holidays | kimberly ah

Jan 04 2016

The First Post of 2016

Happy New Year! It always seems like December flies by without a chance to catch my breath. The first week always feels full of possibility and then I’m always rushing to finish projects and parties by the end. But in the end, the work is worth it, the parties are fun and full of laughter, and I know I have all of January to recover.

I am so looking forward to this month.

January is the introvert’s delight.

The parties are over. The shopping is over. The weather in Chicago makes going out difficult. I’m looking forward to hibernation and working on a couple of projects around the house and on my desk. I’m also looking forward to popping in here more often. I got out of the blogging habit at the end of last year…for many reasons that may deserve their own post someday. But I think I’m ready to come back…slowwwwly. Sitting here at my desk, I have a running list of things I want to share, including bits about the holidays, some great mail that’s been showing up in my mailbox, and well…more about Japan. Oh, and perhaps some resolutions?

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to what 2016 may bring.

It’s time to take down the Christmas tree…

(Have you taken yours down yet?)

Tagged celebrations, Christmas, decorating, holidays, home

Nov 30 2015

Our Thanksgiving 2015

Another Thanksgiving is in the books. Naoto cooked a perfect turkey, his famous stuffing, and mashed potatoes. I made Kathy’s grandma’s cranberries and my mom made a veggie tray and a caramel apple cheesecake. Everything was delicious and the day was relaxing. We watched a lot of Leave It To Beaver…you can’t get more wholesome than that! The table was really simple, just some paper leaves and the usual corn and turkey. Jackie gave me that fantastic pumpkin a couple months ago and it was perfect for the table! I found the candlestick holders at Goodwill last month and I loooooove them for fall. They fade from red to a golden yellow and are groovy-good. And I sprinkled my Field Notes Shenandoah leaf buttons on the table, too. Because I already had the cognac out and lemons squeezed for the cranberries, I made us some Sidecars. I spend too much time scoping out seasonal cocktail recipes (usually on Pinterest) but I always find that those are too sugary for my tastes. I can always find a good classic cocktail that fits the bill just fine. Since even my mom enjoyed the Sidecar, I think it will become a new Thanksgiving tradition. I made new place cards with my Yellow Owl Workshop stamp and stuck a glittery turkey sticker on the plate this year. Even Presley got her own place card and plate of turkey and gravy!

Today I’m going to finish putting away the Thanksgiving decorations and start pulling out the Christmas stuff. Naoto and I bought our tree last night so I’m excited to get started on the decorating festivities. I have strict feelings about waiting until after Thanksgiving to move into the Christmas season, but once Thanksgiving is over, I’m all in.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you try any new recipes I need to add to our list for next year?

Tagged celebrations, food, holidays, parents, Thanksgiving, thrifting, Trader Joe's, vintage

Apr 05 2015

1 Comment

celebrations, holidays

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

Happy Easter, Happy Spring, Friends! Today is a perfect spring weather day in Chicago so I’m out and about mailing some letters and planting the rest of my seeds for the balcony. I hope whatever you are doing today is equally enjoyable and relaxing.

Tagged celebrations, holidays

Feb 25 2015

4 Comments

crafty adventures, holidays, Valentine's Day, vintage

A Tiny Matchbox Valentine

At work we exchanged Valentines, grade school style with a handmade Valentine box and everything. I made a simplified version of my vintage stamp Valentine and I got a lot of great ones, too. One of my favorites was this tiny matchbox Valentine from Laura. It’s hard to see in the pictures, but it’s a plain matchbox covered with map paper–in my case, a map of Japan!Inside, there was a tiny piece of chocolate and a vintage stamp tied up with pink twine. Once I untied the twine, I saw that the stamp was actually two stamps sewn together to make a little card. There was a kind message inside.

I love that Laura used non-traditional Valentine colors and created something really special. I love working with such creative people!

P.S. Laura has a blog! And she wrote up a little tutorial about her Matchbox Valentines in case you want to make your own…for next year or another occasion! 🙂

Tagged crafts, diy, holidays

Feb 13 2015

5 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures, holidays, Letter Month, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Vintage Stamp Valentines

I’ve been making some handmade Valentines for pen pals and friends since January. Yet, somehow, I am not done. I get distracted too easily, and Presley joins me and naps on my supplies, which slows things down too.

I decided to make some cards that looked a little bit like envelopes (similar to my calling cards for ex Postal Facto last year.) I started with some 4-bar cards and added pink and red vintage (or Japanese) stamps and a variety of washi tapes. I typed the message “You put the stamp on my envelope, Valentine!” on labels or directly on the cards. The labeled ones kind of look more like envelopes, but hopefully the silly message kind of makes sense.

They were a lot of fun to make and I was happy to be able to spend out some of my vintage stamp collection…although now I feel compelled to build up my red and pink stash again!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope your mailbox is full of love this weekend!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, diy, holidays, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage, washi tape

Feb 05 2015

6 Comments

crafty adventures, holidays, snail mail, Valentine's Day

Easy Printmaking For Kids (& Adults)

Last week, I quickly shared about my thrift store find, Tomie dePaola’s Things to Make and Do for Valentine’s Day. When I got to this printmaking craft, I was really excited because I’ve done something like this before. I think it’s a really fun project–for kids and adults–and a good introduction to block printing without investing in a ton of materials.

Here are the instructions starring Tomie’s cute kids and cuter cat: Tomie de Paola Things to Make and Do for Valentine's Day A few notes:

I know styrofoam is a horrible thing for the environment and a few cities in the U.S. are banning the use of styrofoam take-out containers. Think of this as re-purposing something evil. I got my styrofoam trays with fish and vegetables at Mitsuwa.
I used a brayer because I already had one on hand from a printmaking class, but a rolling pin works just fine and may be even better for kids since it’s bigger and easier to handle.
The book suggests poster paints. I used Martha Stewart craft paint because I had some already. It worked fine, but it did dry quickly. So, I tried oil-based printmaking ink, which I also had. It worked perfectly but I would highly suggest you don’t use it if you are working with kids. It’s messy, permanent and dries so slowly.

I made my “block” by tracing the outline of the Japanese character for “friend”. I flipped it around and traced it onto my styrofoam with a sharp pencil. I went over the outline a couple of times to make a deep enough channel to get a clean outline. If I had pressed too lightly, the outline would not be as clear.My prints are imperfect, but that’s okay. It takes some practice to get the right amount of ink on the styrofoam–I need some more practice! And, if this oil-based ink ever dries, I will cut them apart into little cards and send them out as Valentines.

If you try this project, I’d love to hear about it! Happy Valentine making!

Tagged crafts, diy, holidays, mail art, snail mail, thrifting

Jan 29 2015

2 Comments

adventures, holidays, in my library, snail mail, thrifted, Valentine's Day, vintage

Things To Make & Do For Valentine’s Day

I spent a few days with my parents last week and of course we went thrift shopping. I was in the store less than two minutes when this sweet book by Tomie dePaola jumped into my hands. It may be the best ten cents I’ve ever spent!

Tomie dePaola wrote Strega Nona and Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs, two of my favorite books from my days working with children. His illustrations are charming and his stories are sweet and timeless. Things to Make and Do for Valentine’s Day is a how-to book with crafts, jokes, tongue twisters, games and recipes to share for the holiday.

The book is designed for kids, but I think some of the projects are fun for adults, too. I’m going to try one out this weekend and I will report back next week. If it works out, I may use the idea for my Valentine envelopes this year.

Have you planned your Valentine’s Day cards yet? I have my prototype ready…now the real work begins.

Tagged adventures, books, celebrations, crafts, holidays, parents, shopping, snail mail, thrifting, vintage

Jan 12 2015

5 Comments

crafty adventures, holidays, Office Supplies, snail mail

New Year’s Cards 2015

On January 1st, I spent the day catching up on all of my mail. I sent out a big stack of seventeen New Year’s cards and thank yous on the second.

For New Year cards, I sent three different versions–two different Japanese postcards and letterpressed greeting cards. We got the Japanese postcards at Mitsuwa again. Roughly translated, the fan one says “We humbly wish you a happy new year” and the bamboo one says “Thank you very much for all assistance rendered the previous year. We ask for your continuous guidance this year as well.” The little bamboo drawing on the bottom is a classic Japanese New Year symbol called a kadomatsu.

The greeting cards are from Saturn Press, a letterpress printing company in Maine. (They don’t have a website, but I found some information about them here, which I think is quite interesting.) The card features two juncos sitting on a branch and the quote by Rainer Maria Rilke, “And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.” I love everything Saturn Press does, but these are my favorites–from the birds to the simple phrase and the gorgeous paper stock with its deckled edge…these cards are dreamy. I put all of the cards in envelopes (even the postcards) and decorated them with washi tape, metallic stars, and old Japanese Woodblock Cavallini calendars. (I had several in my stash, so I picked out the wintry months to use. Cavallini uses artwork by Hasui Kawase, the same artist who was on our Christmas cards.)And to seal the deal, I got to use my shiny new Letter Writers Alliance member stamp. It feels good to start the year out with a stack of mail…let’s hope I can keep up the postal momentum!

Tagged crafts, holidays, Japan, letterpress, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Jan 06 2015

NYE 2015 at the Golden Steer

For the third year in a row, we had New Year’s Eve dinner at the Golden Steer. Each year, the crowd has grown. Two years ago, it was just Naoto and me. Last year, we added Karen to the mix. This year, along with Karen, we added four more people–our friends Jackie, Jim, Brett and Stacy. Ending the year with good friends, good steaks (and French onion soup, tasty salads, baked potatoes and cracker baskets) and good cocktails was the best way to say goodbye to 2014 and hello to 2015. (I really need to do an official post about Golden Steer–its old school charm has not been captured properly in these pictures.)

After the Steer, we came back to our place and had prosecco cocktails and snacks. Jim made this Martha Stewart smoked salmon spread…soooo good! I made Chex Mix and Karen made sweets, including her famous toffee and caramels.

So far, so good, 2015.

Let’s keep it that way.

Tagged adventures, celebrations, cocktails, food, forest park, holidays

Jan 04 2015

Another Christmas Tea

Another book club holiday tea is in the books (hehe) and we’re onto a new year. December book club always falls around winter solstice, so it was rather dark all day at Peggy’s, but hopefully you can appreciate the beauty of the rooms and the table settings in spite of my dark pictures. We split into two tables, each seen above, and as always the place settings were festive and lovely. Peggy should seriously give lessons on how to set a table because I always feel like mine lack the layering that hers have. She has such a great mix of dishes to play around with, too. We started the morning with a cocktail–ginger sage prosecco. We found the recipe here and I made the syrup, which is easy and delicious and amazingly useful in other cocktails too. It’s warm and wintry, perfect for this time of the year. Bruising the sage leaf before you float it on top of your cocktail is also highly recommended.

Our menu was very similar to last year’s menu. I made ham salad tea sandwiches again, and they were served alongside pimento tea sandwiches and classic cucumber tea sandwiches. We had two kinds of scones, cherry almond and coconut, served with Devonshire cream, Meyer lemon curd, lime curd and lilikoi curd. And we had Christmas cookies and lemon squares and lots and lots of hot tea. For our book this month, we read Emma–our first dip into Jane Austen. Sadly, only a few finished the book (which is rare for us!) so the book discussion was not as long and as deep as usual. But lesson learned, choosing a lighter book in December may be the way to go. After the book discussion, we lingered on in Peggy’s comfortable home and chatted about our Christmas plans, families and other books. I’m looking forward to another year of book club, and more reading in general. I didn’t read as much as I should have in 2014, so it’s time for a fresh start. For January we are reading Ethan Frome. Edith Wharton is a favorite of mine, so I’m looking forward to it. We don’t have any other titles planned for the year, which is a preferred way to go. Last year we planned an entire year ahead and a few of us felt stuck with some of the titles. It’s nice to plan a little at a time, and leave some openings for interesting titles that pop up in the newspaper or recommendations from friends. If you’re in a book club, I’d love to hear how you choose your titles.