Wednesday, December 31, 2008

See ya, 08! Thanks for the Memories!


Thanks to all of you out there reading, buying, encouraging, inspiring and all that other good stuff!
Especially:
Mommy
Kim Romero and circles are forever
Laurie Richter and Fly Right Gifts
Shorty's
Renegade Handmade Store
Etsy
Venus Zine
Katie and Molly
Michael
Kim M.

Here's to a brilliant and beautiful 2009!

xo, r.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 20

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The animated video for Winter Song by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson from the album The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs is one of the most precious and adorable things I have watched. The song is so sweet and sad and moving and beautiful, I immediately made fun of it upon first listen so I wouldn't just start crying.

Needless to say, I've been playing it in a loop for the last 20 minutes (which means more like 45 minutes). I LOVE IT.

And actually, if anyone is reading this, I'd love to send an iTunes gift of this song to the first 5 people to post a comment (include email address).

Watch the video here.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 17 (I give up on the catch-up)

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Sirius XM's Christmas channels have been a delight in my life lately. Not so much the Amy Grant, or the creepy heavily-rotated "Celebrate Me Home" by Kenny Loggins (Sheesh. Blecch), but I really have renewed adoration for the Ray Conniff Singers.
Now THAT'S some holiday music.

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 13 (yes, I may not catch up)!!

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I'll admit to being behind on (or downright oblivious to) the trend of Ugly Christmas Sweater parties and such. But I support the idea. Kind of.
I'm at least willing to admire the sheer overdone insanity of some of these masterpieces.

I even think these three are classy. So there.

Monday, December 15, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 12!!

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There will never be anything like Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Everso brings to you, courtesy of YouTube and broken into 6 parts, Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special:








The part with Little Richard especially cracks me up as my grandma recently declared if she could have dinner with anyone, it would be Little Richard (and Woody Allen).

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 11!!

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OK. So it's not Day 11. It's day 15, which happens to be National Cupcake Day!

I made the above Vegan/Booze-free Tiramisu cupcakes for a holiday party & they were quite a sensation.



Cupcakes Take the Cake is always an amazing resource for cupcake porn. Check out the Abominable Cupcakes. How rad would those be on Chrismas?

Metalcakes, one of my local baking crushes, features the Danzig: Twist of Candy Cane Cakes today. SWOON. Follow all the Merciless Instructions and whip them up for your own minions!

Another local baking crush of mine, Natalie of Bake & Destroy, has some relentlessly adorable flickr pics of her Candy Cane Cupcakes with a Happy Peppermint Man by Cage Tomato.

Don't miss Bake & Destroy's Holiday Guide and Etsy Shop. I bought Monster Cupcake Picks for my boyfriend's birthday cupcakes this year and love them SO HARD.

Speaking of adorable last-minute xmas gifts, I just put everything in my etsy shop on sale!
Holla!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 9!!

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Our actual Christmas tree!
I've had countless fake trees, but this is the first real tree of my adult life.
Pret-ty exciting and like most things, makes me want to cry.
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I was resigned to not having a tree this year when my darling boyfriend said, "we should get a tree, right? It smells good."
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20 fussy reasons to not get a real tree and my Sweetie breaks it down to a simple truth: It smells good.
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Our gorgeous little tree from outside the grocery store smells GREAT. And I can't stop staring at it. I may make some other decorations, but I'm perfectly content with big lights, popcorn garland, candy canes and Alfred E. for our topper.
Aww.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 8!!

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eco gift wrap by tomate d'epingles on etsy


Christmas 1977, Santa brought 4-year-old me a Fonz pinball machine.
Few presents have compared since.

Even as a pre-schooler, I thought of myself as a Pinky/Leather Tuscadero hybrid. I pretty much still do.
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I looked around YouTube for other stuff from Christmas 1977 & found this clip from The Carpenter's Christmas Special. It's influence on me is immeasurable!



xo, Rachie

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 7!!



Goodness gracious.

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 6!!



Yeah, yeah, I'm still backed up on the Xmas blog posts. It's a busy year!

Here's a clip of my all-time favorite, Heat Miser, from The Year Without a Santa Claus.
He's Mr. Heat Blister (gross!), he's Mr. 101!

He's toooo much!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 5!!

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(I know it's actually day 7, still catching up!)

I finally visited my first Paper Source shop in Oak Park a couple months ago.
That's how I know I'm a hopeless aging nerd, the paper store gets me hot.
The Gingerpaper House Kit above is too awesome.

The gifts at the Paper Source are cute out of control.
I really love the Pigtail Kit:
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AND the Jailbird Penguin:
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For those of you who like to donate toys and gifts during the holiday season, my friend, Jessie, wrote a great article on where to donate in Chicago.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 4!!

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I'm trying to play Christmas blog catch-up!
I missed a few days because I was pretty exhausted after volunteering all week at a grade school holiday market. It was a total blast. I helped little kids pick out gifts for their families and friends. The kiddos took it so seriously and the whole thing was really sweet and put the holidays in a nice perspective for me.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 3!!

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We watched a chunk of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer tonight. I get a ridiculous childhood throwback with this little number. I remember being scared at first of the Bumble and being freaked out that they just moved on so easily after thinking Yukon Cornelius fell to his presumed death.

I love some Yukon Cornelius. I adore when that crazy doormat Rudolph says "By Doze!" I dearly love and over-identify with the Misfit Toys.

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We're on the Island of Misfit Toys
Here we don't want to stay
We want to travel with Santa Claus
In his magic sleigh!

A pack full of toys
Means a sack full of joys
For millions of girls
And for millions of boys
When Christmas Day is here
The most wonderful day of the year.

A jack-in-the-box waits for children to shout
"Wake up! Don't you know that it's time to come out!"
When Christmas Day is here
The most wonderful day of the year.

Toys galore, scattered on the floor
There's no room for more
And it's all because of Santa Claus.

A skooter for Jimmy
A dolly for Sue
The kind that will even say, "How do you do?"
When Christmas Day is here
The most wonderful day of the year.


How would you like to be a Spotted Elephant?
Or a Choo-Choo with square wheels on your caboose?
Or a water pistol that shoots -- jelly?
We're all misfits!
How would you like to be a bird that doesn't fly? I swim!
Or a cowboy who rides an ostrich?
Or a boat that can't stay afloat?
We're all misfits.


If we're on the Island of Unwanted Toys
We'll miss all the fun with the girls and the boys
When Christmas Day is here
The most wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful day of the year!



And there's always tomorrow..

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 2!!

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I super love peppermint and I super love Etsy, especially at Christmas.

I searched around today on Etsy and found some amazing peppermint-y/candy cane-ish items, perfect for the holidays. Like the Elf Gift Tags above, by paperheartpress.

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And this peppermint stick and mistletoe soap set, courtesy of sunbasilgarden.
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These peppermint christmas cards by thecraftypantry.
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Delicious homemade peppermint bark from DoubleDippedSweets.
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Lonely Peppermint Tree print
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Peppermint Striped Twine, by littlepinkstudio
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oh deer stickers by PaperPumpkin (with peppermint tree, it's a stretch, but I LOVE)
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Candy Cane hand-embroidered onesie by Beetastic
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Monday, December 1, 2008

25 Days of Christmas~ Day 1!!

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I'm still gagging down Thanksgiving leftovers, but ready to go all nutso for my favorite holiday.
Going to try to post all Christmas-y stuff for the next 25 days!
Recipes, cartoons, craft projects, gift ideas, music..we'll just see what happens.

Let's start it all off with a little wonderful insanity from Germany in the 70's, Christmas with Heino. It's long, but pretty great from any point in the video.



I'll continue the Frohliche Weihnachten theme with a recipe for Springerle cookies, and a super fancy Springerle rolling pin from Sur La Table:
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Or a classic one available at everyone's favorite, Target:
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My work here for today is done. See you tomorrow for Day 2 of my I Love Christmas Extravaganza!! xo, Rach

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Stockins Stockins Stockins!

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I made stacks of these today. Not sure exactly how I will finish them off. Contrasting fabric cuff and loop? Rick rack? Bells? Fur? All of the above? None of the above?

Last year's versions were cut from a vintage baby quilt and had gold wings attached.
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This year's models are recycled from vintage tablecloths. Some may make it to the shop, but most are gonna hold the cookies and goodies I'll be handing out for Christmas.
I'm considering putting together some stocking and bib sets.

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We'll see. I'm running out of time!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

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Today is my mama's birthday. She's a very special lady. So talented and generous. I miss her dearly now that I live several hours away.

She makes gorgeous wreaths:
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Neat ATCs that she uses as business cards:
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And amazing decoupage suitcases (vintage cases AND vintage images!):
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Visit her blog and Etsy shop.

Love you, Mama! Hope you are having a beautiful birthday.