d.i.y. gift guide

So, after saying I'd just be too busy to keep up with posts here, I had an idea that I thought was best suited to getting out there now, rather than later. So, here it is, fresh finds (I hope some of them are new to you) for d.i.y. holiday gift ideas. I know some people like to shop till they drop this time of year, but for others it's a chance to make things by hand (and on a budget). Here are some homemade gift ideas that I think will make you look really thoughtful AND talented. And they're relatively easy, depending on what you have a talent for, so just making something already!

photo from Lune Vintage

Let's start with this tutorial to make a tassel necklace with Lune Vintage. So easy and awesome. I was at Dressew earlier this week and found a beautiful piece of navy leather in their giant leather scrap bin and made one for myself. It's going to be my new keychain, but I think the necklace idea is pretty swell too. The rest of the leather that I have leftover is for a project I'm hoping to get my mom's help with when I go home for Christmas (look out!). Follow the link above for a complete and very easy how-to guide on Lune.

Next up, make your own terrarium with instructions from Make Something. These look like really well laid out, easy to follow instructions, and we all know that terrariums are super hot right now. Perfect for those balcony-less apartments (just like the one I'm about to move into).

photo from make something

I feel like a bit of a 70s theme is emerging, so I won't encourage you to make a macrame plant hanger, but rather suggest the Delores Park cowl from Six One Seven. Super easy if you're not an advanced knitter. Circular needles are an easy way to start knitting in the round, and this pattern just uses really simple stitches and chunky yarn, which means you shouldn't still be working on this one come next Christmas.

Finally, if it's deliciousness you're after, need you go any further than Martha? (And I do like to believe we're on a first name basis.) If you can somehow still find peaches, this rosemary peach jam (which has been renamed "dignified fun" in our house) is amazing. It goes with every kind of cheese that you can think of and is pretty easy to make. For something a bit more seasonal, I've made these hazelnut-espresso cookies before and they are disgusting! Just kidding! They're amazing and they're a great pick-me-up during finals studying. Oh yeah, school...back to that.

Enjoy this extra-long, extra-amazing song by Sufjan Stevens while you get to work on your Christmas projects. When you've listened to both parts you're half an hour in...and you won't even notice the time going by! I think I might have to make those espresso cookies this afternoon.

the almost last weekend of summer

What an amazing weekend I've had! Usually I'd like to end with a video in a post, but I'm just too excited about this one and need to put it up front. Jeff and I were fortunate enough to meet Jelly Jells while we were in NYC this June when we were hanging out with my friend Kaiti (the girl he skips off with in this video). This video is pretty new and I'm sure most of you haven't seen it yet. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Super busy weekend! Saturday I had to get up for the community garden work party. It was a hot morning so after a couple of hours of attacking weeds in the sun I was ready for a low key afternoon and dinner with Jeff and my friend Stephanie. We had a great Vietnamese noodle salad with cucumbers fresh from the garden and peaches and raspberries for dessert. 

the holy mountain inspired necklace

Saturday was also exciting because I saw a stranger wearing some of my jewelry at the fabulous Regional Assembly of Text. She mentioned that she liked her Sadie earrings so much because they reminded her of the film The Holy Mountain. We watched it last night and true to what she predicted, it did blow our minds. You can totally find it online and you should watch it. We did Holy Mountain inspired crafts while watching: I made a necklace, Jeff made a friendship bracelet and we made some collages with stuff I picked up at Urban Source. Good to make stuff with a crazy movie playing, it gets the creative juices flowing.

peach rosemary jam

Today was busy too, I met up with my brother's lovely girlfriend Kiki and we made Martha Stewart's rosemary peach jam (sooooo good) with rosemary from the community garden and zucchini chocolate cakes. The zucchini was the 16" long one they gave us at the UBC Farm on Friday, and the toasted walnuts we put on a few came from a trade that I did this week: one of my home grown cucumbers for four amazing organic peaches and a bag of toasted organic walnuts from the Okanagan. I love this time of year! I also stopped by the Blim Market this morning to check out the wares of local artisans and bakers. There was some seriously tasty stuff there and some beautiful jewelry, clothing, and art, too. You should go next time! I'm going to be there with new Sadie pieces Sunday, November 28!

zucchini chocolate cakes

Finally, tonight we're really missing the guilty pleasure movie club as Jacqui and Blair are out of town, but we've found CB4 on a movie channel, so that's sort of making up for it. We'll be back is session next week when Blair is sure to have a stellar pick for us. We might have some new members, too! Tomorrow I'm off to Seattle with my mom, despite having so much to do before school starts in a week and a half or so: annotated bibliographies to research and write, grad project topic to write a proposal for and I desperately need a haircut, among other things. I hope I can find the time over the long weekend! It's also Jeff's last week as a postie before he heads back to school this fall! Wish him luck, though I'm sure he'll love everything about his new endeavour. Wacky D from CB4 seems like a great end to a Sunday post: