Thursday, December 23, 2010

Visions of Sugar Plums

We have freshly fallen snow here on the coast. 


And a few pretty sea urchins that I collected from the shore. 
 

I just added a little gold leaf to glam them up a bit. 





Stacked up in hues of sea washed greens and soft plums they are tiny gifts from the ocean.


 Inspired, I head into the kitchen to bake up a batch of cookies that I could perhaps decorate in the same colors.    Although laden with sprinkles, my freshly baked sugar cookies looked more like sea urchin wannabees, rather than the lovely vision of sea urchin confections still dancing in my head. 





However, they do pack quite a sugary punch and I like the way they sparkle. 




Yesterday's snow was an all day event. 

 
A mesmerizing, swirling pattern of motion.   




Contented to stay inside and wrap packages,  I made pom-poms out of white tissue paper and hand stamped birdies on plain manila tags. 

 


Simplicity became my mantra. 




And I enjoyed my day immensely.   




And just so you know, there are plum colored sprinkles all over my floors.  Merry Christmas y'all! 

22 comments:

Vicki Boster said...

Merry Christmas Lili - the photos are fabulous! Love the sea urchins - and the cookies are delightful - what a wonderful inspiration the coast is for you in all that you do. Stay warm up there my friend ~~

(does Simon like the sprinkles?)

Holiday Hugs,
Vicki

Sandy, Sisters of Season said...

Have a beautiful Christmas like you my friend . . the bird pics are too pretty. Merry Christmas! Love, Sandy:O)

Heather Baird said...

*sigh.... you make me want to pack my bags and visit! I love that you see the world with an artists' eye - and I love your inspired baking.

Merry Christmas Lili!

Polly said...

Merry Christmas Lili! Ohmigosh, to be able to run to the shore and find some sea urchins.....that is so cool! They are beautiful, and your cookies too!
I'm glad you had a relaxing day to enjoy the season and take a breather!!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

xo

Polly

Lisa said...

Your pictures are gorgeous! Sometimes I forget that the coast exists in the winter...thanks for reminding me!

Smiles and Merry Christmas!,
Lisa

JoAnn ( Scene Through My Eyes) said...

The sea urchins (just love that name), real and cookies, look so wonderful. Nothing like some gold leaf or sprinkles to jazz up sea urchins.

Your snow photos are wonderful and I do love the simplicity of your wrapping and decorations.

Happy Happy Day to you and Henri - and Simon. Does he get a cookie?

Country Girl said...

I LOVE THOSE COOKIES! Absolutely the most unique cookies I've ever seen, Lili. Bravo~

Merry Christmas!

Maya @ Completely Coastal said...

Oh, you're having a white Christmas up in Maine -wonderful!!!!

And gosh..., those urchins, so gorgeous..., and the cookies absolutely fab. Since I gave up on Daily Vitamin Sea (2 blogs are just too much, haha) and have now a fun with fun category on Completely Coastal, I'll do an entire post with all your sea inspired baking -it's just soooo creative and unique!!!!

Feel free to still link up a post on my Blog Linkup 2010, beginning Mo Dec 27th. I'd love that!

Have a wonderful Christmas, Lili!!!!

jennyfreckles said...

You're such a talented lady. I would never have thought of decorating sea urchins but they look amazing. And I like the creative mind journeys you make - on to cookies... Hope you and Henri have a wonderful Christmas.

Teri said...

Merry Christmas to you and Henri!!

Teri

Heidi said...

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Dear Lillie said...

What beautiful photographs! Have a very merry Christmas, Lili!

Diane said...

The urchins look so lovely with just a spot of gold. Brilliant idea. And those cookies look yummy.

Thank you for stopping by to visit Thailand with me. It was a great trip and I hope to go back.

Happy New Year

Suz said...

You are such an artist Lili! I love the cookies and you were certainly inspired by the nature around you. Your gift wrapping looks fabulous! Have a wonderful holiday and a prosperous New Year! xox

Rebecca Lewis said...

Lili ~ just making the post Christmas rounds....I absolutely Love your sea urchins and your cookies are amazing!
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas day ~ it was wonderful here...it just went by too quickly. Take care ~ Rebecca

Barry said...

The close-up of the package with the white pop-pom, candy cane, and birdy tag could be sold as a Christmas card! You just blow my mind - sea urchin sugar cookies!?! Love ya!

Allison Shops said...

Love the sea urchins with and without the gold leaf. Stumbled across your blog hopping Blog lists. Look forward to exploring more!

Allison
Atticmag

Julie said...

Lili,

Catching up! I loved your post. Well, I always love your posts...but anyway this one was such fun and eye candy. I love the way you added gold sparkle to the urchins. So beautiful!!! And I think the cookies look delicious. So glad you shared some photos of your sprinkles and candies that embellish you kitchen, turning it into a candyland... And the sprinkles on the floor must look like the Sugar Plum Fairy came and visited whooshing her fairy dust every where she flew... :-) Love the birds. I too, get such joy out of watching them gather and eat at the feeders, flurrying all around.
Thank you for the beauty. Enjoyed! Hugs...

The Single Nester said...

Sea urchin. That is one thing I have not found on my ocean. Happy New Year.

Lila Rostenberg said...

I really like your stripped wrapping paper packages. Simplicity really works!

Sharon Lovejoy said...

Hi Honey,

Jeff and I tuned into the Lili channel and got our Maine fix for the day. Hey, I LOVE your sea urchin cookies. They're wonderful.

Off to Hearst Castle today with our family. This is going to be a huge experience for my little grand Sara May. She is an artist and has no idea that people actually lived that way.

Love, love,

Sharon Lovejoy Writes from Sunflower House and a Little Green Island

Sharon Lovejoy said...

and of course I LOVE the bird photos.