Handmade Under the Tree!

Merry Christmas everyone! We will be going over to Mike's Mom's house in a few hours to celebrate Christmas with the in laws. And then tomorrow we'll head down to the farm for a few days to celebrate with the Lenox clan. I thought I would share a few of the handmade goodies that will be under the trees this year from me.

I just got Betty's Hershfeld pendant in the mail yesterday. It is so absolutely adorable. It's in black and white and is practically a work of art. You can see examples of The Lost Earring's work in the shot above. She was so sweet to work with and made sure I got it on time even though I ordered it rather late and it was a custom job.


Speaking of amazing custom pendants, I got my Mom a Circle of Love custom family pendant in gold from Mu-Yin Jewelry. It has all of her kids and grandkids birthstones in order. It was heavy on the green and purple stones. So when I found Gray Cat Designs on a trade thread and saw these gorgeous earrings in gold with all the same colors and stones I asked for a trade. She fell in love with one of my scarves and a perfect trade was made. She was so sweet to include a pair of earrings for me in moonstone which just so happens to be my all time favorite stone.


I'm sure that my ultra conservative sister will not be thrilled with my gift to Savannah, my 3 year old niece who loves to dress up. I got her a custom made hot pink and black tutu and a matching tee shirt from Punky Monkey Kids. I choose a slightly less wild tee shirt, hers has a guitar instead of a skull but it is definitely still a very punk look.






I also got a variety of Kawaii jewelry from Fighting Dreamr Designs for the girls including this fun pendant with a real dried beetle inside for Kate. She loves insects right now, especially round ones, her words not mine. I got Jess a pendant with candy sprinkles inside and I also got Kate some cute earrings including some pink tiny koosh balls which I know she will love.

That is just a sample of the handmade goodness under my tree this year. I hope you get all the treasures you are dreaming of and more this Christmas. If not than I'm sure you can find some one perfectly willing to make it for you on Etsy!

Handmade Holiday Decorating!

I'm so excited to be a part of my first Blog Hop today. It is being sponsored by the lovely Frugal Housewife. The theme is decorating for the holidays. There are 23 amazing blogs participating and I can't wait to read all of their ideas. If you want to see the master list check it out here.
My first thought when I agreed to participate was to go through my Etsy favorites and promote their handmade holiday items. Trust me, you can find the most unique ornaments and decorations in every theme imaginable by simply searching for Christmas on Etsy. For example one of my handmade blog buddies Selahestelle sells the most amazing embroidered balls which would be perfect on a tree or in a basket like you see above.

But as I gave it some thought I decided that I would take both a handmade and frugal look at holiday decorating this year, which I thought would be appropriate. I have to be honest that I haven't done much in the way of decorating yet this year. When my parents asked us to go to the farm this weekend to "watch" the farm while they took a quick trip to Dallas I brought my camera along. My Mom loves to decorate and I was sure that I would find examples of what I was looking for. The picture at the top of the page is a shot of their front entry way. The stained glass was handmade years ago by a close friend of the family and goes so nicely with the greenery Mom has put up for a simple yet striking display.



So many of us have things in our house, whether they are handmade or not that can be repurposed for the holidays. This shot of the tree is a great example of this. The handmade quilt behind the tree is usually hung in the master bedroom but is the perfect backdrop to the tree. It was given to Mom a few years ago by an aunt and has pictures of the family in each of the stars. You probably don't have this exact item but there are likely other things in your house that could be used to display and create a great visual. I have a large tin star that hangs in the living room and I have hung ornaments off the holes in it before to use what I have.






Most of us crafters have supplies in our stash that can easily and cost effectively turned into holiday decorations. I once ordered a box of mystery yarn that in addition to some great designer yarns also included over 10 balls of the wildest boa yarn. It is so rough I would never use it in a scarf to sell but I have made scarves for the nieces with it. I realized the other day that it would also make great garland. I knitted up the two on this little tree with the biggest needles I had in the time it took to watch a Law and Order. They would add some real bling to a tree or banister. I held 3 different yarns together and just cast on 3 stitches. I did all garter stitch until it reached around 40 inches, but you could make them as long or as short as you wanted. I have also used ribbon that I got on sale at Michaels on my tree instead of garland. I like that you can find it in all different colors not just the traditional holiday colors.


The last example I have of using what you have to decorate with is this sweet ornament on Mom's tree. It is a picture of the girls that they cut out and glued in place last year. It's a great handmade ornament that I know Mom will enjoy for many years.


I have really enjoyed participating in this hop. It is my pleasure to introduce the next stop on your tour. Will Oaks Studio is actually a favorite of mine. She has the most visually stunning blog and is a real inspiration to improve my photography skills. So go check her out and I'm sure that she'd be thrilled if you stopped by her etsy shop here to do some holiday shopping while you were at it.

Handmade Holidays

As I've discussed in earlier posts I spent a lot of time working on trades for family members this year and shopping on Etsy. Most of these handmade gifts were received well and were appreciated. For some reason I didn't have my camera handy for most of the festivities. I stole a few pics from my sister in laws flickr page but I've got nothing from my family. My mother in law really liked the custom portrait of everyone's favorite poodle from beccasophie. And Kai really liked his Day of the Dead shirt and i-pod holder made from ties that I got at the Big Ass show. Anh loved her scarf and wristcuff I made her and the pink skull pouch. Her comment was my favorite of the weekend when she opened it she said "You know me so well Aunt Paige". We spend a lot more one on one time with these kids so I would hope that I would be able to pick out what they like. My sister in law seemed to like her bag of handmade goodies also and her son Graham liked his handmade train crayons even more than the weird space creature I got him.

My sister's girls are not as open to original designs but I think that they enjoyed the variety of my gifts. They have a much more name brand mentality and when they got an American Girl Doll knock off instead of the real thing this year there was some grumbling. I really try to show them that to be one of a kind is better than being just like everybody else but they are growing up in the West County world and they only see me so often.

Little Typhoid Savannah gave the gift of a nasty stomach bug to everyone in the family so Mike and I have been in bed the past few days and feeling incredibly miserable. I'm starting to feel a bit better so hopefully it won't ruin the rest of my time off.