Adventing

I cannot believe how quickly December has gone by! It seems like I just hung up my homemade advent calendar and now the adventing has come to an end.

I did almost everything but not necessarily on the days that I opened the envelope. I didn't end up making my felt garland even though I bought the felt. Oh well...there is always next year!

And I didn't finish knitting my scarf that I started LAST winter....or two winters ago?? But to be honest, I chuckled as I tucked that card into an advent envelope because I knew that the likelihood of it getting done was slim to none.

In summation, I LOVED my advent calendar and plan to use it in the future. I'll be sad to take it down.

Merry Christmas Eve to you all and to all a good night!

My Holiday Card...For Real

After a failed holiday card attempt, I started over. I had an idea but wasn't sure about its execution. First I made a design.

Then transfered the design to my stamp via the trace both sides with pencil then retrace method.

Then I (carefully) cut...

And cut.

I wasn't sure how it would print. I was afraid the ink would fill in the snowflake and it wouldn't print correctly...and I was right...at first.

And so I tried again with purple. And failed again.

The ink was all dried up and cracky. But I persevered. This time with MAGENTA!

SUCCESS! And then I printed like 18,000 more.

The inside of the card.

The back of the card.

And the envelopes!

Happy Holidays!

What My Holiday Cards Will NOT Look Like

I was super inspired by this cross hatch design:

and thought it would make a wonderful holiday card pattern...except with trees or doves instead of a whale. 

But as in most of my craft endeavors, copying others inevitably leads to failure. So this is NOT what my holiday card will look like:

I'll reveal my actual card after they have been mailed and received. But here's a hint:

THEY ARE MAGENTA!

Homemade Advent Calendar

Growing up, we always had store bought advent calendars. The kind where you open the little window each day to a saying, or craft idea, or on special years, a piece of chocolate. Everyday Brother and I used to argue about who got to open the even's and odd's because obviously opening the 25th was the coveted window. And every year I tried the "Even Stephen" trick so I got to open the odds...but it didn't always fly.

But this year, I wanted to make an advent calendar that was more personal. I pinned several on Pintrest and eventually went with mini envelopes filled with holiday to-do ideas.

First up, I opened a small envelope to use as a template.

I traced and traced on some double-sided card stock. Then cut and cut until I had somewhat square, flat envelopes.

I folded the paper against a ruler to ensure straight creases.

And it started to look like an envelope!

Using a tape runner, I put some tape on the bottom half of each side triangle then folded up the bottom.

And....voila! An envelope.

Then I did that 24 more times. Twenty-four doesn't seem like a lot but trust me...it is.

Inside each envelope, I put a card with fun December activities. I can't guarantee that I'll actually do each one on the exact day, but I will do all of them!

I strung my envelopes up in my hallway on two pieces of thick, white ribbon.

And tried to take a panorama photo of it using my iPhone.

I used some candy cane paper clips...

and some Christmas tree paper clips (found at Target) to secure my envelopes to the ribbon.

Each morning, I unclip the envelope and slide out the card inside. I clip the card on top of the envelope so I can see all of my December To-Do's!

Happy Adventing!

Number Twenty-Four & Number Twenty-Nine

Number 24: Make 1,000 paper cranes...a fraction of a check.

I added this to The List without much thought other than: "I've made a few paper cranes, making 1,000 would be crazy."

Well...it turns out that 1,000 is a lot. I ended up with 200ish and called it quits. Folding a thousand cranes is supposed to make a wish come true, but so does blowing out a birthday candle...and cake is way less work.

I decided that finishing this goal wasn't a priority of mine but some day I will string up all the cranes I did fold and cover some of the white wall space in my apartment.

_____________________________________

Number 29: Document The List in a minibook...started.

And will be finished.

Someday...I promise.

It's Here! It's Here!

I've made several vague promises now about an exciting "project" that I've been working on to showcase my summer travel plans.  I'm happy to say it is finally done! 

While I was busy wishing I owned a Mac so I could use iMovie, I stumbled across Windows Movie Maker which suited me just fine.  Keep in mind that this is my first digital movie project.  So be nice and tell me you love it.

And...without further ado:



The yellow of the sun and fly-over states came out mustard colored...Oh well!

   

Cooking With Amy: The Most Delicious Cupcakes Ever Edition

Six on Sunday is hereby cancelled because I'm spending the day traveling to WEMA to play with paper.  Yesterday I saw Bad Teacher (funny) and made the most delicious cupcakes ever.  I pirated the recipe from How Sweet It Is back in May to make cupcakes for S's 29+1 birthday but had a mishap during the ingredient getting portion of the recipe.  But I regrouped and used my 1st Blog Birthday as an excuse to finally bake them.

__________________

Dear K,
Thank you for being my guinea pig and taking the first bite.  Don't be alarmed by my baking skills okay?
XOXO,
Amy

P.S. K said they were delicious.

__________________

It started innocently enough.  Doesn't it always?

I didn't have a whisk but I figured hey, a fork is almost the same thing.

I mixed in hot, melted butter followed by cold milk and heavy cream.  Well...the warm butter seized up forming a rice-soup/oatmeal looking mixture.  NBD.

I made a mess because the mixing bowl was a tad too small.  Oh and I forgot to make the fudge sauce.  I assumed it was just to decorate the cupcakes.  Oops!  Always read through the whole recipe before starting...lesson learned.



I contemplated stirring in some Hershey's syrup but instead I put the cupcake batter on hold while I whipped up some fudge sauce with my classy double boiler.

 

They look like cupcakes!  But I forgot to buy butter for the frosting so they cooled on the counter while I headed back to the store.

My peanut butter buttercream frosting looks delicious right?

It's pretty amazing what 2 tablespoons of milk will do to a lumpy dry mess.

It's robot arms were reaching out begging to be licked.

I punched a hole in the middle of each cupcake and filled it up with the frosting just in case the frosting on top wasn't enough for a sugar coma.

The cupcakes looked gorgeous but a bit naked.

So I gave them a shower of warm fudge sauce.

Verdict:  A lot more work than cupcakes from a box with frosting from a can but sooo yummy.  But...the cupcake (while moist and airy) is really just an edible plate for the peanut butter cream frosting. 

Seriously...the frosting is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted.  Ever.

Happy 1st Birthday Blog!  Happy Belated Birthday S!  Happy Weekend!

    

Six On Sunday

1. Antiquing date with mom = success.  I now collect skeleton keys.

2.  I am mildly concerned that the huge spider I just flushed down the toilet is going to crawl out of its watery necropolis seeking vengeance.

3.  Things with the letter A are hard to find due to the fact that it is a popular initial, a word, and a vowel.  Super psyched that I scored an A stamp in the dollar bin at Michael's.

4.  I have eaten pizza for my last four meals.  Yes, even for breakfast.  I had a left over slice of homemade pizza with an iced latte.

5.  I narrowly avoided being pulled over last night.  A cop had two cars pulled over and was just getting out of his car with tickets as I drove past.  He flagged over the car behind me.

6.  Yesterday was a craftastic day.  Another country has fallen victim to my insatiable need to make minibooks.  Here is a peek:

   

Seattle Mini Done At Last!

Way back when (in October) I started a minibook to chronicle my adventures in Seattle for M's wedding weekend.  I visited with my England ladies and got to travel a new city with them.  This adventure involved a suitcase and a hotel instead of a backpack and an airport bench but it was just as wonderful.

I have finally finished (minus one page) my Seattle minibook and I am so happy with how it came out.  (I'm also happy that my internal monologue loves to end sentences with prepositions.) 

Here it is...it's like 3 million pages so feel free to scroll.