Custodians of Beauty

Cranberries were never my thing. In the past, my experience with cranberries was limited to the gelatinous form that comes from a can at Thanksgiving, and well, the cranberry juice my grandpa used to drink. Meh. Not my cup of tea.   Then it all changed when my aunt baked THE cranberry orange pecan cookies. They were delicious! There's just something about cranberry orange that makes my knees buckle. I'll be at the coffee shop ordering my usual beverage and catch a peek at their bakery case. At that point, there's no turning back. That cranberry orange muffin has my name on it. End of story.  I took it upon myself to bake cranberry orange scones this week. Now, I have never tried this before... so it was a shot in the dark as far as flavor goes. I used my strawberry scone recipe swapping out the strawberries for cranberries. Didn't have an orange on hand, so I improvised with lemon zest and orange juice to it spruce up. These cranberry orange scones pa...

This is the first year I threw a themed birthday party, and I'm very glad I did. My youngest celebrated her 1st birthday last week. It was a small gathering with immediate family. The party's theme was based on the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle; it's one of A's favorites. We own the board book along with a stuffed caterpillar toy. These turned out to be perfect party props.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle The week before the party, I combed through Pinterest boards for food, decor and party ideas -- believe me, there were PLENTY to chose from. Lucky for me, I wasn't the first mama to put something like this together. ;) Here are a few photos of the festivities: Found these free coloring pages  for the party. Get your color on!    Instead of balloons, I used paper plates to create a caterpillar inching across the doorway. Gotta say, this was much faster than blowing up balloons. Plus, we're tryi...

When I came across Nancy's  40 Catholic Saints in Cross Stitch , there was no question. I purchased her patterns that day. How could you not? These mini saint designs are awesome! The simple details for each one are fantastic. St. Rose of Lima wears a flower crown, St. Brigid holds a reed cross, and St. Pio reveals his stigmata. There are quite a few saints in this batch which made it easy for me to pick out a few to frame and give as gifts. www.dosmallthingswithlove.com  Cross stitch pattern for Maria Goretti I decided on St. Maria Gorretti for my first cross stitch saint, since she is my confirmation saint and because during the  Pilgrimage of Mercy: Tour of the Major Relics of St. Maria Goretti ,  I was blessed to touch the reliquary containing her bones. I didn't have the exact colors called for in the patterns. That being the case, my saints outfits vary slightly. The burlap was leftover from a rug project I did a few summe...

Over Thanksgiving and Christmas, I created a few more felt pages for my ABC quiet book . I've sewn a blanket stitch around the edges to join the opposite facing pages. Each page seems to get more and more involved with intricate cuts and hand sewing, but I'm excited to see it all come together.  A sampling of the edged pages I've made it through ...T, U, V. Now for the last four letters of the alphabet. Here are some preview pages of my favorites.  K for Koala O for Owl R for Rooster T for turtle My grommet kit  came in the mail last week, whoo who! I've never tried grommets before, but from the reviews I've read online they seem fairly easy to assemble. Just a bit of hammering will do the trick. The kit I purchased comes with brass grommets, a cutter and the grommet tool. Wish me luck!

These woodland ornaments were given as gifts last year for Christmas, so I wasn't able to take proper photos of them until now. They were hand sewn using felt and embroidery thread and stuffed with fluff to give the animals dimension. The fox and bear ornaments were adapted from patterns I found online, but the raccoon ornament is custom.  Grizzly Bear Raccoon And the fox. These ornaments look lovely hanging among the fir branches. I'm hoping to add to my woodland felt collection. A deer, owl, or moose perhaps. Any other ideas?  The ornament I made this year was a gingerbread house. I'm thinking of sewing a gingerbread man next time around. The backside of the ornaments are missing something. In the future I'm thinking of sewing the year. A bit of pink ribbon completes it. The felt ornaments were put on the lower branches of our Christmas tree for the littles to enjoy. My two year old loved to take the gingerbread house off the tr...

This DIY is a great project for reusing worn or oversized tees. Last spring, I found a couple  jersey knit shirts  at Dig n' Save . The shirt I used for the baby leggings had a cutesy flower and paisley pattern. I also made a knotted headband out of the same fabric to match the leggings.  Look at those baby toes Instead of searching for a pattern online, I just used a pair of leggings that fit my baby. First, I  folded her leggings in half and smoothed out the bumps . Then I  traced a pattern leaving an inch seam allowance.   I used the original hem of the shirt for the bottom of the leggings. Looking back on this project, I see that I am missing step by step photos. I can't remember how it all came together after this photo, but as you can see in the later photos, the leggings turned out just fine. Note: Next time I make these, I will be a bit more generous with the back measurements. (more room for baby's di...

St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra We celebrated the feast of St. Nicholas this year by placing our shoes by the door for St. Nick to fill. Growing up, my family hung stockings on the stairway, but now as a mom myself, I prefer the idea of shoes. And here's why: 1. It's adorable to see them lined up from small to big, 2. You only need a few treats and small gifts to fill them (stockings can be WAY too roomy and take forever to fill), 3. I feel that it's more "old world" and truer to the St. Nicholas story.     This year the shoes were stuffed with clementines , chocolate santas, applesauce pouches, and assorted nuts. I was hoping to find chocolate coins, but the store only had  hanukkah themed ones . "Jolly old St. Nicholas, lend your ear this way..." After Sunday Mass and naps, we took the girls to a local tree farm. It was overcast that afternoon which gave the tree fields a lovely haze. This was a first for our family, we'd never cu...