Welcome December!



It's the second of December and a balmy 60 degrees here amongst the corn fields.  It feels so strange!  It should have already snowed a few times by now!  But that doesn't mean that we can't go ahead and welcome the new month and all its festivities! 

 

There's been some winter crafting going on over here:

 



One of my favorite traditions is stringing popcorn and cranberries for garland- to make the house beautiful and then, after the holidays, to make the birds happy!

It was also time to hang up those snow flakes that I've been working on!  But before they could show their true beauty, they needed to be blocked.  I did it by blasting them with steam from the iron, pulling and tugging them into shape, and then blasting them with more steam for good measure.  It made a huge difference!  I thought they were pretty before, but wow!  Now they're awesome!

On the right is the snowflake before blocking, and on the left is the snowflake after blocking:

It's a flurry!

We decided to string them on some rustic hemp cord and dangle them from the dining room mirror.  I think I'll also string some more and hang them around the bedroom window.  (Also, you can see the cranberry and popcorn garland in the reflection!)

This weekend also kicked off the season of scrumptiousness, and we made some glee white chocolate toffee pretzels. 

For the next few weeks, I'm excited to start trying out recipes that will be included in the homemade presents we'll be giving to family: pretzels, caramels, meringues, lemon curd, spiced nuts, etc.

Now that the weather is supposed to be cold, our local farmer's market has moved indoors and has become the holiday market.  It feels oddly cozy to be browsing around potatoes and green peppers and brussels sprouts inside!  One of our dear friends makes jam and sells it at the market.  This weekend, he asked me if I might be interested in crocheting little jam jar hats to help dress up his jam for the holidays.  I know, I know- jars never get cold, so why should they wear hats?!  But look how handsome it is!

 

And for the fashion-conscious jar, they come in many different styles:

 



I'll be back soon to check in with more merry-making!  Hope you have a wonderful week!

~Mersydotes & Penny