Happy Holidays!

The tree is up. The cards have been sent. Cookies have been made. Presents bought. I think I'm ready!! Are you?

My parents arrive tomorrow for the holidays. Everyone is excited to participate in Shea's first Christmas. I am sure it will be filled with lots of fun and Christmas spirit.

We hope that everyone has an amazing holiday season! I am pretty sure I won't be making anything new until 2011. So thanks for the great year Blog world and see you in the New Year!

I am biased, but isn't he just so adorable??


Merry Christmas!!
<3 Ariane

Christmas Stocking

Some of my friends and I got together and made Christmas Stockings. I used the stocking from Purl Bee for the pattern. I did enlarge it to make a larger stocking and I wanted my seams on the inside, so I accounted for the seam allowance. I used a zig zag stitch to sew on the rick rack and the letters.

My sister helped me figure out how to sew on the cuff as I wanted a folded cuff.

I think it turned out great!

Happy December - Annual Wreath

Welcome to December everyone! Do you all have your Christmas shopping done? I will admit - I am almost done. I only have my dad to buy for and he is definitely the most difficult to find the perfect gift for. Any suggestions??

One quick side note - Shea went to see Santa! He was so cute! I know I am biased though :)

My Wreath for 2010

Today my friend and I went to the annual wreath making class. This year I had no real inspiration like I usually do and you can tell! I used all sorts of different materials and I now call it the "Spastic Wreath". Hahahaa...

PK's Wreath for 2010

PK's wreath turned out FABULOUS! She used cedar this year with some fantastic accents. I really like the cones in the middle.

Hard to believe last year we were both pregnant and sick during the class! Now we have amazing little people to enjoy this time of year with.

Here are our previous wreaths:
2007: no picture taken - boo hoo
2008: http://arianephillips.blogspot.com/2008/12/wreath-making-class.html
2009: http://arianephillips.blogspot.com/2009/12/yearly-wreath-making.html

Gearing Up For New Years...

Going back to work after the holidays isn't that much fun... I am sitting at my desk today thinking about all the work that I should be doing, but just don't have the heart to dig into it quite yet. We arrived back in Victoria late last night - our flight was a couple hours late, but nothing out of the ordinary for the holiday season.

Calgary was great! We spent most of our time visiting friends and family and of course eating way too much! db got a video camera from my parents to record the baby... yup, you heard right... new baby! I have been hesitant to announce that db and I will be expecting our first child in March (I guess I wanted to make sure everything was okay). There is still lots of things to do before the little person arrives, but we are taking it day-by-day.

Plans to decorate the baby's room are fully underway with the help of my talented sister and I will be posting photo's on here as it progresses. Anybody want to come help me clean up the room?? Hahahaaa... Also, anybody know a good painter in the Victoria area?

I am on the search for a great rocking chair - so far, I haven't found the perfect one, but I haven't given up hope! I really love this chair, but not being able to test it out is a big red flag for me... but I may just bite the bullet and buy it anyways!


In other news, the Olympics are coming up fast! My sister and I have a bunch of tickets and are getting very excited to be able to go. Looks like we are going to be staying with some of her friends that have offered us a bedroom in their close-to-downtown apartment in Vancouver. I will be 8 month pregnant, so sleeping in a bed was sort of a requirement. We are super lucky to have such great friends to put us up!

Well, I think that is all the news from my little family! Wishing you all the very best for 2010!
<3 Ariane, db and new little person

Remember this?

Okay, I know that I am not a huge fan of the cold - but there is some activities that I miss now that I live in a milder climate. Here are some of the things I miss:

- ice skating outside
- making coloured blocks... loved this!!
- tobogganing (or tubing)
- bumper skiing (ya ya - I know it is dangerous, but still wicked fun!!!!)
- snowball fights
- Christmas lights shinning in the snow

Well, only a couple more days left until we head back to Calgary where hopefully we will get to enjoy some of the winter fun! Hopefully it won't be too cold!

Does Your Desk Need Something for the Holidays?

My dear friend and co-worker was complaining that our office looked so bare for the holiday season. As I was reading one of my favourite blogs, I found the perfect idea! These little guys are pretty darn cute! Check out ours:



Thank you Makula! See the Makula website to make your own!

Yearly Wreath Making!

This is the 4th year that my friend and I attended a wreath making class. I always love how my wreath's have turned out and this year is no exception!

Here is my wreath:



Here is my friend's wreath:


Click here to see our wreath's from last year... so different!

Christmas Craft - Fabric Bird Christmas Ornaments

Part of my Christmas projects were to sew these little bird ornaments. I got the pattern out of the Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts book by Joelle Hoverson. It took a few attempts and my sister's help to get these little guys finished, but overall I loved them! My sister and I even nicked name some of them because each one was unique. Our favourite was the red and green birdie in the picture below. I will be definitely making more!



We did alter the pattern a little bit - instead of making a fabric loop, we decided to get some silk string and attach after they were sewed. I don't think it takes away from the birds and it took a lot less time!

Christmas Craft - terrarium gifts

This year we had a couple people that we wanted to find a nice (and inexpensive) gift. I also wanted a gift that is a nice gift that wouldn't just be thrown away. So when I saw this post, I had to try it!

I couldn't find a small globe like the ones they used in their post, but I did manage to find a nice vase at Michaels for about $2.00. Also at Michaels I got the fast tongue depressers - you can buy them already coloured, but they were more expensive. So, I took my felt marker and coloured mine. And instead of stamping the letters on the tongue depresser, I used stickers (I didn't want to buy stamp stuff).

For plants - I went to a local flower shop and they helped me choose the plants. I got one plant for $3.50 that I was able to split into 3 mini terrariums. I also bought some extra dirt - about $5.00 and I have lots left for future use.

I took this mini terrarium to work and people were trying to steal it for their desks! Since then, I have had a couple people at work make larger versions.

Overall, it took me about 10 minutes to put it all together. I made a couple for myself too! I couldn't resist!

Christmas Craft - Fabric Christmas Ornament

I couldn't post any pictures of the crafts that I made this Christmas season in case friends and family saw this blog.



My sister and I created this fabric ball by using instructions from the Whip it blog. It is fairly simple to make and looks very nice once complete. We finished the top a little differently than in the original blog - we used a perl pin (can get these at most fabric or craft stores) for the top and bottom. We dabbed the pin in a little glue and then stuck it in. The pin also held the joint of the fabric pieces and the tie.

I would definitely make this ornament again! This is a great way to use some of those fabric scraps.

I will post more of the fun stuff that I created this week!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are enjoying the day with friends and family!

My parents made the 9:00 ferry last night from Vancouver by the hair of their chinny-in-chin.

We had a lovely day and ate too much of course!

Defeated by Shortbread...

This weekend is baking weekend. Unfortunately I have been defeated... by shortbread. The 3 ingredients in shortbread are out to get me. Every year I try and make shortbread and every year it doesn't turn out. This year it is the worst year ever. I am not sure what goes wrong, but it has this terrible after taste. I use fresh ingredients. I follow the recipe. And no joy. Maybe it is my stupid little hand held mixer. One day I will buy a Kitchen Aid mixer... one day... Maybe that will produce good shortbread.

Wreath Making Class

On Sunday, I went to the annual wreath making class with my friend. Here is how our wreaths turned out... not bad!

4 Weeks Until X-Mas

Well, my life has been pretty crazy. Since my last post, I have been traveling all over the island for work. I spent a lot of time in Port Alberni, which I loved. If you ever get a chance to stop there, eat at the Crab Bucket... wonderful food and service.

Once I returned home, I have been busy getting ready for X-Mas. I have been making gifts, but don't want to spoil the surprise, so I will post pictures after X-Mas. I also have been making lots of towels and other gifts. My good friend Rowena had a baby shower this past weekend and I made her 2 towels and 3 bibs - all with some Beatrix Potter fabric. Everything turned out beautifully and I was extremely proud to give them to her.




The next couple weeks are going to be a bit nuts... we have a bunch of pre-Xmas parties to attend and getting the house ready for my family's visit. My sister is flying in from London and I have a big to-do list for us. We are going to be redecorating my office. So stayed tuned for posts about how it turns out.

Hope everyone is doing well! I will try and post more of the stuff that I am making and doing over the next couple weeks!

Christmas Music

This version of "God Rest Ye Gentleman" by BNL and Sarah McLaughlin is one of my favourite Christmas songs. It is so beautiful and I had to share it with everyone! And bonus - you can sing along!

Merry Christmas!

I appologize for the lack of posts! Apparently I have been busy... I am all done my Christmas shopping, done my baking, almost done cleaning the house and have decorated.

db and I are off to Calgary on Friday and are hosting a New Years Eve party - so I needed to get organized before we left. I think I have accomplished that!

This year, my friend and I made our own wreaths... and not the fake kind! We took a class last year, so we decided to go back again this year. Last year's wreath was a classical cedar wreath, so this year, I branched out and made a wreath with various types of greenery. It turned out wonderful.

Last night I finished off all the baking (which most of it is for gifts). I made the typical christmas cookies: sugar cookies, rice krispie squares, turtles, brownies, short bread and the famous nanaimo bars. Feff... I am glad it is all ready to give away!

What else... oh ya, I made a bunch of angel ornaments. I can't find a picture of it right now, but I will post instructions and pictures soon.

I love these sparkleballs! Check out how to make them at: http://www.sparkleball.com. I will defintely be making some of those for next year! What a great idea!

Well, hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and see you on here in 2008!