One of our favorite gifts to give is an experience – a favorite class, a movie date, a flying lesson with Martin…

The envelope scraps left from our Christmas cards looked like the perfect gift card envelopes!  I used the same lace stamp and white ink.  Then I added a zigzag stitch with my sewing machine.  The stitches weren’t necessary.  They just felt like the perfect handmade detail.

The gift card is much the same – just a little scrap of green paper from our Christmas cards.

I decided not to stitch the top closed so the card is easy to pull out.  (So obviously these gifts will not be appearing under the tree until the last minute!)

All we need is a black marker to jot down the recipient’s name on the envelope and a note on the inside!

I hate green tea.

Or at least up until yesterday, I used to.  Martin and I received some loose green tea for Christmas.  Did you know that the best green tea is from China?  I guess food snobs won’t touch Japanese green tea or anything else.  It must come from China!

So there you go, we received a “Made in China” gift.

But what do you do with the stuff?

I remember the little Asian woman who ran my favorite tea shop in Berlin.  She was always explaining how to make a lot of teas to me in her broken German, which always made the German customers in her shop chuckle.  Me and my broken German would be responding, “Boy, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it sounds delicious.”  German words like “brew” and “seep” aren’t exactly in my vocabulary.  (“Rinse” is thanks to the scariest dentist appointment ever.)  Anyway, the one thing I remember her teaching me was that oolong teas, green teas, and several others are best made in a little pot.  That way you make the tea as you go, and it doesn’t get really bitter.

I *think* she said to seep the tea in a little pot for about three minutes, then pour into a cup.  She said you could repeat this process with the same tea leaves three times.  (My eyebrows are raised at the probability of everything in threes.  Again – not because of her broken German, but mine.)

I spotted a one-cup tea pot at a thrift store to the tune of $1.  It was made in Poland.  It’s the perfect little pot for green tea.  Here’s a peek inside.

The tea in that picture is pretty dark because – hello Katie!  You have to stop drinking tea with caffeine or you’ll be wide awake until Santa comes down the chimney next week.

So if you happen to be in a city with a tea shop, get the green tea.  It’s incredible, incredible, incredible.

There is a reason our family survives as a one-car household in the mountains.  When the temperatures stick below freezing for days and days or the rain pours and pours, we’re still bee-bopping around with one vehicle.  I’m going to confess that the reason is oh-my-gosh, absolutely 100% not because of me.  It’s him:

I didn’t even know what studded bicycle tires were until I met this guy.

Did you?

(Thanks Martin!)

We’ve never sent snail mail Christmas cards before.

We’ve either sent digital cards or silently gone without sending a thing each holiday (except to our must-sends:  grandmas and moms!).

This year, I decided to make my own cards to send to these lovely ladies:

That picture from earlier this year has been resonating in my mind.  Inspired by the way digital scrapbookers often write on their photos, I added an extra layer of words and a white line boarder right onto the photo.  It reads “Cheers to a Merry Christmas”.  (We were drinking gluhwein at a Christmas market in Berlin.)

Using double-sided sticky tape, I adhered a green piece of paper on the back of each photo.

I stamped a lace pattern with white ink on the left.  It’s a little hard to see; the stamp shows up much better on the photographs of the envelopes.  I used red pen to write a personal note on each card.

The envelopes were an afterthought.  Santa won’t tell you I’m lying about being green on this Christmas project… my envelopes were made in China.  (hides under desk!)  I am absolutely certain that there is nothing recycled or repurposed about them.

I cut a couple inches off each envelope so they’d be a better fit with my 4×6 inch photos.

Then each envelope got a strip of green patterned tape on each side.  I added another lace stamp with white ink, and now my letters are ready!

As for the envelope scraps?  They’re fast becoming the perfect pockets in my Christmas journal.  Remember this page?  Envelope scrap!

I hope our grandmas and mamas love ‘em!

How many holiday cards are you mailing this year?  Any digital sends?  How about handmade?  I should confess that as I handed these cards to Martin to sign, he said, “I thought you were all about the digital.”  What can I say?  A Christmas craft that I can completely give away?  There’s some real charm to that!

Get ready to pull out a little holly and jolly because Joye from Joyefulart is joining us today.  She’s got a beautiful handmade necklace to give.  She’s also got some great words about simplifying and facing fear.

Joye, how do you overcome fear in your creative business and life?

I have surpressed those negative comments that whisper in your ear long ago. I am educated as an audiologist, and worked for 10 years in clinical and educational audiology. However, I was always creating, doodling, designing clothing, playing my violin, knitting, that when all 3 of my small children got sick with the chicken pox and I was forced to quit my job to stay home for 3 weeks with them, my husband suggested that I go into the field I truly love, art. So it has been no looking back since then! I am driven creatively, love what I do, and don’t allow fear to creep in. Fear would drag me down and take away from my creative juice flow.

What are two of your top tricks for simplifying your home life?

I think I can sum it up by staying organized and getting up early(sounds like my mom!).

I make lots of lists and structure my time. I think it is a throw back from my science background and learning to play the violin. I learned to be disciplined and take life in small increments and it will eventually get done.

I also try and enjoy life, taking pleasure in the little things: planning a dinner, laundry(yes, I like seeing my clothes become fresh and clean!), watching the sun rise with my coffee, getting a new book from the library and opening it to read the first page, planning a new knitting project, looking at the color blue. I am basically a positive person and am grateful for each day I am given to live my wonderful life!

Here’s how to win the necklace shown:

Prize: a Pewter Pendant from Joye’s shop with cultured pearl and sterling silver 18” chain. Watercolor painting photo transfer. Painting is named Blue Vase.
Value: $65.00

Entries: One entry per email address and per household please. Leave a response in the comments section below with your answer:

What is something you’re doing to simplify this holiday season?

Ships to: anywhere!! Outside the USA the photo will be shipped without a mat to save on shipping and so you can mat the photo to locally-available frame sizes
Contest ends: Thursday, December 16, 2010 at midnight in the Rocky Mountains. Winner announced here on Friday.

Ships to: anywhere in the world

I baked lebkuchen last night.

We love this cookie so much!  We’re slowly trying to incorporate European and American traditions into our holidays, which means I am regularly turning to Wikipedia and my library for all the help I can get.

You might be familiar with lebkuchen.  It’s a lot like gingerbread and usually looks like this:

(I think I like the taste of lebkuchen better than gingerbread.)  It’s not as sweet as gingerbread, and – most interesting of all – it doesn’t have any ginger in it.  They’re sweetened with honey and molasses.  And oh – the cookies are soft and thick.

Our dough had to sit in the fridge for three looooong days.  But it was worth it.  Last night, our kitchen smelled like the German Christmas Markets as our cookies baked.

I’m going to have to practice my German frosting techniques.  The frosting turns into a slightly stiff glaze.

I used Greg Patent’s recipe from a favorite book at our house – A Baker’s Odyssey.  It’s filled with all sorts of international recipes made for American cooks.  I gave it to my sister for her bridal shower, then a few months later, she gave me a copy for Christmas.  It’s that kind of book.

Thanks to the folks at Google Books, you can see the entire recipe right here.

These soft cookies definitely pass the test.  They’ll be a Christmas staple.

Are you a lebkuchen or gingerbread lover?

(first image compliments of Flickr)