The Year of the Wild Doberman

A year ago today my family adopted a crazy and wild 14-month-old Doberman and since then things have never been the same. Shadow has weazled her way into our hearts with her jumping fits, beady black alligator eyes, and her flipped up crooked ear.

We took her to the Atlantic ocean in Maine this summer and she became a beach comber...searching for shells in the sand and gulping up salt walter as she ran in the surf.

 

She became our co-pilot on all roadtrips, making frequent requests for a stop at Tim Horton's. She's is a Timbit fiend.

She would attempt to hide under the curtains in the kitchen, only to emerge looking like a Satanic nun. And my mother wonders why the curtains get dog hair on them?

Holiday Storage

After last Christmas my family picked up a couple of these Gracious Living Holiday Ornament Storage Totes from The Container Store. The large capacity boxes are perfect for packing up our Christmas ornaments and keeping them all separate.

 

There are four layers of ornament dividers, which lets you store up to 96 ornaments. I couldn't believe how fast we were able to put up the tree this year. For years every ornament was in its own little box, or wrapped in tissue paper, but this year we didn't have to go through all that unpacking. Which also means that when we go to pack up everything again this year we won't have to wrap up each one. Just pop them into one of the slots - Presto! You're done. Can you tell that I have been watching too many lame infomercials while I've been on vacation? I'm even starting to sound like one. Next thing you know I'll be going on about the SlapChop or the Snuggie. But all joking aside I really do love this holiday storage system and I think it is totally worth buying a couple for your tree.

 

And of course my favorite nosy pup had to come in and investigate the situation. You never know when a piece of cheese or a dog biscuit may be hiding in a box.

Do you have any holiday storage tricks? Gift wrap in those underbed storage boxes? Christmas tree in a bag in the garage rafters?

Peppermint Bark

My sister and I make this every Christmas and it never lasts very long with our family around. Those crunchy, minty bites are addicting. The recipe we used is adapted from the LCBO's 2003 Holiday Edition of Food & Drink.

What you'll need:
1 lb (500g) Bittersweet Chocolate
1 lb (500g) White Chocolate
8 drops of Peppermint Oil or Peppermint Extract
3/4 cup (175 ml) Chopped Candy Canes

Roughly chop up the bittersweet chocolate. We tend to use Baker's chocolate because it is nut-free, and it produces a great bark.

Chop up the white chocolate and set aside.

Christmastime

I haven't been blogging the past couple of days because it has been a bit of a crazy week between getting ready for the holidays and my office downtown flooding, but I thought that it would be nice to show you some photos of our family dinner this year on Christmas Eve.

Cocktail hour in the living room! This year I made a Baked Brie with Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly from Henderson Farms (I posted about their jellies and jams here). Despite the fact that it didn't quite turn out the way that it was supposed to (kind of flopped over the edges), it was still a big hit.

Our family Christmas tree packed with presents underneath. We really spoiled each other this year.

Merry Christmas!

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Christmas full of friends, family and of course good food! Last night we had our big family dinner so I intended to sleep in today, like the rest of my equally overstuffed family, until about 9 or 10 am. Well as fate would have it, that just wasn't going to happen.

My blackberry went off at 6:50 am today. Groggily I squinted at the screen and saw that it was my landlord for our office. In my still half-asleep mind I thought "Did I forget to slip the rent cheque under her door?", then it clicked that she wouldn't be calling so early about a rent cheque and especially not on Christmas.

Turns out that the hair salon next to my office sprung a leak that spread to our place through the wall and is currently being soaked up by some of the boxes that we haven't unpacked from the move this Fall. Just the kind of thing that you want to hear about first thing on Christmas morning. Ho Ho Ho!

I guess I should be thankful that its not a fire or that it didn't reach our computer system or oriental rugs. It kind of feels like deja vu because last Christmas Break the hotel that we had our office in sprung a leak as well. The room above us flooded and it came through to our place right where we had some papers all lined up on a window sill. Parts of the floor had to be repaired, the walls had to be replaced, and then months later when we were moving we found out that it had gone farther than we had expected and destroyed the corner of one of my boss' expensive oriental rugs.

Thankfully this morning the hair salon owner was able to have someone go over and lift our boxes up off the floor, because I can't get down there right away this morning - we have a house full of guests, a strata in the fridge and presents to be opened.

Now that I can't get back to sleep I may as well go take a nibble out of the leftovers in the fridge. Turkey, anyone? Or maybe I'll just crack open the peppermint bark.

How was your Christmas morning? Any big surprises?

Mayhem, Madness and Merriment

Today is the last day that I can do Christmas shopping, baking and wrapping because tomorrow we have twenty people coming for Christmas Eve. Thats right, the whole clan heads on over here for the big dinner so thankfully I don't have the option of waiting for the last minute Dec 24th mall madness.

I've got almost all my shopping done, but I've been pretty slack in the wrapping department. I made some reusable fabric bags for a few of my gifts, but the majority of them are still in shopping bags in the closet.

I know that the minute I go down to the basement to wrap them up my father is going to come downstairs with his own wrapping and I'll be suckered into doing that too. Its a tradition. He brings a couple of packages downstairs, says that he doesn't wrap very well, would I mine doing it, and I say "Oh of course I can do it. Won't take long at all". And he'll say "Great. I'll bring it all in from the car". Gulp.

Some years my mother has asked my sister and I to do some of her wrapping as well. One year we were wrapping up some of their gifts and we realized that they had bought each other the exact same sweatshirt from Roots. Same colour, style, everything but the size. It was agony keeping it a secret for the night. We made them open it on Christmas morning at the same time and both wear them all day. They've never done that since.

I'll be posting later about some of the goodies that we are making today. Lots of sugar and chocolate and deliciousness involved. Waistbands beware.

A Boy and A Dog

What is it about boys and dogs? As soon as we came home for the holidays Whiskey ran to my little brother like he had his pockets full of bacon (which he very well might have)

They proceeded to roll around on the kitchen floor and make grumbling noises at each other.  Enjoy the linoleum while you can, boys, because its being replaced with tile post-Christmas. It will no longer be able to operate as a comfortable wrestling arena.

Look its SIMBA!

And a Shar-pei?

Whiskey forgets about me while we're here because he is in love with my family. They give him treats and let him walk all over them - literally. I don't let him in the bed at home, but when he's here he sleeps with my brother. They curl up and snuggle and act all cute until the play fighting starts up again. No wonder Whiskey sleeps for days when we get back to the city!

Sista-sista!

Today at 10:10am my sister celebrated 20 years since she barged into my perfect world as an only child. Happy Birthday Sis!

This morning she had a bit of a sad moment when she realized she wasn't a teenager anymore, but then I reminded her that she still has to wait a year until she can legally drink in the United States and that seemed to brighten her day thinking that there are still some limitations to overcome.

I love these pictures of her from when we were in Cortona, Italy a couple of summer's ago (Its where they filmed Under the Tuscan Sun!). She was wearing this adorable linen mini dress with yellow, brown and turquoise accents and then suddenly we came upon a beautiful field of sunflowers. We pulled over to take photos and her dress matched perfectly. You couldn't have even planned it for them to match so well.

Despite the bitter cold weather here (especially compared to Cortona!) and the impending stress of Christmas, I hope that she has a great birthday. The story in our family is always that she came home from the hospital on Christmas morning and she's the best Christmas gift I ever got, which is true. I love her in a way that only sisters can love each other (remind me of this next time she ruins one of my sweaters). We finish each other's sentences, laugh together at mundane things in movies, go shopping and point out the same stuff, we even have been known to draw the same picture in the game Pictionary with our eyes closed - I can't picture not having that someone in your life who just sees things so similar, and yet different at the same time.

And because she teased me for putting up the 80s photo of my Dad on his birthday, I present you with my favorite picture of her - an image that sums up the little lady that we all love:

Sam's addiction to chocolate began at an early age. Here she is caught trying to eat Quik chocolate milk powder right out of the tin. Her mouth, hands, shirt and pants are covered, as is the floor. To this day you can't be sure if there are chocolate chips in the cupboard for making cookies because she may have gotten into them.

Tutorial: Reusable Gift Bags

I love wrapping gifts every year and look forward to bringing out all the festive paper and bows, but its not always the most environmentally friendly option. Making reusable fabric gifts bags is a great way to reduce the amount of garbage and recycling you have to haul out to the curb after the holidays. It also extremely easy for even the most novice of crafters and you can whip up a bunch of them in no time.

To measure how big you want the bag to be, you can lay your gift on top, measure out the rectangle you need including some extra at the top for where you are going to tie it, and add 1/2" to the width and 1" to the length for the seam allowances.

Sugar Cookies

I'm actually not a big fan of sugar cookies - I'm more interested in having fun decorating them. But I like this recipe because it has a little bit of zing with some subtle spices. Plus they look fantastic on a cookie tray or set out for Santa on Christmas Eve. You can make them up to a month in advance and freeze them to have on hand when visitors arrive.

Last weekend my five year old cousin came to visit for her first sleepover at our place and we decided to make these cookies while wearing our new Christmas aprons. I was really glad that we did, because with all her "help" baking I was soon covered in flour and then blue icing. Oh to be a messy little kid again and not think about laundry.

Tutorial: Holiday Flower Arrangement

Making holiday flower arrangements is a simple, inexpensive way to decorate your home for the holidays and they make great hostess gifts. If you were to buy an arrangement like this in a flower shop, it would be about $35-45, but you can make it for less than $10 each!

Unfortunately I didn't take photos of the steps to make this, but I'm going to give you a quick run down. To make an arrangement of this size, buy a small ceramic, glass or plastic container that is roughly 5-6 inches in diameter and about 3 inches tall. I usually go to the dollar store for this because you can find great pieces that are cheap and will do the job. Soak a block of oasis in an empty sink and then cut it to fit into the bowl. Tape it down with florist tape. For the greens I used a mixed greens bundle from the grocery store that contained balsam, pine and cedar. Cut pieces in various sizes and insert into the oasis until it looks like a thinned shrub.

The trick with adding the flowers and decorations is to use odd numbers to make everything look more esthetically pleasing. For this arrangement, take three red carnations, determine where you want to place each flower, eyeball it, trim the stems and stick them into the oasis. Next take seven ball mums, trim the stems and stick them into the oasis. The pinecones and red balls were already wired, so I just stuck them into the oasis as well. If you are using decorations that have paper-wrapped stems, wrapped stems with florist tape to prevent them from deteriorating in the oasis. You can get creative here and add whatever you like...bows, figurines, those adorable glittery birds that you see everywhere right now...whatever goes with your decor.

Just like your Christmas tree, you have to remember to water this regularly, making sure that the oasis stays damp. If the flowers start to wither, you can easily replace just the flowers and keep the arrangement for the entire holiday season.

And here is a quick breakdown of the cost:

Bowl - $0.80
Oasis  -$0.75
Balls - $0.15 (75% off clearance bin at Michaels, post Christmas)
3 Red Carnations - $3.00
7 White Ball Mums - $2.80
Mixed Greens - $2.00 (cedar, balsam and pine)

TOTAL $9.50

Gone to the Dark Side...

I woke up Saturday morning and my beloved Samsung cell phone looked like this...

The screen had these crazy lines all down it which meant I couldn't see anything to make a phone call or send a text message. I loved this phone like no other. We'd been through so much together! How could it leave me in the lurch?

I knew that I had to replace it on Monday before I went into communication withdrawal. But when I got to the store I never thought I'd come out with one of these. Thats right, I gave in to the temptation and got myself a Blackberry. It hard to believe that for years I never even had a cell phone. I avoided getting one all through university for fear of being accessible all the time. I loved the freedom, but then when I started working in Toronto I had to get one out of necessity. Before I knew it I was hooked and now 2 1/2 years later I've kicked it into full gear. I'm now a certified Blackberry junkie.

It only been four days, but I've already started a hot affair with this amazing device. It is synced with my contacts, calender and tasks from my iMac. The organization freak within me is in ecstasy. Plus I can load up some photos of friends and family without having to squint at the little screen. I even have my Christmas shopping list in there instead of carrying around my worn out leather organizer around everywhere. Oh the joy of a lighter purse!

Does anyone else have a blackberry? Any fun applications or tricks that you've learned? I found the Sudoku in the Game section and if I thought my addiction for the paper version was bad before this has pretty much ended my life as I know it.

Tutorial: Printed Dog Collars

Christmas is just around the corner and with that comes something dreaded by all our four-legged family members - pet-sized reindeer antlers. You know the ones I'm talking about. At some point they've been placed on the top of you dog or cat's head to embarrass them for the sake of a goofy family photo. Well, seeing as it is our first Christmas this year with both Shadow and Whiskey, you'd think that we would attempt this much abused holiday tradition, but I just couldn't do it. It was bad enough that I've had Whiskey rockin' a Christmas sweater.

It seemed like the nicer (and kinder) idea was to give the two newest members of the family some new Christmas collars.

Fancy dog collars run for about $10-20, but making your own costs no more than $5 (and even less if your dog is a half pint like the Whiskinator).

My One of a Kind Finds

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the One of a Kind Show here in Toronto and I was lucky enought to get the opportunity to walk through the show before I went paintballing one day (I know, its a very odd combination). There was an overwhelming array of fantastic booths full of great works by artisans from all over, like these vibrant pieces by Edward Chan. Although I intended to pick up some Christmas gifts, I ended up treating myself to a few warm winter indulgences that wouldn't break the bank.

There is something about the glowing flicker of a candle that makes these cold winter nights somewhat bearable, so its no wonder that I beelined over to the Pheylonian Beeswax Candles display. Pure beeswax candles are the cleanest burning candles, and are non-toxic, non-allergenic and non-carcinogenic, plus they are super yummy and create a great glowing ambience. I picked up some small votives (3 for $12) and used them in my holiday decorating this year, but I'm looking forward to using these beauties all winter. Be sure to check out their original hand-carved and custom dripped Christmas Tree candle!

While walking about, we came across this fantastic booth that had us hooked by that candy cane, literally. These strapping young lads are the guys behind Pook, a company that makes these incredibly fun, fashionable and unique winter toques, scarves and mittens using traditional Canadian wool work socks. These creative hats can be morphed into dozens of different styles and are a real conversation starter.

Christmas Aprons

I may not have much of it at my home, but I love vintage. I grew up going for rides in my Dad's vintage cars, playing with my mother's handed-down costume jewelery and searching for captivating frocks in my Great Aunt's closets. So this year I decided to use some of that vintagey love to make something fun for the ladies in my life who love to bake - Christmas Aprons!

Not so long ago aprons were the norm, and I wish that they still were, because they are not only extremely practical, but cute too! Especially a sassy little half apron like this. This weekend I was baking with my little five-year-old cousin, and my favorite jeans were spared many a sticky icing handprint.

I used this basic tutorial from The Longest Year, but altered it a little bit. I wanted a thicker binding at the top, that was longer for tying into a nice big bow at the back, so I made my apron strings 6" x 72" (I had to sew two lengths together).

Sunbeam Dogs

Whiskey and I were up visiting my parents this weekend, so as usual he and Shadow had to run around the house like lunatics for a couple of hours and then by the next morning this is what I happened upon...

They had found the biggest and warmest sunbeam in the house and decided to end WWIII to take a little nap.

Whiskey was so wiped that he just lay there while I took the photo. Didn't even give me one of his usual get-the-camera-out-of-my-face looks. This is what happens when an 11.5lb mutt tries to keep up with a monstorous doberman.

But Shadow was happy to have the break too. Her crazy flipped up ear always cracks me up. It was an accident that happened before we got her, but I can't picture her without it now. We actually use it to test her mood...half-mast usually means she is pretty relaxed.

It will be interesting to see how these two react to all the Christmas commotion. Already Shadow has shown that she has a fondness for chewing the pom-poms on Santa hats and running off with glass Christmas balls in her mouth (with people running behind her to try to catch up). What will she think of all those big boxes with fun crinkley paper on them? Oh no...

The Little Christmas Tree That Could

O Tannenbaum was one of my favorite Carols growing up, so it should come as no surprise that I look forward to dressing up the tree every year. Usually I just put a real mix match of ornaments up, but this year I thought I'd stick to a simple red, green and white colour scheme for a change. And to spice things up from the usual tree stand and skirt routine, I opted for a potted tree this year. (You can see all the Christmas cheer I've been cooking up in my little apartment here)

For the base I took this great little stone pot that I picked up at a clearance sale at Bowrings a few years ago for $6. I have two of these and I love using them all year 'round. They look great with fresh Spring tulips popping out, or some plump Fall mums.

Giveaway Winner!

My super cute little cousin decided that she wanted to be the one to announce the winner of my first giveaway.

Here she is modeling the handmade Christmas book bag. The snowflakes were her suggestion.

Can we get a little drum roll here please?...

And the winner is....Susan!

Congratulations!

Susan said that as a child her favorite book was Santa Mouse, which she actually featured on her blog home tour!

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Deck the Halls!

The weather outside is frightening, but hopefully my little abode is much more inviting. Let me show you what I've been up to decorating my place for Christmas. Its been a busy year with work and life, so I didn't go out to get anything new. Which means that this is decorating on the cheap (recession-style), using things I already had or that I could pick up close by for a couple of dollars.

Decorating the living room to make it cozy and inviting to holiday guests is one of my favorite things. Its nice to be able to turn on the tree, start the fire, burrow under the throw and watch a Christmas movie.

A few years ago my mother picked up this cozy quilted throw for me and put it away, never to think about it again. Then when I bought my couch, we found the throw and it was like it had been made to match my living room. It has the same raspberry red as the couch and the cream as the chairs. Whiskey is a big fan of hiding underneath it...who am I kidding, he is a big fan of hiding under ANY blanket.

Double Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

This is a decadent holiday variation on the typical chocolate chip cookie, using cocoa powder, dark chocolate chips and mint extract. These are a great cookie to add to your cookie exchange this year, or to make ahead and freeze for when unexpected company shows up at the door. Or if you're like me, to make and then eat copious amounts before they get where they are supposed to go.

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup Butter
• 3/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 tsp Mint Extract
• 1 2/3 cup Flour
• 1/3 cup Cocoa
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
  
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 250g package of Dark Chocolate Chips
  

Preheat the oven to 375°F

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.

Gift Ideas for Kids: The Gift of Reading & FIRST EVER GIVEAWAY!

Some of my favorite gifts to give to children are books. Toys and stuffed animals may come and go but sharing stories is an essential part of human history. What a better way to share the holidays with the children in your life than to take the time to read some books together? So, instead of listing all the gizmos and gadgets that kids are asking for this year, I put together a list of some of my favorite children's Christmas stories.

And because its only two weeks until Christmas Eve, it's snowing here in Toronto right now and I'm feeling very festive today, I'm going to have my first giveaway here at Small Home Big Start. One lucky winner is going to receive a handmade Christmas book bag with three storybooks inside. Details are at the end of this post.

Tutorial: Homemade Felt Stockings

One of my favorite traditions growing up, was digging into our stockings on Christmas morning to see what goodies Santa had left us that year. I was lucky that I had two December-born siblings because our stockings were actually the ones that they put the newborns in when they hand them to their mothers. These things can seriously hold alot (who knew that a newborn could be so big?). Thankfully my mother sweet talked the nurses into giving me one of my own (I was four years old and cute...who could say no?).

Now that I have a place of my own, I like to make little stockings to decorate with and fill up to give as gifts. This is a basic guideline of how you can make your own simple felt stocking, that you can alter to make as big as you'd like. Or as little too - why not make a bunch of little ones, have the kiddies decorate them and put them on your tree?

This year I'm making a paw print stocking for the newest addition, Whiskey.

Gift Ideas for Her

With just two weeks left until Christmas Eve, I thought I'd share some gift ideas for the ladies on your list this year.

I wanted to start of this list with one of my favorite gifts out there this year. The "Water is a Human Right" Faucet Necklace ($79), designed by Linda Loudermilk, is a stylish pendant made from reclaimed silver, formed into an old-fashioned faucet with a single glass drop of water.  Loudermilk is passionate about the earth and its people, and is making her mark on the eco-movement with products to inspire people to think about the world around us, and how we can make it better.

 

Do you know someone who's New Year's Resolution is to try new things? Then why not expand their makeup horizons with the Sephora Color Play Palette II Eyeshadow Palette, $24. There are 36 powder eyeshadows, 12 lip colours, 3 powder blushes, and a bronzer, to help create a different look for everyday of 2010. Its also paraben free and safe for sensitive skin.