Tuesday, December 09, 2008

getting in the spirit

This is our Christmas tree, minimally adorned, and quite lovely, I think. It reminds me of Pia and all of her beautiful winter whites. The really strange thing about it is that it's on our dining room table. Um, and in a juice pitcher (which is now covered with a scarf). I am so elegant.
I had a few moment's peace yesterday afternoon after work. I sat down with this month's Country Living, The Herb Companion, and Love in the Time of Cholera (just in case I managed to finish the other two, which I did not.) And, of course, a cup of Egyptian Licorice tea.
I bought a return address stamp from Sweet Papery not too long ago, and card inspiration struck yesterday, so I wrote some Christmas cards. How cute is that stamp? It even has the shape of our house. Most of them have this image enclosed:
If you receive one, you can act surprised and as though you've never seen it before.
I've been whipping up all sorts of things as of late. Above are some custom bath bombs, and below is a fantastic olive oil lotion I concocted the other day for my mother-in-law. I can't say enough good things about it. It turned out exactly as I hoped. You can read more details about it and get the recipe here. As you probably know, I choose to avoid unnecessary and scary ingredients in beauty products, and by making this in small batches I can skip the preservatives. Nice. That's also the reason why I won't be selling it - I would need to be able to control any nasties which might decide to take up residence. I'm eager to see how it holds up.

4 comments:

Stacey J. said...

I LOVE your little tree! perfect.

I am soooooo trying that lotion recipe. Can you add scents or will it mess it up?

Sherrie said...

You should totally be able to add scents without it going crazy. I added a few drops of Carrot Seed essential oil, and it worked like a charm. Synthetic fragrance oils should work, too. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Oh, now I really want to try making that lotion.

LOVE your minimalist tree! I'm a minimalist at heart and a horrible clutter-bug in real life. Ugh.

LOL at your "If you receive one, you can act surprised and as though you've never seen it before." comment!

madelyn said...

I've been 'out of the loop' for a while (prego and unable to sit at computer without wanting to throw up...)anyway I CANNOT believe how much your boy has GROWN!!!
He is so very cute.