I see snow! Today as I traveled over Snoqualmie Pass, I saw snowflakes falling, misty fog shrouding snow-covered evergreens, and sun sparkling on frosted hills… I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures. It may not be the best photo, but the view of snow just thrilled me today.
But I’m sharing more than snow, because I am seeing more than snow!
(All the following photos link to their source blogs — click! — and belong to their respective owners, not me.)
At completelydelicious.com, the pictures make me want to get baking and cooking! The trendy bakers twine and the placement of the hanging hole really update this classic cinnamon craft dough!
Snow really puts me in the holiday spirit. It got me thinking… what other things have made a big holiday impact on me this year? Second only to snow, and bumping Christmas lights down to third *gasp*, are the holiday pictures and projects from the blogs that I follow!
hopeandjoyhome.blogspot.com always brings back memories with retro collectibles, and
I can count on it for lots of color and creative design ideas.
I don’t necessarily read all the super popular mega-blogs — they’ve earned their place but that doesn’t mean they fit everyone. However, I truly enjoy what I see on the blogs that I do read. After all, that’s why I read them!
My blog reading list… something somewhere along the way led me on a path — a sometimes very convoluted, computer-stalling clicking spree of a path — to these blogs. (I’m a bit of an ADD web-surfer ;) ) Once there, I found inspiration, enlightenment, maybe a kindred spirit… I liked what I read, looked at, and the feeling I left with.
At madiganmade.com, find projects for your home that are glitzy but elegant,
simple but sophisticated. (and lots of chocolate talk)
I’m not the most regular return-visitor to my favorite blogs either, but when I settle in for a blog-reading episode I have that feeling you get on Christmas morning!
What will I find? When I click that link it’s just like opening a present! Will it be something useful I’ll keep for a long time? A good recipe on a blog can be the equivalent of that navy Tommy Hilfiger cotton cable-knit sweater my mom gave me years ago (except she thinks it’s used up; I think it has character; we’re probably each half right!)
Pistachio Dark Chocolate Shortbread recipe from A Spicy Perspective
(aspicyperspective.com) This particular post and its pictures
tipped me over the edge into full-holiday-attitude!
Or when I click on that link, will I find a quick thrill? Something like a 50 piece jigsaw puzzle in my stocking — something that brings Joy to look at or think about in that moment?
bigBgsd.blogspot.com features original stitching design collections done in pretty colors! This time of year, it is nice to be reminded that good results do not have to come from complicated processes.
We have the chance to live in a highly enriched creative world because of the internet and blogging.
Whatever I find under my Google Reader tree, I’m always grateful for the thought and effort it took to make those blog posts happen!
thelovelycupboard.com has a tutorial from last year for these wrappings, but she used them again this year in her “lovely” holiday decorating. Love that brown paper, especially when it is dressed up so cleverly.
I hope you have enjoyed some perfectly acceptable re-gifting here, as I shared some of the fresh 2012 ideas, recipes, and styles have made me Ooooh!, Aaaaah!, and Squeeee! this season. What do you see? Share yours with us in the comments!
Here are a few more. (This list is like that present your mom finds at the end of the day and just hands over to you) ;)
http://cookiedecorating.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/retro-style-christmas-cookies/ Pretty cookies, perfectly done! … and I don’t mean the baking.
http://leblogdefrivole.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-about-this-one-and-wonder-tool.html Simply wonderful to look at, intensely complicated to accomplish! This tatter has mad skills and makes great anatomically correct snowflakes!
http://fivegoldenletterings.blogspot.com/ I mentioned this previously. Writing out key holiday words in glitzy gold is worth doing!
http://sinnenrausch.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/schneegluck.html “The beauty of silence” The silence is one of the things I enjoy about snowfall! You can not-hear it here!
http://www.food.com/recipe/Cranberry-Bliss-Bars-Starbucks-Copycat-203229 I know, I know, but I love ’em!
http://www.katiesrosecottageblog.com/2012/12/simple-christmas-decorating-ideas.html I loved exploring the decorating approach and techniques used by this talented designer!
And Do You Hear What I Hear? It’s the oven timer going off on another panful of cookies! Until next week…
Merry Happy!
Gail
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