Warm Gatherings with Etsy

Love Birds Serving Board by Manual Arts DEpt

It's this time of year I really start to think about having everyone together in the house for some good old fashion fun and food over the holidays. I love having friends and family over and the idea of having the fire going while it's snowing outside makes me feel all warm inside. When you're looking for items to go along with this warm and cozy feeling, Etsy is the place to go. I tend to shift towards the warm grey and cream tones; beautiful pottery or twinkly metallics. Anything to help keep that feeling alive. Here are my top pics for warm gatherings on Etsy.

Fringe Linen Table Runner by Linen Space

Handmade Organic White Crackle Slab Side Plates by Leslie Freeman Designs

Modern Ceramic Vase by Yahalomis

Ceramic Baking Dish by 1220 Ceramics Studio

Wool Throw by BOTEH

Christmas dinner menu

Photo sources from top left to bottom right: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 /

Christmas dinner at our house is going to be a smaller than usual affair this year: only seven people versus the 19 or so we've hosted in the past three years. I loved the big get togethers, but I'm looking forward to having a smaller dinner this year.

I started to think about what we'd serve and since I'm not eating too much meat these days and one of my sisters is a vegetarian, I've opted to order a turkey breast roll instead of a full turkey from our local butcher. Then I went to Pinterest of course and started pinning recipes for everything else. 

We're going to make these yummy looking Lentil Mushroom Walnut Balls with Cranberry-Pear Sauce from Oh She Glows and I thought this Candied Pecan Craisin and Feta salad sounded delish. Match these with some sides like this Roasted Cauliflower with apple and mashed sweet potatoes and we've got a pretty fine meal. My mom will round it all out with her pumpkin pie. 

I can't wait! You can find these recipes on my Christmas Dinner Ideas board here. 

Happy Eating!

getting started on the christmas decorations

Since there's no sign of my baby coming yet, I decided to get started on some Christmas shopping and decorating. Well I won't be technically decorating until December (even though there are lights and Christmas trees up on my street already!)... but I wanted to start thinking about it. I did some shopping on Etsy this morning (love online shopping!) and thought of an idea to make a star garland to go over the fireplace.


I just printed off some stars on some card stock and I think I'll go to Michaels to see what type of glittery things I can get to punch them up a bit. I'm super excited about the holidays this year because we're going to have our first Christmas at home... with a tree! I can't wait.

star trek, a bike and a blanket

Howdy y'all! Today is a holiday in Canada...a cold holiday so far (6 degrees!) so while I wait for the weather to warm up (yes I know I'm a wimp) I thought I'd show you a couple pics of the blanket I finished off yesterday for C.

It's a pretty simple blanket. C wanted a stroller blanket for her daughter so she gave me some fleece she picked up and I had a left over yard of this Anna Maria Horner fabric that went well. I had a bit of a fight with the fleece and after I was finished I relized that home dec fabric probably isn't the best fabric to use for a child's blanket but at least it looks pretty :)

So that's that. As soon as it gets a bit warmer I'm heading out for a bike ride along the lake shore and then to see Star Trek...yes I'm excited to see Star Trek. Hmmm maybe I'll ride my bike to Star Trek...

What are you up to today?

a little holiday cheer

The dinner table at my Mom's -- I love her red wine glasses!

We're off to a friend's house tonight to celebrate the big '09 but I wanted to share a few pics of my handmade gifts. This year I made the same thing for everyone -- pillows! My little sister gave me the idea -- she's moving into a new apartment in a couple of days and wanted some new pillows for her new place. The pics I took of her pillows didn't turn out for some reason but you can kind of see what I made through the fuzz.


The second set is for my other sister -- I wanted to give her something fun to brighten up her living room.


And finally -- a set of pillows I made for my Mom. I think they look perfect with her couch!


That's it for now! I hope you all have a wonderful New Year celebration. See you in 2009!

~lealou

a little obsession

Can I tell you how "busy" I've been in the past little while? I say "busy" because all of my "free" time has been used up with a little series of books written for teenagers... Ok I'll just come out and say it: I'm obsessed with the Twilight Series of books. There's something about a vampire love story that really makes my heart flutter. I told C not to give me the books -- it's just the worst time of the year to be head over heels with something other than sewing (don't the Cullens know I have Christmas presents to make???). Ok enough of that.


I have been sewing I guess. A week or so ago I did my first ever little craft event. I offered to set up a table to sell my stuff at the market bazaar at work to help raise money for United Way. Although there weren't a lot of people passing through, it was a really great experience because it got me out of the house and away from the computer. The best part was to see people I knew from the office "You made all this stuff?"


The Clara Clutch

I managed to sell a few things, but I still have lots left so I've put it all up in my shop. I can't really guarantee it'll get to you by Christmas, but if you're reading this from Ontario you'll get it for sure (some of you may even get personal delivery from moi!) And to keep with the theme of the original purpose for making these things, I will be donating 10% of all sales to United Way until after Christmas. How cool is that.


The Zoula Zip

View the rest of the items here

This week I'm dedicating my time to making the rest of my gifts for my friends and family. There isn't A LOT to do (who am I kidding) but it is still stressful (really, I love the pressure). I'm not sure if I'll get back on here before the holidays so if I don't -- Happy Holidays! I can't believe it is here already to be honest with you -- it really crept up this year.

later gaters
~lealou

happy turkey day

It's Thanksgiving up here in the big C, so I wish all of you a wonderful weekend. I will be having my fair share of turkey dinners (3!).

Take care and enjoy this beautiful weather we're having!
~lealou