postcards from thanksgiving

 

We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year and it was quite lovely.  Snow, skiing, good food, puppies, my whole family at once, black friday, fires, movies, cabin time, treats, and so many reminders of why I should be thankful :)

crafting christmas--felt garland edition

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I had no qualms about getting my Christmas stuff out early.  It is most likely because I have been swimming in Christmas glitter for months already at work.  Also, I couldn't stop making decorations.  So it only made sense to just put them out already.

I started this garland last easter (which might explain all of the pastel felt), and can I tell you how much I love felting things?!  It's makes me feel alive!  Anyhoo, this is basically felted balls strung on some pearl cotton (held in place with tiny knots on either side of the ball) and wrapped around a cheesey little tree I got at the end the holiday season last year for almost free.

 It lives on our dresser and matches the winter quilt perfectly :)

Evan spent last week in sunny San Diego at a conference for work.  Which made the frigid weather here seem even colder.  And so too keep myself warm, I checked things off my giant list.  I made gifts, decorated for Christmas (Evan was super surprised to come home to a twinkling Christmas tree), got a dramatic hair cut (hello short hair!!), finished up the Christmas card, and ate cupcakes (okay, I shared some too).  There was some serious Christmas cheer going on.

I also whipped up a few batches of lemon-lavender hand scrub (made here) for Christmas gifts and thought I'd remind you what a fantastic gift they are to make.  I searched all over town for classy little spoons to attach to the jars, which turned out to be impossible.  So instead of spoons, I came home with tiny cocktail forks to to tie around the jars.  Which might be confusing (don't eat it!), but I think it's kind of funny. 

cupcakes on thursday

Did you know that whipped ganache was a thing?  I didn't.  But now I do.  And life just got so much better! 

Whipped Ganache:

8 oz. chopped dark chocolate

1 c. heavy cream

Heat heavy cream until just boiling and pour over chopped chocolate.  Let sit for one minute and then stir until smooth.  Let ganache cool to room temperature (45 minutes or so), and then whip for 2-4 minutes with mixer.  Delicious.  Use on top of the best chocolate cake ever.

p.s. I am going to the dentist this afternoon to get a few (ish) fillings.   I wonder why???  (and don't you dare blame the ganache!)

little helper

I have a super amazing friend who is extremely good at making things.  Namely, these classy quilts that she sells to incredibly lucky babies.  This morning while I was busy snapping some photos for said friend, Gesso was trying really hard to get in every picture.  He is sometimes so ridiculous.

p.s. here are some more quilt pictures:

around here -- november edition

freaky or freaking awesome?

We can't decide.

the BIG news

No, I'm not pregnant (that's what everybody thinks these days whenever I say I have big news.  maybe I need to lay off the chocolate?).  But I am about to drop off a super heavy package at the post office full of my wildflowers.  They are headed to Wild Hands in Jackson, WY, and I couldn't be more excited! 

This past week has been a little crazy, what with trying to find the perfect paper to use (80 lb. recycled linen was the winner) and researching 'flower trivia' to go on the back of each print (because everyone should know that rubbing Larkspur seeds in your hair kills lice).  But we figured it out!  Evan is a pro at problem solving, which was good, because when I am faced with a problem, all I really feel like doing is crying.   I am so happy with how they turned out, and let's be honest, maybe my favorite part of all was finally putting my 'H' tape to good use :)