Individual pies

Raise your hand if you like seeing individualized pies as the new beloved treat trend these days? I am a pie kind of girl so I am especially loving this! What about you? Do you have a pie weakness? I like that they are miniature which instantly heightens the cuteness factor, they don't have to be shared because everyone can have their very own, they can be packaged beautifully in a box or jar and they are well... just rad. Who wouldn't love to get one of these tasty pie treats delivered by a friend or neighbor?

Cool thing is they wouldn't be hard to make or package. Make your own recipe and pick up some pre-made pie shaped packages here, find out more about scrumptious looking potted pumpkin pies by Brooke here, and thanks to a tip from Joanna if you don't feel like getting dirty in the kitchen, you can even buy pies all good to go from All Jarred Up! Also if you are in L.A. you can find sweet little pies like this.

(images : stephmodo / inchmark / All Jarred up)

Paul Smith + Striped Mini

Instead of the slug bug game, we play the 'Mini' game and our daughter loudly shouts "MINI" whenever we see one on the road. We miss our little ole' Mini that we used to have so when I see stuff like this ad campaign for Paul Smith kids 2011 I get a little bit nostalgic. I love the way they filled up the mini with stripes, and that it even goes on tours! How fun is that?! Talk about clever iconic marketing.



(via smudgetikka // photos by Sandro Sodano + Paul Smith)

Friday flowers

A fistful of freesia, oddly out of season but still fragrant and graceful.

{freesia, table}

They're one of my favorites so I couldn't resist even though they seem a bit out of place when you can see Christmas lights twinkling in the background.

{freesia}

Another packed weekend coming up, but then I should have a few quiet days next week. I have lots of kitchen time planned and hopefully I'll manage to fit some sewing in as well. We're going super minimal with gifts (none between D and me, stockings only with the family), so I don't have much to do in that department but it's always nice to get a few little things made up.

Santa Visits Florence

Happy Friday, Dan Wells writing...I hope this note finds you well and in good spirits. Today's blog is my tribute good ole Florence!

If you have ever talked to anyone who doesn't live in or near Cincinnati and you mention that you live around Florence, Kentucky chances are pretty good that the first thing to leave their mouth will be "Oh, by the Florence, Y'all water tower?"

Yep, that's it!
But these days, good old Florence has a lot more to offer than just its infamous tower.


Florence has a newly remodeled Mall Road, and a ton of new stores inside the mall, (my wife loves these new stores...and what makes her happy makes me happy) including H&M and Sephora, which has now made its home on the second floor of JCPenny's.

If you happen to be shopping with kids in tow, take a break and enjoy a visit with one of the best Santas in the city.

Disclaimer: He looks real, he sounds real, sometimes I question him myself.

After working up an appetite,(you have to eat after shopping or at least that's my reasoning) your choices for lunch and dinner have broadened, there's a new Chick-Fil-A, Chili's, City Barbeque, and Chipolte on Burlington Pike across from the Boone County Library.....Giddy UP!!!!

So the next time someone makes the reference between Florence and the water tower, be sure to let them know that this great little community has quite a lot to offer!

Happy Holidays - and welcome to Florence Y'all

Dan

Nudo Gift Boxes

Looking for a beautifully designed food gift box?! Wouldn't these Nudo gift boxes be a perfect gift for a foodie? See them all here.

Felt clouds

Just for fun, because I have lots of things that I actually should be doing and I like to procrastinate ...

{felt cloud}

I made some cloud ornaments out of white felt and some leftover silver vinyl from the wreath project. I just sketched out some clouds, cut two of each out of felt and one slightly smaller out of the silver. Handstitched everything and stuffed it with a bit of cotton batting.

{mini cloud}

Clouds don't really have anything to do with Christmas, of course - I just like the shapes.

{tree with clouds}

Ikea Christmas

We made a very quick stop at Ikea because D needed to pick up something for work. It would have been even quicker, except that I found this fabric and then had to find someone and convince them to cut it for me. I got red and blue.

{ikea loot}

Ikea fabric is almost always 59" wide, which makes it perfect for easy tablecloths. I was in love with this pattern the moment I saw it and it's even better when you see it in full scale. Like many of the Ikea fabrics, it's a gorgeous 100% cotton that's hefty enough to be close to canvas. Clearly worth much more than the $4.99 a yard that it actually costs. 

{snoa flinga fabric, photo from Ikea}

I took the last of the red at the Orange County Ikea, so my apologies to anyone who tries to find it there. Hopefully they'll restock. They also have placemats in the same pattern.

We picked up a few of these moose wine gift bags and a couple rolls of wrapping paper. Even though I keep trying to get away from wrapping paper, I like to have good patterns on hand.

My love of Ikea fabric is pretty well documented ...
first visit to Ikea fabric section
Ikea tablecloth 1
Ikea tablecloth 2
Ikea tablecloth 3

To be fair, it is pretty amazing fabric. The fact that it's starting to take over my credenza storage space is going to become an issue at some point.