Christmas Fun

I think Peanut Butter had a bit of an Elf on the Shelf moment (which is unusual, since we don't know any kids who have an elf on the shelf, and we never did, and I've never even read the book...)

Making hot chocolate with Bailey's...

...and diving face-first into the M&Ms!

I may or may not be teaching him bad habits.

It's not like we're snowed in. (The southeast part of Virginia has something like a little bubble around it right now... it's snowing in almost every part of the state except Hampton Roads.) So he can't even claim that he's going stir crazy!

I just better keep him away from the champagne we got for New Year's...

Christmas Ornaments

I have an exclusively snowflake-decorated tree for Christmas (and a small table-top tree for the other, non-snowflake ornaments that are still important) and every year, I get myself at least one ornament, and Fiance gets me at least one ornament. I'm particularly fond of Target's ornaments, and I pointed out some that I liked when Fiance and I were there. He got me two:

And I got myself one from Michaels:

And Peanut Butter had a grand time showing them off for the camera!

Christmas Presents

Now that everybody has opened their presents, I can show you what Peanut Butter and I were working on!

I bought three salt bowls for my stepdad.
Not pictured: I engraved circular plastic pieces to label each type of salt
and also serve as covers (to keep out dust, moisture, etc).

Two of the salts my stepdad got. On the left is Belize salt (using spices
Fiance's mom picked up in Belize) and the right is potato salt
(a recipe from a friend who uses it on roasted potatoes).

Sriracha salt! Recipe is from here.
This was the third salt for my stepdad, but mostly
it was for my uncle, who loves spicy things.

The jar of sriracha salt for my uncle.
Peanut Butter tasted it and said it's great!
(I don't much care for sriracha, so I had to trust him.)

We did a great deal more crafting, but I kept forgetting to stop and take photos. I did take some while we were wrapping, though:

This is the flavored salts, salt bowls, and covers/labels for my stepdad.

And this is what happens when I don't keep an eye on the ribbon!

Merry belated Christmas to everybody!

(PS - I know I took a photo of PB and his own present, but I can't find it, so I'll have to take new ones... forthcoming!)

Hanukkah!

Yes, I know Hanukkah ended earlier this month. But we aren't exactly practicing Jews. Or any kind, for that matter. Fiance's dad's mom was Jewish, so we have Hanukkah dinner. It's the best meal of the entire year (okay, it's tied with our New Year's fondue) so we don't really care how accurate we are, as long as we get our brisket and latkes.

Peanut Butter helps Fiance mix the latkes (without getting messy!)

Brisket! And vegetables! (And prunes.)

Prosecco, yum. (The thing on the right is a hand-blown oil and vinegar
bottle Fiance's mom picked up in Germany.)

Homemade challah!!!

Leftover latke for breakfast this morning, YUM.

More photos coming up soon, because tonight (Christmas Eve) is our celebration with my family, and tomorrow morning, I have stockings at my dad's house, lunch with Fiance's family, and presents with Fiance (and the kitten, who has his own stocking).

Neighbor Gifts

I made a bunch of these for some friends, and I had some extras, so I'm giving them to my new neighbors. (One of the neighbors left a bag of candy with a card on our doorknob, so I'm just following suit, really.)

It's a little plastic paint can from Target with some packets of hot chocolate, marshmallows, and mini candy canes. Plus a card, of course. For my friends, I added tiny bottles of Bailey's or Kahlua, but I don't have any more of those, so the neighbors get the family-friendly version.

Christmas Decorating!!!

Finally, I get to do my Christmas decorating! I think this is the latest I've ever gotten it done (with ten days to go!) I'll be leaving it up through New Year's, though, so my friends can see it.

This was my grandma's. She had a HUGE collection of these little houses,
and it was divvied up when she passed. I, of course, got the library.

This one was bought especially for me. I don't plan on having a collection,
but I like having a library and a book shop.

Peanut Butter took a break in Gimli's stocking.
(Yes, our cat has a stocking.)
I made it for him last year, along with mine & Birk's (mine is on the right.)

Tangled in the lights!

Tangled in the garland!

Sitting atop the little tree

I thought we had brought the big tree over already, but it was only the little one. I plan on picking up the big tree tonight (it's not that big... probably 6' tall?) and decorating it, and trying to build my book tree (which might not get done until Birk brings more boxes of books to the apartment).

Bonus photo: I hung a poster in our to-be-Aperture-Labs-themed bathroom, too:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Ooooooh what a great movie. We went to the midnight premier in IMAX 3D. Earlier in the year, we had considered dressing up and going all-out, but with moving plus working plus everything else going on, we just went as ourselves.




Peanut Butter with my ticket

They gave out free poster sets, and I think ours will be the decor over the bed in our new bedroom. But that could change. I have to find frames first, and they're a weird size.



Bilbo poster. The other three are Gandalf, Gollum, and Thorin.

 If you want to know more about what I thought of the movie, I wrote about it on my Quoi de neuf blog.

Christmas Countdown Craft

For the stocking swap, I sewed twelve little drawstring bags and filled them with treats. I provided clips for my partner to hang them wherever she wants (on the tree, on a garland, wherever). I didn't provide numbers so they can choose which one to open on which day.

And of course, Peanut Butter helped!!!

Bonus: Crafting Photos

Now that I've sent out my wall art for the Multi-Partner Wall Art Swap, I can show you my photo of Peanut Butter helping me with bunny1kenobi's piece:

It's a tree. It's just... sideways. And naked.

He managed to not get any fabric glue on him (which is good, since I imagine that would be like Krazy Glue for someone who is made of fabric).

Decorating... At Work

I can't put up my holiday decorations yet because if I did, I'd have to turn right around and take them down to move them, so I was very happy that we decorated at the library this weekend.

Peanut Butter is on the tree; do you see him?

And after work yesterday, I went to an all you can eat sushi place with my friend Amy!

Peanut Butter and Amy got along famously

Fun weekend! The coming week will be hectic and stressful with all the packing, and wait until you hear about the weekend...

Packing

No, Peanut Butter isn't packing up to move back home yet... We are packing to move into a new apartment! We should be getting the keys on Saturday (though I work all morning and we're going to Fairfax in the afternoon) so this week is packing like crazy!

Peanut Butter is trying to help, but he's a bit wee for most of the stuff we have to pack.

We went out to buy more bins yesterday
(two are designated for crafting supplies!)

Fiance packed dishes while I was at work one day

I spy with my little eye... Peanut Butter! (And Halloween decorations,
and the box to the TV, and a shoe box of crafting stuff,
and plastic boxes of rubber stamps, and a mess on the floor...)

Moving is HARD WORK. And we aren't even doing any heavy lifting yet.