handmade gifts for the holidays

The majority of my friends gave handmade gifts this year and I can't tell you how much more I cherish the craftsmanship and sentiment. 

With only having a few days left to make gifts, I chose an easy route: stamping on canvas tote bags.

It's hard to go wrong with a triangle motif. The stamps were easy to cut with an xacto blade and the stamped pattern is forgiving with irregularities. 

Again, I learned this technique in the Design Sponge craft workshop.  I cut the triangle out of a foam sheet and stuck the adhesive back to a small piece of cardboard. Using the first triangle as a template, I cut 5 additional ones for stamps so I would have one designated for each color I planned to use.

A foam brush was used to apply the paint. Step and repeat. Wash and reuse. A fairly simple process.

Instead of wrapping, I just rolled them up in a smaller piece of fabric and tied it with some leftover yarn.

And since we're discussing handmade gifts, below are a few I received from friends.

Suzy is a reputable momma to many large succulents (I don't know how she does it), so she gave her friends clippings off her large jade. I repotted it in a sweet little pot I just found at the thrift store. 

(local peeps: Habit for Humanity in Kville just received a large shipment of Smith & Hawkins pots and containers - all range from 99 cents to $2.99)

Richelle beaded an awesome necklace. You're going to start noticing a common motif amongst our presents.

Marissa painted pinecones and pendants and presented them in a reusable container she had also painted. I love these.

Beth always makes ornaments for her friends every year and this year was no different. You can view some of her other ornaments here.

Julie sewed little tissue holders for her pals. I love the cute duck fabric she chose.

And Amy didn't knit the sweet llama ornament, but someone somewhere did.

So that's a glimpse into my loot. What did you guys make or receive for the holidays?

the morning of christmas eve

Since Christmas Eve was on a Saturday this year, our friend Richelle invited everyone to her house for an informal gathering before the holiday madness started. Coffee, conversation and friends: ingredients for a cozy, delightful holiday.

Since Richelle owns an etsy shop specializing in vintage finds, her house is an ever evolving gallery of her treasures. I can't help but spend most of the time I'm over there snooping around her house, taking pleasure in discovering each carefully arranged vignette.

Richelle

Marissa

hand painted pinecones - a gift from Marissa

Amy, Amelia & Henry

I spy a YEAH pillow I made a few years ago.

I'm hoping this is the beginning of an annual tradition. 

Check out Richelle's etsy shop here: Modfolk Vintage. A few of my favorites are this whale, this Viking guy, and this mug.

pancake of the week: oh christmas tree!

Apple star, yogurt garland, blueberry and mini M&M's (hey, it was a special occasion) ornaments and nutella trunk. Presents were decorated with nutella, yogurt and bits of crunchy pancake crumbs.

**UPDATED: Don't forget to check pancakeoftheweek.com for more pancake inspiration.**

Original request was "wrapping paper," but that was a tad complicated to say the least. Lots and lots of presents to go under a tree was the second request. This is the year we ruined our son.

the fun never stops

And the week of awesome holiday activities continues...

I am happy to say we survived our first Christmas program! Admittedly I was probably more excited and nervous than the little man, but his performance did not disappoint. He takes his singing very seriously, hence the lack of a smile, and managed to carry on with his well rehearsed carols in spite of the jokers around him. An older boy behind him was screaming the lyrics and for the first half of the program, Avery kept turning around and glaring at the attention hogger. I was worried he might turn around and pop him, but he remained composed and sang his little heart out.

It was the most unrecognizable rendition of Jingle Bells I've ever heard, haha. God bless them.

 

We've enjoyed surprise visits from friends home for the holidays,

(photo from VP)

visited this decorated house (lights synced to music - yeah!) EVERY other night, 

 

and have been listening to the She & Him Christmas Album nonstop.

I love that album because I can actually sing along to it. No high notes to reach or new lyrics to memorize. And it sounds fantastic on vinyl - it just makes the experience more special.

And since I keep ruining all my Christmas surprises, I have to give you guys a little sneak peek of the gifts I've been making my friends.

Triangles - big surprise, right? I put the stamp making technique I learned at the Design Sponge craft event to good use. I want to stamp EVERYTHING now.

I'll share more of the project after the holiday.

The shopping is done and all the crafts are completed. Time to relax. Are you guys ready for the holiday?

little bits of awesome: gratitude

This week I'm so grateful for...

...the box of macarons our friend brought us back from his recent trip to Paris. These are the real deal, folks. He also brought us a bag full of colorful beautifully crafted soap, his trademark souvenir.
 

...watching Life In A Day alone late Saturday night. So I could cry and cry and cry all by myself. It's a full-length documentary composed entirely of user submissions from 192 countries, all having been recorded the exact same day. The production team wove together a powerful, moving story which offers a touching perspective on humanity around the world. When hard times hit, it's comforting to see you're not alone.

You can view the entire movie here, but I would recommend streaming through Netflix to skip the commercial interruption. Do not miss it.

...and for winning the Pinhole Press gift certificate from A Cup of Jo. I compile a book of Avery photos as Christmas gifts for the grandparents each year and had been looking for a new printing company to use, so the gift certificate couldn't have come at a better time. Plus funds were running low this holiday, so it was greatly appreciated!  (FYI: Martha Stewart also recommended Pinhole Press in their December issue)

I highly recommend using Pinhole Press for your next photo book. The website was extremely easy to use – just an upload, drag and drop system. They provide the page layouts, which is easier for a novice to use, but the only drawback is that one can't double up photos on a page or switch the photo orientation. 

Here's just a little sneak peek since it is supposed to be a Christmas gift. 

This is going to drive my mother nuts, haha.  

Strong binding, a cloth cover and gorgeous paper makes for great prints. 

I'm as pleased as punch with the quality of printing!

So what is making you guys happy this week?

pancake of the week: the evil crow

FiberOne instant pancake mix, blueberry evil eye, banana wings and tail, sausage link talons

**UPDATED: Don't forget to check pancakeoftheweek.com for more pancake inspiration.**

Dedicated to the ginormous evil crow who perched on my shopping cart and searched through my grocery bags while I was busy buckling Avery into his car seat last Saturday morning. Avery laughed hysterically as he watched me waving my arms, swatting wildly at the bird who then perched on the hood of my car taunting me. Beware the Kroger birds lurking on the side of the building – they will hunt you.

Avery thought this little escapade to our greatest adventure yet, so naturally, a "crow" is what he requested once we got back from the store (we had run out of pancake mix).

2nd annual cookie swap

Ugly sweater parties are so five years ago – the holiday cookie swap is where it's at, y'all.

Sixteen ladies armed with baskets of cookies. What's not to like about this scenario?

I asked my friends to bake some cookies to share, packaged for easy distribution along with a recipe. Suzy won the imaginary prize for best packaging by folding paper cranes for each one.

We sipped hot pear cider and nibbled on baked brie. It doesn't look like anyone is having fun in the photos, mainly because everyone freezes when I start walking around with a camera. 

But I swear, fun times were had.

And we wore name tags so there would be no awkwardness from not knowing a girl's name you met the year before. Thanks for the great suggestion and for providing them, Amy.

Richelle entertaining the littlest guest all decked out in her lovely Christmas attire.

I love hosting these cookie swaps right before the holidays because you receive a great variety of homemade sweets to share with family and friends who might drop in. It's also fun hearing where the recipes came from, whether they be a prized family recipe passed down the generations or obtained from the back of a chocolate chips bag.

pancake of the week: Mila cat

Trader Joes pumpkin pancake mix, strawberry nose and ears, banana eyes with dollop of nutella

**UPDATED: Don't forget to check pancakeoftheweek.com for more pancake inspiration.**

christmas crafting our cares away

After receiving what seemed like an endless chain of bad news, I made the decision to wrap up my worries with tinsel and garland until the holidays arrive. I'll face these troubles on December 26.

I understand the reasoning now behind my late grandmother's obsessive Christmas decorating – for just a few weeks, she'd surround herself with memories of the past, blast her old movies, and perhaps only for a few minutes, forget she was all alone.

So I filled the weekend with Christmas related activities so as not to share my troubles with this little guy. First up: candy house decorating.

This was something I loved doing with my mother growing up. She'd invite the neighborhood kids over so everyone could bring one back for their family.

Instead of gingerbread, we use a house shaped cake mold. Slather the cake with peppermint icing and apply candy - really, it's so simple.

And it was fun giving the control to a 3 year-old and not worrying about how pretty the outcome would be. He managed to eat just as many gum drops as he put on the house.

And afterwards, we took it to Bobby's parents' house, trimmed the tree, and ate it for dessert. Create and destroy - yum!

I inherited these eerily lifelike deer from my grandmother. She would proudly display them on her hearth and I adored them as a young girl. And I love setting them out in remembrance of her, but...they're kinda creepy.

So I painted them white with gold accents. I wish I could do that with everything that troubles me, don't you?

little bits of awesome: upholding tradition

Sometimes residing in your home town has its advantages.

Besides the fact that Ave gets to spend time with his grandparents on a weekly basis, we are able to introduce him to local traditions we partook in growing up. Take for instance, the magical campy world that was known as the Winter Wonderland at Coleman Nursery.

Every Christmas, my mother would take me to view the world of animatronic figures set up for the holidays at a nursery in Portsmouth. It was, my friends, truly magical. Here is my friend Amy and I in 1980. We were three years old, the same age as Avery now.

I'm really digging her jacket, but I digress...

The nursery closed at some point and the owners were going to sell the collection, but the City of Portsmouth teamed up with a nonprofit to buy the pieces so the tradition could continue.

Now parts of the collection are on display at the Courthouse Galleries in Olde Towne Portsmouth, so we took Avery for a little visit.



His eyes widened with amazement upon entry.



Each vignette offered up a full dish of kitsch. But to the eyes of a three year old, they were miniature fantasy lands full of elves, candy, and other Christmas delights.

If my memory serves me well, at some point the nursery caught on fire and a great portion of the collection was destroyed. My personal favorite woodland section disappeared, but the circus clowns vignette remained unharmed.

And to this day, it still scares the crap out of me.



Really, does anyone not find clowns disturbing?

So, that's it. Next traditional activity involves gingerbread house making and I can't wait.
What do you guys every year?