holiday craftiness

looking for a holiday craft project? happy weekend!

1. crocheted snowflakes by sarah london; 2. gold stars by strawberry chic via pinterest; 4. polymer gift tags by poppytalk; 5. nativity ornament by wild olive; 5. shimmery tree made of newspaper by martha stewart

spoonflower

pst! have you heard of spoonflower? it's a place where you can design your own fabrics and purchase fabrics designed by thousands of people everywhere! there are a lot of talented people out there and countless designs to choose from. if you're looking for a very specific theme, look no further. they seriously have everything!

for black friday, they had a buy one get one free offer for fat quarters and i had to exert some major self control to avoid buying more fabric than i could afford. now i just have to decide what project is worthy of such cute fabric.

today i'm loving... lilac saloon

hand cut felt heart confetti by lilac saloon

have a sweet and happy weekend!

fabric flower garlands

made using a tutorial by dolci odille via once wed

here, there, everywhere

i hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! we've been traveling a lot these past couple of months and i thought i'd share a few photos from our adventures :)

after our wedding in september, we headed straight to hawaii for our honeymoon. hawaii is so gorgeous and the food! oh the food is too good.

wild chickens roam around kauai and cockadoodledoo all day long. i thought they were hilarious.

queen's bath. the waters around hawaii are so unbelievably clear.

power hang gliding. that's me in the back seat! i thought i'd be terrified but it was so much fun that i'd love to do it again.

i miss shave ice

malasadas! i'm searching for a place in boston where i can get these.

after we got back from hawaii, we packed up again for a visit to san francisco. 

our first mongolian hot pot experience. i'm not sure what they put in their broth but it was phenomenal.

i only had a few must-do's on my list and miette was one of them. everything was too pretty. i highly recommend their mini scharffen berger chocolate cake. the taste and texture are divine.

we spent thanksgiving in DC with RT's sisters. it was a wonderfully lazy weekend that included RT's 29th birthday celebration.

the national archives. i loved it here. they had on display pa ingalls's de smet homestead file. if you grew up with little house on the prairie books i'm sure you understand how cool it was to see it!

library of congress

hello mr. president!

the national postal museum. how cute is this mailbox from the netherlands?

whew, that's a lot of traveling for someone who's a total homebody. i do love to see new places but sometimes home is my favorite place to be :)

gifted magazine

ez over at creature comforts has put together her annual holiday gifted online magazine. page after page of lovely inspiration and eye candy! as an added bonus, there are a ton of beautiful holiday printables too. i wish i could get this in print... it's definitely something i would keep forever :)

mameshiba pattern

*update* 2.28.12 - fixed a typo in rows 10 and 12. the pattern should make more sense now :) thanks to savannah for pointing it out!

i've had a surprising number of requests for this pattern so i thought i'd share it. i must warn you though, i scribble notes as i crochet and try to turn my notes into a pattern afterwards so it may be inaccurate. and for all i know, the way i write my patterns may not make sense to anyone other than me! as you may have noticed, i crocheted this guy inside out (L's not V's. no clue what i'm talking about? read this post) SO depending on if you crochet using the "right" or "wrong" side, your results may be very different. use this pattern as a guide and starting point. mameshiba comes in all sizes and colors so experiment! good luck :)

mameshiba

materials
medium/worsted weight yarn
poly fiber filling or any filling of your choice
E/3.5mm hook
stitch marker
safety eyes or buttons
embroidery thread
tapestry needle
*this pattern is worked in rounds, no turning!*

body
R1) magic ring 6 (6)
R2) inc in each sc (12)
R3) *1sc, inc* 6 times (18)
R4) *2sc, inc* 6 times (24)
R5) *3sc, inc* 6 times (30)
R6) *4sc, inc* 6 times (36)
R7-9) sc in each sc around (36)
*attach eyes and nose. stitch mouth using embroidery thread and tapestry needle*
R10) 10sc, dec, 4sc, dec, 4sc, dec, 4sc, dec, 6sc (33)
R11) sc in each sc around (33)
R12) 10sc, inc, 4sc, inc, 4sc, inc, 4sc, inc, 6sc (36)
R13-15) sc in each sc around (36)
R16) *4sc, dec* 6 times (30)
R17) *3sc, dec* 6 times (24)
*stuff your mameshiba*
R18) *2sc, dec* 6 times (18)
R19) *1sc, dec* 6 times (12)
R20) dec until closed

ears - make 2
R1) magic ring 5
R2) inc in each sc around
R3-5) sc in each sc around
*press flat and stitch to your mameshiba body*

please do not sell this pattern or any mameshiba that you may make with this pattern. please do not repost this pattern on any website but you are welcome to link back to this original post. if you post a photo of a mameshiba created using this pattern, please also include a link to this original post.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

yellow wallpaper handmade

today, i'm loving the pretty, vintage inspired designs at yellow wallpaper handmade.

lovely right? :)

found via papernstitch

chronicle books haul-idays!

yay! chronicle books is doing it again! pick your favorite chronicle books valued up to $500 and enter to win it all for you and a lucky blog commenter. and to make this year even better, the winner will choose their favorite non-profit to receive $500 worth of books too. i would choose the boston public library. i was unemployed for what seemed like an eternity and i stopped buying books in order to save money. it was during this time that i discovered what a wonderful resource my local public library was. i know they, like all other libraries across the country, are struggling with decreasing budgets and increasing demands from their communities. i would love the opportunity to give back to them in thanks for all that they have shared with me.

leave a comment on this post for a chance to win these pretty books for you, me and the boston public library! happy haul-idays!

chronicle books haul-idays 2011! by littletoki on polyvore.com

away we go

off on another adventure. be back soon :)

bunny kite by naokosstoop

in a creepy mood

halloween always gets me in the mood to read some poe. i'll be curling up this weekend with some masque of the red death. happy halloween!

another day in new york

RT and i decided to take a last minute trip to new york, our last before winter settles in and it gets too cold to walk around. we went with no real plans... a first for us! it was nice to wander around aimlessly and just enjoy the city.

m&j trimming. i love this store. this is the mother ship of all trim stores. it can definitely be overwhelming since there's so much inspiration packed in every shelf! it literally goes from floor to ceiling.

tinsel trading co. i nearly hyperventilated upon entering. this shop is GORGEOUS. most displays in the trim district focus on function rather than design. the tinsel trading co. not only has lovely inventory but the store itself like a beautiful vintage treasure chest. i walked around the store clapping my hands with joy at all the vintage goodness. i so badly wanted to take photos of the inside but i was too shy to ask.

kinokuniya. i can not stay away from this place. it's like a drug. i got another scrapbooking book and some more pretty notebooks which hopefully will be filled using inspiration from the scrapbooking book. i'm going to test out a whole new scrapbooking style! new to me at least.

brunch at braai in hell's kitchen. i liked that their brunch menu offered pretty standard brunch fare but with a south african twist. makes trying new cuisines a lot less intimidating. my breakfast sandwich was made with an english muffin, eggs, spinach, onions, feta, and a tasty sauce that i couldn't identify. i loved the spicy potatoes and peppers that came with it. i think it's called chakalaka? unfortunately it took forever and was stone cold by the time it got to our table. i still inhaled it and had it been warm, it would have been perfect.

we ended our trip with tickets to how to succeed in business without really trying. we bought super discounted tickets using an online promotion and somehow ended up in the front row?! it is truly amazing to experience a broadway show up so close. especially one with dan radcliffe! i nearly fell out of my chair when he came within five feet of us. he's a pretty good singer and dancer! and i loved the set and costumes, so retro! the show itself has an incredible, infectious energy. i'm pretty sure i had a semi-crazed smile of wonderment and excitement on my face throughout the entire show. i hope i didn't freak out any of the performers.

last stop was chicken and rice and then a heartburn filled car ride back home. bye new york! see you in the spring ^_^