More time for felt!

With xmas right around the corner (seriously - how did it sneak up so quickly?) I thought I'd share a few fun felt crafts I've been oogling but most definitely did not find time for...

Craft #1 - Felt Snowflakes:


The purl bee does it again with yet another amazingly awesome tutorial. I really love how simple these ornaments look to make and the bright red colour! I doubt these would be much use on my tiny little fake tree but would be absolutely perfect for a larger cut one! Just look at how big they are! They'd fill in all those charlie brown holes wonderfully!

Craft # 2 - Felt Pinecones:


This craft comes from family circle under their "easy felt crafts" section. I'm not entire sure these would be that easy to execute but who doesn't love pinecone decorations? And felt is my favourite media to work with...hmm...maybe I will have to make these in brown and avoid their association with xmas altogether! After all I do have felted acorns hanging in my kitchen - maybe earl the squirrel would like some pinecone friends too!

Craft #3 - Felt misletoe hairpin:


This wonderful tutorial comes from matsutake and is perfect for anyone requiring an excuse to get extra kisses! I really like the olive green felt she uses for her pin and I'm sure on the right person this pin would be wonderful! I think I'd be more tempted to make this one into a brooch for myself, but I pretty much fan out of time for the year anyways...

Maybe some of you out there are already on vacation and up for a last minute felt craft or two (and if you are I'm oozing with jealousy) but I'll have to save these for next year! Rats!

It's beginning to look a lot like xmas!

With only 3 days left until xmas I'm happy to say I'm actually pretty prepared! My goal to avoid last minute shopping has come true and my living room is full of xmas cheer:


Woo! I'm pleased with how all the wrapping turned out (took me an entire evening) and even if it isn't quite the handmade parcels I was aiming for, they do look crafty with all the knit sweater paper I used:


I also decided since I don't own all that much in the ways of wrapping supplies I'd make it a year for bows and reuse all the wonderful bows I saved from fraser's family xmas last sunday:


I even purchased a few (like those gold ribbon-y frilly ones) to add even more bow sparkle! Hooray! And since we're on the topic of shiny gold things take a peek at the cute gold birds I bought the other day with my mom (as inspired by lindsay's sweet budget xmas decor):


Aren't they sweet on their doily? I was contemplating getting the off white porcelain ones instead but decided the gold was much more festive and it would be nice to just bring them out over the holidays. Now I just need to wait for my sister to arrive so we can finish up the stocking stuff and I'll be set for the 25th! How are your preparations coming along? Anyone do any neat wrapping this year?

Eep!

After reading AJ the Purple's blog post yesterday morning I came to the a scary realization - there is less than a week before xmas! Eep! And with such little time left I also realized that I only really have one day off work where I can prepare for the big day! (Double eep!) So instead of breaking into panic I've decided I should just focus on all the awesome things that have been going on lately instead and worry about the preparations later. Sounds like the perfect plan right? Good! Let's go!

Awesome thing #1: I managed to wrap my gift exchange present! I certainly hoped I was going to pull that one off (especially since the exchange was last night) and I sort of drew inspiration from yesterday's blog post. Check out yarn and doily wrapped present:


A little bit of a doily overload under that tree of mine but who can say no to a good doily? (Answer = clearly not me) If I had a little more time to put it together I'm sure it would have been slightly more impressive (and probably include a few pom poms) but I am pleased with how it turned out! Hopefully it was a hit at the party too!

Awesome thing #2: Joel Plaskett is following me on twitter! This seriously made my day on friday! Next step? Sway him into purchasing something of mine from etsy and have celebrity exposure! Forget photoshopping Dan Mangan...Joel could do it for free!


Awesome thing #3: Xmas cards! One of the best things about this time of year is all the mail you get! I've acquired some xmas gems too, take a peek:


Awesome thing #4: Blooming xmas cactus! After a disappointing relocation of bob (my ficus - since apparently they can't handle cold bursts of air and shouldn't be by doors) I was so happy to see that my cactus is doing well! So pretty:


Hooray! Fun awesome things! Now to stay calm and frantically make it through the rest of the holiday alive! How is your xmas preparation coming along?

Wrap it up.

With xmas right around the corner the internet has been oozing with amazing gift wrapping ideas! I thought I'd share my favourite three with you just in case you're lacking inspiration. First up? The vintage inspired (and awesomely photographed) ideas from thompson family-life:


Just goes to show you that those scalloped boarders teachers use on bulletin boards are multipurpose! I love the fun colours and patterns! Oh and if these aren't your style, not to worry, they've got loads of other wrapping ideas on their blog post.

Second on my list is the charming red paper snowflake design from nice package:


After further inspection it turns out this tutorial is actually from how about orange (another blog I often refer back to) but man it is neat! I totally want to experiment with fun coloured paper snowflakes too! Check out the garland they made with some paper, scissors, and dental floss:


Finally we've got a video tutorial my sister linked me to using yarn for your wrapping:

Cool! I really like the pom pom (obviously) and woven yarn ones best. Now all I need to do is decide which wrapping method I like best (or a combination of multiple?) to make my gift exchange present extra desirable for the staff xmas party tonight! What do you think?

Always room for bacon...

When I saw this rad bacon ornament tutorial over on seremeres blog I just had to show my friends at work:


Even the vegetarian girls loved him! So I decided I would recreate my own felt version to include in my gift exchange present this weekend. Can you spot him on our tree?


Okay, so it is pretty obvious on such a tiny tree. But still let's take a closer look:


There he is! Oh bacon! I changed the ornament pattern a smidge so that I wouldn't have to include the wire that seremere had and I got some nice xmas-y gold ribbon to jazz him up! Check out the front and back of the bacon:


Further proof that adding a gimpy wide set eye smile to anything makes it adorable:


Cute! Our gift exchange has a $15 limit so I think I'll throw in one of my little zipper pouches and the bacon and hope that he is a hit! What do you think?

New Additions Update

Well apparently it didn't take me very long to get to decorating that tree so I thought I might as well update you right away! I decided a tree with lights and one big blue ornament was just too sad to have on display at my housewarming/kate party that is happening today so I gave in and bought some ornaments to tide me over until I find time to craft some! Hooray! Open 24hr stores to the rescue! Behold:


For a mere $14 I got myself some red bells (shiny and matte) as well as a plethora of little glass balls (in an assortment of blues and silvers)! What fun! And hey, I've even got enough of those glass ornaments left over to decorate another 6 trees! (Funny how the only ornaments I liked came in a 100 pack...) But such an improvement from that one giant ball I had before. In fact I still think he looks a little over-sized for the tree, but I wasn't up for hurting his feelings and demoting him:


I think the tree topper is my favourite part of our tree this year! Fraser was the one who thought of the brilliant idea of putting one of the felt yeti finger puppets I made a few years ago on there and he looks right at home:


Just check out that toothy grin! Hehe! Man I love xmas decorations with personality! The gimpier and more handmade the better if you ask me! Oh! And xmas cactus got a new home as well:


Goodbye shiny paper wrapping and hello ikea pea green pot! The living space is really starting to come together! What do you think of the new improvements?

New Additions!

With the holidays peeking right around the corner I am proud to say my hunt for a tiny fake xmas tree is over! Thanks to the keen shopping eye of my mother I got a lovely little 3 foot tree! I even put some little white lights on it:


Can you believe that is 135 lights? I bought a string of 35 a while back hoping to find a tree then figured it probably wasn't enough and the only other box of indoor white lights with green strings they had was a 100 pack. So 135 it is and it looks glorious! I especially love how the tree looks sitting on the doily wendy gave me:


What fun! OooOoo it looks awesome in the dark too:


Hooray for xmas cheer! Now all I need to do is decorate it, which as it turns out, has been quite the battle. I first decided to make pom pom ornaments for it but they looked awful. Sure pom poms are great, but not on that tree. They were too small and not shiny enough to really stand out. Boo. Then I decided to make those gold leafed acorns I talked about a few days ago but wood acorns are no where to be found in kamloops! Ack! So I put the one giant blue round ornament on there that my mom gave me one year and that is about it (not shown in images above - but trust me...it is sad). I'll update when I finally get decorations!

And I figured since we were on the discussion of new additions to my house I'd share a few other items I am so very excited about. First on the list? Meet bob! My new ficus:


With a lovely home next to my stripey love seat I am hoping I somehow manage not to kill him....but only time will tell on that one. My sister has a giant ficus and when I saw him (at the plant store where I got my fake tree) I decided he was destined to come home with me! Oh...and then get a name (because all ficuses need names right?)

Next on the additions? Xmas cactus:


Another living room addition I've been wanting for ages! With blooms on the horizon! Woo! Last of the new items is a floor mat:


Seriously overdue with the sloppy wet weather we've been having and our "don't get wet" laminate floors. Fraser brought this one home with him and I think it is just perfect for our winter entryway! I am still planning to finish that tshirt rag rug I've been talking about on and off since august, but this one is perfect for the meantime and this way my hours of crocheting (and re-crocheting - seriously I've remade that thing like 4 times now...) won't get mucked up as quickly! Hooray! How is your december decorating going?

In other news - I'm hosting a house warming/kate party (like a tupperware party but instead of plastic storage containers I'm selling my crafts) tomorrow afternoon! Quite a few work mates have been dying for me to set up a table of goodies they can xmas shop from and I figured it was a perfect opportunity to tie it into a belated (very belated...we moved in september) house warming too! We'll see how it turns out but it will give me an excuse to finally take some pics of the rental to share with you. Wish me luck! Oh and if you're in town send me a message and I'll send you the details so you can pop by too! Yay!

Cone-iferous Advent Calendar

I found this amazing advent calendar after browsing on the internet for a while and although it might be a little late, I still love it! Too bad I didn't come across this earlier and make everyone a cone-iferous forest of awesome:


Such a sweet idea! And super easy too! Just need to get my hands on tons of green paper and some fun advent like prizes! OOoo! Maybe next year? Man, I love advent calendars! And unlike one certain sister of mine I am able to hold off on present opening for added anticipation and fun! Have any of you ever put together a fun advent calendar before?

Gilded Acorns

With the holidays looming right around the corner I've been trying to figure out some simple inexpensive decorating ideas I can use to xmas up the house without breaking the bank. Design sponge's gilded acorns fit that bill really well and would be perfect as little ornaments on the tree:


Just a little stain, some gold leaf and wooden acorns and poof! Instant amazing decoration! It does leave me wondering:

1. where do you find those wood acorns??
2. does micheals carry gold leaf and how much would it cost with a 40% off coupon?
3. how the heck will I ever find time to get the supplies and execute this project?
and also
4. why are there no cute little fake xmas trees in kamloops or if there are why can't I find them?

*Sigh* Quite a few hurdles before finishing this project - but maybe you will be able to finish them before me! In the meantime, any progress on answering my list of wondering questions would be appreciated...

Merry Ol' December!

Oh my! December! End of 2010? Where did you sneak up from? Not to worry - I'm happy to see you! I'm ready for a month of holiday celebration, crafting up a storm (a common goal I seem to have each month), and the last installment of my kittens inspired by kittens inspired calendar:


Quinn! What am I going to do kitten-less in january? Oh dear! Good thing we've got a whole month to prepare! In the meantime I hope to get the most out of the month by soaking up all the holiday wonderfulness I can! Starting off with something I am extremely excited about using:


Mmmm! Nothing like the sweet spicy smell of pine trees and xmas to get you in the holiday spirit! And it's even locally made by a lady in white lake! Even better! As for other xmas preparations, I'm still working on my pom-tastic decorating scheme but I did manage to get some lights up in the front window:


Not exactly the most impressive of holiday lighting but the house is sorely lacking an outdoor outlet and I think these simple indoor white lights do the trick! Plus I wasn't up for investing too much into them since we're just renting. We even put up a few around the kitchen window to continue the spread of cheer inside the house too! What fun!

To top it all off I've somehow managed to get about 80% of my xmas shopping done! Hooray for preparation! Now I just need to get a jump start on those xmas cards (oh dear). I'm actually planning on taking it pretty easy this month with no wild new years party plans for once. I think a nice relaxing december is in order after an exhausting crafting year! I'm also looking forward to my final month of 2010 and daily blog updates. Don't get me wrong - I do love blogging (especially when all you wonderful people actually read my ramblings) but it is a lot more work than I thought it would be and less stress and healthier (physically and mentally) are my big goals for 2011! Oh. And banjo...can't forget that one...What about you? What are you looking forward to in december?

Snowy Welcome!

Since we (canadians) celebrated thanksgiving back in october, we don't have the crazy kickstart to xmas shopping that those to the south have with black friday! With no landmark date to jump us into holiday mode it is easy to procrastinate preparations and end up doing it all last minute (ick)! I suppose you could base things on the grey cup...but who really cares about canadian football? (Seriously - not me) I've definitely been thinking about xmas shopping for the last few weeks but procrastinating was certainly more tempting - but there is nothing like a festive winter snowfall to change that! The balmy kamloops fall weather is a thing of the past and hello cold snap! And snow! And holiday inspiration! Take a peek at the glorious winter wonderland outside my front door this morning:


Okay. So that was yesterday morning (since I pre-schedule blog posts and all...) but isn't it great! And heck the roads aren't even too bad! How pretty! Even check out those snow covered mountains you can see from my back porch:


And blue skies to boot! Now I'm fully motivated to gear into full speed holiday cheer and get preparing! Lists are made, presents are half purchased, and pomtastic decorating is on the agenda! Hooray! What gets you pumped about the holidays? Any snow where you are?

DIY Pumpkin Cozy

Knit and crochet cozies are awesome. Nothing like a touch of wool to help keep your hands cool from a hot coffee cup or to jazz up and keep in the heat of your tea pot! I often sport a cool apple cozy I won last winter from UnravelMe's shop and it does a great job of keeping my royal gala's bruise free! Well now you can take your covered fruit/veg to a whole new level and make a knit pumpkin cozy:


Oh that is so cute! I totally think my mom should make this (hint hint) to put on one of her 20+ pumpkins for the month of october before she gets to carving them. Then you'd be able to enjoy a crafty/homely jack-o-lantern without having to deal with a gross rotting pumpkin part! Good thing craftzine offers this pumpkin knit cozy pattern free of charge on their site! And once again providing further inspiration to get me to learn how to knit! If only I had time...maybe next year?

Milk Jug Stormtrooper!

With halloween just around the corner - it is about time to get brainstorming and working on costumes! And when I came across this sweet stormtrooper helmet tutorial made from milk jugs, I just had to share it with all of you! Check it out:


Isn't that neat? Doesn't even look overly difficult either! Bonus! And ironically similar to the clone trooper costumes my friends whipped up two years ago. Tyler and jared certainly went all out that halloween:


Clearly all clone troopers go for starbucks with zombies (me) and wendy darling (wendy)! I have no clue what I am doing this halloween...but luckily the internet will provide some much needed inspiration! What are you going to be this year?

Canada Day Recap

For once I remembered to bring my camera out with me! And even if it wasn't the most successful of days (no bannock or crepes?), it was apparently photo worthy. So behold - my Canada Day highlights:

1) Crowds. Actually make that a lot of crowds! Celebrating Canada's birth certainly brings out the people!


2) Cranes. Okay - not exactly an integral part of my day, but I did think they made a nice picture. Fraser had a few of his paintings in the art booth too! Not as colourful as these paper birds though...


3) Daunting weather. A strong trend for this spring/summer for what is usually a desert climate. A refreshing break from the 40 degree July 1sts of the past (I do enjoy sweaters), but cut our park day a little short. Man it looks dismal.


and (of course)
4) Post bbq fireworks! I promise you they were much more impressive than this picture, but I am just not quick enough to capture fireworks in all their glory. That and we were up a huge hill avoiding the drunk teenage park scene so the angle was less than ideal. Still pretty though. Kamloops is so pretty!


So good day over all - and extra motivation to carry my camera with me more often! How did you celebrate July 1st (or 4th for any below the 49th)?

Road Trip: Vancouver

I can't believe how fast time flies when you're having fun! I spent four fabulous days in vancouver with lindsay and fraser and like a flash it's over - and we're home sweet uncool home. *Whew!* What a world-wind of super fun events that I will present to you in photographic list form. Highlights of the trip include:

1) Loads of Driving!


Actually not fun at all for motion sickness prone me, but still pleasant nonetheless. We did manage to see Biff Naked at the chevron in hope (my terrible picture in the center)! That's exciting right? And I never actually vomited after the 10+ hours on the road so I'll consider that a success...

2) Mumford & Sons!!


Yes! The entire reason we went to vancouver in the first place! Even with the hour wait in the rain (even though we already had tickets) and that super annoying jerk standing in front of us it was an AMAZING show! They are probably the best band I have ever seen live and are extremely talented folks! I really need to get banjo playing. Oh and I totally didn't bring my camera to the show, so the picture above was snafoozed from here (and isn't actually of the show we saw)...

3) Shopping galore!


Whee! I definitely spent 3 solid days shopping with lindsay and found oodles of bargains! What fun! Lindsay is a fantastic shopping mate! Even with the rain we were enormously successful and covered a ton of ground! I still can't believe they don't sell sushi in the asian mall in richmond though...what is up with that?

4) So much Canada Post!


Our hotel was conveniently located right next to the Canada Post building! And being the dork I am, I was extremely excited about this (hence all the pictures)! I was also intrigued by all the non-standard post boxes there were around town. Neato!

5) Being the coolest people ever!


Perhaps I'm will never be a professional photo-journalist, but apparently we like to look super dorky in all the pictures I have of us (and by dorky I mean super awesome by the way). What a great time we had! I especially like the "I wish I lived in Ikea" shots near the bottom there.

*Sigh* Good times had by all - oh except maybe my watch:


I'm not even sure how this ended up happening but it is officially dead. Looks like I need to start saving up for another road trip shopping trip. Can't wait!