It's the last day of 2021 and I crossed something off my bucket list!

It's the last day of 2021. 9:14 PM. I'm sitting in bed in my cute new satin jammies that I thrifted for $2 surrounded by pets--Maisel, our dog, Tigger our cat, and three foster kittens. The other two foster kittens are sleeping on Casey's nightstand and our other two cats are hanging out in the living room. Fireworks are popping outside the window but none of us really care (Maisel only doesn't care because she got some drugs earlier). Casey and I decided earlier this week that we would not be staying up to ring in a new year, but we will happily welcome it tomorrow morning after a full night's sleep. We are old people at heart, and an early bedtime sounds better to us than a late night, even if it is to ring in 2022. I'm much happier about a bedtime kiss than a midnight kiss.

Casey had today off and I was happy he was home with me today. Unfortunately I've felt a little sick all day and was unable to do the things I wanted to do (sweep and mop, work on my current sewing project, and make Shabbat dinner), but Casey made all three meals for me today--pancakes, strawberries, and apples for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and creamy dill chicken with broccoli and potatoes for our Shabbat meal. He even had candles lit on the table. Meanwhile, I sat in bed and watched two Christmas Hallmark movies (I'll be watching Christmas movies through January and pretend it's Christmas because December in Louisiana was HOT), read half of a book, took a nap, and watched two episodes of The Chosen (with Casey).

I felt a little better after dinner so I made some chocolate chip cookies. They were alright. I'm making chocolate chip cookies in a few weeks for the wedding of my bestie and brother-in-law (I'm pretty excited that my best friend of over 15 years will soon be my sister-in-law!) so I plan to test different recipes next week and have Casey take them to work so his coworkers can do a blind taste testing. The recipe I used tonight will not make the cut.

Anyways, tonight I crossed off something that has been on my bucket list for years--read 100 books in a year. My original goal for the year was 50, but for some reason I was on a big reading kick in January and realized a few weeks in that I was on track to read 100 books. So I figured, why not? We don't have kids yet and I'm not sure reading that many books will be as feasible once we do, so the timing was good. It's been a blast. I've listened to audiobooks, read middle grade, YA, and adult novels, quite a few home and self-improvement books. I've taken advantage of my (three) library card(s) and also bought more books this year than I have in a while. (More READING books, that is. I also love to buy vintage books to add to my collection, but I don't usually read them.)

Some of my favorite books were, funnily enough, nonfiction, which I've only started liking in the last few years. I also reread sooooo many books. I love to reread books and reread most of my faves this year. 

So what's my reading goal for 2022? Well, after so much reading this year, I'm gonna lower my goal. While I did it, it was quite challenging and cut into my craft time quite a bit. I love sewing and want to make sure I have plenty of time for it this year. I averaged the books I've read each year for the last 12 years (I've been on Goodreads since 2010 and keep up with how many books I read every year) and the average was 40. I think this is a good number for this year. Less than one a week, so I have much more flexibility to sew and volunteer and other things I like to do. If I read more than that, great! If not... then that's fine too. I'm looking forward to reading new books and rereads! 

Well, time to go to bed. I'll wake up to 2022!

Christmas Outfits

I love dressing festive! As soon as December 1 comes around, it's time to pull out all the red and green! I've decided I don't want to wait until I'm an old lady to wear all the fun, tacky Christmas outfits. Unfortunately we've had mostly hot weather this month, so I didn't get to wear my sweaters as much as I wanted, but I did my best to dress festive anyway. Here are some of my Christmas outfits!

My candy cane sweater unfortunately made too few appearances this Christmas, but I still love it!

sweater: thrifted

skirt: Old from Forever 21

I made this Christmas tree skirt two years ago and get compliments on it every time I wear it! Worn with thrifted top and shoes.

Thrifted top, me-made skirt, and... sandals. Sigh. Christmas in Louisiana. (It was hot that night.)

Love this thrifted sweater! (It's even better because my name is Joy.)

This is probably my favorite Christmas look this year. Sweater and plaid skirt are thrifted and the hat was my mom's--it's vintage now.

Me-made gingerbread apron! My kitchen gets decked out in gingerbread for the Christmas season, so I couldn't help but pick up this fabric to make a festive apron.

Thrifted Star Wars Christmas t-shirt (if next year's Christmas is anything like this year's, I need to thrift more Christmas t-shirts) and me-made skirt. I wore those antlers to many events--they're much cooler than the hot Santa hat! Unfortunately they broke at the Christmas parade when someone on a float threw Mardi Gras beads to me. (Because Christmas parades in South Louisiana are include people throwing candy and beads and plastic cups and end with Santa being pulled by a tractor.)

My mom bought me this beautiful green dress from Dainty Jewell's. I love that I can wear it any time of year but the color is quite festive for December. Worn with cute boots that I thrifted for a few bucks.

My Christmas day outfit featuring the birthday cake I made for Jesus! The top is secondhand (I can't remember if I thrifted it or if a friend gave it to me) and the skirt was made by me out of a thrifted tablecloth.

Things I Love - Christmas!

Christmas China | My grandmother gave me four sets of her Country Rose Christmas china several years ago (along with four sets of normal Country Rose china) and I LOVE to pull it out at Christmastime. We use the plates for every dinner and I enjoy many cups of hot tea in the tea cups.

Dressing Festive | You know those cute little old ladies who are always decked out for each season? I've decided I don't want to wait until I'm an old lady to dress festive. My goal is to wear a festive outfit every day this month! Whether it's one of the Christmas skirts I've made or pulling out the red and green clothes in my closet (it was 75 degrees the other day so I had to wear my red gingham summer dress), I'm embracing Christmas in my closet.

Community Festivities | Last week our town had "Movie in the Park" and we grabbed our folding chairs and headed to the park to watch "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" on a huge projector screen. It's one of my least favorite Christmas movies, but it was actually cold outside and we got some hot chocolate, so it was still a lovely time. We are looking forward to more upcoming festivities in our area! Sweet Treats On Main Street (we're selling Christmas cookies to raise funds for our next missions trip), the Christmas parade, the Christmas Farmers Market, and our church's pancake breakfast are coming up and we're excited to go!

Christmas Decor | I love decorating the house for Christmas and my husband loves it too. We decorate in November, before Thanksgiving, and he's cool with me leaving the decor up through January if I feel like it. There's nothing like a sparkling Christmas tree. Casey loves those little villages, so we've been thrifting pieces and he enjoys setting them up. And I love adding gingerbread decor in the kitchen!

Christmas Movies | Despite the fact that I don't like a lot of "classic" Christmas movies, I DO love Christmas movies. My fave is White Christmas. And honestly, I LOVE cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies. Yes, I know how they are going to end, but there is something so comforting about knowing everything is going to end up happily ever after.

My Plan to Tackle Winter Blues

It's that time of year where it turns dark at like, 5:00, and I am NOT here for it. I like my long, sunny days! I'm very grateful that I am blessed to work from home, so I do, in fact, get to enjoy the sunshine streaming through the windows during the day, plus I find myself outside several times a day with the dogs. Short, winter days were the worst when I worked a typical eight-to-five job, so I'm definitely counting my blessings. Still, I do not like this getting-dark-early business. 

How to combat the winter blues? I'm trying to romanticize coziness in my home. Here's my plan of attack!

• A cozy glow | Come evening, we do not turn on the overhead lights in the living room or our bedroom, but rather we just light a few lamps for a cozy glow. Once the Christmas tree is up, the lights will just add to the cozy feel! I also love to light candles. Truly, setting the atmosphere with lights makes a huge difference.
• Cozy blankets and quilts | While the blankets and quilts live on the blanket ladder all year, it's during the cold months that they truly get utilized. There's nothing better than curling up on the couch in a fuzzy blanket or lovely quilt. 
• Hot drinks | We have ingredients for hot apple cider AND hot chocolate and I've been enjoying both frequently since temperatures have started dropping. I'm sure I'll soon find myself on a hot tea kick again, too.
• Faux fireplace | We do not have a fireplace, but I love putting a fireplace recording on the TV! Even though it's not real, I love hearing the crackling and it adds to the cozy lights.
• Comfy jammies | I've been in SUCH a cozy jammies mood in the last few months and have acquired a few new pair. I just love to put on warm jammies and socks and read under a blanket before bedtime.

My First Quilt!!

Last year, I spontaneously decided to join a quiltalong, despite the fact I'd never quilted before. Over a year later... that quilt top is still not finished. (Unfortunately I'm not liking how it's turning out. Pic below.)

BUT over a year later... I've completed a different quilt!

So... meet my first quilt! (Our foster kitten Louie is doing such a good job showing it off.)

Pattern

The pattern is the Homecoming Quilt by Lo and Behold Stitchery. I've been obsessed with this quilt pattern since the first time I saw it and knew I had to make it. The pattern was so thorough and easy to follow--exact cutting guides, which way to press the seams. A great pattern, and it turned out so beautifully.

Fabric

All of the fabrics in this quilt are recycled fabrics. Several were sheets I'd thrifted to make Bible costumes from, but I ended up not needing as many costumes as I thought and had a pile of fabric left over. The backing is also a thrifted sheet that is originally from JC Penney. The backing fabric inspired my fabric choices for the quilt top. I would have chosen different colors had I been buying new fabric, but I think that's part of the fun of using recycled materials--creating things I wouldn't have thought of otherwise!

Batting

I used Hobb's Heirloom Premium cotton batting (which is 80% cotton and 20% polyester) and bought it in a package that contained batting for a twin sized quilt. It was on sale and the lady at Hobby Lobby (unfortunately the only "quilting shop" my town has) told me she didn't know anything about quilting, so I was a little intimidated to buy batting by the yard without guidance. Maybe next time I'll have the courage! I was grateful it wasn't too thick because I worried that my quilt sandwich would be too thick for my little machine to handle.

Making the Quilt

I didn't make the quilt all at once, but rather spread the work out over several weeks. I cut all the fabric over a day or so, then would make two to four blocks a day. It took about two weeks to make the blocks, then one day I sat down and sewed them all together. The quilt top was done! Then I set it aside and worked on other projects until I got batting (and courage) to put it all together.

For this quilt, I decided not to think too hard--just do it. So I definitely did some things wrong. The backing is super bunchy because I didn't properly tape it down while I made my quilt sandwich. It's okay. The quilt is still super cozy. But it is definitely an area I want to improve in in the future, especially if I make quilts to gift to others. 

The actual quilting isn't the best. I don't have a walking foot for my machine and didn't want to buy one because I plan to buy a new sewing machine in the next few months. A walking foot probably would have made it easier, and definitely would have made my stitches look nicer. Again, I wasn't going for perfect on this quilt---I just wanted to do it! My little Singer Simple is definitely not an ideal machine to use for quilting with just 5.5 inches of throat space, and, as I said, I really should have used a walking foot. 

I thought the quilting part would take FOREVER, which is part of the reason I kept putting off the quilting, but it only ended up taking a few hours. I basted and quilted the quilt in one day. (On my birthday! My 30th birthday. It was the perfect way to spend the day.)

After it was quilted, I decided to make a tag for the quilt. Many quilters say you should always add a tag, so I hand embroidered one! I LOVE how it turned out. I love embroidery and look forward to adding embroidered tags to more quilts in the future. After sewing on the tag, it was time for the last step--binding!

The hardest part was the binding. I've used binding before on clothing and purses, but quilt binding is applied completely differently! I had to watch and read several tutorials to make sure I understood how to apply it correctly. Thankfully, the binding process didn't actually take all that long, and I believe it will go faster (and more neatly) in the future with a walking foot.

Quilting Resources I Used

I have learned everything about quilting (and sewing) from YouTube, Instagram, and books I've checked out from the library. Here are some helpful resources I've used:

Quilting Tip: Scant 1/4 inch - Diary of a Quilter (blog post)

Basting the Quilt Sandwich - Fat Quarter Shop (YouTube)

Straight Line Quilting for Beginners - Fat Quarter Shop (YouTube)

How to Machine Bind Your Quilt - Lo and Behold (blog post)

The Best Machine Binding Method Part 1 - Melanie Ham (YouTube)

The Best Machine Binding Method Part 2 - Melanie Ham (YouTube)

Quilt as You Go Made Modern - Jera Brandvig (Book) (I don't like the actual quilt patterns in this book but really like the binding tutorial.)

Quilt as You Go Made Vintage - Jera Brandvig (Book) (I LOVE the quilt designs in this book.)

Things I Love - Fall!

Candles | I'm super particular about the scents that I like and basically only like fall-smelling things. Pumpkin spice, apple orchard, cinnamon roll, stuff like that. Casey and I stock up on candles during the fall to burn all year long. The other day we caught a sale at Michael's and got three huge candles for $9!

Fall decor | We have an agreement in this house -- fall stuff can go up September 1 and Christmas stuff can go up November 1. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay in our house for the first two weeks of September due to having no power thanks to Hurricane Ida, but after we got settled back we pulled out the fall decor! I love how cozy it makes the house feel. While I'm not a fan of having less daylight, I'm learning to enjoy it by turning on the lamps, the fairy lights, and lighting candles while I cozy up on the couch wrapped in a blanket. 

Time outside | Everyone always says that August is the hottest month of the year, and boy were they right this year. August was so hot that I barely ever went out. I'm excited about going back to having my morning porch time now that the heat is bearable! 

Apple Cider | We had a cool front (it was in the 70s! It was lovely!) a few weeks ago so Casey and I immediately picked up some apple cider and we went through two jugs of it in a week! We'll drink it morning, noon, and night--I often keep it warming on the stovetop so we can enjoy it whenever! 

Caramel Apples | Casey and I made our autumn bucket list a few weeks ago and one of the things on it was eating caramel apples. Casey picked me up one at the grocery store and I was totally skeptical--how could it possibly be any good? Boy, I was WRONG. It was AMAZING. AND I didn't have to make it and make the kitchen messy! Ha! I'd still like to give a try making them, but at least I know I can get my fix pretty easily.

Walks to the farmers market | We love walking through the neighborhood and always enjoy going to the farmers market to buy pastries for breakfast. We are super excited because there is a new booth with Thai food and they make the best Thai tea I've ever had. I already can't wait for Saturday to get my tea and a delicious pastry!

Fall Date Ideas

Build a scarecrow | Casey and I did this for the first time last year and we enjoyed it so much we've decided to make it a new tradition. Thrift a few fall clothing items (shirt, pants, hat, boots) and use one of those plastic pumpkin candy bowls as the head. Pro tip: You get a much better deal on hay by buying "Halloween Hay" at the feed and seed than those tiny little bales of decorative hay at Walmart.

Pumpkin carving or painting | We've done both! Painting is easier and faster if you're short on time (or don't want to deal with pumpkin guts). 

Soup and Cider | Try a new soup recipe and enjoy some apple cider (or another hot drink of your choice). This is a great one for when the weather starts getting cold. Eating soup on the porch when it's chilly is so lovely!

Movie night! | Halloween movies, cheesy autumn Hallmark movies, whatever your choice. Add a hot beverage and cuddle under a cozy blanket!

Visit a pumpkin patch | Get a pumpkin to carve or paint and make sure to take cute pics!