Merry Christmas!

someone was a good girl
Originally uploaded by hastingsgraham

Merry Christmas everyone!

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Hot Drinks Mix Round Up

So this year is pretty tight on the old budget belt (tell me something we dont know right?) but I am determined to make the best of it. All gifts will be small but thoughtful and to sweeten the deal I am planning on making a whole bunch of holiday drink mixes to warm up the holiday season. (Just so you know I AM writing this post during 'the' blizzard in MN).


From Bake it Pretty we have a lovely recipe for Russian Friendship Tea:

http://www.bakeitpretty.com/blog/?p=492

my mom used to make this and it is SOOOOO yummy.





AmberLee from the Giver's Log has a fun idea for hot chocolate on a stick.



http://giverslog.com/?p=3290



actually she has LOTS of really cool things there that you should check out.


Amy at the The Mother Load has a Hot Chocolate Recipe as well as a Vanilla Chai Tea. Both sound scrumptious!

Now I just need to whip these up along with a batch of homemade marshmallows and I should be good to go.

Still trying to decide how I want to package all this Drink Mix goodness but if I find anything good I will maybe post some pictures.

You better watch out

Vera-Ellen, the Santa Claus pinup, c1955
Originally uploaded by carbonated

Christmas time is here! We 'decorated' our apartment this weekend and it looks like a bunch of drunken elves had a decorating party. It looks a lot like one of those Christmas stores that looks like it should be a log cabin. All sorts of teddy bears and stuff. Not really my style at all- but my roommate brought all of his decorations for Christmas since I went a little overboard with Halloween. So now I am knee deep in quilted teddy bear-with-santa-hat place mats. Sigh. At least it is Christmas.

Back to Halloween for a moment-Ursula Costume 09

My bad. I should have posted this way sooner but such is life! So for Halloween this year my friends and I decided to have a Disney Halloween. Actually I said I wanted to be Ursula from 'The Little Mermaid' then someone else was like "Oh! I want to be Belle!" and it just sort of snowballed from there. So I was going to split this up into a whole bunch of small posts as I gradually made my costume but I just banged it out in one week and had no time for posting!

I started with the the tutorial from Threadbanger on making a tutu.

Next I made a simple black dress from a vintage '80s pattern I found in my mom's sewing stash.
I made it about knee length instead of ankle length though.

At first I was just going to wear the tutu underneath the dress but I decided I should sew it in because I knew I was going to sew the tentacles in as well. See how nicely the purple sticks out at the bottom? Also the tutu would help the overall shape of the skirt from looking too lumpy.

The tentacles were made out of the same black fabric as the dress and then purple costume satin.

I only made 6 tentacles because my original plan was to make tights that also looked like the tentacles but alas I ran out of time. Each leg took almost an entire bag of polyfil to stuff at this point I was a little worried it was going to be too heavy for the dress.

Notice the Suction cups- different sizes hand sewn to each tentacle.

Got the suction cups from the dollar store I just had to take the little metal hook things off of them.

AND THE GRAND FINALE:

Pretty adorable if I do say so myself. I sewed all of the legs to the waistline of the dress then curled them over to the top part of the skirt and sewed them in place. The necklace is just a large seashell I already had. I used white hair spray paint and some sweet '80s shadow to complete the look.

Now what for next Halloween? Hmm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Vintage Thanksgiving Postcard
Originally uploaded by bulldoggrrl

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Stuck at work right now so before I get to go home and bake my pie I figured I should take some time out to make a list of what I am thankful for. So in no particular order:

-My job: I am not in love with it and I complain about it a LOT but it is a job that pays the bills until I can figure out what I want to be when I am a 'grown up'. And not to sound preachy but in this economic climate when so many people are struggling to find work and make ends meet I am going to try to be a little more positive that I even have a job.

-Friends: The farther we get from college I fear the farther we will grow apart but so far those friends that are the backbone of my existence have remained close- in spirit if nothing else. I really appreciate it when we all take time out of our busy lives to make sure we get together and spend time with each other. I have also been blessed to be a part of my friends lives as they are approaching huge milestones in their lives. I thank you for including me and I look forward to this upcoming year!!!

-flickr: Maybe a weird option but this is my first year on there and it has helped me connect with so many other cool and creative people. I feel like I finally have people who 'get me' with all my crafty weirdness. In this category I would also like to add sites like blogger and etsy - online communities that have really inspired me to do more.

-PUSHING DAISIES: I finally discovered this gem of a show. I bought both seasons on DVD and have already watched them multiple times. I love everything about the show and I am sad it is no more. But I am keeping the love alive tonight as I attempt to make a pear pie with gruyere baked into the crust!! (pictures to come if it turns out!)

-My roomate: Neither of us wanted to keep living at home and neither of us could afford to move out on our own. I love living with him and sharing this wonderful experimentation in being a grown up. (At what point does it stop becoming an experiment and just starts being my life? Hmm.)

-THANKSGIVING!!!: As a holiday all by itself I am not the biggest fan...but for me it is the OFFICIAL kick off of the Christmas season and oh man I do loves me some Christmas. Christmas music for a solid month! YES!!! Christmas movies every weekend!! YESS!!!! Holiday baking!!! SO EXCITED!

ok. I am calm. And also thankful. I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you all have lots to be thankful for as well.