My Sneaky Santa!

I've been receiving lots of awesome gifts in the mail from my sneaky santa and I finally figured out that it was all from the lovely Stock! She sent me a huge lot (over 1 pound!) of salvaged vintage earrings, facial scrubbies from LaRue Fashions, a fabulous bracelet/cuff that she made, and a sweet note on a card by HappyHoundCreative. I thought I'd share some photos of my awesome gifts with you guys!

Oh, the fun I will have with these babies!

Facial scrubbies, bracelet, and card! 

Coolest. bracelet. ever. 

I'm sending loads of love to Stock,
the greatest, sneakiest santa ever! 

I'm officially ready to play sneaky santa again. Is it Christmas 2011 yet? :)

- She

Handmade Gifts!

I've been trying to step out of my jewelry bubble for the past week and work on some fabric projects. I've seen several felt and fabric flower brooches and I thought they would make great gifts for my girlfriends! I've been using some beautiful fabric scraps that I purchased from Sandi at Sandi's Stash and vintage earrings that I received from my Sneaky Santa! Here are a few of the finished projects:

This one is for my best friend Chelsea.
Her sorority colors are purple and pink!

For my other friend Chelsea!

I'm not sure who this one is going to yet..
possibly my best friend Bryghte! 

For me! I pinned this little guy on my
favorite winter coat. 

Here's my flower pinned on my ever-so-linty
black pea coat!

As I said in a previous blog post, handmade gifts are perfect to give to those who mean a lot to you. Not only do they reflect the recipient's personal style, but the fact that you spend lots of time finding fabric, meticulously cutting out circles by hand, and stitching these babies up really shows how much you care.

Are any of you giving handmade gifts this year?

- She


P.S.
To whoever my Sneaky Santa is, thank you SO much for my gift. I have already used several pieces from it and have about 500 other ideas for it. You're the best!

FREE Gift Ideas!

I found these tips for positive thinking in one of my textbooks and I thought I'd share them with you guys! I hope you enjoy these and try to give some of these free gifts this holiday season. Don't let their price fool you, they're worth much more than any Christmas gift! :)

1. Give a smile to everyone you meet (smile with your eyes)-- and you'll smile and receive smiles

2. Give a kind word (with a kindly thought behind the word)-- you will be kind and receive kind words

3. Give appreciation (warmth from the heart)-- you will appreciate and be appreciated 

4. Give honor, credit, and applause (the victor's wreath)-- you will be honorable and receive credit and applause

5. Give time for a worthy cause (with eagerness)-- you will be worthy and richly rewarded 

6. Give hope (the magic ingredient for success)-- you will have hope and be made hopeful

7. Give happiness (a most treasured state of mind)-- you will be happy and be made happy

8. Give cheer (the verbal sunshine)-- you'll be cheerful and cheered

9. Give encouragement (the incentive to action)-- you will have courage and be encouraged 

10. Give a pleasant response (the neutralizer of irritants)-- you will be pleasant and receive pleasant responses

11. Give good thoughts (nature's character builder)-- you will be good and the world will have good thoughts for you

- She 

Positive thoughts found in:

Social Work with Groups: A Comprehensive Workbook, Seventh edition, Charles H. Zastrow. 

Birthday Bracelet and Buttons

One of my favorite things to do is give presents to others. Whether it be my sixty-one-year-old mom or my five-year-old nephew, the thought of going out and picking the perfect gift has always excited me. My half sister, Brooklyn, turned two today and I, yet again, got excited and went to buy a gift. I was having a hard time deciding what outfit to get, but I ended up purchasing an adorable grey and white sweater dress adorned with some of my favorite things: buttons! Whether they are vintage or new, it does not matter to me (though I'm a sucker for vintage anything!) Buttons are not only functional, but can be a unique addition to any outfit. I especially love making button jewelry, whether it be earrings, rings, or necklaces. How fun!

Anyway, I found the dress and decided to make a bracelet for her as well. It's so odd making children's jewelry when I'm so used to making adult jewelry. I kept measuring and re-measuring to make sure it was the right length-- it looked like it would barely fit around my finger! Here is a photo of the dress and bracelet as I was getting them ready to ship off to Brooklyn:



Seriously, how cute is this dress? I got it at Target for around $12. What a deal! If only they made it in my size. Sigh..

Anyway, it's bedtime in this house. I'll be posting a button earring how-to soon.. so stay tuned!

- She