We’re heading into the holiday home stretch here, friends. Tonight is the midway point of Hanukkah, the winter solstice is a week from Friday and, as they say, there are just 12 shopping/cooking/crafting/making days before Christmas. The gifting season is upon us. If you’re still stumped for ideas, here are a few more things I like (I’ll have a fresh good gifting recipe up tomorrow as well).
Since first discovering them, I’ve been entirely charmed by these mugs. The one with the knit print is double walled, so that you can hold it even when its filled with steaming liquid. The one on the right is from a line called Mugtails and is available in rabbit, cat, and fawn styles in addition to the squirrel one pictured above. They’re sold by Korin.
For morning caffeination efforts, I regular turn towards two tools. A hand-cranked coffee grinder that fits onto a wide mouth mason jar (I like having to work a little for coffee) and a Teastick (fill with loose leaf tea and swish through a mug of hot water. It’s perfect for a quick cup). My particular model is currently sold out, but I hear good things about this one
I’ve long been obsessed with wooden tools and since last year, Earlywood Design has been my favorite purveyor of all things useful, handmade, and satisfyingly tactile. I particularly like their slant-edged scraper, but I’m slowly amassing a well-rounded collection of their utensils (next on my personal list of wants from Earlywood is their short server). They also have awesome customer service. One of the scrapers I bought started to split along the grain and they were happy to replace it. Many thanks to Nici of Dig This Chick for turning me on to them.
You’re all familiar with my inability to resist any mason jar accessory. Well, from the moment I saw the Mason Shaker, I knew I had to have it. I’m not a huge cocktail drinker (simply because I have a lousy tolerance for booze), but I love this shaker lid for batches of homemade lemonade. Must like the Teastick above, it appears to be sold out. However, I spotted a bunch at my local West Elm about a week ago, so check your bricks and mortar stores if you want to get one before the holidays.
Last February I visited Korin, a store in New York that specializes in fine knives and tableware and they gave me a Petty knife to use and review. I rapidly shot up my list of favorite kitchen tools. Having a knife that exists in the space between a small paring knife and a larger chef’s knife is a boon for tasks like quartering apples, cutting carrots into sticks, and opening avocados (things I do a whole heck of a lot). It would make a really great gift for a cutlery lover.
All good gift guides come with a giveaway and this one is no different. Thanks for Korin, I have the mugs pictured at the top of this post and the petty knife pictured just above to give away to one lucky winner.
Here’s how to get in on the giveaway:
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me one thing you’re hoping to get done before the new year
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- Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Saturday, December 15, 2012. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Sunday.
- Giveaway open US residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post. I cannot accept submissions via email.
Disclosure: Korin has provided the mugs and knife for this giveaway. They did not pay for placement. All opinions remain mine.
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Just one thing? Hmmm, finally pit the cherries that are in the freezer and make something delicious with them (jam, pie, whatever).
I’m hoping to clean out and organize my pantry.
Get drapes hung in my downstairs (vs sheers now up) to save energy!
Hoping to get done before the new year. Sending out a Christmas letter. More often than not, it doesn’t get mailed until mid January.
My little boy is one month old. I would like to get his first little ornament made for our tree. I have my ornament from my first Christmas and its a sweet family tradition.
These are such wonderful things! I would LOVE the squirrel mug for my office!
Ive got several christmas presents that im making now. So if they get done Ill be one happy lady. Plus I want to make several loaves of banana and pumkin bread to give out to family members. Thanks for yet again another great giveaway! Happy Holidays!
I am hoping to spend time with my kids on their Christmas break doing nothing but having fun and being a kid with them. I have been secretly stashing nerf darts for our nerf guns so we can have an end of the world nerf gun war. Shhhhhhhhhh……I don’t want the to find them!
I have a ridiculous amount of holiday knitting still to get done, so I’m reaaaaalllly hoping to get everything done in the next two weeks!
I’m still hoping to finish some handmade Christmas presents! But at least I have until New Years since our “Christmas” with my husband’s family will be late this year
I’m going to make these candied peanuts (with rosemary added) for giving out at work. Not only delicious, but finally I will have the space that 2 lbs of raw peanuts has been taking up in my freezer!
I’m starting a new job on 12/31. Happy New Year to me!
I am pretty satisfied with 2012 and I can’t say that I’ve been able to say that about any other year. But I would like to finish up my Christmas shopping by reminding my friends and family that I love them. Little gifts are the sweetest and the greatest.
I’m hoping to get Christmas cards sent out this week. And finish shopping for gifts. Would also love to find time to finish a quilt project that I started a couple weeks ago!
Just ONE thing I’d like to get done before New Year’s? Jeez, that’s a tricky one. Clean out my spice cabinet, maybe… or sort through my dresser… or find the perfect cocktail for this party I’m going to… so many choices!
And speaking of cocktails, the Mason jar attachment really made me laugh. We’ve been mixing Manhattans at home lately, but we don’t have a shaker. I’ve been using a quart-sized Mason jar with a regular lid instead– it works great!
I LOVE the mugs at the top of the post. Could they be any cuter? What a great list, thanks so much for posting!
Get the Christmas Tree in a pot!
Make some homemade cookies for holiday giving.
Finishing our Christmas cards. I truly believe in the 12 days of Christmas, if people receive them before Jan 6th I’m good!
I’m hoping to get my gift boxes of soup, jam, bbq sauce, salsa, pickles, sun dried tomato sea salt, taco seasoning, cookies, and chipotle beef jerky done and shipped.
I have scoured thrift stores for “luxury” fabrics (taffeta, velvet, fake furs, woolens) and must make the two year old grandson a Christmas stocking of his own. Must. Before Christmas.
Oh gosh, so many things to get done before the new year! At the top of the list are: clean the house, plant more broccoli, and make enough cranberry jam to last my dad until next holiday season!
My favorite kitchen knife (despite it being a $30 special from Ross…) just broke a couple of days ago, and I sure could use another one! I’m stuck with a paring knife to do all my chopping… not exactly the best
I’m hoping to finish up my baking and homemade gift items BEFORE December 22nd, because that’s when we leave to go out of town. The time is racing by much too quickly!
I must finish the baby blanket I am KNITTING before the baby is born… Due December 31st! Sweet!
Make more apple butter!
Hubs & I are building a full wall of shelves to get all my kitchen items off the counter & make more room for all my jars
My wedding ‘thank-you’ notes. I know that once I get started it will go quickly, but for the moment, there they are on my desk…staring at me. I’d rather be making jam.
After holiday giving I need to re-organize my canning pantry and count how much I have of each item. Then use. them. up. before the 2013 season.
I am taking some vacation time to clean, paint and reorganize my office while I have some family in town to help with my kiddos. It is “the dumping ground” and the clutter is making it hard to work efficiently. (And I work full time from this home office.)
I am hoping to speak to my sister on Skype on her 21st birthday! She is notoriously difficult to pin down online, despite not having seen each other for 2 years…
And, of course, there will be jam, both sweet and savoury Habanero varieties.
Thanks for the opportunity!
I’m hoping to finish rearranging my kitchen… we started to move things around so they made more sense, because we failed to really do a good job when we first moved in. The house we’re renting appears to have a kitchen designed by people who had no notion what cooking involves, so it’s awkward, no counter space, and there isn’t really a “good” cabinet for basically anything. I finally got fed up with my spices being *above the stove*, and so have moved a few shelves of stuff, but we really need to complete.
I’m hoping that we find our new country home before the New Year! Can’t wait to be out of the city!
i have to master sourdough bread baking…. like black belt style of mastering.
I want to get my vast collection of spices organized. As of now they are languishing in jars, cans, bags, boxes, etc.
I’d like to harvest another deer before the season closes for the new year!
I’m hoping to finish my grad school applications! I am so close to being done and I want to have everything in before the holidays for peace of mind.
I’m hoping to get all my Christmas cards written.
get my new kitchen floor in. We are a week behind….if only Christmas and New Years would WAIT a bit this year LOL
I want to finish planning my kitchen remodel, and actually start working on it! A new knife would be a great addition to a new kitchen, don’t you think?
Clear off a catch-all counter in my kitchen, find some nice bookends, and put my favorite cookbooks there.
I want to send out my son’s kindergarten picture before the new year! That doesn’t seem like too lofty of a goal, but it’s big for the procrastinator!
I gotta get my car in for collision repair! Fortunately, I can do that next week I think!
Since I a have family all over the country I am hoping to get all my gifts made and packed so they get there around Christmas.
I want to finish some sewing projects!
ice skating!
I need a haircut! Actually, I’ve needed one for a while, but starting the new year with a fresh look sounds good.
I’m trying to write my first scientific paper for publication. Clearly I’m helping my effort by reading your site instead of writing!
I would love to finish a few of the knitting projects I have laying around from throughout the year.
I’m hoping to scrape enough money together for my mortgage payment by the new year! Regular work is coming soon so next Christmas should be more festive than this one. Still smiling though and grateful for what we do have in our lives
I’m gonna try to make my spritz cookies.
I HOPE to get Christmas cookies done! I’ve never made them before and I’m 31 AND a mama now. Sacreligious, right?!