Semi-Homemade Christmas Feature: Soapopotamus

I don't know about you, but I love me a quirky gift. Something that is practical, but has lots of personality to it. That's why I love my next feature.

I give you Soapopotamus!

Just the name itself is fun! When I found this shop it made me Ooooo and Ahhhhh! But it also made me giggle too, which is my kind of place!

You have the GORGEOUS!

The Practical!

And the...Quirky.

There is everything you could need in here! All of her soaps are made of natural item and Goats Milk, which is magical, as she says.

This one is probably my favorite thing, just because I love me a good cupcake.

What about this fun one? Smells like Black Pepper!

So much fun! So go check out Regina's shop! You will Ooo and Ahhh and giggle too!

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Don't forget that today is the last day to enter for a free pattern of you choice! Go Enter HERE!

Semi-Homemade Christmas Feature: Cinnamon Creek Country Candles

Yet another installment for you all!

Cinnamon Creek Country Candles

I love me some sweet treats... obvious from my wardrobe that is just not fitting. I also love me some great candles. But what if you made a candle look good enough to eat and smell great too? Can we say HEAVEN?! Well, that's what they strive for over at Cinnamon Creek Country Candles! I mean, look at these?!

These beauties are $6.95 for 13! WHAT?! And you may have to put a sign around them to let people know that they are candles, not food. Don't they look good enough to eat?!

Now if you are afraid of people trying to eat your candles, you can get more traditional looking ones, but they still smell amazing!

I just cannot get enough of these candles! And the names sound just about as delicious as can be too, like Peppermint Bark, Pumpkin Souffle, Sweet Potato Pie! WOW!!!! Wouldn't these be so fun as stocking stuffers?!

The cool thing about this company is is that it doesn't stop with just candles, they have another shop with body stuff!!! Head on over to La Dolce Vita Bath & Body Luxuries and find the same yummy things! Love it! You can find Cinnamon Creek Country Candles on Facebook and find out more about the sales and deals they have!

**Update: When placing your order, give the code "TAKE15" and you will get 15% off your order! WOW!

No Big Deal

So, all last week there were tons of Silhouette Machine giveaways. I entered as many as I could find, not that I ever thought I would win, but maybe the Giveaway Gods would smile down on me just this once. Well...... I WON!!!! Over at The Idea Room! The funny thing is that I had no clue I had won. I received a comment from one of Amy's readers congratulating me, and I received an email from Amy, but I thought it was Spam, so I deleted it! WHAT?!!!! So thanks to Kelly Tillotson over at Homemaking Haven I contacted Amy and I get my machine soon!!! WHOA!!!! I am so stinkin' excited I can hardly handle it! And I just have to say that I never ever, I mean never win ANYTHING, so this was a shock to me! Love it!!! Thank you Amy!!!! Thank you Silhouette for this great giveaway!!!!

Semi-Homemade Christmas Feature: Airport Love Story

Hello Ladies!!! Today's feature is AWESOME!!! It truly has a little bit of everything for everyone!

Airport Love Story

Anna, owner and creator, has the best style! I simply love her cards. Last year I made some cards for my sister-in-law for Christmas and she loved them. Do you have someone that is a habitual card sender? Why not give them GORGEOUS cards to send?

Like this gorgeous set! These are $6.00 for a set of 18! Um, holy cow! That's a deal!!!

And these and these! YUMMY!!!!

And her talents are not limited to just note cards! She also has adorable vintage inspired jewelry!

Here is a little bit about Anna and her inspirations and how she got started!

I've always been creative. Both of my parents are musical, and my crafty mom stayed home with us when we were little, and gave us lots of fun things to do and make. My sister Lindsay (ebonflow.etsy.com) taught me how to put a bead on a headpin and loop the top, and ever since then I've been making jewelry non-stop.

I find inspiration in all sorts of places. I'm especially inspired by nature, like birds, plants, ocean life, and the sky ... and by all things vintage, like ephemera, old jewelry, early 1900s fashion, maps, and toys.

In preparation for the holidays, I've opened a new shop, and reopened an old one. So, while you can still find pretty jewelry and romantic mini-notecards atairportlovestory.etsy.com, you can also find cute button studs, rings, magnets, and pushpins at schoolgirlcrush.etsy.com, and beads and other supplies atbeadsinflight.etsy.com. Yes, it's a little crazy to have three functioning shops, but it's so worth it. I hope to do my 'arts & crafts' full time one day, so three shops makes for a good challenge along the way. :)

Anna's shops are up and ready! But be sure to have your order in before December 10th, or you won't have them in time for the holidays!

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Don't forget to enter for the Giveaway here!

Semi-Homemade Christmas Feature: Foster Kade Designs

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did. My stretchy pants came in handy. And due to the holiday week/weekend, I have fallen WAY behind on my features! So be prepared for a few posts a day for the next few days. Now onto the feature!

I would like to introduce you to the sweetest shop ever.

Foster Kade Designs

My sister-in-law introduced this shop to me, with the Emery Lin bag. I then started to read more about Angie, creator of Foster Kade Designs, and was incredibly touched by her story and how she got started and what her motivation was to make her creations. Here is her story:

I started making little items to sell etsy about 2 years ago after my 2nd son was born. it was a fun little side hobby and gave me a creative outlet. i would jump up and down every time i sold an item (which was once every other month :). our hearts have always stirred toward adoption and after carrying and giving birth to 2 amazing little boys, we longed to expand our family. we started pursuing Chinese adoption in 2009, and i would sit in my little itty bitty craft room and dream of making something to give to my daughter. it seemed so far away and we were no where close to having enough funds to proceed any further in the process.

so i made a little bag to carry and think of her. i took photos and listed on etsy and called it my Emery Lin bag, in honor of my future daughter. a week later, that bag was featured on a blog (read it here: http://dooce.com/daily-style/2009/10/22/small-clutch-and-wristlet) and i sold 80 in one weekend!! i was totally blown away (and also pretty stressed out :) to have so many people purchase my sweet little bag, and to see God provide for us in such a cool way. after that surge, my little business kept going and i've been able to fund a significant part of our adoption in a way i would have never dreamed. i've made over 450 of my Emery Lin bags, and each one makes me stop for just a moment and marvel at the person who will soon be carrying it...and knowing they are playing a role in bringing our daughter home. it's so humbling and awesome at the same time!! someday i'll get to show her all of the orders...the love, the time, the amazing community of people all over the world who helped bring her home. i can't wait :)

oh, and a few weeks ago, my items were featured on Under the Sycamore...if you don't read her blog yet, you should start today...so inspiring!!!http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2010/09/17/let-me-tell-you-a-little-story/

read more about our family here: www.angiedweldon.com
keep up to date with our adoption here: http://www.angiedweldon.com/p/our-adoption.html

Isn't she just amazing?!

Here are a few more of her creations!

I just love the Emery Lin bag and knowing that it is aiding a sweet little girl to get a loving home makes it even more special. See, I have a very soft spot in my heart for adoption. My grandparents adopted a Native American boy when he was just a few weeks old. I have grown up loving my Uncle Shane and so grateful that my grandparents added him to their family as I cannot imagine my childhood without him.

(This is my Uncle Shane and my mom being silly at our Sunday dinners)

Angie is offering as her holiday special FREE SHIPPING on all bags purchased by December 1st! And if you are wanting to get one of her fabulous items as a gift for Christmas, you must order before December 5th!

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And don't forget to enter the Giveaway from Sugar Pie Chic Here

Welcome To a Semi-Homemade Christmas (And a Giveaway!)

***Giveaway Closed***

Hello ladies! One day as I was gathering up ideas for my mother-in-law to get me for Christmas (her request, not mine!) and I got lost in the Etsy world! It's incredibly easy to do. There are so many talented people out there and have found their creative outlets that allow them to strut their stuff and show how awesome they are while making a little extra on the side. I just love Etsy items and I have purchased mostly patterns for myself and I have loved them! Then I thought to myself, "Self, if you are doing the happy wiggle dance about all this stuff, would others as well?" YES!!!! Some of us don't have time to make all of our Christmas gifts or the knowledge to make some of these amazing things. However, that doesn't mean you can't give homemade things for Christmas, just not made by you! So I contacted some of my favorite shops to see if I could feature them and got a great response. So was born "Semi-Homemade Christmas Series!" I am happy to say that we are all in for a treat!

My first feature is from Sugar Pie Chic Leslie, the owner lives in Austin, TX and sells the most adorable, retro and sassy aprons!

I have been eying these for some time now and I have put theUrban Chic Apron Pattern on my wish list. And how fun to either give this pattern as a gift (which would be fun), then you could get the fabric for them and put the pattern in a basket and voila! Easy Gift!

This one is also one of my favorites! The Urban Chic Halter Apron is available for $33.00 and is ADORABLE!

Not only does she have aprons and patterns, she also has Embroidered Hand Towels that are just amazing! She also has this adorable Tutu Tote Bag as a tutorial! Can you just imagine making this for a little girl going to ballet class for her clothes?! Love it!

One of the things I asked all of my features to do is give me a little bit of a bio, as I love finding out about people and how they got started. I also wanted to use it for my own inspiration to get started on my own shop. So if you are in the same boat I am, wanting to start your own business but are a little afraid to, here is a little bit about how Leslie got started:

Hi, my name is Leslie Rutland and I make aprons. I am a native Texan and live in the sunny city of Austin, TX. My husband (of 33 years) and I have two grown daughters and two grandsons. As a young girl, I was always around talented women who loved sewing. My mother is an accomplished seamstress as were both of my grandmothers. I began sewing and designing when I realized that my Barbie needed something new to wear! With fabric scraps from my mother’s stash and some blunt-tip scissors, a lifelong passion began.

Sugar Pie Chic originally began as a collaboration between me and one of my daughters. We were inspired by some of the beautiful fabrics available from designers and wanted to do something creative with fabric. About that same time, I discovered Etsy which was a perfect way to display and even sell handmade items. At first, my daughter helped me choose fabrics and create purse and apron designs. She would put fabrics together with purse or apron designs and I would sew them. After a few months of this, I was more inspired by aprons, so I began focusing on making aprons that were individual and unique. I also had some vintage apron patterns that belonged to my mother. I was able to rework some of these patterns to make aprons that were both sassy and chic. I wanted each apron to evoke something from the past while remaining both simple and practical for today’s woman.

My purpose for apron-making came about after I began dwelling on the idea that women throughout history have always worn aprons of one kind or another. This universal connection with women inspired me to want to do something that would continue this chain. The more I thought about this, the more I wanted to create something for today’s woman. I wanted to give her an apron that would be unique and personal. I didn’t want to stop there, though; I also wanted to make a quality apron that would be something treasured by her children and grandchildren. Perhaps one of my aprons would be passed down with beautiful memories of the woman who wore it.

My 2011 plans include the addition of several more patterns that will be available as ePatterns in pdf format. In January, begin looking for children's items in this format. That is going to be my next focus. Oh, and I am working on the outline for a children's book.

Now one great thing that Leslie is offering is a GIVEAWAY!!!! One lucky reader will win ONE PATTERN of your choice!

How do you enter? Just leave a comment! One entry per person! I am making this Giveaway simple for everyone, just leave a comment and that's all you have to do! We will pick the winner next Tuesday, November 29th.

Makes Me Giggle Monday

As I stay home now, Monday's don't hold the same amount of dread as it used to. I used to be the one that would almost cry every time the alarm went off on Monday mornings. Not that I hated my job, just because I dreaded what I had waiting for me in my email and voicemail from over the weekend. I was the head of a department and every day I would deal with hundreds of emails and have no less than 10 voicemails waiting for me with problems. I was also handling about four peoples' jobs right before I left. No wonder I went into pre-term labor and was forced on bed rest for two months. I was so stressed out! But one thing that I loved was a friend at work would send me a Monday joke and I would get a little crabby if he didn't! So in honor of my dear friend Adam, I am starting my new little fun thing called "Makes Me Giggle Monday." Just a little pick me up for the day!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE the E-Trade Baby commercials! I cannot get enough of them! This one made me giggle the other day, I hadn't seen it before and my husband showed it to me. I made him play it about four times in a row. So I hope you enjoy!

Happy Monday!

And check back later today when I start my Semi-Homemade Christmas Series! There will be lots of fun things and loads of eye candy!

Let the Marathon Begin!

What will I be doing tonight and tomorrow? Besides getting all my wonderful features ready for my super cool, awesome, wonderful, blow your mind series I'm doing?

I will be watching all the Harry Potter movies, 1-6, so I will be cinematically prepared for seeing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" tomorrow evening!!!!! If I had time I would be making myself a cape and Hogwarts scarf, but alas I do not. That is not going to stop me from being so excited that it's like Christmas is coming tomorrow!

Still On The Hunt

Hey ladies! I am working so hard this week trying to get as many businesses as I can to be featured on a little series I'm going to start next week. If you, or someone you know, or even one that you found that had really cute homemade things, please let me know and I would love to feature it! Don't be shy! The more shops I have to feature, the more you guys get to see some sweet eye candy and maybe find that perfect item for a loved one!

I have some great people lined up and I am so excited about it!!!! So please let me know!!!

Either leave a comment or shoot me an email! Can't wait to start!

Newboy Hat Love

I feel as if I start all my posts off by apologizing for my lack of posting, but I figure you all understand that when one has little kids, finding a moment to go to the bathroom in peace is difficult, let alone posting several times a week. Don't get me wrong, I have been busy getting things done around here. I have some exciting posts coming up!

We are in full Christmas gift making mode here at my house... and when I say we, I mean me. I get to have a 6 week old baby come stay at my house in December during the day while her mom and dad are at work, so I want to have as many things done before then as my time will be limited as soon as she gets here. My list is made for all the gifts I am making. I am doing a completely homemade Christmas again this year! Oh how I love doing that.... until the week before Christmas when I am staying up into the wee hours of the night rushing to get things done. This year is going to be much different! I have to make a list of all the things I am making and stick to it, otherwise I get too excited about things I see and want to add new things to my list and then forget what I was going to do in the first place! However, this year I am keeping myself as organized as I can and making one gift per person.

As it gets cold here in the Northwest, my daughter needed a new hat. I have been wanting to make her a hat for some time now, I just didn't know what kind. I have been loving the newsboy hats lately and wanted to make some for myself (which I did, but that's another post). So I went through my scraps and made this little beauty for her. And now because it turned out so well, I am making some for my nieces!

I used some old cream fleece that I had and lined the inside with the same fabric as the flower.

I tried to do a tutorial, but I can't seem to get the right verbiage. So here are a few links that helped me figure out how to make this.

eHow.com

Cut Out and Keep

Now here is a slight confession: I have been toying with the idea of selling some of the things that I make. It seems like it's the new popular thing to do, which has held me back as I don't want to do what everyone else is doing. However, I do love seeing my creations on others and in other people's homes. It makes me so happy. So, I'm still in the planning stage of deciding to sell things, but I wanted to give you a heads up if I seem a little stressed.

As Christmas is coming close, I am going to do a little "Christmas Gift Idea" series made up of inexpensive Etsy gifts that would be great for all ages! So if you have a shop or know of some great shops and would like it to be featured on here, shoot me an email with the link to the shop at kelseeandzoe@gmail.com! Also, if you want to do a giveaway as well, I would be more than happy to post it on here too! I love helping out small businesses! My mother-in-law asked for a list of ideas for gifts for me and most of them were Etsy shops! So please let me know!

Triumphant Return

Hello ladies! I just have to say, wow! I have had a crazy few weeks! I had my 26th birthday last week, and it was EPIC! No car, but I got to sleep in, breakfast in bed, Season 1 of Glee on Blue-Ray, lunch with my mom, shopping by myself, a clean house when I got home, and my favorite dinner. It was so awesome! I am totally making my husband take my birthday off every year from now on!

Ok, so what have I been working on during my little break? Costumes. As money was tight this year (like always) I decided that I wanted to make both of the kids costumes for as cheap as I possibly could. I made both costumes for less that $15! Oh yeah! I ventured into new territory in the paper mache department (which will be another post.) I had so much fun making the costumes this year. I tried not to stay up into the wee hours of the morning making these, but alas, tradition prevails and I have officially become my mother.

Here is the costume that was all the rage. No matter where we went my daughter was fawned over! It was a big boost to my ego, I won't lie. Hee hee. And it also makes you feel better when you don't have to explain what the costume is, that people know right off the bat what it is. My son's costume not so much. I will post that later.

Now I will post a tutorial if you want me to. I took some pictures, but I was in a rush as I had only 4 days to make both costumes to have them ready for my father-in-law's company Halloween party that was on Friday. However I did label the picture so you can see what all I did. It was so fun, lots of hot glue, and little swearing, which is a big plus.

Hope you all had a good Halloween! Ours was fun, busy and ended like all Halloweens do, with the kids crashed in bed and mom and dad pilfering the candy.

Linking at *The Thrifty Home Penny Pinching Party*