Posted on December 19, 2012 by sara |

Holiday Traditions- Maiedae

Another one of my favorite ladies is joining us today with her favorite holiday tradition! Welcome Savannah from Maiedae!

One of my favorite family traditions since being married to Jon is spending Christmas Eve together, just the two of us. We spent a lot of time over the holidays visiting with family and friends, so it’s especially refreshing to have a Christmas date day. We usually spend the morning sleeping in and eat a yummy breakfast in bed. This year I might make muffins with plans to watch Dr. Who cuddled up in our cozy blankets. Throughout the day we do our best to relax and get into the Christmas spirit. We LOVE watching Scrooged together starring Bill Murray, listening to Christmas music, going out to eat and staying in our PJs as long as possible. On Christmas Eve night we sit by the Christmas tree and open all of our gifts to each other. We like to spend Christmas morning with our family, so having a special time that’s just ours to reflect on the holiday is just what we need. I can’t wait for Christmas Eve this year…I’m so anxious for Jon to open his gifts!!

Posted on December 18, 2012 by sara |

Holiday Traditions: Petit Joy Vintage

One of the things that I love about the holidays are all the traditions. I think there is something special to be said about traditions being passed from generation to generation as well as starting new ones of your own. It creates a sense of oneness and nostalgia connecting us to different times and places. I have a few traditions that are really special to me, but I thought it would be nice to check in with some of my favorite bloggers and find out what traditions they use to celebrate.

First up, I’d like to welcome Shelly from Petit Joy Vintage!

A New Tradition: Mulled Wine

My husband, Jeremiah, and I have had a lot of crazy adventures in the 6 years that we have been married. These include touring the country and Canada with my band, selling a car to backpack Europe for 6 weeks, opening a boutique, and then inevitably selling almost all our belongings to actually move to Europe. Prague, Czech Republic to be exact. We lived there for a little less than a year and brought back lots of memories and also a new tradition. Every winter in the town centre there would be kiosks that sold sausages and mulled wine. Being vegetarian, we didn’t go for the meat, but were all about the wine. It was served hot and full of sweet, fruity flavors and spices. When we moved back to the states, I was determined to bring this tradition home. Things are so much different now than they were then. We are settled in a home of our own and parents to the most wonderful little girl. But every Christmas when I make this cozy drink, we are brought back to the bustle of that town square, all full of colorful coats and white snow, with the steam rising from our cups.

Here is what you need:

• 2 oranges

• peel of 1 lemon

• peel of 1 lime

• 1 1/4 caster sugar

• 6 whole cloves

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 whole nutmeg

• 1 whole vanilla pod, halved

• 2 star anise

• 2 bottles of Sweet red wine, or Chianti (or one large bottle)

Here is how you make it:

Peel large sections of peel from your oranges, lemon and lime. Put the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the pieces of peel and squeeze in the juice from one orange. Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf and about 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg. Throw in your halved vanilla pod and stir in just enough red wine to cover the sugar. Let this simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the red wine and then bring to the boil. Keep on a rolling boil for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until you’ve got a beautiful thick syrup. It’s important to make a syrup base first because it needs to be quite hot, and if you do this with both bottles of wine in there you’ll burn off the alcohol.

When your syrup is ready turn the heat down to low and add your star anise and both bottles of wine. Gently heat the wine and after around 5 minutes, when it’s warm and delicious, ladle it into glasses and serve.

(Adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Posted on November 18, 2012 by sara |

Thrifted Thanksgiving- Centerpieces

Centerpieces are the heart of a tables cape and can make a service table really special. On the mother of all thrift hauls, I picked up some things with great potential.

I found a long vase that had some sort of artificial succulent in it that was so old and dusty it fell apart when I touched it.

I also found a bad full of Fall looking silks and other things, although I couldn’t really tell as they were all wrapped up in the bag. I feel like there is always a ton of potted cheesy looking florals at any thrift store. I decided to take the yellow ones from the great selection and bring them home for a new life. I also picked up a few terra-cotta pots super cheap. Silly me forgot to include them in this picture.

I cut all the yellow flowers off the stems and ‘repotted’ them in the long vase. It seemed that they looked way better when they were all closer to one another. I put a bunch of the random silks that were in the bag along the outside and it really filled the space in nicely.

The pumpkins were just hanging out in that bag of stuff. Lucky me.

Next I pulled apart all of the berry branches and other random little pieces that were in the bag. Many of the branches were all tangled and wrapped around each other. Once I unwrapped them, I cut them smaller so they could fit in the smaller pots. I used some lace from my stash to adorn the top of the pot and just arranged everything until it looked nice.

I originally had some ideas about painting the silks, but it turns out I didn’t need to. I was able to achieve the sophisticated look I was hoping for by just rearranging everything into a better composition.

Can’t wait to see these on the Thanksgiving tables.

Posted on November 17, 2012 by sara |

Thrifted Thanksgiving- Table Runner

I’m a sucker for a great looking tables cape and a decorated holiday. There’s nothing like a comforting space to tell you that it’s Thanksgiving. Of course the friends, family, and food are the most important. This time of year, things can get a bit hectic and it can be hard to put those looks together on a budget, but after a recent thrift haul, I was convinced that with a few minor adjustments, my Thanksgiving space could look incredible without spending a ton. I thought up a few projects that I’d like to share over the next few days and hopefully, you’ll be inspired to thrift some of your Thanksgiving.

The table runner…

I found this table cloth, and while I think the pattern is great; it’s a bit much. I was thinking that it would be so much better as a table runner. That way you still get to appreciate the pattern without the overload.

I came across this burlap on the cheap, so I happened to pick up several yards, thinking it would be great for Fall crafts. So happy I did as it turned out to be the perfect counterpart to this print.

I cut the tablecloth in thirds creating these long strips. I cut those strips in half, then I cut them in half once more. I cut 4 burlap panels the same size as my print pieces. With right sides together, I sewed the print pieces and burlap pieces together in an alternating pattern creating one long runner. Lastly, I stitched the edges under making a finished look.

This was a super easy project just using straight lines. Even if you can’t find a Fall tablecloth, (I admit I got lucky) you could certainly use a large piece of fabric or a sheet commonly found at thrift stores.