5 Favorite Christmas Movies

Merry Christmas!

Here are a few Christmas movies that really make the holiday for me:

• “Arthur Christmas.” This is a new favorite; a kids’ movie though I have only watched it from an adult perspective, appreciating the quick humor, imperfect family, and sci-fi explanations of that whole Santa-delivering-presents-to-everyone thing. As a Santa-story, I wonder why I like this one so much; the reason is the magic it somehow embraces, and the twist examining what makes someone important.
• “A Muppets Christmas Carol.” All cheery goofiness – and then Jacob and Robert Marley pause their creepy ghostly song to shudder at the horrors they’ve done. This isn’t just a kids film! Curiously human, someone has said that this adaptation is the one Dickens himself might’ve liked best.
• “A Christmas Carol” with George C. Scott. This beautiful adaptation has it all – a haunting snowy Victorian location, wonderful actors, lovely music, faithfulness to its source material. Its Ghost of Christmas Present is no kindly Father Christmas, and the threat of Scrooge’s lonely death and the slow wasting away of Tiny Tim seem real.
• “It’s a Wonderful Life.” No list of Christmas films would complete without it! But – what a movie. It’s a story of an ordinary life, which might have been extraordinary and therefore seems a failure. Yet George Bailey has lived his life well – and his darkest moment is nothing to the darkness his absence would leave.
• “The Chimes of Midnight.” Ok – this technically not a movie, but a “Doctor Who” audio adventure. But Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it! There’s even plum pudding. It starts as a ghost story mystery with a lot of a dark humor. But as it goes on, it grows darker until an ending that is devastating. And splendid. If you get time travel stories, then definitely check this out!

Thinking about each of these stories, one theme emerges from them all: The importance of the small things – those which are despised by the world – and especially the little people who don’t seem to matter: Arthur the failure who goes on a quest to ensure that one child gets her present, Scrooge who pursued worldly success and lost everything else, the important little friends of Bedford Falls, and Edith Thompson the scullery maid whom no one could ever love. After all, that is what Christmas is all about: How, perhaps, in the eyes of Heaven the Tiny Tims may be worth more than the great things of the world.

-Abigail-

Cogs & Gears: Sunflowers!

Around this time of year, an explosion of sunflowers hits the arroyos around our neighborhood. They’re everywhere! It’s a lovely small variety of sunflower, which started somewhere (either in somebody’s yard, our from a wild area of the Bosque) and then seeded and spread year by year. They’re also very pickable, and make for the most amazing arrangements.

Inspired by all of this amazingness, I created my very first Etsy Treasury!

(Here it is)

It was surprisingly easy to make, since sunflowers look beautiful and make for beautiful jewelry, shawls, vases, and too many other things to mention! I discovered that having a strong theme is an asset for a Treasury: It turned out beautiful and vibrant, please take a look!

Hannah’s stunning painting of sunflowers made it on the Treasury, of course (Here’s a link to it)

 

I also put a pair of recent earrings from my own shop on it. (Technically, you’re not supposed to do this, but they turned out so perfectly that I couldn’t resist!)

(Please have a look!)

Here’s another of my favorites – though you should really check out the Treasury to see them all!

(Voila!)

Another item from my shop, which didn’t make it on

Hannah makes a wonderful model! (another item)

I couldn’t fit these two items on the Treasury, both from new lines on my shop which I will have to introduce in a later post! But here is a link to their listings: Sachets, and Fingerless Gloves.

Bumblebees, also out in full force in our neighborhood (and landing disconcertingly in one’s hair), made it onto my Treasury too. So here are a couple more pictures to take us out on the sunniest of notes!

-Abigail-

A 2015 Retrospective: A Year of Transition

Welcome to 2016, and may it be a happy and blessed year for you!

I thought that, with a new year ahead of us all bare and clean, it would be a good time to look back and see where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. 2015 was a breathless year! But, aren’t these retrospective things for the end of the year, you say, not the beginning of the next one? Yes – but a few days in and we have a little perspective! So here goes: A year of new beginnings, and Ribbons in Our Hair!:

I want to make more of these!

A batch of bread I made, with an egg wash to make it all shiny and pretty

Strawberries, a favorite treat in the spring and summer

Lovely sister Sarah

Annie naps while I sew

In May, still reeling from a long-term unemployment in the family and working on beginning our Etsy shops, we three sisters sat on the floor for a few hours arguing over format design and what we wanted our new blog to say and look like. (Was it only May? How far we’ve come!) We finally put out our very first post, introducing ourselves and our blog. After that, we posted several times about our shops and our lives – showing you (our dear readers!) around and playing with a new creative outlet!

In June, we volunteered at the memorial for a local tragedy,

when our city lost its first officer in the line of duty. It was a reminder that sometimes all the Big Things in the world sometimes come close and effect our lives.

We’ve continued to introduce you to all sorts of things from our shops (and crafting obsessions!), like cards and hats and clever little garden pockets.

And then in July, everything went crazy as we threw an Etsy Boutique to show our projects and creations to friends (and the world) at a local park. We crafted, panicked, planned, panicked, set things up, and then panicked some more! The Boutique was hectic, fun, and a wonderful way to get a lot of projects done. Everyone was really supportive, and all in all we had a great time!

Etsy Boutique

The cold coffee in the new container our sweet mother got especially for the occasion. It was ready to be enjoyed in- what else- small mason jars

My lovely sisters, under the tent

One of Hannah’s heads, wearing one of her hats, Thank you cards, which, I think, Hannah made, and a couple of Abigail’s wonderful sachets. The goldenrod one is on Etsy

Sarah’s beautiful bags. They are hanging on the white picket fence shelves that we almost completely forgot we had, which made excellent displays!

It seems like August was even crazier! That was the month I got hit by a load of frustrations, and when we decided to up the game on our blog a little: That was the month when we (still recovering from the Boutique) decided to go through “25 Blog Post Ideas for New Bloggers!” This was a challenging idea, and we have had a lot of fun going through it – not too fast, and trading off so that we have a look at each of our different styles and perspectives. It has forced us to grow and find new ideas, and we’re still not all the way through to #25! We have looked inside a purse, at our favorite things and what inspires us, and at our guilty pleasures and goals.

In September, we shared recipes, a birthday, and new projects (still in the concept phase!). And then in October we introduced a few new regular features, which have really enlivened our blog! First was the Friday Feature Favorite, where we (mostly Sarah, who initiated the idea) talk about some of our favorite Etsy shops. And we also try to put out a Saturday Random Recipe! I tried self-motivation through goals and incentives, and Hannah talked about her first art listing, a direction she wants to take her shop.

And then came November, with Craft Fairs and NaNoWriMo! Oh, Thanksgiving might’ve come that month, too, with an extra effort at gratitude.

December came and with it, of course, Christmas! We put up as much as we could on our Etsy shops, and talked a lot about what we do to celebrate the holiday. And of course, none of it was as much as I wanted; but we had fun so that’s all right! Sarah came up with a clever way of reviewing classics without saying what they were, and toured Old Town, Hannah shared our fudge recipe, and I shared some favorite music of the season. Christmas came, and went, in a happy blur!

And here we are in the new year! I’m excited to see where we go. We have put out 95 posts! (95!!!) That means we’ve kept it up very well, and had a pretty decent level of consistency. I’m amazed, and a little proud of all our hard work!

Tomorrow, a look at where we’re going! (Not that I know. You can’t do retrospectives at the beginning of something – I’ve tried. But we have plans!)

-Abigail-

3 Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas to all!

In honor of the day, I thought I’d share a few of our favorite traditions for celebrating the holiday:

Luminarias

So simple, so beautiful! You take paper bags and tea candles (cheap) and sand (ubiquitous), and put them together to make lights. Then, line Mary and Joseph’s path to the inn – and the path to Christmas Eve mass. This is a lovely New Mexican tradition!

Plum Pudding

With hard sauce. And whipped cream for those who don’t like hard sauce.

‘Cause you have to light it!

Being Anglophiles, it was only a matter of time before we tried this Christmas treat mentioned in so many seasonal British stories. And it’s worth it! Full of spice and plums (raisins) and love, it is quintessential Christmas. (I use butter rather than suet, and it turns out fine!)

We don’t end Christmas on the 25th

Seriously, try it! Some of the best fun is to be had after the stress and expectations of the day are over. Plus, if you’ve maybe forgotten a gift or two, there are the post-Christmas sales to hit. After all, traditionally, the season isn’t over until Epiphany (or 3 Kings Day), which is January 6th! I love Christmas so much that I would rather extend it than call it over after all the presents are opened!

I hope that you all have a blessed and wonderful holiday weekend!

-Abigail-

A Christmas Card to Our Readers

Christmas Classics Reviews, Pt. 3

It’s Christmas eve, and time for me to do a final Christmas review (not necessarily the last review, though)

I will review _____________!

I actually don’t know how to go about this. It was suggested I review this, and I thought it sounded funny and like a good challenge. So, here it goes!

This is a story about a normal guy. As everyone knows, however, there is no such thing as normal, which is to say- this main character has some issues, which are difficult to reconcile oneself to.

He’s born into a Bubble Lifestyle (basically, everyone he knows is supposed to do a task their ancestors did) but he just doesn’t fit in the bubble!

Well, this doesn’t sound very Christmas-y so far, especially when you find that your main character has abandoned his home and family! One assumes he gets reunited, but there doesn’t seem to be much chance of the whole situation being fixed!

This story is great for suspense! It’s atmosphere and storyline is as stark and wintery as it’s simple setting – either that or the atmosphere and storyline is simple, and the setting stark and wintery. It doesn’t help when an enemy is introduced that pushes up the danger against our heroes!

I would recommend this to everyone, by the way. With the way I’m describing it, I sound a bit uncertain about this story. Well, oddly enough, it’s not extraordinary. But it has it’s good points, including the solution of the awkward abnormality (or normality) being another problem, to which the main character’s abnormality can solve everything. (did that make any sense?)

Yes, I am reviewing Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer!

This was never my favorite Christmas animation, partly because I always found Rudolph a bit whiny, his bullies- well, bullies- and the abominable snowman plain ugly! Why couldn’t they have a polar bear or overgrown penguin?

However, watching it more recently, I have realized how stark and scary the storyline is (which just shows that it is OK to show kids scary things, because they don’t always get it). I’m still not sure Rudolph’s nose is bright enough to shine light for Santa, but it’s a really fun story!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I wanted to say something tomorrow (practically today) but there’s not much more for me to say.

Merry Christmas, and may everyone be safe and well!

And God bless us, everyone!

Sarah

Christmas in the City

Today I’m finally going to introduce a couple new items on my Etsy shop, SallySewing. These are Christmas items, which I am very excited about- not only because it’s Christmastime, but because my shop has been looking empty without anything Christmas-related.

This bag is what I call the Christmas in the City bags. I saw some black and gold Christmas tree fabric, and decided I wanted to make some bags out of it (not from our stash). I thought the leather would be interesting too, and I wanted jingle bells.

These bags were originally going to be backpacks. I can’t explain when they changed to what they are, possibly when I realized I didn’t have much time before the craft fair.

I have been using one of these bags to ‘advertise’ them, as well as test drive them. My resulting opinion is that they’re seasonal- it’s fun using it, simply for an unexpected show, but I’m happy using it for this month (and some of the next). It’s surprisingly roomy, easy to carry around and fun with the jingle bells.

I like how these bags turned out. They were interesting to make, especially with the leather. It was the first time I’ve used leather so extensively, and it was very cooperative. The drawstring turned out different than I originally intended, but the look is unusual and fun. What I really liked was the bias tape! It gave me a chance to sew down the lining in a thoroughly satisfactory way.

I actually sold one of these bags, making a few alterations- which I am happy to do with most my items on my shop. I shortened the strap, adding buttons, and put on some big jingle bells, first taking out the jingles so they weren’t so noisy. I really liked the look, so I might have to add them to the others! (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture)

Here is a link to the Christmas in the City Jingle Bells Bags if you want to check it out.

And the second of my new items on my shop, are the Christmas Gift Bags. I made these last year, and then forgot to take pictures of them and put them up on Etsy.

I love these bags. I always think they look Victoriana, with beautiful, classic Christmas colors.

I kept them simple because I want people to be able to do their own things with them, but I would be happy to add some little decoration to the front.

Try as I might, I can’t elaborate much on these bags. I’d love to, because it feels like I’m less interested in them, or something, but there’s not much more for me to say. They are gift bags, just like regular gift bags except made out of fabric. I made some gift tags to go along with them, which are very pretty in my opinion.

I really like these bags, and I am satisfied with how they turned out, though I haven’t yet decided if I want to make any more. They look wonderful under a Christmas tree too!

Here’s a link to these Christmas Gift Bags, if you want to take a look.

Of course, now it’s a bit late for Christmas shopping. If you want either of these items as a late gift or Epiphany present, I could work with you to figure out how to get it to you on time (unless, of course, you live in the NM area, in which case I may be able to get these to you in time for Christmas)

I’ve done it! Lord willing, there will be more appearing on my shop, SallySewing very soon, including my Shabby Chick bags!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sarah

 

 

Old Town

I don’t know if there’s any other Old Town. Probably. But our Old Town- the New Mexican Old Town is the real Old Town! We have ghosts.

Today I am going on a tour of Old Town. We go there at Christmastime, and we’ve probably missed it only once or twice. It’s probably a good thing I haven’t had a camera for all my life or I would have a ton of Old Town pictures!

On the left is a replica of some Civil War cannons (not Christmas-y, but they belong in Old Town). They had the actual ones there for a while, but they’re now in one of our museums.

I almost always take a picture of this building. It’s actually kind of a tradition I love, though I decided to change things up this year.

We usually start from this building and then go to the main area, and wander to the Christmas shop or various other shops.

This time I was noticing how many restaurants there are around the place, which I haven’t visited. I’m thinking we should go, especially since I was just reading about a local chocolatier in Old Town. It’s amazing what you don’t know about, when you’ve lived somewhere all your life!

Pictured on the left is a wonderful area we discovered more recently. There’s a fun Irish shop on the upper level, and further to the right, and lower down, is a soap shop that has some fun variety.

We took our dog, Annie, along this year. We’ve seen dogs there before (including an adorable Scotty last year) and I think this was the first time we took her along. She was actually a bit confused (and alarmed when we separated) but had a lot of fun.

 

This is the same area. There are lots of stairs everywhere, which I always find interesting because we don’t have stairs in our house. I was with Annie on the upper level when we saw the rest of the family coming. Annie- also completely unfamiliar with stairs- tried leaping down to them.

You can see a bit of the beautiful art on the wall next to the visible staircase in this photo. There are beautiful flowers, somehow incongruous in the Christmas décor, yet seem to have the same life.

This is the plaza in Old Town, with the beautiful gazebo. This is from last year, when there was a band playing. This year we saw Civil War re-enactors, which was a lot of fun. There were hoops, Christmas carols and a cello.

 

This is a picture of the area around the giant Christmas tree. It’s one of the only photos I have of the Christmas tree, because it’s surprisingly difficult to take pictures of. This year I managed pretty well, and I may actually have to do an Old Town Part 2 because of the interesting photos I took this year.

This is one of my favorite photos. It’s Christmas-y! It’s old fashioned! It’s New Mexican! It kind of embodies Old Town! Of course it’s a bit small too, but the color combinations are pleasing.

Old Town is a lot of fun, and I can’t say specifically what I like best about it. Probably, simply going there with my family and having hot chocolate and cookies. That’s a newer tradition, oddly enough, but it’s wonderful, especially when listening to Christmas carols as the daylight fades away.

I had to finish with this. San Felipe de Neri Parish. I simply cannot describe what this place is like. It’s beautiful. While all the world is a little crazy, and Old Town is decked in Christmas beauty, nothing can match this place’s stillness.

I’ve taken plenty of pictures of San Felipe de Neri Parish, none inside unfortunately.

Well, that completes one tour of Old Town. Like I said, I might have to do another post because I completely forgot about the Old Town cat we met this year, plus I tried doing some different things. We’ll see…

I hope you enjoyed my own version of an Old Town tour, and our Christmas traditions! You will probably find out more about Old Town by looking up ghost tours and weddings.

Merry Christmas!

Sarah

 

Featured Favorites: Chic Ruffles and Hip Calico

There is nothing as lovely and useful as a good handbag. It’s where you put everything; lip gloss, smartphone, keys, spare crochet hooks, that novel you can’t put down. What’s even better is when you find the perfect bag that is fun, big enough to carry everything, and so cute that it somehow captures your personality too!

The “Christopher Corduroy” Bag

 

What with one thing and another, this last weekend’s Favorite Etsy Shop Feature got overwhelmed and lost in the shuffle. It might’ve had something to do with this whole Christmas thing that’s going on right now… But better late than never, especially with this, one of my all-time favorite shops:

SallySewing is one of those fun places where you can never expect what

A summery tote, made of denim and fun

you will find next. The shop owner loves to create new and different kinds of handbags – cute and girly with one item, chic and sophisticated with the next. She is still experimenting with techniques and styles, creating fun and unique bags to hold anything you might need for shopping or a day at the beach or the perfect gift.

 

And of course bags and totes aren’t the only things you can find at SallySewing: Here are some lovely flowery napkin rings:

 

The owner of SallySewing highlights reusing or using up materials for each of her items. One thing she wants to do with everything that she makes is create less waste and make something beautiful out of the unexpected and overlooked.

By now you have probably guessed that I know the owner of SallySewing. In fact, she is my sister Sarah! (See what we did there? We had to highlight our own shops sometime, and we thought that December would be the perfect time to do it!)

I have told you before about our Stash of fabric. It is far too large for its own good; and that’s one thing that Sarah, the owner of SallySewing, is using in creating her bags. We have so many fabrics that have no obvious home or use, but what if she uses that too-cute floral to make a trendy little purse? Or perhaps that bit of denim which isn’t big enough to make anything else could become the handle of a tote? Sarah loves to use up some unexpected things in lovely ways, of course with a purchased accent here and there.

And naturally, pre-worn garments will soon find a place in her creative

Bags for giving gifts – totally reusable – or keeping Christmas knick-knacks safe

stockpile. Who knows what that box of old jeans might become? Reusing things to make something new and fantastic is what SallySewing is all about!

 

Soon, Sarah hopes to expand her shop to include fun dresses for relaxing – loungewear that is pretty and feminine at the same time as comfortable! But for now, her shop is stocked with several beautiful and fun bags. Head on over to Etsy, and have a look!

Have a wonderful week of Christmas!

-Abigail-

 

 

 

Ephemeral Earrings! An Introduction

It is time to introduce you to something which I hope will be one of the highlights of my Etsy shop, The Raisin Fairy! Sarah hinted at these in her lovely post last Friday, and kindly let me present them to the world:

Ephemeral Earrings!

An assortment of Christmas ornament Ephemeral Earrings

At last! Something new on my shop, percolating and developing for a long time, procrastinated and agonized over – here finally!

These are actually Hannah’s idea: Since we love card making so much

Several matched pairs

Die cut paper, not completely punched out!

(again, thank you to our friend Leslie, who collects supplies!), and also like wearables and jewelry-making, then why not combine them? Put together a die cut medallion here, add a lovely forgotten bit of paper there, attach a few sparkly beads and suspend it all from an earring hook. And there you are! Something lightweight and magical!

I made a few attempts, discovered some things that don’t work, had way too much fun playing with paper and little die cuts that I would otherwise overlook. And now – I’m ready! I have worn my little statement jewelry creations several times to field test them, and now here they are on my shop!

For now, I have focused on Christmas themed earrings. I’ve always loved Christmas anything, and cardstock is no exception. There are such beautiful things out there! And Leslie’s amazing collection has provided some charming little ornament, bell, holly, poinsettia, etc. die cuts. And snowflakes!

Snowflakes. Very “Frozen!”

Soon, however, I will be creating and listing many other kinds of earrings – flowers and medallions and elegant swirls!

It’s a work in progress, and I am so excited by the results! So far, I have sold and given several pairs to friends, and the reactions have been as charmed as any artist could hope. The earrings are just what I imagined for, if not maybe a little better!

 

-Abigail-