candy cane shortbread

So when I’m having a complete Christmas moment, and I’m baking away, and the tree is up, I love to have a great Christmas playlist happening that I can sing along with, and love every song that comes on.  If your Christmas playlist needs some mid-season additions, then here are my top three albums for this Christmas.  I could put this set on shuffle and listen to it all day.  I think.  That opportunity hasn’t come up yet!

Top 5 Supplies for Easy Personalized Gift-Giving

personalized gift-giving made easy

Hey everyone!  I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time.  There are several versions and attempts in my drafts folder but I’m finally putting it out there.  First because it is the gift-giving season of the year and I’m here to help you out.  Second because I have something to give away for you which I’ll get to at the end.  Super exciting!

November: Behind the Scenes

mantel chalkboard

So that was November.  That kind of no-man’s land between Thanksgiving and Christmas here in Canada.  It was a lot busier behind the scenes than it was here on the blog.  When I wrote a “behind the scenes” post in October I wasn’t necessarily planning on writing one every month, but since a few happenings in November were somewhat blog-related, I thought I would  recap them here.

Classic Ginger Molasses Cookies

A classic old-fashioned gingersnap recipe with a perfectly crinkled top and chewy center.  A must-have for Christmas baking, but delicious all year long!

With the Christmas season around the corner, serious bakers will getting busy stocking up on cookies for the holidays.  I wouldn’t call myself a Serious Baker, but these ginger molasses cookies are always on the list of Christmas baking.  If you’ve been around here very long you know that I stick to the tried-and-true.  Recipes that never fail and that everyone will love.  Christmas baking is no exception.  In my repertoire I have gingerbread, shortbread, sugar cookies, lemon thumbprint, plus something chocolate.  With chocolate I’m willing to experiment…you can’t really go too far wrong.

Handmade Chipboard Photo Book

handmade gifts rock

Hey there friends!  We haven’t done something crafty here for a little while, but today we will.  It’s a handmade chipboard photo book, as part of a Canadian handmade gifts blog hop.  That means you can search this hashtag on all your social media #CDNHandmadeHoliday and find lots of ideas for handmade gifts for less than $25.  Fun, right?  It's no secret around here that I love a handmade gift.  Check out the Handmade tab in the top menu bar to see what I mean.

 But let’s get started.

Blogpodium: Turning Inspiration to Action

It's two months later. After Blogpodium 2014, I mean. The first time I'd been to this conference, or any blogging conference, actually. It was a huge inspiration. And amazing and overwhelming. And an inspiration.

Here are a few thoughts on how a brand-less, introverted, pen-and-paper-loving technophobe learned some new things, was inspired, and took action. So that you can do it too.

How to Take This Smartphone Photo: Baking Cookies

don’t eat the cookies yet

Hey bloggy friends!  This is my second edition of How to Take This Photo.  I don’t discriminate against cameras…I hope you don’t either.  I took this one with my smartphone.  I take a lot of my blog photos with it.  And photos to send to family and friends.  Photos for instagram.  Photos of cookies.