The Decoration

I don't know where this year has gone, or how it managed to fly by so darn fast, but December 25th is right around the corner and will be here before we know it.

This Christmas I am making it my personal goal to buy gifts for my friends and family that are handmade, in hopes of cutting out the big-box stores as much as I can.

Don't get me wrong...I love Target just as much as the next girl! But when it comes to giving gifts, I would much rather be inspired browsing Etsy, than strolling through crowded aisles of mass produced products.


You may or may not know that Will and I are Handmade sellers ourselves. We have an Etsy Shop where we sell Custom Built Reproduction Antique Riddling Racks...

They come in three finishes:


and each one is handmade, board by board.

It is a tedious process, but it's a labor of love and we're proud of every one that we ship off! And we're certain that all of the other Handmade sellers out there feel the same way about their own products.

So in an effort to make this years shopping easier on myself (and any of you that would like to go the handmade route this year, too), I am hoping that you will help me assemble a...

Handmade Holiday Shopping Guide

I am counting on you to make this a success. Feel free to add the link to your Etsy Shop or website and give a brief description of what people can expect to find when they visit your site.

I will keep the list open through Christmas Eve, so start spreading the word!

Let your friends and family know that this is a chance for a little free advertising!

Because everyone likes free.

:)

**I reserve the right to delete any link that does not sell handmade items. I will also delete any links that I consider inappropriate and not in line with the content that I post on my blog. This is a family blog...let's keep it clean!**


So what are you waiting for?

Start linking up!

And if you are participating, please feel free to spread the word and take a button to place on your blog or website. The more the merrier!



<center><a href=" http://itsthelittlethingsthatmakeahouseahome.blogspot.com/2010/11/holiday-shopping-guide-calling-all.html " target="_blank"><img border="0" alt=" Handmade Holiday Shopping Guide from It’s The Little Things…" src="http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/ItsTheLittleThingsBlog/HandmadeHolidayShoppingGuideButton-1.jpg" /></a></center>

I cannot wait to see what you have to show us!

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Our Reproduction Antique Riddling Racks have been featured on The Storque on Etsy!

Head on over to Etsy and check out "Grape Expectations".

And click here for more info on our Reproduction Antique Riddling Racks.

I still have "Green" on the brain.
Yes, I realize St. Patrick's Day is behind us, but the past two days have flown by and I'm playing catch-up!

Which leads me to...

The need for some green art in the small main bathroom across from our kitchen. And I don't mean "green" as in earth-friendly (although, I think this would count as that because I did re-use what we already had!), but "green" as in, the color!

This particular bathroom in our house is pretty small.
It has a specific function, without any frills.
I have done what I can to make it nice and inviting for the few moments that anyone may spend in there.

We added a frame around the mirror, exactly like the one in the living room and that made a HUGE difference! I painted the walls a warm, medium brown color with just a hint of pink in it. You'll see more signature 90's mauve in this bathroom (just like the tiles in the hall and the living room fireplace)! In this case, we can't cover it up, so I had to find a way to make it all cohesive. When we moved in, the walls were a very light "packing paper grey" color which made all of the pink in this bathroom scream "hello!" The new paint color added some much needed drama to the space and took the focus off all of the pink.

But, back to the green.

I have this vase of greenery sitting next to the sink and I've always loved how it pops against all of the neutral colors that surround you in this space.

But I needed to stretch that color through to the opposite wall to relate the two sides of the space.

I have recently taken a liking to botanical art.
Specifically the ferns.

I looked at a few stores and found.....nothing!
Absolutely nothing!
Which seemed odd to me because I know that not too long ago you could find framed fern art everywhere. Obviously, I missed the boat on that one!

Hmmm.....what to do?

I was definitely becoming impatient on this one. I knew what I wanted for the space and I wanted it now.

I recently brought this Boston Fern into our home and I love it!

The wheels started turning....

Conveniently, there was an unwanted cabinet door that my husband had in the garage. He had made it back when he built the bookcase for our bedroom, but cast it off because it didn't turn out quite how he had wanted.

As far as I was concerned, it was the perfect canvas!

I started by painting the inset a Spring Green...

I cut a few of my fern leaves and laid them out how I wanted them to look.

I took the whole thing out into the garage, just as it had sat on my kitchen table, and gently spray painted it glossy white hoping that enough definition would come through and you would be able to see the individual leaves.

It turned out.....ok.
Definitely not like what I had imagined in my head.
Time to modify the plan.

I grabbed a different shade of green craft paint and a small paintbrush...

I watered the green paint way down (David Bromstad style!) and started to paint in the individual leaves...

I was happily surprised that it actually worked!

Moving onto the frame.

I taped off the picture from the frame and started with a dark brown semi-gloss paint.

Then I wiped on a layer of matte black paint.

The goal was definitely to make it look old.
Not like it was the product of an idea I had 10 minutes ago!

Once it was dry, I took it into the garage, gave it a quick sand with the palm sander, sprayed a good coat of matte polyurethane on it and called it a day!

Does it look professional?
Probably not...

Am I at all worried about that?
Definitely not!

It does for the space exactly what I had set out to achieve!
And I made it myself!
With stuff that we already had!
And that feels good!

I'll post pics of the bathroom soon!

I wanted to share a few Surprises that I received over my birthday weekend...

The first one came as a complete surprise!

In the very early hours of the morning on my birthday, my husband got called out to fly. It was 3am and I didn't want to be awake, but it was hard to stay asleep while he was getting ready to head to work. So, I decided to check my email.
(Tell me that you do that too when you find yourself unable to sleep in the middle of the night!)
Waiting for me was a message from my friend, Kelly P., saying that she had visited her grandma that day and had noticed a basket of seashells that her grandma had. She mentioned to her grandma that one of her friends (me) loves seashells, so her grandma gave her some for me! Kelly said that they were waiting for me on my front porch!
Sure enough, two ziplock bags filled with some of the prettiest shells I've seen were sitting on the bench outside my door!

Here they are, grouped together in two glass urns that I found for 50% off!
I think they look beautiful filled with these shells!

Kelly P., thanks again! And give your grandma a big hug for me next time that you see her! Her seashells will be well loved here!


The next surprise was a handmade treasure that my best friend, Kelly, gave me!

To make a long story short, months ago I had noticed a blanket draped across a chair at her house. I was on my way to the front door while saying goodbye and the blanket immediately caught my attention. I turned back around to ask lots of questions about where, when, how she got it, who made it, etc.
Turns out that it was handmade by a friend's mom.
I loved it! Not only because it was beautiful, but because of the knowledge that it was handmade! Definitely makes it even more special!

To my surprise, Kelly had her make one for me for my birthday!
It is so soft and cozy and wonderful...all of the things that the perfect blanket should be!

Thank you, Kelly!

I absolutely think that the knitting-extraordinaire should start selling them on Etsy!
I would gladly advertise for her!


This next gift wasn't technically a surprise...

We have a bench that sits on our front porch and the cushion that it came with was....well, I'll be nice and just say that it wasn't great.
I had found some fabric last summer that I really liked and was hoping to recover the cushion with it. I am extremely sewing-machine-challenged! So I handed the fabric to my mother-in-law hoping that she could help me with the project.

She decided to go beyond what I had been hoping for and got new foam for a thicker, sturdier cushion, got more fabric to accommodate the extra thickness and put a border around the edge in a complimentary color!

Here is how it turned out:

I think it looks great! And it is actually a place that my husband and I will enjoy sitting now!

Thank you, Diane!

I just need to find a small throw and a couple of pillows and it will be the perfect place to watch the sunset come this summer!
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Quite often, handmade gifts are the best gifts - right along with things that are passed on from one person to another! I can't tell you how happy I was to receive the seashells! And the blanket and bench cushion are both gifts that were made with love, from the heart.

Thank you Kelly P., Kelly O., and Diane!

You made my day!

I just finished making an Established Sign for a friend of mine. She wanted it to include their last name and the year they were married.
I love how it turned out!

This was the other version I had made...

...but I think I like this one even better!

I am even tempted to make a new one like it for our house!
This is the one we currently have...

...but you may see something different up there in the near future!

She hasn't seen it yet, but I'm pretty sure she will like how it turned out!

I am going to add it to my Etsy Shop, so let me know if you're interested!

I'm spreading the word about a super cute kids clothing line called

BABY ALA MODE

Two friends of mine had the talent and know-how to start a business that they were passionate about and Baby Ala Mode is the result of that!

Everything is handmade and some pieces are one-of-a-kind for a truly unique look! They create fun, trendy, comfortable clothes for trendsetting babies and kids!

Here is just a sampling:

Ahoy Matey
Striped Sailor Shirt

Fauna
Two-piece Owl Set

Green Apple Skirt
*comes with cotton bloomers

Ahoy Matey
Navy Stripe Skirt

Rockabye Babe
Argyle Rebel T-shirt

Mod Squad
Short-sleeved Star Hoodie
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Be sure to check out their website at

www.shopbabyalamode.com

to see their full line of kids clothes and accessories!

Cute!Cute!

Remember the Polka-Dot room that I painted for my little friends, Emma and Sophie, a while back?

I just finished personalized signs for each of them to hang above their beds in their room...

I think they'll look pretty cute in there!

I have added them to my Etsy Shop, so if you are interested you can find them there!