The Christmas House 2013 Edition

My friend Andrea is a brilliant designer – she owns and creates the wonderful Bosom Buddy Bags that I adore – and she’s a generous spirit! She is always thinking about what she can design, decorate, create and craft (in the good sense of the word) and I’ve adored her for more than 3/4 of my life!

So when she said she wanted to have a Christmas Open House to show everyone her amazing Christmas Tree collection, and suggested that she might want it to be a benefit, I piped up that I am on the Development Board of the Maryland SPCA. Since she and I both have rescue dogs, that was a perfect fit.

The party was perfect and lots of friends and neighbours came to celebrate the season. I arrived early so I could get some photos before the crowd arrived. From about a block away, I could see the red hat of the snowman in her yard. If you know this area, the fact that he’s there at all is pretty funny!

I was greeted with one of Andrea’s gorgeous wreaths (top image) and as I entered the house, I just gasped in amazement!There were wonderful decorations everywhere, and while there’s a lot, it is so beautifully done, that it’s fun! We assigned a child the task of counting Christmas trees, and he finally stopped at 211, although Andrea thinks that there are more.

The dining room was just beautiful, with a huge tree as the centerpiece.

One of the fun things Andrea did was to have a candy bar for the children who were coming.

This is my young friend Jansen when he saw the huge bowl of Gummy Bears!

Andrea, who also does floral design, had made a number of bouquets that were scattered around the house. This one’s red carnations and some red balls.

This is hot pink and dark red carnations with pink matte and shiny balls.

This stunner is roses, carnations, dried flowers and hypericum berries.

And this is peppermint stick carnations!

There are dozens and dozens of flowers in each arrangement!

And then there were the trees – from large to small – each conveyed the spirit of the season.

There is colour everywhere, and so much to see!

At the end of the evening, Andrea’s two rescued dogs, Scholtz and Buddy had to check out the goodies everyone had brought to donate to the SPCA.

Actually, Buddy doesn’t seem too interested.

Thanks to Andrea for opening her house, sharing her creativity and being so generous! She’s the BEST!

Ice, Ice Baby!

I came across a story about someone who built an igloo, so I thought I’d share the pix with you (and it’s late and I don’t have anything to post – too busy getting ready for things!).

It was built with coloured water, frozen into ice in milk cartons!

The family lives in Canada and needed a project for someone staying with them.

Read the full story here.

Connor: The Cookie Version

I was in Williams-Sonoma the other week – most unfortunately, it’s only a mile down the road from my house, so when I need a kitchen accoutrement, I can just zip down there. Anyway, I found the BEST cookie cutter!

Of course, I had to get it!

My friend Andrea is having an open house to show off her amazing Christmas decorations (click here for last year)

and she’s asked everyone to bring a donation to the Maryland SPCA, where I serve on the Development Committee. Once we’d sorted some details, I knew that I had to make dog cookies!

Baking is not my forte, and I am especially bad at decorating cookies, but I took one for the team, and made a batch of cookies. From a mix. From Trader Joe’s. I did have to add butter and eggs, so it wasn’t entirely from the box.

And the cookies are YELLOW(ish), just like Connor!

I think I might pipe some red collars on them, and maybe a white eye and an outline of the ear, but that might be too much work.

I have a great trick for when you’re rolling out dough – you can flour the surface by using a tea-infuser. And by that I mean a spoon with holes in it for making tea. Just scoop up some flour in the spoon and shake it above your surface to give it a light dusting. It works perfectly and doesn’t deaden the dough with too much flour.

The cookie mix said it made 2-3 dozen, but that must have been tiny little cookies, not big yellow labs!

If you’re in Baltimore and you’re interested in attending the open house and supporting the Maryland SPCA, pop me an e-mail and I will give you the details.

The L Word

Not that L-word, actually.

In our family, for Christmas we pick names and then we pick a letter. Everyone has to buy their person presents beginning with that letter. A year or so ago was the letter P.

I got my brother the following:

Pens & Pencils

Personalized pads of paper

Virginia Peanuts

Fine Imported Italian Pastasand a periodical publication!

This year’s letter is L. And my target is a college-age girl. And I am stumped.

I could buy her Liquor, but her mother might will object.

A black leather jacket would be very nice, but she attends school in the south.

If she was a six-year old boy, she might like a light sabre!

She and her siblings Love, Love, Love, Love Actually.

She’s probably not a fan of liquorice, although I certainly am!

I would Love to hear your suggestions. I am at a Loss!

The Cashmere Quilt

When I moved into my house a few summers ago, I didn’t pack away my sweaters and they were selectively chewed by moths. I couldn’t bear to toss them, so I made them into scarves which I mostly sell, or give away as gifts.

However, all along, I’ve been thinking of how I can make a blanket out of the sweaters, which I now buy for a few dollars each at thrift stores. You’d be amazed at how many I find.

A few weeks ago, I came across a technique that was the solution for the blanket. I needed to be able to patch the squares together without having rough edges. I found a Korean process for seams that would work perfectly. The finished edges looked nearly identical on the front and the back, and this was exactly what I wanted. You can see where I started the project here.

I first put together strips of 11 blocks of 8x8 inch cashmere squares. I was never good at maths, and so my calculations were slightly off and the finished blanket was a wee bit bigger than I anticipated and it was very ungainly to sew.

It wasn’t until I put it on the bed that I realized exactly how big it is, so I may actually have to cut it down a little bit and maybe make another blanket. This one’s already spoken for – actually, it’s a Christmas present for my mother (she already knows because I wanted her to pick out the colours).

It’s puckered a bit at the hems, but that’s mainly because I haven’t blocked the piece yet. That will flatten it out and shape it.

Not all of the patches aligned exactly, but once I saw the finished product, I realized that I liked the slightly off-set look of the pieces.

I discovered that the patches with the cables, particularly a certain sweater, stretched more than the other pieces, so that accounted for the lack of alignment.

Over all, I am pretty pleased with the way this turned out, and now I am going to make one for myself!

And then I am going to wish for a very cold winter, because this is going to be so cozy and warm!