Wishing you all a...

Greetings and salutations to you, dear friends! Wishing you all a year of happiness and love, adventures and wonder. 

xoxoxo

Christine, Monika, and Catherine

Handmade Home: Year in Review

kittens &  cocktail napkins 

Well it's been a big year for us at On My Honor, and even though we took a short hiatus this spring we are back in full swing and are excited and appreciative that you take the time to visit our blog. We sisters have been pretty busy, and here are some of the things we made. So please enjoy our handmade year in review...

Wishing You the Merriest!

We're taking a couple days off! Wishing you all happy holidays and safe travels!

Christmas Report: Last Minute Wrapping Inspiration

Today I'm ceding my "Book Report" post to offer some last minute Christmas wrapping inspiration. A couple weeks ago, I showed you how to make tassel gift toppers from ferns and fir trees, but the other ribbon and bow replacement I'm using this year is inspired by the leather laces from my cowboy hat band DIY...

Instasista

What's not to love about my new running shoes? They're every Lisa Frank sticker collector's dream!

Best of: Party DIYs

Image via Bippity Boppity Boo

Since we're deep into party season, I thought now might be a good time to collect some DIY party staples. These projects will serve for Christmas or New Year's Eve parties, can be fancy-pants or super-casual, adapted for kids or those picky adults. Plus, they're guaranteed to add fun on fun on fun to any gathering. Party on, Wayne!

Made and Found

Origami Diamond Ornaments by How About Orange

I've said before that I when it comes to Christmas decorations I prefer more natural wintery things, but I do also love when Christmas isn't all about red and green, and Santa's and such. So if you also take a liking to the more fanciful candy colored ornaments and decor this post is for you. 

Here are some great Christmas decorations that give you the ability to embrace all different colors and really mix it up...

Peanut & Purls: Last Minute Christmas Presents

Christmas is way too close now. I thought I was ready. I was even getting smug about it. That is, I was getting all smug about it until I decided to throw in another hand knit present. Now what the hell am I going to do?

Handmade Home: Merry Merry Banner

We have a really nice vaulted ceiling in our living room, and with my love for draping various decorations (you can see my hot air balloons hanging in the background), it's surprising that I haven't ventured to maximize the heights of the room. This year is different though, because I am making merry work of that empty space...

Book Report: Bookish Gift Guide 2

Image by Coffee Stains and Cigarettes on Flickr

Just in case you didn't find the perfect present in last week's post, here's the second round of bookish gifts for the book lover in your life...

Insta-sista: Kanye Edition

So I realized that I have been pretty light on the instagramming lately, but luckily I did see some action last night that is worth sharing... Yeezus!

Ben and I went to see Kanye don't in Anaheim last night and let me tell you the man can put on a show. Even though we were up in the stadium seating (which I didn't mind) the view and the spectacle was awesome.

Best of Rifle: Christmas edition

I love Rifle. Rifle Paper Co. that is, none of this firearm business--psshh. Rifle Paper Co. has the most amazing marketing and design people, it's not even funny. I could easily (and sometimes do) drop a ridiculous amount of money on paper-based products because they do what they do so damn well!

Made and Found: Foraged Tassels

I love bringing the outside in. The fact that December means we're allowed to put a six foot noble fir in our living rooms is pretty much my favorite thing ever...

Peanut & Purls: (Battlestar Galactitca) Sock update

It feels like the last week of my life has been solely dedicated to these socks. Well...I guess just singular, sock, since I haven't finished one, let alone started on the second. The first sock always takes longer to knit. Right?

Handmade Home: mini wreaths

I have been working on a bunch of projects lately, however since most of them are for Christmas gifts I have to maintain the veil of secrecy and can't post about them.

But one thing that I am working on is some mini wreaths. I saw these on Design Sponge and loved them. Naturally, like many things in my life right now they remain unfinished, but I wanted to share them with you so if you'd like you can have time to make some too.

Book Report: Bookish Gift Guide 1

Image via Local Milk

As a total book nerd, I'm always keeping an eye out for excellent bookish items. All of my shopping is done for this year, but here are some gifts I'd happily give my favorite book lovers...

Insta-sista

Winter arrived in full force this week. Well, that might be an exaggeration. It's cold here and it snowed a little, but it's much colder and snowier in other parts of the country. I was able to collect supplies for a new foraged winter wreath, so we're totally fine. I had to assemble it in stages though, and I came inside every few minutes to thaw my fingers. What a rough life, right?

Top 5: Advent Calendars

Advent Mobile from Hampton SC*

Most everyone gets excited about Christmas, or the Holidays, and what better way to count down the days than a fun advent calendar. You can get super creative and make your calendar really shine with your Christmas decor. Here are five great idea for advent calendars, some of them are from foreign websites however they have great pictures if your not a polyglot...

Made and found: Christmas decorations!

As soon as December hit, I swapped out my fall decorations for a little indoor winter wonderland. We're experiencing some abnormally chilly weather in the Pacific Northwest. It's going to be in the 20's for a few days (believe me, that's cold for here). I've done enough crafting in past few winters, that I have a pretty solid base of decorations to start with. Take a peek!

Peanut & Purls & Battlestar Galactica Socks...?

Yeah you heard me right. Battlestar Galactica socks. I have never seen an episode of BG, but I think Monika and Ben have seen enough so that I don't have to. They even became friends with one of the actors from BG (it was a chance friendship, founded in a bar in Burbank), but not knowing anything about the show, I can't even tell you who they're friends with! For shame!

Handmade Home: Christmas chaos

House Silhouette Wrapping paper

So this weekend we got out our Christmas decorations and started to get things going. When I say this weekend, I mean late Sunday afternoon, so needless to say our house is still amidst the Christmas chaos of decorating. 

As soon as I have some well maintained, organized things to show I'll be back, but this week I need to leave you with this lovely hand made holiday wrapping paper that us sisters made last year for a BuzzFeed post.

Also, if you are feigning for some handmade holiday goodies check out our pin boards, they are chalked full of great ideas and pin-spiration.

Christine's Holly Jolly Christmas pin board

Monika's Merry Merry pin board

Catherine's Christmas

Book Report Inspiration: Winter Reading List

Image via Rustic. Meets. Vintage

Well, it's officially December, and even though I haven't finished off my fall reading list, it's time to assemble a stack of books to get me through the long winter months. This winter I'm going to tackle a few classics, revisit one or two favorites, and try--really, really try--to get caught up on one particularly lengthy series...

Instasista

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I made a cake for our Thanksgiving!

Best of Thanksgiving leftovers

 This post won't have any beautiful fall foods in it, sorry. This is my leftovers memories from Thanksgiving I guess. Ben and I didn't cook at home this year, we went to Dawn's and feasted potluck style. It was delicious and fun, but we are up after a nap now and lamenting the loss of leftovers. So no food leftovers in this post, as there are no food leftovers in our kitchen. It probably helps us not to be overly thankful, turned glutinous.

So here is the best of my Thanksgiving sans food pictures...

Made and Found: Foraged Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! Now that I've said that, I'm probably going to completely negate the sentiment with the following statement: I've never been much of a Thanksgiving person. I always considered it one of those holidays manufactured to celebrate the subjugation of Native Americans as well as our rampant consumer culture. Oh yeah, I'm that type. Plus, for the longest time, I hated turkey. So you can imagine how fun I was at Thanksgiving dinner!

Peanut and Purls and rambling mistakes...

I ate too much sushi tonight.
That's where I'm at right now. Sushi hell. If there were such a thing as the sushi sweats, I would have them. One time, my friend Jesse coined the term "meat sweats" after making a valiant attempt to eat a Claim Jumper's plate of "half-rack ribs" (shudder). It was gross, but I did enjoy that when he ordered, he said, "I'm going to go ahead and have your half-rack ribs with a biscuit." I guess you have to know Jesse but it was funny and endearing. Sometimes the Nicolai sisters quote that (I actually think it's just me and Christine).
Anyway, I'm rambling. That's what this post is about. Absolutely nothing...

Handmade Home: Goodbye Fall...

I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that we sisters always love to change our inside spaces with the seasons to embrace the and reflect the colors and feelings outside. I have enjoyed my fall spread above my fireplace these past few months, but it's soon coming to an end, and I have to say 'Goodbye fall, hello Winter'...

Book Report: "Amundsen"

I've been hard at work on my autumn reading list, but since I'm in the middle of Doctor Sleep, I decided to dedicate today's post to a short story by my literary spirit guide, Alice Munro. I've mentioned her a couple times on the blog, but haven't professed my love for her nearly as much as I ought. Such a failure on my part because Alice Munro truly is a wonder. After reading her elegant and deceptively simple stories, I'm always quiet, humbled, and grateful. It's like she's laying a strong, wise hand on my soul. And I don't say stuff like that about just any old author...

Insta-sista

It's party time all the time at Disneyland, however we went recently and it was actually party time. They were filming on Main Street and a confetti bomb went off!

Check out these other confetti bombs... (there's really no more confetti in these pictures, but still you should read on)

Best of: Wintery Wreath Making

This week I gathered some materials from the woods and fashioned an autumn wreath. I prefer my wreaths a bit wild, so I incorporated some foraged wolf lichen and a couple other lichens that I can't identify off the top of my head. I also allowed the branch tips to stretch out as they saw fit: wreath trends! Monika termed this technique witchy. Fine by me...

Made & Found Cardboard Cat Houses!

It's no secret that the Nicolai sisters like cats. More specifically, you probably already know that we like a creative and inexpensive alternative to store-bought creations. I've made cat toys, beds, etc...

Peanut & Purls and Song of the Sea

Naturally when I hear "Song of the Sea" I can't help but think of Little Mermaid. This isn't really a bad thing, except that this cowl doesn't resemble the Little Mermaid in any way. It's still nice and textured...

Handmade Home: November Banner

I love to celebrate the seasons, and bring a little life in to my environment every couple months. especially here when sometimes the weather doesn't lend itself to reinforcing that it's fall or winter. So this weekend I made a 'November' banner. 

I figured that monograms are so popular, and they make days of the week underwear, so why shouldn't I have months of the year banners...?

Book Report: Night Film

Finished Night Film and loved it. It's one of those labyrinthine novels that seems to reveal, seems to offer a way out, but is actually adding another layer of intrigue and peril. There were a couple times when I forced myself to put the book down after midnight and before falling into a troubled sleep, thought about the plausible insanity I had just read...

Insta-sista

I was in Mom's car this week and happened to notice this curse word cd title. I was thrown for a second...until, that is, I recalled making her a Rufus Wainwright mixtape titled Rufus, Bitches. No surprise it's one of Mom's faves and mine too...

Best of: Fall Covets

When you've got the fall chill in your bones, it's oh so nice to be able to climb in to a nice oversized jacket or poncho. It's also oh so nice to wrap in a blanket or go out and take a bike ride in the fall air. So with that being said, here are my best fall covets...

Made and found: Knit Wish List

If you ever read the blog, you'll know that I'm a knitter. I enjoy knitting (mostly)--it's relaxing, productive, and I really love to be able to say, "yeah...what?...I made this....ugh!" That being said, I sometimes get serious knitter envy. I look around online and see all these amazing knits and my inner monologue starts up, "ummmmm self, why don't you ever knit things like this?!?" This post is dedicated to my knit wish list. Check it!

Peanut & Purls & Autumn Wreaths

This post is about how you should make a fall wreath and then put it on your cat...well it's sort of about that. You should make a fall leaf wreath and hang it on your door, but first put it on your cat, seriously, they'll love it.

Handmade Home: Fall Decor OMH style

It's time to put away your spooky spider and black cats (not black and whites, they can stay I guess), because spooky October has been buried. It's time to get straight in to fall, welcome to November!

Here are some of our sisters (well these three posts are all from Catherine, way to embrace the season!) crafts that can make you a little more thankful...

Book Report Inspiration: Fall Reading List

Image via Local Milk

Willow Springs, the literary journal operated by EWU's MFA program, posted a link on Facebook today from The Daily Beast: "What Sebastian Junger, Susan Orlean, and Others Are Reading This Fall." It got me thinking about my own fall reading list and reading lists in general. As a reader (and a very nosey person), I'm quite interested in what others are reading. And I especially love reading lists from authors I admire. Authors, make more public lists of what you're reading! 

Insta-sista

Halloween was last Thursday, and the Halloween party I attended was a full week before that, but I can't stop thinking about my Ariel costume. Why is Halloween only once a year?!?! My mom's 1988 JAG Corps ball gown (that she sewed herself, thank you very much) was the PERFECT Ariel dress.

Top 5: Knitted Projects from The Purl Bee

Catherine's seed and moss stitch cowls. 

Truly, Catherine is the knitting-est of the sisters. I mean, Monika and I are adept knitters, but Catherine is the one who puts in the most time and has the greatest ambitions. She's made actual clothes! Like if the apocalypse came tomorrow and the internet disappeared, she would still know how to make socks and sweaters. Inconceivable! So, even though I realize her knowledge is far greater than mine (a fact made quite clear to me through Catherine's eye-rolls every time I admit to forgetting how to SSK), once autumn arrives all bets are off. I'm overtaken by the feeling that I should have a knitting project in my lap every time I sit down, and I start hunting around for yarn and potential knitted projects...

Made & Found: Fall Footsteps

At the end of October I went home to Washington to visit the fam. Having lived in Southern California for the past three autumns I have not been able to enjoy a colorful wonderland in a while. So many of the pictures I took while I was home ended up being of fallen leaves on the ground, so here is my visit in groundscapes...

Peanut & Purls & Herringbone Knits!

I've been a knitter for a number of years now, however, I've never attempted the herringbone stitch. Not because it seemed too daunting or anything, but I never really thought about there being a herringbone stitch. I mean really, who knew!?!

Handmade Home: Halloween Costume!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween this year, and got to proudly strut around in your handmade costumes...and repeatedly explain who or what you are. It's one of the pitfalls of having a higher bar for your costume than the oh so popular, dead ____ , sexy ____ or zombie. 

Last year I was the Fantastic Mrs. Fox, the year prior I dressed up as a mountain, so what did I do this year...

Book Report: 'Salem's Lot

There's a slight Halloween holdover in "Book Report" land, and that holdover is all about 'Salem's Lot by Mr. Stephen King. This book has popped up several places on the blog this month, and I couldn't let the spookiest season pass without dedicating a post to the small town overtaken by a big darkness. I loved Stephen King as a young reader and would borrow my dad's paperback copies of Cujo and The Stand and Carrie on the sly, but other than reading The Shining last year, I hadn't really dedicated much time to Stephen King as an adult. Well, after adding 'Salem's Lot to my list, I've officially rekindled my author crush on King. Big time. 

Insta-sista

View from my bedroom window.

This edition of Monika's instagram wrap up is set in the Great Pacific Northwest. Where I got the chance to escape and hide out at Mom's house and get in some sister time...

Best of mom...

Most people think their mom is pretty darn special, and the Nicolai sisters are no different. Today's "Best of" post is dedicated to our mom who's 14-year cancer-free anniversary is tomorrow. 

Made & Found: Mini-Mourning Wreaths

After making my crepe paper crow mask, I was left with two rolls of black crepe paper streamers. I couldn't just let them languish in a craft supplies box somewhere. Not when it's Halloween and there's still time to make a last minute decoration. I mean, come on. So, I rallied my crepe paper, glue stick, and an old cardboard box to make some mini mourning wreaths. OK, I know it's a bit morbid--no one has died--but it is Halloween...

Peanut & Purls & Halloween Cookies

The Nicolai sisters have always made sugar cutout cookies at Christmas time. It's one of our Nicolai-sister traditions. As grownups, we sometimes get a little creative with our cookies and they maybe don't end up being as traditional as our mom would like. I'm usually the one spearheading the cookie project. I'll gather up the sisters and try to get them to commit but inevitably what happens is...