Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair!

We all let our hair down this weekend to celebrate Paulina's 5th birthday.

All of the little ones were dressed in their best Renaissance regalia. They had a great time playing games such as dancing around the maypole and decorating their crown scepters.






I knitted a ballet warming up-kit for Paulina which is a cozy kimono sweater and legwarmers. I used Lion Brand, Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn in Oatmeal and added hot pink accents with left-over yarn.



I have a few orders for these (hooray!) , so I better get to work.

Here is Paulina in her warm-up outfit. Perfect fit.






I also want to share a couple of things that my mom has made. She made this adorable Valentine's Day wreath for her front door. She crocheted heart pillows that she attached to this twig wreath. I heart hearts!

And she made these beautiful aprons for me, Cari and Viviana. She was inspired by some that we saw at my favorite store, Anthropology. She did a fantastic job. I love them!

Easy Weekend Projects

If you want quick and easy knitting or crochet projects, I have some for you:

Creamy Oatmeal Crocheted Scarf

The inspiration for this scarf was found on Ana Maria Horner's blog.





Yarn: 1 Skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman and 1 skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Oatmeal

Hook: US Size H/8

Instructions:
With Fisherman color, CH-153 stitches, turn.
Row 1: In 3rd chain from the hook, DC all the way across, turn.
Row 2: CH-3, DC all the way across, turn.
Row3: CH-1, SC all the way across, turn.
Row 4: Change color to Oatmeal and SL ST on top of first stitch *SL ST to next stitch, in same stitch: 2 DC, 2 TC, 2 DC, 1SC (this creates the little puffs), SL ST in next 2 stitches* Repeat between * * to the end, ending in a slip stitch. If you end in a puff, that's okay too. :-)

For the border: 2 SC in corner stitch, then on the short end of the scarf, you will crochet 2 SC on the sides of each stitch, 2 SC in next corner, then on the long end, you will crochet 1 SC in each stitch, 2 SC in next corner, 2 SC in sides of each stitch. SL ST to join the border and fasten off.

Weave in all loose ends with a yarn needle.


Coffee Mug Knitted Coaster

I found this pattern on Raverly but it was in Japanese! So I just winged it. I made this for my coffee mug at work. The end result was a little big (4" X 3.5") so if you want a smaller one, make the adjustments according to your yarn weight and needle size.


Instructions:
Small amount of left over medium weight yarn.
The size of your needles will depend on the yarn that you use.

I knitted this pattern in a garter stitch, bottom to top. To create the angled corners at the bottom of the mug, I made a bar increase at the beginning and ending of each row for the first 3 rows.

Cast on 15 ST, turn.
Row 1: Kfb, K13, Kfb, turn. Repeat for next two rows.
Continue knitting rows until you've reached desired height.
Cast off and weave in ends.

The mug handle was crocheted:
CH 19, turn.
DC in 3rd stitch from hook, then all the way across. Fasten and weave in ends then attach to mug.




Did you notice the dish the cookies are on? I found this dish at the cabin we stayed in on our trip to Big Bear. It was a stray dish among the other mismatched ones that were there. I couldn't believe it had the initial "S" on it. It is so beautiful. Luckily, the owner of the cabin lives downstairs and I was able to make her an offer for it. Two bucks later, the dish came home with me. I still have not figured out where to put it but it is going to go on one of my walls.



Swifer Sock

Say What? Yes, Swifer Sock. Cari sent this little project to me and I just knew I had to make one. If you are so inclined, the directions can be found here.

I'm so tempted to make other household utility items to match.





Happy Friday!
SC
xoxo

Good Morning, Day!

The other morning as we were getting ready for the day, Mateo pointed out the most beautiful sunrise peering out from our backyard. It was orange and purple and was just beautiful.

In a previous post, I wrote about being grateful for mornings because no matter how bad the day before was, the next morning always makes it seem better and is an opportunity to start afresh.

Each new day brings a new opportunity to make things good; to make peace with the world, and those you love; to work hard and be thankful that you can; to pray.

Each new day may also bring new sorrows that weren't there the day before.

And so it is with wonder and awe that I greet each day and what that day may bring.

But glorious sunrises like these can only mean good things.

I hope your sunrises are beautiful too!

Love,
SC
xoxo

Epiphany

Epiphany is the celebration of God the Son revealing himself as a human being in the Child Jesus Christ and it also celebrates the the Three Wise Men's visit to the Baby Jesus on January 6th.

On this day, we get together and enjoy a bread called King's Cake or Rosca de Reyes. The cake is a dense cake that is not too sweet and it goes really well with coffee or tea. Baked inside the cake are little plastic babies, which symbolize Baby Jesus.

Once the cake is sliced and served, the guests that get a slice with the baby in it must take the baby to church on Dia de la Candelaria (Candlemas Day) on February 2nd to symbolize the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, then they must host a celebration and gather the guests again.

It is also tradition to have children leave a shoe outside and The Three Kings will bring gifts.

Speaking of shoes, can you guess who is in the red Converse Club?

Here they are:



I hope the Three Wise Men were good to you.

Sara
xoxo

Beanie Baby

My mom has been making beanies. Lots of them. She is thinking about selling them and giving some away for presents for some birthdays that are coming up. They are all different and adorable. I just love her colorful combinations.





Love,
Sara
xoxo

Christmas in Big Bear

On Christmas Day we drove up to Big Bear and spent a couple of days in the snow. I have never had a white Christmas and Big Bear mountain was full of fresh bright white snow.

I took these two pictures on our way up the mountain. Looking out of my window, I could see parts of the mountain that weren't yet covered with snow but were still green. They looked like they were covered in green velvet. So beautiful.


Hector and Horacio cooked Christmas Dinner for us, while the kids played and Iliana and I relaxed. That was nice.

Jason snowboarded down the street!


There is something so peaceful and magical about snow. It silences the noise. Covers everything in white. Like a blanket of peace.


I hope we get to go back before the snow melts.

Peace & Love,
SC
xoxo

Christmas Eve

On my side of the family, it is tradition to get together on Christmas Eve and have tamales and a great celebration. We let the kids, the ones that can actually do it, stay up until midnight to open gifts. Then we all stay up for a while longer and enjoy more festivities.

Christmas Eve has always been one of my favorite things. The memories that conjure in my mind during Christmastime are those of a house full of cousins (three sets), my mom and aunts in the kitchen up to their elbows in tamale maza, music, presents wrapped in cereal boxes that took up half of the living room floor space, everyone piled in every room of the house and sleeping over, and midnight mass.

Midnight mass has a whole separate set of treasured memories, the smell of incense, the choir's singing, the battle with sleepiness and half the time losing the battle, the other battle with my wandering mind as I wondered how many of the presents where for me. But my favorite part of midnight mass was at the end of mass when we would line up and make our way to the steps of the sanctuary to kiss the baby Jesus from the life-sized nativity scene. There was just something so magical about the act of pressing your lips to the cold ceramic surface of the figurine's knee that made you feel as if you were kissing the actual Jesus. I can't explain it but it was truly holy and all together magical.

Sadly, since we (the cousins) are all grown up and have our own children now, our extended family has grown exponentially. There is no house in our circle big enough to hold over 100 people so as of about 15 years ago we started celebrating Christmas Eve on a smaller scale. The celebration is still very meaningful to me but in a different way. With age and maturity, comes the understanding of the true meaning of Christmas and I think that makes the season even more special and treasured.

This year, we celebrated Christmas Eve at D&J's. As can be expected when D&J are the hosts, the food was superb! We didn't make tamales this year for Christmas, instead, we made them for New Year's Eve.

David made his famous, slow cooked (9 hours) beef roast. It was so tender and delicious. Yum!


Jeanette made a wonderful shrimp scampy. By the time I wanted to take a picture of it, the serving dish was all but empty!

My mom made her delicious green beans and asparagus.

Cari made a puff pastry appetizer with cheese and spinach. She made the pastry herself. Cari, just like David, is an excellent cook but let me tell you, I had doubts that she would be able to pull off a puff pastry. Well, she did not disappoint. The pastry was puffy yet not too dry or hard, it was perfect! Good job, Cari!


Horacio and I made Oysters Rockefeller. They were awesome!


For the oysters, Horacio and I went to a Chinese market. I had not been to a Chinese market in years and I forgot what a treasure they are. They have so many delicious things. Some stuff, just as for any other culture, is unrecognizable to me, but it is wonderful how today, we are exposed to so many different kinds of food. I love that you can walk into a market and be transported to that particular place in the world.


From all of us here at the Casillas Domum, we hope your Christmas was merry and filled with treasured memories and traditions. May you continue to make new ones and may this new year bring you much health, happiness, and LOVE.


Merry Christmas!
SC
xoxo

More Cookies

The Cookie Parade at the Casillas Domum.







These are the gingerbread people/families that I made:

This one has a story. He was supposed to be for Horacio's brother, Gama (short for Gamaliel), who is a big Dodger fan and since he was supposed to go to the mountains with us, I carefully packaged him up and made sure he rode in the front seat with me so that he wouldn't break. Alas, Gama decided not to join us at the mountains. On our way home, Mr. I Heart LA, was still in the front seat, patiently waiting to be adored and eaten. Mateo and I could not disappoint. Sorry, Gama. We'll make it up to you next year.

Our good friends, The Lendos (Nico, David, Julissa & Ethan)

Cousin Rebecca's family (Joaquin, Rebecca, Ariel & Paulina)

Cousin Saul's family (Savina, Saul, Lori & Paulo)

Cousin Lorena's family (Ricardito, Ricky, Lorena & Valentina)

Friend Sylvia Villanueva

Mom & Dad and brother, Armando

Sister Cari's family (Cari, Ruben, Andy, Viviana & Nico)

Brother David's family (David, Jeanette, Luc & Alec)

Us.

Sweet Dreams,
SC
xoxo