Our Christmas Eve Dinner

Since this was our first Christmas Eve dinner we kind of went the traditional route. I really wanted to make ham because I haven't had a good ham in years so that's what we did! Then we made some good ol' sweet potato casserole and green beans. Here's what we did: 
Honey Glazed Ham 3-4 pounds ham Glaze: 3/4 cup brown sugar 1 tbs balsamic or cider vinegar 1/3 cup honey 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard 
I bought a larger ham and cut it in half which would make it about 3 to 4 pounds. Bake according to directions (I baked mine at 325 degrees for about an hour). I mixed the glaze ingredients and applied them about 20 minutes before it was done.  

Sweet Potato Casserole

1 yam 1-2 tbs butter 1/2 cup brown sugar 1-2 cups marshmallows 
Peel and cut up yam into 1" pieces. Boil for about 15 minutes (or until tender). Drain and mash up. Mix in butter and brown sugar. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Last 5 minutes, cover it with marshmallows. 

Parmesan Green Beans

1 1/2 cups fresh green beans (ends cut off) 1 tablespoon butter 1 clove of garlic (minced)A couple tablespoons of grated parmesan 
Blanch green beans for about 3 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water. In a pan, melt butter and saute garlic for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour garlic and butter over beans and mix. Sprinkle with parmesan. 




Everything turned out soo good. It was a great first Christmas eve. 

New Website/Store

As I told you guys yesterday, I have a new storefront! It's really awesome and I thought I would share a few things about my store. Here's what my home page looks like: 

I love it, I designed a new logo and re-wrote all my policies, about stuff, etc. I opened this website about 5 days ago and am just head over heels. I love that I can customize it to make it my own while still having my Etsy store. 
And, I don't know if you guys have been to "The Store" Tab up there ^^^ but I recently sat down and wrote out my story of how it all started! And here it is: 
I opened Sam Wish the beginning of 2010. When I had Eliza (July 2009), I was lucky enough to stay home with her all the time. But after a while, I started to get cabin fever from being at home 24/7. So a I turned to the internet as an outlet and discovered Etsy! That was like my hallelujah! moment that pretty much changed my life. So I created a store and named it Sam Wish. Sam, for my first name and Wish, from my last name (Wishlinski). It's been a nickname of mine my whole life so when I needed a name for my store, it was an automatic choice.
Anyways, I started small with upcycling some t-shirts and just practiced my sewing. I also made a "pregnancy journal" and some stuffed animals that were a flop. I made all kinds of really bad things before I found vintage. I started selling vintage and would reconstruct things here and there as a way of modernizing some of the clothes. Before I knew it, I had a full on business! I added shoes, purses, and jewelry to the mix (all vintage of course).
Then, I switched over to Big Cartel for a bit and even started a handmade jewelry line! But Big Cartel didn't really work out, I didn't have the audience that Etsy did. So, Sam Wish went back to Etsy only to find that they had their new relevency strategy in place! The whole recently listed strategy was the main reason I had left in the first place so it was perfect.
My shop really thrived from then on. I opened a second store to separate my handmade and vintage goods around August 2011. After that, I started to sell a few house wares as well. And I just recently moved everything back to a single shop and opened up my new store front! (it's really cool, you can check it out here) And that's that! It's been a long (and rough) journey but I wouldn't trade it for the world! I love doing what I do and hopefully I can keep it up and just improve from here (:
I don't usually share a lot about my store but this was really important to me. I'm so so soo excited to have my computer back and finally get 2012 started! 
Anyways, how has your weekend been? Mine has been.... strange? Do you ever feel like you are having an out of body experience? Like you're just sitting back and watching things happen but you're not really there? That's kind of how it's been. Just weird, I think I should work on getting more sleep.... haaaa. Well hope you guys are having a good one. 

Christmas!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas morning! It was our first real christmas as a family in our own home so it was pretty special! We had a great breakfast that Brandon made for us and then opened our presents before we had to hit the road and visit all of our parents. Anywho, here they are!













































Tonight, we're going to Pappadeaux (my favorite restaurant ever) and then to see a play! I can't remember if I told you guys but I closed my second store so that I could just combine the two! And my special surprise is that I opened a new storefront!!! Here's a link for you to check it out, tell me what you think. It's integrated with Etsy so I still have my store there but I have a little website that I can customize and show off my stuff! And then when people check out, it takes them right back to Etsy. Pretty cool, huh? If you have an Etsy store, you should definitely check this out: CraftLaunch. Well, I'm off to enjoy my weekend. 

Friday! Friday! Friday, ooooooooh! 

DIY Christmas Gifts

Here are a few christmas presents I made for Eliza and Brandon. Starting with the shirt I made for Brandon. Here's how I did it!


My pretty mommy helped me with the pattern. She gave me this paper stuff to use and sketched out the pattern I had in mind. (cause she's a pro)


Then, I taped my pattern to the shirt. 








And pounced it with some black fabric paint. I let this dry for about 30 minutes, moved the pattern (lining it up so that it's not crooked) and did the rest of the shirt. 


It's still a little crooked but I like it! And so does Brandon (atleast I think so...) I love that it looks handmade. 
This next one is what I made for Eliza! I used one of her favorite dresses as a pattern. I have had this pretty pink paisley jersey fabric for a while and it was perfect for this project! 





So first, I cut out the skirt (basically a rectangle). Making sure to that it's two layers. 


Then, I did the same thing with the top. 


I dug this pretty tulle-like fabric (soft though) out of my closet to go over the bottom of the skirt. I cut it a bit longer than the skirt part. 


So here's all my pieces. 


Then, I basted the mesh fabric to the bottom skirt part. Making sure that it's evenly distributed (the ruffles that is). 


Then (separately), I sewed the side edges of both skirt pieces to make it a complete skirt. 


Ta-da! Skirt! 





Then, I got my top piece and sewed the side edges (print side facing each other)


And then I marked the middles of the top and the skirt so that I could attach it to the skirt in the right places (this is my lazy way of avoid having to do the whole baste and then pull the strings to get the ruffles thing)


I then pinned the top to the skirt (with right sides facing each other). 


And sew! 


Then, I cut some straps, sewed them on, and then made gathered the skirt in 4 different places to give it a princess-y look! 

It's pretty freakin' cute if I don't say so myself. I do have to adjust the straps though.... but other than that, perfecto! I made a few other things for christmas gifts but these were my favorite! 

Today is Thursday! Which is my favorite day! Because we eat wings! And I have an obsession with wings!

Also, I've got an exciting surprise coming up!! If you follow me on twitter than you know (:

And before I forget, I got a new signature (down below). You like??