The Holiday Recap

December is a blur. I guess it always feels that way, doesn’t it? The holidays come in like a rush and leave the same way. Then we’re left with January…gloomy, quiet January. (To be fair, January hasn’t been so bad. I kind of like staying in after a month of holiday parties and activities.)

We got our tree on the Portillo’s lot a few blocks from our house. It was SO convenient and it lasted a pretty long time (for a dead tree!) I am still not used to our higher ceilings here at the house but we juuuuust made it this year again! Whew!

On December 2nd, we hosted our annual Holiday Walk party. Forest Park hosts a holiday walk along Madison Street the first Friday after Christmas. Shops and restaurants have live window displays and specials, the tree gets lit, and Santa arrives and meets kids. It’s like a Hallmark movie here in Forest Park. Naoto and I have been inviting people over after the walk for soups and snacks for several years now and it’s grown from two people to thirty people. Naoto made minestrone and his famous chicken noodle soups and our house was full for the first time ever. (Last year we held the party outside around the fire pit which was fun, but less comfortable than being inside on a cold night!)

I ordered us all matching pajamas. Presley hated them. (But isn’t she so cute?) But for real, these are the first non-sweatsuit winter pajamas I’ve had in a long time and now there’s no turning back. I’ve ordered myself more.

We sent out loads of Christmas cards. They deserve their own post because like last year, Donovan captured Presley just perfectly.

We went to the year’s favorite activity, Chris & Heather’s Calendar Show, which was fabulous as always. Naoto and I got there late but ended up with a front row seat (well, stand technically) and I got to change out the artist cards! It was so ridiculously fun.

Due to a close call with Covid, I had to miss our book club tea this year. It was a bummer but I didn’t want to risk infecting anyone if I did have it. (Thankfully I came out unscathed!)

Christmas was very cozy at home. I’ll share my gifts in another post, but one of Naoto’s highlights is this cookbook holder made by my dad. We are trying to cook out of our cookbooks more (it’s been a long struggle) and this has been making it more convenient. (I sent this idea to my dad and he modified it a little bit to make it even better!)

Presley got slippers for Christmas…she tolerates them but will kick them off and send them flying through the air.

She also got a catnip banana for Christmas, which ended up being her favorite toy. She didn’t leave its side the entire day. (And totally like a cat, she hasn’t touched it since!)

I hosted the book club friends for a little post-Christmas dinner. I used my Ruby Red Depression Glass set and decorated the table with some of my favorite Christmas things (like my green mailbox!) and vintage Shiny Brites. I made Ina’s lasagna and everyone contributed for the appetizer, salad, and dessert. It was such a warm, comfortable night…I just love hosting small groups and using some of my more special things.

The Putz Christmas village has a new home in the kitchen! When we remodeled this fall, we added in this “china cabinet” area next to our new pantry area. It turned out to be the perfect place for the village. Plus, I love having some Christmas spread across the house. I’ll share our kitchen someday…we’re still waiting on our last light fixture to come in and still choosing furniture for the space.

And finally, we ended the year with some friends at a dinner party. It was a perfectly quiet way to say goodbye to 2022 and ring in 2023.

I hope your holidays were jolly and the new year is treating you well.

Recap of the Workshop at Forest Park Public Library

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I taught a winter card making workshop at Forest Park Public library last month. It was a drop-in class so people could come at any time and make a card or two. I have taught in-person card making classes, and I’ve taught a card making class on zoom, but I had never taught a card making class where everyone wasn’t working on the same card at the same time. I was a little bit nervous, but while making my samples, I figured there were several places in each card where independent work would give me a chance to help someone else. And it all worked out just fine. I even got the highest compliment from a women who makes cards all the time. She said that she learned some new things at the workshop. Goal achieved.

I had six card options–two origami, two with other paper folding, a layered card, and a shaker postcard. The glittered vintage paper trees were by far the most popular, and the most challenging. It’s really hard to get the hang of the folds, even though it looks so simple.

It was especially fun to see everyone making the cards their own. This is an example of a snowcat card based on my snowman card. I love how Michelle used the little gems to make a holly accent on the hat and just the whole concept of a snowcat!

Has anyone started thinking about their Valentines? Too soon?

A Very Presley Christmas 2021

May I present our 2021 holiday cards? I loved them so much and I couldn’t wait to show you, even though I think some may still be arriving or on their way.

Last summer, I asked Donovan if she would draw something for our holiday card and she agreed. I still love and use the stationery she drew for my birthday a few years ago. I asked her to draw a tree with ramen, cocktails, mail, and a tuna underneath–a few of our favorite things.

Then, I shared this picture of Presley on Instagram. She was looking very grumpy in a Santa hat and Donovan decided to add Presley too. We couldn’t have been more delighted.

I had the cards printed as flat cards (like a postcard, not folded like a greeting card) because I don’t write long messages in my holiday cards. It was the perfect little greeting. (And thanks to my friend Mark at Printing Plus for printing and delivering them to me!)

In addition to our cards, Donovan surprised us with these wonderful faux postage stamps. She was inspired by Presley to draw holiday stamps of a bunch of cats she knows for her Patreon supporters. (If you scroll back on her Instagram (@dovbee) you can see them all. Or you can join her Patreon and download them all!) I used our stamps to decorate the envelopes of our cards that went out to cat lovers and Presley fans.

I hope it was a good holiday season in your mailbox and I’m looking forward to writing some mail this week and I ease into the new year!

P.S. This is not a sponsored post–just genuinely love Donovan and her work and Mark’s print shop!

Oh Christmas Tree 2021

We got our tree over Thanksgiving weekend and it’s the tallest tree we’ve ever had! Our new house has taller ceilings than the condo did and I figured, why not go all the way to the top!

Well, things look a lot smaller on the tree lot! Our tree is one inch from the ceiling–thank goodness we didn’t go for the tallest option and thank goodness I never put the star on the very tippy top! It was also slightly more uncomfortable driving with the tree hanging out of the backseat window. But we made it home!

It only took another purchase of lights to finish everything off, but I think it’s well worth it. I just love this time of year when it’s dark outside but there’s a comforting glow of Christmas lights inside.

Winter Card Making with Forest Park Public Library

I’m teaching a card making class at the Forest Park Public Library on Thursday! If you are local, you can sign up here. It’s a drop in class, so people can come and make a card or two and leave, or they can stay and make all five. I have a couple of Christmas ones, but also some general winter ideas so if Christmas isn’t your thing, there will be something for everyone.

I am bringing a typewriter, rubber stamps, vintage papers, some origami, and glitter…plenty of glitter. (‘Tis the season after all!)

This is my third library event. (I don’t think I told you about the week I presented about letter writing with Schaumburg Library, did an online Valentine making workshop with Forest Park Public Library, and closed on a house, have I?) Library events are a lot of fun–a very relaxed way to learn, and free!

I’ll be back with more Christmas posts–holiday parties, workshops, and wholesale orders are keeping me busy these days!

Book Club Christmas Tea 2019

Last weekend was our annual book club Christmas tea and it was delightful, as usual. We had four kinds of sandwiches (egg salad, shrimp salad, roast beef with provolone, and cilantro chicken salad,) two kinds of scones (cranberry-orange and bacon cheddar,) Christmas cake, grape salad, and Christmas punch. I love a good tea sandwich so I ate way too many and also floated away from all the tea. Stasia brought corsages for everyone so it felt especially fancy. I think corsages are under-utilized and I’m going to demand one for every birthday from now on. We read PG Wodehouse which was enjoyable, but I read it all in a couple days so I was sort of Wodehoused out by the end. The writing is really charming though so hopefully I’ll be ready to tackle a short story here and there in the future. We always have party poppers with crowns, mustaches, and jokes. Reading the jokes and guessing the riddles is always my favorite part of the day. Three cheers for good book discussions in 2019!

Christmas Presents

It was a very good Christmas. As usual, I feel very spoiled by Naoto’s generosity. He gave me this very fun Ruth Bader Ginsburg gift set that includes cards, a notepad, a pin, a bottle opener, a sticker, a tattoo, and a hilarious gavel pencil. He also went to Greer and found another RBG notepad and he also picked out a cat notebook and the special Greer x Appointed blue notebook. It’s such a perfect shade of blue and I love Appointed notebooks…the paper is a dream to write on. And he picked out this sweet Traveler’s Notebook charm from Baum-Kuchen. We’ve done a few craft shows with Jessica Pignotti and I just love her style. He picked out this sweet carrot necklace and this Presley-like cat pin for me. Seriously, those tiny carrot stitches are so delicate and perfect. I can’t wait to wear them both. And finally, he stuffed my stocking with some treats he picked up while he was in Oregon in the fall. Nothing I gave Naoto comes close to what he gave me, but I do think these Dunkin Donuts sweatpants are pretty sweet, right?

The Christmas Rush is Here

This was the scene on Monday morning when I got up early to take Naoto to work and had a couple of hours to sit in the dark and gaze at the Christmas tree while listening to NPR. We had our last craft show of the season last weekend and Mondayc just felt good to have nothing to do for a moment before work. Not that I really have nothing to do–there’s plenty of shopping, shopping, wrapping, card writing, and more shopping to do. But it was nice to take a few moments and appreciate the tree and the lights and Presley’s purrs. Hopefully by the time this posts, my Christmas cards will be done and my book club book will be read and at least a few of the gifts have been wrapped or at least purchased…one can hope.

How are your holiday preparations coming?

Christmas Post Office

I’ve been wanting a Christmas village post office for awhile now. I have my Putz house village, and I’ve never seen a vintage paper post office before, so I told my mom and dad to keep an eye out for some vintage or new ceramic ones. Well, they found this perfect little jewel at a thrift shop for $2.50! They found the postman Santa last year. He might not be to scale but he fits right in!

I don’t know how vintage it is, but I think it’s charming and now I want a little collection of just random post offices (serendipitously found at thrift stores because I don’t need to stalk something else on eBay!) My mini post office collection of one is living on my desk so it stays safe from Presley. (She has taken to knocking things down at 4AM to get our attention.)

Tomorrow, I need to go to the actual, non-ceramic post office to buy some stamps for the church and to mail something…wish me luck!

Spending the Yen: Christmas Stationery

I found this Christmas stationery last year at Loft and it was pretty pricey…like way more than I usually spend for stationery in Japan which has so many things for cheap. But Naoto slipped it into my basket and told me to buy it…it’s hard to argue with him in Japan. It’s really lovely washi paper with a nice texture that makes me wish I used a fountain pen more. And the tree is embossed with red and iridescent ink. I hope I can make time to send out a Christmas letter or two this season!

Have you started your Christmas (or other holiday) cards yet? I haven’t…hopefully next week after my last show of the season I can make time for some mail and other holiday cheer!