scissor therapy

{Looking for the giveaway? It’s below!}

I was feeling a little bit grumpy today, then got mad at the Big Miss for something stupid, then cried, then the Big Miss brought me one of her blankies and a wind-up mouse to help me feel better, which more or less made me feel worse, then I sat by the fire with a cup of tea and whacked and hacked at some old dictionary pages for a while.

Then I felt better.

Amazing what some time, warmth, destruction/creation, and baker’s twine can do for a body. Fab snowflake how-tos here and here.

christmas stuff: music

Jerie’s post yesterday got me thinking about Christmas music. I love Christmas music. This year, these two albums have been on more or less constant repeat in our house.

The year Sissel was the special guest on the MoTab Christmas Special is my absolute favorite of the MoTab Christmas albums. She has the purest, clearest voice I’ve ever heard. Some of the songs are piercingly beautiful (Wexford Carol and Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker come to mind). There’s also a fab new version of I Saw Three Ships — my very favorite carol — called As I Sat On a Sunny Bank. See if it doesn’t stir some deep-seated collective early-American spirit in you. And there aren’t any corny songs on the album, to boot.

The other one is a Frank Sinatra Christmas album that I can’t find on Amazon, but this one comes close to the same playlist. So classy and fun. My favorite: I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm. I can just see the hordes of admiring teenage girls fainting at the line, “Off with my overcoat…”

What are your Christmas music must-haves this year?

christmas cozies

Last year I posted about a Christmas quilt I was making for Lizzy (and would you look at that sweet little baby!). I cut squares for a matching quilt for Maren, but never got around to it until last week.

Almost every square is different — a feat achieved with the help of a few Christmas charm square swaps last year on Swap-Bot.

Still to sew this season: a tree skirt. We’re not going to do stockings this year — we are so tired of toys creeping over every square inch of everything, so the girls are getting a book and some Hershey’s Kisses a My Little Pony each. Call me a Grinch, but there it is. So I’m saving stocking-sewing for another, hopefully more energetic year.

Anyway — I hope your Christmas crafting (or Christmas craft appreciation, as the case may be) is going swimmingly!

blacks vs. whites

Turkeys, that is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Last week we found out about a local farm that’s offering fresh, free-range, organically raised turkeys for Thanksgiving — and some of them are Spanish Blacks, to boot. 99% of the turkeys that wind up on America’s Thanksgiving tables are Broad-Breasted Whites, and I’ve never tasted anything else — so I’m really excited to see how this heritage breed will measure up. This year I’m also giving dry brining a spin — it’s already been way less hassle than the usual turkey-in-a-bucket thing.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. May your day be happily slow, deliciously savory, and celestially sweet!

 

art show details

So! The art show. It was in a huge, beautiful old Victorian home that everyone probably wished was theirs. There were nine vendors, and it was a family-and-friends kind of thing — no public advertisement — so the whole thing felt very manageable and friendly. At my booth, I had an assortment of DIY bunting kits (thanks, Jane, for the amazing [and totally last-minute] packaging tags!), which were a favorite with the mamas. Watch for these soon in my Etsy shop — there’s a limited number of them, and when they’re gone, they’re gone!

I burned the midnight oil on Friday night to whip out a bunch of these clutches from the linen & lace collection. They are lined on the inside with vintage fabric, and they make beautiful gifts!

My favorite things that I made for the show were these snazzy little aprons. Unfortunately, the pattern maker’s terms of use do not extend to online sales (in-person craft shows only), so I’m working on some snazzy giveaways/promos to get the rest of them out to you guys! Skirts big and little are also on the rack.

Our hostess very thoughtfully gave me a spot with a beautiful armoire behind it so that I could hang up some sample buntings. They make me happy just looking at them.

The other vendors had some amazing stuff to show — I absolutely love craft shows for this reason! I didn’t get awesome pictures of everyone’s booth (my camera + low light = no good), but here is a sprinkling –

Pam, who invited me in the first place, makes incredible jewelry that incorporates new and vintage accents. She sources her materials with a lot of care, and it shows! She also sells on Etsy, and you can find her shop right here.

Louise makes the most delicious soaps you ever did smell — I got a bar of clary sage & lemongrass soap, and it lathers wonderfully and has just the right amount of essential oils so that it smells good but isn’t overpowering (and hot dang, she’s having a Black Friday sale!).

There was also amazing lampwork beaded jewelry and silverware –

And unbelievable turned wood bowls, sealed with beeswax, that feel so good in your hands –

There were also quilts, fine art prints, baby accessories, and mixed media stationery. I wish I’d gotten good photos of everyone’s stuff — it was all so great! Big thanks to everyone who came, to Claire for hosting, and to Pam for inviting me — it was an awesome opportunity, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

art show

The week we moved here, a new friend invited me to set up shop at a private little art show that happened today. It was a mad scramble to get everything ready in time, but it was soooo worth it. Lots of fun, lots of new friends, lots of adult conversation (rejoice!). More on this soon; right now I have a hot date with Cranford, my rocking chair, and my wood stove.

forget flu season — this year, it’s cookies

New state, new home, new season, blah, blah, blah — what we really need to talk about right now is cookies. Because, friends, the Martha Stewart Christmas cookie magazine has hit the stands, and I’ve officially been bitten by the Christmas cookie bug.

I now have the biggest impetus of all to make a lot of new friends — and fast. ‘Cause otherwise, everyone in my little family is going to be like 700 pounds by New Year’s. Chocolate Gingerbread Bars! Lemon-Almond Madeline Sandwiches! Peppercorn Shortbread! Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares! Smoky Bacon-Ginger Cookies?! (Ho. ly. Crap.)

Besides that — we’re temporarily living in a hotel, and there isn’t much else to do after the chickies go to bed other than to hang out in the bathroom with something thrilling to read. Like magazines about cookies.

the 4th in pictures

We’re back from a whirlwind weekend trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s in rural Indiana. It was exhausting, but so awesome. I’d only ever visited my in-laws in the wintertime, so seeing all the fields and flowers in full bloom was such a treat. The girls were in heaven; they ran (and crawled) their little legs off every day, then just about fell asleep before their heads hit their cribs every night.

Picking (and eating!) mulberries from Grandma’s tree…

Wandering the garden…

Admiring the June flowers…

Spying on the groundhogs living in the barn…

Taking a ride in the tire swing…

All the space in the world for crawling (she’s off to antagonize the cat)…

Lizzy’s frequent request: “Want Grandma to chase me in the field!” Soybeans and corn as far as the eye can see…

This city girl’s first taste of clover…

And first walk in a corn field, my midwestern sweetie leading the way…

What were you up to this weekend?

post-christmassing

Christmas in Indiana was delicious — filled with tasty little nieces and nephews, far too many treats, a bit of board gaming, and plenty of raucous laughter. It was definitely worth the drive. Now we are home again and, in the face of an apartment that looks more like a war zone, I think we’ve silently agreed not to even look at it until we’re good and ready. Earlier we took the Big Miss out for a spin with her new trike; she doesn’t quite get the pedaling thing and we’ve got to work on getting that helmet to fit, but we had a great time. The small set is out for the count right now, and I’m off to join them. Happy New Year!

christmassing

We’re off to Indiana to spend Christmas with family. Merry Merry from us to you; may your your Christmas be filled with excitement, peace, and much pie.