postcards from christmas

We stayed home for Christmas this year, and to keep all things merry and bright (and not so lonely), we were sure to fill the break with lots of our favorite things--good food and pretty scenery :) 

Merry Christmas!

wrapping it up

 

Thank you so much for all the sympathy hugs!  It was just what I needed.  I'm feeling much better today and I even cleaned the shower!  That almost never happens.

I try to get all my holiday chores done a few weeks before Christmas (shopping, post office lines, and the like), so that I can actually enjoy this magical time of year.  Since I make almost all the gifts I give, I slowly check things off my list all year, and by the time December hits, I am finished.  I'm so glad I figured out this system, it is the only way I could do it I'm pretty sure (me + stress = ugly mess).

This was a project I did right after Christmas last year, and had kind of forgotten about.  Surprise!

I had seen fabric wrapping paper floating around the blogging world and really wanted to make some of my own.  I hit up the after-Christmas-sales last January and bought a few yards of holiday fabric, for like a zillion percent off.  I made the bags with french seams, so thread wouldn't get everywhere and hopefully they would be a bit sturdier.  I still used paper wrapping to give to family and friends (I'm not that on top of things!), but I am definitely going to get some more fabric this year and make more (you should too).

christmas crazy

{5x7 watercolor and micron pen on bristol paper}

 It has been so crazy at our house this week.  And I am losing my fight with a cold.  I stopped at the store after work on Thursday and I think the cashier wanted to give me a sympathy hug when she saw sniffling me and all of my purchases lined up (bubble bath, cough drops, echinacea tea, and breathe-right strips).  But I did find time to finish this little painting and make prints of it to give to the girls I teach at church.  I love this scripture.   And I love this time of year, craziness and all.

christmas baking

I woke up this morning to the sound of neighbors shoveling snow.  I love that sound.  I didn't have anything on the agenda yet, so today was a day for baking, I quickly decided. 

Even though I make them all year round, Ginger Snaps remind me of Christmas. I made them extra small this time, a bite-sized delight!

I was looking for an excuse to make peanut butter eggs again (they're that good!), so I decided that calling them 'truffles' made them more of a holiday treat.  I'm pretty smart like that.

 

I grew up with a mom who had cookie cutters for every occasion and often hosted cookie decorating parties for the neighborhood kids.  So it would just be weird not to like sugar cookies, you know?  I used a new recipe this time which was outrageous.  The secret ingredient is sour cream!  Oh yes!

 As I was trying to decide on which colors to dye the frosting, I looked outside at the piles of fresh snow and decided to leave it white.  Because white is pretty.

My kitchen is a disaster.  And I have a stomach ache from too much sugar.  But it was so nice to stay home and bake and have the Anne of Green Gables marathon playing in the background (thank you PBS!)

As soon as the frosting sets on the sugar cookies, I am going to package everything up and wait for Evan to get home so we can fill up our sleigh...er...car and go out and deliver them to friends (just in case you were worried that I was going to eat all this by myself.  Because I definitely could!).

Recipe Links:   Ginger Snaps   Peanut Butter Truffles  Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

hope you're having a delicious holiday season!!

poppy painting

When I graduated from college I told my parents that I wanted to paint them a thank-you present.  For all of their financial and emotional support.  And for never telling me how impractical an art degree would end up being (they are good people).   Anyway, I finally got around to it this summer (keep that in mind if you ever ask me to do something: it make take a few years ;).

 My mom had recently remodeled her kitchen/family room and wanted a nice big painting to go over top of the sofa.  Of cheerful poppies.

I painted it last July, after an unsuccessful eye-surgery attempt, with my left eye having a hazy scar right over top of it.   I was really nervous while painting it, mostly because I couldn't see that great, but in the end I really liked how it turned out.  And it was loads of fun to do something totally different than my usual style of painting, something very whimsical.

crafting christmas--peace garland edition

I just love garlands, what can I say?  This is a project that I made a few years ago and have never shared.  And I really like it.  So I am sharing it now.  I simply cut dove silhouettes out of white felt and then stitched felt 'peace' letters on top.  I put letters of both sides, so it could be hung in a doorway or window.  I then used a cozy blanket stitch to make it come together, adding a little stuffing to the middle as I went along.  While I was going through photos to see if I had any of the garland hanging in the window (I sometimes leave it up all winter long), I came across this picture of me and my cute mom posing in front of it when she visited our rad farmhouse a few years ago.

 And yes, whenever we are together we make sure to wear matching colors :)

Peace!

crafting christmas--project mantle

I love having a mantle.  Especially at Christmas.  And last year it turned out okay, but I wanted to do something else this year to really take advantage of our mantle-having status.  So I went shopping.

And then I remembered that, technically speaking, it wasn't really our mantle.  Because we are just renters.  So that's when I decided to just make something instead.  

First up, I needed a garland.  So I went pine-cone-hunting, having seen this picture and wanting to sort of copy it.  Once you have a good bag of pinecones (+ spiders), you tie little knots around the tops (or bottoms) of them.  It's actually not hard at all.

The next item of business was to make some trees.  I saw a nice idea here, but mine turned out way different and way less cool.  Oh well.

I found bags of really inexpensive bay leaves in the 'ethnic cooking aisle' at our local grocery store, and bought four bags (the cashier thought I was a chef).  I took them home and used my glue gun to attach them to foam cones.  I was going to take step-by-step photos, but then I remembered that you guys aren't stupid.   So my instructions for this one: glue bay leaves to foam cones.  *sidenote, I am pretty sure I will never eat something with a bay leaf in it ever again.  Ruined me.

Ta-da!  I have since added some candles to the mantle and am on the hunt for tiny wreaths to hang on either side of the painting.  Or maybe I'll just make those too :)

Hooray for mantles!

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 :)