Holiday Bliss Be Yours!

(image board: thejoyof)

  

When it's time to pretty up your packages for the holidays, I love to try unexpected color combinations and venture off from the traditional green and red. These funky and cheeful cards, tags and wrapping paper from UK based designer Caroline Gardner make sassying up the holidays a cinch.

Too bad they come from England and Christmas is just around the corner or I would be tempted to order a variety of these fabulous papers and have a gift wrapping party! (That is, if I had a nice lump of wrapping paper money sitting around. Hmmm. Perhaps this should be a new category in the ol' budget?)

Whimsical gift tags make the most adorable final touch.

Oh Kiddie Tree, Oh Kiddie Tree

I love the silver and frosty blue tree at my house, but there's just something endearing and sentimental about putting up the kiddie tree. Maybe your kiddie tree is THE tree at your house or maybe it's like the one I decorated with my mom yesterday - just a little fella in the corner of the breakfast nook packed with all the chipped, handmade and silly ornaments from many a childhood Christmas gone by. Poking through the boxes of ornaments from the last 30 years and thinking of dear grandma Clara who knitted those cute little stockings for her great grand babies (me!), or uncle Steve who picked up those goofy clothespin reindeer at some craft fair in 1987 and wrote my name and my sister's names on each one brings a wave of cheesy Christmas nostaglia that I rather like and look forward to experiencing year after year ...

Smell This

I am in need of a new fragrance (I've been going frangrance-less for months now) and would like to request all three of these glorious sounding (and I'm sure smelling) fragrances from C. Keith Vintage for Christmas. Or really just one would do nicely. But which one? The Coriander Citrus sounds divine but then again the Heirloom Garden has hints of orange and verbena which must be sublime. And if the description of the scents aren't tantilizing enough, surely the fact that each product is made by hand, in small batches with charming packaging and natural ingredients will do the trick. The fabulous and ecclectic boutique I worked at a few years ago carried this line and all of their products are just heavenly and would make superb Christmas gifts.

And A Good Time Was Had By All

Monday night was A Winter's Night Boutiuqe, the first of hopefully many home based hand made boutiques that I hosted. The music was festive, the candles were glowing, the hot cocoa simmering and the guests were scooping up goodies of all sorts -  it was just as we had hoped!

Snowy white mums and red berries hung amidst globes with candles against a mirrored wall.

Megan of Desuet provided delectable peanut butter balls, heavenly fudge and frosty almond cookies that we all agreed looked like vintage Christmas ornaments. So tasty. Having a gourmet as a friend is just dandy.

Kara Rosenberry had a cheerful assortment of her adorable cards, including whimsical holiday packs. Her hand made garlands with little sketches of ice skates were charming and sweet.

I chained myself to my crafting room for 24 hours and emerged with a fresh crop of headbands just for the holidays.

The talented Behnaz of Behjat brought in her whimsical hand embroidered canvases and oh so cute onesies with funny elephants, hot dogs and french fries sewn on the front.

Megan's bracelets made from vintage necklaces looked so festive on a retro cocktail tray.

Betsy of Betsy Jamison Photography provided her fabulous hand made felt pillows. She's just one of those brilliant artists who can sketch, sew and shoot beautiful images likes it's nothing. Anything Betsy decides to make is always a creative wonder.

Thank you to all the dear girls who came by and patronized our little endeavor. A good time was indeed had by all.

No Craft Tuesday

I should have been crafting like a crazy crafting person all day, but no. I was tired. Had a cough. Snow is headed this way so I ran to the post office and picked me up some grapefruit so I could stay in tomorrow and not brave the cold just for fresh fruit. And instead of making headbands to beat the band, I sat curled up on the sofa with hot chocolate and fresh whipped cream and watched ... figure skating. Weird, huh. The hubby is away and cannot protest so why not channel the inner 15 year old who was long ago obsessed with figure skating dream couple Gordeeva and Grinkov . And so I had a quiet night to watch whatever silly thing I wanted and ignore the mounds of work that needs to be done come this weekends holiday boutiques...

Headband Giveaway!

That's right friends, this Friday, December 4th, I will (with humility and gratitude!) be a featured artist on the blog of the fun and fabulous Gussy! She will be hosting a giveaway and one lucky fashionista will score a headband from my Etsy shop! Take a peek at her blog and come again on Friday, December 4th to get your name in for a headband and while you're at it, browse through her Etsy shop which features adorable vintage inspired wallets and clutches. They would make divine Christmas presents.

Creative Souls Unite!

Whether you're into handmade because you're a crafty sort or you just appreciate the things that others produce, please join us for an evening of lovliness! Leave a comment if you'd like particulars on when and where you can find our holiday boutique!

The Hounds of Winter

So there's a winter storm a brewin' in my neck of the woods. This afternoon as I made my way home from being out and about, you could see the snow filled clouds rolling in over the mountains. Leaves were swirling around in little circles and the sky was getting darker and heavier. Weather like this makes me want to whip up some warm savory dinner while listening to Sting's latest (and wonderfully cozy) album "If On A Winter's Night." "You Only Cross My Mind in Winter" and his version of "Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming" are just perfect on a chilly night like this one .

This week, find my creative friends and moi at Grandmother's House Boutique. It's a holiday show and our little corner will be filled with all sorts of lovely winter treats. Delightful and festive notecards by Kara Rosenberry Company make fabulous stocking-stuffers, homemade delicious peanut and pecan brittle (a secret family recipe!) made by Megan of Desuet and of course a fresh selection of headbands by yours truly make up only some of the offerings you'll find.Click on the Grandmother's House Boutique link for show details. Hope to see you there!

Hooray!

Good news for my little biz! One of my headbands was featured on the home page of Etsy.com! I wasn't able to see the image board on Etsy when it was up, but God bless my friend Kara who found the image board on another blog thus allowing me to post it for your viewing pleasure!

Success on Etsy isn't a breeze, so I'm grateful for any opportunities like these. Thanks to the fabulous Sabine of http://lamarquisedesanges.blogspot.com/ for putting my headband in her treasury and getting the ball rolling!

Trinkets Make Me Happy

Oh the joys of rummaging through my little treasure chest of trinkets. I'm making oodles of headbands for the various holiday boutiques that my crafting friends and I are participating in and when the inspiration runs low, I always get a little thrill by poking around in my box of adornments. I ponder. I sort. I colorize. I imagine the potential of beads and feathers and velvet petals. I think about the time spent digging through dusty boxes and trays in the basements of junk shops and estate sales. I think about my sister Kelly, a loyal fellow trinket shopper and how we ooo and ahh over faded gold clip-ons and bags of coral colored beads in the shape of shells. I become so fond of certain pieces that I'm sort of sad to use them, knowing they'll more than likely be sold, which is in fact, the very reason I buy them. I become a nostalgic cheese over costume jewelry. What can I say? Trinkets make me happy.

A Worthy Cause

Last night I met Shelly, a woman with a passion to aid in the fight against sex trafficking of children in the United States and internationally. Shelly works full-time as a volunteer for a non profit organization called Love146, whose aim is to prevent human trafficking and provide after care for those who have suffered through it. This year, the Love146 denver task force is creating darling handmade Christmas ornaments to be sold at local craft fairs and on Etsy. All of the proceeds go directly back to the help fund the work of Love146. Click here to view the adorable little heart and bird ornaments that are for sale. Also, in the coming weeks I will be meeting up with other women wanting to lend a helping hand in the making of these ornaments. Shelly has gobs of orders for ornaments coming in and needs help from anyone who would like to get crafty for a few hours. Please let me know if you would like to join us!

The Two Second Fix

Headbands make the world go 'round.

Not really but they can take you from drab to fab in two seconds.

Feeling frumpy on your way to the market? Headband! Need a pretty boost en route to your coffee date? Hair clip! It's funny how a simple black top with jeans and flats can instantly look put together with the right hair accessory. No chocolate in the house when you need a fix? Missed your morning coffee? Bad hair day? Slap on a headband sister! You'll be glad you did.

Dahlia Divine

Hello! This is my first post, so what better way to begin but with a little post about what Fern & Flora is all about: flowers. (Fern & Flora is also about other lovely things, so keep coming back to read about them!) One of my favorite flowers at the moment is the ever divine dahlia. I employed them in this arrangment I did for a September wedding. They provide bursts of color and texture which make them an ideal focal flower.