The other night, I drove down the street and purchased this cute tree. The tablescape still needs work but overall I am happy with how this area looks. I actually have enough ornaments to lightly cover the whole tree now. (If you remember a couple years ago, I only had enough to cover the front of the tree. ) so far, Tater has left the tree alone which has been par for the course each year I've had her. 

Hi Folks!

It's the last day to enter the ornament exchange! You have until midnight EST to enter (if you're within a couple hours of it, I'm okay with that too). To read more about it, click here. The info you need to email me or comment below is pasted in for your convenience.

::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:

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!

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!

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!

That's right. It's June. Not even July yet. Time to break out future Christmas decor. Now, the reason I started writing this post is because my lovely Uncle Jeff loves to create crafts and is quite good at them. Also, I received and sent some pretty spectacular gifts since we have arrived home from the Bay Area. The first of which is this purse from Nicole at Pussycat Vintage. Remember when I won a store credit at her shop? Well, this is the purse I picked out! It is a great vintage piece; I especially love the color and the rivets.

It's pretty great, isn't it? I am very happy with it. If you would like to see more items, take a look at Pussycat Vintage's shop before it is closed for a little while under renovations. (Also, if you haven't checked out my guest post over on her blog, take a look here.)

I shipped out another package this week. Someone bought one of my mini chalkboards. I have been playing around with packaging and will probably continue to do so for a while. I try to reuse packaging as much as I can but also play with new bits as well. I had this custom stamp made for my shop and I have loved using it so far!
Now on to my uncle's ornaments. I am always impressed by the ideas with which he comes up. He had asked me which colors and animal I liked and came up with the ornaments below. They are fabulous!
 He also had another ornament made, just for our dog Tater Tot. The ornament is so sweet and I cannot wait to hang it on our tree next year.
Have any of you received or sent delightful goodies lately?

I have been working on some home decor items in celebration of Valentine's Day. As much as a part of me views it as a Hallmark Holiday (i.e. one that card companies make up to sell more product), the other part of me really enjoys taking the time to create some items of my own. The above photo includes a square chalkboard frame, a set of four Valentine hearts ornaments and part of a paper heart garland.






What are you making for the holiday?

I made another pair of booties this week. I found this fabric when I purchased the fabric for the tree skirt and I just had to get some! I have a feeling that I will be making a few more pairs because it is just too cute. These little monsters will hopefully ward off those that typically live in closets. Safe, cute and warm. I have a couple other newer postings as well, including the Bianca scarf (a white version of the Brooklyn) and an upcycled polish star ornament.



Tater Tot has been a cuddlebug as of late. I think most of it has to do with the change in weather, but it could also be that she is at a point where she feels more comfortable with us. She has been snoozing in sleeping bags, on top of our coats, underneath the covers and anywhere she can get. I had extra fabric from the tree skirt and decided to make her a dog blanket. Now she is cuddled-up on the couch, wrapped in a sleeping bag and dog blanket. I need to take photos yet and when I do, I will post them.

Goodnight!