Ornament Swap 2013

This year, I organized an ornament swap amongst some friends. I've swapped with strangers via Swap-Bot before but I found half the ornaments I received turn out to be disappointing. I figured if I hand picked participants, I'd increase the chances of receiving all nice ornaments and a broader variety. Looks like I was right! I received all lovely ornaments in the mail this year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

^_____________^

iPad Yule log.

The office was closed early yesterday around noon for our holiday break. I spent the morning making a fireplace to make an iPad Yule log for a holiday party. Did a Google search on "Christmas fireplace" and this image popped up. I re-sized it to fit my iPad, printed, laminated it onto some chipboard for some structure and taped it onto my iPad. I folded some origami Christmas stockings with guests' names and decorated the mantel. Found a great three hour video of a fireplace on Youtube and voilá! Yule log for an urban apartment that has no chimney.

Christmas Cookie Trio

[Shot by Tony]

In preparation for a little holiday party, I baked cookies for my friends. I made a variety of three kinds: chewy ginger, chocolate crackle and lemon ricotta cookies. I packed them in separate Ziplock bags as I've heard cookies end up tasting the same if you put them all together. Target had super cute holiday treat bags and sticker labels to package the cookies nicely.