The Trick

December 10, 2010

Does your family adopt silly things someone said once and keep using them for years? My family does this a lot. My mom leads the way, but I'm a close second.

Which brings me to The Trick. My cousin, Julia, when she was 2 or 3, used to do the thing where she would hold onto my uncle's hands and walk up his legs and then flip herself over backward. My uncle would say to us, "Here is Julia, presenting The Trick." Very grand, very hilarious.

And now very much a part of my family's list of sayings that just won't die.

So this is essentially Emily, presenting The Trick: Snowflake Edition. And it really is the neatest trick.



Last night I had a little time to spare, but not enough energy to start a new project, so I thought I'd cut out a few paper snowflakes to decorate the house. Where they're going to go, I've no idea, but I've got a whole pile of them and they're awesome!

It turns out the ones we made in grade school all those years looked lame because we were folding the paper wrong!

You've got to follow these steps and they instantly turn out better.



Then you just cut out from that little triangle. If you go to this site, there are a few examples of snowflakes you can easily make. But I experimented last night and NONE of them turned out bad. Well, I don't think. The more paper you cut away, the more intricate the snowflake will be. And the sharper the scissors the better.



I know I'm a bit odd, I really think The Trick is monumental. It just works so well! I dare you, try it!

Instructions image credit.

Starting Simple

December 9, 2010

Yesterday, I took a whack at the sewing machine Michael gave me for my birthday (I hinted. A lot.). And I managed a simple little project without even needing to call my mom! I call that a major success.

I have a thing for mobiles, so I started with these easy stars, hung from a small piece of driftwood. Also have a thing for driftwood. But you knew that already.



And while I was sewing away, these guys were doing their thing on the bookcase. I love them. They were a gift from my parents when we got engaged, and they just made the journey all the way from Maine this year. Not a scratch on them, hardy guys that they are.





And for Dublin readers, check out this lunchtime concert at the National Concert Hall next Friday at 1pm. It's only €10 per person and there are still seats left! Michael and I are trying to do some schedule re-arranging so we can make it too. It would be the perfect Christmas-y activity!

Funny Ones

December 8, 2010

So, the weather. It's still here. Very, very cold. No snow since last Thursday, but what we've got doesn't seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.

When it snowed last week, there were no snow plows to push it out of the way, and there were no city workers out shoveling the sidewalks. Instead, the 8-ish inches of snow has just turned into inches and inches of terrifying ice.

Here are a few shots of my street this morning. Perhaps you can't see too much because of the glare off the sheet of ice that is our road!







But the weather's made for a couple funny stories over the last few days. They made me chuckle.

The first one I can't take much credit for. All I did was hear it on the radio, probably most Irish people did as well.

Last week, during the worst of the storm, schools were all closed and the kids were all out playing in the snow. Apparently, a certain few groups of lads had the idea to hide in the bushes near intersections. When a car would come crawling up, they would jump out, get on all sides of the car, and spin it so it was facing the opposite direction, then run off! Absolute genius.

The second funny story is similar. My husband was coaching one of his teams at a match out in Tallaght (translation: the 'hood) during one of the days of snow. He had to go out to the National Basketball Arena, which has a very long driveway, lined on both sides with fields.

I know it's hard to picture the hood and all these fields, but bear with me.

Michael was driving up this road to the Arena, slowly through the snow, and teenage boys on either sides started pelting the car with snow balls.

Michael thought he'd be clever and stop the car, pretending he was going to get out and start yelling at the boys. He thought shaking his fist and stopping the car was going to scare the lads away.

But he forgot a crucial detail. He was in Tallaght, not our polite little Bayside neighborhood.

So instead of running away, the boys ran up to the car, opened all the doors, and started pelting Michael with snowballs. Ha! Well played, boys.

That's about all I have for the day. I'm cooking stew to bring to a new mom (and I suppose the dad can have some too!), baking some dinner rolls and maybe some rhubarb crumb coffee cake, and working out the kinks in my new sewing machine.

What are you all up to today? Anyone baking anything yummy?

Settled and Festive

December 7, 2010

I had forgotten how much worse the jet lag is when you come in this direction, so I've been a little slow to get going!

I've been unpacking, getting the house back in order, and starting to decorate. And it is full on Christmas! Yeah!

It's still freezing, icy and now sleeting, so there has been lots of inside time and hot chocolate. (Speaking of, check out this neat recipe!)

So last night, I made these quickie wreaths for our big back windows. Very, very easy.



Tear some fabric into strips, or use scraps you have lying around, and cut them into uniform lengths. I used about 14 inch strips. Tie them around a wreath form until it's full. Then I added some thick red ribbon to hang them. So festive (and cheap!).





Cute huh?



And more photos of the nice little Charlie Brown tree when I'm not so grouchy at it...after the first night the lights stopped working. And I'm really not looking forward to taking them all off and starting over. Grrr.

Until tomorrow, I'm going to continue enjoying this dark, rainy, cold day. Off to organize my studio!

DIYing, Holiday Style

December 1, 2010

You know one thing I love about Ireland? The absolute over-use of the description "DIY". I'll admit, I've adopted it. It's one of those phrases that annoys me if I think about it too much, but it flows so perfectly off my tongue I can't help myself.

Right, so, yesterday and the day before was all about somebody else DIYing and putting their creations on the most excellent Etsy for us all to purchase and gift away to our friends and family. But today is all about ideas for our own DIY. In your house. On your kitchen table. On your living room floor. In your studio (remember I was making a studio? I swear it's nearly done.).

I've got some ideas of my own I'm dying to share with you once I'm back in Dublin, but in the meantime, here are a few projects from around the web that are just fantastic.

This first one had me at the craft store (my 3rd home) yesterday asking for a porcelain pen. I hadn't even heard of such a thing, but they even have loads of different colors! So neat.



The project is from the genius behind DesignMom, Gabrielle Blair. She has been doing DIY crafty, practical gifts for her kids from her other kids for years now and she has very clever ideas.

You can find the instructions here on her blog, but you essentially find a letter or image you like and draw it freehand or using transfer paper, on the mugs, plates, bowls, or whatever you like. You let them dry for 24 hours, and then put them in the oven according to the directions on the pen.



I absolutely love that she filled the mugs with hot chocolate mix and mini marshmallows for little gifts. Watch out, Dubliners, you might see those coming your way later this month!



This quickbread in a bottle idea is from Sunset (via Apartment Therapy :). You could definitely use a Ball canning jar or the equivalent (at Ikea, Irish readers, for cheap!), and you could use any of your favorite recipes!

You'd want to pick a recipe with relatively few wet ingredients, and you'd probably want to try to make the dry ingredients fit the jar you pick. Otherwise the dry ingredients will be able to shake around and they won't look so darn neat all stacked up!



This last one is from Martha Stewart, and I think it would be an awesome project to do with kids or for kids, or both!

The full tutorial is here, but the gist is that you chop up the crayons (great for using all those gross, stubby ends), and put them into muffin tins. Then you bake them until they melt, let them cool and pop them out!

Goodbyes and Babies

November 30, 2010

Yesterday began the first of my goodbyes to friends and family in America. It stinks.

But a big chunk of my yesterday involved time with a dear friend and her two beautiful babies, almost 1 and almost 2 (their ages, not their names!).

So, in honor of those beautiful babies, here are a few adorable gifts for the babies in your life!

Still, again, from Etsy. I'm in love with that site! And kind of hoping a few of you spent hours on it yesterday like I did all weekend!



This onesie is from Morning Star Loft, hand dyed and hand painted. They also have an adorable moose long-sleeved onesie! Great options for baby boys, which are sometimes hard to find!







Now, if I were a little more tech savvy this morning, I would have put those last three images together, straight across, so you could see how cute they would look all together! I think that would be one well-dressed baby! And warm too!

Booties, scallion hat, and lemon wool coat.




I am such a fan of these snack bags. They'd be great for toting around snacks for babies, or even 6'4 husbands!



And finally, this rabbit doll. I just think it's lovely.

Tomorrow: crafty holiday project ideas! Fun!

Holiday Picks: Kitchen Edition!

November 29, 2010

I think some of you might still be snowed in this morning in Dublin! Hope you are staying in and cosy today!

I spent yesterday afternoon sewing Christmas stockings for a few little boys in Dublin. They came out so cute!

When I wasn't sewing (and eating lots of Thanksgiving leftovers), I spent some time browsing some of my favorite Etsy shops for holiday gift ideas. Such talented people out there. I'm looking forward to joining them in a few months!

This is a little collection of gifts for anyone who loves cooking, baking, or even just food! The shipping on nearly every one is so reasonable within the United States and even over to Ireland! Most of these Etsy artists are from either Maine or Ireland, which I think is just so neat.



These adorable tea towels are from the shop Madder Root in Old Town, Maine. They have just lovely, simple, hand printed pieces. I love the natural colors. Wouldn't these tea towels be a nice Christmas addition to your kitchen?





These two prints are from BridBird's shop (with free shipping worldwide!) in Northern Ireland, and I think her prints are so affordable and unique. I love that each item is so simple but arty at the same time.





2FreshThreads is such a cool shop - I just love those prints! I'm a sucker for that sea green background too! They also do the cutest aprons.



Lastly, I am loving the texture in the pottery from Cats Paw Pottery. So darling huh?

I'm off to do some running around visiting friends and family for the day. Check back tomorrow for lots more cute gift ideas for the (quickly approaching!) holidays. See you soon!

Lies, all lies!

November 26, 2010

I lied! I told you about the famous dinner roll recipe and then things were too crazy around here yesterday and I totally forgot!

I wish I had a photo of them from yesterday, but they're gone. Not a one left.

Here it is. My mom is famous for this recipe. Watch out, once people get a taste they'll demand you bring them to every holiday! Good thing they're pretty easy!

Dinner Rolls

3 to 3 and 1/4 cups flour 1 pkg. dry yeast
1 tsp. salt 3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar 1 egg
1 cup milk

Combine one cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt in bowl. Heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Cool until you can put your index finger into milk and it’s hot, but bearable. Add to dry ingredients and mix with mixer, beating in egg. Mix for a minute or two, then mix in rest of flour. Knead until not sticky and ball forms. Let dough rise for about an hour in a greased, clean bowl (covered and put in warm place).
Grease muffin tin. Roll dough into small balls. Place three balls in each cup. Let rise about 30-40 minute. Then bake at 400 (200ish C) for 15 minutes OR if you want brown and serve rolls, bake at 300 for 15 minutes until barely browned, then refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve, then bake at 425 (210ish C) for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Black Friday

November 24, 2010

Check out our festive Thanksgiving table from yesterday's feast!





It was a great day with family, friends, food, football, and so much to be thankful for.

And now, bring on Christmas! It's even snowing here in Maine!

Since it's truly the beginning of the Christmas season, I've been thinking about holiday traditions. What are your holiday traditions? I've heard a few neat ones in the past few months. One is the idea (great for large families with lots of kids!) of giving one clothing gift and one toy gift per child.

Another idea is to have each child make gifts for their siblings. I love this idea! I'm trying to do as much making as possible for my Christmas gifts this year. I'll be posting some great ideas for homemade gifts in the next week.

I've also heard some people only do stockings for each other and their kids. This year, Michael and I are toying with the idea of planning a trip together as a gift to each other.

But I think we'll still mix in some traditional pretty gift-giving this season! I'll be posting a few gift guides over the next week as well, so check back for some great holiday gift ideas!

In the meantime, take a peek at this magazine, called the Pizzazzerie Holiday Gift Guide. I love these free online magazines - they always have such beautiful ideas.

Open publication - Free publishing - More style

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, friends.

Today is filled with lots of preparations for a big meal later, so I thought I'd just share a few photos of the lovely day in China Village, and a few things I'm thankful for today.



the freedom to travel to be with my American family over Thanksgiving




wonderful parents who equipped me with all the tools I need to succeed: strength, integrity and a little grit



a loving husband who's given me (among a million other things) space to try to find what will make me truly happy



warm, supportive family and friends in both of my homes



health, faith and peace in my little part of the world. it's rare.

To friends who are family and family who are friends. Have a truly lovely Thanksgiving day!