Happy New Year!

I have only one resolution: get a haircut. I have a pathetic history with attempts at hair styling. I always seem to get the snotty hairstylist who can sniff me out as Not One Of Them, and treats me terribly, leaving me to slink out with a hair cut which isn’t what I wanted. Bad, bad hair person. I gave up completely, and for the last four years my boyfriend has been repeatedly manhandled into timidly trimming my split ends. This year, I intend to spend obscene amounts of money finding someone I adore who will make me look fabulous.

Anyone in Seattle know a good hair person?

current favorite foods (not neccessarily together) — Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chocolate Cookie, POM Wonderful juice mixed with sparkling water, and Wasa crispbread.

Though I rarely look at knitting magazines, I found myself peeking at the Winter 2003 Interweave Knits yesterday and found a bunch of stuff that was of interest:

• pictures of knitted boots and a take-out container — you can take a look at all of the knitted shoes here
• Amy’s first column (!!!), you can read more from Amy here
• a review of Stitch ‘n Bitch (did they changed the cover a bit?)
• an article about inmates knitting for charity
• a very cool striped scarf, really cute flower shaped washcloths, and a whole bunch of great information on knitting gloves

I think I need a subscription.

number of

batches of toffee made: four

batches of toffee edible: three

batches of chex mix eaten so far: three

cups of cocoa with homemade snowflake marshmallows: five

pots we completely destroyed: one

times setting off smoke alarm: one

virtual snowflakes made: up to around eighty

times I caught myself humming Little Drummer Boy: too too many

times I have watched Bernard and the Genie: once so far

I wish everyone the happiest of holidays!!

Some instructions on how to make paper snowflakes: one, two, and three.

Leslie’s fabulous Advent Calendar has some great last minute recipes for party foods today.

I keep forgetting about this super fun Snowflake Maker! (note: Flash)

snowflake marshmallow report: It went well! Wherever cooking spray was called for in the recipe I also shook some powdered sugar since slimy marshmallows didn’t really appeal to me. My snowflakes didn’t turn out quite as pretty as the ones in the pictures, of course, but they do look really charming floating around in your cup. And if you use the hot chocolate recipe from the post just below the marshmallows melt really slowly, if you use a mix (Swiss Miss Chocolate Sensation is yummers) they disappear so quickly, sniff.

cookie recipes I want to be able to find later:

• chocolate coin cookies
• chocolate heart cookies
• chocolate wafers

Anna put up a delish looking recipe for Vegetarian Swedish Meatballs.

I found some little snowflake cookie cutters (just like these) and couldn’t resist. Tonight I’m going to attempt the snowflake marshmallows from the cover of Martha Stewart Living this month. Here is a simple hot chocolate recipe.

We thought maybe we’d do some convenience christmas stuff this year – take unboxed gifts to the mall where we would purchase one last gift, then haul everything to the UPS Store and let them pack it up and ship it out. Everything done in one trip. It was all going so well until the UPS guy took our first (of four) things, said “That’ll be $13.00 packing, and … $63.47 to ship.” The item inside of the box was a single stuffed animal. We looked at our other things, and quickly calculated that our total packaging and shipping costs would come to roughly 1700% more than the items themselves were worth. The UPS guy was very nice about letting us gather our things and slink out of the store.

Luckily, the line at the post office early this morning was very short.

Sew Hip It Hurts points to these little felted flowers at Super Maggie, they’re adorable! And look – Chocolate and Pink Scarf.

As seen at Absolutely Vile:

Do you turn old paint chips into funky bracelets? Handcraft quilts out of cereal box tops? Embroider rock-n-roll icons on throw pillows? Make lamps out of old Tupperware? So your friends rave about the homemade gifts you give? If you have a special talent for creating cool swag then you could be the perfect candidate for HGTV’s hip new TV show that profiles America’s hottest indie-crafters and their snazzy creations!

To be considered, send a videotape showing us your cool craft, tell us a little bit about your creative process, and how you got started. Send the tape (3-5 minutes) and a sample of your one-of-a-kind creation, by January 31, 2004 to:

ATTN: Indie-Crafts

Weller/Grossman Productions

5200 Lankershim Blvd., Suite 500

North Hollywood, CA 91601

Please be sure to include an email address and your phone number!

I’ll be at the book release party for Wild With A Glue Gun — By Christine Stickler and Kitty Harmon and designed by Jane Jeszeck, Published by North Light Books — tonight in Seattle, here are the details:

When: Tuesday, December 16th, 5 to 7:30 pm

Where: M.Coy Books & Espresso, 117 Pine Street between First and Second Avenues (two blocks east of the Market)

What: Wine & hors d’oeuvres will be served; books will be signed; a craft table will beckon; merriment may well ensue.