Holiday Favorites

This Christmas, I've been thinking a lot about holiday traditions. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I'm less focused on gifts/presents nowadays and more reflective and thinking about family and the holiday rituals I enjoy. Meg's blog got me thinking about this when she started her holiday swap. One of the requirements was to describe one of your family's traditions around the holidays and share it with your swap-mate. I really struggled to come up with anything, so I didn't sign up.

A few weeks after that, I was visiting with a friend about how I felt I didn't have any traditions and how bummed I was I didn't sign up for the swap. She reminded me that I do, in fact, have many traditions (isn't that what great friends are for?), One of them being the cookie baking marathon that she and I do together each year. So, after that conversation I became more obsersvant of my life, and realized that yes, I have some holiday traditions.

So, here are a few of my favorite holiday things:





These felt ornaments are at least 30 years old. My Grandma G. gave them to my parents when I was I child and they passed them on (I think I demanded them!!) to me when I got married. They were all handmade my a friend of my grandma's and the detail work on them is incredible. They make me smile when I hang them on my tree each year.



The only holiday show I watch each year is the Charlie Brown Christmas. I love the music and the message, and Jeff and I take time to drink our hot chocolate and watch it each year.



Speaking of hot chocolate, we enjoy it all the more thanks to my Waechtersbach Christmas tree mugs. My regulary dinnerware is plain white, so it is a lot of fun to get out these special plates and mugs.

I'm happy I took some time to pause this Christmas season and think about a few things that are really important to me. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday!!

Now, Why Didn't I Think of That?

One of the blogs I regularly read is Heather Bailey , a talented fabric designer who has a beautifully photographed blog. For several months now, she has been hinting about something called trash ties that would be coming soon.

Well, she launched her new site for Trash Ties and of course I had to order some. I just love hair products and will have to try these out. Order by Dec 10th for Christmas delivery and use the coupon code ILOVETRASH to get 15% off

Happy Birthday to ME!

After all, what is a blog for if you can't shamelessly promote your own b-day?

Photo from Sprinkles Cupcakes

Last Friday of November Favorite Thing

I never read any Jane Austen in school. I actually didn't read Pride and Prejudice until after I had seen the 2005 movie version of the book. Once I saw it, I loved it. I read the book, watched the BBC miniseries and eventually my husband bought me the DVD. I know many on the internet are divided over which version (or which Mr. Darcy, more specifically) is better. Now, I am a huge Colin Firth fan but I loved the more recent version. I think it depends on which you saw first. So rent it, or read the book...whatever you choose I hope you love it too!!

Friday Favorite Thing (on Saturday!)

This week, as I was getting ready for Thanksgiving I made my grandma's recipie for cranberry relish. Growing up, grandma would always make this for me because she knew it was a favorite. After I got married, she sent me recipes for all of the things I loved that she made. This week's Friday Favorite is dedicated to Grandma G!!

Grandma's Cranberry Relish

1 package fresh cranberries (12 ounces)
2 - 3 apples (your choice, I like Braeburn)
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1 cup sugar

Chop cranberries and apples in food processor. Combine in lage bowl with pineapple and sugar. Done!! It is best if made several hours before hand, will keep for a few days (it never lasts when I make it 'cause I eat it all up!)

Friday Favorite Thing

In an effort to have more frequent blog postings, I decided to have a recurring theme. You know, some blogs do "Flickr Fridays" or "Flashback Fridays", we'll I'm going to do Friday Favorite things where I'll post some of my very favorite things, hence the title!!

My first Favorite Thing are my Ugg slippers. I know,Ugg's are SO out, but I love these slippers.

This is actually my second pair, my first pair lasting about 3 years before I pretty much wore them out. From around November to March, if I'm at home, I'm wearing my Uggs. O.k., there was that one time I wore them to the grocery store, but that is it, I swear!! Don't judge me :) My feet are always so cold, and these slippers keep them nice and warm.

My Big Adventure

Today I participated in my first craft fair. My office has an annual holiday bazaar where associates and others can come in and sell their wares. I didn't know what to expect, or if people would actually pay money for what I made. I'm really pleased with the turnout. I made up a few samples in a shoulder bag and a tote, along with a couple smaller sized cosmetic bags. I brought in the fabric I had so folks could customize their bags with their own fabric choices. That turned out to be the big draw, most people went over to my fabric stash and oohed and aaahed, and that allowed me to get started on the selling. Here's a snapshot of my "booth"

Getting ready for the sale wore me out!! I worked on my samples all weekend along with my marketing materials (name, business cards, etc.) I've only gotten about 4 hours of sleep the last few nights getting ready. Jeff joked about the "sweatshop" I was working in.

I got orders for about 12 bags, so the work in the sweatshop will continue so I can have them ready by Christmas.

I also set up a storefront on etsy, check it out here I've only got one item on there now, but I hope to get more listed soon. In case you were wondering, KikiBoo is the name of one of my cats, so yes, I named my business after a kitty!!

Kauai Photos!

I added a slideshow to the sidebar with some of our vacation photos. There are too many to add to the blog...if you'd like to see them all go here

San Francisco

Getting ready for our upcoming trip, I was reflecting on our last out-of-town getaway to San Francisco. We went for my birthday in December of last year (wow - 9 months since a vacation...I NEED to get out of town!!) and had a wonderful time. Since I was looking through our photos, I thought I'd share a bit of our trip to SFO.

One of the most fun things we did was take the ferry over to Sausalito to see the town and drive to Muir woods. We started out at the Ferry Marketplace, a beautiful re-done bulding with many local merchants selling food. We were there so early no one was open yet!

Most of the ferry activity was boats bringing people TO San Francisco, so our trip only had maybe 10 people on it.

The ride over gave many photo opportunities of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Muir Woods was so quiet and peaceful, I could have sat there for hours!!

Since we rented a car in Sausalito for the day, we ventured around to a great lookout over the Pacific.

And took the obligatory picture in front of the bridge.

We bought a trolley pass, so spent plenty of time going up and down the hills of the city.

A guide book had mentioned some off the beaten path stops not everyone knows about. One such place was Macondray Lane. Walking up to it, Jeff swore I was lost, but when we turned the corner and saw this little magical enclave of houses, he knew I was right. What a beautiful place. Wonder what the houses cost there??

We also walked down Lombard Street (easier than walking up!!)

Upon a friend's recommendation, we visited the Japanese garden at Golden Gate Park.

What a great trip! It was fun reliving it here for you.

Busy Weekend

Or, 2 Shirts, 2 Skirts and a headband!

With vacation coming up, I thought I'd see if I could sew a few things for my trip. After many hours of work, I'm mostly pleased

This is a pattern I've had for a while but been hesitant to try because it uses knits. Knits don't like me. I do fine with the seams, it is the finishing (hems, neckline, etc) that gives me the most problem. I had this really soft knit I got for like 2 bucks at Hancock's from the remmnant table I thought I'd try. It went together really fast and was fairly easy, but the neckline hem is wavy, like most of the knit projects I try.


I saw this shirt popping up on so many blogs I had to try it. I read that it ran big, and I didn't want it to look like a tent on me (not very flattering) so I cut it a size smaller than my usual. It is plenty snug, so it was a good thing I used some leftover fabric I had. I'll try reworking again. I think it will be very cute when I get it right.


This project started out being inspired by the fabric. I thought it was very Lilly Pulitzer-like print that would make a good skirt. I used a pattern from the book Sew What Skirts and made a wrap skirt. Very happy with how this one turned out.



My second skirt was again inspired by fabric. I saw this madras plaid at the store and thought it looked like a JCrew skirt I had seen. I also used the Sew What Skirts book on this one.


Since I had fabric leftover, I thought a headband would complete my preppy look. Heather Bailey has a free pattern on her website that makes really cute, easy headbands. A few minutes after cutting, viola...a headband.



I also had a great helper during my sewing marathon. Why do cats like fabric so much?!?!?

SWAP Package!!

I received my Favorite Things swap package from Karen in Scotland. She sent me some great stuff - Shower Gel in Show Fairy (Smells FANTASTIC!!) and Melting Marshmallow Moment (don't you love that name?) bath melt from a UK company called Lush, some divine chocolate from her favorite company Montezuma's, some very pretty post-it notes and the best thing of all, a softie she made herself. It is a building made of felt with windows and doors stitched onto it, and a poem on the back that says "A house is made of walls & beams, a home is built with love and dreams." Karen is an architect, making her "building" all the more special to me. Thanks Karen!!

We actually sent each other similar type things...I sent her some of my favorite bath products which like Lush are also from a company that doesn't do animal testing, and post-it notes. How funny! I really enjoyed my first SWAP experience and look forward to joining another. Thanks Kelly for setting this up.

Garden Pics

I love this time of year when my garden is in bloom. The peonies were done a while ago, here is a shot of them:

My irises did not do well this year, I think it is time to divide them. My hydrangeas (my FAVORITE flower) are doing well.

My first Swap!

I'm really excited about it. I've been lurking around in blogger-dom and came across a great blog from Kelly http://according-to-kelly.blogspot.com/ . She is hosting a Favorite Things swap and I signed up. If you'd like to join, hurry - sign ups end June 8th.

Easiest. Cookies. Ever.

Mmmmm. Peanut butter cookies! My mother-in-law gave me the best recipe for peanut butter cookies. I'm serious, it couldn't be simpler:


1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

Mix ingredients until thoroughly combined. Scoop onto cookie sheet (love the scoop thingy!), use fork dipped in sugar to do criss-cross shape, bake at 325 degrees for 13 - 15 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

Catch up time!!

I know, it has been a while since I've posted. About 2 months to be exact. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy working. Here are a few pictures of some finished projects:


This bag is the "Chelsea" from Amy Butler. I made it up in some of Amy's new fabrics from her Lotus line. http://amybutlerdesign.com I love her fabrics and patterns. This bag is supposed to be reversible, but I liked the blue fabric so much, I decided I probably wouldn't ever turn it inside out so I added some pockets and a fabric loop to clip my key ring on to.

I also worked on some projects from Amy's book, In Stitches. I actually got to meet Amy last summer, she was here for an event at my local fabric store. She was very nice, autographing copies of her book and posing for pictures. Here is a picture of Amy and I. Now, I'm tall (about 5'10) and you can see Amy is several inches taller than I am!!

Here are some projects from her book:

This is the CD Holder, but it is really the perfect size to hold patterns!!

Here is the Short Pleated Apron
I gave this as a gift to my sister. She had us over for Easter dinner, her first dinner party so I made her an apron for the occassion.

I also used up some more Amy Butler fabric on this tote bag pattern from Burda 8112.

The tote is actually much bigger than I expected. Guess I should have looked at the finished measurements! It will be nice to take to the farmer's market this summer. My kitty, Samantha, sure does like it! I also finished the knitting needle holder from McCalls 4728.

Of course, I have several more projects in the works....stay tuned!!

It's COLD outside

I wish this cold weather would let up. I'm tired of it!! Here's a picture from a snow we had about 2 weeks ago. It hasn't been warm enough to melt it all away yet. The plus side to staying in is I've finished some projects. The knitting needle holder, apron and pajama pants are done. I even finished knitting a scarf I started 2 years ago! I'll post picures soon, when my photographer's assistant is available to help me :)!

Project Inventory

I think I am becoming an "accumulator". I have many more projects/fabric than I have time. A quick tour of my list of to-do's include:

Valentine's Day cards to be made. Yes, I learned my lesson from Christmas cards. I am (A) starting early and (B) making fewer - only immediate family members will get cards.














My local fabric store just got in the new Heather Bailey line of fabrics for Free Spirit named "Freshcut". I got a gift certificate for Christmas and promptly used most of it up buying fabric for:


This great stripe/pattern combination to be made into pajama/lounge type pants. I'll use the stripe for the main part, and the pattern for the cuffs and possibly some detail around the waistband.









Apron - love the retro colors and bubble paisley. I plan on using the pattern for an apron in Amy Butler's In Stitches book.










I really liked this patterned fabric, so I picked it up with no particular project in mind. When I got home I remembered I had a pattern to make a knitting needle holder I wanted to try so I could get my knitting stash organized (a whole other project list there!!






Those are just some of my recent acquisitions. Older projects languishing include:

A dress for an event I have in February. I picked up Vogue 8313, thought it would be a perfect "little black dress". We'll see... So far most of my sewing has been simple bags, home dec projects, etc. This will be my first garment I'll wear in public. I picked out a black crepe for the body, and black georgette for the contrast top. I've never sewn with a sheer before, but I've been reading up on sewing the seams/hem so we'll see.

I also have a stack of beautiful wool fabrics I'd like to try making a Chanel-style jacket out of. The January issue of Threads magazine has inspired me to try it out.