holidays | kimberly ah

Dec 02 2014

Stuffing the Stockings

When I was little, Santa put a clementine and a toothbrush in our stockings every Christmas. I know we got other things but the clementine and the toothbrush are the things I remember. Isn’t it weird that Santa probably stressed about getting me a few nice things for my stocking and all I remember now are the clementine and the toothbrush?

Now, Naoto and I fill each other’s stockings. As we shop, we just drop our items into the stockings with promises not to peek until Christmas morning. The stockings are the first things we open on Christmas, before unwrapping gifts.

I already have a few things in Naoto’s stocking (left side). He’s very hard to shop for since he never wants anything. (It’s a blessing and a curse!) I always try to think of a mix of fun and practical things, with a heavy emphasis on food.

For my stocking (right side), I usually ask for chapstick and other consumables. Some of my favorite stocking stuffers have included Luxardo cherries, rubber stamps and zines. This year I added a few new zines and a postcard set to my wish list.

As for Presley’s stocking (middle)…we usually get her a catnip toy. So far, she’s gotten two branches from Mew Cat Toys Etsy shop. And she has three Yeowww! catnip toys (the banana, the cigar and the dynamite) that we bought at a local shop, Scratch N Sniff. She really digs all of them. It’s hard to put her gift in early though, because she tends to help herself to it before Christmas.

What are your family’s stocking traditions? Any good ideas for Naoto’s stocking? I need all the help I can get!

P.S. Our stockings are from the now closed Mahar Drygoods. Presley’s is from a big box store.

Tagged Christmas, decorating, holidays, home, memories

Dec 01 2014

4 Comments

celebrations, holidays, Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving 2014

Another Thanksgiving is in the books and the world (and our apartment) is moving on to Christmas. As usual, Naoto whipped up a delicious meal and my mom made a yummy spiced apple cheesecake for dessert. I wasn’t feeling especially inspired, so I set a simple table this year. I crafted a “centerpiece” from a turkey on a stack of books and some candles, similar to last year’s table. I used some thrifted paper turkey napkin rings and I made place cards with my Yellow Owl Workshop place card stamp. I embossed the stamp in copper and typed our names. Simple…and with a table of four, it is really important that everyone can find a spot at the table! It was a delicious, relaxing day…I feel like Thanksgiving is the end of the calm part of the year, maybe that’s why it’s my favorite.

How was your holiday weekend?

Tagged celebrations, crafts, decorating, food, holidays, home, homemaking, parents, rubber stamp, Thanksgiving, thrifting

Nov 27 2014

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends in the U.S. (and those celebrating outside of the states!) I hope everyone enjoys delicious meals with their families & friends.

(Vintage postcard from 1914, sent from D.E.C. in St. Paul, Minnesota to Mrs. Henry R. in Alabama for 1 cent.)

May 11 2014

1 Comment

celebrations, holidays

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there, especially my own!

(This picture was taken yesterday from our balcony. The trees are finally getting leafy!!

Tagged celebrations, forest park, holidays, parents

Feb 17 2014

1 Comment

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

A Presidential Valentine

In the US, we are celebrating Presidents Day today, which means banks, schools and post offices are closed and some lucky people have the day off. Sigh…I love a good pun.

I made an Abe themed Valentine for my dad this year. I started with another Paper Source 4-bar heart (the base for all easy homemade Valentines) and added the words with my vintage DYMO label maker. I love punching those letters…I don’t use that thing nearly enough. I decided to make a pun based on Honest Abe. If this Valentine was for Naoto, I would have gone the b(Abe) route…but it would be weird to call my dad a babe.

I topped off the Valentine with my inspiration for the Valentine–this button from La Familia Green. (They make the cutest buttons–I have my eye on the coffee and donut one for perhaps a future Valentine.) I taped it on with a little piece of washi tape. Simple and sweet.

From my land to yours…Happy Presidents Day!

Tagged crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, parents, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 14 2014

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

2014 “Cat Lady” Valentines

Even though I gave up making my own Christmas cards last year, I’m still going strong in the Valentine-making department. Last year, I did mostly store-bought cards with handmade garlands but this year, I made my cards again.

I love a good pun, and I wanted to use my cat template, so I came up with these cat-themed cards for my cat-fan friends. Each one ended up being a little bit different because I was spending out some Valentine papers from yesteryear. I started with a good pun–You’re the cat’s meow!–and typed it up on Paper Source 4-bar heart cards. Then I stamped on a cat and a heart. I had tiny hearts punched out of leftover paper that I glued on, along with vintage red sequins (using my favorite glue pen). Each card ended up being a little bit different (and each card had varying amounts of Presley fur and coffee spills.)

The non-cat people got the same heart cards stamped with something tea or coffee related…slightly less exciting than cat puns.

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope your day is filled with love and pink mail!

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

Jan 23 2014

1 Comment

holidays, thoughts, Words to Live By

National Handwriting Day

Oh Mr. Dior, I couldn’t disagree more…

Tagged holidays, office supplies

Jan 06 2014

2 Comments

holidays, Japan Does It Better, snail mail

Japan Does It Better 5: Nengajō

I love the tradition of sending holiday cards to my friends and family. I also love that throughout December, my mailbox is a flurry of greetings from people I hear from regularly as well as those friends and family who only send greetings once a year.

In Japan, instead of sending Christmas cards and other holiday greetings, people exchange nengajō–New Year’s Day greetings. These greetings come in the form of postcards, either store-bought or handmade. Usually the messages are handwritten and the cards are always hand-addressed with the sender’s best calligraphy.

The best part of nengajō though–and this is where Japan Does It Better–if you send your cards during a window of time (usually mid to late December), the Japan Post Office holds the cards and delivers them ON New Year’s Day!!! Wouldn’t it be fun to open your mailbox on January 1st to find a flood of new year wishes from all of your family and friends?

The best.

According to this tweet (which includes a great picture of the delivery team), the Japan Post estimated 1.82 billion nengajō cards were sent throughout Japan on the first.

The cards pictured above were nengajō that I purchased at Mitsuwa last month. I filled them out on New Year’s Day, so they won’t be arriving anywhere on time, but the spirit is there. The one on the left says “Happy New Year” and the one on the right says “Welcoming Spring”, both typical nengajō greetings.

Nengajō and well-orchestrated New Year’s wishes…another reason Japan Does It Better!

(For more JDIB posts, click here.)

Tagged holidays, mail art, snail mail

Dec 31 2013

4 Comments

celebrations, holidays, homemaking, Merry & Bright, Office Supplies

New Year, New Calendars

The new year is catching me completely off guard. Thankfully, I have a few calendars to keep me on track.

I bought the Sakana Saijiki fish calendar for Naoto. It is full of amazing illustrations of sea life and calligraphy that I cannot read. I’m excited to have a grid again. The calendars that I bought last year were all more decorative than functional. The fish calendar will hang in the kitchen, so it will be nice for Naoto to see what we have planned for the month.

The little “Things With Faces” calendar was a gift from Mollie. I’m looking forward to breaking out my colored pencils or watercolors and filling the pictures in each month.

And the Orange Beautiful calendar was a gift from Donovan. The colors and the fonts are perfect.

As far as a datebook for 2014…well, I’m still waiting. After a couple of months of waffling, I decided yesterday to go back to using Franklin Covey. Once my pages come in (MID-JANUARY!!) I will do a little post on my set-up.

Today I am cleaning house and stringing up a garland for our teeny New Year’s Eve party tonight. We are having dinner at Golden Steer and drinking cocktails at home and maybe making a few resolutions…

Happy New Year!

Tagged celebrations, holidays, home, homemaking, office supplies

Dec 30 2013

5 Comments

Christmas, holidays, Merry & Bright, snail mail, vintage

Our 2013 Holiday Cards

Our 2013 Christmas cards were sent, and hopefully they’ve arrived at their destinations near and far. As I mentioned in this post, I decided to stop putting all the pressure on myself to make our cards. Instead, I bought them. I picked up the Winter Greetings card a few years ago on clearance. I loved the little chubby bird! I purchased the Andy Warhol Christmas tree card this year at Paper Source. I loved its vintage look and tiny size. (I’m a sucker for tiny greeting cards.) And the vintage Season’s Greetings card was a gift from Jennie Hinchcliff who offered them up one day on Instagram. I could not resist those vintage beauties. Here’s a closer look at its charming church illustration and inside message:In case it’s unclear it says

To greet you sincerely at Christmas and to wish you Happiness in the New Year.

Sincere Christmas greetings? Absolutely. The card is gorgeously embossed–the church, the bells, the people and the tiny snow details are raised on the page. I had to save just one…the others went to lucky pen pals. I ordered these holiday paper coasters from the Paper Source and added them with some of my cards. In a moment of bad planning, I realized that my Andy Warhol cards were too small to hold the coaster…oops. Naoto and I are using the leftovers for entertaining at home. They feel very festive, especially when cocktails are involved. In spite of having a table full of mail art stuff for the Christmas Card Writing Party, I didn’t go too crazy with mail art. I was having fun playing around with my handwriting and I just used some washi tape, rubber stamps and Stickles to add a tiny bit of pizzazz to the envelopes.

Holiday time is my favorite time of the year for checking my mailbox. People keep saying that no one writes Christmas cards anymore…I’m very lucky that many of my friends and family still value this tradition. A full mailbox is the best Christmas gift.

Tagged Christmas, crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, vintage, washi tape