A Dose of the Delightful

Happy Thanksgiving! Recently Captured: Family, Food + Fashion

This was originally just going to be a short style post - one I was supposed to put up yesterday (oops!), but I realized I had a bit more to say. I'll start with style:

1. Turtleneck (Target)   2. Necklace &  3. charm (similar, Anthropologie)  4. Skirt (Annie Griffin) 5. Side Zip Ankle Boots (Zara)  6. Tights (Target)  7. Clutch (Target) 
8. Polish (Butter London)   9. Ring, Amrita Singh

Here I am wearing it (forgot to include the clutch). I will say, wearing a skirt with a fitted waist is not such a good idea when planning on eating a gut-busting meal. 

It seemed like a good idea until I was faced with these prospects:

After dinner & time with family, we went to see Skyfall at the movie theater that's in walking distance from our house. Was I so full that I unzipped my skirt slightly at the back, you ask? Maybe. 

Speaking of fashion, these two little sassy ladies (my cousins' adorable daughters) went from this:

To this! Is there ever a bad time for princess/fairy attire?

The view from my aunt & uncle's place:

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and friends - oh, and tons of food. For the past few years, Thanksgiving, and the holidays in general, haven't been the easiest of times for our family - but being together helps infinitely.

We miss my brother so very much - but we are also thankful that we got to experience his presence in our lives for the brief time he was here. Jonathan is never not part of my thoughts, but on holidays filled with close family, laughs around the communal table, and rambunctious kids being totally silly, he's certainly at the forefront of my mind.

We remember hilarious family jokes and laugh until our cheeks hurt; when we quiet down we can't help but notice the glaring empty place in our family that my brother filled, and we hurt. That's really the best way to describe grief, I think. It's a rollercoaster that doesn't end - we don't ever 'get over' the loss of someone so precious to us. We just have to learn to accept the ups and downs as part of the process, and part of life.

This is also the first Thanksgiving we spent without Taz, our greyhound, who was part of our family for the past 13 years. 

Despite his appearance (intimidating to some) Taz couldn't have been sweeter - he was certainly a gentle giant. Just like my brother, there wasn't an aggressive bone in his body. When we lost Jonathan, it seemed like Taz knew. He knew we were all sad and he knew we needed him. He hadn't been in the best of health before that, but it seemed like he pulled it together so he could be there for us when we needed him. I'm grateful for the gift of that unconditional love he gave us. 

To me, Thanksgiving has become a time that not only reminds me to be grateful for the little things, but to remember just how much the big things - family & friends - are a gift.

With love,
Natalie 

p.s. You'd think yesterday's feast would've been enough...but a new restaurant recently opened within walking distance of my family's house. It's important to note that isn't just any restaurant - it's a biscuit-focused restaurant: Maple Street Biscuit Company. We just had to try it today. I ordered The Five: fried chicken, pecan bacon, cheddar, sausage gravy on a flaky biscuit. Plus a side of bluegrass grits (made w/ cream cheese) and sweet potato fries.

Join Me for Country Living's Holiday Pinspiration Party!

DIY Jingle Bell & Rope Wreath

First of all, I absolutely love Country Living. They do such a good job of combining well-designed but livable interiors, chic crafty projects, fascinating profiles on new & heritage small American businesses, and everything lifestyle in between. I hadn't opened an issue of it in years until a year or so ago, and after reading it cover to cover, promptly subscribed.

Which is why when CL asked me to participate in their first annual Holiday Pinspiration Party, along with some other crafty bloggers, I was beyond psyched. They've asked each of us to submit 3 images of crafty holiday DIYs, which they've pinned on their Holiday Pinspiration Party board. For the next week, CL's followers will repin the projects they like most. Then, each of our projects that gets the most repins will be the one we make live at a party they're hosting in early December!

I have to confess - I didn't have any holiday-appropriate projects, so I made all of these just for the Pinterest party. But it was so fun! It's tricky coming up with holiday-themed DIYs that avoid the cheese factor, and I loved the challenge. Here's what I made! If you like any of these and want to make them yourself, check back soon - I'll be posting the how-tos here soon.

Here's a front view of the wreath I made:

 And these are the festive version of my first coaster tutorial.

I wanted to make something that would seem festive but that was still stylish, so I whipped up this detachable collar.

Check back in the next few weeks for all of these tutorials - and in the meantime, get on Pinterest and vote for me with repins, please! :)

 

Sandy Craftalong Update: Donation Deadline 11/16

Oh my goodness. That photo above? That's Brett and me with just our first few days of donations! I think it's safe to say our Make It Better: Sandy Craftalong has been a resounding success - so much so that our focus now is making sure we don't receive more than we can handle! So far, we've received over 1,000 warm, beautiful items handmade with love: blankets, scarves, hats, socks, gloves, and even sweaters! Brett will make the first delivery today - check our Facebook page for updates & pictures!

You have all shown us just how much the crafty community can do when we work together. As we opened box after box of items, we were truly blown away by the sense of love and support conveyed in your handwritten notes, thoughtful packaging, and carefully crafted projects. Because of this amazing, overwhelming outpouring of goodness - for which we are SO grateful - we feel we need to push the donation deadline up to November 16th.

We're a small team, and we want to make sure we can accomplish what we've set out to do: deliver warm items to those that need them most. We've identified several specific organizations and communities that need our help; however, we want to keep our deliveries efficient, timely, and in tune with the need that is actually there. We ask that you wrap up what you've been working on and put it in the mail by Friday, November 16th. If you won’t be able to send your projects by then, we hope you will consider donating them to a shelter or local cause in your area.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

xx Natalie

Make It Better: A Craftalong For Sandy Relief

IMPORTANT ADDRESS UPDATE!
A few of you have reported trouble getting the USPS to recognize the delivery address. We want to make absolutely sure you have no trouble sending items! Please address to:

Natalie Soud
Soho Grand Hotel
310 W. Broadway
New York, NY 10013 

Thought I dealt with a few days without power and am still waiting for my heat to come back on, I escaped from Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed - and boy, am I grateful. So very many others did not and are in desperate need. As the temperatures continue to drop here in New York City, Brett from Manhattan Craft Room & I began to think about what we could do to help those victims without electricity, heat, or even proper shelter. We got in touch and decided to call on the unique talents and big hearts of the crafting community we both deeply value and created Make It Better - A Craftalong for Sandy Relief. 

Many Sandy victims, especially in The Rockaways & Staten Island, are living without power, desperately trying to keep warm. Reports from the hardest-hit areas are that folks are in need of warm garments to make it through. If knitters, crocheters and sewers are good at anything, it's making warm things--so please join us in a Sandy Craftalong to stitch up some warmth. 

HOW TO HELP

MAKE IT. Simply knit, crochet or sew a warm garment or blanket--items most needed are hats, socks, gloves/mittens, scarves, sweaters, and blankets. Use one of the quick and easy free patterns we found below, or any pattern you like.  If you'd like to include other small items to help the relief effort, feel free to donate another warm garment (new or gently used, please).

1. Socks (knitted) via Stitch Nation
2. Wool blanket (sewn) via Brett Bara for Design*Sponge
3. Easy bound fleece blanket (sewn) via See Kate Sew - we also found these easy fleece mitten and sock tutorials
4. Upcycled mittens (sewn) via A Beautiful Mess - there's also an upcycled hat tutorial at the same link
5. Hat (knitted) via Kollabora

6. Scarf (knitted) via Vickie Howell for Bernat - you just need a free account to view the pattern on the web, or here's the PDF

SEND IT. Send your finished item to Natalie Soud, Soho Grand Hotel, 310 W. Broadway, New York, NY 10013 as soon as possible. We want to start distributing warm goods within a week, so stitch something quick and send it off! Our volunteers will deliver the items to various points in and around New York City. (Although we'll start delivering immediately, we'll be accepting donations for the near future, so free free to send projects whenever they're complete.)

CRAFTALONG. Share what you've made and help spread the word! Please, please, please blog, Tweet, Facebook, Instagram, and Pin that you're participating in the Sandy Craftalong as soon as you can (like today!) so that we can get as many hands stitching as possible. Then, when you finish your project, share what you've made by posting it on your own blog nd on our Facebook page at facebook.com/sandycraftalong. Also remember to use the tags  #makeitbetter and #sandycraftalong.

Will you join us? We are so, so excited to see what everyone whips up to help those in need!

-Natalie & Brett