Gift Guide, Part 3

This week, I went in search of stocking stuffers. As you know, I am supporting handmade this year, so I am not including anything mass market. It is so much more fun to poke into the corners of the internet and find unique items crafted with care. My top 5 picks are...

#1: Coffee Cup cozy from SesameSeedDesigns on Etsy:
#2: Travel Crayon Rollup from thewillowtree.etsy:#3: Wrist Cuff Wallet from MaryZoom.etsy
#4: Robot Gears mini notebook from parksideharmony.etsy:#5: Origami coin purse from AccuteAccentAccessories on Artfire.com:In my search, I found a post that offers many stocking stuffer ideas and tutorials, in case you are a (DIY) Do-It-Yourselfer. This post from Tip Junkie offers 16 different ideas with links to the tutorials. That gives me (and you!) SIXTEEN wonderful and creative sites to explore. I am on my way right now!

Another list from the Baltimore Sun blog called Baltimore By Hand is a wonderful resource for eye-catching gifts. Handmade Holidays: Stocking Stuffers.

I also found a site called Bonanzle.com that I am absolutely going to be exploring further. It is not completely dedicated to handmade, but does include handmade. It seems to be a place that gives eBay some competition, and that is a GOOD thing! I am on my way there next!

Season's Greetings

(click above to take the handmade pledge)

I feel like I am on a speeding night train which is going so fast to its destination that I scarcely have time to look at the scenery as it passes. And when I try to look out, all I see is darkness.

Thanksgiving gone already! The only thing between right now and Christmas is our birthdays and about 600 hours. I have hardly been able to appreciate the season. Busy busy busy, bustle bustle, bustle, cook cook cook...and whoooosh! It will all be over.

I have finished 5 of the 10 items that I am making as Christmas gifts. I hope you are faring well on all your preparations, and I hope you took the (at least 2/3) Handmade Pledge with me this year.

In addition, I hope you remember that it is not about commercialism, shopping till all hours, outdoing the next person, or even about receiving at all. It is about giving. It is about caring and family and friends and spreading happiness. For Christians, it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. The history of Christmas is varied, and our modern version of the holiday encompasses several origins meshed into the current mode of observation and celebration. Personally, I like Washington Irving's idea that: "Christmas should be a peaceful, warm-hearted holiday bringing groups together across lines of wealth or social status." (source)So, I am going to bundle up and visit our beautiful small town where I can eat warm chestnuts on the street and enjoy a carriage ride with my family. I am going to stroll slowly down the main street and admire the twinkling white lights. I am going to sip warm cider and coffee and mulled wine. I am going to try to slow the clock with my will, and to travel backward in my mind to a time when I believed in limitless possibility.

Travel there with me
and have a beautiful holiday.

Greetings from Pixieland

Mr. Nature's latest creation wishes to bid youHappy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas!

And from myself, I am sending you

Coffee Love.

Word Wednesday: Appreciative

Appropriately, it is a word synonymous with Thankful. As Roget's handy thesaurus will tell you, Appreciative goes hand-in-hand with thankful and grateful.

Appreciative
Merriam Webster defines it thus:
Main Entry: ap·pre·cia·tive
Pronunciation: \ə-ˈprē-shə-tiv, -ˈpri- also -ˈprē-shē-ˌā-\
Function: adjective
Date: circa 1698

: having or showing appreciation; an appreciative audience; was appreciative of his good luck
— ap·pre·cia·tive·ly adverb
— ap·pre·cia·tive·ness noun

Right now, I am appreciative that I have family, health, a place to live, and the ability to purchase the food for our Thanksgiving repast. I am thankful that, though I was downsized and have yet to find replacement income, I have the necessities of life. I am grateful to family for all the love, support, and help I have received throughout my life. I am appreciative that I am able to purchase modest yarn with which to make charitable gifts to others in need.I am appreciative that I have beautiful surroundings here at Deer Palace from which I can help Amilia gather centerpiece-worthy gifts from nature.I am thankful for the ability to share

with such a wide audience in the Blogosphere,
and for the meaningful connections I have made.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Gift Guide, Part 2

Monday, already???

I had planned to have this all ready to go early this a.m.
but Monday snuck (do you say sneaked?) up on me!

On with Slippers and hand warmers. We begin with a cute pair of handmade crochet mary jane slippers from brokenhallelujah on Etsy. How did I find them? From her Twitter tweet!(bhallelujah)

If you are interested in supporting those like me who are into upcycling, try these Winter Berries re-slippers made with upcycled yarn from OffTheHooks. They used to be a sweater!And, the list wouldn't be complete without an item from one of my favorite slipper suppliers, Pawfelts.etsy. This pair is for the man in your life:Now that your feet are warm, what about those forepaws? I am a fan of the fingerless hand and arm warmers because full gloves leave you mostly useless. However, I have found an interesting fix from BugEater on Artfire.com that combines functionality with warmth and partially exposed fingers. The partial exposure Mens Knitted Gloves:For some time now, I have held these Coco Bean Fingerless Gloves from LeArmoire.etsy in my favorites drawer. Now, I can recommend them to you for your favorites shopping list:If you are a do-it-yourselfer and you know a little one who needs comfy, warm mittens, you might want to try this mittens pattern from Mamachee.etsy:And, how could we leave out our furry friends? I could not resist sharing with you this enchanting little doggy neck warmer from Little Bits of Whimsy on Artfire.com:
Well, my work here is done for the week.
I wanted to share something from 1000Markets with you as well,
but this week just didn't find one I couldn't live without.

So, Etsy and Artfire take the prize.
Happy Handmade shopping!

Christmas is Coming...

Bare, wintry branches reach for the sky

And, as we wait for Christmas, we give thanks for so many things.
Home, health, family, the ability to help others, even in small ways.And the ability to knit handmade gifts.
(I hope I get them all finished in time!)

Happy Holidays!

Hoarders Unite Team 20% off Friday Finds sale

Don't forget to visit Etsy this weekend and purchase some Friday Finds! Team member shops are offering 20% off specified items this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Here are just a few of the items on sale:

GothFae has marked down this adorable tutu petal skirt:Le Boudoir Secret is offering this hand-painted dragonfly necklace:

Is there an Elvis lover on your holiday list? Head over to MyInnerPrincess and purchase this one of a kind photo frame:Or, choose this Circle of Life hammered silver and pink cherry quartz necklace for that special someone from Alterdesigns:

There are more items and more participating shops to explore!

Just search on Etsy for HoardersUnite and FridayFinds
and get shopping!

Thursday Thoughts

Wishing you all the possibility that

exists in droplets of dew

on a fallen leaf

Word Wednesday: Ramiform

Today I used my 1942 hardback Roget's Thesaurus of the English Language in Dictionary Form to select the word I would share. It is how I used to choose my words at work: I would randomly open the dictionary to a page, and choose from among those offerings.

Today, I opened to page 398 which went from Queen to Rank. I chose Ramiform because I had never heard it, and also because Merriam Webster online does not even contain this word. All of my Word Wednesday links thus far have been to Merriam Webster. It is my online dictionary of choice. But, alas, it knows not this word.

So, I give it to you from Dictionary.com:

ram⋅i⋅form
  /ˈræməˌfɔrm/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ram-uh-fawrm] Show IPA
Use Ramiform in a Sentence
See web results for Ramiform
See images of Ramiform
–adjective
1. having the form of a branch; branchlike.
2. branched.
Origin:
1815–25; <>rāmus, branch; see ramus + -form.]

Synonyms from Roget's: branched, ramose, dendriform, tree-shaped.

Use it in a sentence, you ask?

1. Her ramiform drawing evoked wistful thoughts of bare winter.

2. The meandering creek took a ramiform course through the countryside.

Use it three times and it's yours, they say.
I have my work cut out to make this a fluid
member of my vocabulary.

page 400 has rankle;I will have to remember to use that one someday...

What is your favorite Christmas song?

(photo from Plow and Hearth)

Amilia decided last year that "Silent Night" was her favorite song. So much so that it became the bedtime song for much of the year. She is so excited that we are back to the season in which she will hear it on the radio and from the town carolers. So, I was wondering, what are other favorite songs of the season?

When I was a child, I was in a Christmas program at my parochial school a few years in a row. It was held in the chapel, which was a traditional dark wood and stained glass chapel. My absolute favorite soul-swelling, spirit-lifting moments were always at the end as we sang "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" while we solemnly filed out of the chapel and spilled through the doors into the bitter cold of a starry winter night. Those moments, I felt like my little heart would burst with joy.

With family, our favorites were "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and "Silver Bells" and my mother would sing them to me over and over throughout the holiday season. We would have one of those little golden brass and candle doodads that would spin and ring little bell chimes by virtue of the candle heat. Do you know that crazy apparatus of which I speak?

They are called Angel Chimes, and apparently, have been manufactured in Sweden. I believe they originated in Germany, but have also been a traditional part of the holidays in Scandinavia. Having visited Sweden, I am happy to now have a the name and origin for my love of these chimes. I can add my memories of Lilla Torg Square in the fall to the memories of angel chimes during the Christmases of my childhood. Though some years they are difficult to find, I found them this year at Plow and Hearth.

Seasonal Favorites?
Do Share!