December 10

15 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see
Fun and festive jewelry

Today is our department Christmas party so I dressed up a tiny little bit by thowing on this great vintage necklace I picked up at a second hand store the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The beads are just faceted plastics but all together they are really cool. Definitely a statement piece.
Another unusual jewelry item that is long overdue for a shout out is this crochet bracelet my very talented friend Alice made for me. I am sure it took her all of 10min to whip up since she is seriously a crochet master. Thanks Alice!

December 9

16 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see

Christmas cards mailed priority

I picked up our Christmas photos from Walgreens last night. I can not recommend Walgreens for photo printing. They do a not so great job. All my photos had a little pink line at the bottom. I didn't notice till I got home or I would have had them reprinted but I was trimming them down a bit so it was going to be cut off anyway. I would like to say it is the first time but alas, they have messed up my order before. I don't think I will use them again. 3 chances are enough.

Anyway, last night I worked on our annual Christmas card. I am using a kit this year. I know, it is scandalous and I feel like I am cheating every time I use the kit but I just didn't have time to design a card this year. Even though the card design was done for me I still had to assemble everything and it took a LONG time to do. I don't know why I didn't start sooner since I have had the kit for a month.

This morning I printed up our newsletter. I try to write a little something every other year. Our lives are not that interesting and reading a newsletter that says, "we go to work and watch TV most days" would be far too boring. This year we had a little more to say with school, job changes, and family events.

Tonight I plan to address all the envelopes, stuff, and pop into the mail tomorrow. Then I can check it off my list.

December 8

17 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see

Homemade coasters under mugs of coffee

I'd like to say I made these coasters for myself in order to test out the pattern for making gifts. I would hate to make a gift for someone and have it turn out wrong. Well in reality I have had these fabrics for a while and just recently thought they would make cool coasters. I read about making simple coasters here and they were really easy. 4.5 x 4.5 inch squares of front material and back material and thin batting. I found batting made of bamboo which was really nice and thin and hopefully absorbent. For the top fabric you can patch small fabrics together to make the 4.5 x 4.5 square. I used natural linen and wood grain print fabrics. All seam allowances are 1/4 inch all the way around. Clip the corners, turn right side out and then hand stitch the opening. Iron and they are all done. Turned out really cute and are even reversible! Not really good for Christmas but I will put them away until next Month.

December 7

18 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see

A Christmas photo of Greg and Me

Among other projects I completed today, Greg and I ran out into the freezing cold and snapped this year's Christmas photo. We had originally talked about going out to Flushing Meadows Park for some good scenery but we just never got going early enough for that. So the sun was setting and it was almost time to go to church and I realized that if we didn't do it then we would have to wait for the following weekend, which was unacceptable so..... We ran out back and found a really nice brick wall behind out row houses and shot a few shots. Man was it cold! We took a couple out front at Greg's request in front of my favorite lights. Those were not keepers! The winning photo was this one. Of course I edited and cropped it a little. I will pick them up in the morning and adhere them into my cards. Turned out really nicely considering we spent only 10 minutes taking them. For once Greg didn't complain much!

December 6

19 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see

Some more decorations pretty

We got home from setting up the Angel Tree party at Manhattan Bible Church tonight just as it started snowing. Very pretty. I didn't manage to take a single photo of the set up party though It was a lot of fun and everything went together really smoothly.So instead I am blogging tonight about holiday decor again.

Today I ran over to Michael's to pick up some more garland and berries to finish my Christmas decorations. I got to take advantage of their 50% off sale. First I found some cute naked pine cone boxes in the Martha Stewart holiday line and picked up some gold glitter. They were not on my list but I like the look of the pine cones and gold accents are a part of my Christmas theme. Once dry I put them into an empty vase with some berry springs I picked up. They added a nice sparkly touch to my buffet and the best part is that they can also hang on the tree. Next year maybe I will hide treats inside them on the tree. I picked up a pine cone garland and had Greg cut it into 4 pieces. 2 went onto the buffet to accent the angel candlesticks (and hide the boxes I use to vary the height) and the metal tree.

I love the way this display turned out. Two other pieces went into the windows where my candles sit. A third piece would have been really nice too but not worth another trip to the store.

Next was a new addition to our lighting. Last year Greg's parents sent us a string of lights from Reseration Hardware that look like a series of votive candles. We put them right away with the decorations last year without even opening them. So this year it was a pleasant surprise to discover them in the decoration box. I unpacked them and thought they would work on the TV stand where there is a 4 inch ledge. First I put the candle lights up on the stand and used a few round boxes to vary their heights. Then I worked a garland through. It already had berries attached which went nicely with my theme. It turned out so nice. I am really happy with it.

Now I am pretty much done with our deocrations for the year. It is looking really nice! I love sitting on my sofa with all the lights on and some candles lit. Very nice mellow lighting. Oh and by the way the Christmas cards are coming in and going up on the ribbon wall.

December 5

20 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see

A handmade gift for co-worker Marci

Her name is Marcela but that wouldn't rhyme. We do a Secret Santa game every year at work the week before Christmas. Marcela is going to be gone and she was really bummed so the ladies are going to stuff her stocking next week instead. I got Monday so I put together this fun little card holder this morning before work. It is for business cards but it is actually perfect for a note card, gift cards, even ID cards if you want to use it as a wallet. The free pattern by Amy Butler can be found here. I have made several of these for Christmas gifts but had to really change the pattern. I didn't like the bulk of it the way it was written so I changed the interfacing used, moved some seams, and added a button closure instead of Velcro. Notice the cute covered button! Love that! Inside this holder I slipped a note card and some jewelry findings that Marcela had eyed at the store on Thursday but decided she didn't have them in her budget to buy. I am in love with fabric right now and these fabrics from Heather Bailey were so luscious I had to use them. Sorry these last 2 photos wouldn't rotate for some reason.

December 4

21 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see
Bead shopping at Toho Shoji

(Blogger is having some difficulty and ate yesterday's post so I am trying again)

Today at lunch I ran up to the bead store to get some findings for some beaded Christmas gifts I am planning. I took along my co-worker Marcela and together we stumbled onto a couple additional bead stores I had never seen before. These stores were even bigger than the others and honestly the shear volume of choices was overwhelming. That being said, I still managed to find lots to buy.Most of this is for Greg's mom for Christmas. As you know she is a jewelry maker from way back. Recently she quit smoking and is making even more jewelry to keep her hands busy. Greg thought it would be nice to send her some beads she might not find at her usual craft store so I stocked up on some nice spacers and glass beads for her to play with.
Then on the way back to work I popped into Laila Rowe to get some jewelry ideas and ended up snagging a couple things that I can't make. A fun way to spend lunch.

December 3

22 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see

Lighting that’s a little less tacky

Living in New York City provides a unique opportunity to love thy neighbor. Apartment living is certainly not unique to this city but it is utilized a lot more than in other parts of the country. Living in such close proximity to other people has lots of unique challenges and the holidays are no exception.

This showed up on the front of our house a couple nights ago. The kids in the basement were really proud of themselves with this display. Unfortunately I hate it. Not only does it cover one of my windows and detract from my simple and tasteful lights in the window, but during the day you can see that there is a bright orange extension cord running up the side of our white house to power this sneeze of lights and twine holding it onto the railing. I am trying really hard to be OK with it and accept that not everyone has the same ideas of how to decorate. I guess I am mostly upset that it is a communal area but they didn't ask us what we thought of it until after it was secured in place. I would have suggested lighting the railing or something instead had I been given the chance. And I probably would have offered to pitch in for some garland or bows or something. Oh well. I am trying not to be a big scrooge!

December 2

23 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see
Invitations for a party

As I mentioned yesterday, we are planning a Christmas party again this year for our Communion team and home group from church. I decided it would be nice to send out real paper invitations instead of using evite. So last night I whipped these up. I used pre-printed cards from IKEA that I found in the holiday section. They sold out really fast because at one point I was going to use them for my Christmas cards and went back for more and they were gone.

Next I added a little title block on some foam tape. Then printed the directions and details on paper and adhered them to the inside. Done lickety split and turned out so cute.


And if you don't have one of these you should consider getting one. I ordered mine from here. They have lots of styles which are all cute. This little stamp is pretty popular!

December 1

24 Days till Christmas and what would I like to see
A house that is clean and tidy

I love decorating for the holidays and this year is no different. Right after Thanksgiving was officially over we cleaned up the house and dragged the decorations out of storage. It took a couple leisurely days but we decked the halls by December 1st.
I really miss having a mantle to decorate but having stairs is kind of nice too. This year in addition to the stockings hanging from the stairs I have attached some ribbons to hang down as well. As our Christmas cards roll in we are attaching them to the ribbons. Last year we put them all out on the table and then had to move them for a party. Since we are planning another party this year I figured I would save myself the trouble and keep the cards on the wall. We only have one so far but it is already looking nice.The Christmas tree. I know that some people hate fake trees but that is what I have always known so it is totally normal to me. I love that I can put it up right after Thanksgiving and leave it up till early January with no tending, no watering, no fire hazard, and minimal needles to clean up. Greg did the lights this year and did a great job. The gifts underneath are birthday presents for Greg from his family. They keep it from looking bare since we have mailed all our gifts to the Pacific Northwest.
The buffet is still a work in progress but this year I cut back on the nativity and kept it simple with just the first family (and I don't mean the Obama's!). I have to get a little garland and a sprig of berries to complete my look.
This was a fun addition this year. I have these birds out all the time but I moved them over to the TV stand next to the little tree and I attached a sprig of berries to the beak of the smaller bird. Too cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a day late but I hope everyone had wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We have much to be thankful for. Last year at this time we were recovering from the shock of the house explosion just 2 doors down. Today I can report that just recently they have begun to rebuild. Despite the noise of construction we are happy it won't be sitting empty much longer.

Yesterday we enjoyed a quiet day at home watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV in the morning and then enjoying some time to just relax. As you can tell from my absence on the blog, November was a really difficult month for me with multiple tests and projects due for school. I was at NYU until midnight most nights. Combined with some trouble at work, it made for a hard month. As of yesterday I am done with all midterms and all projects so the rest of the semester should go very smoothly. So a day off for quiet relaxation with Greg was much needed and appreciated.

In the afternoon we bundled up and ventured out to catch a movie in the city. We saw Four Christmases. It was fun seeing a movie in the theater ($12 bucks now! What?). The movie was decent. Pretty funny in the beginning but then kind of serious in the later half. Not quite what we were hoping for but a lot better than some of the options out there.

After the movie it was off to Candle 79 for a gourmet vegan Thanksgiving dinner. Yum. Once again we really enjoyed this meal and ate way too much! The best part, no dishes to wash, no leftovers to deal with.

After dinner Greg surprised me with his plan to take me to the Top of the Rock. So we ventured down to Rockefeller Center to check out the view from the roof. It was really nice mainly because there were very few people there so no lines and no waiting were necessary. The view was lovely and in my opinion way better than the Empire State Building. In fact the Top of the Rock has a great view of the Empire State Building and a great view of Central Park. It was a lot of fun. We also got to see the tree in Rockefeller Plaza. It hasn't been lit yet but still big and impressive.

It was a lovely holiday at just the speed we needed. Today we are enjoying Buy Nothing Day, catching up on chores, getting the house ready for Christmas decorating, and spending some time deciding what craft projects to tackle in December.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Election Day!

I know you are already well aware of this, but today is election day! This is a very interesting and exciting race so I hope that if you are registered to vote that you get out there today and exercise your right. Especially if you are a woman. After seeing a movie about the suffrage movement a couple years ago and what it took to secure the right for women to vote in this country I have a much greater respect for that right.

Greg and I waited about an hour to vote at our polling station this morning. It can be discouraging for people when they see the lines but don't give up. Get to know your neighbors as you stand in line!

In NY we still use voting machines. Here are some machines waiting to be set up last Sunday at Hunter College where our church meets.
I love that they have an American flag on the side of each one.

And here is the line this morning for district 73. We have a huge co-op building with 700 apartments just a block from our house and wouldn't you know, we are all in the same district! So that was the reason for our long line. I had to get a shot in the booth for my scrapbook! They say the voting machines are the worst in terms of errors and problems but they are so "old school" it is actually kind of cool to use them. They make such cool sounds as you push the lever to the side, flip the knobs for your votes, and then push the lever back in order to COUNT your votes. Plus you get to stand inside behind the curtain all private like.

Anyway, get to the polls or make sure you mail your ballots in!