Thursday, December 24, 2009

Homestead for the Holidays

I left my home early yesterday morning to visit family for the holidays, but here are some pics that I've taken over the last week or so that reflect a little of my day to day at this time of year.
Decanting herbal tinctures, some of which will be gifted to family members. (I got the potato ricer you can see, at a thrift shop last week, but I won't be using it to rice potatoes. I'm repurposing it as an herb press. It works wonderfully for pressing out oil and alcohol macerations. This was an awesome thrift find!)

My coffee table with some Christmas crafts. Chopsticks in crochet holders will go to some sushi loving folk so they don't have to use the disposable, wooden chopstick at restaurants.

My cozy crochet corner with found lamp and chair.


There's always laundry to be done.


My Omas with flower and seasonal deco.


A Blue Christmas Kitchen


Silver and Gold


Red and Green


Frosty with plum infused brandy and basil vinegar.


My Tante M. made this ceramic shoe for me when I was seven. It's for Sankt Nikolaus Tag.

May you all enjoy a wonderful holiday!

5 comments:

Nienke said...

Sinterklaas!! My favourite holiday! (In the Netherlands, the gifts are accompanied by little, often sarcastic poems about the receiver, which makes it a celebration to be enjoyed by all ages... That, or either I'm just a kid inside)

Amber said...

Hi Nienke!

When I was little, I polished my shoes and left them out for St. Nick. In the morning they would be filled with fruit, marzipan and chocolate. It was definitely a highlight of the season for me. Sooo exciting and fun!

Wishing the kid inside of you lots of celebrations!

Alicia said...

So I realize I'm a little late on this one but I couldn't help but admire your little stack of hankies. I was once a regular hanky user and had a stack of beautiful hand embroidered linen hankies that were passed down to me by my great grandmother. When I left home my mother put them away for me somewhere and sadly, is currently unable to find them. One of my resolutions this year was to reduce my paper waste by (inspired by you!) using rags instead of toilet paper, and reverting to my hanky use. I feel like I have searched this city high and low and all I can find are those ugly, scratchy men's handkerchiefs. Even in thrift and vintage shops I've been unable to find ANYTHING satisfactory. Until I can reclaim my own stash I need a few to get me by. I was wondering where you found yours? Or do you make them? Or did you inherit them as I did my originals? Thanks in advance!

Amber said...

Hi Alicia,

I do have a growing collection of hankies that I love.

Many of them belonged to my great grandmother too! She crocheted lacy edgings around hers which are so delicate and pretty.

The rest I have slowly acquired in the last couple of years. Like you, I haven't had much luck at the thrift shops. The best source I have found so far are Christmas church bazaars. This year I picked up a few for 50 cents each.

Of course that doesn't help your search much, since I expect you'd like to find some hankies before the next bazaar season comes around again!

I just did a quick search on Etsy and found a number of people offering hankies, some of which seem quite pretty. Of course they are probably a bit more expensive, but that might be a starting point.

I hope you find your great grandma's stash soon!

And best of luck on your resolution to reduce paper. Awesome!

Alicia said...

Thanks! I was really hoping to get out to some bazaars this xmas but was way too busy with exams! Thanks for the link!