Some of you may remember the nifty easter gourd bunny shown here half a year ago? See it below once again. I simply love it!
Well, Jeni is having another seasonal show soon and many many vendors of handmade goods will be there. Go check it out if you are around, it's well worth it, I am hoping that Ann Made jams will be there again, yum (spicy!)
The current issue of Better Homes and Gardens features about four pages of know how on gift bows. Admittedly I never read this magazine very closely but those few pages really were worth the pause. Like almost everyone, I am suddenly wondering why oh why I waited so long to start looking/making/knitting Christmas presents, but now at least I know what their boxes will look like. I call that progress!
The layered bow, perfect for using scraps of ribbons too good to throw away.
Here is a link to a How-to video, after the dreadful ads.
I cannot imagine a better campground than Tanner's Flats in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Then again I haven't really camped anywhere else around here. Each site is surrounded by woods and when you want a shower you just go home for a bit (!).
Finn has an habit of waking up at the crack of dawn and on his morning stroll he and his dad encountered a young moose and got charged; quite the adventure which we memorialized in a banner.
It's been decided that we will make a banner at every camp now, they are so festive and Finn likes to learn his letters that way. I will have to pre-print a bunch of triangles in advance or use stencils on site.
On a smaller scale, I was given a few hours of solitude to do as I wished; they were spent practicing for the calligraphy class. Knees are not a good place to write with the pointed pen but still I persisted. Good times.
Every year I think and think about what I should use to wrap our presents. It seems so pointless to wrap everything in brand new paper only to see it ripped apart in mere moments. Plus I ran out of the seemingly endless roll purchased many years ago.
Two months ago I was under the illusion that all the unused Christmas fabrics in my drawers would assemble themselves into adorable/reusable present bags. ah! ah! ah!
So here I am re-purposing a J Crew bag into a gift bag and just making tags for the presents that come alone.
Then, when cleaning out I find these left over rectangles that won't let me toss them. They become 'even more tags'. I keep all the ribbon pieces that come our way, none too small, for just this reason.
I am in a wreath making mood lately, that and the last one was promptly given away to one of my little 4 year old friends. This one above I made with what I had on hand to complement the Advent elf. I am liking this color way so much though that I think I will shelf our regular Christmas decor and make some flag garlands to adorn a little tree in a basket such as this one from a Christmas Tilda book.
It would be a more subdued holiday, but I always get very stressed by the clutter created by the many many "Noel" ornaments and trinkets I have collected in about ten years of marriage and home making. So instead of decking the halls this Thanksgiving we just repainted our front door, not that it was without stress!
In the end I still want my home to look like itself, not transform into a store display. I fully realize of course that many families have a blast decorating every inch of their house but you see I live with a grown man, a toddler boy who thinks he is spider man and two male cats. Nobody cares here, at all!
(unless it's eatable or scratch-able of course)
We went camping this weekend for the first time.The three of us in a brand new tent, brand new everything in fact since this was our inaugural voyage into the woods, making it the costliest two nights out ever! But surely it will pay off in the future.
I really loved it and would have stayed there at least two more days if I could. The river in little cottonwood canyon roars all day and all night and it's all the background noise one needs to fall asleep. It's nice to be dirty and lazy for a while, no expectations but a cold drink or a book.
The first night was a bit cold, and having a kettle really helped. I'll soon be looking for old wool blankets from our local savers to add to our arsenal of goods. Lucky for us, our good friends came to join us with lots of food, fire wood and blankets. It's hard to wrap your head around the fact that you could be chilly less than 30 minutes from home where it seems to be almost 100 degrees this afternoon.
This wreath, is made up of the branches at the bottom of our tree. I love that it was all there for us to use, it's like a gift the tree gave our front door.
they are so many things to make, do, buy, clean before the 24th. I suspect many of us feel this pressure building right now. While doing some mad sewing I have been listening to the podcast of Russian Tales from Toast. You can find them here.
I had those exact books as a child, and looking back at the illustrations it's no wonder I love mushrooms. Almost every page sports a spud or two or twelve.
When I came home today, from the most traumatic dental visit of my life, a lovely message of seasonal thanks was waiting for me on the answering machine. I called back my girlfriend and the first thing I wanted to say was: "I love you too!"
I don't really understand Thanksgiving as a holiday, being an expat transplanted in a family of expats, but never mind that, I will go skiing tomorrow afternoon and when Finn is old enough he can come with me. We'll tell his dad he should come too and it will be our family tradition.
For now I'll just be posting more nude pictures I know you enjoy so much (wink!)
Painting by Carl Larson.
Today is my very favorite Saint's day, Santa Lucia. I make a cardamom wreath every year and light it with candles. The sweet dough is rising as we speak. Once braided and baked, this wreath will take a little trip to my friend Nancy's house, who is having an holiday party for all of her quilting friends. Nancy owns Whimsy cottage, a quilt store in my neighborhood (lucky me!).
