5, 4, 3, 2, 1 things about me!

While 2011 is wrapping up, I'm taking Craft:'s call to share my 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 things. So here goes:

One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of

Without a doubt Handmade Miami! I never thought I'd be part of starting a craft group here in Miami, but I'm so glad I did. I still can't believe that in under 2 years it has turned into what it has become. It's given me the chance to teach my craft and learn from so many others. Plus I've met some great people and have made some truly awesome friends. Crafty friends are awesome, they just get you!


Two Mistakes You've Made in the Past
1. Doing the wrong kind of craft shows. I've signed up for tons and some are great and some are not. Now, after all of the experience of doing so many, I can tell which ones are a good fit for me. Without doing the bad shows I would never know what the good ones are though.
2. I gave myself a lovely cut along my thigh while rotary cutting on my bed and accidentally leaving the blade open. I didn't even notice til I saw blood. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad (and I didn't bleed on the fabric). I've learned now to always close the rotary cutter between cuts!!

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique

 1. The retro vibe

2. Bright colors and fun prints

3. Great quality. I make my stuff to be as good or better than store bought.

Four Tools You Love to Use

1. my sewing machine, "Sewphia"

 2. rotary cutter

 

3. my bias tape maker! best machine ever

4. a sharpened dowel (for turning out straps)

Five Inspirations

1. The show Mad Men. The awesome 60s fashions are just amazing... and I can't get enough of Joan, Peggy or Don Draper!

2. Fabric. I have an entirely too huge stash of it just waiting to be worked on. When I see a cool print I just have to have it.

3. Pinterest. I've become a pinning queen. I have an entire board dedicated to "crafty tutorials I will complete one day."

4. Blogs. I read all kinds of blogs: fashion, food, craft, makeup, just general, but they all inspire me. Seeing what others are doing and/or making really inspires me to get out there and do it too.

5. Old pictures. I have tons of old pics of the family. These pics are awesome real-life inspiration. The fashions and hairstyles are so amazing.

 

So that's my 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 things...  Grab the button and add your 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 to your blog too!

Noche Buena 2011

Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) is when the big dinner is for my family. And it's the typical Cuban/Puerto Rican feast: lechon, congris, yuca, pasteles, pan y ensalada (that's roast pork, black beans and rice--cooked together, yucca, Puerto Rican tamales, bread and salad).

My godfather, Patiti, was doing the pig this year. It was still cooking up in the caja china when we got there. The caja china is a roaster, were you put the pig on a tray and then cover the box and top it with charcoal. This makes a kind of oven and you can roast a whole pork with no problem. Plus it comes out so delicious. While Mr. Piggie kept on cooking, we sat and chatted with the family enjoying some cocktails... some even included my Cranberry-Orange Infused Vokda.

Mom & Pop

Abuela & Me

Tia Erenia & Abuela

waiting for pig time

Finally the pig was ready and it was time to get him out of the box. My brother, Angel, and cousin, Marc, helped Patiti get the pig out and then carve it up. It looked so delicious.

Here's a hint if you're ever at a pig roast. Just go take pics of the pig being taken out and you can sneak a taste when the cooks sneak a taste too. It was super hot, but really yummy.

Inside the house in the kitchen, Mom was peeling up some pasteles she had made. Then the rest of the food made it out to the food table and it was time to eat.

Such a great spread! It also included my Mom's famous mojito (not the drink, but the condiment), to pour all over the yuca and the pork. 

After dinner we had some shots of coquito. Coquito is kind of like Puerto Rican egg nog but coconut-y and with lots of rum. You take it in small shot form, not a big cup like egg nog. (Sorry I don't have pics of it!)

It was another great Noche Buena with family and delicious food.

How was everyone else's Christmas? I hope you all ate well, enjoyed your family and had fun with your presents from Santa!

Handmade Christmas gifts

Now a year couldn't go by without me making some gifts for the season. So this past Sunday, after I dropped off Grandma at her Christmas sisters brunch, I got busy and got to making my handmade goodies.

I used to make cookies for all of my friends and co-workers every year. But my boss makes these amazing cookies that he's famous for, so I had to switch it up. After making cake pops at the  Handmade Miami cake pop crafter-noon we had earlier this year, I though they would make a great gift for my co-workers. So I baked off a chocolate cake and got down to business.

I was browsing Bakerella's site and the Christmas cake pops she had were so cute! I was gonna try to make the reindeer ones, but I forgot to buy the red candies for the noses, so I made the santa hats instead. Once I got the hang of it it wasn't that hard. The worst part was the dipping. After I was all done, I found out that I should've thinned out the candy melts with some shortening. Oh well, maybe next time. I made about 15 santa hats and got over the triple dipping it required, so then I just made round cake pops. I made a full batch, which is about 55 (I got 57, but had a few cake pop casualties along the way).

I wrapped up the cake pops and attached a cute little tag and handed them out at work. Everyone went crazy for them. And how cute do they look?

While my cake balls were chilling, I had time to make some cranberry orange vodka for my friends. I can't take credit for this, it's all Martha. The recipe is so easy. I made two batches and was able to fill the two smaller and one larger bottle. You just have to do this with a few days of advance notice of when you're gifting it, because it needs at least 3 days (the more the better) to infuse.

So those are this year's handmade gifts (so far at least). Are any of you handmaking any gifts this year?

Knaus Berry Farm

This weekend my parents and I took a drive way down south to Homestead to go to Knaus Berry Farm. It's a farm and they have u-pick strawberries and tomatoes when the season allows. But they also have a farm stand store and the real draw here is the baked goods. They make all kinds of goodies and Mom wanted to get some cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast the next week.

the farm stand/store

We left pretty early to avoid the lines. The lines for cinnamon rolls on the weekends can be really killer there. We waited in line and Mom checked out the local produce they were selling on the other side of the store. It all looked so good.

Once you got closer to the inside of the store you got the smell of all of the baked goods. It's intoxicating. The real draw are the sticky cinnamon and pecan rolls, but they also have jams, local honey, pies and fresh breads. There is also have a little ice cream and milkshake stand too. But 8:30am is just too early to have a milkshake (at least for me it is).

We got to the front and behind the window were racks and racks of cinnamon rolls. It feels like they never ended. We got some to have that day, and Mom got some frozen ones for Christmas day. We also got some Mountaineer bread, which was delicious.

On our way back home, we stopped at Pop's mecca, Harbor Freight. Harbor Freight is to Pop as JoAnn's is to me & Mom. It's a ridiculous huge hardware store, more like a big Ace Hardware than a Home Depot type of place. But unfortunately, they didn't have small mechanic/work gloves that would be able to fit me. :(

After that the smell of warm cinnamon rolls was filling up the car, so we headed home to sample the goodies we bought. That breakfast was well worth the drive and the wait.

Are there any cool local farm stand type places you like to go to in your area?

Holiday gift guide

Yeah this may be kinda late, but after seeing all of the gift guides out there, I had to share my own!

So here are some holiday gift ideas (that are reasonably priced):

For your Mom:
This is what my mom asked Santa for this year. And from what I've heard its awesome. Why not get your mom the book and the movie?

The Help (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

$24.99 on Amazon

For your Dad (or Pop, like I call my dad):
Ok, so all these gift guides tell you to get your dad golf accessories or ties or tools. This stuff doesn't work with my dad. He doesn't golf, has no use for more ties and has every tool known to man. But Pop loves history stuff, especially anything about "the War" (that's WWII). He has this book and really loves it.

The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose

$15.35 on Amazon

For your brother:
I have two brothers. Two people that I always have a helluva time shopping for. They are musicians, but they have every musical instrument and gadget known to man. But how about this awesome gadget wallet? It even has a pick pocket. They can keep all their stuff together with this.

Nerd Herder gadget wallet

$29.00 on rockitbot on Etsy

For your grandma:
My grandma loves puzzles, she does about one a week. And they can't be too easy or she just won't like it. This one is pretty and at 1000 pieces, it should keep her busy for a while... well, at least a week.

La Grande Jatte 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle

$15.98 on Amazon

For the little boys in your life:
Who doesn't love Legos? This starter kit is pefect for any little guy to start building.

LEGO Bricks & More My First LEGO Set

$15.99 at Toys R Us

For the baby girls in your life:
Every girl needs a pair of Mary Janes and just cause you're a baby shouldn't mean you shouldn't look fashionable too. Aren't these too adorable for words?

Mary Janes Crochet Baby Shoes

$12.50 on Naptime Stitches on Etsy

For your BFF:
My BFF can't get enough notebooks, pens and pencils. Why not get her a pretty notebook she wouldn't get herself?

Crewel Embroidery Fabric Covered Journal

$19.95 on Barnes & Noble

NOTE: To my family and friends that may be reading this. These may or may not be the gifts I have gotten for you. Any similarity to gifts past or present is purely coincidental.

I hope you have all at least started your shopping for this holiday season. And if you haven't I hope my gift guide gave you some ideas to get started.

Epcot time

Earlier this week, my friend Melissa and I took a little mini-vacation up to Disney World. I love going to Disney World! That was usually our family vacation when I was younger, and I just never get sick of that place.

We stayed on property at the All Star Movies Resort. We were in the Love Bug building.

in the winner's circle outside our hotel building

When we got there on Tuesday, we went to Downtown Disney to shop a bit and then went over to the Boardwalk for dinner. The Boardwalk is another resort on the Disney property and it was so cute. I had only ever been there years ago when I was in college to go to a swing dance at the dance hall there (it was the time that swingers came out). The restaurants were so cute and the atmosphere was great. It was so nice out there.

on the Boardwalk

The next day we want to Epcot (or Epcot Center, as old school me likes to call it). I'm geeky, so I love the sciencey-ness of Epcot. And we saw it all. All the future world attractions and then we hit the world showcase. We traveled around the world in an afternoon. And even though it was raining, we enjoyed some pastries and wine and saw all of the countries. We got to all of the attractions, well almost all, since theMalestrom was broken when we got there.

Epcot at Christmastime

talking on the phone in the "UK"

on the streets of "France"

having some sparkling rose wine

at the Fez House in "Morocco"

more hats in "China"

on the streets of "Germany"

meeting Jasmine & Aladdin

It was freezing when we left on Thursday morning (freezing for this Miami-an is 40!). So we bundled up, had some breakfast and got on the road back to Miami. I had such a great time, it was so much fun. I wish we could have stayed longer.

p.s. This one gets marked off my "32 things to do in my 32nd year" list!

Five Faves: My favorite Christmas movies

I've decided to share some of my favorites, my five faves. Here's the first list, my five fave Christmas movies.

There are so many Chrismas movies on now, that I had to share some of my favorites. These are the movies that it just wouldn't be Christmas without for me. So here in no particular order are my five faves.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
It isn't really the holidays to me until I see the Grinch on TV. I just love everything about this holiday special. The Grinch is awesome, I love the Whos in Whoville, but my favorite has to be the Grinch's dog. Poor little guy had to pull that heavy sleigh! But the Grinch's heart growing at the end is sure to warm anyone's heart. Christmas isn't about the presents or the tree it's about sharing and being with family.

Scrooged (1988)
No Christmas movie list would be complete without a Christmas Carol interpretation, and this one with Bill Murray is my favorite. Scrooged is Bill Murray at the top of his game (post-Ghostbusters, yet waaay before his comeback). He is hilariously cruel as Frank Cross, the TV exec who is Scrooge to the core. The supporting cast is awesome too. The ghosts of Christmas past and present are great and Bobcat Goldthwait as a disgrunteled ex-employee is just hilarious. By the end he learns the true meaning of Christmas, but there are plenty of laughs on your way there.

Home Alone (1990)
Kevin McCallister is left home alone when his family flies to France for the holidays and he's left home alone. Since he's all alone, he watched movies he's not allowed to (old-school black and white gangster flicks) and orders pizza. He runs around and has fun. He has to defend his house when he realizes two burglars are preparing to rob it. Kevin misses his family though, especially at Christmas. When Kevin rigs the house to defend against the robbers it's awesome. Any kid dreams of setting up traps like that. p.s. If you can watch this with my mom, please do. It makes her laugh hysterically!

The Holiday (2006)
I didn't discover this movie until I caught it on cable by chance, but it has quickly become one of my favorites. Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz (she's my only issue with the movie) trade houses for the holidays to try to escape from their breakups and lives for a while. The life switch is great for both of them Kate's character ends up in Los Angeles and meets Jack Black. Shockingly Jack Black is adorable and charming in this role. Cameron's character ends up in England with Jude Law. 'Nuff said. This movie is just so cute and enchanting and has the feel of those old movies. Definitely check this one out.

Love Actually (2003)
This was billed as the "ultimate romantic comedy" and it is, but it is also my ultimate Christmas movie. It's 9 different storylines (that all connect somehow) all about love at Christmas (though not necessarily because of Christmas. I love all of the stories (though not the Keira Knightly one too much). Bill Nighy is awesome as the aging rocker trying to make a Christmas comeback, and the guy wanting to go to America to get a girl is hilarious too. By the end you're sure to get teary and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. There is a story in here for everyone, so if you haven't seen it, you should.

Now there are a few honorable mentions that just missed the five faves list:

Die Hard (1988)
Hanz Gruber taking over the office building while your wife's Christmas party is going on? John McClane to the rescue. And Bruce Willis has to walk on glass, barefoot. Awesome action movie, and Christmas-y to boot. Yippe ki-yay mother f*cker!

White Christmas (1954)
Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and a young svelte Rosemary Clooney are putting on an act to help save a failing Vermont inn. Of course love happens in the process too. This isn't where the song originated (that was the movie, Holiday Inn--also a great movie), but you'll hear it here too.

Those are my favorites for Christmastime. What are your favorite Christmas movies?