it's time for a holiday {blog} sock hop!

 Happy weekend folks! Let's pause a moment to get comfy, shall we? This is a party after all. Unwind that happy scarf, grab a cup of egg nog (or if you are like me, add a shot of egg nog to your cup of coffee), put on some holiday tunes and join me and three other lurvely ladies for a holiday blog sock hop stuffed silly with all sorts of handmade, tutorials, inspiration and dare I say it....g i v e a w a y s !!

If you are anything like any of us, you love the holiday hustle and bustle, are itching to create something festive, and have a smaller than small budget to work with. Sure, the days are passing by faster than it takes to bake a fruit cake and your to-do list is longer than Santa's but there is a happy pile of fabric over there, in the corner and you just picked up a doily or two during a recent thrift run. You are itching to break in that new felting needle and have a basket full of lovely roving and all those river rocks you collected over vacation really would look quite cute paired up with that tea-cup full of googly eyes. Not to mention, you have a zillion secret Santa parties with $10 limits and have run out of ideas for packaging up yet another coffee gift card. Join us today for a little blog hop full of inspiration, we've got oodles of fun and our recent posts should be enough to give you an extra kick of holiday spirit. I promise I won't break out any mistletoe and I will only allow itunes to play two versions of jingle bells. Cross my heart.

Later today I will be posting a nifty DIY for wrapping up a coffee gift card. Until then, enjoy the craftiness of some super crafty ladies and pay attention to the details, there are prizes to be won!

Tara Anderson of the pink couch

Megan Andersen of radmegan

Jennifer of The Felt Mouse

jek of scrumdillydilly 

(hey, that's me!)

Seriously folks, these talented ladies are oozing with T A L E N T . They are more than an Egg Nog latte topped with whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg. More than a happy batch of homemade fudge. More than the fresh piney scent of a gorgeous green Christmas tree and they are giving their goodness away! So get to clicking, visit those blogs and don't forget to come back to little old me for a diy on coffee card presentation and a tutorial for making a wee coffee bean sachet. 

Leave a comment here at scrumdillydilly on this post here or this post for a chance to win a dilly-made coffee bean sachet, sleeve, paper garland and gift-tag pack (gift card not included). To make it more interesting, I would love to hear/read what your favorite project from the four of us was. I know it's kinda hard to choose (at least I think so, mine not included) but I would love to know what you think. I'll post the winner Tuesday morning!  Winner will have until Monday, December 19th to contact me otherwise a new winner will be selected (I want to mail out the gift pack asap) Happy Holidays from little old me and as always, be kind! 

sweet, sweet november: day 2

Tara has a delicious diy project going on over at her blog the pink couch. If yer looking to make an awesome recipe full of fall flavor head on over. I'll be following it myself, thank goodness I got some oats. Speaking of oats, when the weather turns cooler we a-go-gos break out the oatmeal more often than not. Seriously, I'm a huge oatmeal fan. I even wrote up a whole post about it last year as a guest blogger for SEI. So, what's yer favorite fall breakfast? Oh, and if you decide to blog along leave me a link and I'll post a round-up each evening...oh and double oh! We started a flickr group for you to post yer sweet november photos and pics of fall inspiration so please join and share in the delight!

sweet, sweet november: hullo fall!

Fall has been with us here in the western hemisphere for awhile now but for those of us in the west and southwest the physical evidence of fall is a little laid back. The temps can get a little manic hitting crazy highs during the days and freaky lows at night, so kooky that we're not sure if it's ever going to get here yet it always does. The very first thing I notice about fall here in California is not so much the color change in the foliage (which, contrary to popular belief, California DOES have a fall) but the light. There is something so magical about the fall light. The shadows are longer in the mornings while the sunset seems more golden.

Fall for me begins with the magical light, it makes me smile and I find myself spending more time simply watching the sun rise and/or set. Once the light changes, I can be sure the temperature will too (though this year seems to be a bit confused) which signals the all important fall wardrobe inspiration. Long sleeves and sweaters come out, tights are gazed upon and a new hat appears anxiously waiting to be worn.

Once the weather cools I hit the recipe books and internet in search of new baking and soup recipes. I even revisit some old favorites. To put myself in even more of a festive mood, I change my color palette and start crafting with golden tones and whimsical greens. I also make up a new fall playlist and drink oodles of tea and other hot beverages. And that is how I welcome fall.

This week, Tara Anderson of the pink couch and I will be bringing you some fall inspiration every day. From recipes to tutorials, you can be sure to discover something pretty. So pull up a chair, grab a hot cuppa, wrap yourself up in something warm & cozy and fall into something pretty.

I'll be back later today with a little chat of fall goodness. Tell me this, what inspires you in the fall? Do you have any traditions or rituals? Leave a comment, share a link, I would love to hear from you!