Cozy House Curios

01/24/2026

Here comes the ice! Better stock up on your milk, bread…and prayer ropes! 📿

We had Liturgy this morning for St. Xenia since we can’t really have Liturgy tomorrow morning. Before we went home we were checking the bookstore and saw nearly all the prayer ropes were sold!

01/20/2026

Fulfilling a promise to someone.

01/15/2026

Announcement:

I will be closing the shop at the end of January. This decision has been coming on for a while but I’ve been putting it off. It just doesn’t make financial sense to continue.

It been a wild 12 years! I appreciate all of you who have been along for the journey. I kind of wish I had kept a count of how many censers I’ve made through the years. 😄 It’s definitely in the thousands.

The shop is still open and purchases can still be made through January 25th. I’ll still be here on social media, still sharing things I make and other interesting things.

Thank you all! ❤️

01/14/2026

I love the painted cabinet door on this small cabinet. All I can find out about the artist is that her name was Marion De Mailo and she was an artist and antique dealer in PA. This was gifted to me by a parishioner who was clearing out her mother’s house.

01/10/2026

Yesterday I redressed the hutch (and various other spaces in the house.) It’s the post-Christmas reset. There really wasn’t much point in looking very wintry; the highs have been 78-84. I didn’t go full-on Valentine’s Day, but I certainly edged in that direction.

(This is my grandmother’s Haviland Limoges “Baltimore Rose” china set.)

01/02/2026

Happy new year!

All of the children are sick (some are technically young adults, but you know what I mean), the youngest having finally succumbed this morning. It’s just a cold, fortunately, but we’re isolating so we don’t share the germs with others. Several babies at church have RSV, two of whom having had to be hospitalized, so it’s not something I take lightly.

I’ve spent a substantial portion of the day on the couch, reading Beatrix Potter aloud. I had to start with one of my favorites, The Pie and the Patty Pan. 😄 I’m taking a little break to work on this long-neglected needlework, adding in the boring background wool. 🪡

Yesterday I finally finished a garter stitch cotton/bamboo baby blanket in masculine-ish colors to hold in reserve in case one of the expected babies at church is a boy. We seem to have more boys than girls so my supply of boy baby gifts gets depleted rapidly. The day before I finished an additional mouse (with dress, granny-square blanket, and pillow) for my daughter who felt that a mouse should not live in a mouse house without companionship. Fair point, for the youngest of seven who can’t imagine having a room to herself, much less an entire house! 🐭

12/24/2025

Happy Christmas Eve! I got this little tree on extreme discount at HEB on Monday. We decided to decorate it with strings of popcorn, orange slices, pomander balls, and orange mushrooms (cinnamon sticks for stems). I hope this afternoon we can make some cinnamon applesauce hearts as well.

12/19/2025

This year was SO much better! It was really easy, but there was one CRITICAL step that made all the difference.

Directions to dry orange slices:

•Slice oranges thinly. Save ends for mushroom caps.
•Lay out on cooling racks.
•Place in oven on lowest setting (mine is 170°F).
•CRACK THE OVEN DOOR SLIGHTLY.
•Leave for at least six hours, checking occasionally. (Mine took about 7 hours.)
•No need to turn them. They are done when they feel completely dry and not sticky.

That’s it! I’m going to string mine but they also look really pretty hung on the tree with a bit of ribbon, wired onto a wreath, or wired into a garland. If you hang them in a window you can enjoy the stained glass effect!

12/16/2025

12/10/2025

I decided not to close the shop over Christmas. I’m not making anything to order so it’s just a matter of wrapping and shipping any orders as they come in. Given the low volume this will be no problem to keep up with. I hope this comes in handy for those on the Julian calendar! Keep post office deadlines in mind if you want something by a certain date and select Priority shipping if needed. 🎄