Holiday Gift Monday: These are for me!

This lovely stack of books were given to me by various family members for the holidays. I'm enjoying lots of time with each of them over my morning coffee.

I had gotten the Sara Foster cookbook and the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving from the library this past fall and loved them. I'm so happy to have them as part of my own library. The other three books are new to me, but they are astounding. I can't wait to give some of the Eco Crafts a try and the knitting book is a lovely reference with some great patterns and designs. The gardening book, The Earth Knows My Name, is an incredible essay on gardening and immigration.

We are coming to the end of the holiday gift series, only one more handmade gift to share next week. I definately cut back on my handmade/homemade gifts this year, and, I admit I was less stressed in the end. This year, in many ways, our home was literally a gift; hosting our whole family under one roof for two special nights.

In addition to what I crafted, I also purchased one gift on etsy (a holiday Sesame Street themed polar fleece blanket), gave one gift of fabric from the local fabric shop (two yards of Amy Butler) and gave away lots and lots of homemade yum (cherry jam, biscotti and homemade apple pie filling). And, as an alternative to homemade, I tried my best to purchase store-bought gifts locally. With only four gifts (2 books and 2 gift cards) coming from big box stores I definately fulfilled my 3/50 goal for December.

ps. Happy 33rd Birthday to me!