I Heart Holiday Prep

Call me cheese-y if you need to, but I'm a lover of holidays...and especially of planning!

Aside from event planning for a living, back in 2010 there were big plans for Christmas time (even though only 4 out of 7 were accomplished) and prep for my first flower arranging job.  And back in 2009 I recapped my haul from Michael's when they opened a Manhattan location, so exciting!

Last night Justin kindly drove me out to Bayonne, New Jersey and patiently walked down every aisle with me in awe "like a kid in a candy store" as he said.  The Michaels motto is "Where Creativity Happens" and it's impossible not to agree while swooning at the Martha Stewart section.  I tried not to overfill the cart, but it was amazing knowing I had a whole car to drive me home.  So, here's the somewhat controlled haul (which includes the pretty ball ornaments above):

Mint Drops and Wilton pink gel coloring for a January Gingerbread House-Building Party and Martha Stewart sequin stickers, glitter glue and a snowflake stamp set.

Sparkly blue paper, striped pink paper, lavender blank notecards and (finally!) a paper punch in a nicely sized tag shape that I've been trying to find for a while: no need to ever buy tags again.

Styrofoam in tree, ball and wreath shapes, plus pipe cleaners to make even more snowflakes.

LOTS of ribbon (there was a 50% off sale!), glitter glue pens, mini pompoms and mini jingle bells in bright and subdued tones.  Do you know how hard it is to find mini jingle bells elsewhere in New York City?  When I needed some to make amigurumi cat toy mice and a reindeer I had to cut them off a cat collar.

I had coupons from joining their e-mail list and I also signed up for MichaelsRewards ("where Creativity Counts").  If you can read the prices on the receipt you'll see how little I spent for so much, PLUS in the bag were more coupons!

Maybe on my next visit I can get a discount on buying more time.  

Christmas is only a week and a half away....Happy holiday prepping!

Addendum!  Forgot to mention I also snatched up the premier issue of Stitch Craft Create Magazine, lots of great holiday inspiration here.

Calming Calendars

I've been all about the recaps this month since there's been so much to do. 

I stopped by a photo shoot for the new cookbook by Allison Fishman, cooking school founder and host of Lifetime's Cook Yourself Thin, where I also met Abby, the designer of Institute of Dress and I love the dreamy, drapey style of her clothing,  

next was a celebration of paper creativity from event designer David Stark's new book and installation of THE (purely paper) FLOWER SHOPPE at West Elm,

then went to a launch party for Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces at the Clic Bookstore and Gallery, 

and saw "No Man's Land" by Christian Boltanski,

an art installation at The Park Avenue Armory (through June 13th: I highly recommend it), attended Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation, and yesterday did an event for hundreds that took all day to set up, so I'm definitely TGI-Fing today.

When the going gets tough, I get planning and organizing calms me down so I've been making calendars. I made my first batch back in January and I'm so excited (and relieved) that summer's almost here.  For June I used my Martha Stewart eyelet lace punch-around-the-edge set.  I've been noticing in Martha Stewart Living each month there have been 40% off coupons for Michael's, nice!

There are quite a lot of birthdays to celebrate this summer, especially in July and August, including Martha Stewart (8/3), Julia Child (8/15) and more than a few fam and friends, so I have to get crafty.

And not to think too much about it yet, but when summer's over September's probably going to be a killer work month once Fashion Week hits, so I strung 30 seed beads like an abacus to remind me that each of the 30 days will be different, but they too shall each pass in their time.

Peg Stamp Cards

I mentioned in my 1st post of the new year that I got a 40% off coupon from Michael's so I bought a pretty Martha Stewart Peg Stamp Kit. 

I had never used peg stamps before, but the peg is the ruled piece of acrylic that you hold and which you can stick the stamps to.  It's quick and easy and there's such a nice selection in this kit, so there are many possibilities. 

 

I can't seem to find this exact kit online, but it could be in your local Michael's right now.  I basically followed the patterns on the package to start with, but I think I'll be using this again soon.

Valentine's Day Prep

I'm going to try to send Valentines for the first time in I don't even know how long.  Between Michael's and Target all of this was under $8.00: 20 pastel acid-free cards with envelopes, 20 cello bags with ties, 73 rhinestone heart and stud stickers, 16 sheets of printed 5" x 7" paper and 8 yards of velvet ribbon.

My high school friend Katie Sullivan, wedding planner and owner of Koru Wedding Shoppe in Hoboken also told me recently about her shopping trip to A.C. Moore for paper and embellishments for her valentines.  Katie was a creative inspiration for me; even when we were kids her room was decorated with beautiful papers and quotes, and now at Koru she has a wonderful selection of bridal gifts and accessories and can do anything from handling your invitations to planning your whole wedding!

Katie and I hope to make a run to Michael's sometime when our schedules free up.  And it looks like I should also go to A.C. Moore: they have a membership rewards program!

2010 Planning and 1st Project

 Happy New Year!  I've been planning out all of the crafting i want to do this year, or more like figuring out when I want to do everything.  I used to buy a calendar every year, but decided to make my own for the new decade. 

I've only gotten through May so far because I wanted to buy paper in other colors...

So, I made another trip to Michael's up on 97th and Columbus and limited it to just an hour and $50.00 this time.  I'm going to see if I can get by with that as a monthly budget.  When I registered at their website they sent a coupon for 40% off one item, nice!  I bought a stamp kit for making cards, so that will show up in a post soon I'm sure.

My first project for the year is Beaded Hairpins from Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts and I'll be using this awesome book a lot this year.

Growing up, I used to bead with my sister Emily and I wish I could find the bead stash and organizer I had then. Somehow we found the time (and patience!) to spend hours separating tiny seed beads by color and stringing flower bracelets onto unwaxed dental floss. I guess my eyesight was much better then, because it was a little challenging this time around with 30-gauge wire.

Just 5 petals and a center and then you attach the flower to a bobby pin. I think I'll have to send some to Emily soon.

Inside MSLO

I braved the rain and the first snow of the month to go to the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Holiday Craft Sale.  Martha has been an inspiration to me for years so it was exciting just to walk the halls of the office and peer through the doors.  When the elevators opened on the 9th floor there was a long line that curved around a few corners, but moved quickly and opened onto a large, light-filled room of crafts of all kinds.

I love the possibilities of creativity, seeing how someone else views the world and what they can potentially bring to it. 

I saw a necklace made with the tiniest crochet hook I've ever seen, which made a round no larger than a thumbnail.  I picked up a pretty stuffed animal and admired how soft it was, knowing that it was made of cashmere, but not realizing at first that every figure on the table had been made from cashmere sweaters. 

There was a table where you could make your own gift tags with the Martha paper punches.  I had already bought the scalloped tag punch at Michael's, but I was here for the snowflake shape. 

They were out of the edge punch that could make a whole line of flakes along the side of a page, but I got the alpine snowflake punch and was quite happy with the two garlands I've made so far.

Michael's Haul and Martha's Craft Sale

[source: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia]

Right before Thanksgiving I picked up the December issue of Martha Stewart Living and got inspired: time to get creative again.  After many attempts were refuted by work and guilty pre-turkey-day trips to the gym, this week I finally trekked up to Manhattan's first Michael's craft store!  

For 2 hours it was like being back in my little hometown again (and 15 years old, with so much more free time). 

And Martha has a whole line of beautiful craft supplies sold there: glitter, paper punches, scrapbooking supplies, ribbon...very exciting.

And even more so, Martha Stewart Living is having a holiday craft sale today, December 5th!  I've been struggling with the crocheted snowflakes on their website.  I asked a salesperson at the otherwise lovely Purl Soho shop if he knew what crochet cotton was and all I got was a "no, I don't" and that was it.  Humpf.  I soldiered on and bought a ball of lovely, soft, snow white Rowan 100% cotton and it was all going so well in Pattern 1 until it came to "8 ch???s".  

I tried to wing it despite the typo, but ended up at the end of one tip, not knowing how to get back into the center.  Hm, Martha what did I do wrong? 

Well, I'm still really looking forward to the event, maybe I'll get even more ideas.  Such a short month: Christmas is less than 3 weeks away!