Holiday Sale

I thought it was a good time for a holiday sale. So, from now until December 13th purchase anything from Olive and Ruby totaling $25.00 or more (before shipping) and you will receive a 2010 Wall Calendar absolutely free!

Happy Holidays!

Flickr Favorites -Giving Thanks

1. Reflecting on the things we are thankful for...now this one makes 500 on explore! MANY thanks, 2. Falling for Bokeh, 3. Brooksby Farm Adventure 1, 4. Thanksgiving Cookies

It's that time of year already! I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. Tomorrow my little family and I will be heading north to spend Thanksgiving with the rest of my family. It should be a fun filled holiday weekend (though I am not looking forward to the colder weather).

I'd write more, but I have been put in charge of making four batches of cookies which I haven't even started yet!

I hope everyone else has a Happy Thanksgiving as well!

If you want to make your own flickr favorites, hop on over to Mitsy's blog and sign up!

Under The Weather

First I was feeling sick. Then Lee started feeling sick. Then I got better, and Lee got worse. After a few doctors appointments and lots of poking and prodding, we determined that I had a 24hr. bug, and Lee had a Lupus flair up.

Having gotten myself sorted out, we were thinking of things for Lee to do while he was recovering from his bout of illness. 

Lee is kind of a plant freak. I mean that in the nicest way, but seriously, our house is overflowing with plants. The only plant I am attached to is the orchid we have managed to keep alive (and bloom) for 3 years. We (mainly he) also tend to a variety of outdoor plants during the spring and summer months.

It got me thinking that he might like to put a terrarium together. Let me tell you, this is the best gift to get a person who needs to occupy some time with something fun! I purchased the glass container myself (it's from Crate and Barrel) and got a terrarium kit off of this lovely etsy seller. She was SO helpful in getting everything together for this little surprise gift! I like the idea of a terrarium because it requires little to no attention on my part after it is made, and Lee can enjoy all of its plant-y goodness.

Here is our new terrarium:

 

And a close up of the inside:

So if you ever find yourself under the weather and in need of some fun activities, I highly recommend putting a terrarium together! 

New Cards

Pine Cone and Needles Notecards

Poinsettia Holiday Notecards

Three Little Stockings Notecards

I've finally been able to share some new cards with all of you! Two of them are holiday inspired, and one is a blank card inspired by the wintery months. You can find all of them here. I love them all, but my personal favorite is the pine cone cards. :)

Flickr Favorites -(re)Decorate!

1. Decorated Cookies, 2. craft room, 3. Spring inspired shelfs, 4. Snowflake Curtain

Sorry for the lack of posts recently folks. I've been so busy with life that my little blog has been left out to dry. I promise (even in the midst of the holiday season) to amp it up a bit! And those two words got me thinking. Which two words you ask?Holiday. Season. This is just the busiest time of the year in my household. I have to tend to my two little etsy shops, my home, and my family, and (if I can) me. 

With less day light it has become infinitely more difficult to get the dogs out for their daily walk to Valley Forge. Owning only one car means I can't do it unless my husband is not at work. 

With family in and out of our house for holiday visits, the clean-up tasks have become infinitely more time consuming.

In the winter my husband has a far greater chance of getting seriously ill because his immune system is suppressed (from having lupus and chronic kidney failure). This of course means I can't get sick, because then I run the risk of giving it to him! And yep, right now I am sick. I clocked in with a fever of 101 yesterday.

And despite all of that I still want to decorate the house for the upcoming holiday(s). We don't do Thanksgiving here so I really mainly want to decorate for Christmas. 

I really want to make those snowflake curtains in picture four, but I am not that talented of a paper snowflake cutter.

I really want to frost cookies with the technical skill of picture number one, but the most I can hope for is that the cookies might taste okay. (I'm no master chef.)

I guess for now all I can do is admire these works on here while I dream of the day when I can decorate with such flair!

Want to play along? Hop on over to Mitsy's blog and sign up!

Flickr Favorites -Friends

1. "you've got a friend", 2. Dancing Rainbow, 3. What is a friend? 1 soul in 2 bodies, 4. "Friendship with oneself is all-important because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world."

Did you see that Mitsy picked my flickr favorites from last week as her favorite? Thanks Mitsy, that was sweet! It's amazing to me the friendships I've formed since starting my journey on Etsy. I may not know all of you personally, but you are all still dear friends! Thanks!

If you want to play along this week, hop on over to Mitsy's blog and sign up!

YUM

A few weeks ago Miss Mitsy (aka-Artmind) put up a tutorial/recipe on her blog for a crumble. Having enjoyed apple crisp for years I thought I would give this a whirl. It has a lot of different fruits and nuts in it as opposed to straight up apple crisp.

Then I was informed that I couldn't put in any walnuts or almonds. Apparently when you have kidney failure (as my husband does) nuts are up there in the 'do not eat' category. (shouldn't I have that list memorized after 4years?)

So I was left wondering what to put in with the 'crumble' part. I chose to substitute the nuts in the crumble with oatmeal and it is goooood! We also took out the raisins but that is mostly because I don't like any baked goods with raisins in it.

Our customized Crumble consisted of:

Bartlett Pears

Granny Smith Apples

Dried Apricots (only a few as these are a kidney 'no no' as well)

Oat Meal

and then the flour, sugar, butter mix for the top.

Here is the before shot:

And here it is moments before going into my mouth:

I really recommend you trying out the recipe. This is delicious with the extra fruits mixed in! Someday I hope I can try it with the walnuts and almonds too, though the oatmeal was a pretty great fill in. Thanks for sharing Mitsy!

Flickr Favorites -What I Like

1. old book series, 2. Vintage Bicycle in Salem, Massachusetts, 3. Shetland Sampler, 4. Vintage Bicycle Cards

Everyone has something they just love to do. Something that calms them. Something they can enjoy with friends and family. Something that makes them smile. These are mine (in no particular order):

1) Riding my bike out in Valley Forge for as many miles as my legs will let me

2) Knitting (and now crocheting too!)

3) Playing games. Especially card games, with my family.

4) Reading. I love the classics.

What do you love?

ps. If you want to play along, head on over to Mitsy's blog and sign up!