Get Under the Covers mix

It's extra long because I missed you guys last week!



Say My Name- SuperChunk
Cry Me a River- Glen Hansard
I'm Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend to Dance- Kate Nash
Sleephead- Run Toto Run
I Want to Dance with Somebody- David Byrne
Kids- The Kooks
The Killing Moon- Pavement
Since U Been Gone/ Maps- Ted Leo
If You Leave- Nada Surf
Guns of Brixton- Nouvelle Vague



Create a playlist at MixPod.com

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For more Mixtape Master madness, peep the playlists on these blogs:

Hi-Fi Weddings | Tylre. | Ten Thou Bride | Fashion Under 100 | Jo, Rooting | One Cat Per Person | another damn life | Savoir Weddings | Fancy Notion | Dead Flowers | Casa De Kaloi | Bunnies’n’Beagles | My San Francisco Budget Wedding | Existing Between Reality and Dreams

Be a Mixtape Master. Email Angie or Ashley to get in on it.

so I have a problem...

(what house wouldn't look better with this hanging in it?!? from here)

Megan mentioned yesterday that she wanted to see what I got for christmas. Well, I got lots of fun stuff like this, this, and this but I also got gift cards. Lord, I can be an awful awful shopper. Here's my dilemma: I try so hard to make purchases that are perfect aka good prices and things I really want/need that I end up not buying anything because I panic that I either don't need said thing or its too pricey. Now one of the gift cards I can use with my paypal so I thought 'yay! I can buy fun stuff off my etsy favorites list like this, this or this'. But no. It's hours later* (yes HOURS) and I have still not bought anything. Did I mention I have 37 pages of etsy favorites? yes, THIRTY FREAKIN SEVEN, which is 729 items. Yet, here I sit with my full gift card, freaking out. Am I alone? Does anyone else go through this??? Please tell me someone else is crazy like me.

*hours I didn't spend catching up on more blogs. sorry friends! today!

aaaand.... I'm back!

(image from here)

happy belated holidays, my friends! atleast, I'm early in wishing you a happy new years ey?

sorry for the blog absence, guys. how was everyone's holidays? festive? fun? did anyone get any rest? was everyone snowed in? I had a wonderful day, more like a wonderful week or so.Mine were indeed fun, festive & we did get snowed in. I loved it so much. I ate so much delicious food (the usual: ham, cookies, casseroles, more cookies) and got many sweet presents (including many pieces from this wonderful shop...what? you've never been? go check it out now! she is a dear friend of mine and her stuff is the best!)

other assorted holiday observations/happenings:
1-'i saw mommy kissing santa claus' has officially surpassed ' baby its cold outside' as creepiest holiday tune. first off, this kid singing is so psyched to tell his dad about this which I find confusing because what good will come of that? also, if his mom is smoochin santa I either feel like it is so this kid will get excellent gifts or its that Santa looks less like the Santa I picture and maybe more like James Franco with a beard?
2- anyone else know about this movie? my friend saw it & recommends it. I am curiously intrigued. be sure to watch the two shorts that inspired it, here and here.
3- along with my annual 'A Christmas Story' watching, we also watched 'Scrooged'. So good. I love Bill Murray so.
4- we stayed in alot since the actual holiday was so busy so we decided to start watching a new show (new to us not to the rest of the world). We started Weeds. I'm hooked. I am actually interested in all the characters which rarely happens. I especially like the youngest son.
5- how many times can I listen to this song before I get sick of it? I'll let you know when I get sick of it.

5 items is good for a list. let's leave it at that. now to catch up on my google reader....

hey, remember me?

(image from my christmas mix...it has mumford & sons, ray lamontagne, florence & the machine & much more more! well... 7 more)

Sorry I've been m.i.a.! I've been making tons of gifts/stressin' about Christmas. Here are some things I've made:

NO PEEKING FAMILY/FRIENDS (LIZ! STOP PEEKING)

-hot chocolate on a stick
-spice cookies
-pumpkin syrup
-recipe cards
-stationery (my mom likes to take photographs, so I used some of those)
-nutella
-citrus salt (orange zest + lemon zest + kosher salt)
-lavender sugar (dried lavender + sugar)

things I haven't made:
-stockings (this is not going to work out in time, thank goodness I'm a gift bag hoarder and have plenty of those!)
-christmas village (maybe finish this next year?)
-wreaths (next year???)

things I failed at:
-glittering lemon sandwich cookies (the frosting ran EVERYWHERE...they look a mess but taste good)

things still to make/do:
-vanilla bean caramels
-put labels/instructions on gifts
-finish stringing ornaments
-finish air plant ornaments (air plants + a little moss + baby food jar or small jar...can't find the tutorial link... I think its from Better Homes & Gardens?)
-mini books
-eggnog cookies
-gingerbread biscotti
-dog/cat treats
-finish Ryan's gifts

and I'm sure there's more I forgot....wish me luck in finishing this insanity! I'll be back Friday for a holiday themed mixtape masters!*

*also, fellow bloggers, I owe you a zillion comments. will try to catch up soon!

Friday Mix: Some Concerts I've Been to

I thought it would be fun to make a mix of concerts I have gone to but it was tricky since it would require me to reuse a lot of the artists I've used already in these mixes (The Cure, David Bowie, Death Cab for Cutie, etc). So here are some other random concerts I've been to! Enjoy!



Busey Boy- Corn Mo*
Get Over It- OkGo**
Dr. Feelgood- Motley Crue***
How It Should Be- Ben Kweller
Why Does the Sun Shine?- They Might Be Giants
Steven's Last Night in Town- Ben Folds Five****
Once Around the Block- Badly Drawn Boy




Create a playlist at MixPod.com

For more Mixtape Master madness, peep the playlists on these blogs:

Ashley | Angie | Tyler | Lizzie | Dana | Jolynn | Lisa | Lyn | Josie | Kerry | Holley | Stephanie | Ms. Bunny | Sarah | Heather | Robin

Be a Mixtape Master. Email Angie or Ashley to get on the list.

* he opened for someone, maybe TMBG? anyways, he was hysterical but the only thing I could find on mixpod was a performance from Jimmy Kimmel
** another opener, forget who I saw them with. I thought 'hey these guys are pretty fun!" even before I knew how well they could dance on treadmils!
*** to my best recollection, they played this song TWICE when I saw them
****I've seen him a couple times minus the Five but I love this song

also, sorry for the lack of post yesterday. You can find some great DIY gifts here, here, here and here

kind of cheating - 2 more DIYs

(image via design crush)

so not sure how clear I made this, these are OLD DIYs for me (for the most part, I wrote in 'angry' letters to stop reading if it was new). So if you were trying to sneak a peek of your gift this year, you are out of luck! ha ha. that being said, heres a couple super easy gifts with time running out:

Vanilla Sugar

vanilla bean (buy in bulk on ebay!)
1 cup sugar

split bean & put in sugar. store in fancy mason jar. use in any recipe that you need vanilla extract & sugar...and in your coffee. you can also make a version using dried lavender.

Christmas Sugar!

zest of 1 lime or a couple chopped mint leaves
freeze dried strawberries
1 cup sugar

leave mint or lime out to dry. then put dried pieces in spice grinder & pulse. mix into sugar.store in fancy mason jar. use for fancy sugar cookies. you can do a similar version with lemon, but those are not festive enough colors for me.

2 DIYs, 11 Days left

(hey Lisa, its Santa. Christmas is only 11 days away, hurry the eff up with yo gifts)

Jingle Mouse Ornament*

First, download the pattern. Download Jinglemouse

Cut out your pieces--here's what you need:
Wool felt for head, ears, tail and bottom Calico for body
Bell for nose
Embroidery thread for face
4" long ribbon for loop
Polyfil stuffing

Sew the head to the body, nose down on the right side facing of the calico.
Flip head part up, iron flat and fold over the sides of the body.
Pin together, right sides facing. Don't forget to pin your loop inside, too. I place mine about halfway up the head piece.
Turn it right side out.
Stuff its little sausage body.
Once you've got it nice and firm, start sewing on the bottom circle. Having the scalloped (or pinked would be nice too) edges helps keep the stitches evenly spaced and hides kooky sewing. Don't forget to tuck in the end of the tail near the back seam! (I only say this because I've done it, myself)
Now your mouse is ready for ears. I like to pinch them in half and sew them with a few stitches at the end to form them before I stitch them on the body.Stitch them to the body, on either side of the loop.
Sew on bell to tip of nose.
Using three strands of embroidery thread, sew eyes (either straight stitches or french knots will do) and a little mouth (like an upside-down "Y") if you like.
This pattern makes a lean little mouse about 5" tall. For a more petite rodent, shorten the body portion of the pattern and make the base circle smaller, as well. You could make a whole family! Eek!

Silhouette Picture**
Step 1: Create your template.
Step 2: Cut out your pattern
Step 3: Make your Frame
Step 4: Cutting the Background Once your frame is dry, you will want to trace it's size onto a red piece of poster board. This one I am using is like a textured paper, not shiny like regular poster board. Once you have measured the frame, then cut along that line
Step 5: Connect the Glue Dots
Step 6: Stick it to 'um Once you have all the glue dots on the back, you want to line up the bottom and stick down the silhouette onto the red paper.
Step 7: Prepare the frame Now you want to put the glue dots all along the back of the frame.
Step 8: Last step Now you want to stick the entire background onto the frame, making sure to line up the sides and top and bottom. Once the glue sticks, you cant move it around, so try to be as accurate as possible!

Now flip it over and find somewhere awesome to put it for your holiday!

*I made this as cat/dog toys
**I used a family picture