Vintage beaded brooch.

This week I received a brooch I ordered from My Vintage Jewels. It appears to be handmade and is beaded with micro beads. The seller estimated that it was made in the 1930s or 40s. I thought the flowers were very sweet and I love all the bead work.

Look at how she sewed on the pin back! I took a lot of stitches to sew that on.

I'm glad this piece of bead work found its way to me.

Beaded coin purse.

I picked up this Victorian micro beaded coin purse at a local antique shop. It has a lot of damage and missing beads, but it's still very charming. The price was only a few dollars, so I couldn't leave it there!

I poked around on Etsy and found some micro beaded bags.

From Dakotas Vintage.

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From Planet Claire Vintage.

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From The Church of Vintage.

From 5gardenias.

From Amphorae.

I'd like them all!

A tiny pumpkin...

...made of velvet.
A very thoughtful gift. I think I'll keep it out all year.

Things I've won recently... and something you could win from Rosy Revolver.

I don't often win things on blogs, but I cross my fingers just the same. I've been very lucky recently. During Indie Fixx's 12 Days of Holiday Shopping I was lucky enough to win this necklace from Favor Jewelry.

It's so pretty. I'd like several pairs of earrings she has in her shop.

And then the year started out on a great note when I won a Cozy/Cuff from Megan Auman. It's pretty cool. You can use it as a coffee cozy...

...and also wear it as a cuff bracelet. Very handy for those runs to the coffee shop. And pretty, too! I've already been putting it to good use.

Megan also has a lot of great jewelry in her shop, like these earrings.

Now I have my fingers crossed to win this gorgeous necklace from Rosy Revolver. You may remember that Rosy Revolver was recently on of my Etsy Favorites. I am still thinking about buying the Bud Studs for Rosy Lobes.

Anyway, back to this necklace...if you love it, too, you can enter to win it before January 23. Check out her blog for details. Good luck!

Brooches.

I love looking at other people's jewelry. Not long ago, Mark's mom and I sat down and spent some time looking at her mom's jewelry and reminiscing. Mark's mom is not a lover of sparkle (this is very hard for me to understand!) and she gave me some brooches that she thought I would appreciate.

These pieces most likely belonged to Mark's great grandma, which makes them more special. I think she and I would have been on the same sparkly page.

I don't wear many brooches, so for the most part, some of these are included in small displays around the house. I think a little bit of sparkle is appropriate just about anywhere, don't you?

Missing instructions.

I have been madly cleaning and reorganizing areas of the house. While I was on vacation over Christmas, I planned to do a lot of crafting, but instead I cleaned, threw away, and donated items. It got in the way of my crafting plans, but it's nice to have things organized.

Anyway, of course one of the rooms I set to work on was the studio. During my organizing frenzy I came across this earring that I made when I visited my friend Andrea while she lived in California. We had a private class with Shiho Yamashita that was a lot of fun. I really like the earring and I have all the supplies to make the other one, but I cannot find the instructions!

Maybe I'll find them during the next studio organizing session.

We've gotten a lot of snow here and now the temperature is quite cold. Not having dairy cuts into my drinking hot cocoa to stay warm. The other day I saw some Silk almond milk and decided to give it a try. I love almonds and thought the milk was quite good. Then I decided to try making some hot cocoa with it - yum!

I swear this is not becoming a recipe blog! But, I'll share this with you in case you want to give it a try. I made a few changes to the recipe on the Ghiradelli cocoa can. I even added almond extract to bump up the almond goodness.

Almond Hot Cocoa

In a saucepan, heat:
1 cup almond milk
1-1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tablespoon agave nectar (or 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Enjoy with a good book on a cold winter's day.

Etsy Favorite: Bijougirl

I received some gifts from Amanda Conley's shop for my birthday and also for Christmas from my in-laws. I really like the flowers in her designs as well as the classic simplicity.

I find myself reaching for this bangle bracelet quite often as it seems to go with everything.

One day I might have to add these earrings to my jewelry collection.

A few more pieces...

I believe are supposed to receive a lot of snow today/tonite. N has his hopes up for a snow day tomorrow!

Chandelier.

Received the new Pottery Barn catalog last night. This chandelier is so lovely, all rustic, woodsy, and sparkly.

Sigh.

Mousse.

In the latter part of the year I decided to stop eating dairy. Even though I've had an allergy almost my entire life, I still ate it; but, I finally decided enough was enough. Dairy is a hard thing to cut out of your diet! Lately, I've been craving chocolate pudding. I found a recipe on Allrecipes for tofu pudding that's really more of a mousse in texture - even better!

Using that recipe as a base, I've been playing around and now have a version that N loves and chooses to eat over the dairy pudding that's in our refrigerator. In fact, N had a friend over last night and they both ate large bowls of it!

Tofu Chocolate Mousse

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used vegan chips)
1/2 tablespoon water
12.3 oz. extra firm silken tofu (silken tofu has a different texture than traditional tofu)
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1-1/4 tablespoons agave nectar
1/2 tablespoon Kahlua (optional)

Melt chocolate chips in microwave. Meanwhile put everything else in a food processor and process until smooth. Add melted chocolate. Process until smooth and creamy. Chill for 2-3 hours before serving.

Stay safe this New Year's Eve!

Ornaments and gingerbread.

I'm very excited about the ornament my mom made for us this year. She took a class in soldering and applied what she learned to making everyone an ornament for Christmas. I've been wanting to learn how to do this type of soldering this myself, so I think a class with Mom is in order!

It's hard to see in the photo, but she glittered the picture before setting it between the two pieces of glass. The ornament is two-sided, but my pictures of the other side didn't turn out as well.

Earlier in December I ordered these two ornaments from Petite House.

N liked them so much that he made his own version out of clay. Once it's painted I'll show it to you. I've been trying to get him to paint it all month.

The reindeer in this photo is one I stitched when I was very young. It's one of the first things I ever cross stitched. He even has a red bead for a nose!

We made a gingerbread house this morning. A little late, I know, but N had a great time decorating it anyway.

It's been snowing steadily all day. I'm off to do some beading and watch Julie & Julia. Have a great weekend!

♥