Hands down, one of the things I miss most about New Mexico is the NM Christmas. I always get so homesick this time of year!

So a few years ago, I decided, the heck with it! I’m going to bring a little bit of NM to southeast TX. A Taylor family tradition was born: a NM-themed Christmas Eve.

I wish I had taken pictures! I guess you’ll just have to rely on my descriptions.

I don’t often get the opportunity to entertain, so I had a ton of fun decking out the house. I even used tablecloths, people. It’s not that I’m opposed to tablecloths, but in my house, they’re merely enormous kitty napping magnets. My cats see a tablecloth, carefully straightened and dressed on a table, and immediately jump up and settle in for a long winter’s nap. Sure, that tablecloth might be very comfortable, but most people (rightfully so) prefer not to eat their dinner on a surface that’s coated in cat hair.

With the tables coiffed, I jumped into the cooking. Hubby and I boned three chickens to mix up for a yummy enchilada filling. It’s really simple: chicken (both white and dark meat), chopped onions, sour cream, grated cheese, and seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, cumin). With three chickens, I nearly filled a 2 quart container!

Then came the rolling. I prefer my enchiladas rolled instead of flat. Usually, in deference to the calorie count, I just warm my corn tortillas in the oven to soften them up a bit. While it helps, it doesn’t completely solve the problem of the tortillas cracking. Let’s be honest, a cracked enchilada isn’t a serious problem unless you’re concerned about aesthetics. Even a cracked enchilada tastes divine.

Since this is a holiday and we were hosting family, I decided to go with the tried-and-true method of prepping the tortillas with hot oil. It’s messier during prep, and you might still get a few cracked tortillas, but it makes a huge difference in the look of the finished enchilada. The oil coating also helps prevent mushy enchiladas, so I’ve been told, but I’ve never really had a problem with mushiness. Now, you don’t want crispy tortillas, so I heat the oil on medium-high, then turn it to low for a quick dip. You can either dab the oiled tortillas on a paper towel-covered plate or let them drip on a rack over a cookie sheet. Just don’t let them dry out too much or you’ve defeated the purpose!

Next on the menu was homemade pinto beans. Cooking beans scared me—they just seemed so mysterious and difficult. But they’re not! I found this slow cooker pinto beans recipe online and it couldn’t be any easier. I do use more chile powder and add cumin. They’re definitely a permanent part of the tradition now.

The feature of the evening is the luminarias. The first year I did this in our then-new house, I got some very odd looks from my neighbors. I can only imagine them driving by wondering why I had flaming paper bags in my yard. But they’ve gotten used to it. Someday I may actually try to mobilize my whole block into Luminaria Duty. Until then, I have my one little yard of luminaria happiness.

I discovered the other day, with not a little surprise, that my dog can conjure things from the mists of time and space. Or, at least that’s what I’m telling myself. The more likely story is that eons ago, I bought a toy that has remained hidden in the dark recesses of our home for many a year. A magical dog sounds infinitely cooler than a forgetful, flakey owner. Yep, for sure.

When hubby gets home from work, Tex is a very happy pup. He shoots up from his latest (usually his fifth or sixth) nap and starts running around the living room and dining room. I’m surprised he hasn’t worn a Tex Track in our carpet from this routine. Then he’ll dart away to find the nearest ball so he can have that handy when he greets his human dad. But he doesn’t want to play fetch, he just wants to show my hubby that he has a ball. It’s a “look don’t touch” proposition.

A couple of days ago, I noticed that Tex had a foreign object in his mouth, so I told him to drop it. Out comes this cute little baby ball that I’ve never seen. I swear that I have no recollection of ever bringing this ball into our home. But now that he’s found it, they’re inseparable. He even brings it to bed with him!

He just looks so darn proud and happy whenever he has the ball that I had to snap a couple of pics.

I’m relatively new to knitting. Add my inexperience to being a total spaz, and you have someone who needs to track my stitches and rows. Thank goodness my friend got me hooked (hehehehe) on stitch markers—surely one of the simplest but most effective knitting tools in existence. Markers are super helpful for keeping track of repetitive stitch patterns, but not as much for counting rows. Being the gadget geek I am, I thought, surely there’s an app for that!

Enter CountMeme from TapCrafty. It’s awesome! You can set multiple counters, which works great for patterns within patterns. There’s just one problem… I was using it so much that every evening I’d run my phone battery out. Doh! I listen to my iTunes in bed at night, so can’t have the battery running that low. What’s a girl to do?

Go old skool.

Oh yeah! One sheet of scrap paper and handy-dandy pen later, I’ve got my non-battery-dependent row counter.

My Fancy Counter was working great until this evening. I’m a chick! I multitask! Which means that between rows dishes get done, dogs get fed, laundry gets sorted, calls get answered, etc. TV shows get watched and conversations with the hubby are had, too. I was chugging away, knitting and chatting and joking around and marking off my progress, when hubby exclaims, “Wha?! Am I getting check marks now?!”

I look down at my counter and look over at his alarmed expression, when it finally occurs to me. Dang! He must think he’s been a really bad boy if he’s worried all those marks are his!

I’ve discovered something that I’m dying to add to my Pinterest Made Me Do It list: artful and whimsical staircase books. I have yet to track down the original photo for the background story or credit. Now, my stairs are currently clothed in cheap, ratty, disgusting, and plain 10-year old beige carpet. My first goal is to save up for new hardwood floors. THEN I can work on convincing hubby to let me paint the risers on our gorgeous new hardwood stairs.

But I can’t help daydreaming about my book staircase, so I’m trying to think of the 14 books I would use to decorate my 14 stair risers. When I complained about having to restrict my list to 14 books, a friend had a fabulous suggestion to choose the books that I liked from childhood to now. Rather than just picking the well known classics, I want a list that’s meaningful to me. This is what I have so far, which I’m sure is subject to change.

1. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
   Apparently this is the book I would force my parents to read to me over and over again. When I asked about it, my mom said she’s surprised I don’t still know the words.
2. Serendipity by Stephen Cosgrove
   This is the children’s book, and series, I remember enjoying enough to read to my little sister all the time.
3. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
   The first “big” book I remember reading and thinking critically about.
4. Lover’s Lament by Philippa Carr
   In 8th grade we had to pick a book for a book report. My mom’s friend was visiting and suggested I ask a librarian. I visited the nearby public library asking about historical fiction and the librarian recommended this book. This is the first book I remember loving on its own merit, not just because I was told to appreciate it.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
   The perennial classic that I suspect all young girls, especially those with sisters, love.
6. Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey
   My first non-Star Trek foray into the science fiction and fantasy. Still one of my favorite worlds ever created. RIP Anne McCaffrey.
7. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
   If Pern opened the doors of sci-fi and fantasy for me, The Blue Sword pushed me into the room and slammed the door shut behind me.
8. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
   The first book that showed me how deeply humans could F-up our own future. A seriously chilling book for me.
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
   The book that made me love fiction that speculates on the many paths our collective future could take. Again, seriously chilling.
10. Contact by Carl Sagan
    Rocked my world in college. Contact is Sagan’s give to the world, reminding us that we are integral but insignificant in this universe.
11. Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
    The first romance novel I read. Still one of my all time favorites!
12. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
    Time travel, romance, and Scotland. What is not to like about Jamie and Claire?!
13. Persuasion by Jane Austen
    Captain Wentworth. Swoon.
14. Anthem by Ayn Rand
    Anthem not only rocked my world, it shaped my world. Probably my all time favorite.

A few runners up

1. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
2. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
4. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

What 14 would you choose? And what’s the story behind your selections?

Maybe I should just start a Pinterest Made Me Do IT (PMMDI) category since it’s definitely a theme of late…

While I love my gorgeous bathroom cabinet, this project is definitely has the biggest happy bubble factor yet. I shared last post about my new kryptonite: washi tape.

Behold the awesomest keyboard I’ve ever owned:

I’ve seen several photos on Pinterest (for inspiration, click here, here, here, and  here). I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tackle this project—it’s not for the faint of heart! But if you’re looking to spend a few hours on a project that doesn’t require you to think, only do, this is the one for you.

It’s pretty straight-forward but here are a few tips:

• Clean your keyboard to get the skin oils and gunk off before you apply the tape. That’s one reason I chose my wireless keyboard instead of my laptop—not only could I turn it off while cleaning, I could remove the batteries. Not to mention that if I royally screwed up somehow, it’s a bit more palatable to replace a keyboard than a laptop.
• Keep an exacto knife and sharp (comfortable) pair of scissors handy.
• Make a template if you can. I use a wireless keyboard and realized, as I was pondering the template issue, that it’s small enough to fit on the bed of my HP scanner/printer. So I made a copy of my keyboard, taped a sheet of wax paper to the copy, and used that to arrange the tape to my satisfaction. Washi tape is super responsive to the exacto knife, so you can slice and trim the tape on the wax paper without cutting all the way through the template paper. When I was done with the template, I used a transfer sheet (from my vinyl projects) to move the washi tape from the wax paper to the keyboard.
• I still have to remove some of the tape and use my scissors for the last trims. But that’s the beauty of washi—with a low tack adhesive, it’s easy to remove and reapply.

All in all I LOVE how this turned out. Now I have a pop of color on my desk that makes me smile when I use my computer.

This Spring I had managed to avoid Pinterest for a month or so, so somehow I missed some of the early adopter frenzy of washi tape. A month or so ago, I saw someone post on Facebook about how they had finally been sucked into the washi craze and I thought to myself, “WTH is washi?” As any Internet-addicted crafter likely does, I skipped Google and went straight to Pinterest search.

Oh. my. god.

Combine a lifelong bordering-on-obscene crush on office supplies and stationery of all types with an also-lifelong ADHD approach to crafts, and washi becomes kryptonite.

I am so not exaggerating.

So here are my first projects with washi. I found a couple of frames and spray painted them glossy white. Then just added the washi tape, put a thin coat of Mod Podge on to seal the tape, and voila!

In my biggest Pinterest Made Me Do It project yet, I have finally completed my Around the World Wall. Woohoo!

I won’t bother with a step-by-step tutorial because Jeannine over at The Concrete Cottage did a great job. So great, in fact, that I was able to do my own fabulous signs. I found 5.5×36 inch boards that are .5 inch thick at Lowe’s. Once the nice man at Lowe’s cut them in half, they were the perfect size for my space. Then I used my Silhouette Cameo to design the lettering, which was super easy. Now I have six signs that remind me of the most memorable places my hubby and/or I have visited.

There are a few things I could’ve done better, but hey, those little blemishes just make them more mine. I did discover that I apparently paint like a 5 year old—thank god I moved Hal (my newish Sorento) out of the garage for the messiest parts. I also learned, in a very sad outcome, that you should not paint in your A-one-number-one favorite tee shirt, even if it is just a little touch up. Ugh. Oh, and spray sealant—dude, they aren’t kidding when they say use it in a well ventilated area!

So, the only things I did differently than The Concrete Cottage are the colors and font. I can’t think of a thing in my house (besides electronics) that’s black, so I chose white (Valspar Antique White) and brown (Valspar Cowboy). Since this was my first time painting with stencils (or, more appropriately, a mask), I also looked for a serif font that didn’t have really thin lines. I used Gloucester MT Extra Condensed.

Ta da!!

Sorry for the subpar camera phone photos, but I was just too excited to dig out the good camera and stage a decent shot.

In case you’re interested in the locations:

• John O’Groats: the cliff where we stopped to overlook the Ducansby Stacks. This was perhaps one of the most transcendent moments I have ever experienced. To this day, I can close my eyes and hear the birds, smell the sea, feel the cold wind. Definitely one of my favorite spots on this earth.
• Orcas Island: the dock at Deer Harbor where we embarked on a totally awesome whale watch trip. If I couldn’t live in Scotland, I’d live on Orcas Island.
• Beilstein: a lovely, friendly little German town on the Mosel. The spot I chose is Haus Lipmann where my friend and I spent several relaxing evenings just watching the river, drinking fabulous wine, and eating fabulous German fare.
• Red River: It was hard to pick just one place in my beloved New Mexico, so I chose the location of an amazing writing retreat I attended.
• London: In 2007, we went on my first international trip to England and Scotland. I never really understood it when people said travel changes your perspective… Until I had the chance to travel. I loved so much about that trip, but my favorite London spot was definitely Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. Talk about a mashup of all types of people! Don’t miss it if you travel to London for the first time.
• Segovia: One of the coolest things I’ve seen is the aquaduct ruins in Segovia, Spain.

I finished another Pinterest Made Me Do It project! This is one I discovered through House of Hepworths when I was looking for things to try with my Silhouette Cameo machine. I’m a big Disney fan so these custom water bottles caught my eye. Then I remembered that a friend and her extended family were visiting Disney World this summer—voila! Just the “excuse” I needed to get my craft on.

I took a different tack, though. The water bottles are cool and all, but on my last vacation I discovered these flat containers by Vapur that are totally awesome. They still hold just as much water but you can flatten or roll them up when they’re empty. Saves a TON of space in my bags that already tend to be overloaded. Plus, they are top-rack dishwasher safe, so I don’t have to worry that I’m not getting them clean. Oh! And you can freeze ‘em. Fill ‘em up and freeze so you’ve got a cold beverage while you’re wandering Disney World in the August heat. Sounds like a great plan to me! So I found a pack of 6 on Overstock.com for a good deal.

I followed Allison’s tutorial for the rest and it was a cinch! They may not look as pretty because they’re all flat right now, but I hope the additional functionality is useful to my friend and her family’s gaggle of kids.

P.S. I now have House of Hepworths bookmarked and I refer back to it often as I’m discovering my inner DIY’er. I highly recommend it!

We had a bit of excitement in our house tonight. Hubby was walking past these metal sunflower hangings in the dining room.

Suddenly one jumped off its hook and fell on the carbon monoxide detector below it. As luck would have it, the flower petals fell behind the detector and straddled the prongs. Kaboom! Sparks fly, the breaker trips, and I walk into the dining room to find a speechless hubby (that last part doesn’t happen often). He nearly-calmly tells me what happened and we check to make sure he’s not singed. Then I stoop to pick up the offending wall hanging and notice some discoloration.

Holy crap! Is that soot?!

Sure is.

But why tell you when I can show you?

I don’t think I want to know how much worse this could’ve ended.

Quite some time ago I posted about a few home improvement projects I planned. FINALLY, I got around to touching up the paint. While the ceiling-wall corners look better, I’m convinced that painter’s tape hates me. I’ve tried several brands and still can’t seem to get a decently clean edge. Argh. But that’s neither here nor there, at least for this post. The bigger news is that I also finally got around to updating my guest bathroom cabinet with the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations kit that I bought, like, last November.

I first discovered the Rustoleum product on Pinterest and became obsessed with trying it. I read so many blog posts about it that I can’t keep them straight. As a fairly new DIY’er, I wanted to be sure I could handle it by myself, and I wanted to be sure I’d be satisfied with the quality. Boy howdy, I am LOVING my “new” bathroom cabinet!

I would totally recommend the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations product to friends, but I’d offer a few caveats from lessons I learned during my own project:

• Timing may be everything. If you live in Texas, wait until the winter! You’ve got to remove the doors, drawer fronts, false panels, and hardware. Rustoleum recommends setting up an assembly line area so you can paint all the doors and drawers together. You’ll also want to leave them out in a protected area to dry. The only spot in my home with that much space is my garage—and dang that makes for a hot, muggy workspace in the middle of July! The Rustoleum documentation also says to work in an area without temperature and humidity extremes—good luck finding that in Houston in the middle of July! So far, I don’t think the heat and humidity of the season negatively affected my project.
• Get extra paint stirrers. The kit comes with 3 but I could easily have used 6 or more. See, each coat of paint requires 2 or more hours to dry, the glaze and top coat require more, which means you’ll likely be doing the project in relatively distant snatches of time. My project time was spread out over an entire weekend for one small cabinet. If you’re doing a whole kitchen, it’s gonna take time and multiple applications. So swing by your local home store and ask for extra stirrers at the paint desk.
• Have extra paint brushes on hand for the above reason. With multiple, spread out application times, I had to wash my brushes after every session. Drying time requires too much time to leave the paint on your brushes, but not enough to fully dry. Thankfully I had more than one brush so I could alternate.
• Keep a light handy. Hubby has this little LED flashlight with magnets on it that he uses when he’s under our desks messing with computer cables. Turns out it was REALLY handy for this project. As you can see in the pictures, I had to crawl between the cabinet and toilet to paint one side of the cabinet. The light back there isn’t so good, so without that light I would’ve missed several spots and had uneven coverage.
• Keep track of the pieces. Seriously. When you remove the doors, drawer fronts, and miscellany, then store the hinges and screws in a place you’re sure to remember… Remember! I ripped apart my house and garage after I put the hardware in a totally obvious place. Uh huh.
• Watch for drips. The bond coat (your color) goes on super easy—you’ll hit your groove as far as paint saturation and pressure goes. I had no problems. I also didn’t try the glaze because I didn’t want that look for my bathroom. But the protective coat was really finicky (or, it could’ve been the humidity?). Watch for drips. Make sure you don’t shake the can or apply too quickly or you’ll get bubbles. So take it slow and check your corners, grooves, and sides. I have a couple of blotchy spots that I could’ve fixed if I caught theme earlier.