Little Blue Feathers: Christmas

Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

While I Was Away

It feels like forever since I last sat down at my computer, in LBF studios and prepared for an order, blog post or new ideas. I knew when the holidays rolled around that I wanted to put my shop on vacation mode to take a break from orders. I wanted to relax, enjoy the beautiful season and create new things.

What I didn't plan on doing was...nothing.

I am the kind of person who over thinks everything. In general, I am just always deep in thought. So, [surprise!] I have been doing a lot of thinking lately.

When December rolled around, I felt like I needed a break. Desperately. The truth though is that I was not sure what I needed the break from; Sewing, LBF, internet, (fill in the blank...)

I got in my head that I needed a break to do this, this and that and it was going to happen to refuel myself. What I discovered was that I needed to figure out ways to keep myself going. The things that make/made me truly happy and keep those the priority in my everyday. Then I wouldn't get to the point that I feel desperately in need of that break.

The past several months have seemed to be on a downward slope for me. I can't explain why or how exactly, but I know I haven't felt the same. I've been a little more mopey, less inspired and out of touch with the things that I enjoyed so much before.

When I think about these things, I realized that I haven't created a new art project since we moved to Dayton this past summer. I haven't taken a walk through the woods one time. I have not made a new friend in the area and I haven't taken near as many photos, which is my favorite hobby. I can choose to continue to throw pity parties, or I can choose to get out and discover new places in Dayton, similar to my favorites I loved so much in Cleveland. Because the truth is, our happiness is only going to go as far as we take it. If we are out living the life we were created to live, we will be blessed by it. If we put all of our happiness into one person (spouse, friend, family member), place or thing, we are missing out on so much. While I am happiest when I am spending quality time with my husband, I know there are so SO many other things in this life that give me joy, and I need...I am...going to make it a priority to recognize those things.

The new year is always a new start, and I am choosing to change my attitude in 2013.

This year, my word is Create.

I want to create more memories, create new relationships/friendships, create more art projects and create more positive thoughts about myself, my ability and where happiness is found.

I hope you all have really enjoyed your holiday season with your loved ones! I am excited to be back and take a look at what all of my blog friends have been up to while I was away.

If you are looking for some extra encouragement to begin 2013, read this wonderful post from Ashley at The Shine Project. She is a beautiful person.

Handmade Christmas Stocking

This week I traveled to my favorite little fabric boutique in Columbus for a night of sewing with some ladies. On Monday I finished work, quickly drove to Columbus, sat down at Sew To Speak and introduced myself to the 5 women I would be spending the next 3+ hours with. Our instructor was Mary Dugan, who is an amazing quilter that also blogs about her sewing adventures over here. She taught us quilting basics and how to make our own customized stocking.

I am so in love with the look of this retro inspired stocking, that I now want to make 10 more of them. Family members: Beware.

The only problem that I ran into was finding a place to hang my stocking since we do not have a fireplace. Luckily, my chalk wall saved the day and I have my stocking hung ready to be stuffed with some candy and nail polish! (...ahem, ahem hubby)

Here are some photos from our class and a look at the other adorable stockings created that night:

Mary taught us that quilting straight lines is easiest when using masking tape to keep your rows straight.

The lining for my stocking is a soft grey and white floral fabric.

I love all the fabrics used this night! Makes me so ready for Christmas season.

I'm ~~in love~~ obsessed with this "Oh, deer" fabric from Moda.

I want to buy it in every color.

My stocking is hung above my workspace in LBF studios <3

Home for the holidays

There's no place like home for the holidays; in fact, it's my favorite part about any holiday. Spending time with our families is something I always look forward to.

Here is a look into our Christmas spent with family.

My family

Little Eli. One of 11 kids running around my parents house on Christmas Eve!

Someone got a little monster shirt from LBF ;)

Mr. Sharkey and I late Christmas Eve.

our nephew loves mickey mouse! This mickey mouse pillow pet might have been
his favorite thing he opened at grandma and papaw Sharkeys.

Our little niece Abbey. She loves santa ;)

This might have been our Christmas card photo. And I might have underestimated
the amount of family members we have by like 30 people. And they didn't get
sent out til the week of Christmas. Isn't that horrible?!

2 years ago today

Sid's first mohawk.

The highway was cleared off and open late morning the next day.

This Christmas vacation was one of my most memorable trips with Mr. Sharkey. We were so excited to be taking a mini vacation together at this time of year, and never thought we would run into the situation that we did. Above is a memo we typed into his phone so we would always remember that night. When I look back, I feel so thankful. Because really, it could have been horrible...

Prior to the vacation, Justin's company switched over to BlackBerry phones, and he received his a few days before we left for our trip. We checked the weather in Ohio and in North Carolina, and saw clear skies. This taught me a very valuable lesson... Always check the weather for every state in between where you are and your destination.

We packed our bags in my little Scion XB {also known as Sid} and headed down to North Carolina. I remember getting half way through West Virginia and the weather drastically changing. By the time we got to Virginia, we were driving in over 8 inches of snow and it was still coming down really heavy. Justin was driving and I remember my heart racing in the front seat of my car as I just sat there terrified and praying that we would make it to an exit safely. All around us we saw wrecked cars and people stranded in a snow bank in their cars. We saw there was an exit coming up, so we stopped and got Justin's new smart phone out to check the weather, call home and find the number for the little motel on the top of the hill. -Thank. God. for the Smart Phone. - We called the motel and told them we were on our way, but with them being on the top of a hill, I was worried if we could make it or not. We shifted our luggage and Justin made me sit in the very back on the car for added weight and we floored it up the hill to the hotel!

When we walked into the lobby, my heart was saddened for all the people wanting a room. Right as I walked in, the woman said "I'm sorry we do not have any more rooms. Our last room is reserved for a woman and her husband that are on their way up right now" I said That's me!!! and my anxiety quickly melted away.

We were safe.

That night and next morning we kept checking the weather and found out shortly after we got off the highway there was a semi that lost control and was blocking the highway, and they actually wound up shutting down the highway in both directions until the next morning. I have never had to be stranded overnight in a blizzard, but I wonder how those people did it. How they were stuck in their cars with nowhere to go and not much to keep them warm.

People could say we were "Lucky" but I don't think it was luck that got us to North Carolina safely. It wasn't luck that Justin got his new phone right before his vacation time started, and that we reached that exit at that exact timing, and reserved the very last room in the only motel on that exit, right before they shut down the highway. We had someone watching over us...

Stranded cars the next day.

After all of that, we made it to North Carolina!
And btw, there wasn't any snow in N.C.!

I finally got to spend time with Aubrey :)

Memorable?! You could say that! Probably the most memorable vacation yet with the Mr.

Christmas Countdown: 7 days

InstaFriday - 12.16.11

In exactly one week, I will be in my hometown, visiting family, baking, watching cable TV, eating too many sweets, laughing, cuddling boston terriers, giving gifts and spending quality time with my loved ones. I really can't wait!

So, this means I have 7 days to finish shopping, make more gifts, wrap all my gifts, bake for Justin's work Christmas party, mail Christmas cards {yes I still have not done this..} and make a few batches of Oreo BonBons. <---Recipe post coming very soon.

While I am very excited for the next 7 days, here is a look into my last 7 days via Instagram phone photos:

Husband hung our stockings and Christmas lights around our tiny little fireplace. And yes, MileyJo and Stanlee have stockings too ;)

This Monday we are attending an ugly Christmas attire party at my friends house! This past week I helped her set up a handmade photo booth for the party. The stripes?!...Well, it is wrapping paper! And I must take a moment to say how proud I am that we matched up the stripes so well!

Mr. Sharkey took Wednesday off of work! We did some Christmas shopping and personal shopping. I told him I was on the hunt for very very very very very very very very warm items. And every time I said that, I made sure there were 8 very's in the sentence. That's how serious I was and how cold it already feels. I did not purchase this hat, but it is at Urban Outfitters along with many other awesome hats.

Our warm hunt continues...

My first thought was, we live in Ohio, not Alaska...Then I remembered we are expected 50+ inches of snow on average in our area. I mean, maybe they sell these for a reason here in Northeast Ohio?!

While Oreo shopping today, I came across this beautiful package. Triple-Double Oreos. It's like the Oreo factory knows me or something?!

That's all for now! I am going to be sharing an Oreo BonBon recipe this weekend and a very memorable Christmas vacation husband and I had a couple years ago. Stay tuned!!

Christmas Countdown: 9 days

Shop Update

Starting Wednesday, only READY TO SHIP items will be listed in my shop until the end of the week. Since we are so close to Christmas, I am going to take some time to make/buy the rest of our Christmas gifts, do some baking, clean, wrap gifts, spend time with the husband and start packing for my trip to see family.

Thank you all for understanding! If there is something listed in my shop that you want to purchase, you might want to hurry! My shop will be closed on vacation mode starting Saturday the 17th.

Christmas Count Down: 12 days

{Wordless Wednesday} - Sorry Stanlee

Oreo Stuffed Cookies

Now that it is Christmas time, I have several reasons to bake for parties and get-togethers. Thanks to Pinterest, new recipes are easier than ever to find. I recently pinned this cookie that made my eyes light up. So, with the help of my friend, we decided to give it a try yesterday; with a twist.

Oreo Stuffed Cookies. Quite possibly the best cookie I have ever made.

If you like chocolate, cookies, oreos, eating, sugar comas or all the above, give this recipe a try.

You will need:

2 pouches of cookie mix + ingredients listed on the back of the package (this made about 21 Oreo stuffed cookies total)

1 bag of double stuff Oreos

Cooking utensils, cooling rack, baking sheets, oven, etc.

First:

The original recipe called for homemade cookie dough. I am too impatient to make homemade cookie dough, so we bought Betty Crocker pouch cookie mix. We tried two different kinds, double chocolate chunk and regular chocolate chip cookie dough.

Second:

Make the cookie dough as recommended on the back of the pouch. Once the cookie dough is prepared, try your best not to eat the dough. This is always the hardest part for me, but you need as much dough as possible for this recipe!

Grab a spoon and start piling on the cookie dough; enough to completely cover the Oreo cookie.

Third:

Bake the cookies on a nonstick cookie sheet. We baked ours for 9 minutes. Once you pull the cookies out of the oven, they will look kind of weird. We thought they were ruined! So we grabbed two spatulas and started to "smoosh" the chocolate chip cookie in toward the Oreo. Ta-da! It saved the day...

Last:

Cut two cookies in half, one of each flavor, and vote on which is the best. We decided that the double chocolate chunk Oreo stuffed cookies were the best. It sounds like too much chocolate, but oh.my.goodness. they are amazing. Very fudgey, and the "stuff" in the double stuffed Oreos oozes out of the cookie when served warm.

So if you are looking for a new cookie recipe to take to your next Christmas party, you miiiight want to bake these!

This recipe is linked to Eisy Morgan's Inspiration Wednesday post!

Surprise

Remember the surprise date night I was to expect this past weekend?! Well, it was a pretty great date!

Mr. Sharkey and I love to go out on dates of any kind. It is something we look forward to every weekend. Sometimes it is a coffee date, a movie, dinner or an evening driving around looking at Christmas lights.

This particular date was a special date night that remained a surprise until we were seated at dinner. {FYI men, women find this kinda stuff so romantic} We went to a local restaurant in downtown Akron called Crave. It's menu is trendy and the dining room was filled with large abstract paintings and a young modern vibe. The atmosphere was romantic and our food was fantastic. I am still thinking about how amazing their gouda cheese gravy like side was on top of our steak skewers appetizer. Oh my...

After dinner, we walked down the street to the old Akron theater and saw The Nutcracker. This was our first time going to a ballet, and husband's first time in an old theater for any type of show! I was really impressed by the dancers, and the little mice were one of my favorites things to watch in the show ;)

It was lovely.

I hope you find extra time to date this time of year. :)

{Inspiration Workshop} - Handmade Holidays

I am participating in Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop this week. The topic for today is holiday secrets and tips. My tip for making the holiday season extra fun and cozy is to make and buy handmade decorations for your home!

When I think about Christmas decorations, I think handmade. Not only because I want to support other handmade artists, but there is a unique charm to handmade Christmas decorations. There are so many creative handmade items online and tutorials for helping anyone, of any craft level, create fun decorations for their home. This time of year I look forward to a little extra crafting and baking, especially when it involves friends. I also love an excuse to go to the local fabric and craft stores...

Now that it's December 1 {wow!} I am feeling inspired and ready to start celebrating and decorating for Christmas. There is something about waiting for December and the cold weather that makes the Christmas season official for me. Now that we had our first snow, it's mid 30s this week and now Dec. 1, let this wonderful time of year begin!

After spending ~~way too much~~ time on Pinterest and Etsy, I found a few handmade decorations that are adorable and have a little whimsy flair to them.

Are you feeling inspired and ready to decorate!?

Happy December

Merry Christmas