My Favourite Articles This Week
some tips and tricks to navigate the winter blues.
12 tips for how to end a conversation.
How to figure out your most productive hours of the day.
on navigating the holidays after a loss.
My Favourite Links This Week
I love pesto, but did you know you can make a very healthy (and easy, and cheaper- because walnuts are half the price of pine nuts!) pesto with broccoli and walnuts? Still has lots of lovely parmesan, basil, and olive oil, so it’s a perfectly comforting dinner for winter weeknights, if you ask me. Find the recipe here.
This gingerbread spiced loaf looks SO good to me! just rich and full of the flavour of the holidays, and more decadent than gingerbread cookies. A special dessert, for sure. Maybe just right for the holidays, or company? Recipe can be found here.
This little air dry clay DIY is so pretty and much easier than I thought it would be- it includes templates and detailed instructions. I don’t have the space for a whole mantle of these pretties, but one day! Find the great DIY right over here.
How adorable are these crocheted amigurumi mug ornaments?! The pattern is free, and there’s still time to whip up a couple of these for your tree, or a gift topper, or just because! Find the patterns for these cuties right here.
In the most recent issue of Taddle Creek, I have an essay about winter and the holiday season, as well as a tutorial for sewing these eco -friendly and REALLY easy microwaveable hand warmers! They are a snap to make, and are great for using up leftover cotton fabric you have kicking around (linen works too- just has to be all natural fibers, so that you can microwave it!). I hope you will give the piece a read, and maybe even make the hand warmers! Find it all right here.
It feels like it can’t possibly be true, that Christmas is SO close! I can’t be the only one who feels completely unprepared and behind on the season, am I? I find that funny, because it’s not like the date moves around or is truly a surprise, but how quick the days go, and the unexpected work or family things that come up, I never seem to budget quite enough time for all of those! It feels impossible that next Friday is Christmas Eve, and the Friday after that is New Years Eve…. I would like a few extra days, please! Preferably before the holidays so I can finish my shopping. 😉
Wishing you all a wonderful end of December, and hopefully some restful time at home, relaxing.
xo Julie
Those hand warmers are so cute! And I could definitely use a few more days before Christmas is upon us! A week even, maybe two!?
Thank you so much for that link to the article on performing happiness. It hits perfectly about your child’s worth (or anyone’s really) and disabilities. (your link loves are a highlight of my week, by the way).
I made “foot warmers” for our family quite some years ago – and we used them for years. They were like your hand warmers, but larger pillows that we put at the foot of our kids’ bed at bedtime. (For that use, I made rice bags and then little “pillowcases” for them that could be washed occasionally.) Cozy!