Macy's Holiday Windows

Hi there! I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas celebration.

Today, I'm sharing a few photos from my romp to Macy's in Herald Square. 

 I absolutely love their theme this year...The Peanuts Gang is front and center!

Sweet, sweet Linus.

         
Are they not adorable?!

Even the USPS came out with these forever stamps...perfect for Christmas correspondence.

And attaching to those letters to Santa Claus!

Please savor the remaining days of 2015.
I wish you all a spectacular New Year!

Inspiration from the Food52 Holiday Market

Hello! How is your week coming along? Are you in a mad scramble in preparation for Christmas? We're all caught up in the holiday rush but I have a few photos to share from my visit to the Food52 pop-up shop over the weekend.

Maybe these photos will spark some holiday creativity:

No fire place? No problem! Use a faux mantle and an electric fire.

The wooden pegboard reminds me of Julia Child -- a great idea for
organizing the kitchen or craftroom.

Projecting a movie on a white wall plus a string of lights
for a fun outdoor party.

A simple table setting and gift packaging on brown paper bags.

Incorporating nature (dried leaves) in gift giving.

I think these ideas turn blah to TADA!

Wishing you a spectacular week. Happy Holidays!

Origami Ornaments

Hey guys! How was your weekend? I'm so into the holiday spirit and I'm seeing a lot of inspiring decorations like this one:

It's a Christmas tree with a Japanese theme. The ornaments are origami.

Look at these kimonos! Aren't they adorable?

And the tree topper is a paper crane. TADA!

If you'd like to make some kimono ornaments, you can check out the tutorial right here.
And the crane has easy to follow instructions here.

Happy decorating!

A Handmade Wreath

I am on Christmas decorating mode! I've put up pine wreaths and garlands, decked them out with ribbon and lights and handmade ornaments. 

Here's a wreath I saw at a home decorating shop:

It would be a nice holiday craft, don't you think?

It's made of pages from an old book. Each one is rolled up like a scroll and tied with twine. The edges of the scrolls are dipped in glue and finished off with silver glitter. Then the scrolls are attached to a wire wreath with hot glue. A pretty bow can be used to hang the wreath to a door or window. TADA!

Have a great week, folks!

Advent Calendar Ideas

I hope all of you had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. Now, Chirstmas is upon us.

A friend of mine and I were talking about advent calendars and how she wanted to make one for her two year old.

And that's all I've been thinking about. Advent calendars.

The idea is to make a countdown to Christmas day. It's exciting because a small gift is opened each day (day 1 to day 24). But I do like the idea of an activity that the whole family can enjoy, or performing a random act of kindness, or reading a new book leading up to Christmas.

Here are a few cool ideas:

via everyday miracles

Using matchboxes

via lapin blu

Gifts hanging from an embroidery ring (or wreath)

via gotlandsliv

Lunch bags

via oh happy day

Trees and tiny boxes

via la petite cuisine

Using a tree branch

via the fox and star

Origami paper and washi tape

via hometalk

A shoe organizer

via parents

A baking pan and colorful paper

I hope you're feeling inspired to make your own using everyday materials that turn blah to TADA!

Thanksgiving Thoughts

This Thursday, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. I guess like Christmas, it can get muddled with all the dinner preparations and shopping deals. 

Before things got busy, I took time over the weekend to take a walk in Central Park and think about everything I'm thankful for, expecially for good health and new opportunities.

  

I also wrote a few thank you notes to some dear friends.

And later this week, I'll bake some pie.

I hope we don't forget that it's about togetherness and being grateful for all that we have.

Have a good week, everyone!

Canstruction 2015

Hi there! Over the weekend, I went to CANSTRUCTION. It's a design competition and exhibition featuring teams of architects, engineers, and contractors who build structures made entirely out of cans of food. These are displayed in a public place (Brookfield Place in New York City) and are later donated to City Harvest.

Here are some of my favorites:

"Ask the Magic 8 Ball"

"The Butterfly Effect"

Another angle of "The Butterfly Effect"; it's based on the idea that a single butterfly flappings it's wings on one side of the globe can start a hurricane on the other.

"Scare Hunger Away" (Ghosts are imaginary, hunger is real)

"Spanning the Hungry Rapids" 

(Together, we can make hunger water under the bridge)

"What's up, Doc?"

"BatCAN: A signal to end hunger"

"Tony the Turtle Knocks-out Hunger"

"Time to Derail Hunger" (The clock at Grand Central Station)

"Leave Hunger in a Fog"

"Pipe Down Hunger" (featuring Yoshi from Super Mario Brothers)

"Yoshi's Soup'er Mission" (another one featuring Yoshi)

"Feeding Our Future"

"Presidential Candidates: Donald Trump"

"Presidential Candidates: Kanye West"

"To Canfinity and Beyond"

"To Canfinity and Beyond" (detail)

"Taking a Byte out of NYC Hunger"

Cans for a good cause? I think it's blah to TADA!

Just Some Handmade Gifts

How was everyone's weekend? I got some handmade gifts from a dear friend at work:

My friend's nickname for me is "Claire Bear" that's why it's extra meaningful that she gave me this little sweetheart teddy bear. His arms are stretched out, ready for an embrace. 

She also gave me a hat, a scarf, and hand warmers in two of my favorite colors: black and Tiffany blue. They are perfect for the coming winter. 

Her lovely Mom made all of these. I wish I could knit like her. You know that I'm a frustrated knitter. 

Handmade gifts...I think they are TADA!

Edible Roses

Wow, November has arrived. 2015 is just flying by so quickly, don't you think?

Today's inspiration are these delicate pink roses. I'm going to make my own version using gumpaste.

I take a fist full of gumpaste and knead it. Then I add some gel food color and knead it some more until the gumpaste is saturated with color. Then I roll out the gumpaste with a rolling pin.

 

I cut out small circles using a cookie cutter.

Then I thin out the circle with a bone tool and cell pad. Roll the bone tool around the circle so it thins out and resembles a petal.

Moving the bone tool around the center slowly forms the gumpaste into a bowl-shape. I use this piece to cover a small styrofoam ball. I use egg whites as glue.

I keep making more petals out of the circles I cut out. (Keep the gumpaste wrapped in plastic wrap when not in use to avoid it from drying out). I attach each petal on the styrofoam ball with more egg white.

Slowly form the petals to resemble a rose. You can go tighter (still a bud) or looser (full bloom). I made this rose to look soft, droopy, and with some mild imperfections. 

This is ready to go on a cake. TADA!