Mod Mischief

We're enjoying a beautiful holiday season here in Whitehorse. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of family and joy!

I hope you're enjoying the holidays as much as we are!

It was really nice having my parents in town recently. Axel is a really good baby, but it's still great to have help looking after him. Chris and I were able to catch up on our sleep and make some progress on some projects around the house, including some work on the nursery. While my mom was here, she and I hit up a few local craft sales and hung out at YuKonstruct's holiday craft nigh t . Inspired by all the craftiness, we put together some easy holiday decorations including a fun wreath from some ornaments and wire I already had lying around.

Our holiday cards are finally in the mail. Hopefully, what they lacked in punctuality, they made up for in sheer awesomeness. We were able to put my gift certificate for Ponoko to use, but we left it a little too long before making our order so our cut cardstock didn't arrive until just a few days before Christmas. it wasn't all robot labour Fear not, an instructable on making the mechanical iris card is in the works.

This is what Chris made Robbie for Christmas. I'm a little jealous, but since the last time I was at my brothers' place they were trying to carve a roast with a butter knife, I know they will really be able to put it to good use.

It was such a hit last year , my family decided to do the Christmas Challenge again this year. I had to give a handmade or vintage gift to my dad.   I painted a record for him with Maurice "the Rocket" Richard on it. And I also included some of our homebrew beer. It seemed like a pretty good gift until Chris blew me away with what he made for my little brother .

Chris is a fantastic cook. We made Christmas dinner for his parents yesterday and it was incredibly delicious. It's so nice to have the opportunity to go all out on a meal. We tried to scale it down from last year, but there was still so much food . This morning we woke up to the white Christmas everyone had been hoping for. We opened presents , put some Bailey's in our coffee and then spent the afternoon watching movies and putting together our holiday cards. Buck , ready for the holidays

I don't know where the month of December went. Our tree is lovely and all our gifts are wrapped, but unfortunately the Christmas cards are still waiting to be assembled. It's all good if they're sent before New Year's, right? Merry Christmas!

Our homemade pop-up Christmas card Happy holidays! Chris and I are enjoying a cozy Christmas together in Ottawa.  We had an early Christmas with my family in BC last weekend. Everyone was together for my brother's wedding and my mother brought a cute little tree for our guest ranch chalet. We made the garland and star from scrap paper The Christmas Challenge was a huge success. My family is so talented and thoughtful! this photo doesn't do justice to the etched wine glass my brother made for my mom Chris and I had the bride and groom to make presents for. Inspired by pillows I had seen on etsy and the work of Ottawa artist Karina Bergmans , I took two thrifted jackets and turned them into initial throw pillows. In keeping with the font theme, we also monogrammed two hand towels using vintage buttons. It was really easy to do but I think the finished product is pretty cute.

My family isn't alone in going the handmade route this holiday season . There's a great letter from the editor on Instructables about the value of homemade gifts and Anna over at Door Sixteen is also encouraging everyone to make or buy handmade this year. I've been busy crafting a bunch of different gifts but since some of my friends and family have been known to read this blog on occasion, I can't post much about my progress. I'd hate to ruin the surprise. Instead, here are some awesome projects that I'd love to try but don't currently have anyone on my list to give them to. I don't think a bubblegum pink wild boar rug would really work with any of my friends' decor, but I think it's awesome. Hemi*Housewife describes how she made it over on Craftster . Who doesn't love candy? The toughest part would be choosing what to depict and which candy to use. Your friend's favourite pet in Skittles? The Millenium Falcon in Nerds fo...

I hope Santa was as good to you as he was to us! Chris and I can't wait to try out our new jumping stilts .

My mom suggested that I make Chris a stocking so he would feel more at home with my family this Christmas. I thought it was a great idea so I set out to make him one to match the one my mom made me years ago. Luckily my mom has a great stash of Christmas fabric. I was even able to find some of the stuff left over from when she made mine. I traced out my stocking so they would be the same size but I skipped the complicated quilting part. He can't expect me to be as talented as my mom! I'm so happy with how it turned out. Isn't it cute? Hers & His

Dear Santa How are things at the North Pole? I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written to you, but you know how busy I’ve been. Come christmastime, I usually ask for very practical gifts like power tools and towels, but now that Chris and I are living together in our new apartment, we’ve got more linens and tools than we have space to put them in. So, since we’re so close (remember back when I worked as a mall elf?), I hope you don’t mind that I’m asking for some rather out there items. For Christmas I would like: 1. Powerstrider stilts - Just imagine how much faster my walk to work would be! For on the playa, Halloween or just a stroll around Ottawa, jumping stilts would be so awesome. 2. a pith helmet - I seem to remember asking for a safari hat when I was in elementary school. Maybe you’ll have an easier time bringing me one now that they are so readily available on the internet . if you really want something more sensible, 3. a turn table - I pr...