Handmade Valentine's Gifts, Yes Please

Since becoming a seller on Etsy, I've made a conscious effort to support other sellers by giving handmade gifts for all occasions throughout the year. The upside is that the item is still meaningful to the gift recipient, but I didn't necessarily have to make it myself (and to be honest, most of my friends are probably thinking NO MORE BAGS when a celebration for them comes up!). So, for today's post, I wanted to share a few things on my Etsy Favorites list for Valentine's Day. HOMEWORK: If you know my boyfriend, feel free to tell him that anything on this list will be a WONDERFUL gift for Valentine's Day on Monday - I don't even care if its late!

Have a Heart Necklace by Lauren at JerseyGirlDesign

Interesting tid-bit is that Lauren and I were sorority sisters in college at Virginia Tech, we're both Jersey Girls and now we're both successful Etsy sellers! There are lots of great things in her shop and on her blog. Head over there and follow it - she has an item of the week each week with free shipping! AND, she featured yours truly as an Etsy Shop of the Week :) I'm glad I can return the love - and so fitting that Valentine's Day is coming up!

Smitten Dessert Pedestal by Linda at Burlapandblue

I'm completely obsessed with dessert pedestals right now, and I recently purchased 3 pedestals from Burlap and Blue for Mom for Christmas and her birthday - she of course LOVED them! I first met Linda at Chesterfest this past September (although she doesn't remember) and as an experienced and successful Etsy seller and blooger (seriously, follow her blog - you won't regret it, its awesome!) she has taken me under her wing and has been a great craft-mentor!

Fill in the Blank Printable Valentines by Lindsey at eythink

Lindsey is a new seller on Etsy but she is a wonderful graphic designer, as well as a friend! We worked together here in Richmond before she moved to DC to teach and basically just start a new adventure! I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! You can see Lindsey's site here.

Honeysuckle Tula Pearl and Rose Ribbon Necklace by Twillypop

(*Friends Take Note - anything from this shop would be a GREAT gift for me anytime in the future. Just sayin'!)

Shabby Chic Personalized Carved Heart by TheLonelyHeart

Absolutely LOVE this :)

Handmade Home: One Hour Table Runner

After living in our little townhouse for a year and a half now, I'm finally getting around to adding more touches of "me" around the house (aka: getting rid of all his bachelor pad items and selling them on Craigslist). When shopping with his mom recently, I bought a few new pillows at Kohls (I had a gift card from Christmas) in shades of green to update the living room a bit. The addition of the new pillows did the trick, but something was still missing - the coffee table in front of the couch looked naked and screamed to be covered up with something colorful with a lot of pattern (my signature look for all things fabric).

So, I did what I always do - I went to Fabric.com and searched for the perfect matching fabric, and I found it in the new Ty Pennington line that included white, chartreuse and grey that would make the perfect table runner.



This weekend I went to visit Mom and brought my new fabric with me - as we always have time to sew and I knew she would get me started in the right direction to getting it done and not just continuing to sit in a pile on my cutting table - which happens a lot more than I would like to admit!

When I told her what I planned to do - she looked at me curiously for a minute but then we got to cutting. We cut a single piece for the top and for the bottom 17x46, plus strips for the binding.


I found a perfectly sized batting in her closet, pinned it together and she had it quilted in no time (yes, she quilted, I cut and pinned and ironed :)


Then I ironed the binding and we decided to do something different with "quick finish" in mind - we would put the binding on backwards and top stitch the top using a decorative feather stitch (rather than hand sewing the binding to the back).




Now onto what you are really interested in - the finished product in the living room with the new pillows - TA DA! Oh, and did I mention it took only ONE HOUR from the first cut to finished and on the coffee table?! Let me know what you think!

Tuesday Treasury: Sunshine on A Cloudy Day

This morning I woke up to an overcast sky, complete with frigid temperatures and a "freezing mist" (its just as gross as it sounds, I promise!). I could have used a bit of sunshine to get my day started off better! Lately, I've been very inspired by they grey and yellow color combination, and I'm starting to see it everywhere (even in the latest West Elm catalog). So, for my first installation of "Tuesday Treasury" I wanted to share some of my favorite items on Etsy that have both colors - because everyone could use a little sunshine on a cloudy day!