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DIY: Winter in a Jar
Thanksgiving is over, the official time to fill your home with wintery sights and scents is here. Most of my friends have their acts together and have the house fully decorated and full of holiday cheer. I have the issue every year that we don’t spend Christmas at home. We usually spend it with the grandparents. I love any decorating ideas that will not get dried out after a week of neglect. This year I saw Anthropologie decorated their stores with Christmas scenes in mason jars. Here is a little DIY if you want to try it yourself. Materials Needed: 1. Fake Snow (I used baking sugar and clear glitter…
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My Favorite Yarn {Giveaway Winner}
I am posting this late…much later than I had hoped. I just successfully completed the 9 hour trip from my parents house to my own…with all three kids…BY MYSELF! Having two year old twins is wonderful and complicated. All that to say I am sorry for the delay. Now, before I announce the winner I wanted to answer the questions myself. My Name: (obvious) Elisa McLaughlin Who taught me to knit? My mother, and youtube. Mom covered the basics and I learned the rest from video tutorials. Favorite Yarn: I love Malabrigo Worsted Merino and MadelineTosh DK but my favorite is anything from Skein Yarns. I love her sock yarns,…
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DIY: Peacock Feather Ornament
{GIVEAWAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!} I always make ornaments each year. I have several ideas to start off the season. Any time you can pick up the empty glass ornaments from Michael’s or JoAnn’s I would recomend it. They are inexpensive and can be reused each year if you decide to change out what is inside them. I had a few alabaster peacock feathers lying about so I put one inside this ornament to try it out. Trim your feather down so it will fit inside the ornament and then slide it in the opening at the top. With a pair of tweezers move it until it is…
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Origami Goodness
What is it about the holidays that makes me want to fold paper into tiny animals? I can’t say really. One year I made fifty origami cranes and hung them around my tree from fishing line. It looked so amazing! I had the idea this year to make ornaments out of paper. I though it would be a good way to re-use the Anthropologie catalogues (that I have read enough times and was finally willing to give up). Using an industrial paper cutter I cut the catalogues into origami size squares. I did 6 and 3 inch squares. So far I have only used the 3 inch squares but the…
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DIY: Wintery Terrarium
I have been slowly winterizing my home. Not in the actual mountain way but by slowly adding Christmas decorations when I have time. What with the first snow (already! eep!) and temperatures dropping rapidly…I have needed something to keep my attention. Today I worked on this Wintery Terrarium. It was fairly simple to do. I found the moss in my yard and had the dishes already. This vintage footed bowl (thrifting find) fit perfectly with the pattern on the plate I just purchased from Anthropologie. The cloche was one I purchased a few years ago from Pottery Barn. The silver trees are pinecones I collected and then sprayed with silver…
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Courage to Draw
Sometimes I underestimate, or perhaps just forget the amount of courage it takes to pick up a pen and draw. Like most things in life the older I get the more self assurance it takes. As a child I loved to draw. I have sketch book after sketch book filled with my imaginings. Somewhere along the road to adult hood I lost my courage. I gave into the, misguided, mis-conception that to be a great artist you must have a natural ability from birth to capture the world around you. Over the years I have found that this is not truth. Just as in any art you must first copy…
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{New Pattern} Lovely Chevron Slouchy Beanie
Introducing my newest pattern! The Lovely Chevron Slouchy Beanie…hot of the press and ready to order. If you are subscribed to my email list the “Pattern Release” email should be arriving shortly with a coupon. This hat is my new favorite…I love Dream in Color Classy yarn in the Cloud Jungle color way. Happy Knitting!! Ravelry Store Etsy Shop THE PATTERN: Chevrons! I design with what I love and at the moment I am in love with chevron patterns. That is how this slouchy beanie was inspired. It is knit up with a delicate chevron pattern (see chart on page 3). Get ready for winter by knitting it out of…
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Hello Kitty Makeup
I am not the most experienced at Halloween costumes, believe it or not. My daughter wanted to be Hello Kitty for Halloween. Because I like to be able to reuse items from the costume, and also because my daughter already dresses like Hello Kitty. I thought I would use what we had on hand mixed with a few things I found at the store. If you need a last minute idea this face paint is easy. She loved the look so much I had to dress her up several times. The makeup has also been repeated several times as well. Hello Kitty is as simple as three whiskers on either…
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DIY: Silvering Leaves
Because of how far away I live from civilization (approximately 2 hrs) I like to think about holiday decor and wrapping early. I had the idea this year to use mostly organic things to wrap gifts and decorate my house. It helps that I have a love affair with twine, pinecones, and everything else organic. I was really excited when I found these dried leaves at JoAnn’s Fabrics this year. I had the idea to make them silver to add a bit more holiday feel. I think I will use them both as natural and silver because they look so great either way. All you need is some…
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Drumroll please…
I cannot begin to express how overwhelmed I was by the response to this giveaway. Especially considering the last time I had a giveaway there were 6 comments. This time I had over 200 responses. Thank you, everyone, for participating. This has been a wonderful experience for me. I wish I could respond to everyone’s kind words but there were so many! So, to all of you, as a thank you I want to give this little extra gift. This coupon code: GIVWY1 is good for everything in my Etsy Shop. Just use the coupon code when you check out. This coupon can also be applied to the multiple…
