Happy love day

I kind of love Valentine's Day. For me, something about it harkens back to elementary school, when the best part of the day was rocking your favourite red/pink/heart themed sweatsuit and handing out valentine cards to your classmates. Things have changed a bit since then, of course, but I have to admit that I'm still wearing a pink shirt to work today. Old habits die hard!

Tonight, the fella is taking me out to a really delicious Mexican restaurant for dinner. We don't usually do the present thing for Valentine's Day, but I have a sweet card for him that I plan to fill with a mushy love letter.

Wherever you're spending it - and whomever you're spending it with - I hope you're having a great Valentine's Day!

Prayer after Eating

I have taken in the light

that quickened eye and leaf.

May my brain be bright with praise

of what I eat, in the brief blaze

of motion and thought.

May I be worthy of my meat.

                                                                           -Wendell Berry

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Reflections on home

Well, dear readers - it's been awhile. (Or should I say reader...Hi Mom!)

I took a bit of a blog hiatus this spring, as you may have already guessed. It was a busy and stressful time -- in March, my fella and I moved back to our hometown into an apartment that's pretty rough around the edges in a not-so-great neighbourhood. It was a particularly tough move because we left behind a beautiful, well-cared-for apartment in a quiet Toronto neighbourhood. We chose this route because it has allowed us to save a TON of cash to buy a place of our own (which we hope to be able to do by the end of the year).

But even though our new place will benefit us in the long run, it has taken awhile for me to feel comfortable and settled. I like to have a home that provides a bit of sanctuary (which is probably one of the reasons why I put so much care and effort into making our living space as homey and beautiful as I can). Moving into a place with a crummy bathroom and zero counterspace and a thousand little flaws just gave me this icky, mopey feeling -- like I had no refuge from the big, bad world.

Now that a few months have passed, I'm starting to feel more relaxed. We've painted, cleaned, and disguised as many imperfections as we can. This will never be my dream apartment and I will be happy to move into a place of our own as soon as we can -- but at least I finally feel like we can be comfortable here over the next few months.

My fella and I just got back from our first vacation since moving into our new apartment -- a wonderful camping trip in northern Ontario. We spent four blissful days reading, hiking, swimming and sitting on the beach. It was just the escape we both needed. But on the way back, I was surprised at how much I was looking forward to being home -- even a home with a crummy bathroom and zero counter space.

I'll leave you with a few snaps of our trip. Isn't Ontario beautiful in the summer?

Wreath-tastic!

I have seen so many cute yarn wreaths popping up all over the interweb lately. Like these ones:

From Take Heart

And this one:

From my internet friend and fellow crafter Creative Kat

So I decided to make my own.

I followed this tutorial to the letter, including the idea to add the little felt flowers. I had the yarn in my stash already and the felt cost about $3 total, so all in all, it was very easy on my wallet. The most expensive thing was the $15 styrofoam wreath form (damn you and your exorbitant styrofoam prices, Michaels!)

This was honestly one of the easiest and most satisfying projects that I've done in a long time. It's basically impossible to screw up. Even the felt flowers, which are the "hardest" part of this project, are very simple and satisfying to make. Plus, the colour possibilities are endless. I made this one to match the red and aqua in my kitchen.

Simple, cute, easy, and inexpensive. What could be better?

Decking the halls

I've got big crafting plans for Christmas this year. I have this insane idea about hand-making as much as I can, from presents to decorations to edible goodies. That may be about as realistic as those commercials featuring impeccably dressed, well-behaved families sitting beside a perfectly decorated 35-foot high Christmas tree while starting lovingly at each other. But I figure if I get a running start, I may be able to pull some of it off.

First up in Christmas Craftfest 2010: a wreath for the front door. I gathered a whole bunch of red stuff from Ikea, the Dollar Store, and Michaels -- Christmas ornaments, silk flowers, feathers, cool berry-looking things, and a faux-winterized branch. I also made some pom-poms from my own yarn stash (which you can find out how to do here).

A little tip: if you're planning on making a wreath like this, buy waaaay more supplies than you think you'll need. And preferably, stock up at the cheaper stores like Ikea and Dollarama. Michaels can be shockingly pricey (case in point: I bought a solid circle of styrofoam and cut a hole in the centre because all the styrofoam wreath forms were, like, $15. Seriously Michaels? $15 for a hunk of styrofoam?) Oh, and  try to find non-breakable Christmas balls. It would be very sad to spend lots of time and money on a beautiful wreath only to find your hopes dashed by fragile balls. Ahem.

For my wreath, I started with the Christmas balls, 'cause they were the biggest and least flexible. I took off the little silver caps, put some hot glue onto the base, burned my fingers, cursed, then affixed them nose-down to the wreath.

I continued this pattern of gluing, finger-burning, and cursing until it started to look like this:

Then this:

                         

Then this:

Then finally, when I had barely any fingertips left, it was done!

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I don't necessarily think Christmas decorations should be trendy -- I prefer to go the classic route so I can use them for years and years. My favourite parts of this wreath are the pom poms and the little birdie sitting at the base:

Though I won't officially start decorating for Christmas until December, I think this is going to look very nice on our front door. Even my poor glue-gunned fingers agree.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ahh, Thanksgiving. Time for family, delicious food, reflecting on the good things in life...and beautiful table-settings.

I get a perverse sense of satisfaction from fancy table settings. I love the way china and crystal can elevate a meal to a real EVENT, you know? It just makes me feel so happy and contented to eat at a beautifully set table.

My fella and I celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents this year, so I got to set the table. My Mom had prepared some amazing elements -- the vases and flowers, gourds, mini Indian corn, pumpkins, leaves -- and I put it all together. I love the way the reds and golds go with the green in the china and napkins. (Freaky side note: my parents and my husband's parents have the EXACT SAME china pattern). 

My mom has this cool trick when it comes to preserving fall leaves for occasions like this. She puts them between two sheets of wax paper (waxed side on the inside) and irons them. This coats the leaves in a thin layer of wax, which prevents them from changing colour and gives them a tiny bit of a sheen.

Also, how cool is this circular vase? I love how the daisies make a little ring around the pumpkin.

I'll leave you with a gratuitous (and mouthwatering) shot of our turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!