I jotted down some thoughts and resolutions for 2007, but I think the big one for the year is this: To leave things better than when I found them.

This applies, of course, to my home which could use a little love and attention… but I hope it also carries over into other areas of my life. To leave things better. Things like lost puppies, countertops, friends, people, projects, even me. I want to be conscious of taking a moment to make a small improvement here or there. Wow. If I made that a habit, I could make a lot of tiny little differences in my life, in someone else’s life.

I have a big wish list of projects for the year – some are frivolous and fun, others are almost necessities (eh-hem, the great closet re-do of 2007 springs to mind).

My job is spinning into high gear again, and I know my free time is about to disappear. I need to take what little extra time I have and pour into the important people and projects in my life. Having this little space here is important to me, but I want it to be a lot more than it is right now. I am hoping that when I return to it I will have the time and extra mental space to pour into it and help it flourish.

In the meantime, I will continue to try to steal extra moments to make things, dance around the living room, take some pictures, and spend time with the important people in my life.

Hope to be back in the spring.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

And so, here we are...

I've been baking and sewing and working a whole lot harder than I intended do this past week. An assignment at work kept me running around a lot, so I’m a little bit behind here. Lots of getting home past dark with no time for photos…

Yesterday, Mr. Bunny Slippers and I wrapped what seemed like a mountain of presents. Every time I thought I’d made a dent in the pile, I’d find five or so more presents I’d completely forgotten about. We ran out of wrapping paper at around 5 and had to make a couple of mad dashes to Target. (You remember that all of our wrapping paper has to match, right?)

There was some miscommunication over the Christmas tags (he wanted squares - I insisted on circles), but we both liked the way they turned out. {Nudge, nudge} – you DID like the way they turned out, didn’t you Mr. Slippers?

Ok, to be honest, they’re not quite finished yet. We still need to add the eyelets. The presents are waiting patiently with little yellow post-it notes on them (the dangers of matching wrapping paper = forgetting which present is which).

Um, right. The more I type, the more I realize I have to do today. Cookies are in the oven, and all I want to do is sew more trees. The photo up top are of the trees before the bottoms have been attached. My mom was less than supportive of the miniature tree farm. (Don’t they need ornaments or something? What are you going to DO with these?) I’m absolutely smitten, but she has a point. What am I going to do with them? I don’t think anyone likes them nearly as much as I do. I was going to give out little sets of them, but now I’m having serious doubts. Mr. Bunny Slippers has been very indulgent, but even he has reached his tolerance level. (Um, don’t you think we have enough now? Can you STOP with the TREES already?! We need to WRAP PRESENTS!) Ok, ok. I get it. Back to work.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. Whatever you’re doing – take lots of breaks for hot chocolate or hot apple cider. That’s my plan at least. Merry Christmas!

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last year about this time, I was running around clutching not only my Christmas to-do list but also this clipping from the Pottery Barn catalog.

You can see it’s all creased and faded in the scan.

Love, love the hanging ornaments. They had these throughout last year’s holiday catalog -- some were hanging from chandeliers and others from bed posts. It seemed very easy and relaxed, but with the right amount of Christmas sparkle.

Sometimes I’m ok with being a copycat. A few strips of silver ribbon, some sparkly but inexpensive ornaments, and a little bit of thread later, I was in business. I used that top photo as my inspiration, and I have to say - the whole thing took about 20 minutes.

Hanging these up last night felt easy, but festive. Hmm… then again, maybe that’s because I didn’t have to climb on the chair to do any of the hanging.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've been struggling to clean off my desk, and I stumbled across my Christmas notebook from last year. In case there are any doubts, I really was that psycho. I carried this file folder with me everywhere and took copious notes on my progress. Oh my.

Thinking back, the whole thing makes me laugh. Last year at this time, I was in England on a business trip freaking out about how I was going to finish everything. I took the list on the trip with me which was a kind of painful torture. I was stuck there without any supplies or time to make things. I'm not sure why I thought re-reading the list obsessively was going to help. I remember the long flights and the growing feeling of panic at missing nearly 5 days of preparation time.

It's good to be at home. And it's especially good that this year's list could fit on a post-it note or a napkin and has no need of a file folder.

Posted by The Little Happy Ones at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)