Ribbon Bracelets

I didn't end up making many gifts for Christmas, but I did make some ribbon bracelets.  I found the idea in an old issue of Martha Stewart Living.  (See the article here.)  These are the ones that I gave my sisters.

Cassandra Ellis

I think we should all set a goal to make a handmade quilt in 2013.  I read about Cassandra Ellis in The Simple Things.  She makes beautiful and meaningful custom quilts.

Friday Featured Art: Christmas Cards

Did you see the lovely cards on the Mormon.org Christmas site?  The prints are simple and beautiful.  I like this one.

Thursday Text: Your Happily Ever After

I've been working on my Young Women's lesson for Jan. 6 (the first of the new year).  I really enjoyed reading Pres. Uchtdorf's talk Your Happily Ever After.  You can read it here.

Mandolins

Did you have a great Christmas?  We did!  We got mandolins - inexpensive ones.  It's always fun to learn something new.

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  I hope you'll all have a fabulous holiday.  I took this photo the night that they turned the lights on at Temple Square (the day after Thanksgiving).  (Then I edited it using PicMonkey.)

Friday Featured Art: Adoration of the Shepherds

Adoration of the Shepherds by Luca Giordano is a painting held by the Louvre.  Very Christmas-y.  I like the lamb.

Thursday Tunes: This Little Babe

Here's another high school choir Christmas song.  When we sang This Little Babe, I didn't realize that it was part of Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols.  It is fast and fantastic.  (This version is by a German choir, so you can hear a bit of an accent.)

Needlepoint Kindle Case

This needlepoint Kindle case from Lands' End is so cute.  I love the idea of using traditional crafts to accessorize modern technology.  And I love that it's monogrammed!

Cricut Folk Art Festival

Folk Art Festival is an adorable new cartridge for Cricut.  I really love the little animals and the darling borders.  Maybe it will go on sale soon...

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: Shannon Westmeyer

Shannon Westmeyer sells beautiful jewelry made from antique wax seals in her Etsy shop.  I ordered this "bee silent" charm for Christmas.  I also really like the "forget me not" design.  Very unique!

Thursday Tunes: Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree

We went to the local high school choir concert last Friday.  All of the young women at church who attend the high school are in one of the choirs, so that was a lot of fun.  The madrigal choir sang a beautiful song that I had never heard before: Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree.  Here's a rendition by the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge.

Embroidery Kit

Did you see this in Martha?  Purl Soho has a fun embroidery kit for sale.  It includes all of the supplies to make two seasonal trees plus enough embroidery thread for all four.  What a fun idea!

Hannah's Bretzel

We did some Christmas shopping downtown on Saturday and found a fun new place for lunch.  Hannah's Bretzel is a European-style sandwich place.  The sandwiches are served on either multi-grain baguettes or pretzel buns.  Everything is organic and delicious!

Haptic Lab

I picked up the December issue of Martha Stewart Living to read on the plane over Thanksgiving.  I'm not enjoying the magazine as much as I used to (too much Alexis and babies and Kevin Sharkey!), but I did find some great projects and places.  One is Haptic Lab - they hand quilt maps!  I love this idea, and they even sell kits so that you can make your own.  (Below is the city of Chicago and a world map.)

Friday Featured Etsy Seller: AN Original Jewelry

A stumbled across a fun Etsy shop the other day.  AN Original Jewelry has fabulous, whimsical metal pieces like these cute bunny earrings and this north star necklace.  Lovely.

Thursday Text: The Sweet Smell of Christmas

One of our favorite Christmas books growing up was The Sweet Smell of Christmas.  It's a cute story about a little bear at Christmastime.  The best feature about the book is that it has scratch 'n' sniff scents!  There's pine and orange and candycane and hot chocolate...  It's so fun.  We wore out the old copy and had to get all new ones.

To Dry For

To Dry For is a fun web site that I learned about from the latest issue of The Simple Things.  It is all about designer tea towels - hence the name.  Here are a couple of cute ones that I found.

For the Makers

Did you see this fantastic idea in Country Living?  For the Makers sells subscriptions for monthly craft boxes.  When you sign up you pay $29 per month and then receive a box with supplies and instructions for four projects each month.  It sounds like so much fun!

Zions Mercantile Goodies

When we were in Utah over Thanksgiving, we stopped at Deseret Book.  I managed to bring home a couple of cute things from their Zions Mercantile line.  This glass honey jar is only $1.99!  And Sara's spoon rest inspired me to pick up one of my own.