pour a cup o' atmosphere.

unlike brown paper parcels that can be tied easily with ribbon, there is no one-word description that can be wrapped around this little holiday. there's warmth. there's a bit of cold. there's singing and merry-making, and it would be a lie to say there aren't a few tears thrown into the mix. there's cold winter sunlight and little falls of rain, if not snow. there's wisps of steam from the multiple cups of warmth and cold pieces of peppermint bark. there's memories to be kept close and traditions to be followed. everything is a muddle stirred around by busyness, but amidst the whirlpool there seems to be life therein. 

so, pour yourself a cup of atmosphere, darling, and breathe in its contents. sip slowly. take in every scent and flavor. savor the warmth each ingredient of this precious season is composed as this it comes only but once a year. 

baby, it's cold outside," is quite an understatement of sorts. one cannot simply step past the threshold without the frigid air grasping your very breath! but, it's a pure kind of chill - "clean" as *so-and-so* described it. everything is still. I can feel it in my very bones and not just the cold stiffening them. the world is stiff, as well as my hands most of the time. despite my attempts of taking a step back from my sugar intake, I have drunk three decently large cups of warmth to remedy my chill {and tea, always calls for a spot o' honey, verdad?} yet 'tis a type of chill that cannot be shaken off quite so easily. even Lily [my cat] cannot shake the chill off of her warm charcoal coat and stays indoors {on the living room carpet} most of the time. I only wish snow would fall gently from the bleak firmament so as to comfort the chilly souls that attempt to ward Jake Frost away... 

>> scribbles from my journal, "emma."

{one} making peppermint bark to be shared with friends.  

{two} christmas/birthday parcel + letter for this sweet girl. 

{three} three cups of tea {preferably vanilla chai or vanilla cinnamon} each day are a must. 

{four} red and white striped twine is an essential for every wrapper. 

{five} finally finding making time to read a girl of the limberlost. 

{six} scattered pine needles. 

{seven} documenting the little things in the twelve days preceding christmas. 

{eight} I crocheted my first shawl. tell me what you think, love! 

xoxo,
the girl in her wintry wonderland. 

:: pin it up wednesdays // 5 last minute gift ideas by jo ::

I simply cannot believe that Christmas is next week!!!! T menos sies dias hasta navidad!!! ONLY SIX DAYS! *panting* even though, I have been preparing for Christmas since this past summer {yes, since this summertime}, this holiday still seemed to have sneaked up on me! :P so, for the procrastinators out there, this post is dedicated for you thanks to the lovely Miss Joanna of i love.... ;)

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Everyone gets a little busy this time of year, you know... CHRISTMAS time and everything... and are often in a time crunch to find or make nice Christmas gifts.  This is why I put together a few simple yet beautiful DIY's that I thought would be perfect to give as gifts.  All of these DIYS I found from the amazing place called Pinterest that we all know and love.

Make someone you love these unique, inexpensive, and darling Beeswax Candles via Kryn's Pinterest

Everyone would love these personalized Vintage Photo Pillows via my Pinterest

What about giving a friend a bright and fun Neon Striped T-shirt via Ellie Be's Pinterest

Get crafty and have fun making someone this Silhouette Canvas via Hannah Margaret's Pinterest

Make someone this colorful and unique Paint Sample Calender via Janelle Putrich's Pinterest

Hello lovely people!  My name is Joanna (Jo for short!) and I live on a farm in the state of Ohio.  I'm the youngest of six kids and enjoy baking sweets, taking pictures, blogging, and making crafty things.  My blog is called I Love... and is a place where I share Diys, my photography, recipes, and tidbits from my life.  I hope you take the time to check it out! 

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special thanks to Miss Jo for composing this lovely post! be sure to leave her some love. ;) 

want to join the pinning? 

post some pinterest finds or two on your blog, copy the link of your post, and leave it in a little note below. make sure to give proper credit to the creator {we all work really hard to compile these things, and it'd be a shame not to give credit to hard work ;)}. happy pinning!

lovingly, 

the girl distracted by pinning. 

:: personal project // what a simply SMASHING idea by miss elizabeth ::

Hey, my name is Elizabeth. I am 17, soon to be 18. I live on a farmette in KY with my siblings, two dogs, and eight cats. I am homeschooled, which I enjoy extremely. I am a total book worm and history geek. I also enjoy drawing, sewing, spinning, crochet, knitting, writing letters, making jewelry, and any other kind of craftiness. God has given me a heart for encouraging younger girls in their walk with him, and I love my savior, Jesus Christ!!! You can find my blog at A Little Bit of Heaven.

This year, for Christmas, I wanted to make my best friend an amazing present she would always remember. I wanted something that we could both do, but that would show my appreciation for her in the time I spent on creating it. I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, including scrap booking, and some pictures of the  both of us, as well as our favorite pins from pinterest, and other things we wanted to do together.
I headed over to Hobby Lobby in search of a journal or booklet that I could use. I found a Smash Folio by K&Company, which was perfect for what I had in mind.  

For the first page I created two collages using PicMonkey, an online photo editing site. I also bought some silver Best Friend ornaments like the one in the middle of the page above.

I also made a profile page. I printed a picture of my BF and also asked her to pick out three pictures that she liked or described her.
Then I asked these questions:
Name:
Nickname(s):
Birthday:
Age:
Eye color:
Middle Name:
What makes you happy?
What is your favorite flower?

Are you an organized person?
Are you a morning or night person?
Favorite ice cream?
What do you fear?

The great thing about the Smash folios is that they have a lot of fun pages already in them. For instance, they already had a "to do" list. I just added the "Together" type and filled half the list with things I want to do with her, leaving the rest blank for her to fill in.

I continued filling in with pictures that I had stored up, creating a travel page,

 a letter writing page, 

and a blessings page.

I hope you are inspired to create your own Smash folio for someone special. You could make it for a sibling, a parent or a grandparent. The possibilities are endless, and I'm sure yours will turn out even more beautiful then mine.

Miss Elizabeth

special thanks to dear miss elizabeth for composing this lovely post!!!

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this post evokes the memory of miss johanna and I pasting photographs with blue glitter tape in our pink SMASH folios in July. these journals are such an enjoyable pastime and just beautiful keepsakes {so beautiful, I have three *smile*} for creatively documenting your life to sharing the story of kindred spirits. 

xoxo,
the girl in the garden.