Holiday Treats to Share

Giving homemade treats to friends and neighbors during the Holidays is one of my favorite things about this time of year. It's easier on the wallet than store-bought gifts, and the time and effort that go into making a gift for someone show a level of caring that is far greater. Growing up, we always gave cookie plates (tune in next week for some of our favorite Holiday cookie recipes), but in the past few years, we've tried to be extra creative with our homemade treats. Click HERE to see what we've given, gotten, and gobbled up!

Winter Woolens Advent Calendar

First off, I have to admit that none of these socks and mittens are made from wool. I'm pretty sure they contain no wool whatsoever. But "winter woolens" is such a cute phrase! I first read it on SouleMama a few years ago and it has stayed with me ever since. And you are certainly welcome to use wool socks and wool mittens if you make a similar advent calendar.

I've been looking for an advent calendar for about 5 years now, ever since our oldest celebrated her first Christmas. We have a cute poster of a house with numbered rooms and a Santa sticker we move from room to room, but I wanted something that I could stuff candy and little notes into. After seeing lots of beautiful but expensive store-bought calendars, and many, many beautiful but time-consuming handmade calendars, I finally spotted this one using baby socks on Martha Stewart and decided I could easily crank it out in about an hour (shopping time not included)! Here's how I did it (slightly differently than dear Martha):

Materials:

• 24 or 25 holiday baby socks, toddler socks, gloves, and mittens
• 1 or 2 sheets white card stock
• various circle punches (I used a 2" scalloped circle, a 1 1/4" plain circle, and a 1 3/8" plain circle)
• black stamp pad
• various number and letter stamps
• clothes pins (I used standard ones, but those little tiny ones would be awfully cute too)
• elmer's glue or other craft glue
• about 3 yards of jute, twine, ribbon, yarn, or rope (basically, something to hang these little darlings from)

How-To:

1. Punch 24 or 25 circles out of card stock using the various circle punches. I did 25, but I've noticed lots of count-down calendars only go to 24; it's your choice!
   
   
2. Lay the circles out on your work surface in the order you'd like them to go in, then start stamping each circle with a number. I did a mixture of numerals and written-out letters.
   
   
3. Place a single dot of elmer's glue on each clothes pin, then gently stick on the numbered circles. Set them aside to dry.
   
   
4. Put your twine (or whatever you'll be hanging your socks on) up where you want it and make sure it is securely attached. I put some of those 3M sticky hooks on the wall in our entry way, spaced them about 100 inches apart, and tied each end of my twine to a hook.
5. When the clothes pins are dry, use them to hang up the socks in number order. You can fill the socks with Christmas candy, love notes, small ornaments, holiday activity ideas, etc.
   
   

I'm so excited to have this sweet advent calendar in our house this year to help us count down the days until Christmas. And if we get tired of the socks and gloves, or if we need them in the future, we can use the numbered clothes pins for a new advent calendar!

Happy December 1st! and Savory Holiday Snacks

When I was little, my mom threw us a little party on the first of December every year. We divvied up the Christmas decorations, ate festive snacks, did little holiday projects, and were officially allowed to start singing Christmas songs. It is a tradition I have continued with my own children, and one that I look forward to every year. Today, we have plans to bake Molasses Crinkles (one of the best holiday cookies ever--promise), decorate little foam gingerbread houses, make an advent calendar AND a red and green paper chain, and possibly watch a Christmas movie or two!

Now that the holidays are in full swing, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite holiday recipes each week throughout the month. This week, we'll focus on

I have a major sweet tooth, but I also love me some salt. Click HERE to see just a few of my most favorite savory holiday snacks.

Photos from Bliss Handmade Boutique

After months of planning and creating, our third trip to the Bliss Handmade Boutique is finally and successfully over. We are tired and happy. In case you didn't make it, here's some of what you missed:

Blossom Earrings--we're sold out of black, but still have hot pink, red, cream, coral, and aqua

adorable full and half aprons

colorful bobbi pin trios--1 resin flower, 1 fabric-covered button, and 1 hand-cut, hand-stitched felt bloom with a little green leaf

an amazing turn-out! this picture was NOT taken at the busiest time; there was a time when it was completely packed and you had a hard time getting around to all of the tables!

We are participating in another holiday show in two weeks, Treasured Home in Springfield, OR, December 3rd and 4th from 10am-6pm. Fabric, bags, wall art, bath and body goodies, jewelry, clothes, quilts, holiday decor, and more, plus all of the Max and Ellie stuff you know and love! We'd love to see familiar faces there, so plan on stopping by!

Little Winter=Happiness

Is it odd that a shopping event made me feel happy inside for a few days? I've been excited for Little Winter for a while now, especially when it became apparent that I could finagle a few things in our hectic family life and actually attend. I was practically giddy just thinking about it all day Saturday, and beside myself on the way there Sunday afternoon. And Little Winter most definitely did not disappoint! It was very, very hard to narrow down my purchases; I wanted to buy so many beautiful things. But out of all of the lovelies, here's what I came away with:

Mossiere's 2011 silkscreened calendar--I had a hard time choosing which lovely print to get, but this Pacific Northwest Flora and Fauna calendar can be trimmed to fit a 12.5x12.5" frame when the year is over. Score! And it reaffirmed my desire to learn how to do calligraphy AND silkscreening.

A yummy cake print from Paul Ferney--I agonized over which cake print to choose for about 5 minutes; they're all so cute.

A God Jul card from Owls Go Hoot for Garment House for my Norwegian grandparents--I only wish I had gone ahead and bought the matching gift tags. :(

Everything about Little Winter was wonderful: the fresh, clean styling; the fantastic location; the window displays; the gift-wrapping. It was just beautiful, and I can't wait for more!

Bliss Handmade Holiday 2010 Boutique

We are so excited to once again be participating in the Bliss Handmade Boutique! This year's Holiday show will be on Thursday, November 18th, from 6 to 9 pm, in Crescent Village. If you're in Eugene, stop by for some early holiday shopping, hob-knobbing, cupcake-eating, and general good time-having! Max and Ellie will be one of over a dozen local artisans selling handmade items; there will be items for everyone from baby to baby-boomer, knick-knacks for the home, bath and body stuff, etc. etc! For more info AND daily give-aways between now and the 18th, visit the official Bliss Handmade website by clicking HERE. And come say hi on Nov. 18th!

Annie's French Baby Shower

So Annie--of birthday party fame--is just a little pregnant, and as a result, a baby shower was in order. Neither Annie nor I has any real connection to France; neither of us has ever been there, neither of us speaks the language. But who doesn't want to throw a French-themed party?!

lots of black and white striped ribbon

It was a huge hit! From the invitations to the decor, from the food to the favors, Annie's French Baby Shower was une bonne fete!

tarragon chicken salad with almonds served on baguettes; mini quiche; crudites


caramel apple napoleons; mini chocolate pots de creme; mini chocolate croissants


raspberry-almond french macarons


pear-walnut-goat cheese salad


sparkling pink lemonade


handmade dotted-swiss sachets filled with lavender buds; ignore the backyard--I realized after the baby shower that I had forgotten to clean up the yard!

In addition to eating and opening presents, we played a fun--although challenging--game where the lyrics of popular lullabies and children's songs were written in French, and we had to guess the song titles. Our only French speaker got 17 out of 18 right, and our best non-French-speaking score was 13 out of 18. Not too bad!