Free Range Crayons - soy wax, natural dye

Mr. S and I are quickly becoming the only couple in his amazing circle of friends that have not yet embarked on parenthood. And the best part is that all of these friends are some of the best parents I have ever seen, which lays an amazing foundation of support should we ever decide to take the plunge into babies!
These friends are not only loving and lovely, but have a conscientious eye out for the well being of the environment and their babes. As a result, they challenge me in the best way possible to think of gifts that meet the needs of all interests involved. This year I was so excited about my idea to make soy based crayons tinted with all natural dyes. And to make it even more fun and fit the needs of little hands just learning to draw, I decided to make them egg shaped and continue the theme right into the packaging!







Our kitchen was transformed into an egg making factoring for a few days straight (wax, dye and egg cartons all over the place), but I think the result was well worth the work! And so far the little recipients seem quite egg-cited! wink! wink!

I also made a few extras so please leave a comment if you are interested!

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A merry little christmas...

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
However you celebrate, I hope you are surrounded by the magic of the season and love of friends and family.

Hugs and kisses,
Lauren

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Last Minute Christmas Gift - DIY

Merry Christmas Eve!
For those of you who need a quick and easy last minute gift, I thought I would post this little DIY for Snowflake birdseed cookies. Mr. S's family are big time bird lovers, so we whipped up these sweet little snowflakes for all the feathered friends in their lives.

Wild Bird Seed Cookies

(Makes approximately 2-3 dozen)

2 1/4 cups flour (wheat)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup honey
2/3 cup suet or lard
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup wild bird seed mix
2 egg whites

Instructions

Mix flour and baking powder together. Cut the suet or lard into the flour mixture until crumbly. Separate yolks from whites and set whites aside. Mix the honey with yolks then into the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add the wild seed mix and kneed until smooth.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or overnight.

On floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters - we used Snowflakes!

Arrange cookies on ungreased cookie sheet and brush each cookie lightly with slightly beaten egg whites. Press more bird seed into the surface of each cookie. Cut a small hole into each cookie for hanging.

Bake 325° 12 - 15 minutes or until cookies harden. Cool and hang with yarn or wire.

These cookies actually smelled so good baking that I caught myself a few times almost taking a bite!

Ps. I was going to post my DIY for the children's gifts I made this year, but realized that some of the mom's read this and I don't want to blow the surprise - so I will post those photos as soon as Christmas has passed!

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A Christmas first...

I really don't know how it happened.

I turned around and there they were.
A Christmas First!
I may actually go to bed before 3am on Christmas eve.

My gifts are wrapped.

All (except for a minor few) are tucked away in their wrapping, just waiting to be opened by my loved ones. And the totally crazy part, I have never enjoyed the process more.

This year I simplified and refined what I was gifting and it has made the whole season such a joy.
I may complicate my life slightly and make a little homemade something for Mr. S and Sibling J, but even those would only add to my excitement for Christmas morning as I know how two whole days to get them completed!

So in the spirit of giving, I hereby volunteer my time to help you with your wrapping and last minute gifts! Just let me know how I can help and I am there!

Ps. Tomorrow I am going to reveal the gift I have created for all the sweet babes in our life and I am so excited about it!
Here is a little preview:

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Cousins Christmas Song

If you are lucky, you will never see this cd in a record store much less have your ears exposed to the song that is on it.

My family however are not so lucky as the cousins (and their loved ones) from my Ma's side decided to make use of our new basement recording studio and record a single to give to the family for Christmas!

We built up our courage to hit the mics with a little homemade pizza and a little too much red wine, and then let all our inhibitions go as we rocked out a slightly (VERY) off key, but pretty amazing version of jingle bells. My cousin who said at the end of the night "this is the best thing she has ever done....really!" wanted to also throw in a Mariah Carey esq. solo, which stills makes me laugh till I cry when I hear it. Only she can rhyme a christmas wish list of lulu lemons, Rebok EasyTones and an iPod touch and somehow not drop a beat (staying in tune is however another story..)

I put together a photo album of the night to go with the CD and we can't wait to give it to the family - poor things, they have no idea what is going to hit them.

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DIY - Holiday Wood Pendants!

Bringing a little joy to our new home! *

5 days people!! We are 5 days from Christmas Eve, which means things have kicked into high gear around our house in hopes of not being up all night finishing Christmas gifts**.

And to keep you all in the holiday spirit while you rush to meet your festive deadlines, I wanted to post my little DIY for a Holiday Wood Pendant banner I made for our house this year.
The home we bought is just shy of 100 years old and has a lot of dark wood accents that we really adore. So despite my recent interest in more modern lines and reflective tones, I couldn't fight the obvious pull to decorate our home more traditionally. So to match the theme and give a holla out to Mr. S's french roots, I made a Joyeux Noel banner for our home - easy (it took less then an hour to pull together) and a really sweet way to celebrate the season.

* Let's just clear the air right now, the photos in this post kind of stink - I was shooting in different lights and rushing to get this done. My apologies!

** This is absolutely going to happen to matter how hard I work this week! It is just who I am and I need to accept it.

Holiday Wood Pendants:

Step 1: Have someone who is capable with a saw (for me it was my Pa!) to cut you sweet little triangle, pendant shapes. Mine are approximately 4 inches.

Step 2: Take some seriously sticky tape (Mr. S's dad brought this stuff over one day and it will literally take the skin off your fingers!) and cover an area in the center making sure to stick it down as best as possible, especially around the edges.

Step 3: Draw on your desired letter or shape and cut away the excess tape

Step 4: With a cloth and your choice of stain (I used an oil based stain with no sheen) carefully cover you pendant, applying the stain directly over your taped on letter.

Step 5: Remove the tape and Voila! You have yourself a rustic and festive pendant.

To hang ours I put little eye hooks in the top of each and strung them alongside a garland. They are fairly heavy being wood and all, so make sure to use some strong string or wire.

Joyeux Noel!

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Bright Lights

Pretty much a photo representation of how Las Vegas makes me feel.

Again, I am here to apologize. Another blogger absence and I am sorry.
The good news about this absence is that I have pretty much been on assignment gathering great stuff to share with all of you here.
First stop - VEGAS! My yearly trip for work and to be honest one that I have a hard time getting excited about. For me, two days in Vegas is more then enough, so to spend 5 days there every year makes me stomach turn just a titch. However, this year Mr. S got to come so we hit the road both excited to have the time together cruising along the strip and relaxing at the hotel (oh ya - and working!).
Our first day there was pretty blissful as we sipped our drinks and giggled over the lack of rules about drinking in public, taking in all the flashing lights, trying our hand at the slots (penny slots only) and marveling at the overdone grandeur that is Las Vegas. Our goal was to see what the night life had to offer, but we found ourselves happily tucked into bed at 8pm the first night!

Luckily we have some great friends who really love Vegas and gave us a list of must see sites. Top of their list - Big Elvis! Argued by many to be one of the best Elvis impersonators, Big Elvis put on an amazing show and really made us feel like we were experience a true Las Vegas gem. And according to the cowboy I was sitting beside (did I mention it was rodeo week in Vegas? - cowboys EVERYWHERE), Big Elvis' mom use to work in a bar where to real Elvis performed and one thing may have lead to another....and voila, another BIG star is born!?

The work aspect of the trip is always entertaining as it is a travel show geared at selling a variety of luxury travel experiences to Travel Agents. To help sell their trips, many of the companies will set up fancy displays, give things out and do what they can to standout from everyone else. My favorite was an Australian tour company that brought an armadillo, BABY JOEY (who I got to hold and snacked on my hair), and a bunch of parrots! It took everything I had not to run out the front door with the Joey, he was amazingly cute and snuggly and sweet.

By the end of our time there we were happy to leave the flashing lights behind and head back to our home, which we love more and more everyday. While Vegas is maybe not our ideal vacation spot it was such a great few days together and a cheap/quick way to get married.


Just Kidding.
xo L.

Ps. I have a ton of Holiday DIYs to share with you this week - homemade wood holiday bunting, amazing kids gifts, my yearly cat toy project and lots more!

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