Starting again.

With the new year on the horizon, I can't help but feel obligated to start many things fresh. Not necessarily resolutions or anything, because I don't deal well with absolutes and often end up in the guilt spiral, but more just taking a moment to think about the past year and what I'd like to do more of next year. More ukulele playing (maybe learn the mandolin?), more crafting, more blogging.

More cooking. This was my breakfast yesterday, oatmeal and some homemade cranberry curd.

I made the curd from this recipe from Kitchen Confidante, and it is super super tasty. Mine is a little bit chunky because I didn't have a strainer, but I don't really mind. It is delicious on bread, oatmeal, and greek yogurt. I found the recipe on Pinterest, but perusing the rest of this blog has lead me to some other promising recipes (like check out this soup! OM NOM NOM). I also really like cute little jar we had - once upon a time it held some kind of Eastern European mushroom soup.  Now I just need to make some kind of a cute label.

But so I will be back and posting more consistently now, and I have lots of fun homemade Christmas gifts to show off, so have a safe and happy new year and I'll see you soon!

The eyes have it!

So, every year for Christmas I wanted to make little presents for all of my friends, and every year I fail at making something for as many people as I originally planned. However, I thought of an idea for an easy and fun little gift:

It's a little kit full of google eyes for sticking on things that look like faces, such as:

or:

(Word of the day: Pareidolia - the psychological phenomenon of trying to find significance in insignificant things, like seeing faces on inanimate objects.)

I found at the craft store google eyes with sticky backs, and then I also picked up some small zip top bags. Cut the eyes up, add a cute little tag, and you're finished! Easy, cheap, and fun. I also included some Hello Panda cookies that I picked up at Lotus yesterday.

Some totally not cute jerk of a cat tried to get all up in my photoshoot today. This is her rubbing her face on the camera.