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.

Impress Me

Who hearts lettepress?  On Saturday my friend Suzanne and I took an introductory class at Studio on the Square with Mindy Belloff of Intima Press.

What is it about letterpress?  

One classmate said it was "delicious", another that in a world of flat screens and flat pages, it's nice to be able to feel something tactile and real.  

OK, that second person was me, but still...

in just a few hours Mindy taught us about the history of the art and the incredible amount of detail and attention involved in setting type.  

I always love seeing the tools behind the craftsmanship.

It was a little scary working the huge press, but Suzanne did a great job!  

We definitely want to go back to get more practice and learn more.

But we were very happy with our first efforts!

You can go to Mindy's blog to see how how she recreated the Declaration of Independence -- all set by hand!

A Little Origami

My friend Tomoko brought me a fabulous gift from her last visit to Japan: a generous package of beautiful origami paper.

I love the colors and wish you could feel the textures.

There are even a few prints of little bunnies!

There's a section on origami in the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts.  Did you make these little fortune tellers when you were little?  The pattern for the box is on her website

along with instructions for a quick placecard holder.

I can't imagine folding 1,000 paper cranes for a wedding despite the lovely symbolism.  Tomoko says in Japan they send them to someone who needs some cheering up.  Mila was skeptical:

but then curious

but leaned in for a little kiss anyway.

And I hung a few cranes on some quince branches for good luck I guess.

And then yesterday the porter at our kitchen made this elephant out of paper and masking tape!

And I saw this video of an elephant who speaks Korean.  Fun stuff, have a good day!

Cupcakes, Doughnuts & Love

Happy Mother's Day!  I haven't gone to sleep yet, so it still counts.  It's been a while since a crazy catch-up post and there's a lotta love here. The 2nd Avenue Deli spells it out in salmon where I took my Mom last year and she wanted to go back today, so love also means pastrami sandwiches and potato pancakes.

I also put some love into the 192 (yep, that's 16-dozen) strawberry lemonade cupcakes I made for the Vicious & Virtuous 2nd Annual Bake-Off Beat-Down to benefit Autism Speaks organized by CupcakeHussy.

This recipe by Annie's Eats was popular when I made 48 and this time the judges from SweeteryNYC, Paper Magazine and Dessert Buzz NYC awarded them "best unusual ingredient" for the edible flowers and....

Best in Show!  And I was very happy with my attire for the event, a special apron by Jessie Steele, so freakin' cute.

There were also edible flowers at a dinner for Cartier by Chef Sam Talbot: they topped yummy, little lemon soufflés.

I loved the day I had with wedding planner Kate Sullivan, who I've known since kindergarten and new friends event planner Tammy Golson and photographer Angela Gaspar: girly, event chat with jap chae, okonomiyaki, ramen and bibimbap.  Big thanks to Kerry from handmade Quade for bringing us together, can't wait for our next outing!

We also trekked out to The Brooklyn Lyceum's spring craft market and to the Smith Street Paper Source: "paper heaven!" sighed Kate.

I put my purchases to use for a congratulatory card

which went with a Lemon Infused Lemon Glazed Lemon Cake from Jon at Victory or Death in the Kitchen.  I added yet more strawberries since I'm on that kick these days and there was a yummy lemon syrup, which you brush on after baking and before pouring on the lemon glaze.

The Hester Street Fair opened yesterday and I met Angela and wore shorts for the first time this year.  The weather was so gorgeous I just wanted to stay outside all day.  Awesome coffee from Wonder City Coffee & Donut Bar.  I somehow resisted their donut holes with caramel sauce, but that will need to be remedied soon.

We saw adorable, little drawstring bags with felt appliqué by The Honey Pie Tree.

and had some spinach & ricotta and saffron & mozzarella arancini from Arancini Brothers...mmm...yes, more fried food in my life...bliss.

Sometime I have to go here when I'm on my way home so I can carefully buy a terrarium from Casa Helecho because aside from being beautiful I think echivaria and cacti are the only things I can keep alive, Mila excepted.

We snagged rose petal donuts at Doughnut Plant -- they're only made for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day -- wow, even MORE edible flowers!

And it was a great day just for lying around in the park.

But back to Mother's Day: how did I forget to take pictures of the gifts I picked up at the Spring Handmade Cavalcade from hycCreative and Wish By Felicity?  Too eager to get wrapping I guess.  Well, here's a pic from Felicity of a necklace similar to the one I bought my Mom, whose favorite color is blue.

[photo by Wish By Felicity]

Another perfect spring day: we went trolling through The Antiques Garage on 25th Street

and yes, over to the 2nd NYC Doughnut Plant location (hehe....more donuts in my life...)  This one is much bigger than the Lower East Side location, but not as large as the one I visited in the Myeongdong region of Seoul, South Korea.  Love these pillows on the wall on 23rd Street though.

Over in Madison Square Park I saw something that stopped me in my tracks: "Echo" by Jaume Plensa.

The artist says “Many times we talk and talk, but we are not sure if we are talking with our own words or repeating just messages that are in the air. My intention is to offer something so beautiful that people have an immediate reaction, so that they think, ‘What’s happening?’ And then maybe they can listen a little bit to themselves.”

This was my reaction to the piece exactly and I listened to myself quietly for a moment, then the sounds of the city came back and I looked around me at what's really important.  Love you, Mom, Dad & Emily.