Indulge Your Shelf

The presents are wrapped and (most of) the groceries have been bought; the baking is done and the wine chosen. I hope you are making progress at your house, too! Here's a sweet little book of Christmas carols from a small-town antique store I visited the other day; I love the soft, faded cover... it's diminutive size... the illustrations... and some of the wonderfully obscure song titles! I made a couple more of the jeweled trees...they are addictive!  I also got to spend an afternoon crafting with a friend and her curious cat! We had a cozy lunch with the kids and then did some decoupaged ornaments. Back at home, I must say that I'm pretty much all set for Christmas.  How about you?

It's a SNOW DAY here -- not because we have much snow on the ground, but because it's blizzardy and blowing...and very, very cold.  As in, negative double digits with the wind chill. I'm happy to be cozy at home with Ben today.  The photo above was from last night's Troop Christmas get together.  I cannot believe how big his Troop has grown.  So many nice kids. Maybe I will be able to do some crafting today.  I have these ornaments to finish up -- they are all glittered up and just need embellishments!  I have time to do more...the question is, what?  It's a nice problem to have. I wanted to show you how I hung those fun matchbox ornaments on a stamp stand.  I think they look great! Here's another glimpse of some holiday decor: the tissue paper tree I made at the first Birdsong event a couple of years ago ( Carol Spinski's class ), crowned with Lani's crown. Get a load of this beautiful gift I got at my Colorado Springs Button Cl...

I baked cookies today and when I was finished and the oven was still hot, I whipped up a batch of these healthy breakfast cookies.  I found the recipe online recently, but there was no attribution, so if you know where it came from, I'd love to hear. I like them for breakfast because they contain no sugar, no flour, and no dairy; but they do have lots of fiber, and are filling.  If you're tired of making banana bread and (like me) don't like bananas in your smoothie -- it's a great way to use up your over ripe bananas, too.  Here's the recipe: 1-1/2 cups whole oats 1 cup unsweetened applesauce 2 or 3 very ripe bananas Raisins or dried cranberries Cinnamon, to taste I just mash the bananas and then mix with all the other ingredients.  I drop them from a TABLESPOON onto a greased cookie sheet, then, bake at 350* for 35 min. or so. Once they cool, the cookies will come out firm but moist so I always keep them in the refrigerator in a plastic zipp...

 So here's what I'd envisioned for the White Christmas Tags.  I hung them from lengths of different white vintage laces/trims  I didn't use them all -- only the pure white themed ones  The ones that are more colorful are hanging from my kitchen curtains.

 Look at the cute 'Queen of crafting' crown Lani  gifted me with! Next to it is a cuff bracelet I created from more of the supplies that Suzanne brought over for our craft night -- and some buttons, of course. Did I already show you this bag?  I was practicing making burlap roses and then made some from muslin, too. Take a look at this cute wrapping box I used for a gift for Tami ; I got it from a local artisan, Isa Creations  when I met her at Rue de Noel . The little jeweled tree on the bottom left of the photo, above, was inside that cute box. What is this next to my Christmas tree? I am the proud recipient of one of Georgia Peachez amazing vintage ornament wreaths! The same ones that are on the cover of the most recent issue of Romantic Homes . I have been a big fan of Suzy's for years now, and even once wrote an article which includes some of her garden art for examiner.com. So when I saw that the news and entertainment site cr...

Earlier in the season Rebecca and I went to a craft fair at a local high school, and there was one booth with the CUTEST little jeweled, framed Christmas trees! The gal was nice enough to let me photograph them.  Sorry it's kind of blurry, but it was dark in that high school gym! I know it's an older kind of craft (from the '60s and '70s) but she made them sweet -- not gaudy at all.  We were both SO inspired. So, last week we made it happen.  I brought a bunch of my old, broken vintage jewelry, some velvet, glue,  old frames, and we sat in her dining room and made a forest of little trees! It was so simple: first, we took a vintage frame and covered the backing with velvet.  We just glued it on. Then, we took our time arranging bits and pieces of jewels into a Christmas tree shape. When we were happy with the arrangement, we committed and glued the jewels down!  I love this avocado green velvet! And then we did it again.  We h...

What did you do on 12/12/12 -- anything special or different? I was crafting with my friend Connie ; she taught me how to make this round ornament (a bit larger than the inside of a mason jar lid.) She provided all kinds of supplies too -- like this adorable "silkie" picture on a piece of fabric; and then we chose coordinating fabrics and trims from her stash to put together just like a crazy quilt square.  I love this pale green motif. I edged it with silver trim and sequins and doo dads... and marked the day on the reverse, just for fun.  Fun, huh?