Happy Holidays!

*I'm a guest blogger over at Dabbled today! I needle felted a little gnome and wrote up a how to. Dabbled is one of my favorite blogs. Dot dabbles in many things, felted sweater crafts, illustrations, robots, cooking, just to name a few. She also hosts contests that are very fun to participate in. Go check her out!

We had a wonderful time yesterday, quite relaxing.




Denny's mom took pictures of the kids in front of the tree on Christmas Eve,


and I wanted to join in the fun!

Happy Solstice!

And I'm happy to say that my camera has returned! I'm busy finishing up the gifts and trying to stay warm. There is an unusually large amount of snow in Portland, OR right now. I'm very thankful for heat and a fully stocked kitchen!

I just have time to show some of the pictures I've take since the camera returned.


I bought four of these crocheted snow flakes at a craft bizarre, now I'm wishing I would have gotten three times that many!



This is one of my faves, a sweet little hedgehog.


Here are the kid's advent trees.


More stenciling.


We have such an abundance of drawings and paintings by the kids, we decided to use it for wrapping paper. Shown with gift tags from the black apple.


The house for Violet. I still need to sew on buttons, doors and such.


I was going to make Wren a little house too, but he is obsessed with the creatures from this book. I've made sock moneys and glove monsters, now I've ventured into the world of Stupid Sock Creatures! So very fun.


Stocking stuffers for the kids. Pattern from Mochimochi.


I finished one sock! The second one will have to wait until after the holidays. Can't wait to finish it and start on a pair for me though.

Hope to stop in at least one more time before Christmas. Until then, don't forget to enjoy these last few days until the New Year.

M.I.A.

Wow! I haven't had anytime to sit and write. So much going on, so much to do.

*WARNING* Lots of words, no pictures, but also some fun links!

I commissioned a wonderful local artist and blog friend to paint something for Wren and Violet. They turned out perfect!

My über crafty friend has an über crafty mom and she has started a blog that is all about winter celebrations called Gingerbread and Snowflakes. You will find eye candy, recipes, and some crafty how to's.

Another friend of mine has started a business called Lost Arts Kitchen and is teaching cooking and baking classes that incorporate slow food traditions back into our fast paced world. I took her Dairy Magic class and learned how simple it is to make your own yogurt and soft cheeses. It is much cheaper and tastier than store bought.

We went to Great Wolf Lodge for a little family vacation. The water park was great fun. There are lots of unnecessary ways to spend your money there. If you go, bring as much food as you think will fit in one of those little hotel fridges as they charge an enormous amount for mediocre food.

And on the holiday front, tomorrow is Thanks Giving! Ahhhh! I should actually be making pie dough, roll dough, cranberry sauce, puréeing squash for pumpkin pie, portioning and puréeing up some persimmon and then figuring out what to do with it. (A post all about the persimmons in question will be coming soon. Oh yeah, and that post about how to make a fish cake...)

OK, I'm not going to mention all the things that I'm working on or need to be working on for Christmas, that will come when I'm out of the weeds with all the cooking and baking I need to do!

(Scroll down the restaurant/diner lingo list to "in the weeds" for that last link.)

Over The Shoulder Bag

I saw this shoulder bag on How About Orange, followed the link to Tiny Happy's great tutorial and realized this was a must have bag.


This one went to my mom for her birthday.


I fell in love with the fabric and found the perfect button.

I made one for myself out of the cute cherry fabric I bought from Roxanne. I only changed the instructions a tad. Instead of leaving an opening for turning the bag right side out on the bottom of the lining, I left it open on the top of the bag where you are going to sew a top stitch to finish. This step eliminates having to hand stitch the hole in the lining.

I love this bag! If I had the time, I would make an over the shoulder bag in every color.

I Am Super Ninja!

I've been wanting to make a pair of fingerless gloves since last winter. Lucky for me, I found the greatest pattern and yarn from Leethal. And double lucky, she lives in my town!

I bought a knit mitt kit with recycled yarn that was retrieved from a sweater and then dyed. They are a super quick knit and as you can see, I've already worn them in from wearing them practically every day.

There is so much more than yarn at Leethal, she sews and prints many wonderful things. I bought Denny a button up shirt that was "made new" with a cool block print camera design. I just love the totally reasonable, totally unique things I found. You can follow Lee on her blog called dostuff!

Christmas Gift List, Halloween. Wow, It Must Be Sept.

I'm starting on Christmas gifts. Here's what I'm doing so far.


This portable doll house for Violet from UK lass in US.


From mmmcrafts. I've just got to make these for the kids. I'll do a boy version with removable pants for Wren.


I really like this double sided cable scarf from Sweater Surgery.


This is what I want to make for Violet's Halloween costume from Wee Wonderfuls. Wren's costume idea changes weekly, so I'm not sure what that one is going to be.


Last year he was the Prince from Katamari. I also crocheted the Prince for him from a pattern I bought from anapauloli on Etsy.

Things have been extra busy here. Wren is starting kindergarten next week and Violet is going to preschool. It feels like the end of an era for me, life is never going to be the same. It is going to be all about school for the next 15 years or so.

I've been at home with my kids since the beginning and this is a bit of a hard transition for me. On one hand, I'm thinking about all the time I'm going to have for myself. On the other hand, I'm really going to miss Wren. He is going to be in school for 6 hours a day! That is 30 hours a week! Violet will only be going for 5 hours a week, so she will keep me company. I think she will miss her little buddy too though.

A Day Spent In The Kitchen

I spent most of Sunday in the kitchen.


Baking bread. I'm re-working a recipe and as soon as I've got it right, I'll post it. I'm also going to try making Yeast Free Bread, very interesting.


Making more jam, black berry this time.


And these crumb bars. I used up the black berries and it was delicious!


For dinner we had grilled summer squash. We use a little olive oil, salt and pepper, throw them onto a baking sheet and then put the baking sheet right onto the grill. YUMMY!


Along with some delicious turkey burgers topped with divine market tomatoes.