snorkeling in moorea, french polynesia

 
aside from our honeymoon and a few short weekend trips around the texas coastline, we never go on 'beach vacations'. but after a year of travels full of activity, where i often found my physical limits stretched (allthough, don't get me wrong, i usually had a blast)  i thought perhaps it was time for one.  so, as i mentioned two posts ago, for the last holiday of 2010, we went the relaxing and luxurious route, and found ourselves in beautiful french polynesia.

we spent the first three days in moorea, and filled our time with relaxation and snorkeling. snorkeling may very well be one of my top favorite activities of all times. we snorkeled everyday, sometimes twice, and it was always difficult to tear ourselves out of the water. it never failed to amaze me that all i had to do is float and put my face into the water to see a whole different world, teeming with life- and when i lifted my head, it was just gone.

runaway elf!!

MISSING: small christmas elf

physical description: adorable smiling finnish elf in red, donning a traditional red pointed hat.  he is approximately 2.5 inches tall (to the tip of his hat). he enjoys the smell of spruce trees and sipping mexican hot chocolate. 

last seen: hanging out on the christmas tree with his other elf buddies.  he went missing while all the others were preparing for their 11 month hibernation. elf in question most likely ran away, grieved by the idea of once again leaving his happy christmas home, however, elf-napping is also highly plausible. 

please contact me, clearlytangled, should you run across an elf fitting this description.  it is likely he is enroute to the arctic circle in finland, where santa lives, and christmas trees are up year round.  he answers to the name, "tonttunen".  his safety is of utmost importance!!!

hello, 2011

we were one of the last people to welcome 2011, on the beach in the middle of the pacific in french polynesia.  it was the perfect way to end 2010 and begin 2011. i hope your year started off with a bang (a good one)!

ways to rid yourself of 30 yards of felt #3: make a gift pouch

i trust that everyone had a fantastic christmas.  i intend to post something about ours, but we'll see.
for my third installment on "ways to rid yourself of 30 yards of felt"... make a gift pouch. with a button.

like this:

partially actualized christmas baking fantasies

every christmas i suffer from baking fantasies. i daydream about packing up perfect boxes with a large variety of delicious treats, and promptly becoming the most celebrated and loved person in the office and among my friends. this of course never happens. there usually is way too much going on and the holiday baking dreams fall to the wayside, and i become a slave to my sewing machine.

however, this year i was determined to do something. last year, under the influence of my hopeful delusions, i had purchased a couple of new cookie cutters, that i failed to even remove from the packaging. last week, i decided i couldn't let another whole year slide by without using them... so i made gingerbread men and snowflakes for the work folks using this recipe, (the chewy version). if i made these again, i think i'd add a lot more spice in it, but that's just how i prefer my gingerbread cookies.

aside from the fact that i made a complete mess of my kitchen two days in a row, and i discovered that taking one wilton cake decorating class almost ten years ago does not mean that decorating cookies will be a breeze, i'd consider it to be a moderate success. i packaged them individually in cellophane bags with twisty ties and made little round stickers that said "i hope you like gingerbread. i'm really sorry if you don't. happy holidays!". not quite the elaborate boxes of decadent treats, but as they say, it's the thought that counts, right?

the comments i have received about the gingerbread have been sending me into fits of laughter, mostly because of their cannabalistic references (not that actual cannabalism is funny...). 

take this comment, for example from one coworker:

"i went for the arm first, but then i couldn't stand him looking at me,  so then i ate the head."

and this e-mail from another:

"thank you for the gingerbread man! it’s REALLY good. i ate its' head and will probably save his body for j, or maybe, just save one foot for him."

thank you bakingbites for the gingerbread man + scarf idea.

free christmas tag download (pdf)

i designed some christmas labels for you to use. 

you can either:

1. make them into stickers by printing them on full label sheets and punch them out with a 2" round punch.

2. make them into hang tags by printing  them out on cardstock and punch them out with a 2" round punch, and then punching another little hole at the top and thread through ribbon, embroidery floss, etc.

you may have to cut the page into strips first for punching. if you don't have a 2" round punch, you can also take your scissors and trim around the red dotted circle (leave a bit of space).

ruffled coffee sleeves

what's better than a button coffee sleeve?  ruffled coffee sleeves. 

side ruffle.

top ruffle.

lots of ruffles...