What I’m Lovin’ in December

I hope you are reading this post while snuggled under your favorite blanket in front of a warm fire with hot cocoa in hand. {Or at least I hope you’re channeling that image}

I wanted to pop in to share a light-hearted read with you: the list of what I’m lovin’ this month!

Because of all the time I was able to spend sitting on my couch thinking of all the things I love, most of this post contains moments from my wisdom-tooth-recovery at the beginning of the month {It was a slow recovery, but I’m feeling better now!}.

1. Leaf Lookin’

I love when fall transitions to winter and the grounds become covered in the most beautiful blanket of leaves…and the sky becomes a little more visible through the trees. It’s just magnificent!

This year the Hubs and I spent Thanksgiving at his grandfather’s in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The drive there was absolutely amazing! The photo above is from Popcorn Overlook. I wish I could bottle it up and send all of you a piece, but for now you’ll just have to enjoy the picture 😉

2. The Great British Sewing Bee sewing book

Having my wisdom teeth removed really zapped my energy. I was hoping to have enough energy to sew some while I was at home resting (thinking my only compromise would be a pair of chipmunk cheeks). No such luck.

Since I didn’t have the energy to sew, I gathered up all my sewing books – including one of my newest gifted from my mother-in-law: The Great British Sewing Bee: Sew Your Own Wardrobe – and did some sewing-related reading.

The book is stuffed with tutorials for closet staples. It even included five full-size patterns which is exciting! One of them is a pair of men’s trousers which the Hubs is super excited about – he is quite tall and has the opposite problem I do: he struggles with finding clothing long enough. After plugging along with my Moji pants, I’m feeling more confident that maybe one day I could make him some pants! We’ll see…

3. Iris Apfel

While stuck at home recovering from my wisdom teeth removal, I realized that I’m not a great television watcher and had no idea what to watch (after binge’ing on Friends…again…because it’s the only show I could think of).

My friend Markessce gave me lots of great recommendations – including Iris which he recommended because she reminds him of me.

I loved the documentary! Iris is absolutely fabulous and so witty! If you haven’t watched the documentary on Netflix – add it to your list! {You can watch the trailer here & read 11 inspiring quotes from Iris here}

4. Knitting

Over the days I spent recovering from my wisdom teeth, I picked my knitting needles back up and finished the ear warmer I’d been working on. I took a knitting class over the summer, but I didn’t catch on as quickly as I’d hoped and struggled a little during the class. I went home and started searching the internet for help. I ran across Good Knit Kisses on YouTube and found her videos super helpful!

Then I started searching for beginner knitting projects. I thought I’d try to make some dish cloths because I heard they were easy, but then I ran across this ear warmer that looked even easier [and way cuter!]. I am kind of smitten with it and wore it to the Indie Craft Parade Holiday Market with my sister {cuz why not wear your handmade goodies to a handmade fair?!}.

Next up: I want to learn how to use circular needles so I can make this infinity scarf!

If you like to knit, follow my Knitting Pinterest Board!

5. Being a quilt guild member

A few months ago, I joined the Palmetto Modern Quilt Guild. It has been such fun! I have enjoyed getting to know all the ladies and being a part of a group that loves sewing as much as I do.

At the guild’s holiday party, we decided to do a gift exchange. The rule was that everyone had to make something smaller than 18 inches to exchange. We played by the white elephant rules – there was lots of “oooh-ing” and “ahhh-ing” and gift stealing 😉

I mean – look at this gorgeous array of handmade presents!

For my gift to exchange, I made a tried-and-true envelope clutch {pattern by Noodlehead}.

A few weeks ago I snagged a bag of Liberty of London scraps from Mad for Fabric on Instagram. The scraps are so small that they can’t really be pieced together so I used a glue stick to place them where I wanted them on a piece of batting then zig-zag stitched between them construct the flap. The method worked out pretty well.

My new friend Francine stole the bag when it was her turn – and lucky Francine…you can’t steal the gift more than once!

6. Crafty Feast

As usual, my sister and I had a blast shopping at Crafty Feast!

We took over the Cola Indie Maker’s Instagram account to live post the event. I made sure to tag vendors in the posts so browse what we found and follow the shops! We discovered a lot of great new shops and loved seeing our local favorites 🙂

7. Supporting Friends & Makers

The holidays can be a frivolous time. It’s easy to find yourself mindlessly stocking up on meaningless gifts or putting your Amazon Prime subscription to good use (I’m not judging! #BeenThereDoneThat).

I think it’s really important to support handmade businesses as often as you can. As someone who has owned a handmade business, I know exactly what that sale means. It means the world: your purchase tells that artist “I believe in you!” / “Keep going!” / “Your skills are worth sharing!”

The president of my quilt guild has the cutest Etsy shop. When I saw that she would be at Crafty Feast, I started stalking her shop and asking her constantly about the bags she was making (we both love Noodlehead patterns). She’s mega-talented and super-duper sweet and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some of her adorable bags!

I wanted all.the.bags, but settled on this ahh-dorable zip pouch (because who doesn’t need another zip pouch?!):

The fabric made me swoon and the gold accents made me feel so fancy! I love it. It’s already been in my purse non-stop since I bought it – holding my favorite homemade lip balm {I’ll share the recipe soon!} and other little essentials.

Every time I pull this pouch out of my purse I’m reminded of Amber and how sweet and encouraging she is. Always air on the side of buying it when it comes to handmade businesses (unless, of course, that money was earmarked for your electric bill because you can’t enjoy it if you can’t see it! 😉 ). These makers appreciate your purchase more than you know! And if you’re going to buy “stuff,” it should be stuff that’s going to bring you joy.

{Visit Roar Haus on Etsy to see what Amber’s been making. If you’re looking for more handmade businesses to support, read my re-cap of Vintage Charlotte last year with links to several of my favorite shops or browse the Cola Indie Maker’s Instagram page to see all the awesome shops we found at Craft Feast – just click the shop names tagged in the post to check out their shops.}

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with warm memories and lots of snuggles!

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Catch up on all of my monthly What I’m Lovin’ posts here.