love forever

And the Winner is...

Kristi! Congrats, you get the prize: a copy of Handknit Holidays! Even though these are picked at random, I wanted to post Kristi's response because I thought it was pretty darn funny and so very true.

"When I was six my aunt sat all of my cousins down, and we each created a large round paper mache ornament. None of them go with any of the other ornaments on the trees, and they are UGLY. However, I don't think the tree looks quite right without the over-sized, matte-finish, cow-and-pig-covered balls pushing all the smaller ornaments out of the way. They are, by far, my most cherished holiday crafts."

Happy Holidays!

I'm in Connecticut for the rest of the year hanging with my family and reconnecting with friends (I had lunch with a friend I went to grade school with yesterday!) so I might be a little scarce around these parts for a few days.

I hope all of you have a really wonderful, restful and joyful holiday!

PS- If you're looking for a cheap and crafty way to wrap up your gifts this year, try this potato printing gift wrap tutorial I have up on Craft Stylish.

Silja Goetz Illustration

I love the variety of textures and materials in Silja Goetz's illustrations.

from Design for Mankind

A Handknit Holiday Giveaway!!

The lovely folks over at STC Craft were generous enough to give away one copy of the gorgeous book Handknit Holidays by Melanie Fallick to one of you readers. I am not an advanced knitter by any means but this book really makes me want to work on my skills!

This book is chock-full of seasonal projects for Christmas, Hanukkah and Winter Solstice that you can work on all year long. I love the variety of projects and skill levels and the heirloom quality of the projects: these are handmade items that you will treasure for many years to come.

If you would like to win a copy of the book, please comment below with a story about your favorite handmade holiday item. It could be a tablecloth your grandma made that gets pulled out every holiday season, an ornament from your childhood or something you made for a loved one. I will pick one lucky reader and you will get a copy of Handknit Holidays!

Oh, one more thing: comments close on Friday at 5 pm EST.

Gourmet cookies

Every month, I eagerly await the arrival of my issue of Gourmet magazine. I read every single issue cover to cover and the holiday issue does not disappoint. Their collection of cookies is absolutely breathtaking. Just look at these photos!

And if that's not enough cookie for you, Gourmet.com is featuring a favorite cookie from the last 68 years of holiday baking. What people cook and bake is often a really good barometer of what's going on in the larger world, so it's really interesting to see trends come and go and tastes change. There's the alcohol-soaked Palets de Dames of 1952, the very rich Mocha Toffee Bars of 1987 and the comfort-food-gone-gourmet Mini Black and White Cookies of 2005 to name a few. Delicious.

Holidays, pomegranates and mindfulness

The holidays tend to be a stressful time for me. Despite my love for holiday baking, decorating and gift giving, I don't usually have a lot of time to do any of these things. In the last decade of my life, eight of those years were spent working retail, last year I was busy finishing a book and the year before that was dominated by ridding our apartment of bedbugs. So yeah, the holidays are stressful.

This year I have vowed that things will be different and I can't tell you how excited I am! This year I am going to bake cookies, help my mom find the perfect Christmas tree and just enjoy the holidays. Oh my god, it's going to be awesome.

I realized that I needed to take some time off this past weekend, just another weekend that I worked 12 hour days both days, and my Mr. Loveforever told me that he wanted his wife back. Yes, it had gotten that bad.  In the past few months my stress levels have been off the charts and I realized that I needed to get back to practicing my mindfulness, staying in the present and recognizing the simple joys in life.

Today I was out food shopping and suddenly I thought about pomegranates and how they are the perfect mindful fruit. The process of eating a pomegranate is so interesting and fun that you can't help but enjoy every moment. Suddenly I needed to have one. Or two.

Tonight as I was pulling apart my pomegranate to reveal its sweet delicious seeds, I thought about how wonderful it was to be eating this fruit. There's something really luxurious about having the time to enjoy a pomegranate. And that is exactly what I want to feel like for the rest of the holiday season. Or the rest of my life but I'm going to try not to get too ahead of myself.

Wishing you all a very restful holiday season as well!

A few of my favorite things

A friend dropped by my place on Sunday to drop off this vase that she found for me on one of her thrifting trips. It was a lovely surprise and looks perfect with a few of my other favorite objects.

Kits!

I am excited to announce that I am now selling kits on my Etsy shop! One of my favorite things about crafting for a living is teaching other people how to make things. Of course I am fine if you want to buy an already made pincushion or eye pillow for me but wouldn't you rather learn how to make one yourself?

I am going to continue to introduce more kits in the future but for now I introduce the Pear Pincusion Kit and the Lavender Eye Pillow Kit!

A Few Things

Oh geez, another week has flown by with very little time to attend to my little blog. I have been crafting up a little storm, getting ready for the Holiday Handmade Cavalcade tomorrow. If you're in the NYC area, drop by and say hello!

A couple of other things that I would like to report on.

Ez from Creature Comforts just posted my flower garland tutorial and I was so flattered that she chose to make this project today (her birthday!) with her family. Apparently Ez and her family make a craft project every year on her birthday; isn't that a great tradition?!!

You can see the full post here, with instructions and templates for making your own garland!

Linda set up a special fundraising shop for her brother-in-law who has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. She has lots of cool things in the shop, including ornament kits from Alicia Paulson, Linda's super-cool crochet accessories and an autographed copy of my book! So head over there and spend a little money for a good cause.

Baby Pearl and the Rabbit

I hope all of you in the United States had nice long weekends and a good holiday!

I got the sweetest email from my friend Susan yesterday telling me that she posted a photo of her baby Pearl with a rabbit that I made for her and it really made my day. Just look at this sweet girl.