Fancy Holiday!

Saturday was the Fancy Tiger Holiday Handmade Alternative Craft Fair here in Denver. Fancy Tiger is a cool craft shop that some friends of ours own and they put on this amazing craft gathering where local folks sell their wares. I got Audrey dressed up in a onesie that local artist (and hardcore bicycle enthusiast) Justin Simoni screen-printed. Edison got his wallet ready and we stuffed a few dollars along with his change in it so that he could buy something. He headed straight for the local bakeshop and bought a brownie and hot cocoa. I was reserving my money for a special little something for me.

Last year I was all about buying from my friend Christie's store Kansas City Kitty, but this year I fell in love with The Pin Pals. The Pin Pals are two gals from Montreal who mix cross stitch and wonderful illustrations that I just adore. One of the pals just moved to Denver and she seems super cool. Her and I had a fun time chatting about the Canadian tv show Degrassi. We both LOVE it! We also talked about Toronto, where she's originally from and other stuff.

I bought a few things from her... First a brooch that has a cross stitch heart on it, can't wait to wear it-

I also bought a paper puppet of their character Josephine playing a guitar that I thought would go good with a collage I've been putting together for Audrey's room. It's not quite done yet, but here's a peek-

When we got home we were all tired! Here's little Audrey sleeping in my lap-

I love to support our local community and just small businesses in general so thanks Fancy Tiger for putting this on! I look at these craft fairs as my chance to get a few little treasures that not a lot of folks have.

Speaking of supporting small businesses, I got Audrey a cute print from Petit Collage (can you sense I really want to finish getting the art up on the walls in her room)-

So that brooch was my Christmas gift to myself. That and a few cookbooks I ordered off of Amazon including this one-

I heard about this cookbook in Ready Made Magazine and was literally drooling over the recipes that were published in the magazine and I knew I needed the whole book. Well today was my first time cooking from it. I made quinoa chocolate chip cookies with the kiddos this morning and for dinner tonight I made an amazing pinto bean soup with shredded lettuce and sour cream. It was seriously so good, that's why I wanted to share this cookbook with you. The cookbook is from an Australian chef and the idea behind this book is to encourage you to cook with beans and grains and other natural foods. I'm gonna make a soup out of the book to bring to my parents house on Christmas Eve. I may even make that pinto soup since it was sooo good! You know I love to cook and that's my favorite gift to give the ones I love... GOOD FOOD!

Oh and before I sign off, here's one last photo for you...

And this won't be the last time you hear me say this, but "Happy Holidays!" What are you excited about this season? Any cool gift ideas to pass on to me? I'm gonna put together a gift ideas list for Edison and Audrey soon. And I can't wait for Christmas because Grandma and Grandpa Compton dropped off the kids' gifts and Edison is going to be SO EXCITED to see what they got him! I think I already mentioned it, but I've finished up my shopping and am excited to give gifts this year. Not that gifts are the most important thing ever, its being with the ones we love, but I'm just in love with all our little munchkin friends and family that they all need gifts!