crochet cutie

I have never figured out how to crochet.... at most, I managed a few rows and then sort of lost patience and abandoned my attempts.  My sister on the other hand has cracked the crochet code! Check out this sweet Snoopy doll she made for baby Cedar for Christmas. I will post what she made for Jasper soon.... more crochet cuties, of course.

wishy washy

It looked like it was going to be a white Christmas, but alas... it is quickly melting away... Mr. Snowy is already getting all wishy-washy. Fingers crossed there will be snow again soon! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!  :)

merry christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!! We are very excited, since this is the first year Jasper is really excited about Santa Claus... here is a sneak peek at what will be under the tree this year. I can't wait to see his reaction! Will post more photos over the holidays and do some much needed blog catching-up (hmmm... will note this for resolution making for the new year). Happy Holidays! :)

early in the morning

As promised, some recap pictures of our Christmas morning with Jasper. Here he is playing with his paper yo-yo (a little treat in his stocking from Santa). Almost one week later and it still hasn't got old... well, not to him anyways... I have been watching that paper thing whip back and forth for days now. Second photo is demonstrating some intense concentration with his new wooden toy rocket ship. This week has been a bit of a lazy holiday week for us, so will be back posting more often in the new year. Hope everyone has a great New Years weekend!!! :)

happy holidays!

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday weekend! I am super excited about seeing little Jasper open his gifts... although, I'm sure he will probably be more interested in the ripped paper and boxes than the actual contents. Off to finish some last minute holiday baking and gift wrapping now... oh where does the time go! Merry Christmas! ;)

my gingerbread men

My hubby Roger brought home two cute little gingerbread cookies made by his co-worker the other day... how cute are these? They are of Roger and little Jasper. And if you are wondering, no, I am not married to a pirate... long story short... there was a bit of a play date mishap when one of Jasper's toys made it into Roger's eye. Good news is that his eye is all fine now, and the eye patch is now only on the cookie.

pine fresh

The house is smelling pine fresh... or should I say, fir fresh? We went and got our Christmas tree this week... a little 6' noble fir. And as you can see we have thrown on every decoration we inherited from our parents and grandparents on to this thing... my anti-Martha tree, as I like to refer to it. I think the 70's tinsel garlands are my favourite touch.

first show of the season!

It's finally here... my first holiday show of the season! If you happen to be in Vancouver, swing on by to check out Make It! at the Croatian Cultural Centre... there will be over 100 vendors, as well as live music and a bar. Yes, you read right... a bar. Nothing like sipping a little vino whilst shopping for crafty wares.

Here are the details... hope to see you there!
(I'll be in booth 18 as part of the Hob Snobs Craft Collective)
Thursday, November 24: 4pm to 9pm

Friday, November 25: 11am to 9pm

Saturday, November 26: 11am to 6pm

Sunday, November 27: 11am to 5pm

The Croatian Cultural Centre

3250 Commercial DrivePay once, Shop 4 days! $5 at the door 

click here for $2 off!

Kids 12 & under are free

baby's first christmas

We hope everyone is having a great holiday break! I thought I would sneak this post in between the two holiday weekends, amidst the buzz of visiting, family gatherings, and constant feasting (perhaps, too much feasting). Here is a pic of our tree (yes, it is real... uh, and, yes... it is sort of a mishmash of old and new ornaments... I like to think of it as my anti-designer tree... heehee). This was Jasper's first Christmas... and we found out very quickly that he loves playing with wrapping paper. We probably could have wrapped up piles of wrapping paper as a gift and he would have loved it, but alas, Santa did get him real gifts. Here he is with one of his favourites... the dancing Snoopy doll (the head and feet move so it looks like it's dancing to the Peanuts song!).

peppermint forest

I am just finishing up some last minute holiday baking... ok, well not really baking in the case of these... technically melting and prepping... ta-da... some cool white peppermint bark. These will be packaged up with a batch of cake balls that are currently baking in the oven. (Notice how I chose super easy recipes?... as you can guess, I am not much of a baker... heehee). My goal is to finish making all these treats and eat as little of them as possible. These are for giving, and I have to keep reminding myself that it would be very disappointing for the receivers to get a sad half empty box of treats. Must resist!

got craft?

I can't believe it is finally here... my first holiday show for the season... oh, where has the time gone! Apologies for not blogging more lately... I have been in crazy production mode this past few weeks (and I have the craft explosion in my house to prove it). This weekend I will be at Got Craft in Vancouver, featuring 50 local handmade artists, a DIY table and free swag bags for the first 45 people through the door. Yes, you read that right FREE SWAG! But do come early if you are trying to claim one of the 45 swag bags... there is quite a line-up every year... and no one wants to see two craftistas wrestle over the last bag whilst wielding knitting needles... that would be very un-holiday like. Hope to see you there!!

Here are the details:

GOT CRAFT

Vancouver's largest indie craft fair featuring 50 local handmade artists.

Sunday December 5th

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Royal Canadian Legion

2205 Commercial Drive (@ East 6th)

http://gotcraft.com/

still on holiday mode

Perhaps it is all the Christmas yummy treats and dinners we have been having and family get togethers this past week and weekend, but I am still in holiday mode today.... hmm.... more like holiday recovery. I think I have enough sugar in me to sustain my calorie count for this entire week (writing this as I am nibbling on a left-over gingerbread cookie, yum). I hope everyone had a great holiday too! Will post new photos soon... I have been a bit lazy and distracted about getting them off the camera... ooh, is that another cookie?

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone... hope everyone has a great day and weekend too! Found this illustration in an old children's book awhile ago and thought it sort of looked like me and Roger... we will try to have the same reactions at Christmas dinner tonight. Ho Ho Ho!

shaking boxes

So exciting.... only one more sleep until Christmas! All the gifts are finally wrapped and tucked under the tree. We got these awesome papers at Ikea... they even came with matching gift tags too (the ribbon came from Ikea as well, but was sold separately)... anyhoo... loved the pretty patterns, so couldn't pass them up. Off to shake the boxes labeled with my name now and then wait for Santa!!

christmas time is here...

One of our favorite holiday TV specials is the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. We love it so much that we have the cd soundtrack, as well as the figurine set (*note: they are "figurines" and not "dolls"... husbands don't like it when you mix these words up). They are displayed in our living room, bringing a little festive cheer. I couldn't fit them all into the frame (poor Sally and Schroeder are off to the side).. and we still need to get Snoopy and Woodstock. Hope they bring you some holiday cheer too!

c is for cookie

Every year, Roger and I like to make at least one set of handmade items to give to our families to go along with the store bought gifts. And what to make becomes a bit of a dilemma when they are all too familiar with our etsy shops. So this year, inspired once again by Bakerella, we decided to make cookie mix jars (the original post was for Cowgirl Cookies... our interpretation has more of a holiday theme). As a non-baker, this was really exciting since it makes me feel like I am sort of doing some "holiday baking"... well minus the yummy baking cookie smell. Last thing to add to them are some pretty fabric and ribbon for the jar tops. I hope one of our recipients invites us over for a cookie.

white christmas

Just to clarify, this is not how I would dress up during the holiday season. Roger and I went to see Arts Club Theatre's White Christmas at the Stanley quite a few weeks ago... it was a bit too early to blog about it (I think it may have been November?!) so I am bringing it up now. I have never seen the original movie before, let alone the theatrical version, but it was very cute, entertaining and did get me into the holiday cheer a whole month ahead. I must admit though, classic Christmas songs are all good and everything, but I kind of like the duet of Bing Crosby and David Bowie à la Little Drummer Boy and Boney M's Christmas a bit better, but I guess that would be a very weird musical if they all came together.

naked no more

Hooray... our tree is naked no more! Here he is in all his glory. Every year we go against the color-coordinated Martha-inspired designer-looking trees and opt for the old school, mismatched, "let's try to fit every ornament and bauble we have onto one tree" methodology. After inheriting so many of them from our parents and grandparents... the odd ornament combo (some from the 60s/70s/80s), mixed in with some handmade ones thrown into the mix seem to work. Ok... so some of the ornaments are worse for wear.. the glitter is slowly coming off, or I have had to redraw some on some of the eyes for some of the characters, but we love it, and I think the tree really loves it too.

ps. don't forget to enter my December giveaway here to win a calendar! :)

he is still naked

Last night, we went and picked out our green holiday friend... a 6' Noble Fir. It was a bit late getting back, and by the time we got him into the stand, our hunger won over the desire to decorate. So now he stands in our living room a little naked (but not self conscious, of course), looking more like a giant indoor air freshener than a holiday tree. But not to worry, we are breaking out the decorations today, so we'll have some nice "after" shots to share with you soon!

canyon lights

Last night we visited the Capilano Suspension Bridge to see their holiday Canyon Lights display. Usually a scary walk for me across the lengthy hanging bridge, it wasn't too bad this time since it was dark out when we got there.... it makes a huge difference when you can't see the 230 ft drop below. The top two photos are ours... but I have also included the bottom photo (credit to the Capilano Suspension Bridge website) since it actually shows the bridge relative to the canyon. After enjoying the lights, we warmed up with some yummy dark hot chocolate... mmmm... a bit of a reward for me making it across and back without freaking out.