It’s New Year’s Eve, which is the perfect time for a round-up of my favorite posts and projects on the blog this year. Over the years I’ve realized that one of my favorite things is trying out new skills and techniques, and I definitely got to do that with some of these projects. From mixing alcohol to lotions, potions, and paint, I certainly dabbled in a bit of everything. And 2014 promises even more of the same, since my husband and I will be moving into a house of our own that will no doubt be the site of many DIY projects. I can’t wait! In the meantime, here are some of my favorite projects of 2013.
I made some leather cutout earrings in various configurations that I’ve been wearing a lot lately. Here’s the triangle version, too.

This year I experimented with making infused alcohols, and shared recipes for ginger liqueur and rhubarb liqueur. I also made lots of fun cocktails, including a cucumber mint gin fizz, a blood orange and ginger cocktail, and a honey mint lemondrop.

I learned how to wax canvas to waterproof my handmade totebag, which was a fun and useful project.

To keep my head warm, I sewed a cozy sweater hat.

Homemade lotion bars helped keep my skin from drying out.

I sewed cloth napkins, and dressed them up with fancy metallic gold dots.

I learned how to stencil and made myself a stenciled houndstooth shirt, and added an eyeglasses stencil to the glasses case I sewed.

Happy New Year! May 2014 be your best year yet.