happy new year!

I wish everyone

a safe,

cheerful,

and prosperous

new year!!

Happy

2009!

xo!!

christmas photos! :)

I am wrapping up my Christmas posts with all of my favorite photos from the past few days. We had such a blessed and festive Christmas and I hope you all did as well! :)

We were frantically wrapping presents on Christmas Eve after Andrew went to bed... Santa was running late this year haha!! They all turned out magical and cute, but remind me next year to wrap things as I buy to make them!! I need to spare myself the hurried frenzy haha!!
The tree! Looks so magical at night, doesn't it? There is something so perfect about twinkle lights...

The family at Hotel Del Coronado, one of the most beautiful places around the holidays. The entire hotel is covered in white lights, and they set up an ice skating rink right by the ocean.

And so of course, my sister, cousin and I had to try out the ice skating for a bit.... SO much fun, and to top it off, it was super chilly! (Such a rarity for us here in Southern California hehe!)

And of course, on Christmas morning, Andrew was SO excited to see all of Santa's gifts!! What a classic picture! :)

And it was absolutely fabulous to have our family around for the holidays. Here is myself, my sister and my cousin Kylee! We needed lots of photos together, of course, hehe!!

I hope everyone enjoyed a fantastic holiday like we did!!

PS.

Stay tuned for my 200th post soon! Giveaways galore, yay! ;)

amy butler apron swap!!

To those of you who might have guessed, I am hosting my very first apron swap!! I have been so into sewing lately, and these aprons are just TOO much fun to create! So I would like to open up this swap for sign ups today until January 9th! Then I will send out partners that weekend!

BUT...

here are my rules for this swap!

*This will be a SECRET swap. I will forward you the info for your partner, but do NOT contact them. It is so much fun to get a surprise box in the mail from an unknown partner, and I really think this will be fun. So if you have a question for your partner, contact ME and I will get you an answer! :)

*You can make any apron pattern you would like, but the FABRIC needs to be Amy Butler! She has a huge line of cute fabrics, and they are so fresh and fun, especially for the new year upon us! You can purchase them at local quilt or fabric stores, or right on Etsy... try one of these fabulous shops: sewlovefabrics or fabricsupplies!

*This swap is for all you sewing girls out there! I want to make sure the quality for the aprons is very good, so please only sign up if you know you can sew a beautiful apron for your partner.

*In order to sign up, you need to email me at hollyndevlin@gmail.com and include the filled out questionnaire below. I will email you back a confirmation as soon as possible, but if I don't receive an email from you, you aren't on my list for the swap!! SERIOUS swappers only... I don't want any flakes for this swap, because you will not be welcome in any of my future swaps if you do not come through for your partner. It is no fun to get dumped on with these swaps!!

*I will leave sign ups open until January 9th, and your apron needs to be sent by February February 6th! I will also create a separate blog that we all can use to post photos of our aprons, the fabrics, the aprons in progress, and the finished product!

*Along with your apron, please send your secret partner your favorite recipe for the winter, and a nice note to let them know who you are! :)

So if you would like to sign up, please fill this out and email it to me at hollyndevlin@gmail.com !! :)

Name:

Address:

Email:

Blog:

Favorite colors:

Dress size:
Willing to swap internationally:

Anything else that will be helpful to your partner (ie. your personal style, dislikes, etc!):

Thank you, and can't wait to start sewing!! xo!

swap... sneak peak!! :)

I hope everyone enjoyed a fabulous holiday full of cheer!!! I know I did! I took lots of photos in the past few days, so I will have to upload them as soon as I get a chance. Lots of family, lots of friends, and lots of yummy food!! Such a fun few days, and I can't wait to share some of the photos with you. :)

But in the meantime...

I want to offer up a sneak peak at my new swap that will debut TOMORROW! Here are some photo clues for you...

Possibly a bit of sewing involved in this next swap?? ;) Hope you all pop back in tomorrow morning to check it out and hopefully sign up!! Enjoy the rest of the holiday season, my friends! xo!

one more craft!

I found these fabulous little felt bows on a blog recently.. or maybe felt pasta??? :) Anyways, I wanted to make them and put them on hair clips and give as gifts! SO EASY. I cut a small rectangle of felt, about 2 1/2 by 1 inch, pinched the center together and sewed it up by hand. I just wrapped the thread around it a few times as well to keep it pinched together well. Then I snipped off the extra thread, and hot glued the back to a hair clip. That's it... easy, right?! :) I made them out of a taupe felt, but you can use any color and make them bigger or smaller, depending on the hair clip. You could also put them on bobby pins! The perfect, last minute accessory for any girl on your Christmas list! OK, back to Christmas crafting.... almost done!!! Is everyone enjoying the preparations?! xo!

a little more christmas!

Just a few of my favorite holiday pictures to leave you feeling inspired! I am still not done decorating, but these photos are making me feel much more Christmas-y as I finish hanging ornaments, sewing pajama pants, and baking cookies!! Enjoy!! xoxox!

necessity??

This fabric may have to make it's way into my sewing room soon. Don't you love how I keep peeking at new fabric, when I still have gifts to sew?!! This fabric addiction is strong, my friends. :) Ok, ok, back to work.... !!

too bad...

...I didn't find this cute craft sooner!!

Or maybe it's a good thing, since I can't possibly squeeze anything else into my jam-packed holiday schedule of making presents, finishing decorating, along with having relatives arrive soon! Whew... should I stop sleeping to get some things done???? ;)

PS.
Maybe I'll try the bottlecap craft for Valentine's Day! Did everyone sign up for my mom's Valentine swap yet?! :)

cookie party!

My mom hosted a fabulous cookie party a week or so ago, and it was so much fun creating all of our cookies! I made peanut butter cookies and wrapped them in white chinese containers, tied up with white bias tape and red and white glitter letters that were $1 at JoAnn's! Cute, simple, and not expensive! It is a cute way to wrap up any gift, and to personalize it for the recipient. :)

My sister made checkerboard cookies and they are fabulous! She wrapped them up in brown boxes and added a glittery pink poinsettia! Gorgeous!! :)

And my mom made cranberry bread, one of her yummy specialties, and wrapped it up in cellophane!

It was such a fun evening and all the cookies were fantastic... lots of them are in the freezer, waiting for our out-of-town family to arrive for Christmas... then we can snack on all of them, yum!! :)

christmas cards, check!

Yes, my Christmas cards went in the mail yesterday! (Finally!!) I was a little late sending them, but better late than never. Above you can see the back and front of the cards I made and I think they turned out really simple and cute.
I used this adorable stamp that I actually bought last January when I found a lot of Christmas stamps on sale for super cheap. So I couldn't wait to use it this year and I am so darn happy with how the cards turned out!

NOW, off to take one art history final today, one more on Friday, and lots of sewing in between! Christmas gifts need to be finished, eek!! Hope you are all enjoying a merry holiday season! Anyone else frantically trying to get things done like I am?!! Oh well, it is pouring rain, so I am happy! :) xo!

the little one's decorations!

Andrew's tree has been up and has been accumulating ornaments over the past few weeks. I let him use my pink tree, along with my unused ornaments, and he was ecstatic about it all! He has also been nabbing a few of my swap ornaments and I keep finding new things hanging from his tree. With a little help from me, he really did most of the ornament hanging on his own, which I think looks whimsical and magical. He is so happy to have a bit of Christmas all to himself, and I know he loves sitting there looking at the ornaments :)
Then he set up a small nativity, a little glittery "Seasons Greetings" sign, and the most precious little penguin that our friend Lauren got him as a surprise! I've got a little decorator in the making, I think!! :)

More decorating pictures again soon... !! My own tree still needs to make it's blog debut! xo!

getting crafty!

I am trying my best to show Andrew that handmade gifts are the most special. So after an evening trip to Joann's last night, we got crafty and started making Christmas presents! We decided to make bookmarks, and this is an easy craft for children to make themselves. We bought a dollar bag of foamie stickers, and since they were different sports, we decided to make the bookmarks for all the guys in our family. Use thick ribbon, I believe we used one inch grosgrain, and cut a length about twelve inches or so. (Cut enough to put inside a book and have the ends hang over the sides of the book.) Then take two identical foam stickers and sandwich the ribbon between them. So easy, and Andrew made all of his on his own. This is a funny little craft that is simple enough to let the kids take the lead, but also can be very useful to anyone who reads a lot!
I think they turned out really cute! Plus Andrew felt so proud of himself that he made gifts of his own. :)

Then we wrapped them all up in cellophane bags and put little tags on them. Andrew had so much fun, and I am so happy he is a little crafter, just like his momma! ;)

(Thanks for snapping this cute photo, mom!!)

PS.

I know it isn't snowing here, BUT it is COLD for San Diego and it has been raining all day long! As Andrew said, "This day is a dream come true!"

:) xo!

jingle jingle, i hear a sale!

All holiday items are

25% off!!

(See shop for more details!)

friday faves!

My favorites today are some cute little projects that you can possibly use this year for the holidays... most are found via whip up. If you haven't been to that blog yet, go now! They have the best tutorials and sewing projects, and for free! Definitely one of my faves!! Enjoy your weekend, everyone!! xo!

Mr. Hedgehog, a fun little friend I might whip up for Andrew's stocking.. the pattern is here, and he even has a little pocket at the back!

These amazing little fairy lights made out of egg cartons and LED lights! SO whimsical and magical!!

if only i knew how to knit....

...I would make Andrew a whole pile of these little cuties!! Not that I can't knit at all... but I don't know how to start knitting, and I don't know how to stop after I'm done, and I always seem to wreck up right in the middle of whatever I'm making. And "whatever I'm making" always means a scarf, of which I have never finished one. Oh well. Can't be into everything, I suppose. Although I did get "Knitting for Dummies" at the library, along with a kid's knitting book for Andrew, since he is convinced I can teach him how to knit. Better get on that asap...... :) Now I'm off to Etsy to see if anyone else made these little slug bugs that I can buy and pretend I made hehe...!

kitten tales.

Little Max continues to bring lots of laughter into our house... it has been a while since I shared the new kitten photos, so I thought I would brag about our funny, sweet, crazy little kitten for a bit!! :) Doesn't he look perfect with the zebra print couch???
He certainly has learned to relax.... :)

The sweetest snapshot of Max in front of the fire... although I think he was contemplating how to attack the flames haha! He goes after the craziest things... he tried to eat a pin from the pincushion last night, eek! :)

And Max is constantly trying to pick on Michael, his "big brother" hehe! My sister brought Michael home last year, so he is still young and playful, and I think he truly loves having another little buddy to run around with :) (Anyone notice how HUGE he is???? Michael truly is a beast-like cat.. he almost scares me he is so huge hahaha!!)

OK, ok... enough of my cat-lady rant!! Off to sleep and then another day of baking cookies, crafting, and hopefully making Andrew another quilt for Christmas! xo!!

christmas cards and a tutorial! :)

I was stressing about the holiday photo this year, waiting for a day when both Andrew and I looked "picture-worthy"... but I ended up deciding on a very impromtu picture we took a few months back. I turned it into a black-and-white, and voila! Christmas photo done! I am in the process of glittering the actual cards, so when I've got the whole thing done I'll be sure to snap a picture!! :)

Also, one of my Christmas gifts for Andrew is all done! My sister is always making those wonderful fleece "no-sew" blankets, and Andrew adores them. I had bought fleece months ago to make him a new one, but completely forgot about it until I discovered it in the fabric closet! So, I sat down, turned on one of the many Gossip Girl episodes I've got DVR'ed and I started no-sewing, haha!

*If you want to make your own "cozy blanket" (as we call them around here!) here is a simple tutorial for you. They are the perfect gift for anyone on your list.. and so cute in any fleece fabric! :) The blanket I made is in the wash before I get it wrapped up, but I'll be sure to share photos!!

What are you all making for Christmas gifts?? Any other cute ideas for kids gifts this year? I am trying to make all of my gifts, and I am loving it!! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season, I know I am!! xo!

easy peanut butter cookies!

I am in the process of baking all my cookies for my mom's annual Cookie Exchange! We make a dozen individually wrapped cookies for each person that is attending the party, and it always proves to be such a fun time!! So I thought I would share the easiest and the yummiest recipe for peanut butter cookies that I will be using this year.. photos of the wrapped cookies will be posted next week! :) Enjoy your weekend!! xo!

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

Combine sugar and egg in mixing bowl, stirring till smooth. Add peanut butter and mix in thoroughly.
Roll into walnut-sized balls.
Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheets at least 2" apart.
Flatten with the tines of a fork.
Turn 90 degrees and use fork again to create cross hatches.
Bake 10 minutes at 375F (or till done). Let cool in pan for 1 minute before removing to cooling rack.

free stuff rocks.

I am a big believer in free stuff. Whether it be a book or movie from the library, one of the yummy free lattes they give out at McDonald's, or a CALENDAR! Yes, this cute little calendar can be yours for FREE!!! Just go to Mibo and sign up for their newsletter. A small task to snag one of they cutie calendars!!! One more thing off my list of things to do... Get a new calendar? Check!! :)

one more birdie...

...needs a good home!!

New items are up in my shop!!

And

all of my autumn listings are in the sale section!!

One dollar each,

get them while they last!! :)

More items should be up by tomorrow!

NOW

back to my holiday decorating..

pictures coming soon!!

xo!

birdies!

Yes, I'll admit I am obsessed with birds... so here are some fabulous Etsy birds that would like to come say hello!! Now I am off to endure the last few weeks of classes, get a ton of studying done, finish my swaps, decorate for Christmas, and on and on and on... whew! :) I'll keep you updated on all of my crafty progress haha!! xo!

AND PS...

Go vote for your favorite card over at my lily eden!! I participated in the Cupcake Card Challenge, along with 25 other fabulous girls, so vote for your favorite!!! The cards are posted anonymously, but see if you can figure out which one I made haha! They are all SO cute!!

candy cane bird by emiliefriday (my fave!!)

bird ornament by burchanddaughters

bird mobile by fleurfatale

necklace by joannarutter

chandelier and bird print by TheDecoratedHouse