The Stitch Up

January Inspiration

I've already mentioned how January is the month where my Type A personality really gets to shine and I fully indulge in organization projects, making lists and reorganizing.  But on the flip side, it's also the time of year that I like to get cozy.  As soon as I take down the Christmas decorations, I start decorating with Hygge in mind: Candles, throw blankets, and the occasional fairy light.  I've got a few different resources I use for Winter/Hygge inspiration. 

 

First, I have a couple of Winter themed home decor/craft books I crack open this time of year to get some Hygge inspiration ideas.

 

 

Making Winter has some great ideas for Winter crafts to bring the outside indoors or knit up something cuddly. I also love Selina Lake's design book Winter Living Style. It has different decorating themes for Winter including Homespun, Rustic and Scandinavian. Each of the different design styles has great ideas for getting that perfect Winter feel.

 

In addition to craft and design books I also horde (or rather curate!) back issues of Marie Claire Idees Magazin and they come in handy for inspiration every season.  It's not ideal to hang on to stacks of old publications but I find something new to inspire me every time I flip through these magazines so it justifies the space they take up in the craft room.

 

 

I've organized these magazines by season so I can easily grab all the issues I want to flip through for inspiration at once. For the past few years I've been getting the publication in digital format as I'm realistic about the amount of space I can take up with old magazines, but as great as the new issues are, I really do prefer being able to physically hold the magazine and flip through the pages.

My last source of inspiration this month is the Spoonflower Doodle-A-Day Challenge. My friend Teresa and I are doing this together and its really fun to see the different way we each interpret the same prompt. I'm posting each day's doodle on my Flickr feed if you want to take a look. 

 

 

I hope January is bringing lots of inspiration and cozy warmth to everyone!

January Salt and Pepper Shakers

I don't really have any holiday themes for January, so I thought I'd highlight what I hope is just the beginning of the deer sub-collection of my salt and pepper collection.

So cute, right?  These are magnetized so they look like they are kissing until you separate them to do something mundane like season your food.

These two have a bit more of a realistic look.  I bought them in a little after Christmas sale binge but I think it was a good choice.  

I'm now on the look out for some deer shakers that are a little more off beat.  Deer playing poker?  Deer dancing a jig?  Hit me up if you see any crazy deer possibilities out there!

November Salt and Pepper Shakers

I'm not sure if I've mentioned my fairly amazing collection of salt and pepper shakers.  I pretty much can't pass by any set that I find in a vintage store.  I regularly scour Etsy for new arrivals and my favorite type of salt and pepper shakers are holiday shakers.  I love being able to break out the perfect pair for every season!

For Fall and Thanksgiving - I have two pair.  I could just rotate them each year, but they're both cute, so I end up putting one pair in the kitchen to use when cooking and put the other set on the table.  Both sets were gifts from my parent who enable my fairly insane collection and I love them for it.

These two are adorable pilgrims. He has a musket to shoot turkey with and she has...a bunch of other stuff.  I really can't tell.  Is it supposed to be a pumpkin?  It really looks like a couple of apples, which is maybe not historically accurate, but still - very cute.

And most crucial to this time of year?  Pumpkins of course.  I'm never quite sure which one is salt and which one is pepper.  It adds excitement to the meal!

So now it's just a count down to making delicious Thanksgiving chow with the salt and pepper shakers.  The holiday season is in full swing!