2010 Wrap-up!

Happy New Year! I can't believe the new year has arrived so quickly. I think the best way to ring in the new year is to wrap up some projects from 2010. First up: my annual gingerbread house. I used this gingerbread recipe from Martha Stewart. I've used Martha's gingerbread recipes in years past and this one seemed to be a bit different. The pieces were very light brown and still had some flexibility to them even after they were baked and cooled. This didn't work well with my elaborate plans to built a house on stilts...the gingerbread was too flexible and the pretzel sticks didn't want to stay put. So I scrapped that idea and continued with my house plans (minus the stilts). Here's how it came out:

My mid-century masterpiece! It had a slanted roof and a red licorice-covered chimney. I used jujubes for the lights on the roof line and strips of gum for the siding. There is a walkway made of sugar babies and mini candy bar landscape boulders. Shredded coconut completes the snowy scene. Overall this house was much larger than last years model, but was just as fun to make!

I have also been meaning to share this adorable faux sugar cookie ornament project that I learned about on one of my favorite blogs, Creature Comforts. The moment I saw these I knew I had to make them for myself. 

 

I used pastel pink, green and blue paints and finished them off with glitter and multi-colored, metallic dragees.  I wrote names on the little ones and used them as gift tags! They came out great and were so much fun to make, so I definitely recommend trying them yourself.

Cheers to a new year of projects!

Things I wouldn’t mind finding in my stocking…

(I’m talking about my Christmas stocking...just thought I’d clarify.)

There are only 4 days left ‘til Christmas, and I’m sure Santa has already done all of his shopping, but if he hasn’t, here are a few suggestions, all from Etsy. 

The porcelain pieces from kimwestad are absolutely stunning.  You can check out a video of her process right here.

I love this vintage fish dish from twostringjane. It would look great on my little entry table.

Mariforssell makes lovely bags, wallets, and cases for things like ipads and iphones. I have a weakness for anything plaid and this little case is no exception. It also looks like it would keep my iphone nice and warm for the winter.

I've had my eye on this little retro tv brooch from VectorCloud for a while. It has a spot for you to add your own photo!

These labradorite stacking rings from KiraFerrer are so pretty I've added them to my favorites twice! They look like they'd be really versatile pieces. I love how the stones seem to change colors. 

The trailer and retro house prints from LeahGiberson are so cool. I'm having a hard time choosing my favorite!

This Moka Express tea towel from mengseldesign is super cute. I think it would really bring the coffee theme in my kitchen full-circle.  :) 

Well, those are my suggestions for the big guy at the North Pole. If he doesn't pull through, I might have to break down and get some of these for myself. I hope Santa brings you everything on your list!

A house of bread and ginger.

Every year, for the past few years, I've made a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve. It's so much fun coming up with a design chosing candy decorations! I've decided to make it a tradition to make a gingerbread house from scratch every year. 



Here is my "MINI Garage" from 2008, complete with gingerbread crumb driveway and snowman.

Here's my retro, mid-century house from last year, complete with sugar windows and color-changing lighted interior! The windows were tricky, but not as difficult as you might think.  I used Juicy Fruit gum for the siding, Junior Mints for the chimney, and Lifesavers and Skittles for the roof. And, of course, there's a MINI in the driveway. I was thinking I'd do something along those lines this year, but I wasn't sure what my "inspiration house" was going to be. Then I saw the cover of the current Sunset Magazine: 



(photo from the Sunset Magazine website) 

I must do something on stilts! My sister, Annie had the idea to use chocolate-covered pretzel sticks for the supports. Sounds effective and delicious! I'm still working on the design sketches, but I'll post project photos here when it's all done. I will begin construction on Thursday, so stay tuned!

Best Snowglobe, EVER.

MINI USA has just debuted the MINI Countryman – the first 4-door, all wheel drive MINI! I can imagine many outdoor enthusiasts (with lots of stuff and passengers) are excited about this. MINI USA is pretty excited, too and has been ramping-up advertising in the recent weeks. I’ve seen 2 new tv commercials and have heard the new “boot-gate” radio commercial a few times. I’ve always enjoyed MINI’s clever, unique advertising, and this, my friends, is no exception:

(photos from Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners website)

How awesome is this?! This snow globe just popped up yesterday in NYC. Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, the agency behind MINI USA is the mastermind behind this and all of MINI’s other advertising.  Funny enough, a few years ago my landscape architecture office relocated from Healdsburg to Sausalito, CA into a large warehouse space that was too small for the previous tenants. The tenants were BSSP and moved just a few doors down into a larger space. I was so close to these guys I had a chance to witness a few MINI photo shoots (with the bulldog and everything)! One of their creatives even gave me one of the first prototype “MINI CONFIDENTIAL” medallion in exchange for letting him measure Max for a few interior accessories. :)

I’m happy to see they are still keeping up the incredible work! So much fun!

December!

Seriously, how did that happen? I can't believe it's the end of the year already, but I've been in holiday mode since about October, so I was so excited to finally get going on some holiday crafts. The first one that I had to tackle was this yarn and felt wreath. I discovered a very helpful tutorial for it on the take heart blog. As soon as I saw it I knew I HAD to make one. So pretty and so simple! I decided to go with burgundy, teal, and cream for my color palette. The yarn wrapping took a bit of time and a little bit of work to make sure everything was covered, but it was so worth it. The felt flowers were the most fun - I had to keep myself from making more! Here's my little beauty on my front door.

As for the inside of my place, I just set up my first Christmas tree the other day! Its a sweet little Fraser Fir. I have it decorated with a few felt circle garlands I made last year, some MINI ornaments I made a few years ago, and some sparkly starburst ornaments.

I snapped this shot on my iphone when the sky was blazing blue right after the sunset. I didn't have a topper in my meager ornament collection so I picked up this big, sparkly, bow at Target and it works perfectly! Check out this awesome trailer ornament:

That reminds me - I'd better start drafting up my plans for my this year's gingerbread house...