Spanish Alphabet Letters

You probably know that my latest obsession is felt. If I could have every color of felt in the world, I would be overwhelmed with joy. I've been working on a felt alphabet series that is turning out so cute. They feature bold brown letters, adorable little cutouts, and words embroidered in Spanish (very fun!). Hopefully browsers on Etsy find them to be as cute as I think they are.

Shopping Cart Fun

My Friday routine usually includes grocery shopping, which often irritates me, depending on how busy the store is and if they have everything I need. This past Friday, I had a new, and extremely positive experience. I used a mini-cart for the first time. (I just tried to find a picture of one on Google Images, but no luck.) If you haven't seen them, they have two small baskets, one on top of the other. They are much shorter than a traditional shopping cart, and the baskets aren't as deep. For gals such as myself who do not like maneuvering a big shopping cart or carrying very heavy things in a basket, this was the perfect alternative.

The point of this story? More stores should get these new small carts.

Wow, Another Honor

Today when I got home from school, I had a message on my Etsy store page. I've been included in the Upstate Fancy Handmade Holidays Gift Guide. An embroidery piece I made is pictured under the "home gifts" section of the website. I'm so excited! The second picture is of another project I made to coordinate with the first.

Dog Coat

So my dear friend connected me with her sister's dogger, who was in need of a lovely winter coat. Here's how it turned out. Darby and owner are pleased, so I'm thrilled. I'm thinking dog apparel could make it's way to toodleooo pretty soon.

Now that you mention it, I am a really good blogger.

I would really like to thank my dear sister for making me the winner of this award. She knows how much I like to win, anything really.

So, the rules indicate that I should now share with you all six things I love. Can do.

1. Eating meatballs or Chinese with my husband. We're just so darn content when we're eating delicious food and relaxing. (And I make really good meatballs.)

2. Crafting, and more specifically, sewing. I love making cute things for my home, or for anyone else who likes hand-crafted items. I do have to give credit for this to my grandma. She showed me how to do my first sewing project at the age of four by giving me a piece of denim, a needle and thread, and access to her button jar. I was so proud of myself for making it. Hmmm, I wonder if Jon G. still has that.
My latest sewing project.

3. Visiting people for a day or two. I'm not a traveler. I have no desire to be away from my home for long periods of time, but I do like to spend weekends with some of my favorite people, usually Vanilla Bean Counter or my forever friend.

4. Cleaning. Yes, I know, it's totally dorky, but I really do love making my home clean and bright. It feeds my addiction to organization and neatness, and it makes me feel like I'm in charge of my world. I just wish things would stay clean longer.

5. Thinking about having a little house. As graduation approaches, I find myself becoming more and more obsessed with thinking about where we'll live next year. Can we buy a house? I better look in case we can. Then I should think about how to decorate it. I could paint the walls and go to the fabric store and look for bedding. The possibilities are endless. I would like to thank my older sister for introducing me to this, as she is practically a professional house hunter and obsessor.

6. Bagels. I could eat them all the time. My favorite way is to make a bagel sandwich with egg, cream cheese, and bacon.

Mas Calcetines de Navida

¡Soy una máquina de calcetines de Navidad! Para comprarlos, visitas Toodle-ooo.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Here's my latest stocking for Etsy. I just sold my second item, and it's inspiring me to create more. I think this may be my cutest one yet. If you're in need of a lovely snowman stocking, please visit www.toodleooo.etsy.com

Apple Pie

I decided to use my morning off of work to make an apple pie, one of my specialties. My cooking skills are somewhat limited, (I'm thinking of disasters such as my chocolate mousse attempts) but the things I can make (meatballs, for example) are quite tasty, if I must say. So, here is my caramel apple pie. If you're wondering about the black metal thing in the pan, it's a wonderful gadget from Williams Sonoma. You just bake it with the pie under the crust, and like magic, the first slice of pie is lifted from the pan with ease. Also, I had to take this opportunity to show you my donkey salt and pepper holder to let you know not to take your salt and peppers too seriously. Life is more fun with donkeys.
Today's pie-making has me thinking about the holiday season. Joshua and I will be attending Thanksgiving at his aunt's house, and this apple pie, along with a pumpkin pie will be my contributions to the meal. I love pies; people are always so impressed with them, even though they really aren't all that tricky to make.

Our First Halloween Party

Thinking back to my childhood, I can only remember one other Halloween as nice as last night. The weather was perfect (no giant winter coat under the costume needed), and Joshua and I were lucky enough to be invited to the 3rd Annual Little Halloween Party. We went as Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo. It was a fun evening spent with good friends and lots of delicious food. (I think Joshua ate about twenty chocolate peanut butter cupcakes, while my weakness was the cheese fondue.) We're already looking forward to next year. It's Joshua's turn to choose the costumes, so I'm sure we'll be superheroes of some sort.