gingerbread house.

I love making a gingerbread house at Christmas time. I make one every year. My family has a Christmas sleepover. All my girl cousins come over and we all wear matching pajamas and make gingerbread houses. Yes, I know this sounds super cheesy, but it's tradition. We've done it for about 20 years now and I can't imagine the Christmas season without this event.

Just a little look at my house this year.

xoxo

deck the halls.

I've been making Christmas ornaments and other little doo-dads out of old and vintage Christmas cards. Here a just a few of them.

Look at my etsy shop, SincerelyAmes, to see more!

xoxo

gold and glitter.

Creating a Christmas wonderland.

I've started making a few new Christmas decorations:

- I made some trees out of old magazines.

- Spray painted them gold.

- Used spray adhesive.

- Then added lots of glitter.

- Now just to find something for a tree topper...

Look for them at my etsy shop, SincerelyAmes! They make great, very festive Christmas decorations.

xoxo

Thankful. Or Trying To Be.

Once again, I've waited too long to post. I didn't mean to be gone so much for the last half of November. Life has just been a very busy and a little hectic. This week there was a lot of family stuff/issues going on, which was stressful. Especially aded on top of all the Thanksgiving festivities happening.

I know that I have so much to be thankful for. But sometimes its hard to see past the few things that aren't so pleasant in your life at the moment. I am really doing my best to remember all the things I have and how lucky I am. I am especially thankful for my friends this year. They are some of the most wonderful people in the world I am sure. Even though some of them are far away now, and some are very busy and I don't get to see them very often either. I know they would do anything for me if I needed. And I am thankful for all the laughs, tears, smiles, and time we've shared together.

Oh man, I'm pretty exhausted. I'm not quite sure why though. I've just had 4 wonderful days off work and it was sooo needed. But tomorrow it's back to the grind. On another note...It's now the CHRISTMAS season! I love everything Christmas and I've been working on some decorations and ornaments that I'll share soon (some tomorrow)!

I'll leave you with this...

I wore this locket on Thanksgiving to show how thankful I am for my wombies! I love all of you so much.

xoxo.

as of late.

I feel like I haven't really posted, at least not a lot, in the last two weeks. Last week I was a little sick and just so tired when I would get home from work. But here are some pictures of recent events:

I shipped this custom order off to Australia.

I had two Thanksgiving dinners this last weekend,

but did not take enough pictures, almost none.

Pumpkin and apple pies. yum!

I made the boys where aprons when we were cooking.

Our Thanksgiving table, a few ideas stolen from Martha.

The headress napkins and the leaf place cards.

On Sunday, this lovely girl asked me to be in her wedding.

Eek! I'm so excited Marisa.

Started on some Christmas crafts and got a little glittery.

I love the sparkles!

xoxo

Harry Potter.

I'm so excited for Harry, Ron, and Hermione! Unfortunately I didn't get to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at midnight, but I get to go tonight with some of my best friends.

I even made some cute little Gryffindor ties...

This weekend is going to be so much fun. Tonight is slumber party time with Erin, Chad, and Eric. Then I have two Thanksgiving dinners to go to on Saturday and Sunday. That means a lot of baking. Pumpkin and Apple pies. And some cute oreo turkeys too.

xoxo

organization.

Hello again. So I intended on showing you an update on some Christmas crafts...well my weekend was a bit busier than I had expected and I wasn't home very much. But I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get more time for them this week. I have a few ideas in my head that need to be put into action.

One thing I have been doing, or trying to do, is organize all of my craft supplies. It is a HUGE job/process, there are multiple boxes in multiple rooms of my house with craft stuff thrown in them. And whenever I sit down to make something it seems that I am always missing one thing that I need and I have to search through about 7 different boxes just to find it. So it will be wonderful once everything is organized, or at least organizationally messy, which is how most of my life is.

This is now under my desk and pretty much already full of paper, felt, and various cutting tools.

This is next to it: 2 folders of stickers and other little adornments, as well as the hot glue gun.

And well these don't really have a place yet, but at least they are all in boxes. Let's see a box of sharpies/other pens, a box of dmc floss and needles, one of extra scrap fabrics, one with glues and tapes, and another with more glue, hole punches, and various scissors.

It's already started to feel so much better. I just made a card to put in a package that I'm sending some friends and it was so easy because I knew where everything I wanted was. Only thing is, I still have like 4 more boxes of stuff to go through and it won't all fit in those drawers...I'll have to figure out another solution.

I should have some baking posts coming up this week. Yum! And a Christmas craft or two (keep your fingers crossed).

xoxo

sarah.

Yesterday was such a lovely Fall day. I didn't have to work because it was Veteran's Day which was wonderful. I got to spend time with one of my dearest friends, Sarah. It had been far too long since we'd spent any real time together. And seeing as she became engaged recently, we decided that time must be made to see each other, catch up, and talk and laugh away the afternoon. I couldn't be happier for her and her future husband.

I met Sarah four years in student leadership training and we quickly became like sisters. That was in August and we were inseparable that entire school year. I don't think a day went by that we didn't see each other, except when we went home for the holidays.

(us as little babies.)

It was strange, everyone thought we were sisters. Some even thought us twins. And one girl thought we were the same person for like three weeks (she obviously wasn't very observant since we were together most of the time).

(a few years ago)

Sarah is one of those friends that I know I will have for all of my life. She is the kind of friend that you don't have to be with constantly, but you know exactly what you mean to each other. And even though I don't get to see her very often anymore, things are the same as they always have been between us.

(we love coke, and we like to drink it when we get together)

She asked me to be a part of her special day by being one of her bridesmaids. I was overwhelmed with joy when she asked me. I cannot wait to help her prepare for and celebrate this day. She's also a crafty one and I know that we have lots of fun wedding-craft days ahead of us, which I am totally looking forward to. I already have millions of little ideas, its going to be so much fun. I love you Sarah.

(I can't believe I don't have any recent pictures of the two of us. I should work on that.)

xoxo

Can I quit my job and just craft all day?

I borrowed this from the library yesterday.

I'm super stoked.

I can't wait for a chance to go through ALL of it and get some new ideas!

(Yes, that is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm reading it

againin anticipation of the movie. I can't wait, only a week and a half more!)

xoxo

my creative space.

Working on a custom order of pinwheels

and listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

xoxo

avocados.

This weekend I tried something new and made avocado fries. Well they were more just like fried avocados. I love avocados, in fact I can't get enough avocados and I figured why not try something new. A big thank you to this girl. She's not kidding, they are seriously delicious. And not very hard to make.

I just LOVE the color!

The only problem with these was that I ate way too many. They were just so delicious. My goal for next time is to get them a little more crunchy/crispy on the outside.

I think that they'd be great at a bbq or as appetizers or actually with anything. Yum. I feel like I could eat them everyday. But I probably shouldn't.

xoxo

weekend update.

I made my first Etsy sale on Friday and I am ecstatic!

Last week my boss had me cook her leftover pumpkins from Halloween so she could make some pumpkin goodies. There were two big pumpkins and she had so much she didn't know what to do with it all, so she gave some to me. All week long I've been thinking about delicious pumpkin flavored recipes that I could use it for. I finally decided on making pumpkin soup, and that is what I did today.

It was delicious. I scraped the bowl clean.

I FINALLY cleaned my room. Not like a "I put everything away, mostly" kind of clean, like REALLY cleaned and slightly reorganized it. I even hung a few more things on the wall, got rid of some old junk that I was holding onto for who knows what reason, and found a few things that I thought I had lost.

Another thing that I did after a long time of waiting was giving myself a little fringe trim. My fringe was all the way past my eyes, I could not see if I wore it straight down. But now look...

...they are the perfect length (almost, it was as close as I could get myself). I like having them straight across, it just takes so much upkeep. I feel like it needs to be trimmed every week, and let's face it, I just won't keep up with that. But for now, I like them this way, so they shall stay at least for a little while.

And now I'm off to get ready for a girl's night! Can't wait to see Jaymee and hear about her mini-honeymoon and see pictures from her wedding last weekend. Stay tuned this week for some Christmas-ness, some fried goodies, and hopefully a project or two.

xoxo

weekend.

Friday is finally here. This week has seemed so long and yet the days have passed me by so fast all at the same time. My hours at work got bumped up, a lot. And after this week its hard to remember how I used to work everyday for 8 hours like it was nothing. Whew! I am glad for this work week to be done. I have a pretty eventful/fun weekend ahead of me. I'm just hoping I can catch up on some sleep somewhere in there too (I'm still worn out from the wedding weekend in Palm Springs).

I've begun to start thinking about the "holiday season" and all that entails it. Mostly about Christmas though. Christmas presents. Thinking about things that I would perhaps want to get, but more importantly thinking about everyone else there is to give gifts to. Let's see. The basics are: Mom, Dad, Brother, Nephew. Then there's other family, and lots of friends. I LOVE to give gifts, it's my love language, but there just aren't enough funds for everybody. So I'm racking my brain trying to think of cute, thrifty ideas for Holiday crafts/gifts. I have a couple ideas already that I'll share as it gets closer. But if you have any ideas, please help me out. I'd really appreciate it.

And just because pictures are always so much more fun. Here's one:

I wish this was me right now. Instead I'm baking in the hot, hot sun.

Wishing for COLD weather!

I started working on a few little Christmas projects yesterday. I know what you're thinking, "it's only November 3." But I'm telling you, Christmas is just around the corner. Before you know it we'll be eating turkey for Thanksgiving, then it's black Friday, then Christmas sneaks up on you without you realizing. All that to say, keep your eyes open for a little sneak peek coming soon.

I'm roasting.

I updated the Etsy shop today. Most of my pinwheels are up for sale now. I have a few left. I also need to do something along the lines of custom orders for them. I made all the pinwheels for my friend Erin's wedding, and I was thinking I could do custom orders for some sort of color theme for an event or party or even another wedding. And also some kind of deal where if you buy a certain amount, you get a discount. All things to be figured out still, but I thought I might as well put the rest of them up.

A few ideas of how they could be used (taken from Erin's wedding).

Photo credit: Jeremiah BonJean

On another note. Why is it sooo hot this week. Come on, its November. I guess living in Southern California doesn't come with four seasons. Which is something I do not appreciate. Please get chilly soon, I'm not even asking for it to be cold. I just want to be able to wear jeans and a sweater, maybe some boots, is that so much to ask?

xoxo

nostalgia.

Lately I've been feeling a wave of nostalgia flowing through me. I'm not really sure what the cause is, but nonetheless the feeling is there.

Maybe it's because I miss the days when I lived within walking distance of most (but not all) of my closest friends. My last year of college I lived with 4 other girls, Jessi, Jamie, Allie, and Erin. We lovingly called our apartment "The Womb." I'm not quite sure how that all came about, but we embraced it and made it something great. We started calling ourselves "wombmates" or "wombies," after one of our dear friends pointed out the correlation with the word roommates.

This is a little video that Jamie made (or view it here):

A little short post from Tobin's blog.

The best part of living there, well other than the wonderful relationships that were created, was that it seemed like we never had to go anywhere. There was always someone home, always friends coming over, we were always having such a good time. Even though our apartment was super eclectic and looked like it was probably decorated with trash on the walls (because it partly was) it felt like home.

Wombies Night Out.

Mustache Party!

The beloved porch.

The treasured Womb table (which is now the desk in my room).

Our last pancake breakfast.

Womb ambiance.

Our very first rewombion, breakfast at Flappy Jacks.

A reflection of Tobin: sparkles.

A reflection of Erin: gnomes.

A reflection of Allie: yellow.

A little reflection of me: arts and crafts.

polaroids everywhere.

New Years, New York trip.

The Family.

Graduation Day.

Thanksgiving injuns.

I want this again this year. Hopefully we'll all be together again some time in the future for Thanksgiving.

I'm looking forward to our next rewombion, whenever that may be. And yes, I do realize that this post might've seemed a little obsessive.

xoxo