some crochet & scrappy fun

Well, it seems as though spring is springing around my corner of the world. Just in the last handful of days, I've noticed several types of trees blooming already...even though it seems quite early to me. The sunsets have taken on their warmer weather look, at least to me. And the temps are certainly leaning towards a warm (and early) spring. Even though we still have 20 days left of winter, I find myself leaning into a spring direction...it's hard not to when nature is showing signs of buds, blooms, and birds singing in the morn. Before winter officially makes an exit until later this year, I wanted to share two of my most recent crafty projects that I got up to this winter.

Right before Christmas, I taught myself how to crochet a traditional Granny Square. I found myself catching on quite fast, as I had practiced different crochet techniques earlier in the autumn, which helped me a ton. I have since become Granny Square obsessed! I absolutely love the look of the traditional square and especially mixing different colors in for each round. I am working on a bigger project of a blanket, and right now I'm about one-fifth of the way done with the first part. However, when our winter storm came in late January, I was inspired to make a Granny Square headband using some random yarn I had in my stash from previous knitting projects. I chose a lovely lilac, blush rose, and a happy daffodil yellow. This was a quick project and an incredibly easy one...but let me tell you, I used that headband so many times during our cold spell. I have a collection of winter beanie-type hats, which I love wearing when my hair is down, but if I'm wearing my hair up, I prefer a hand band. I knitted myself one a few years back, and this crochet one really sparked joy for me. 

Another snowbound evening, I found myself rummaging through my stash of fabric scraps. There is quite a lot of fabric that I've had for years, and for one reason or another, much of it just isn't my taste anymore...but no need to waste it. I pulled out a bunch of bits of this and that if I loved the colors, and cut many, many, many strips. I found a wreath frame in my craft cupboard that I've also had for a long time...and so one frigid evening, with a good movie on in the warmth of my cozy living room, I set out attaching all those many fabric strips to the wreath frame. And the result was a very colorful, very scrappy rag wreath. It brings me so much joy every time I look at it.

Those two projects were the perfect one-night crafts for a couple cozy evenings. They were fun and relaxing and enjoyable in every way, cost me zero dollars as I already had the supplies in my stash (and they'd been sitting there for some time already), and I'm still enjoying them. Though the head band is probably tucked away until next winter, unless we get another cold spell. Which I would not be sad about. {{smiles}}

What have you created lately? What are your favorite sorts of creative projects? I've learned over the last while that I always gravitate towards craft projects involving yarn or fabric or embroidery floss or felt...and then my scrappy journaling, too, with lots of stickers and washi tape...what about you?

when the winter storm came . . .

Happy Sunday, readers!

It's hard to believe that just a couple weeks ago, we were snowbound. Completely unable to leave our home for eleven straight days. Thankfully, we didn't lose any power or have any trouble with our water or pipes, nor did we have any damage. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about other parts of my state. 

I admit that I had absolutely no problem with being snowed in for almost two weeks...in fact, I loved it. (I was thankful for the arrival of the big thaw as our fridge was looking quite sparse by that point, and I was looking forward to getting some groceries.) I thrive at home, so being snowed in was just my cup of tea. We did go outside every day, despite the frigid temps, for a walk around our neighborhood, all bundled up and toasty warm. We cooked comfort foods and enjoyed many mugs of hot cocoa and chai lattes and herbal tea. I crocheted and worked on my first quilt top and read...a good book and a rather disappointing read, too. We watched movies and stayed cozied up with our kitties. The older I get, the more I realize just how much of a homebird I am. I've always been a homey sort of girl, but as I get older, it becomes more and more evident to me...and this snowstorm proved it yet again. We were one of the only houses in our neighborhood without tire tracks on our driveway for almost two weeks...everyone else was getting stir crazy and restless and decided to take the risk of driving on very dangerous roads. Most workplaces were even closed or working remotely, schools were closed, no trash pickup or mail service...all for two straight weeks. It's funny because I always realize just how little our neighbors are actually home, but this really showed that. I honestly feel sad and quite disturbed by how miserable people are at home and how little they value such a sacred, special place. Anyways, I digress...

The snow we received was a rather icy sort of snow, as it was very wet and literally froze solid to the ground. With fluffy snow, your feet sink down into it and with this snow, we literally walked about a foot above the ground on top of the frozen packed snow. And almost two weeks later, even with much warmer temps than single-digits, and some rain, there is still some snow in places that are more shaded. 

For this week's post, I wanted to share some photos from our snowstorm of January 2026...

I've also compiled a collection of quotes for the homebird,

for a snow and winter lover and homebird like me, these are sheer perfection and I hope you enjoy!

Some people wonder why they rarely see me out. I wonder what's so bad at their house they always find a reason to be out.

Home isn't where I hide from life. It's where I actually live it.

I love being home. I love wearing my comfy clothes. I love doing absolutely nothing. Or doing the things I absolutely love. I love the silence. The solitude. The peace. The warm and calm feeling of being safe and content in my own comfy space. I just love it. I love it all.

I will add a side note here of my own...I love the "solitude" of being with my people...my dearest ones, people who I choose to be with, people who get and understand me, "my" people. So, no, it's not the conventional definition of solitude. But I'm not a lover of being alone...I like the "solitude" of "us". When you're with the right people, it's peaceful and calm, and lifegiving, and perfect.

Not everyone dreams of escapes. Some find magic in quiet corners, comfort in stillness, and joy in the rhythm of ordinary days. Home isn't a cage -- it's a sanctuary.

She's happiest at home doing ordinary things.

♥

There's nothing like staying home for real comfort. 

- Jane Austen -

Some strive for big vacations every year. I strive to create a home that I don't want to escape from.

 The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.

- Louisa May Alcott -

His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.

- The Hobbit, Tolkien -

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Thank you, lovely reader, for joining me on a little snowy excursion through our garden...

wishing you a beautiful week ahead!

our whimsical winter kitchen

Some people dread being cooped up in winter. 

Me? I'm happiest tucked right in.

(Unknown)

Welcome to our whimsical winter kitchen, reader friends! 

Our kitchen is one of the most important rooms in our home...along with our living room. Our kitchen is also one of our most used rooms. It is not a room that is meant to just sit there and look pretty. We have a thoroughly working kitchen. It gets used for three meals a day, along with other baking and cooking, food prep, non-food-related projects, among other things. It's also one of our most favorite rooms in our home, and we do, indeed, spend a lot of time in here. As soon as winter arrived in December, we set to making it a whimsical place to be during the winter months. 

In the dining area of our kitchen, we have a shelf that hangs on the wall, and each season, I enjoy decorating it with some of our collected pieces to fit that particular season. We've collected these decorations over a long time, and it's fun to pull them out each year and remember what all we have. The winter shelves look very cozy and seasonal, if I do say so myself. I went with lots of snowmen and a few other bits here and there. And, of course, you simply must have twinkly fairy lights!

And for an extra whimsical touch, we spent one December afternoon...and evening...and into the night after dinner cutting out lots and lots of paper snowflakes. Some were out of paper doilies from the Dollar Store and others were out of brown paper bags. We added crepe paper strung from the ceiling in wintry colors of dark blue, icy blue, and light purple. Those colors just seem to say snow to us.

Lots of snowflakes went on our window as well...I will not deny that I am obsessed with just staring at this view. Especially when there's snow outside...it just adds to the whole ambiance.

Winter is the time for home...♥

And not only do we enjoy our kitchen view from inside with the hanging snowflakes and crepe paper and fairy lights and decorated shelves, but the view from outside is quite lovely as well...there's nothing like the soft glow of light peeping through windows on a cold winter night. There's something so inviting, so welcoming, so homely, so warm and comforting, so "this is my favorite place in the whole wide world" about it.

Ah, yes, there's no place like home.

Thank you so much for visiting our whimsical winter kitchen. And yes, we have plans and ideas for a spring/summer vibe that we want to go for. When you have a kitchen and you're in it all the time, you might as well make it a fun, whimsical, wonderful place, don't you think?

three good reads

My first three reads of 2026 have been major wins! And I’m so happy and thankful for that!

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine was a fun, charming middle-grade mystery set in a department store. What a wonderful setting! I absolutely loved the four main characters that made up the amateur sleuthing friend group, and the storytelling felt like it was written long ago with all that old-fashioned charm and heart that too many books are lacking these days. 5 stars, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next one in the series.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 1 by Beth Brower was my official dive into the much beloved and talked about series. After hearing endless good things about it for a few years now, I decided to give it a try myself. I find a lot of hyped-up books just aren’t my cup of tea, but this one absolutely was. It was written so wonderfully…it felt like I was really reading the journal entries from a young woman back in the 1800s. It was funny and clever and just thoroughly enjoyable. I must get my hands on book two very soon! 5 stars.

Wormwood Abbey by Christina Baehr was another book that I’ve seen several trusted bookish folks talk about a lot over the last while. I really wanted to give it a try because it sounded so fun, but it had some fantasy elements…and I’ve never read anything like that before. Again, I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea…wrong was I! I absolutely, completely loved it! Edith and her family were some of my favorite things about this story…just the emphasis on family really shined through for me. And that’s a major winning factor in my book! The fantasy elements were fun, but not overwhelming, so for a newbie to the genre, like me, it was sheer perfection. Charming, mysterious, cozy, adventurous, sweet family relationships, awesome setting and descriptions, delightful storytelling and writing style…it was all there. And yes! I must get to book two soon! 5 stars!

Have you read and loved these books as much as I did? I’d love to hear your thoughts on them. And if you’ve read anything exciting so far this year, tell me about it!

a cup of kindness for 2026 ♥

"We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,

for auld lang syne."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Happiest New Year to you, my lovely reader friends! 

Here's to making 2026 a year of magic, beauty, whimsy, gentleness, and love.

Here's to expecting goodness, rekindling wonder, savoring simple pleasures,

growing in creative pursuits, walking in kindness...towards others and ourselves.

Here's to remembering that the ordinary is steeped in splendor and here's to taking the 

time to marvel at that splendor. Here's to pursuing gentleness, protecting softness,

taking time for quiet, and being content and rooted right where we are...because

right where we are is pretty extraordinary. Here's to taking time to dream and create and delight and wonder and laugh. Here's to "not ever stopping being whimsical"...as Mary Oliver said. 

Most of all, here's a cup of kindness from me to you...

wishing you the most wonderful year ahead.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not ever give

 anyone the responsibility of your life.

~ Mary Oliver ~

december 15: hot chocolate coziness

The Christmas season and the coziest time of year wouldn't be what they are without mugs of hot chocolate...and homemade marshmallows. This weekend, our temps dipped into the teens, which gave me absolute joy. And it was the perfect excuse to whip up a batch of our favorite homemade {pink} marshmallows, which we cut into mini Christmas trees, thanks to an old cookie cutter in our collection. And we curled up on the couch, put on a Christmas movie, and enjoyed hot chocolate in our new Christmas mugs. It was pure bliss! Our Christmas tree was lit and our (electric) wood burning stove was keeping us warm and toasty. Talk about the definition of festive coziness and comforts!

Snoopy was right..."nothing better than hot chocolate to get you through a cold day."

december 13: magical sunset

december 13

This photo is from Thursday evening...I stepped outside to get ready to hop in the car to run some errands, and everything was glowing in the most magnificent pink. It was like something out of a fairytale...and for certain, the most gorgeous sunset I'd seen in quite awhile. A beautiful reminder that magic is everywhere, if you look for it and pay attention. Nature sure is a wonder.

december 11: a very cozy collection ♥ christmas movie edition {vlog}

Hello, readers!

I'm back today with another Christmas video. In this one, I'm sharing my family's most favorite movies for the Christmas season. Many of these are childhood favorites of mine, filled with magical Christmas memories and nostalgia. I'd love for you to come by for a wee visit...I've got the kettle on just for you.

Join me here.

May your day be wonderful and filled with magic!

when you're a christmas cookie elf ♥ my baking diary

 

Welcome, dear readers!

  

 With Christmas baking fully commenced in many kitchens, I wanted to dedicate a post especially for the cookies that we baked two Christmases ago, as I never got round to sharing this. Every year, we have a few cookies that we make without fail. Then we enjoy picking out a few new recipes to try as well. And for the last several years, my sister has wanted to make a cookie box as a gift to our friends. So for the past couple years, she has taken charge and directed us in what needed to be done. I must say that her idea was splendid and the cookie box turned out beautiful!

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies...

a yearly standby ever since before I can remember.

My mom grew up with this exact recipe.

These were my dad's all-time favorite cookie, and this was our first time making them since he passed away. It was a weird moment not having him popping in the kitchen just as they were coming out of the oven (he always had impeccable timing with that!) and asking for a few on a plate, hot from the oven, and a tall glass of fresh milk. He liked them on the crispy side...I prefer soft cookies, myself.

 

Madeleines...

My sister made these for the first time two years ago and we loved them. I am obsessed! 

Last year, she coated them in melted dark chocolate and crushed candy canes. 

Christmas is sweeter with the smell of freshly baked cookies.

Gingerbread Spiced Mixed Nuts...

a new-to-us recipe that my sister found.

These smelled divine and tasted wonderful, too!

Chex  Mix...

My mom always makes this at Christmas and New Year's and a few times throughout the winter months. It's one of my favorite snacks!

Gingerbread Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting...

I've tried traditional gingerbread cutout cookies before but have yet to find a recipe that I really love. So last year, I decided to try something different. I found this recipe on Instagram one day and they were a huge hit. I didn't love them myself, but my mom, my sister, our neighbors and friends all loved them.

 

Peppermint Candy Canes...

my sister made these for the first time last year. 

I am obsessed with these! They are so stinkin' cute and they taste scrumptious! I love how nostalgic that look, too.

Chocolate Covered Peanuts...

I make a huge batch of these every Christmas and they last for a long time as we freeze them in small baggies for when we want one or two each after dinner. 

Christmas Cutout Sugar Cookies...

It had been years since I made these and I remembered them last year, and boy, am I glad! I *loved* making these. I sed a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Hope's Table. They were a softer sugar cookie, and the flavor was on point. I made a declaration that this is going to be one of my yearly standbys from now on!

Butter Cookies...

 (far right side)

This recipe has been in my mom's family for decades...probably close to a century. We've made it every year since I was little, and we usually use my grandmother's cookie press. But last year we forgot where we put it after last Christmas. Does that ever happen to you? You think what a great place you're putting something only to forget where you put it. So we simply made cookie balls and added sprinkles and cherries. One of the simplest cookies on the planet, but one of the tastiest, too. Our friend has to guard these whenever we give them to her as her niece loves them and eats them all when she comes to visit. Ha!

Florentines...

my sister made these for the first time and while she said they were a bit temperamental, they tasted marvelous!

 

Cranberry Pepita Buttermilk Bread...

I cannot tell you how amazing this bread was! My sister found this recipe and it was a hit. It was gorgeous and tasted so incredibly good. I really wish I had a piece right now!

 

Meringues...

another first for my sister. Another tricky cookie (maybe because of the humidity in our house?) but yummy all the same. 

People who love to eat are always the best people.

~ Julia Child ~

Keep your Christmas diet balanced...

a cookie in each hand.

Even though she was a grown woman,  

she believed in elves and Santa Claus

and flying reindeer and sacks with an endless capacity for toys.

Furthermore, she believed that believing in these

things was the chief reason that she had

more fun in life than others.

~ Unknown ~

(It's rare when I find a quote that so perfectly describes me, and this is one of them. Because, yes, I still believe. Perhaps even more that I did as a little girl, and I believed so strongly back then.)

Seeing isn't believing.

Believing is seeing.

~ Charlie, The Santa Clause ~

I found the most beautiful, perfect box at Target for my sister's cookie box idea. And while we knew it wouldn't fit all the cookies we made, it held quite a lot. My sister arranged everything, and then I made a little "menu" so our friend would know what everything was.

The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood.

~ Richard Paul Evans ~

 

My sister made a bunch of these paper origami stars last December. We used some on our tree and then we attached one to the spiced nuts that she packaged in this cute jar.

And I wrapped the loaf of bread in plastic wrap and decorated with a piece of plain parchment around the entire loaf and finished with one of the origami stars and a label.

And, finally, whatever cookies didn't fit in the box, we made into a cookie platter. We always give our friend LOTS of cookies as she has extended family come visit her at the holidays and while she loves home-baked Christmas cookies, she doesn't bake herself. So we get to bake as much as we want and then give lots of it away to her and her family, as well as our neighbors. It's the best of both worlds because it allows us to bake all we want and try new recipes and such without having to keep tons of cookies in our house. We keep enough for ourselves and then the rest is out of our house.

One of the best, most fun, and certainly one of the most magical parts of Christmas is spending time in the kitchen getting to be a Christmas cookie baking elf...and of course, the result is delicious, too!

Thank you for joining me today as I shared this little baking diary...

I am so excited to begin baking for this Christmas season. Our baking this year is going to be quite different from years past as we've changed our standards with baking and such. We now only use dates, maple syrup, honey, and coconut sugar and sucanat as our sweeteners, so we're going to be tweaking our old favorite recipes, as well as baking some newfound favorites. And perhaps, trying a new recipe or two, as well, because that's tons of fun. Ah! I can't wait!

What are you baking for the Christmas season? I'd love to hear!

december 7: sunday feasting

sunday feasting.

tonight i made this delicious baked ziti from the beautiful book. glad and golden hours. i served it alongside roasted asparagus, and it was the most perfect, comforting meal for a chilly december sunday evening. and it was the perfect fuel for taking down the autumn decorations in our home in preparation for decking the halls this week.

what did you have for dinner tonight?

december 4: a very cozy collection ♥ christmas book edition {vlog}

Hello, lovely readers! You are warmly invited to come visit me over at my little corner of YouTube for a cozy bookish chat in which I share my Christmas collection of favorites. Pour yourself a cup of something comforting, get comfy, and let's have a festive chat...

come visit me here.

May your day be a beauty!