Just a few more days...

The excitement is mounting around here as we cross off the last couple of days before Santa's visit. Last minute shopping(and shipping) is done. I expect tonight Chad and I will park ourselves in the floor with a couple glasses of wine, do the gift wrap-a-thon, then scramble to stuff packages in every secret nook we can find...our girls are rather sneaky. We still have one gift that's m.i.a. ... Come on FedEx, 21$ in shipping and this is what you do to us? Maybe it'll show up. Then we have cookies to bake for Santa, I bet he's craving chewy oatmeal and raisin this year. And what do we have Christmas morning? I'm thinking we completely leave the path of healthy balanced breakfasts and go for something like this.

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish you all safe travels, the company of your loved ones, and perhaps a snowflake or two :)

It's a snow day...

Watch the snow fall. (10 inches and counting) Fill up on homemade corn chowder. Go outside, make snowangels. Come in, make hot chocolate, snack on cookies. Repeat.

***post edit***

Anna: The recipe(s) I loosely based the chowder on can be found here and here. I never do the puree step, I like chunky soup. My batch had corn, potatoes, carrots, chicken,garlic, rosemary, paprika, + a touch of cayenne. I used about 3 cups of chicken broth and added whole milk to fill it out. I rarely plan a meal, so that usually means I'm short a few ingredients, so I just kinda wing it :) Some of the best recipes are born that way, in my opinion!

Drawings for Mom...

Art by Rylee (Click to enlarge, please.)

My 5yr. old makes the sweetest drawings ever. Yesterday while I was making our second batch of sugar cookies, she sat at the dining table and drew this. I'm not sure why her dad is under the kitchen cabinets, he was actually on the sofa. All the details are spot on...that's my computer on the table, and she drew the etsy frontpage treasury (cute), Ava is only wearing a pull-up (accurate), and all my ingredients are there (milk jug, measuring cup, vanilla, sugar). I particularly like my toes and MC Hammer pants. No, I don't have pants like that, but apparently I wear them well :)

Bottoms Up...

Candy Cane Martini via Sweet Paul

1 oz vodka
1/2 oz peppermint schnapps
4 candy canes
cherry balls, if you want

Fill a shaker with crushed ice, vodka and schnapps.
Shake well and pour into glasses.
Garnish with candy canes and cherry balls.
Makes 4 glasses
(Photo by Colin Cooke)

I usually don't post anything I haven't tried, but this looks so darn festive. I have a head cold, therefore I can't really appreciate the smell or taste of this little drink. Try it for me and let me know how it goes, ok?

Check out Sweet Paul (discovered via Homebug) for more holiday loveliness.

Oh Yeah, and this...

Finally in my shop.

Looking for ways to stay warm? How about this? It looks rockin on that girl, but then again, she looks cool enough to pull almost anything off. It definetly seems warm, but it'd probably turn out looking like bag over my head if I tried it. Perhaps I should just stick with these.

Happy Monday...

Just a quick post to let you know I added 4 small originals to the shop! I'm working on a few more and will drop those in when finished. Also, I extended the BOGO print sale through Wednesday, AND I'm offering FREE First Class Shipping on all U.S. orders through December 22nd! Head over to the shop to take advantage...

Christmas Cookie Feast...

( Smiling with cheeks full of cookie dough)

Looking for a recipe to make Christmas Cookies? Look no further. I found the original recipe on Allrecipes, but I decided to modify it based on reviews and personal taste. The girls loaded theirs with frosting and sprinkles, but they were quite yummy sans icing. This recipe yields about 30 cookies, depending on your cutters.

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

zest of half a lemon (or less if your not a lemon fan)

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to creamed mixture. Knead into a ball, cover dough, and chill in frig for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

A few tips:

Make sure you chill the dough, otherwise it'll be a little sticky. I didn't flour my surface, instead I used a bit of powdered sugar. Don't overcook. I left mine in for 6 minutes on the dot. The centers should still be gooey when you grab them from the oven. Immediately remove from pan and they'll set up perfectly. If you want to frost them, we used a half batch of this recipe, but substituted butter for the shortening and doubled the vanilla.

It's a handmade Christmas...

So this year I wanted to do some handmade gifts for my niece and nephews. Here is what I have going so far. Up at the top is a wee doll with silly proportions (i.e. her legs are giraffe-ish). She sports a corduroy dress, stockings, pink beret, capelet with sweet vintage button, and some teeny felt shoes. I chopped her head off in the photo just in case my sister is reading this. We grown-ups like surprises too! Her little kitty is a mock-up of my niece's real life kitty, Hoppy. Then for my brother's baby, Ashton, I made a little set of custom blocks using the letters of his name. His room is blue and yellow, so that provided my color palette ...then I added a very mini print of each letter from my ABC Collection. They turned out darling, I think. I also made a soft felt tool set for him. He can whack himself with that hammer all day, and it'll never leave a mark. Tomorrow I will tackle something for my other nephew, Avery. He likes rope and ninja turtles, so that's what I'm working with...wish me luck :)

A great giveaway at mer mag...

Quick! Run over to Mer Mag! Merrilee is a fantastic artist who keeps a darling blog, which I enjoy daily. (You should too.) She is hosting a extremely generous giveaway. She is offering a personal portrait drawing (simply comment on her post)....AND if you link back to her giveaway post, you are entered to win an additional drawing of your whole family! She does lovely work, anyone's mug would look fab with Merrilee holding the pen. Seriously. Go enter.

PRINT SALE + shop update soon...

PRINT SALE
Here are a few things I'm working on at the moment. I hope to have a shop update early next week. This little collection has been inspired by our wintery weather, icy blues, whites, rosy cheeks and metallic accents. Almost everything in this update will be smaller scale and under $50. (Perfect for gifts.)

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Also, now through Wednesday (Dec. 12th -17th) Buy One Print, Get One Free in the shop! This will be the only sale between now and the holidays, so stock up! :) Just let me know which additional print you would like in the "message to seller" at checkout.

Plant love...

Greenware Design on Etsy

Greenware Design is a lovely little etsy shop featuring assorted succulents in handcrafted planters. So sweet in their little moss beds! Perfect as gifts (they're low maintenance). Check out their wares, perhaps if even for a little DIY inspiration...You could easily recreate this look with a thrifted dish (just remember to add an inch or so of pebbles to the bottom for drainage), pop in some dirt and plants, moisten and viola! Black-thumbs click here for Real Simple tips on houseplants.

Around my house...winter whites (and greys)

Filled cupcakes...

Very. Yummy. Cupcakes.

I made these filled cupcakes for Rylee's birthday party and they were delicious. I frosted half the batch with chocolate, the other half with vanilla. We had a winter wonderland theme going, so I added some tiny white pearls to the chocolate batch, and sparkly white flakes to the vanilla. I made the cupcakes the night before, and stored them in the frig in ziploc baggies, pulled them out a few hours before the party and frosted them. (They were much better after sitting, so moist!) Here's the recipe, courtesy the always lovely Allrecipes...

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix

(I used Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), or to the temperature recommended on the cake mix package.
Prepare chocolate cake mix according to package directions, but do not bake. In separate bowl cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended, then stir in chocolate chips.
Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers. Fill 1/4 full with chocolate cake batter. Add 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture to the center, and top with more cake batter.
Bake according to package directions for cupcakes. Cool overnight and frost with chocolate or cream cheese frosting. (Or vanilla, in my case.)

Tip: Do not overfill the cupcake liners. I used approx. a heaping teaspoon per layer. Before baking you want each liner about 2/3 full. One cake mix makes about 24 cupcakes.

Enjoy!