Etsy Treasure Tuesday: Packagery

I'm having a difficult time getting into the Christmas swing this year for several reasons.

1: It's the middle of December and it's 80 degrees outside here! What is going on!?

2: I did almost all of my Christmas shopping online this year, so I (happily) missed that whole "rushing out to buy gifts" experience that usually signals the season's beginning.

3: I was so busy leading up to Thanksgiving and at the beginning of this month that I haven't had time to put up the Christmas tree, so my house looks just the same as for the other 11 months of the year, except dirtier and with a lone little aqua wreath lounging on the piano.

Despite the fact that I don't have a tree to put the presents under,

I do love wrapping them. I love the creativity I get to exhibit, and I love the pretty papers and ribbons and trims. Which is why I chose Packagery for today's Etsy feature, and why I'm feeling a little more in the mood to put on Bing's "White Christmas" and get started.

Doesn't that make you want to stop what you're going and play in the floor with all of the pretties? Me too. Happy Tuesday and happy wrapping, friends!

My DIY Wreath

I'm not sure if any of you will remember that last year in December, I put up a DIY post about how to make this adorable ruffle wreath with felt circles. I bought the materials right around Christmas last year, but didn't get around to making it in time to put up for the holidays. But last weekend, I finally sat down and put together the pretty little wreath below.

I decided to wrap it in (of course) aqua yarn, then I attached my 85 or so circles of ivory felt. Unfortunately, they didn't quite cover the whole wreath. I like the fact that you can see the pretty yarn, but it still looks funny to me, so I need y'all's opinion on the finishing touches. Should I buy more felt to cover it completely? Or should I remove some of the circles so that it's mostly a yarn wreath with a band of ruffles? And what should I embellish with? I bought some vintage-style bottlebrush trees with which I was going to plant a little forest on the bottom of the ring, but I tried to spray paint them gold, and learned to my dismay that bottlebrush trees are impervious to spray paint (at least mine were, after 5 solid minutes of spraying). I could hang some mini Christmas ornaments from the top of the ring to dangle in the center, I suppose. Any other brilliant ideas?

I'd love to hear about any holiday craftiness you've been up to recently!

Holiday Trading

So thrilled that I made it into the 2010 oh, hello friend Holiday Trade Guide! It's such a fantastic way to discover other artists on Etsy, and get some of my shopping done without spending any money! Hooray for supporting each other and being thrifty!

Check out Danni's lovely collection here, and if you make things and are interested in arranging a trade with me, visit my shop here! (That's my Meryton necklace, at the bottom left. Sold a few days ago, but there's lots more prettiness where that came from.)

Holiday Wish List #1

Today's wishlist was inspired by champagne pinks and peppermint stripes.



pillowbox kit by belladrummer; sweet holiday styling by country living; red zigzag rug by madeline weinrib

lacy cardi by modcloth; darling flats by vivienne westwood; scallop top by modcloth

red velvet clutch by Home of Heart Couture; red leather and gold bangles by Maribelle Campa;

Those flats would definitely go on my wishlist if there was anyone who'd spend that much money on me. So cute!

Feast Your Eyes Upon This

As I've mentioned here before, we opted to stay at home on Valentine's Day and celebrate quietly by making ourselves a scrumptious meal. I think I've also mentioned that a few months ago, we had a wonderful pizza at West Crust Pizza here in town, and we decided to try something similar: a homemade pizza with honey-wheat crust, prosciutto, spinach, dates, and fancy cheeses. We chose asiago for the base and a bit of parmesan for a complement.

I found a recipe (here) for a fairly simple honey-wheat crust on allrecipes.com, but unfortunately did not take any photos throughout the process. It was, however, a pretty simple and relatively quick recipe. Here's what you need:

--1 (.25 oz.) package ative dry yeast {I used the rapid rise kind}

--1 cup warm water

--2 cups whole wheat flour

--1/4 cup wheat germ {honestly, I had no idea what wheat germ was or where it was located in my grocery store before Saturday. I'm still as clueless on the first point, although I now know it's used in some pizza dough recipes.}

--1 teaspoon salt

--1 tablespoon honey

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

3. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and add honey and yest mixture. Stir well to combine. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for a few minutes. {I let mine sit for almost ten minutes.}

4. Roll or pat out dough on a floured pizza pan and poke some holes with a fork. {Make sure and pat the center a little further in, so that you have a raised outer edge like you're supposed to. I neglected this step and regretted it when all of the toppings on the outside wanted to roll off.}

5. Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until desired crispiness is achieved.

{Another note here: the recipe states that this amount of dough will make a thin crust, but that doubling the recipe will make a thicker pan-style crust, so I opted for the thick-crust route. I will know better next time; ours was over an inch thick, and was altogether too much bread for a pizza crust. I'm pretty sure that the original recipe amounts, given above, would have produced a perfectly suitable crust somewhere in between thin and crispy and deep dish.}

I didn't photograph the crust on its own before we added our toppings, but here's what we did next:

1. I brushed a thin layer of olive oil on top of the crust and then sprinkled on a little garlic powder.

2. We'd grated our asiago cheese, and we added that next, followed by prosciutto, then dried dates which we'd sliced up, then spinach last.

3. For an extra flavor, and also partially to cover up the spinach and keep it from getting quite so wilty, we added a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan for the finishing touch. Here's what it looked like after all toppings had been added and before it went into the oven for the final baking.

4. Since the crust is already baked, you'll put it in the second time mostly just to melt the cheese. We baked ours for about another 8 minutes.

Ta da! (Sorry my photos seem so red and yellow -- terrible light in my kitchen, and we took these at night.)

Since this little recipe post turned out to be longer than expected, perhaps I'll save the red velvet cupcake recipe for a later post this week. In the meantime, if you decide to try a handmade pizza, let me know how it works out! What would your special toppings be? Nate and I are fancy pizza people -- we do like to experiment with our toppings, and we also like the addition of a sweet ingredient, like dates or pineapple or pear. What about you? Prosciutto or plain pepperoni?

Favorite Things Friday: V-Day Edition

These are a few of my favorite things:

1. Having my dear, sweet husband back at home with me.
2. Not working at a flower shop during Valentine's Day.

(Although, 3. I still love getting beautiful flowers. Like these. But never, in any case, the dreaded and prosaic red rose dozen. It's just old and tired, fellas, and those flowers have been sitting in freezers for three weeks: they aren't going to last another four days. Go with a lovely mix, or a simple hand-tied bunch of tulips or anemones. Trust me on this one, I'm an expert.)
4. Cupcakes, like the red velvet ones I'm going to make for our V-Day dessert!
5. Emersonmade's beautiful fabric flowers.
6. Danni's beatifully-designed Valentine's cards.
7. Sweet cream with raspberries.
8. Love stories.
9. Pink vintage dresses.
10. Lace and ruffles, on just about anything.

(Photo above, and flowers pictured, by nicolette camille, via saipua.)

DIY Thursday: Silhouette Valentines

More loveliness from Livy of A Field Journal. (This DIY post isn't a full tutorial, sadly, because Livy created it for Victoria magazine, so you'll have to pick up a copy to see the full project. I certainly plan to; Livy's gorgous aesthetic, her charming ideas, beautiful colors and wonderful styling make all of her projects instantly my favorites.)

(Image by Livy, pulled from her blog, A Field Journal.)

I Got My Wish

According to my Grandma-in-law, it's only the 4th time on record it's ever happened here in Lubbock, TX, but we had a white Christmas this year: a beautiful blanket of snow descended upon the South Plains during the night of the 23rd, and on Christmas Eve morning, we woke up to two feet of sparkly snow. It was gorgeous. It did make getting out to my parents' vineyard that afternoon much more difficult, but we made it, and spent a lovely, relaxed evening in front of the fireplace and the Christmas tree. It was so nice to have a break, but I'm ready to be done with the holiday craziness, and hoping to put my house back into some kind of normal order tonight. Other happy highlights of the break:

-- Christmas breakfast with ma famille, featuring Aunt Sherry's incomparable blueberry muffins, Grammy's delicious sausage balls and egg casserole, piggies in a blanket, and some lovely fruit kabobs. Mmmmm.

-- Spending lots of time with my husband, who's getting a much-needed extended break from school until his classes start up for the spring next week.

-- My wonderful husband surprised me with a Christmas vacation! We left on the 28th for three days in Grapevine. We ate leisurely, delicious meals at Main Street Bakery, Maggiano's, Buca di Beppo, and Panera, saw three fantastic movies (Sherlock Holmes, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Up In The Air), and went to IKEA (!), where I was allowed to buy anything my heart desired (with saved up Christmas and jewelry funds). I bought a pine shelving unit, and this desktop and these trestle legs, plus lots of other inexpensive organizational wonders. I hope to have photos for you of my clean new workspace soon!

-- The Sanfords' annual New Year's Eve party, which was so much fun this year. We didn't get home until 2:30, and that's the latest I've stayed out in a very long time. (Yes, we're kind of lame.)

-- Spending some time with our adorable nephew Sam, for whom I made a spiffy Superhero cape.

-- A girls' day baking extravaganza this past weekend: we made the most delicious homemade cinnamon rolls while enjoying Sangria and great conversation.

By the way, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you, new and old, for following my blog. It's lovely to think I have something to say that you enjoy reading, and I hope that you'll continue to join me this year to enjoy all that 2010 has for us. Happy New Year, friends!

(Image credit: photo collage pulled from here, by Ez at Creature Comforts; see the post for individual image sources.)

Today is WREATH Wednesday!

I realize that on the 23rd, it may be a little late to be posting holiday decorating ideas, but I saw this Wreath Round-Up post on the Twig and Thistle blog, and thought it might be fun to pass along to you.

I did buy materials to make that gorgous felt ruffle wreath by Kristen of domestifluff, which I featured in a previous DIY post, but I doubt that I'll actually have it made in time to hang it up this Christmas. Still, I'm determined, and after the actual day when all of my handmade gifts are finished and given, I'll have a little more time to work on my wreath project and a couple of others. The vintage photo wreath and the vintage book page wreath would be perfect at any time of year!

On another note, I wanted to mention that I'll be on break today through the beginning of the year, so posting may be sporadic at best until the 4th. I hope all of you have a lovely holiday!

Favorite Things Friday: Color Me Pretty

This post on decor8 this week finally did the trick of putting me in the mood for Christmas -- that, and the fact that several of the gifts I bought for family and friends from Etsy began arriving in my mailbox, and now there's something to put under our colorful little tree. I hope they get you in the spirit too. By the way, if you like them, first see the original post at decor8, then visit Leslie's Color Me Pretty flickr photostream, which is ... well, really pretty.

(Images by Leslie, via her own blog, A Creative Mint.)

Hooray!

I'm so thrilled to have been included in the oh hello, friend Holiday Trade Guide! That's my 'Delicate' necklace in the top center. Super excited! (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, see this.)

(Composite image by Danni of oh, hello friend. Individual photos by various Etsy sellers.)

DIY Thursday: Felt Ruffle Wreath

My eyes lit up today when I went searching for a lovely holiday DIY project, and came upon a tutorial for this incredible felt ruffle wreath this morning at Design*Sponge. Created by Kristen at domestifluff (which is a great freebie and DIY blog, and I was completely unaware of it until today!), this wreath could be done in bright holiday colors, or several shades of maybe red or blue for a more interesting monochromatic look. I can't wait to try it! Here are some photos that illustrate the process but make sure to read the full instructions here or here. Oh, and you should definitely visit the domestifluff blog for some cute holiday gift tag downloads and lots of other crafty goodness!

By the way, Kristen mentioned within her tutorial that a blogger called Maya of Maya*Made, another fantastic crafty blog, has come up with an ingenious way to mark and cut your circles more easily. Then, I found this great tool (available here), which eliminates the need for scissors and tedious handwork altogether! If you're a yo-yo maker, or plan to make dozens of these ruffle wreaths or last week's flower garlands, perhaps you should invest. I'm seriously considering it -- how handy would this be!?

So what color would your wreath be? And would you add paper snowflakes? Vintage glass ornaments hanging in the center? Other lovely embellishments?

Simple Holiday Decorating

Here are some ideas, pulled from Real Simple, for adding some festivity to your home this season, by using objects you already have, or can make very cheaply.

(Clear ornament, above, can be found here. But I plan to make my own with sparkly, colorful things inside.)

Do you guys have other great ideas for simple, inexpensive holiday decorating and crafts?

DIY Thursday: Fabric Flower Garland

I remember seeing these charming fabric flower garlands in a wedding magazine or post on a bridal blog several months ago, though unfortunately, I can't remember where. I loved the idea, and was so thrilled to find a tutorial for them on Once Wed this week, after being reminded of the fantastic idea by this post at Blue Moss. I think that they would make wonderful holiday decorations, and could be done in any color combination you choose. My tree is packed with vintage glass ornaments, and my home full of lots of bright colors at the holidays, so I think I'd choose to include blues, aquas, yellows, and of course pinks, in addition to traditional red and green. See photos of the originals here, and then feast your eyes on the garlands created for the tutorial. (Full instructions here.)

Oh, if only there were enough time before Christmas to fill every room with strands and strands of them. I think I'll start on that in January, so that at least I can make it a reality by next year.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

I remember listening to that song, with the original German lyrics, around Christmastime in my sixth-grade German class at SCS. (I'm not going to tell you how long ago that was, but I'll give you a clue: it was the year Ross Perot ran for President, and our sixth-grade class collectively decided to give him our vote -- which we didn't have -- and even made campaign signs for him -- which we didn't post anywhere except on the edges of our desks in the classroom.) Anyway, our German teacher, Mrs. Garret, promised us a special treat at Christmas: she brought an electric skillet and made us authentic German waffles right there in the classroom. (I should explain here that German waffles aren't quite as much like waffles as pancakes with the slightly rubbery consistency of English muffins, and which you eat with jams instead of syrup.) I remember how much fun I thought that was; at least, until after the waffles were actually on our plates. Then, most of my classmates, beginning with a few of the most troublesome boys, began making gagging noises and asking to be excused to the restroom. They spit out the waffles in the hall trashcan, washed their mouths out at the water fountain, and came back to class smirking and giggling. And here is my Christmas confession ("because at Christmas you tell the truth"): I followed their lead and went and spit out my German waffles too. So if you're reading this, Mrs. Garret, I'd like to publicly apologize for my rudeness and bad behavior. I gave in to peer pressure, and I just want to say for the record, that your German waffles weren't so bad. I'm not particularly fond of English muffins, and I'm not saying that I want to eat a platter-full every morning, but I openly acknowledge that the better course of action would have been to politely choke down most of my waffle, and discretely throw the rest away when you weren't looking. Please forgive me; I was a punk in sixth grade.

On the subject of Tannenbaums, however, a photo of our beautiful Christmas tree is above, and here are some photos of a few of our lovely ornaments: the glitter Eiffel Tower that we got this summer when we stayed at the Paris Hotel in Vegas; the little paper-mache house we bought last year, in honor of our first married Christmas in our own little house; and some other colorful and sparkly examples of the vintage ornaments that cover most of the tree. It's so pretty, I'd leave it up the whole year round, if I could.

BGCP

We had a lovely time last night at the Book Group Christmas Party. I made spiced cider, roasted sweet potatoes, and these, my first foray into the floury world of iced sugar cookies:

Not Martha Stewart, by any means, but not so bad for a first attempt. And I put pyracantha berries in my Pottery Barn simple wall vases; they looked fantastic against our mocha wall.

Then we drew numbers and played our gift card exchange game, a favorite from last year's party. And at the end of the night, we took our Book Group Christmas photo, as we have for the past three years. There have been one or two additions, and we're almost too many to fit in front of the tree anymore; we're grateful for Cory's wide angle lens.

Little Sarah and Isaiah played happily together with their toys, and Sam was giggly and happy until he got a little tired, right before we gathered for the photo. Next year, little baby Neo will will join us at the party. I love the holidays; hooray for Christmas.