What do I mean by impressions? Well check out Jason’s ring that has Jude’s finger print on it:

This is an idea that Jason and I had thrown around after Jude’s birth, but it turns out newborns don’t really have identifiable fingerprints, so the thought went on the back burner for awhile. Then Christmas present planning entered my mind and I started looking for an etsy vendor that could do this special task. I was happy to have found Jackie, who was great to work with and delivered a great end product. She even etched Jude’s name on the inside of the ring:

Now I was a little jealous of Jason’s awesome ring and I kinda wanted one for myself. I love rings. The problem is wearing rings while running around after a toddler, doing laundry, dishes, gardening, painting, sewing, etc. I don’t really have need for a ring in my life. I browsed Jackie’s shop and came across a small heart shaped fingerprint necklace with a birthstone that I liked a lot. Now, if you know me well, you know I’m not much of a heart person, but this heart is organically shaped and it seemed appropriate to have the fingerprint of my little guy on heart, since he will forever be imprinted on my own heart.

Jackie does some really great work with other types of impressions too. She does dog nose/paw prints and cat print jewelry as well.

I know I’m a little late telling you about this for Valentine’s day, as Jackie needs about a month to create your special piece, but it would be great for birthdays, anniversaries or other special events that you may have coming up!

I saw this cute little slippers on etsy one day and saw the pattern for sale from Mamachee! This is the first thing I have made following a pattern and I think they were pretty successful. These were a Christmas gift. I kinda love the obnoxious colors but originally had wanted a more subdued orange. Oh well!

Looking more at Mamachee’s blog, I found something that I had admired for awhile. A monkey earflap beanie! Mamachee kindly allows people to sell items made from her patterns and I had spied this beanie on etsy awhile back. I decided I would try my hand at making a monkey hat for my little monkey! Turns out the hook sizes matter a lot. I didn’t have the hook called for in the pattern and. . . well . . . it turned into a non-monkey hat for me. I’ll give it another try with the correct hook size soon.

Pretty soon we will be heading to a much colder area of the country and Jason realized he didn’t have much cold weather wear to speak of. I mean, we live in Texas, there isn’t much need for scarves and beanies here! So I took it on myself to make Jason a guy-ish beanie and scarf set. I think I accomplished that pretty well. I did not use a pattern for either the scarf or the beanie. . . turns out you don’t really need to have a pattern!

Can you believe it! The final day of the 12 Days of Handmade Holidays Giveaways! And today I have a doozy for you – something just in time for the holidays.

My friend Amanda just launched her new blog, My Sewcial Hour, and to help celebrate, she made a little something special for this giveaway! Now, I happen to be in awe of Amanda’s tiny quilt piecing abilities. She comes up with some of the cutest little mini quilt squares that I have seen. So when she sent me the pictures of her donation to the giveaway, I literally squealed. Check this out:

Now, you may be wondering what this cute little quilted winter scene is used for. Well, if you haven’t heard of them before, I introduce you to a mug rug! It’s basically a mini quilt that serves as an oversized coaster for your coffee/tea mug. There’s even room for some cookies or pastries. And that cute Christmas mug? It’s included in the giveaway.

Look at all the little details, the rick rack, the tiny little knots, and my personal favorite, the bell!

She will be opening her etsy shop in January of 2011, so favorite her shop and check back then. I can’t wait to see what she offers!

So how do you enter for Day 12? Three different ways:

• Leave me a comment telling me your favorite mug worthy drink. Coffee, tea, cider, hot chocolate, but you gotta be specific! Is it Earl Gray or that Guatemalan roast? With marshmallows or without.
• Reblog the giveaway and leave me a comment with the link.
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS Reader or e-mail and leave me a comment saying you subscribed (top left corner of the blog) or tell me that you already subscribe.

What are you waiting for? Enter now because this giveaway will end on Friday, December 17th at 10pm. This item will only be shipped to a winner within the US.

Good luck!

My friend Jesse has a fun etsy shop called MyDogKaya and her focus is incorporating recycled and vintage fabrics into new creations. I absolutely adore her style and ability to match up vintage fabrics to give them a modern feel.

Today, Jesse has donated a lightweight vintage and linen tote, perfect for carrying a couple magazines, a book and maybe a ball of yarn and some knitting needles. It is made with new lightweight cotton fabric, vintage sheets + linens, and cotton/linen blend.

It measures 13.5 inches wide, 15 inches tall, with the handles measuring in at 22 inches, perfect length to be carried over the shoulder. The fabric blocks have raw edges and are top stitched and the back fabric is different from front.

And just in case that wasn’t enough, Jesse also donated her ‘Slow down’ teal screen print:

A nice little print to remind you to slow down and appreciate the moment for what it is, the little things that you are so grateful for. Take a deep breath and take nothing and no one for granted. This is a hand pulled screen print in teal printed on archival 110 lb white card stock, open edition that is titled and signed. It is 8.5″ x 11″ that fits within a 8×10 frame (the frame in the picture is not included).

Pretty great, huh?

So how do you enter for Day 11? Three different ways:

• Click on over to Jesse’s shop and leave a comment telling me what item jumps out at you as your favorite.
• Reblog the giveaway and leave me a comment with the link.
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS Reader or e-mail and leave me a comment saying you subscribed (top left corner of the blog) or tell me that you already subscribe.

What are you waiting for? Enter now because this giveaway will end on Thursday, December 16th at 10pm. This item will only be shipped to a winner within the US.

Good luck!

I love little handmade animals. Love them. They make me so happy, whether they are real animals or just made up. Look at this little crew:

Don’t they just make you smile? And ohmygoodness, I kinda adore this monkey. Seriously, Sarah, I want to buy one of these from you soon. The little banana is just too much for me.

Which brings us to our adorable seasonal gift item! Sarah with Minnie Millery was kind enough to donate a handmade felted Christmas bunny ornament! Wouldn’t she just look perfect on your tree?

This sweet little bunny is made from 100% wool, needle felted by hand. Her cotton skirt is trimmed with white ric rac and a small pink button. Complete with hand embroidered details. This blushing bunny is just waiting to be picked up by someone special! She measures approximately 6″H x 3″W (arm to arm).

So how do you enter for Day 9? Three different ways:

• Hop on over to Minnie Millery and tell me your favorite item.
• Reblog the giveaway and leave me a separate comment with the link.
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS Reader or e-mail and leave me a separate comment saying you subscribed (top left corner of the blog) or tell me that you already subscribe.

What are you waiting for? Enter now because this giveaway will end on Tuesday, December 14th at 10pm. This item will only be shipped to a winner within the US.

Got a little cool weather wear for you today! Tara from fifty acorns has offered up this great chocolate brown beanie to one of you guys today!

This hat is handmade with care from an vintage pattern and adapted from a 70′s home economics textbook. Made with 100% worsted weight acrylic yarn in brown.

The unique design of the hat allows it to stretch and form to most anyone’s head. These hats have never been worn so they are ready to become your perfect hat! They come to have a nice comfortable fit that won’t give you flattened hat hair.

This hat is great for gals and guys. Hats are one size fits most. This cozy little hat is warm enough for winter but breathable for warmer temperatures. It’s the perfect hat!

This hat would make a great Christmas gift for any girl or guy in your life and Tara accepts custom orders if you are looking for a particular color combination.

So how do you enter for Day 6? Three different ways:

• Leave me a comment telling me about your favorite item from Tara’s shop and where you would wear it!
• Reblog the giveaway and leave me a separate comment with the link.
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS Reader or e-mail and leave me another separate comment saying you subscribed (top left corner of the blog) or tell me that you already subscribe.

What are you waiting for? Enter now because this giveaway will end on Monday, December 13th at 10pm. This item will only be shipped to a winner within the US.

Good luck!

I got to help one of my friends, Kathy, launch her shop, Happy Elephant Jewelry, back a couple months ago. What gets me excited about her jewelry? Well for one, look at it:

Chunky ring, bright colors! What’s not to like? Personally, I think the best part is that it is made from Tagua, also known as vegetable ivory. Vegetable ivory is the reason why the elephant in her shop name is so happy! Tagua is a nut/seed that is sustainably harvested in the rain forests of Ecuador. And all of the dyes used to color the jewelry are natural dyes. No funky chemicals here!

Additionally, everything she sells is priced fairly. You won’t find a better price for the quality, design and style. Not to mention how unique each piece is.

Kathy has graciously donated this beautiful ring to be given away as part of the handmade holidays. She is still in process of loading inventory in her shop, but be sure to favorite it and check back often!

This would be such a fantastic gift for that trendy girlfriend in your life. Although you may have to pry the ring out of my fingers first.

So how do you enter for Day 4? Three different ways:

• Leave me a comment and tell me who this ring would go to as a gift. It’s ok, you can say yourself, I mean, I would totally keep this ring.
• Reblog the giveaway and leave me a separate comment with the link.
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS Reader or e-mail and leave me a another separate comment saying you subscribed (top left corner of the blog) or tell me that you already subscribe.

What are you waiting for? Enter now because this giveaway will end on Thursday, December 9th at 10pm. This item will only be shipped to a winner within the US.

Good luck!

Aren’t you guys excited? Twelve days of giveaways! All handmade items. And today is day one! Get ready to check people off of your Christmas list and to meet some really great vendors.

Today we are featuring Kelly of Gem Junkie. You might remember me talking about her famous $5 earrings in February. I love those earring! Not only does she sell her famous $5 jewelry, she also sells all sorts of beads and jewelry notions. Are you a beader? You should check out the quirky pieces in her shop. There are a lot of great deals. Perfect gifts for the ladies in your life.

So many options. You guys know I love trees:

And how fun are these golden wings:

Although, I think MY favorite might be this penny farthing. So steam-punk!

And for those of us with kids that can’t wear dangly earrings? Perfect funky resin studs.

Oh, I just love it all.

So how do you enter for Day 1? Three different ways:

• Go visit her shop. Yes you. Go. Now leave a comment below telling me your favorite $5 piece. If you win, you get that item! AND there will be TWO winners!
• Reblog the giveaway and leave me another separate comment with the link.
• Subscribe to my blog via RSS Reader or e-mail and leave me another separate comment saying you subscribed (top left corner of the blog) or tell me that you already subscribe.

What are you waiting for? Enter now because this giveaway will end on Monday, December 6th at 10pm. This item will only be shipped to a winner within the US.

Good luck!

I know I’ve mentioned it many a time, but I wanted to learn how to crochet and/or knit. I have been told by many people that crocheting is a bit easier to pick up, so that was my aim. Learn how to crochet. And holy moly, look what I did:

I learned how to crochet! Now, I know that this is not a usable final product, but I have high hopes of making beanies for Jude in the near future. I may need a few more lessons. Mucho thanks goes to Tara from Fiftyacorns for having so much patience while I learned how to crochet!

Fabrics are Michael Miller:: Giraffe Garden, Zoology Lagoon and Citron & Lagoon Blue Surf.