nine

Packages have begun materializing at our house.  Some of them have arrived by mail.  Others, I think, have been crafted by elves.  I've done my own share of crafting and packaging lately, and our first round of gifts have already safely arrived at a certain farmhouse in Ohio.

There's still plenty to do, though, and for the first time ever, it seems that I'm reaching the end of what seemed for years to be a limitless supply of reclaimed and repurposed wrapping materials.  Our piles of maps, calendar pages, colored tissue, and paper bags are dwindling.  I might have to get especially clever in these last few days of gift-assembling.  I've got this and this on my to-do list.

I've also found inspiration--yet again!--at SouleMama, Amanda Blake Soule's beautiful blog.  She has all kinds of handmade holiday photos and ideas this week, including a reusable gift bag how-to.  Scroll down here for more on the project.

We're in the end stretch now, my friends.  I don't know about you, but I've still got lots of work ahead of me!

fourteen

Here's the third and final gift guide post for this week.  These are a few of my picks for kids of all ages.  Some things are more expensive than others, but I really do believe in investing in a handful of great toys rather than stockpiling boxes and bins full of things that are less than awesome.  If you're on the lookout for something fun, I hope you find it here...

Stubborn Sparrow's 2010 Gift Guide: For the Kid

forest friends

a beautiful book

fabulous "paper" dolls
crayon rocks
hilarious book about books

darling giraffe
sticker fun
storytelling starters
this, this, or that for the teen reader
heirloom animals

fifteen

Here's the second in this week's series of gift guides.  As always, please feel free to add your additions or comments below...

Stubborn Sparrow's 2010 Gift Guide: For the Crafter

yarn of the month club
a tour of lotta's life
the gift of color
empowerment
a worthwhile investment
an engrossing television series
another lovely quilting book--or maybe just a pattern and some fabric
for the book-lover
for the beginning spinner
to play with

sixteen

As promised, here's the first of a few holiday gift guide posts.  Please note that while I've linked to some national retailers--and one international mega-retailer--it was merely my intention to give you the best representation of the item.  Please support your local merchants and booksellers whenever possible.

Stubborn Sparrow's 2010 Gift Guide: For the Cook

adorable mini cocotte set
a magazine subscription

"gourmet" recipe box (Okay, not really.  But still.)
a cook book like this or this or this
something to hang on the kitchen wall
one of a kind rolling pin
something to put on the ipod
food lit like this or this
salt sampler
a sweet ending

If you have other gift suggestions for cooks or bakers--or anyone else for that matter--don't hesitate to share in the comments below...

seventeen

If it hasn't been obvious already, I love the holiday season and nearly everything associated with it.  The only two things I don't like: Christmas decorations that go up before Thanksgiving and the retail industry's endless attempts to convince us that mindless, mechanical spending translates to holiday joy for all.

Please don't misunderstand me.  I love presents.  Seriously.  Feel free to send me one.  It's just that I prefer giving--and receiving--gifts that are well-made and well-suited to the lucky recipient.  (I'm not saying I've perfected this art, by any means.  I'm just saying that it's how I like to do business...)

I also like the idea of giving just a few fantastic gifts, rather than a whole pile of miscellany.  If I ever have kids, I'd like to think I'd stick to the popular adage and give everyone four gifts.   Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.

Giving something handmade is always my first choice, of course.  Even so, a girl can only do so much knitting (or sewing, printing, crocheting, soapmaking, baking, building, etc.) in one holiday season.  Sometimes, you just need to buy something.

With that in mind, this week, I'll be posting a few Stubborn Sparrow gift guides.  Before I do, though, here are a few other lists for you to wander through:

Smarts & Crafts Gift Guide: Crafty Goods

design*sponge's Gift Guide for the Animal Lover

Indie Fixx's Warm Gifts

L.A. Times 2010 Books Gift Guide

Do you have other gift guide suggestions?  Or maybe some great gift ideas?  Share with the rest of us by commenting below...

and yet

I know, I know.  I was just going on about savoring these last days of November, not being ready for Christmas-related kookiness, etc.  But the truth is undeniable:

The holiday knitting must get done.

I'm being slightly less ambitious than in years past, but working against tighter deadlines, too.  For the First Time Ever--sniff!--I won't be traveling to the great state of Ohio to celebrate the holidays with my family.  Instead, we'll be staying put in the PacNW and enjoying Christmas with my husband's family.  Which I'm sure will be lovely.  I really mean that.

The end result of all this, though, is that I'll be shipping gifts to Ohio this year and won't be able to do any of my last-minute knitting on the plane, needle-felting while hidden in my little brother's bedroom, or just generally working up to the last minute, which tends to be my procrastinating modus operandi.

Instead, everything needs to be finished, wrapped, packed away and shipped by--when?--maybe the twenty-first of December.  At the absolute latest.  And as someone pre-programmed to worry about these things, let's say the nineteenth, just to be safe.

So, knitting.  Of course, I can't tell you what I'm working on, because one never knows who might be reading.  But here's a clue: Manos del Uruguay's Wool Clasica.  It's one of my all-time favorites...

I'm off to get some work done, but do check back on Wednesday.  I'll be posting the first of what I'm planning to be a twenty-four--or is it twenty-five?--part Christmas countdown series.  Sort of an on-line advent calendar?  Whatever you want to call it, I'm excited about it.  I hope you'll join the fun!

neighbors

Remember that block party I was cooking for last weekend?  It turned out to be an even bigger celebration that I was initially anticipating...

Along with the usual "kiddie parade," yummy potluck, and neighborhood chit-chat we've come to expect from this annual event, our dear neighbors had an extra surprise in store for us.

After most of us had finished eating, at some secret signal, there was an explosion of party poppers and my man and I were presented with a mini-wedding reception!  There was a cake, of course, complete with bride and groom toppers borrowed from the toy box of our 6 year-old next-door neighbor.  There were calls for a "wedding kiss," which we were more than happy to indulge.

And there was a fantastic wedding gift and a custom-drawn card, signed by all our neighbors.

It was amazing.  I cried.

The gift turned out to be something amazing, too.  Maybe one of the most exciting things we've received.

We would never buy anything this fancy for ourselves, but I'm pretty sure that we'll keep this baby forever.

The card was drawn by one of our neighbors, a talented cartoonist.

I love it almost as much as the gorgeous casserole.

Gifts aside, it was really the celebration that melted my heart last weekend.  We're so fortunate to live surrounded by people who genuinely care about their neighbors, who take the time to build connections and community.  We posted a big thank you note right on our front door, so that everyone passing by on a morning run or a dog-walking wander can see how grateful--and lucky--we are.

wife

I hope you'll forgive me if the next few posts are a little fractured.  We're still getting things unpacked around here.  One of the things we've brought home with us is this crazy notion that we're--um--married.  We've been saying the words "husband" and "wife" like it's a funny little joke between the two of us.  Because it kind of is, I guess.

I know married couples that prefer not to use those words to refer to one another.  They choose to call each other "partner," an idea that I'm not opposed to, by any means.  Unlike some people, though, I think there are ways to use the word "wife," for instance, without embracing the history of subordination or sexism that "wife" might have once implied.

In a way, my position on this isn't unlike my reasoning for taking my man's last name.  It's easy for the world to understand what I mean when I call my partner-in-crime my "husband."  And he can call me "wife" all he wants.  First of all, I think it's hilarious right now. And it reminds me of the giant commitment we just made to one another.

And it makes me feel a little rebellious, because, in the end, I have all intentions of making "wife" mean whatever I want it to...

While I decide just exactly what that is, I reserve the right to play with all of the old stereotypes.  One of my favorites to riff on--the 1950's housewife--will be a little easier to evoke with the help of a gift I received the morning after our wedding.

My dear Aunt Kathy made this beautiful little apron for me. It has rick-rack--I love rick-rack!--and sweet little pockets for recipe cards and handkerchiefs.

I don't know who made the fabric, but I love that, too.  All in all, it's such a pretty thing that I'm a little apprehensive about wearing it in the kitchen, for fear of getting it dirty.  I'll work up the nerve, though, because I can't let such a great apron go to waste.

And with that, I'm off to the kitchen to make dinner for my man so it's piping hot when he gets home from work tonight.  The best part?  Sooner or later, it will be his turn to make dinner.  And that is what being a wife in my house is all about...

 

hope chest

Last week, I finally finished reading These Happy Golden Years.  You know, the last of the Little House on the Prairie Books, the one where Laura and Almanzo get hitched at the end.  I got a little sniffly around Chapter 31, when Ma and Laura put the finishing touches on Laura's new bed sheets and pillowcases, just in time for the wedding and Laura's big move to her grown-up, married life.  I just thought there was something simple and sweet about one generation helping the next put the finishing touches on a new household.  It made me a little jealous, like I was missing out on something.

And then yesterday, the package came in the mail.

My darling stepmother, in her infinite wisdom, had packed this little box full of all sorts of small, beautiful things she's collected over the years.  Linen napkins, a table runner, and crocheted doilies!  Oh, and a beautiful pair of pillow cases that Laura Ingalls would have killed for.  

I'm especially in love with this tablecloth, with its hand-stitched edge and lovely little details.

 

I like picturing a future where I might--I don't know--need a table runner.  Or some gorgeous napkins.  I like imagining the life that we could have, with these little handmade details sprinkled around the edges.

It might sound silly, but the whole thing, along with a sweet note from my stepmom, was enough to make me feel connected, and it gave me the sense that our home--which, don't get me wrong, has been our home together for years now--was somehow more complete.

I don't know.  Maybe it just made me feel loved.  

holiday

We're busy today with the annual neighborhood pancake breakfast in the morning and a good old-fashioned American cookout this afternoon.  I'll have a proper post on Wednesday, but in the meantime, I wanted to share one of our favorite wedding-related gifts yet, some beautiful handiwork from my sister-in-law-to-be, Melody.

Isn't she a clever one?  (If you're someone who likes a good sock monkey now and then, you should visit her little Etsy shop.)

Emily Post says that wedding gifts must never, never be used before the wedding, but we couldn't resist taking this straight home and hanging it on the wall...

giving thanks

Something exciting arrived in the mail today.  Something small and lovely for my bridesmaids.

How do you thank someone for being a bridesmaid?  For being a beautiful, talented, and funny young woman who's agreed to help you walk down one of the most exciting paths of your life?  Oh, and for also being your little sister?

I'm not sure; I'm still trying to figure that out.  One piece of it, though, came today from Erika at Yellow Wallpaper Handmade, all wrapped up with a nice little bow and a handwritten note from the artist herself.

Of course, I can't show you what's inside.  You never know who could be reading, can you?

Instead, let me share this, the sweet little wooden tag that came along with each handcrafted item:

The tag was made by Roberto Sand.  You can see more of his work at his Etsy shop.  I'm especially taken with this sample wedding invitation.

I'm excited about my package from YWH--thanks, Erika!--but I've still got some work to do.  My maids are some special ladies.  I hope I can find a way to sufficiently thank them for being a part of this crazy day in June...

gratitude

We received our first wedding gift the other day.  Some other time, I might try to tackle my rather-complicated feelings about wedding gifts and registries, but for now, let it be enough to say that when you get married, someone you love will probably want to give you a gift.

If you are me, the gift will arrive by mail and your partner-in-crime will carry the box up the front stairs and leave it lying in a place where you'll be sure to see it.  Then he'll suggest that you stuff the box in the closet for two months in order to open it after the wedding.  You will gently suggest that while of course, you will not use the gift until after the wedding, perhaps the gift should, in fact, be opened before the wedding, to allow you to appropriately acknowledge its receipt to the gift-giver in a tasteful thank you note.

Your man will disagree.  This conversation will continue on in a circular fashion for several minutes until you finally decide to consult an expert.  The expert, rather.

The 75th Anniversary edition of Emily Post's Etiquette is 845 pages long.  It is a very substantial book.  I  bought it a few years ago at a second-hand bookstore and have spent more time than I might like to admit thumbing through the sections on weddings and funerals and mealtime manners.

My man has never really shared my fascination with Emily and her book, especially on the few occasions I've come across something so interesting that I've tried to read it to him aloud.  I don't think he dislikes proper etiquette--although he certainly isn't as concerned with it as I am--he just doesn't seem to think that there needs to be an 845 page book about it.

And look, it's not that I'm completely caught up in the finer details of tipping department store delivery men.  I just love all the intricacies of the system, this WASPy secret code of the past two hundred years.  It's incredibly intriguing.  And I also love the idea of Mrs. Post making her life's work out of telling everyone else in America how they ought to behave.  She had books, magazines articles, and a newspaper column that was syndicated in a few hundred newspapers.  Oh, and she was on the radio.

I'm intrigued by powerful women.  I don't think a man could have accomplished what Mrs. Post did.

Now, I've gone through the "Weddings" section of my book a few times now, and I've come away with the idea that Mrs. Post would not have found our wedding planning--or our engagement--to her satisfaction. She makes no mention of pinatas, heart-shaped crayons, or melted-polyester flowers.  It's probably best for everyone that she won't be in attendance.*

(If you're wondering, though, I was right about the whole "now or later?" gift debate.  Please refer to pages 652-654, Acknowledging Wedding Gifts.)

Personally, I'm glad that there's a book like this one.  I'm not saying I wish I'd gone to finishing school or anything, but there's something about there being a right way and a wrong way to go about things--I just find that comforting.

*She's no longer with us, of course.  Mrs. Post passed away in 1960.  Never fear, though.  Her work is capably carried on by The Emily Post Institute.