It's late & I thought that, while I am entering that late-night-kooky-portion-of-the-day (do you know that part of the day I'm talking about?) that I'd do a random post. And in the background I'm listening to some very interesting arrangements of the popular Beatles song "Blackbird". I'm trying to find my most favorite. I'll tell you when I find it.OK, here's an exciting tid-bit!!! I have my very FIRST feature over at http://www.debbiegootterdesigns.blogspot.com/ today!! I've never been interviewed before & I feel so giddy! So, please, go check it out & leave lots of awesome comments.
How do ya like that sweet button cupcake pendant pictured up top? I had a customer that "favorited" a cupcake button pendant in my shop--that SOLD a year ago! She's hung onto the picture & link for that long. Luckily, when she asked if could make her one, I was able to create a similar piece & send her on her happy cupcake way.
Here's more ooey-gooey cupcake goodness...Recently I made this custom order for a bro/sis pair, yet to be born. Vintage fabrics were used & I LOVE how it turned out!
I also thought I'd give you some ideas to help with yer handmade holiday adventures...
I LOVE the holidays & I LOVE lists. I stumbled upon this great link, given on Kelsey C's blog Jill of All Trades-A Crafty Mom's World. She mentioned a blog called Tricia-Rennea, which has TONS of free printable art & illustrations. More specifically, I was delighted by her December Planner Pages . Also, Christmas Lists! Here's a peek at one:
So, while you have your list in hand, head on over to One Pretty Thing. I LOVE Rachel's site! She gathers LOADS & LOADS of crafty D.I.Y. projects from all over the www (some of them from moi!) & puts them on her blog. So, this weekend I'm planning on going through page after gloriously crafty page, & getting ideas on what to make for my family & friends this holiday. Last year I had the most satisfying Christmas EVERS by making/buying handmade gifties.Oh yeah--I promised the recipe for the creamy, cheesy potatoes. Mix together: Ore-ida Potatoes O'brien, 1 pint of sour cream, 1/2 can of Cream of Chicken soup & salt/pepper to taste. Cover with tin-foil & cook at 350degrees for about an hour. Then sprinkle with cheese & cook uncovered until cheese melts. It's good for dinner, breakfast, anytime! (Thanks for the recipe Tia!)
My Monday-Night-Feast went awesomely, by the way. The "hit" of the night was actually some fresh green beans that I steamed & sprinkled with a bit of butter & some Creole Seasoning. Who knew? My hubby, who never eats veggies was scarfing them down. I shoulda made more apple crisp though. It was gone so fast!
I was just thinking about how funny it is that I'm cooking for a large-ish group of people. I don't necessarily like cooking. I feel very outside of my comfort zone, but something inside me WANTS to do this every Monday Night & I totally get the most silly grin on my face when I'm at the grocery store shoving massive quantities of food in my cart, or when I'm at home baking & realize that I need to quadruple a certain recipe, or when the lovely pans are filled with yummy foods & baking away in the hot oven & I know that hungry guys will be arriving soon.
Serious moment overrrrr.............now.
Hey, I thought that if you've read this far...let's have a drawing! I'll be giving away one of my owlie ornaments!! I'll post a pic tomorrow. Now, this specific owlie is my favorite of the bunch. He's a little kooky, but certainly adorable. So, leave a comment here describing YOUR favorite holiday ornament or decoration from home & I'll have the drawing on Friday night--7pm my time. (PST)
UPDATE: Here's a photo of the owlie. I know what you're thinking: Saggy eyeball=freebie. Not at all my blog peoples! He's my favorite, I promise! In fact, I'll be making one exactly like it to hang from MY tree this year.
Oh, & The Beatles have the best arrangement. Why did I even bother looking?
Okay well we had this hideous tree topper when I was a kid. It was made out of these rusty metal pipe cleaner thingys with some hideous metallic beads and we LOVED it!! We laughed every time we pulled that bedraggled thing out of the box and put its shameful little self on top of our tree. We fought over it when my parents moved... We had a name for it too that slips my mind.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the cupcake Onesies!!!
I LOVE your button cupcake pendant! What a fantastic idea! I want to make one! I wonder if I could make it happen? We'll see. Do you mind? Your owl ornaments are gorgeous, too! My favorite ornament at home is actually a small collection of ornaments. My grandmother gave me a basket of family heirloom ornaments that have been passed down in my family. There is even one of those really thin plastic icicles that they used to use back in the day all the time...it's not clear plastic....before those ones. It's really cool!
ReplyDeletejinglesells at gmail dot com
Love the recipe...I will have to try that..sounds like a quick mommy meal!
ReplyDeleteAlso, just want to say thanks for all the craft ideas. We have decided to REALLY cut our gift spending this year and I have taken a liking to crafts! So I have used a lot of your ideas so far for my xmas crafts. Thanks for the new links...
SOOO..my favorite xmas ornament is two santa heads connected by their hats which form a heart...I will take a picture some time!!
My favourite ornament is the 1950's blown-glass alien in a spaceship ornament that was my father's when he was a child. It is kind of crazy and fun, and has a great vintage appeal. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI saw your owlies on the front page of Etsy a little while back, congrats! They are super cute. Now I hope I win one! :D
emilyisland.etsy.com
Favorite ornament or decoration? That is SO a tough one!
ReplyDeleteOver the years, I try to take a photo of my hubby and I, and then put it into one of those cheesy "2008" types of ornaments. They are so fun to look at though!
Congrats on all your success with the owlies. They are super cute, and I am not surprised that the orders are flying!
truly,
Sylvia C.
When my little guy was 6 or 7 he used to sing Blackbird all the time: "into the mind of a dumb black bird" at least that's what he *thought* they were saying!
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you which ornament is my absolute favorite because then I'd have to get them all out and ponder for awhile. And that doesn't happen till after Thanksgiving. :o) But I'll tell you about one.
My daughter is super super creative. One year she took a shingle that blew off the roof, rubbed it on the sidewalk until it had a pointy end kind of like a cathedral window, somehow managed to poke or drill a hole in the top (I don't know how she did it, she was only 9 at the time and couldn't use power tools), made a hanging loop with raffia, then painted a manger scene on the front.
Sorry for the long comment. Maybe I should just write my own post!
Wow, this post is SO full of awesome links, I think I opened four new pages! Thanks so much for listing me in such crafty company. And how cute are those infant cupcakes?!?! I'm off to check out your interview!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornaments are actually on my moms tree @ home. They are from when she was a kid, a set of 3 Wizard of Oz ornaments. I'm sure at one time here were 4, but the Scarecrow has been missing since long before me. Still @ 25 I go and help decorate my moms tree and she always lets me put those up. As soon as I see them, I know Christmas is here!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog love!!!
My favorite Christmas decoration is an old vintage Santa that my Grandmother had while my Dad was growing up in the 20's.I love it to pieces.
ReplyDeleteDiane
My favorite ornament is one that my husband and I picked up when we were on our honeymoon. We try to get one every place we go together. :-) PS - Those owls are A-DOR-ABLE!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornament is a red school house my parents bought the year I entered Kindergarten. It's on their tree every year.
ReplyDeleteHope I have an owlie coming my way soon! Thanks!
Wow, thanks for all of the wonderful links! I love the little owls you make.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornaments are from when I was a very little girl. My Mom didn't have alot of money to decorate our tree, so she made some ornaments out of a homemade baked clay (flour based I think). "My" ornament was a baby Jesus, and my brothers' was a King. I have ended up with them, and they are my favorite! I don't even pack them up with the other Christmas stuff, they get wrapped in cloth and are stored in my jewelery box!
My absolute favorite ornaments are the ones my aunt (who's an artist) made many many years ago. They remind me of my childhood!
ReplyDeletethanks for that recipe! It may be jsut whatI need for dinner tonite!!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornament(s) are the ones my children made when they were young. I know, though, that if I win this owl it will be my favorite. Love owls.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornaments are the collection of Christmas ornaments that Hallmark puts out every year. MY grandmother started buying them for me when I was about 5...I now have close to 20! (I don't have them all... I'm a bit older than 25! They are each about 4 inches tall, so they are too big for a tree, and now I set them up as a little christmas village to enjoy all December long!
ReplyDeleteJenna
My favorite ornaments are the ones my mom made us of all the Disney characters when we were little. I never really paid attention when I lived at home but now that I'm a mom they're special to me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornaments are the ones my mom made us of all the Disney characters when we were little. I never really paid attention when I lived at home but now that I'm a mom they're special to me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornament has to be a tin foil star my brother made when he was little ( about 22 year ago)we still use it every Christmas.
ReplyDelete(crossing my fingers I get a cute owlie!!)
My favorite ornament is one my grandmother's. She's had it for as long as I can remember. It's a big glass ball with an angel made of gold foil inside. Poetry!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornament was one from my mother's collection of Santa Claus ornaments and figurines. She had gone shopping with her friend Wendy and they were looking at ornaments and mom found one that was a wooden Santa with a sack of toys in one hand and a small Christmas tree in the other. He had a string hanging down from between his legs and when you pulled it his legs and arms went up like he was jumping for joy. But the best part was that it also made him whack himself on the head with that Christmas tree. Mom got very excited and showed it to Wendy, who said, "Awww. Maybe they have another one that doesn't do that." Mom said, "Are you nuts?" and brought it home where it has lived proudly on our tree ever since.
ReplyDeleteall the commentors come out for the freebies huh? count me in!
ReplyDeletemy favorite ornament that I look forward to seeing every December....a little wooden "alice in wonderland" ornament that this sweet old man apparently made for me the year I was born....like in the '70...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornament on our Christmas tree is one I painted when I was like 5 years old. It is a ceramic dog bone with the word "Buddy" on it. Buddy was our family dog that we had to put to sleep just a few years ago. Sad, but at the same time...happy to see the bone ornament.
ReplyDeleteGREAT interview nik!
ReplyDeleteoh - my favourite ornnament. i volunteered to work with my daughter's class one christmas and we made handprint wreaths. 3 red hands and 3 green hands (traced around each kids' hand) with a pic in the middle and decoated at will, finished off with a hole punch at the top and gold ribbon to hang from the tree!!!
So i just saw you on etsy.. love the owls would love to get a freebie!!! My favorite ornaments are the ones my brothers and sister and I made in Primary at church when we were little. Cut out felt shapes with our picture in the middle of them. Some had sequins glued on but seem to have lost those over the years! Mind was a yellow star! Those are the ornaments that have seemed to never be replaced on my mothers tree!
ReplyDeleteI collect snowflake ornaments, and they're kind of all my favorite. I'm really in love with your little owlies, though. And I love that someone else calls them owlies.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much a ornament "junkie". So picking just one would be like picking my favorite child! In fact, I love ornaments so much, I give new brides a set of 12 ornaments, about half of which I make myself. I don't have an owl on my tree so he would be a great addition. I love his googly eyes!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Oh and I LOVE your site. Always something interesting to see and do.
Nancy--nhsmith55@verizon.net
I think this adorable owl ornament is my new favorite! We haven't been married long enough to have acquired a favorite :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite decoration is an OLD little silky sleepy doll that is just tattered from all the love I gave it growing up. It is dirty and ripped and yet my heart smiles every time I pull it out.
ReplyDeleteCUTE blog and etsy shop! I just "discovered" you from 30 days. I'm a fan!
I love your cupcake onesie sets! Makes me wanna have twins! LOL. So cute. Thanks for the recipe. I'm always looking for quick and easy and it sounds like it's both. Plus, my boyfriend is a meat and potatoes kinda guy :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite holiday ornie is a angel made from a styrofoam egg carton. My elderly, now deceased, next door neighbor made it for me almost 20 years ago. Even though I received it when I was a wee little girl, it has always meant a lot to me. I hope to recreate one someday when I have kids.
My favorite ornaments are from when My sister was 4 and I was 17. We didn't have enough money to buy my mom a birthday present at the end of November, so we made ornaments for her instead. They were odd shapes cut out of a super heavy colored card stock that was salvaged from somewhere with multi-colored swirls of yarn glued on them. Believe me, having a 4 yr old help out will end up with some "interesting" designs. But my mom loved them and put them up every year right in front of the tree, in a place of honor. They have certainly seen their better days, but my mother says they are full of love and that's all that counts.
ReplyDelete(Crossing fingers....please let me win the owlie, he is so cute!)
my favorite ornament is super old (well, as old as me) and is a little wooden girl sitting on a little wooden swing. She's my favorite and I think she has my name on the swing, but my mom refuses to give her to me. ARGH. Ah well. The owl is super cute, of course and I love the onesies.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a certain ornament.... I get all sentimental when I get them out and unwrap them to hang on the tree. A decoration that I love and remember from when I was a little girl was... a brass colored angel thing. You would light about 4 candles and the angels would spin around from the heat and ring little bells. They were playing horns and looked like they were flying. That was so special when I was little. Whoo! Whoo!
ReplyDeletei just love your twin onsies, they are totally divine!
ReplyDeletemy fave ornaments? definitely the ones the kids make. kids throw caution to the wind and always art it up their own way!
Pick just one? Impossible.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a teenager I used to look at my family tree chock full of handmade, mismatched goodies and swear that when I got my OWN tree it would have a theme. White lights, red ornaments. period.
My very first tree of my own came the year my first born daughter was 4 months old.
It had just a few ornaments on it. Baby's first christmas ones. Family offered hand me downs, offered to buy me "filler" bulbs. I wasn't having it. MY tree was going to tell the story of my family, year by year.
Now, 14 years later, it does just that. Full of ornaments that marked special occasions, vacations, favorite things/phases in the girls lives (like a Harley barbie for me, etc.) and handmade goodies from the girls
and every year, as we all gather to hang them, we spend an afternoon reminicising and telling the stories of our lives to those that were too little to remeber themselves. I wouldn't trade all the red and white trees in the world for those days!!!
But one?
If I have to choose, I guess I would say the one "hand me down" I finally accepted from my mom on Christmas Day four years ago, the morning after my Dad passed away.
A "falsh cube" (circa cameras in the 70's I think? Hung on a wire hook. My dad stuck it one the tree one year- right near a clump of colored lights, saying he loved how it reflected said lights. Every year after that, I found the spot for that non-ornament ornament- while my dad looked on approvingly.
So, now, when I miss my dad at Christmas- I look at that cube and know is he is looking on (hopefully approvingly).
LOVE YOUR OWlIES NIKKI!
My favorite ornament I would have to say is a large, gleaming, green pickle!
ReplyDeleteMy Mom bought it for me about 10 years ago. There is a old tradition that goes way back that people would hide a pickle somewhere on their Christmas tree and everyone would try to be the first to find it!
Kind of weird, but soo fun! I hide the pickle every year on my tree now - and my kids and husband get a 'hoot' out of trying to find it!
My favorite ornaments are the ones I made for our 1st Christmas with my husband. They are nothing special. Just wooden shapes cut out and painted. But I'm reminded of a simpler time.
ReplyDeleteFirstly I just want to say what a cool blog you have... you have the BEST tutorials section! You certainly are one crafty mama! My favourite Christmas ornament is a santa with bells on it that always gets hung in one of the doorways. We always touch the bells as we walk through the doorway (the kids jump up and bang it with their hands) and it's a constant reminder of the season!
ReplyDeleteThe owlies are adorable. Here's my ornament story. My husband's grandmother who is now 85 years old, use to make handmade ornaments and sell them at craft shows. These were the kind that little kids could buy and give to their parents or put on the tree. The really cheeky kind. Her Christmas tree is covered in these little handmade gems. Well, I thought they were so special and secretly coveted them. Apparently, his grandmother packed a huge box of them to give to my husband and I for a wedding gift but forgot and the following summer was hit by a car while walking to get hair done, she was 82. A slow 18 month recovery later, she remembered the ornaments and gave them to at Christmas. It was the best Christmas ever and I love to put those ornaments up first.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite ornaments ever were the Winnie the Pooh ornaments that my grandma had hanging on her tree every year! These weren't no ordinary Pooh ornies...they were from long, long ago! I think my mom has them now....I'll have to ask.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note...I love reading your blog! You are so much fun!
Melissa
theperfecttrio.blogspot.com
Wow, it's really tough to choose a favorite ornament! But I have to say that I love the ornaments my mother in law made for her children when they were small (she gave them to us when we married). They're just simple things like wooden clothes pin ladies and soldiers, but now that I'm a mom I appreciate that effort.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter started preschool this year and she's in the Owl class, so I am loving all of these owlie things! Thanks for the inspiration!
Jennie
My favorite year of decorating was the year my oldest dd was born. She is a Dec baby and we got the tree the first weekend in December and got some lights on it. Being 9 months pregnant I didn't have the energy to do anymore. The only ornaments that made it on the tree that year were Baby's 1st Christmas ones! They were clustered together so I could take a pic of them all.
ReplyDeleteI love a little doily angel my daughter made in preschool. I also really love the nativity we bought in Peru while visiting my husband's family.
ReplyDeleteOooh this question is easy! My favorite holiday ornament was snoopy with a Christmas cap on and ice skates (which were clothespins). It was always my favorite ornament to put on the tree and I think someone in our family made it. My mom still puts it on our tree even though she's made our tree all one color instead of eclectic like it was when I was young.
ReplyDelete:) I love your owls!