More Sneak Peaks

Just the edges of the final handmade gifts. I'm pretty proud (and shocked) to have made 16 out of my 26 gifts with 0 meltdowns.

The full pictures will be up around the New Year.

Miniature Personality Pies

Little pies are a perfect last minute handmade gift and creating the ingredients based on the recipients personality adds extra charm.

I used regular recipes and cut the ingredients by 1/3-ish to make 3 miniature jar pies.

Corgi Christmas Party - 2010

The Corgi Christmas Party is by far the fanciest shmanciest party of the year and anyone who is anyone in Columbus is there. The girls where festive handmade hats while the boys are adorned in ugly Christmas sweaters. Pretty fancy, huh?

And so we all cram our outrageous hats into Allen and Tasha's bungalow and stuff ourselves with cake pops, spinach artichoke dip, and of course gem shaped "holiday" jello. Everyone quarantine's themselves to the kitchen, which is a cultural phenomena that I do not understand. This year Mark impressed by opening two (not one, two) bottles of champagne with a knife. Then Sarah always wins first place for her amazing head creation and we party the nights away.* The corgi's make fantastic hosts and keep us all very entertained.


*in actuality we are becoming painfully old and leave soon after midnight because we are so tired.

Four Years

of hanging out with this guy.

p.s. This picture was taken four years ago. Don't we look like yougins?!

A few down

and only a few more handmade gifts to go. I can only show tidbits of the gifts for obvious reasons ;) The full pictures will be up after the holidays. Making gifts has gone surprisingly well. No major meltdowns...yet.

Check the mailbox

Letters and packages are on their way!

2010 Holiday Photo

The finer things...

Pizza, wine, and crafting. Who needs spa weekends with your best friend when you've got this? (Not that I would say no to that)

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* winter wonderland outside
* all snuggled up inside

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Check out this super cute blog, The Purl Bee, that Sara sent me. This gives me so many ideas! It looks like I'll be making my Christmas gifts next year too.

(pictures are from their blog)

The Invitation Bandit

WARNING!!
There have been several reports of a mysterious bandit leaving adorable Corgi Christmas Invitations on Columbus' residents homes. Their signature move is to tape the invitation to the front door and knock loudly before running away.

Do not approach these individuals as they may be dangerous.

a tiny little tree

When Christmas tree shopping these are the things I look at: how prickly are the needles (I like my tree's to be the prickliest), which tree looks the loneliest, which one will fit into our little house and not swallow the room with Christmas cheer, and finally but most important which one has the tallest top branch.

Also why do cats refuse to drink out of their water bowl but then slurpe down the Christmas tree water as if they are neglected.

A Crafty Christmas

Hours were spent at the breakfast nook as a little girl creating gifts for my family out of odds and ends found around the house. One year I creating a village for mom out of a gift box lid and McDonald's Happy Meal toys. My father still has all of his gifts filed away in his study.

This year I'm skipping the malls in exchange for crafting on our big table to the tune of Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas". It's not easy. Fashioning meaningful gifts that aren't too reminiscent of the ones I created as a child is a challenge. But an enjoyable one.

Best Ever Pecan Pie

I'm always giving away my best kept secrets. I'm a sharer, what can I say. This pecan pie is good, and I mean really really good. It's sans the weird jelly filling and incredibly simple to make. Even the non-baker can easily whip this together and surprise the family tomorrow.

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs (the ones from free range chickens are the best cause they add more body)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well.
• Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
• Pour into an unbaked 9-in pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until done.

(recipe and photo via allrecipes)

Mix Master Mark

It's astonishing how many bands have recorded at The Tone Shoppe in the few months that it's existed. Mark is adding our friend Alyssa's band, Churches Burn, to the list this week. I was only half awake yesterday when Mark was explaining something about recording a microphone attached to a drill. Point being, it will sound crazy and amazing and I can't for you to hear it.

Tiny Vegan Pies

Tiny pies are back! This time in vegan form. Flavors include Lemon Blueberry, Maple Pecan, and Rosemary Apple, all for my favorite vegan's birthday.

Check (sort of)

I successfully finished the headwrap from the lovilee wool yarn but I did not so successfully learn the "plait" stitch. I poured through youtube tutorials for hours knitting the yarn into a big mass of tangles and eventually admitting defeat. I relearned that valuable lesson that you can't become an expert overnight, it only comes with experience.

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9:21 a.m. - woke up with an excitement hangover from an impromptu girls night that included two free tickets to CATS and a late night dinner at Tip Top.

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...from my favorite book.

I heart Columbus - Downtown

This once dead little cluster of buildings has begun to resuscitate into a thriving metropolis. It's still in the beginning phase. There are clusters of construction and open soon signs. Most restaurants still close at 3pm but those that stay open are packed in the evening. New galleries like OSU Urban Artspace, the endless list of theatre events, and cool hangouts like Dirty Franks all help to bring our downtown back to life.

Dear Indoor Herbs

Thank you for letting me bring you inside despite my long history of killing indoor plants. Please give this a chance and not die on me. I will talk to the cats about their never ending attempts to knock you down.

Thanks,
Michelle

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There laziness is inspirational.

If I was rich...

I would buy this clever fox scarf from Donna Wilson and these hand made Guatemalan slip ons from Osborn Design.

100% wool

How lovilee is this yarn? I'm expanding my very limited knitting skills to include the "plait" stitch. Hopefully I will have a nice end product to show you soon.

Little Seafoam Dress

This gorgeous little number is forcing me into the gym every morning. It is my very own J. Crew dress which I used Sara's wedding as an excuse to purchase. I loooooooove it and it's the only thing thats been able to inspire me enough to work out.

21c Museum Hotel

I have been obsessed with booking a room at the 21c Museum Hotel since my aunt and uncle sent me an article about it being the number one hotel according to Conde Nast. It's also a museum that is open to the public and features artwork from the 21st century. How cool is that?