Tag Archives: gifts

I hope you had a great Christmas.

Things were a bit bumpy around here for me. The first post-separation batch of holidays. It was a trial navigating them. But I have survived, as I always will.

I was a little down realizing, since my kids are so young and I’m manless, I wasn’t sure I’d have a gift to open. Which isn’t about the gifts I was just more sad about what I had lost and realizing I’d have to fill my own stocking. Lame pathetic thoughts like that.

But my best friend came to my rescue, as good best friends do. She took my boys out and had them choose something for me. When she brought them back that night she said “Your boys know you well” and I was so proud. The kids were all secretive and “Don’t come in here Mom!” while they wrapped things. Putting them under the tree with a “It’s nothing special going on in here” and such. It was cute.

So on Christmas morning I opened these great gifts.

Wesley chose the tea mug. Which is an amazing pic for me. I drink tea constantly, love it out of big mugs and the quote nails it too.

Nate chose the polar bear. I was a bit puzzled when I opened it and when I looked at him he was soooo incredibly excited and blurted out “Because you like bears Mom!!!! Right!!!!” He was bouncing up and down and everything. It was the sweetest thing ever.

Bear has been the centrepiece at every meal since. I think it might be a bookend because I know they were shopping in the bookstore, but I’m not 100% sure. It’s definitely a super sweet gift and a story I’ll remember.

Spring-ish cleaning not made by me giveaway!

Again, in the spirit of cleaning up my crafty space I’d like to share some fun supplies with one lucky winner.

I’ve collected things from swaps and people giving me stuff and craft shows and well, all over the place really and now I need to share the love!

Leave a comment below with a way to contact you and I’ll pick a lucky winner on Tuesday April 30th. For a bonus entry tweet or share on Facebook or somewhere and leave a comment letting me know you did. Good luck!

One of a Kind Craft show

Well I had fun, I bought some stuff, I bumped into some great people selling some awesome stuff . . . so basically it was a good day.

I bought a great screen printed wall hanging from Coucousalut, she has a lovely little blog, link to a shop and an Etsy shop of course. She drove all the way from Montreal to spend days and days sitting at her booth.

I grabbed some Pomegranate and Goji tea from Tealish, which is in downtown Toronto should you be in the area. The teas smelled amazing, AMAZING! I wanted to just crawl into the tins for some of them. I resisted and bought one, for now.

I also got some fun Misfit stickers from these lovely ladies. The stickers and felt dolls are ridiculously cute. They all have fun names and real life like quirks that might bother us but these little fellows embrace them.

I didn’t buy anything from Manitoba based Firewood but I thought the products were really great. Since they were screen printing I got talking to the guy manning the booth and found out they use remnants and found fabrics quite often.

I really wanted one of the book covers but I was having a case of the ‘I can make thats’ and just could do it. They even had little pouches made with fun Japanese cotton/linen prints, that they had screen printed on top of!! It took me a few minutes to mourn the hiding of cute prints.

They also have this great thing they’ll do – turn important clothing into bags.

The man at the booth told me they had made a bag for a girl because her dad played hockey and his dad played hockey and his dad played hockey and this one jacket was passed down and down. Then along she came, a girl who didn’t play hockey. So they turned this family heirloom jacket into a really awesome bag for her. Pretty cool!

Stickygram awesomeness.

Now as if the whole Instagram app wasn’t cool enough. Now along comes Stickygram and you can turn all your fun photos into magnets. If my children are Grandsons to you please go away or you’ll ruin the surprise.

I ordered 2 sets, one for Nana and one for Grandma & Grandpa. I didn’t order one for me, I was really torn about it but I figured they’re my kids, I see them everyday. I regret that choice now. These things are awesome!

Maybe I can do something with the little picture that’s on the ‘hey here are your Stickygrams’ note. Like stick them on the back of some ugly fridge magnet or something.

Need some stocking stuffers?

I recently made a purchase, a one for me one for you sort of deal. One Up Designs has some really fun pencils, notebooks and decals. Not only do I get some fun pencils for shopping there but I was also given a referral code that can get you 30% off your purchase. It’s a pretty super deal since the products are already really reasonably priced.

These little notebooks are super cute. I kinda regret not getting some, you know for my new pencils.

This fun owl decal is pretty awesome too.

My gift giving challenge.

You know I don’t really need yet another creative thing to do but they’re always so fun and cute. Keyka Lou posted this great ribbon the other day which of course sent me off clicking to Etsy to see what it’s all about.

While I was admiring all the pretty chevron ribbons I had a lightbulb moment. I’m going to wrap all my gifts pretty simply, kraft paper or bags or boxes and then go all out making them look great with twine, ribbon, doilies and other such embellishments. That way the items are reusable, repurposable or biodegradable.

Allow me to share some of my fav items and shops that will help me, and you if you want to play, with this challenge. Click images to be whisked away to shops!

I’ve ordered a set of these already to make my own envelopes out of various papers.

You can order a printable PDF file for these vintage linen inspired cards.

Hoboville has the cutest rubber stamps I have ever seen! A great option for making your own printed wrapping paper.

Thriftypyg has some great ephemiria items that would jazz up some plain kraft paper nicely. Check out these cute stamps.

I’ve got some of these stashed away downstairs, no clue what I’m going to use them for but they are ridiculously sweet.

Baker’s twine is pretty easy to find on Etsy but these little mushroom spools are extra super cute.

Pretty Tape has a great selection of . . . pretty washi tape and loads of other great packaging accessories.

Some of my favourite shops for packaging supplies are Paper & Parcel , California Craft and of course I couldn’t have made it this far without Knot & Bow.

Recent packages in my mailbox and more fabric swapping

My treasury worked! My hubby got me this, from here.

And these! Only they say ‘Tara’ and not ‘Stephanie blahblah’.

I also took advantage of a Heartsy deal and ordered some packaging supplies from this shop.

If you missed my fabric swap, or want to see scraps before you get them, my friend Tabatha is looking to part with some lovely pieces in return for some new to her fabric. I was with her when she bought most of these recently and it’s great stuff. Head over if you’re interested in taking a peek.