Wise Craft

gift guide for you

2009-12-09T06:23:29-08:00

I did a little gift guide over at Design Sponge today. Take a peek.

on design*sponge today

2009-12-08T06:30:47-08:00

Today over at the Design*Sponge guest blog I give instructions on how to make a party flower for all that holiday hobnobbery you'll be doing. Also, don't forget to comment to win one of Regina's prints here.

Have a great day!

jumping over to design*sponge this week

2009-12-07T06:12:40-08:00

I am really excited to be a guest hosting over at Design*Sponge this week. I will be posting some holiday DIY projects, gift guides, and holiday inspiration all week, so I hope you'll join me. Our first project is all the ingredients you'll need for a spur-of-the-moment, why-not ornament-making party.

Thanks to Grace and everyone at Design*Sponge.

featured sponsor creative kismet

2009-12-05T20:09:40-08:00

give thanks every single day

treasure bird

Regina Lord is the creative mind behind Creative Kismet, a collection of upbeat, happy unique art and handmade items. I love her tin holiday ornaments and her ingenious tea wallet (how fantastic is that?). *Leave a comment on this post and I will draw one name later this week to win a free art print of your choosing. In the meantime, Regina is generously offering free shipping on everything in her store until December 31.

Go get some holiday shopping done!

Amy's in town

2009-12-03T08:57:40-08:00

For all you Seattle locals, Amy Karol will be in town at The Quilting Loft tonight (12/3), signing books, handing out treat bags, and being her charming self. Come on down! 7pm.

(P.S.- And I'm kind of thrilled that I finally get to meet Emily, who's coming with her, after all these years! Yay!)

something to fiddle with in between those handmade christmas gift-making sessions

2009-11-30T19:24:57-08:00

Or maybe when you're sitting there, trying to figure out what to make for someone. These little blocks are made by the fabulous Sarah Neuburger, The Small Object. As much as I love knicky-knack, sit-a-bout things, I especially love things that sit out and engage everyone. Not a person has sat at our sofa that hasn't played with these. They are for counting, for building, for stacking, for admiring, you name it.

And happy first day of advent! I dusted off our advent calendar and filled it with tiny toys (little whoopie cushions, colorful marbles, puzzles, maze books, and I couldn't resist filling a weekend day of these...), so I think I am ready. There are several things that will just not fit in those pockets (like for example the holiday pillowcases I'm making each kid for their bed pillow for one) and there are plenty of experience days vs. tiny toy days (like one day, it'll be a drive to look at Christmas lights with friends, another day is going out for ice cream after dinner one night, etc.) The kids already know what's in store on the 24th day of advent- new pjs.

I guess I should start thinking about making some gifts. Haven't started a thing. Started a lot in my mind...but nothing is magically materializing as I hoped it would.

P.S.- Rose, we had those turkey enchiladas and they are a new favorite! Thank you for commenting with that recipe!

uwajimaya

2009-11-29T09:57:34-08:00

Testing out this new quick compose feature on typepad, trying to figure out how quick quick actually is...

We went to Uwajimaya yesterday. I love the hustle and bustle there. Korean barbecue, Beard Papa's creme puffs, a whole lot of Hello Kitty. Good times...

let the season begin!

2009-11-28T08:32:39-08:00

The holiday decorating has officially started at the wise craft house. This little vignette is on a built-in shelf above the kid's computer in our family room (I struggle with what should go on this shelf all year, its just not functional and meant to be decorative...at least I think). These are the tomorrowland trees I made last year, instructions are here. If you have some craft felt, beautiful wool felt, or a sweater in a great color ready to felt...any of those would make a quick and lovely set of trees. And don't forget the "Whoville" trees I did for Value Village (which I think also look like dollops of meringue), also a quick and easy project.

a couple things...

- Thank you to everyone who is supporting our chocolates! This is total grassroots and Peter and I are having a lot of fun with it. Shops have been enthusiastic about them and folks have been buying and enjoying them...and that makes us extremely happy. And, we have added a store locator page to the website, and it is updated frequently as our distribution grows, so keep checking in.

- For you Seattle locals, Ms. Chicken Amy Karol is coming to The Quilting Loft on December 3rd at 7pm. She will be signing her book, Bending The Rules With Fabric and Bend The Rules Sewing, and show some tips. Believe me, you don't want to miss this very funny and sweet lady.

- I'm currently attempting to control a potentially addictive eggnog latte habit. Love!

- Tell me this is not beautiful!!

- Hope your Thanksgiving was good. Ours was really nice, although at 18 1/2 lbs, Peter bought way more turkey than we needed, so please comment and let me know your favorite turkey leftover recipes. I need ideas!

Enjoy your weekend!

woodland centerpiece for thanksgiving

2009-11-24T19:44:54-08:00

I won't be spending Thanksgiving with my friend C and her family this year, and I will miss her and well, truth be told, I'll also miss her flowers. I have shown you her amazing floral arrangements before. Always gorgeous and modern. So, as I'm prepping for Thanksgiving here at our house with friends this year, I'm remember a few little tricks that C has taught me (and that I've just kind of picked up along the way). I thought it would be fun to share.

I purchased a bouquet from our local marke, nothing extravagant...a few roses and some green berry, rosehip type sprigs. I used a short, wide-mouthed glass vase- pictured above. You can pick these up at thrift stores for next to nothing. (I used to be afraid of vases with large openings, thinking it would take a lot of flowers to fill them, but it really doesn't.) Fill it with cold water and dump at least a packet of the flower-fresh powder they give you with these bouquets, more if you have it (don't be stingy with it). De-leaf all the flower stems. Using a sharp kitchen steak knife, trim each stem down so that the flower will only come to the top of the vase (really tear off that stem with the knife, to expose plenty of the stem to water, no clean cuts necessary). Do this will all the flowers first, placing them to distribute their color nicely. Like this...

Now work on the green, leafy foliage, cutting down of the stem and dispersing its color. Keep the entire arrangement close and tight to the opening of the vase, with no space showing.

Looking good, no?-

You could leave it like this and it would look great. Or you could wrap any large leaves on the inside of the vase to disguise the stems, which is my C taught me to do. But my favorite part of this arrangement comes next.

I have a couple sheets of bark (I got these from C, but you can purchase them online. I did a search for "bark sheets" and found a place here that sells them). These sheets can be cut pretty easily with a good pair of scissors and I only needed to cut it to the height I wanted (and the best part is I have some leftover for another project!)

And there a woodland-y, non-Thanksgiving, and yet Thanksgiving, centerpiece.

Hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving day (or Thursday if Thanksgiving's not your thing). I will be preparing the whole soup-to-nuts feast and am looking forward to it (happy to say I haven't ruined a turkey yet, she says as she knocks on a sheet of bark). Be well! xo

scholastic circa 1973

2009-11-23T19:02:40-08:00

Found my very faded, dog-eared copy of one of my all time favorite childhood books, The Cookie Book. It contains 12 recipes, a cookie for every month of the year. I ordered it from the Scholastic brochures that come home from school (and I smile at the idea of how little the whole Scholastic thing has changed over ht years). I loved the hand drawn illustrations. And I love that I marked my favorite cookies.

Ian has asked to make Mississippi Mud Pie from this book for Thanksgiving. It made me think of this little one, which is still in with my cookbooks.