So many fabulous ornaments are out there, aren't they? Last time, I posted about DIY inspiration for ornaments this year and today's post is about store bought. Of course, store bought doesn't just mean mass produced...I included some Etsy stores featuring handmade items as well. Take a look and I hope these photos inspire you for your holiday season.

Thats Vintage Baby on Etsy

Farm Sack Threads on Etsy

the Heads Creation on Etsy

iHartFelt on Etsy

AM Radio on Etsy

West Elm

Crate and Barrel

If you haven't had a chance yet, sign up here to participate in the first annual ornament exchange. There are only a couple of more days to do so and I don't want you to miss out! For those of you who have already signed up, thank you!

field roast!

my ryan, eating his t-giving meal

post meal walk

mmmm...cinnamon rolls

waiting desperately for treats while we drank hot cider and coffee

how i know he's home...camera and law books

on our walk

apple pie

It was so good to have Ryan home for the long weekend. I am looking forward to seeing him for Christmas break too. Tater played so much that after Ryan left, she slept all day. Had to make up for the naps she missed, I guess.

Now that Thanksgiving is past, don't forget to sign up for my ornament exchange! I will be assigning partners this coming weekend and I don't want anyone to lose out. Click here to read more about it and sign up. Thanks!

I wanted to share with all of you some ornament inspiration that I have come across while dreaming up this ornament exchange. Thank you, Pinterest, for making this so easy.

So far I have made the himmeli ornaments shown in the second pin. It was harder than I originally thought but the more of them that I made, the easier it got. I also experimented with different lengths and widths as well.

I cannot wait to make the rest of these for my tree, or perhaps use one of the DIYs for my exchange. If you have not signed up for the ornament exchange yet, please do so here! We are happy to have ya!

Today is the day, my friends. The day to use the code below, that is. Click on over to our shop at TurtandElephant and use the code below to check out and save 20% off of your order.

Since living on my own the past few years, I have been slowly amassing home decor items. One of the items I sorely lacked was during Christmas--ornaments. This was even more apparent to me last year when I only had enough ornaments to decorate the front half of the Christmas tree. I thought maybe there would be others like me out there who have been slowly growing their ornament collection. Hence, the First Annual Ornament Exchange. 

Getting what you want:: The questionnaire includes a section for you to fill out to help your partner pick out or make an ornament that is sure to be something you'll like. So answer the questions thoroughly!

The sign-up:: If you wish to participate in this ornament exchange please fill out the questionnaire below. Please copy and paste the questions into a comment at the end this post or email them to me at jean (dot) emily (at) gmail (dot) com. Submitting the questionnaire is your commitment to follow the guidelines as they have been explained above.

::QUESTIONNAIRE::

Name: 

Email Address: 

Country in which you live: (as well as if you are willing to have an international partner or not)

Your interests in ornament type: (share some of your preferences to help your partner choose or make an ornament for you - i.e. colors, styles, specific item(s) you would like inside of the ornament, texture, a link or two to other ornaments you are interested in, etc.)

5 words to describe you or your style: 

Link to your blog/shop if you have one:

Anything else you'd like to ask/share:



Help spread the word about the First Annual Ornament Exchange by posting a button to your blog, sharing on Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest and any other social media site you use. 



Best wishes and I cannot wait to see what we send each other!

made the autumnal hash

steaming veggies

apple pie filling

sprinkling on the sugar

making the pastry

pie, pre-baked

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I am so pleased that Ryan is home and can spend time with Tater and I. We cooked together and had an amazing meal. I had to lay down afterwards because I was so full. Other than that, it's been a lazy day with playing with the dog and watching movies. I'm so thankful to have a few days off my day job.

On Saturday, you can:

in my shop. Don't forget!

I was so excited to get Tater Tot's doggy gift exchange present this week. The personal touches with her name embroidered on the handkerchief and the plush bone toys are great and she loves the treats too. Oh, and the rope toy is the best because she loves tugging it and it is stretchy.

Thanks for hosting the exchange, Diana!

As promised, here is my special shop announcement. For one day and one day only, the code "smallbusinesssat" can be used at my Etsy shop to save 20% off from your purchase price. Write it down now, folks, and use it this Saturday, November 24, 2012 as a small token of my appreciation for your support of a small business. Thank you!

hand-stamped jersey infinity scarf

a work in progress, but will be listed soon

star banner

heart banner

upcycled sky blue cowl

hand-stamped and naturally dyed tea towel, 28" x 28"

I worked at my packaging style a bit over the last few weeks. I am very pleased with how this turned out. I love the winter embellishments on the top of the kraft paper.

As I was packaging another order for shipment tonight, I realized that I am definitely still in love with my cards from Moo.

I cannot wait to show you a few more projects I am working on and I also have an exciting discount code to share earlier next week. I think every day is small business day; however, I do like that there is a special day for small businesses coming up next weekend and I wanted to treat you guys to a little something.

After seeing many DIYs on natural dyeing on Pinterest and various blogs I follow, I came across Chelsey's post about natural dyes. For some reason, I decided at that point that I would try it. I don't know if it was because I already had all of the ingredients mentioned in the blog or it was the gorgeous lamp shade that she made. Either way, I decided to go for it. Although I'm not a big fan of ombre, I knew I could have fun with dyeing my fabric a solid color. The link to the instructions are here at Chelsey's blog the Paper Mama. Here is some photographic evidence of my adventures:

turmeric soup

the turmeric onesie

boiling the tea towel, pre-dye

tea towel, post-dye

I've been very impressed with the vibrant color that comes out of this dyeing process. Way to go, Mother Nature!

One of these days I will post "real" photos again, but I cannot promise when. I have been loving Instagram a whole lot lately.

I wanted to share my toe nails with you guys today. The half of the nails that appear to be unpainted are actually painted with glow-in-the-dark polish. Once, and if, I capture that effect I will share them with you all.

My coworker invited Tater and me over for Halloween night. We enjoyed a chili dinner and passing candy out to kids of all ages.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween.