Day Three: FREE!

"Three's a Charm"..."Three's Company"... Yes, this is Day Three of the giveaways! Today I am offering a funky little item you can give as a stocking stuffer, or make yourself!

There's no way to avoid being creative (or smelling nice) this holiday season, with your very own Do-It-Yourself Christmas Stinks! combination stocking stuffer, air freshener, and Christmas tree ornament kit! Decorate your little tree using the enclosed trimmings and/or whatever else suits your fancy--customize the tree to your personality and décor! Display it in the office as a conversation piece while it covers up lunchtime aromas. Hang it from the rearview mirror of the car for a more festive, sweet-smelling commute. Stand it up on the TV in your studio apartment when a huge, live fir won't cut it.

The kit includes one air freshener tree (this one is Vanillaroma scent) and a handful of miscellaneous "ornaments" (some vintage!), which vary per kit, but may include: pipe cleaners, sequins and/or sequin strands, ribbon, beads, plastic jewels, stickers, mylar confetti in a variety of shapes, pom poms, rick rack, and more! All you need is glue (school glue works just fine) and some holiday spirit! (Other scents and colors available in my Etsy shop.)

The first photo shows the actual kit you will receive; the second photo shows how a tree might look when decorated.




Here's how to enter: Leave a comment on this post about your favorite holiday scent(s), and if it brings back memories of holidays past.

Here are the rules:

~ All comments must be posted by 11:59pm PDT on Wednesday, December 7th, 2011.
~ One winner will be chosen at random and announced Friday, December 9th, 2011.
~ No purchase necessary.
~ Contest is open to U.S. residents only. Void where prohibited.

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!

Cyber TUESDAY?

Someday I'll bet there will be a Cyber Tuesday, when just Monday won't be enough. Let's start the trend with another giveaway! This one is for a pack of five of my 2012 holiday cards with five matching red envelopes.



Here's how to enter: Post a link on your Website, blog, or on Facebook, that links back to my blog or my Etsy shop. Be sure to post a comment to this giveaway post with a link to your posting.

Here are the rules:

~ All links and comments must be posted by 11:59pm PDT on Wednesday, December 7th, 2011.
~ One winner will be chosen at random and announced Friday, December 9th, 2011.
~ No purchase necessary.
~ Contest is open to U.S. residents only. Void where prohibited.

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!

Cyber Monday Deal: Free!

Having listed some new items in my Etsy shop, I'm in the mood to do some giveaways! Here's the first one: a pair of fabric-covered pinback buttons! These are 1.25-inches in diameter and have been hand-pressed by me using fabric from my Woodtype Alphabet collection. Before pressing, I laminated the fabric with vinyl. This gives it the look and feel of oilcloth, which means they're more durable and can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, if necessary.



To enter the drawing, leave a comment on this post like so: write one word that begins with the first letter of your first name to describe the holiday season. Here are the rules:

~ All comments must be posted by 11:59pm PDT on Wednesday, December 7th, 2011.
~ One winner will be chosen at random and announced Friday, December 9th, 2011.
~ No purchase necessary.
~ Contest is open to U.S. residents only. Void where prohibited.

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!

Good luck, and happy shopping today!

What a Day!

I received some wonderful news Thursday morning that, out of 146 entries, my design won 1st Place in the annual Spoonflower Tea Towel Calendar contest! Thank you all for your votes! There was some amazing designs this year, so if you're looking for some inexpensive, crafty, DIY gifts to give this holiday season, check out the Top Ten designs!

Spoonflower will be having a BOGO sale on all fat quarters from November 28th through December 2nd, so you'll be able to get two for the price of one. I will be ordering a few for myself!

Keep in mind: Spoonflower just sells the fabric; you get to use your crafty wizardry to make it into the towel! I will be selling some limited edition towels in my Etsy shop for the holidays, so if you'd rather leave the sewing to me, stay tuned!

2012...already?!

Today voting kicks off for the annual Spoonflower Tea Towel Calendar design contest. This is my favorite of the weekly contests, not just to design for and enter, but to see all the calendars other designers come up with. Below is the design I am entering this year. If you like it, I would love your vote!

All you need to do to vote is to click here, then click on the Vote in This Week's Contest link on the right, then find my design and click on it (a green border will appear around the image). After making your way through the remaining pages, click the Review My Votes button on the bottom of the last page. When you have reviewed your votes, you can click Submit...and that's it! You can vote for multiple designs, too! Designs that make the Top Ten are automatically offered for sale on the Spoonflower site!

I have been obsessed lately with Japanese washi tape, but much like vintage fabric and other crafty items I collect, I can't seem to actually use them. I just like to look at them, organize them, categorize them. Dream of things I would make, because if I use them, they'll be gone. This goes back a long way with me, like when I used to organize all the Halloween candy I received while trick-or-treating. Then I would save it and ration it. Months later, when my sister's was long eaten, I would still have a stash. I suppose this is related a bit to hoarding.

So since I've come to recognize this, I thought maybe I could curb those hoarding tendencies with washi tape by creating some faux strips and making them into patterns. These will soon be available on fabric in my Spoonflower shop. The designs run the full width of quilting weight cotton (42 inches), so they only repeat at the bottom.

I think I'll make some pillows with these and perhaps embellish them with theme-related baubles...if I can stand to part with any of those!

Work in Progress...Part Two

You may recall in a recent post, when I reminisced about "Liar's Club", that I was doing some glue testing for a new item for my shop. I received some fabric for the project over the weekend, so I'll be spending the week with scissors, fabric, and glue. Here's a preview...

Thrift Score!

I have been thrifting since I was a senior in high school (that's over 20 years...eek!) and it is definitely true that thrift stores have become so mainstream that it's difficult to find anything good anymore. Back in the day I would find Catherineholm bowls and cookware, Pyrex and Fire King in mint condition, old toys, fabulous costume jewelry...you name it. Now everything is either picked over, put into a "silent auction", or never even reaches the shelves.

Recently, on an outing to Goodwill to find a piece of clothing for my son's Halloween costume, I actually found some old '70s and '80s magazines. I was so excited I didn't even flip through them--I just filled up the cart. Most were Women's Day and Family Circle (I love to look at all the decorating, crafts, strange recipes, and old food and cleaning product photos), but also in the pile were a few German Brigitte magazines from 1984 and 1985. A cross between Women's Day and Elle, it featured lots of fashion spreads, ads for makeup, and lifestyle articles. I can't speak much more than 10 words in German, but the pictures were great.

I loved the two photos below--I thought they just screamed, "We're living in the '80s!"



But I was quite surprised when I saw this ad for men's underwear. I guess I just never imagined Disney would approve of Mickey Mouse's image being used in an underwear ad, especially with the ad copy I was able to translate using Google. There's also a cartoon cel of Donald Duck on the table. The '80s really were "anything goes" (and I loved them!).