I simply remember my favorite things...

Edit: Oops! I didn't mean to publish this post yet since I haven't given all of my gifts... But I got an itchy 'Publish Post' finger and forgot all about saving it as a draft! Oh well!

I got this idea from a friend of mine last year and had SO much fun doing my take on it this year.

If you have not heard the song Favorite Things from Sound of Music this won't be quite as meaningful to you. I suggest you watch it now (here). Pomplamoose has a great version of the song as well (here).

I have been gathering little 'stocking stuffer' type items that are some of my favorite things.. some of which I cannot live without (my fave Burt's Bees chapstick!).

Stuff I gathered

I tagged each item with what significantly makes it my favorite (not just tea but Harney and Sons tea, not just chapstick but Burt's Bees Medicated with Clove, etc...) and put them together in a brown paper package tied up with string. :)

I punched and cut the labels out of a Burberry envelope I had. I made little holes to attach string to with a leather punch.

Stylish Band-Aids

Burt's Bees Medicated with Clove

Maybelline Great Lash BIG

Harney and Sons Teas. Each package has an Earl Grey Imperial tea sachet. I got the little plastic pods in a novelty machine. My 3 and 4 your old nephews were more than happy to take the trinkets that came inside.

Darling little stud earrings for every outfit

My favorite Jelly Belly recipe. :) Pink Lemonade. Ingredients: equal parts Lemon and Cotton Candy Jelly Bellys

Vintage Textiles. Each package has a vintage hankie.

All together now

In a brown paper bag

String and sweet little tags on the outside (this tag is from a craft store)

Ready to go!

I only made four this year but would have liked to have unlimited funds to make lots of them to give out!

Maybe next year!

Necklace alternative

I couldn't find a necklage that went with my outfit today... so I decided on an alternative: pins!

I have a collection of vintage pins from my grandparents (whom I have either never met or barely knew... all of whom have passed away) and I love it when I have an opportunity to sport them!

The top round one is a Harris Fellowship pin. My dad is in Rotary and made a donation in my name to the Paul Harris Society so I was awarded a Harris Fellowship when I was in Connecticut last Christmas at a Rotary meeting in an old Yale building. Very cool experience. My grandfather did the same for all of his three children ( not in a Yale building...but...) so it was very meaningful to me and my little sister. Both of us cried when asked to make a speach about what the Fellowship meant to us.

The middle pin is quite a mystery to me. It is a tie pin that belonged to my mom's father. The emeralds and pearls are real and the middle is probably onyx. The symbol, to me, looks like a club emblum for an Ivy League secret society. Would love to solve that mystery...

The third pin was also my mom's dad's tie pin. It is a coral scarab.

Vintage pins with a forest green belt and an Aslan belt buckle? I feel pretty awesome right now.

Aslan belt

Caitlin the Christmas Elf

December 20, 2011

What a busy night!

My chili sat untouched on the stove until about 9:30pm as I worked on Christmas projects.

First I made White Chocolate Peppermint bark.

> I crushed up peppermints by double bagging them and hitting them with a hammer

> Sifted the peppermint powder out from the pieces

> Melted white chocolate (great tips for chocolate choosing and melting here)

> Mixed the peppermint powder into the chocolate

> Spread the melted chocolate on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

> Sprinkled the peppermint pieces on top of the chocolate

> Lightly pressed the pieces into the chocolate

> Set in the refridgerator to harden

> Broke into irregular pieces

> And put in a cute Christmas tin for people at the office.

The rest of the evening was spent putting together my 'Favorite Things' gifts that I will dedicate a whole entry to once I give them out. :)

I can hardly wait to reveal this goody!

Here's a sneak preview:

Men

If you haven't visited Art of Manliness, it is past time.
Men, read and learn.
Ladies, try not to judge the men you know for not being this manly.

Love,
Caitlin

The festivities continue

Today we had a Christmas breakfast and gift exchange at work.
It was a great opportunity for me to wear my Christmas turtle neck that I got at Thrift Town last week!! :)

I made a bow tie with yarn (that was the bow on a gift I got at a gift exchange a couple weeks ago) to quirk up my claaaasy reindeer, snowflake, holly, and tree turtle neck!

Merry Christmas!

Gifties

Office gifts are always a cause for pondering for me. Something cute that people will actually want that won't cost me a million bucks.
There are 15 other women in my office. 10 in my immediate area. Last year I found a great deal on Zum Bar Soap and stocked up on that.

This year I've had a couple of ideas and I'm giving a litte bit of each depending on who I think will like what more.

One batch of gifts are little bird's nest Christmas ornaments.
I found a pack of these cuties at a shop in China Town when I was in Boston over Thanksgiving weekend.
Last night I poked littles holes in the sides of each nest to knot twine for hanging them and: voila!

Cute Peppermint gift tags from Hobby Lobby

Things I like...

Nude polish. Likey.

Men's Fossil watch. Double Likey.

This cozy, fuzzy, super-warm Fossil scarf