Handmade + Christmas + Quilting

I made a depressingly small number of handmade gifts this Christmas and I am determined to do better next year. I know some people don't "get" or appreciate handmade gifts but I personally know how much time, effort, and heart each one takes so I will continue to give them!

Entertainingly enough, the thing I think I like the best is this big spaghetti plate that I painted for myself. Our staff got to go to one of those paint your own pottery places as a staff appreciation day and I picked out this plate. After scouring Pinterest for something that I could easily replicate, I picked this dotted paisley idea and I am pretty proud of the way it turned out!

This is technically not handmade - or even a gift - but it is always a gift to myself when I decorate the front porch. I always love the house being decorated for Christmas because it looks so festive and loved. And of course, the guard corgi doesn't hurt either. I'm committing to making my house be a place that I love in the new year - instead of tolerating the mess or leaving projects half finished. Stay tuned for updates there...

This is a possibly too short but awesome none the less sleeve I made for my sister's glass french coffee press. I just measured it while at her house before Christmas and made this from estimates. I will try to make her another one that fits a little better soon but I loved the fabric!

I also made her some placemats that I am pretty proud of even though they were my first try. I forgot to snap a picture so I've requested one from her. I'll put it in here once she sends it.

I volunteered to make a friend at work some placemats when she was bemoaning that she couldn't find any Christmas ones that she loved. I actually used a pattern for these so they turned out pretty good though I obviously have the final pictures on my regular camera, not my phone so they aren't here either. The upper pictures is the back - I wanted them to be "every day" use so I used some fabrics to match her house.

This is the Christmas side of the placemats and I love them. So bright and fun. I made a set of four and even taught myself how to hand stitch the binding on the back so they look really awesome and finished. 

Chad got a couple of handmade mugs from me, though not made by me. I've broken a couple of his over the last few years so bought some replacements. If we had a cabinet full of mismatched pottery mugs, I'd be a happy girl. One is from an art student at Covenant and the other was from a little lady at his parent's church. I love them both and I'll take a picture to add later. :) I know - worst blogger in history. 

I've been working on two different quilts - for us! - since I'm not quite ready to make one to give away yet. I've been aching to replace the two quilts/coverlets on the twin beds in one of our guest rooms. Eventually - not an announcement of ANY kind - this room will become a kids room and we'll stack the beds back into bunk beds to make room for a crib/rocking chair, etc. I wanted to make quilts that were we a little more "youthful" without being too kiddie so that room can be used lots - if we never have kids too.

These two pictures are some of the half square triangles that I'm using to make one quilt. The fabric is called "Forest Friends" and it is by Moda. There are lots of foxes, rabbits, bears, skunks, cute little mushrooms, leaves and trees involved. Lots of sewing, cutting, and ironing too. This is one stack of 84 squares and the twin size will require nearly 5 stacks. Sigh. Work in progress - maybe this is why i didn't make many homemade gifts? I've had quilting on the brain instead. 

This quilt I am pretty excited about because it is a little more simple and feminine. Chad doesn't like that it is "random" like the last strippy quilt I made but I love it. I've since added a wide pink border to make it a twin size and I purchased the fabric for backing and making the binding yesterday. Making your own binding is also a pain but it opens up a whole different world of binding colors and patterns and will totally be worth it. This is the "Miss Kate" fabric by Moda as well. 

Been elfing...

I know it has been a few weeks since I've posted and there really isn't any one excuse for that. I've been busy with work, etc. but also been busy just trying to love on the people that matter. Spent some good time with family on Thanksgiving, Chad and I got out all the Christmas decorations on Friday, and my mom made an appearance this weekend to attend the annual Vince Gill concert. I've been busy working on craft projects for Christmas presents and making my house look festive for the season. I'm not sorry that I've been missing around these parts. But I still love all 7 of you.

November Birchbox!

It is Birchbox time again! I'm a little late getting it posted this month but it came right on time last week. This month's theme is "More Good" - sort of focused on the holidays.

 

 

This is a sample of Sampar's Equalizing Foam Peel. I am a little nervous about using a peel but it claims to be gentle so it is worth trying! The full size is $75 and honestly I don't think there is anything that could make me purchase the full size - there isn't enough here in the sample to make me fall in love with it - but I am excited to try it!

This is a Joie sample of their Folle de Joie perfume. I haven't gotten a perfume sample in a while since I updated my profile that I would like to receive fewer of them (I was getting one in every box!) but I REALLY like this one. It is a little less floral than others I have received - almost more "grown up" smelling, if that can define a perfume. I've worn it twice now and I like it a lot...

This is a Tiossan body cream sample. It is a nice thick cream that rubs in pretty well. Nice size to toss in the travel bag and it has lots of antioxidants in it - supposedly great for skin so that's a win in my book!

Another Color Club nail polish. The color is quite a bit darker in person - this picture makes it look bright blue but it is closer to a dark royal in real life. I think I will start with it on my toes and go from there. I usually avoid blue and green on my hands - personal preference - but this one is dark enough that it might fly!

Finally, this is - I believe - a full size product! It is a Chella brand highlighter pencil. Regular price is $18 and if the full size is bigger then that is awesome. I have already used it multiple times and I really like it. Perfect shade to brighten up brows bones, inside of the eye, etc. Goes on thick like a concealer but smooths easily. Really like this one.

 

All in all, this was a really good month! Great nail polish color, lovely perfume sample, and the highlighter pencil topped it off.

 

I actually used some of my Birchbox points to purchase full size items of things I received in previous boxes (the Benefit Fakeup concealer - AWESOME - and a dry shampoo) and only paid $4! Yay Birchbox points!!

August Sister Box

Omg, omg, omg. Now my sister has sent me a box that rocks my world. I have - by far - the best family out there. Sorry - no argument from any of you folks. :)
(And blogging from the phone so excuse the crazy formatting).

I got an awesome stamp set that any teacher would be super jealous of.

I got pink grapefruit chewy candy - pretty much one of my favorite candies and something my sister and I used to always eat together.

Super cute washi tape - and I am already trying to decide where to out it! Omg - tape all the things!

And the most awesome - a benefit brand kit that has pore perfector, highlighter, lip gloss, and mascara in it. Can not wait to try everything out!
Birchbox, eat your heart out!

Sis - you rock.

August Mom Box!!

My mom sees that I get so much joy from my monthly Birchbox subscription - and that it makes me write a blog post - that she decided that she needed to send me a MOM BOX to get a giggle and a blog post. Now, this is not your everyday beauty subscription - this is the real deal, comfort food and all! What does that mean, you ask? Well, she sent me all the ingredients for a chicken casserole (minus the onion and carrot, thanks to the P.O.'s hesitancy to ship perishable goods) along with a giant bag of Peanut M&M's - because that is my guy's very favorite thing. She even sent the recipe card written in her own sweet handwriting which I will treasure in my recipe card box (along with others from my grandmother and great-grandmother...nothing like a passed down recipe!).

I can't wait to try this casserole and I think my always hungry dude is gonna love it. Thanks Mom! You are awesome!

January Birchbox reveal!

Forgive the crazy - I am blogging this from my phone. I decided that was the only way to get the pictures up today so the sweet sister/Birchbox gifter could see them. The camera pics were way better but phone pics are what we have so we are going with it.
Items below:
Aerie brand fragrance in "Shimmer" (not actually shimmery which is good!). Smells really nice. One of my more enjoyable Birchbox scents. Anything with peony and vanilla can't be bad!
Embryolisse moisturizer. Apparently this has a cult following but I haven't ever heard of it. Can't wait to try it on my winter dry face though! Barely smells but a lovely clean scent.
Eyeko skinny liquid eyeliner. I have been wanting to try my hand (har, har) at a liquid eyeliner so I am really excited to try this!
Ojon rare blend oil Total Hair Therapy. They must know my crazy frizzy winter hair pretty well. Coolest part is the 3 oil colors that you blend together before using. I will try anything on this frizzball and I love products that only take a couple of drops because even a sample lasts a long time!
Beauty extra was this 100% pure nourishing body cream...a vegan product. Anything that smells like green apple is a plus in my book so I plan to slather this on post-shower tonight!
Thanks again to my awesome sister for the monthly surprises in my mailbox!

p.s. shameless Wooby photobombing here.  

Homemade Christmas.

A couple of years ago, I tried to do an exclusively homemade Christmas and I realized that it is more difficult than I anticipated. Most people already have an idea of what they would like (and C's family conveniently sends their wish list around!) And I can't make everything! This year, I am going to try to make as many gifts as I can and I am off to a good start! I will take pictures and gladly show you after the gift giving occasion has past! I am so excited to give the things I have made! And from what I hear, Chad is making some of his own gifts too so I can't wait to see what he does!

For a friend.

Chad's man bff (cause I am his lady bff!) just moved out - again - to a little apartment just 5 blocks from us! He's been moving around, mostly finding himself I think, and he is ready for another step out in to the real world again.

Every time I have a friend around my age move out on their own (unmarried), I am reminded how blessed I was when I finally moved out "on my own" to live with my then-new husband. We moved into a fully furnished, lived in townhouse where we wanted for nothing. We didn't even have to start buying toilet paper for a while!  So, I am hyper aware of people who are starting out, starting over, making a go of a fresh place to live. I decided that it would be nice to bring him a little care package/housewarming gift of sorts.

I assumed that since he is a dude that he needed a few basics because he forgot to buy them for himself...so, I included:

A small trashcan for the bathroom, a Febreeze plug in thing with a clean smelling refill (nothing too fruity or girly, I promise!), hand soap, dish soap, a new bath towel and wash cloth, and a basic first aid kit (that includes things like Tylenol, Pepto, bandaids, etc. to get him started).

Here it is all packed up and ready to take down the road.

I remember my blessings clearly and I just wanted to bless him a little bit too...

it should be fun to have him close by - a close friend for my sweetie! I am a little jealous - so my bff's - who's moving?? :)