Happy List: #371

Hello! Welcome to this week’s Happy List. It is less than a week to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa! Are you ready?

This week on the blog I shared more details about the Christmas ornaments I made this year. What will I do for next year? No idea, but it will be fun to figure out. I also shared how I decorated the fireplaces in our home for Christmas this year. There are three of them and each is a little different.

As always, thank you for being here. I enjoy sharing what creatively inspires me and I love connecting with you. Seriously! I love hearing from you. If you want to reach out (don’t make me beg, you know I will), you can always comment on this blog post or email me here. You can also reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

Here’s the Happy List!

PAPER DOVES

This hanging paper dove situation captured my interest this week. I’m filing it away as an idea for next year.

(image: Rachel Whiting via House and Garden UK)

CITRUS FIRESTARTER

Have you ever used dried orange peels as a firestarter? I saw this idea on Gardenista and wonder if it really gives off an orange scent. I’d be more likely to toss fresh peels in the fire.

Learn more about the technique here.

(image: Priscilla Woolworth via Gardenista)

NAME TREND VISUALIZATION

This was fun. There’s a website that will visualize your name by shaping the letters to the trend line of that name’s popularity. It has a French and U.S. version. You can also print it out without the stats if you like the shape of your name.

My name isn’t popular enough to graph (haha!), so I did Ann.

(image: Baby-Names Jetpack)

The data on name popularity from the U.S. usually comes from the Social Security Administration. It begs the question, do they only pull first names? I would assume that Ann was a much more popular middle name, particularly in the middle of the 20th century than this chart suggests.

If you want to further explore baby name trends, head over to the U.S. Social Security Administration website.

TIS THE SEASON

I ordered myself a colorful necklace for Christmas and then forgot that I ordered it. I was hesitant to open it because I didn’t know if a friend had sent it for Christmas. Nope. It was just me. *sigh*

The good news is it’s even better in person and it’s going to match everything. Now I just have to act surprised when I open it on Christmas.

(image: Amazon)

P.S. If you would like to layer necklaces but don’t because they get tangled, then get this layering clasp. It’s magnetic and is going to solve all of your necklace problems. It would make a great stocking stuffer.

NO-SEW BOW PILLOW

Well, this bow pillow from Dear Lillie Studio is darling. Plus, it’s no-sew and not permanent. Although, you could make it permanent.

See how she did it here.

(image: Dear Lillie Studio)

NO MANTEL, NO PROBLEM

If you don’t have a fireplace, you can always hang Christmas stockings from other places in your home such as a stair railing, a shelf, the end of a bed, or a credenza.

In the past, I’ve hung Christmas stockings from a blanket ladder.

KICKSLED

Have you heard of a kicksled? They are popular in the Scandinavian countries as a way of getting around in the winter. How cool is that?

A kicksled is a sled where you stand on one of the runners and propel it forward by kicking the ground with your foot. Kind of like a snow scooter! A kicksled works well on hard-packed snow or icy surfaces. The runners are flexible enough for you to be able to turn corners. Some of the sleds have chairs in front for a child to sit on while the parent propels the sled.

(image: Wikipedia)

TRENDING HOLIDAY COOKIES BY STATE

Imagine how SHOCKED I was to pull up my local news site, NJ.com, and it tells me the most Googled Christmas cookie recipe in New Jersey is for Ricotta Christmas Cookies.

Clearly, I am not Italian because I don’t think I’ve ever had a ricotta cookie.

If you want to know what Christmas cookie is trending in your state, read this article. South Dakota and South Carolina have gone rogue.

Here’s the recipe for Ricotta Cookies I’m trying from Cooking Classy. They look better than sugar cookies.

(image: Cooking Classy)

POETRY MOMENT

This poem made my eyes leak a little. You’ve been warned.

Vow by Emily Jungim Yoon

I love you, I don’t know how else to begin.

How we began, though, was almost as if
it were already written. The details of how we arrived

at each other, to say i love you even as we fall asleep,

to let each other’s name be the first sound
we utter every morning, can only be a gift of careful construction,

a design of an elsewhere where we were already together.

Saying nothing you make me want to live
more meaningfully. The world is so wild, beautiful,

and terrifying, and everywhere we turn, a new atrocity.

Then, I close my eyes and picture joy.
Among things, there is this day. Among faces,

there is yours. And I am no longer afraid

I watch you in your own, quiet moments,
and I want this life. I want this life

to be longer. All I want is more time with you.

I love you.
This is the only way I know how to end.

Thank you for reading this week’s Happy List.

Be good to yourself and others this weekend.

I’ll see you back here on Monday for the last post of 2024!

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