Christmas past

so i'm dreadfully late with this post but it means that i'm almost caught up on everything that happened after we moved! Christmas this year was a whirlwind. we left the woods on a wednesday night after work & drove 6 hours down to chicago. maddie loves the car but has to be buckled in the backseat on long trips, otherwise she tries to sit in the lap of who ever is driving. our 55 pound lab definitely fancies herself a lapdog!

thursday i took full advantage of actually having stores around and did some shopping. some serious stocking up happened at joann's, michaels and hobby lobby! our macbook went in to get fixed and we visited my nana. that night i caught up with my best friends from high school and we sent brandon & another hubby on a man date. we had a wonderful evening together catching up over dinner and coffee; we even gave the boys enough time to see two movies. there was also some late night settlers fun with lynn & jon. we love us some settlers of catan!

friday (Christmas eve) i spent all day at my nana's house helping her get ready to host dinnner. we have spent Christmas eve at her house every year, my whole life, but this was the first year we were without this sweet man. 

{yep that's me & a stuffed cow. circa 1987?}

papa had been battling cancer for 5 years but was with us and "healthy" last year at Christmas. shortly after Christmas he contracted shingles. that was the beginning of the end and the months that followed were unimaginably difficult for all of us. he passed away on february 20. i'll be writing more about nana & papa and those few months soon but none of us were looking forward to celebrating this Christmas without him. there would be no one to cook the horrible oyster dish for, no one to force us to do every dish before presents were opened, no one to buy jam for, no one to take pictures as every gift was opened.we survived it. miss you papa & love you always!

at my parents house we spent a lot of time {as we always do} snuggled up watching old movies. my parents' dog, sadie, is not a big fan of maddie. they were forced to spend a weekend together when maddie was young and had no manners. their relationship has been rocky ever since! brandon seems to be able to mend their relationship- we call him the dog whisperer!

 

on Christmas morning my parents, sister, b & i gathered around the fire to open presents. every year we start by reading Luke 2 {which is wonderful} then my mom makes us sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and Hark the Herald Angels  before we are released to the presents!{not so wonderful- no one in my family can sing. at all.}stockings come first and are usually filled with chocolate and at least one Christmas ornament. i failed to take pictures of most of these festivities. partly because i was still sleepy & partly because we were dressed in all sorts of weird Christmas morning pajama ensembles :) 

the gift giving is not big or extravagant at our house, never has been, but the gifts we do give are very thoughtful. this year b and i both did the handmade thing. here he is modeling one of the hats i made him! {which i have since stolen & claimed for myself. great wife i know!} he works outside in the frigid weather every day so now he has a few new wool blends hats to keep him warm AND stylish!

look what my sweet hubby made me!!! this is from a tree that he actually cut down. then sliced up. and made into an awesome sign! he used the router/sign making machine at honeyrock. love, love, love. you'll be seeing it again soon in the tour of my studio!

it wasn't all handmade this year- my parents went to ireland and sweden for their 30th anniversary and brought back a few fantastic gifts! i received a new and gorgeous claddagh ring to replace the old silver one i've worn every day since high school. brandon got this schnazzy rugby jersey! doesn't it go well with his northwoods pajama pants? :) 

 

 and just in case you thought we forgot the pup on Christmas here she is enjoying her new bear, stanley. i found him in a box of my old stuffed animals and since i couldn't' remember where he came from {so he probably wasn't significant!} i passed him along to her! this picture is taken after she devoured the bone my parents gave her. lucky & spoiled little fuzz monster!

we stayed in illinois another day then flew to california on the 26th in preparation for our trip to maui on the 28th!!

a look back at december {or the post with all the collages}

 december arrived and so did the snow! {our camera battery was temporarily lost in the move so lots of these are phone pics- sorry!} this picture was taken between snows on our back porch. it might be cold, but it really is beautiful! i love having seasons & if we're going to have a cold season i'm so glad there's snow.

 i decorated for Christmas the first weekend in december and we made the sad choice not to cut down a real tree. up here in the woods we're surrounded by potential Christmas trees. we could go outside, walk 100 yards and cut down a tree. we were planning on going out to HoneyRock to cut one down, but the more i thought about it, the more i realized that we should just put up our little fake one from my childhood {it was the tree my mom gave me for all the ornaments i made once there were too many to fit on our big tree!}. we were only going to be home for 2 1/2 weeks in december and then we'd be gone for 2 weeks. i was afraid we'd come home to a burned down house or a giant pile of needles and neither of those sounded very appealing. so up went the little tree, which turned out to be perfect! 

{maybe a little too perfect...it's still up}

one of my favorite things to decorate this year has been ornaments. since we just used our little tree i had lots of ornaments left over so i put them everywhere! every glass container i own was filled with colorful glass and i loved it!

 

i made another wreath. actually i made 3 more wreaths in december. but i made another yarn wreath! {check out a great tutorial here by danielle} i figured this one would be able to stay up all winter. it just feels so cozy! right now it's hanging on our bedroom door but will probably move to the entry to replace the crazy ornament wreath that's there now {told you...Christmas is still up in our house!}

i also made a few new headband & clip designs that were meant for the shop for the Christmas season but they all ended up being sold to people here or being given as gifts before i could ever photograph or list them! a few will be remade and might show up as winter {subtract the red} or valentines {subtract the green} designs soon!

also new in the shop have been these lovely cabochon earrings. i recently found a new supplier that i love and have been buying these little flowers by the dozens. i made myself a bunch of earrings/bobby pins/rings first to see what i liked best and they will slowly start showing up in the shop! 

a few are already listed, including my favorite the mustard & teal dahlia ring. i wear one all the time! 

the snow makes me either want to play outside or cuddle up inside with a good project. i've been crocheting a TON but i don't have many pictures of the final products. something i did complete and photograph {but failed to mail! sorry to the mamas who are getting these if they don't fit your babies when they finally arrive!} were these appliqued onesies. didn't they turn out cute?! 

i didn't take process photos since it was near midnight when i made these but it wasn't difficult! i just picked a font i loved and printed out giant letters (backwards. print them backwards). i traced the letters onto some wonder under which i then fused to the fabric. once it was fused i cut out the designs, peeled off the backing and iron the fabric to the onesie. easy peasy until this point. 

the next step is to stitch down the edges to insure the letters won't come off after being washed many times. my sewing machine and the onesies got in a fight and the sewing machine won. next time i will conquer this little problem, but in the mean time i hand stitched a running stitch around the edges. done and done.

that's a wrap on december. except, of course, for Christmas and MAUI which will get their own posts. then we're caught up to real life here in january!coming up tomorrow will be my it's in the bag post as part of ashley's blog crawl. head over and check out today's blogger in my group, alycia at the curious pug and then come back tomorrow to find out what's in my bag! {or purse. i still call it a purse. weird?}

until then i leave you with this...

a recap, part 2: the move and beyond

so moving day arrived and we weren't quite ready! turns out we acquired a lot of stuff in the past 2 years and we needed a bigger truck. {this is what happens when parents call & request you remove all your belongings from their attic!} brandon spent a frantic few hours packing and repacking and creating space out of nothing and i decided what we could part with. i made a pile on the curb that included some furniture along with random stuff from the house. i went back inside to clean for a few minutes, and when i came out i discovered that my stuff in the pile on the curb had been replaced with hubby's fishing pole, golf clubs and baseball bat bag. unacceptable! sweet hubby was trying to save my junk by giving up his things. i made a few phone calls and found someone to come fetch the important things and store them until we could bring them home! after the madness of packing up our little house ended we were off!

usually when we drive maddie gets buckled into the backseat {otherwise she tries to ride in my lap} but on this trip every inch of the car was full. my little fuzz was such a trooper! she made it six hours in this tiny space! 

we arrived safely in wisconsin and were greeted by a whole group of people ready to help us move in. it was such a blessing to have help right away and they had also stocked our pantry and fridge! yet another sign of God's provision throughout this move! we began unpacking and settling in to our new rental house. it took maddie over a week to feel comfortable here. for the first few days she wouldn't sit or lay down or look out the window- she just followed me everywhere i went! eventually she got comfortable and realized that there were all kinds of exciting things to see if she looked out the window! 

maddie has just spotted a deer in the yard!

brandon's parents sent a half a semi-load of stuff to us. it included most of the toys hubby owned as a child, lots of toilet paper & paper towels, a giant case of shaving cream, a box of baking supplies {really the shipment could have been its own post but the camera was m.i.a. at the time!} and this beauty of a table! sorry for the ick photo- we have bad light after about 3 pm.  this dining room table seats 8 without any leaves {there are 3!} and used to sit in hubby's grandparents house. i love that it was theirs and i love that it's huge! 

the table arrived just in time because we hosted our first thanksgiving! my parents and sister {and sadie} came up for the weekend. it was wonderful to have visitors and only mildly stressful to cook thanksgiving dinner for the first time. we all survived the weekend and still loved each other in the end! 

included on the menu was this cranberry apple pie that i found on bake at 350. it really was as delicious as bridget promised it would be!

the weather turned cold. really cold. and i had the constant urge {still do} to create something warm with yarn. one of those projects was this tiny hat for a friend's baby. it's so rewarding to start with some yarn and end with something someone can wear! more crochet projects coming soon!

part ii was longer than expected so i'll finish with part iii {december} tomorrow!

a recap, part 1

now that you have the long story of how we got to the woods, 

here's a quick recap of what we've been doing since october!

all summer i worked with a sweet customer to create a one of a kind belt for her niece's wedding. the wedding was in october. it was so fun to be a part of someone's wedding day and create something just as the bride envisioned it! 

{i'm working on getting digital photos of the bride on her wedding day, dress, belt & all!}

then hubby and sister bear celebrated their birthdays! he's 27 & she's 23. 

my little sister is all grown up! 

every year for b's birthday {and only for his birthday} i make The Cake. it's delicious. and could kill you! the cake is pretty harmless, but the frosting has 6 sticks of butter, 9 eggs and a bag of chocolate chips.

UNREAL.

even though i should have been packing up my craft supplies {and not making new things} i tried my hand at the yarn wrapped wreaths that are popping up on blogs all over! this was my first one and i've made 2 more since!

{sorry! late night cell phone picture}

on october 13 we celebrated 3 wonderful years of marriage 

{it was also the 5 year anniversary of our first date!}

we put aside packing for a night & went out to dinner at ivy, a new restaurant in downtown wheaton that hubby's baseball team had given us a gift certificate to. it was delicious and we really enjoyed getting to walk somewhere for a date, knowing that wouldn't be possible in the woods.

just as we were getting ready to move, our little camry decided it wasn't up for living in the woods and died. once and for all. it had a good, long life and in the end was towed away by victory auto wreckers.

yes. the victory auto wreckers. 

if you grew up in chicago you can probably recite this commercial. 

wonderful and ridiculous and still on tv today!! 

the door didn't fall off our car and the guy didn't hand us fanned out $20s but it was still a wonderful way for the little car to go!

as moving day approached and the house started to clear out, maddie wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. one day i found her curled up in the pile of bedding that was waiting to be packed.  the furniture was already on the truck and she had no place else to hide! 

{she was wearing her giants collar for the playoffs...it worked!} 

part ii: the move and beyond coming tomorrow!

chicken enchilada casserole

this is a favorite around here. it's easy, fast and very versitile! some days we make it with just cheese, other days with chicken or ground beef. i can throw in jalepenos, green chiles or onions. the prep time is less than 5 minutes, the cooking time less than 20. that's dinner on the table in less than a half hour! 

perfect.

chicken enchilada casserole

ingredients:

2 T vegetable oil

2 T taco seasoning

(alton brown's is my favorite. i lessened the salt a bit, tripled the recipe & keep it in a small jar)

1 chicken breast

(because we're cleaning out our freezer for the move & it's all i had. 2 would be more filling)

1 can enchilada sauce

(we use La Victoria. it has an authentic flavor, is inexpensive & gluten free!)

12 corn tortillas

2 cups shredded cheese

(or less if you like your arteries. we like cheese)

directions:

season chicken with taco seasoning & saute in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil. 

once the chicken is cooked through, shred it.

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

spread a few tablespoons of enchilada sauce in the bottom of your dish. cover with tortillas: two whole & one ripped in half will cover my whole dish. experiment to see what covers yours.

 begin layering ingredients: cheese, chicken, cheese, tortillas, enchilada sauce. repeat. 

i didn't have enough chicken for all the layers so i kept going with just cheese. 

after your final layer, pour on the last of the enchilada sauce and top with cheese one more time. 

when you zoom out a little you see what was really happening while i took pictures...

cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. 

remove foil and return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. 

devour.

5000

our little camera recently took it's 5000th picture!

june 20. milpitas, ca.all of lindsay (my sister in law) and gabe's wedding presents. about to be unloaded & opened at brunch.
the very first photo the camera took was deleted but here's one from the first time it was used

april 4, 2009.three lakes, wi.we bought the camera when we went to visit a litter of puppies that ended up containing our little monster. 
it's the canon powershot sd790 is. nothing fancy but it's done a great job! it was on clearance plus we bought the display model so we got an extra 20% off! all together we paid $80.
thanks little camera for 5000 pictures. for documenting our baby puppy, years 2 & 3 of our marriage, multiple weddings, my many projects, moments with friends, and now for taking great pictures of the products in my shop!  

(shameless plug alert! find this headband here.)

happy mothers day

just want to say a quick happy mothers day to a bunch of wonderful women- most of whom will never read this because they have no idea what a blog is!

happy mother's day mama. (and papa i miss you dearly). i'm so glad we've grown into a relationship that goes beyond just mother and daughter. i'm blessed to call you my mom and my friend. thank you for your love, advice and patience for many many years! 

(don't mind our out of control hair... )

and happy mother's day to you nana. you are an incredibly strong woman and i pray that one day i will have just a fraction of your faith. thank you for teaching me about food and art and for helping me to appreciate breakfast as the first and greatest meal of the day. even though i'm grown up i still love spending the day at your house more than most things in the world!

happy mother's day to you grandma chester. i think craftee mcgee gets a lot of her skills from you! thank you for teaching me to love crafts of all kinds, for passing down recipes and for loving me. 

 happy mother's day to my wonderful mother-in-law. thank you for raising a wonderful son. he is blessed to have you as his mother. thank you for welcoming me into your family and helping me feel included. thank you for supporting us in everything and for being interested in who i am. i am blessed to be a part of your family! 

today also marks the one year anniversary of bringing home our little monster. maddie you have made our lives crazier, harder and more wonderful over the last year! love you monster!

a quick life update

with baseball season in full swing life has been a bit crazy around here so here's a mostly pictoral update through the lens of the iphone! 

one of my latest and greatest goodwill finds. 4 cherry glasses. 99 cents each (whatever happened to the cents symbol? i liked it. someone should bring it back...ooo! html code! here it is ¢! i'm bringing you back little ¢ sign!) 99¢ each!

after the crushing defeat the warriors suffered today i felt the need to get crafty so i made these two flowers by cutting circles out of a satin-y fabric & melting them over a flame (and almost burning my hand off). big one = pin. little one = bobby pin.

our herb garden is sitting on the kitchen cart waiting to be planted outside! the frame of the garden has been built but we haven't had a chance to buy dirt (plus we've had frost this week). soon little plants. soon. 

hideously awesome green vintage bag. bowling? maybe? goodwill. $2.99. (299¢) soon to be my carry on. any ideas on how to clean weird green leather type fabric? 

inside said green bag: my current stash of candlesticks for cake stand making -- getting their own post soon! sorry that's a terrible picture.

this is monster right after eating half of a raw hamburger. my hamburger. right off the counter. she got in big trouble. she looks sad. and yet triumphant.

thrift store find! if i can trust the bag this is an unfinished quilt circa 1880ish. um...awesome. 

the stash of plates waiting to be made into awesome pillars of dessert display. 

finished cake plates #s 1 & 2. again...more detail to come.

yesterdays game was in the middle of a windstorm and i decided i couldn't wear my hair down again today. problem is my hair isn't actually long enough to wear up so i made this headband in warrior colors before i the games this morning. it's not perfect craftsmanship at ALL but it got the job done today.

 sneak peek of a new product about to hit the shop! check back soon for details!

so there's lots happening here in the sharpe house. i'm feeling a longer more contemplative post coming up soon but baseball season is here, the sun is out, it was light until almost 8 tonight and craftee-ness is in full swing- we are blessed!