On Christmas.

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty founder was a child himself.

Charles Dickens

Free Printable Round-up: Happy Christmas!

This time, I have a whole bunch of wonderful, absolutely free printables for you: everything from gift tags to printable stationary, buntings, and labels for edible gifts. Neat!

Now fire up your printer and get going- there are only 19 days ’til Christmas!

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Printable Gifts

DIY Compliment Bunting from How About Orange

“Sweet Tidings” Clip Art Labels from Martha Stewart: put it on some homemade goodies and voila! Gift = done.

Mini Greeting Card and Letter-writing Set from Eat Drink Chic

Free Printable Notecards from Oh, Hello Friend

Holiday Wine Label Clip Art from Martha Stewart: this would make a great hostess gift.

Cookie Exchange Freebies from Joy Ever After: recipe cards, cookie tags, and even a cookie-exchange thank you!

Christmas Papercraft – Dimestore Christmas Lights from Toyshop Greetings: print out and fold your own vintage-inspired miniature Christmas Tree Light boxes.

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Miscellaneous Tags

Printable Gift Tag Freebie from Hello!Lucky (via How About Orange)

‘Peace, Love and Reindeer Hugs’ Gift Tags from Eat Drink Chic

Typographic Gift Tags from Eat Drink Chic

Monogram Gift Tags from Martha Stewart

Gifting Guide: Out of the Ordinary

It should be the 16th Day of Christmas. It is, however, the 15th Day, because we were in Florida and then I had two sick babies… but enough about that. I had a total blast putting this guide together! Because everyone has at least one person to buy for that has  E V E R Y T H I N G. So take a look below at some out-of-the-ordinary gift ideas for anyone on your list!

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BUY

Custom Star-Naming Kit, International Star Registry, $54

Help Save the Lives of Mothers and Babies, Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog, $45

Mushroom Growing Kit, Uncommon Goods, $20

Livestock, Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog, $350 (or $35 to share the cost)

Emergency Clown Nose, Perpetual Kid, $5

Team Tattly Picks Gift Box, Tattly Temporary Tattoos, $25 for set of 12 assorted temporary tattoos

Construction Plate & Utensils, Uncommon Goods, $15-$17.50

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MAKE

Create custom photo books with Shutterfly, Snapfish, MyPublisher, or Mixbook: all of these companies run great sales and deals from time to time, and yes, I’ve used them all! Starting from $2.49-$12.99.

Make your own recipe booklet from Martha Stewart: fill with your favorite family traditions or holiday recipe.

Sew these cute Monster Mittens from Martha Stewart

Make this No-Sew Felt Playhouse from Sew Can Do

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ET CETERA

Still want more ideas for unusual or unique gifts to give? I love Wantist; they call themselves “a curated collection of gift ideas”, and have fantastic ideas for all kinds of people. Other good places to look are Uncommon Goods, Think Geek, and Threadless.

Make-It and Give-It Recipe: Earl Gray Tea Cookies

When I curl up with a book, which is not as often anymore as I would like, I love to have a cup of tea with me. Something about tea is so… readerly. These cookies are not only the perfect accompaniment to said cup of tea, but are so wonderful in their own right: light, buttery, a little aromatic. Also, you make them entirely in the food processor, which is a definite bonus. I love anything that uses minimal dishes and upper body strength! You can use a different kind of tea, if Earl Gray is not your cup of tea (COUGH COUGH. Sorry for the pun. It was just sitting there, begging to be punned!). The Earl Grey version are still my favorite, but it’s fun also to mix up what kind of tea you put in; I’ve done an herbal strawberry and a cinnamon tea that were both nice.

(image from here)

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

(Recipe from The Kitchn)

Here’s what you need: 

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea leaves (rip open a couple tea bags- it actually is better than the expensive loose leaf)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375°F. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.

Add vanilla, water, and butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed. Form the dough into a log onto a piece of wax or parchment paper. Wrap the paper around and roll the log smooth. Freeze now, or chill for at least 30 minutes. (I make a few batches, freeze them, then cut off a few and bake them up whenever we want cookies.)

When chilled, slice the log into 1/3 inch thick pieces. Place on baking sheets and bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Gifting Guide: The Reader

Today is the 11th day of Christmas, and I am horribly sorry (being the visual person I am), but I have no pictures. BOO! HISS! I know. I’m really sorry. But trust me, all of these links are totally worth clicking on!

I love to read. L  O  V  E   it. And I’m betting that someone in your life is a reader, too… or would at least enjoy clicking around Facebook on a snazzy new Nook tablet. So, happy shopping, and happy crafting!

(Edit: I put in pictures. It just looks ugly. I apologize.)

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BUY

Nook Tablet, Barnes & Noble, $249

Skull and Crossbones letterpress bookplates, Rx Letterpress, $6 for 10

The Fantastic Bicycle Voyage Bookplates, The Oddest Owl, $15.75 for 24

Mighty Bright Green Xtraflex 2 LED Book Light, Amazon.com, $17

Embroidered Penguin Classics: Emma, The Secret Garden, or Black Beauty, Anthropologie, $16 each

Book Lover Typography Print, Flourish Cafe, $30

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MAKE

Monster page corner bookmarks, http://nheilke.com/blog/

Old-school book strap, Design*Sponge

How To Turn Old Paperbacks into Custom Hardbacks, Ohdeedoh

Brenna’s Book Page Fabric, Design*Sponge

Photo bookmark, Martha Stewart

Waterproof book covers, Martha Stewart

25 Days of Christmas, 10 Days In: A Recap

Alright! I cannot tell you how dorkily proud I am of myself for actually finishing two whole weeks so far! So in case you got behind or missed something, or just want to find everything all in one spot, here are the first 10 days. Happy crafting/ baking/ decorating/ holidaying!

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Week 1: The Kiddos

Day 1: Gifting Guide: The Kiddos, Part 1 and Gifting Guide: The Kiddos, Part 2

Day 2: Free Printable: Letter to Santa!

Day 3: Make-It Gift: Fleece Baby Blocks

Day 4: Make-It and Give-It Recipe: Oreo Truffles

Day 5: Kid-Friendly Christmas Craft: Graphic Paper Ornaments

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Week 2: The Food Lover

Day 6: Gifting Guide: The Food-Lover

Day 7: Make-It and Give-It Recipe with Free Printable: Homemade Masala Chai

Day 8: Make-It Gift: Felted Wool Mug Cozy

Day 9: Make-It Recipe: Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce

Day 10: Wrap It Pretty: Origami Gift Boxes

Wrap It Pretty: Origami Gift Boxes

I’m not even going to try to write my own tutorial for this, because it would be disastrous. I will, however, send you to the easiest-to-follow ones I’ve found so you can follow their directions and make your own lovely little boxes: here and here. Last year for Christmas, I made these in Christmassy paper, and Rich and I used them to package treats we made (Oreo truffles, chocolate-dipped madeleines, Buckeyes, and Earl Grey tea cookies) as Christmas gifts.

See? So pretty!

Here’s what you need:

And it goes kinda like this:

You can also make a lid by making a second box just a smidge larger (or just sort of stuffing the bottom into the top if they’re the same size). They make lovely packaging for small gifts, and are just that much cooler than a store-bought gift box.

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Need to catch up on any of the 25 Days of Christmas you might have missed? Here they are:

• Day 1, Part 1
• Day 1, Part 2
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Day 8
• Day 9

Make-It Recipe: Spiced Orange Cranberry Sauce

Since this is Food Lover Week here in the 25 Days of Christmas (what, you didn’t know it’s Food Lover Week? Well, now you do.), I have a fun, simple recipe for you that’s also delicious and a little fancy. Who doesn’t love simple AND fancy?

I’ve been the designated family cranberry-sauce maker for YEARS. And I have put up a Major Fuss about making it… just about every year since I was maybe 11. But not this year! I know today is Thanksgiving, so you’re probably too late to make it this go-round, but it’s also super delicious as a pseudo-jam or for Christmas dinner as well. Trust me, though, it is so very worth it. 

Here’s what you need: 

• 12 ounces of fresh cranberries
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Here’s what I did:

1. Wash the cranberries.
2. Bring the orange juice and sugar to a boil.
3. Add the cranberries and return to a boil. Stir occasionally until most of the berries have popped.
4. Remove from heat and let cool. Refrigerate until it’s time for dinner. DEVOUR.

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Need to catch up on any of the 25 Days of Christmas you might have missed? Here they are:

• Day 1, Part 1
• Day 1, Part 2
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Day 8

Make-It Gift: Felted Wool Mug Cozy

I drink a lot of hot beverages—coffee, tea, cocoa, hot water with lemon and honey—so I have two major problems. Either the drink gets cold too quickly, or I burn the tar out of my poor little fingers trying to hold on to a cup that’s too hot. Enter: the mug cozy!

(Pardon the blurry photos… I’m using my parents’ camera and apparently it has a steeper learning curve than I realized!)

This project is so, so simple. You need to know how to single crochet in straight rows; that’s all! My mug cozy is felted, which is one extra, easy step to make it even cozier and smooshier; if you want to felt yours, be sure to use yarn that is 100% wool. Otherwise, use whatever you have on hand and skip that step.

Here’s what you need: 

• yarn (I used Stitch Nation’s Full O’ Sheep in Poppy)
• a crochet hook in the appropriate size for your yarn (mine is a J-10)
• a needle with an eye large enough to fit your yarn
• 2 buttons (be sure your needle can fit through their holes!)

And here’s what I did: 

ch=chain | sc= single crochet | sts= stitches 

Row 1: Ch 14 + 1 (the last one is your turning chain; your rows will be 14 sts long).
Row 2: *Sc in each ch (14 sts).
Row 3-44: Repeat from *. Go through your last stitch once more so it doesn’t unravel. Weave in all your ends.

My finished cozy, after felting (see below) is 3 inches high x 10 inches long.

For felting: 

Machine wash the cozy in hot water/ cold rinse with a very small amount of detergent. (Alternatively, hand wash in very hot water with a small amount of detergent, agitating with your hands or a wooden spoon, then rinse thoroughly with very cold water.) Block it into shape and let air dry flat.

Adding buttons: 

Sew on two buttons to one end of the long rectangle, leaving between 1/4—1/2 inch from the edges of the cozy. On the other end, sew two loops in the same position as the buttons so you can button it closed. (Mine are just a single piece of the same yarn, knotted on the back of the piece, the knotted again on the front so they don’t slip around.)

Other fun stuff: 

• Add felt or crocheted flowers
• Embroider a monogram
• Use mismatched buttons, or one giant button
• Change yarn colors once, twice, or a bunch of times for fun color-blocking or stripes
• Give with a fun mug and a bag of coffee, some good tea, or hot chocolate on a stick!

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Need to catch up on any of the 25 Days of Christmas you might have missed? Here they are:

• Day 1, Part 1
• Day 1, Part 2
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7

Make-It and Give-It Recipe with Free Printable: Homemade Masala Chai

Here’s a little chai fact for you: “chai” just means “tea”. “Masala” means “spiced”, so when most people say they like chai, they mean masala chai.

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I love me a good chai latte. The problem is, I am extremely picky about my chai. I haven’t ever had any better than from Cafe Udipi in Tampa: it’s the real deal. It’s not syrupy sweet or overly milky; it is spicy, fragrant, and balanced. This recipe is oh-so-close to that wonderful chai experience (but not quite the same, because there is no Indian lunch buffet with it), and easy to make at home. It also makes a sweet gift for a tea drinker; the whole spices are beautiful. I would put the spices into a little muslin bag (mine are called “spice bags” or reusable tea bags; you could also sew up your own) with a homemade tag and instructions.

Here’s how I make it (Makes 2 cups):

• 4 whole green cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves
• 4 black peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 3 tsp. loose black tea (or 3 black tea bags)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk

Lightly crush the first four spices with a mortar and pestle (or rolling pin). Put in a small saucepan with the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, turn off the heat and let the tea steep until it’s the desired strength (approximately 5-10 minutes), and pour through a fine mesh strainer. Pour into 2 cups and sweeten with honey or sugar.

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For Gifting:

As a gift, place all the whole spices, plus the ginger and tea, into the muslin tea bag. Close tightly and attach printable tag (see below). Give with printable Masala Chai instructions.

To print:

Click on the image of the labels. It should open in a window by itself. You may need to click it again to make it full-sized (it’ll probably be larger than your screen) and save it. Then print, print, print away!

The fine print:

This printable is free for your personal use and enjoyment, and is not to be altered, sold, or used for profit.

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Need to catch up on any of the 25 Days of Christmas you might have missed? Here they are:

• Day 1, Part 1
• Day 1, Part 2
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6