Secret Santas, White Elephants, oh me, oh my!

As I mentioned a few different times on this blog, I organized a Secret Santa exchange on the Etsy forums that turned out to what I think was a success. We had about 40 participants from several countries. Most the U.S. and Canada, with a smithering of U.K., Denmark, Australia, China, and a few more :D BareMoose was kind enough to feature my shop and show what she got from the Secret Santa exchange here on her blog.

Because of a couple late comers, a few of us had 2 secret santas, so here are the 2 gifts that I received from them:


From hemingwayfun >>This cute vase (has butterflies on it) and the cute "prescription".






Next from jenmaestre >>This adorable artist palette pencil pin.




As a thank you for organizing the event, aLittleUnraveled sent me a chocolate chip cookie dough soap with handmade washcloths and the softest scarf I now own!






As for my last secret santa, this one is a big mystery to me...this beautiful beaded bracelet was mailed to me and the seller informed me that the buyer would like to remain anonymous....hmmm....I'll have to think about who would have my address :P Very sweet and very pretty! It feels great on my wrist! You can find this design and so many other unique beaded designs at the shop of SandFibers.



And of course, as promised, here are some photos of items I made for a white elephant gift exchange with some friends. I figured, why not have a trio of white elephants? I hand carved the soap and handmade the clay ornament (yes, they don't look that great, but they're white elephant right? I wasn't gonna try that hard :P) and my ultimate favorite was the plush white elephant. My mom actually made him. We used an old shirt of mine and she made up the pattern, she's great at sewing! I wanted to keep this little guy to myself! Anyway, it was fun.

























I decided to try to figure out why White Elephant exchanges were so named and I found this information, very interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant

For those that don't know what a white elephant gift is, you can find out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange

And lastly, I wanted to remind you all of my Crafting4Causes shop. This month I'm donating all proceeds to Toys for Tots.

Festive Fun :D

So here's a fun little bunch of holiday fun I've been up to lately. I made a bunch of hair clips/magnets/pins but then I wondered what to do with all the misc leaves and wire. I decided to make this cute little wreath. It's too small for me, but it works just great on Mr. Teddy :D Now I just need to think of a useful application for the other half dozen sets of stems/wire. If you have any ideas, let me know :D





















And then I got my bake on. Chocolate dipped pretzels are super easy and tasty. Then I experimented with these Rudolph cake pops.
















I had more cake balls than I did sucker sticks so I rolled some in extra green candy melts and called them grinch hairballs :D Just as yummy :D









And last but not least, this wonderful gingerbread house that I made with some friends :D It was a blast! Stay tuned for great White Elephant Gifts-I'd post them now but the recipients might see ahead of time!!!

Friday Feature~*~JuneBug18!

Ok, I've been slacking on the Friday features, so much to do, so little time. Well, I suppose the truth is really-so much to do, but I'd rather work on fun projects and get distracted :P This week I'd like to feature JuneBug18. JuneBug18 is one of the contributors to my Crafting4Causes charity shop. His donations are currently found in the mystery grab bag section of my shop.

JuneBug18 loves working with duct tape to make new creations that are stunningly unique. His love for the craft started in high school and he has taken it to a new level. He says "My over all goal is to change the view that people have on duct tape. I want to show that it's more than an item to fix things with, I want to show that it can by stylish, fashionable, and useful in many ways. I put much thought and effort into my items, trying my best to make them catch people's eyes."

Here are a few of my favorite creations currently listen in his shop:

The Christmas Rush :D

I was depressed earlier in the month and last month that I wasn't experiencing a "Christmas Rush" but I've been getting a lot more last minute sales. A sale a day so far this week in my etsy store and enough independent sales through people I know outside to match. My most popular item currently (last 5 sales!) are my Swedish Fish Earrings (See them here) I keep having to buy more of the beads from my supplier! I'm glad to see that they're liked :D

Speaking of earrings, from now until the end of the month I am offering a deal that if you buy 1 pair of earrings, you get 1 surprise pair free. I have lots in stock at home that I haven't had the energy to list yet! Please remind me in notes to seller of the free pair ;)

And lastly, another cute item from the woman who actually got me started on Etsy :D I am good friends with her kids and family (I sometimes call myself an honorary family member :P ) I was randomly browsing through her shop and spotted this ADORABLE stocking, too cute! It can be found here. (A picture of it is posted above as well)

Crafting4Causes Donation for Nov and New Cause for Dec

We got just short of $11.00 (and I rounded it up to $11.00) from the Crafting4Causes shop during the month of November. The donation has been made to the SNAP Energy assistance program. Click on the picture below of the screenshot for proof of donation :D

And I've decided to have December's proceeds go to Toys for Tots. I won't donate it until the end of the month so it will be late for this year, but a great start to next year! So far we have $1.84 going to Toys for Tots :D

Hello Crafting World :D

Wow have I been a busy bee between Thanksgiving and now! Last week I held my first jewelry show at my house. I only had 5 people show up, but each of them kindly bought something and overall it was a good first experience. My sister in law kindly posted as her facebook status that she was impressed by my selection (she's not a huge jewelry gal, so all of her compliments are great to hear :) One of her friends from that status has now contacted me and I'm working on a custom piece for her. Here are some pictures of the set up at my house :D Oh, and by the way-one of the refreshments I made-chocolate covered pomagranite seeds-AMAZING!