustrated instructions (of course), printed on sturdy paper

~girls sizes 2/3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/10, and 12/14 included in one pattern envelope

~choose long sleeves, half sleeves with a ruffle (shown on Ellie in the top photo), or classic cap sleeves

~make a top or tunic

~make an A-line dress (layer it underneath your AnaClaire for a fun petticoat look!)

~make a dress with a gathered skirt

~add optional back ties

~easy fit for all-day comfort

~quick and easy to sew!

~$14

Would you like to pre-order now? Please just shoot us an email. All pre-orders will receive free shipping when the pattern is printed! We're looking at about two weeks for delivery, but we're hoping amelia will be ready sooner than that. She's at the printer now.

Now, about the fabrics we chose…

We made this dress out of Holly Holderman's Fun Flowers collection. And it is one of our favorites! That little floral print also comes with a white, brown, or black background. (For those of you who are not quite as fond of orange as Ellie is.)

Dolly Dresses for this anaclaire + amelia combo. (Once again, there are more color options available in these prints.)

Queen Street!! (But you probably knew that already.) Madeline amelia top + Maritza flared emerson skirt. Choose pink or turquoise or purple or green!

Questions? Don't hesitate to ask!

XOXO the Long ladies

introducing amelia!!!

hello, amelia!

{peasant top, tunic, and dress in 2 styles}

dress with gathered skirt + half sleeve + back ties

top + long sleeves + emerson skirt

a-line dress + long sleeves + knee-length anaclaire jumper

We're so happy to bring you the newest girl's pattern from marie-madeline studio! Meet amelia. There's nothing quite like a sweet little peasant-style. Especially when it comes with so many options. AND amelia is the perfect compliment to all of our other designs for girls! We are over-the-top happy, and hope you will be too. Please tell us what you think…

XO, the Long ladies

Ps. More details coming soon!

Saying it with snow

Just a note to everyone that has ordered recently— thank you so much! However, we're sorry to report that we won't be able to ship out anything for a few more days. We are terribly sorry about it! It snowed again today and everything outside is snowy white.

Last, but definitely not least, Nanny's here! So, we've been staying inside (surprise) and working on some projects (along with puzzles, roasting hot dogs in the fireplace, and Rio Bravo). As you can probably guess, most of our ideas are spring related. Today was new-pillows-for-the-couch-project-day, and tomorrow is probably cute-little-appliques-day. We're having fun!

love, the Long ladies

timeless.

We love this picture of our Aunt Erna that Nanny did. Nanny was about 16 or 17 (late '50s-early '60s), and she did it from a photograph of her sister. How neat is that?! Aunt Erna passed away a few years ago, and we love this memory of her. It's timeless.

We're thankful to report that we're all safe and sound, bundled up, and so thankful to still have our power! The snow here is amazing, so you will probably be getting pictures.

Happy Day to you all!

love, the Long ladies