sackcloth and ashes – Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs..

This year my friends and family have really leaned in to staying at home and finding ways to use this time – through creative projects and hobbies, to learning useful skills, and filling our spaces with life and things that make us happy and smile. These newfound passions are making their way onto holiday gifts lists in my circle, and I wanted to share with you a few of these ideas! (Amazon links are affiliate links, and marked with an *.)

A little bit of peace and happy

Crescent Moon Soap Making Set: This year I learned to make soap and I am loving it! I love the creative aspects, as well as the functional and resourcefulness of it. I love just going to my little stash that I have made and picking out the next bar that we are going to use. Brambleberry has a ton of kits and project suggestions for every interest. I love this crescent moon though..

Embroidery Kits: Ok so..there are three here. My favorites honestly, and the ones I added to my list for Billy to choose from. I hope to learn to embroider this year and these just seem so pretty. Wild and Free || Web || Moons

A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year: I have a book that is a poem for every night of the year, and we enjoy reading our poem every night. I think this would be a lovely way to start the day! *

Soapstone Carving Kit: My brother is a whittler, my stepdad was a whittler and woodworker; is there any more peaceful sounding endeavor? This soapstone kit looks like a great place to start.

Freshly made? Yes please

Handmade Sourdough Crock: The men I know have embraced cooking and food production this year, and this sourdough crock is gorgeous. King Arthur Flour has a few different versions, some that even include sourdough starter as well!

Bread Accessory Kit: I love this kit, it contains so many items for such a great price! A lame, a whisk, a bread bag..all for less than $25.00! *

Mead Making Kit: This is totally a Billy item. He wants to learn how to make mead and this kit makes it look easy! *

Things are growing

Wooden Propagation Station: Anyone else plant obsessed these days? My friends and I have started buying plants and sharing cuttings with each other. I am patiently waiting for my new cuttings to get here and I need one of these stations myself!

Marimo Moss Ball: Something else I am currently in love with. These marimo balls are so cute and can live for years and years, and are said to be lucky. Check out the website, it is worth reading and exploring!

Mushroom Kit: Grow your own mushrooms! We eat so many mushroom recipes over the fall and winter, that it would be handy to have some just ready and available in my own kitchen. (For a fantastic dinner, try the Mushroom Polenta from Rabbits and Wolves..) *

The Basics of Cozy

Men’s Pendleton Slippers: Billy hates having cold feet (well, I guess everyone does) and I love these slippers. They look perfect to slip into on those cold mornings and out of as well in the evening at bedtime.

Sackcloth and Ashes Blanket: I have one of these blankets (Camp Lake) and I love it. It is so soft and warm and bonus – the company donates blankets to homeless shelters!

Le Creuset Tea Mug: Also something I own and it is hands down my favorite to use, even with its little chip. It just has the perfect shape for holding, you know what I mean? It’s just a little thing that makes me happy everyday. *

Tom’s Plaid Slippers for Women: Because plaid is perfect in the winter. I like to wear slippers that are more fitted, probably because I am sort of klutzy and need my footwear to not give me anymore reason to trip. I like how trim and neat these look!

There are always subscription gifts as well! Cratejoy has a ton of ideas, and you can always buy a patreon for a year subscription if there is a maker they like to support! Also, gift cards for restaurants are a great idea for this year. We aren’t dining in but we are supporting our local eateries by ordering takeout!

I realize some of these suggestions are a little unusual, but so is 2020. I wanted to throw some of our loves and ideas out there, even to just get the ball rolling if anyone was looking for ideas! Even if these are not the items you are looking for, you may find the perfect thing on one of these websites!

Happy Shopping!!

The weather is finally turning here after having almost summer like temperatures persisting well past their season. The mornings are colder, the evenings have a bite, and it all makes me want to get all snuggly and cozy in my home, like some little squirrel. I see our neighborhood squirrels hopping and digging and searching out their food stores, getting ready to snug down for the winter. And I am getting us all ready too, maybe not quite for winter yet, but definitely for autumn coziness.

Drinking: My husband remarked the other night as we were settling down for the evening that it was getting to be tea season, and he is totally right. Our iced teas become hot teas this time of year, and I usually start placing our tea orders to have a ready supply on hand for these chilly nights. I will pick stuff up when I am at the store of course, but we have some favorites that I like to keep around. I love the Breakfast in Paris tea with its lavender notes and the refreshing mint of Moroccan Mint from Stash, while Billy is all about the Earl Greyer from Republic of Tea. I think Wyatt is going to try tea this year too. My grandma used to give my cousin and I weak tea heaped with milk and sugar and I felt so special. Maybe I will try that too with him this year, just a little taste of tea. If we are out and about on the weekends, we like to treat ourselves to London Fog Lattes at Starbucks. So worth keeping as a treat! We splurged last weekend and picked two up before we went to the bat festival.

Wearing: Sweaters of course!! I usually hit up the thrift stores looking for their softest, most comfortable looking sweaters to lounge about in, but Target has a cardigan that looks super comfy that I plan on picking up on one of my next Target runs (embarrassingly I usually hit up Target once a week..) and Modcloth has a fox sweater that I absolutely need.. Although I do need help with leggings – I don’t really own any and maybe I need to get a pair? Any suggestions?

Using: Blankets! I have had to pull all of our extra blankets out of storage and get them ready to throw on when needed. We have our heirloom quilts that my great-grandmother and my friend’s great-grandmother made, in our bedroom for those afternoon naps, and a few random throw blankets we have picked up as the years have passed. We are such throw blanket people though that we are thinking of splurging on a blanket from Sackcloth and Ashes – although we are undecided between Camp Forest and Camp Lake. We still have our quilt that we use as a picnic blanket but I am thinking about getting one that is more all weather since the ground is a bit colder and I want to continue with some picnics into fall. We are also burning candles again. I don’t usually burn candles in spring and summer, but fall and winter call for candles. The glow of their light is as warming as the heat from the flame, and add to the ambiance of coziness. (and so very hygge, remember hygge? I still swear by its principles) I don’t have any particular brands that I stick with, I just pick them up as we are shopping (probably at Target! lol) but I go for woodsy or apple, cinnamon, or pumpkin scented ones. Yum! Wyatt loves to help me pick them and smells them all, wrinkling his little nose so cutely.

Reading: I am such a seasonal reader. It is so hard for me to read a book that doesn’t fit my mood or the season. So this time of year I read cozy mysteries like Barbara Michaels and the one I just read by Eva Gates, thrillers and scary books, non-fiction that feels like autumn to me. I also turn to comfort reads, like the Little House series and Harry Potter. I read to Wyatt Halloween and fall books, we talk about the leaves and pumpkins and animals and how they get cozy just like us, all snug in a bug and safe and sound.

Because isn’t that how cozy feels? Safe and sound and like being wrapped in a hug.