Friday’s Favorites – Keeping It Local

Happy first Friday of 2014, everyone! It’s a good day.

We love our team Etsy Fort Worth linkup parties. If you have a Facebook page you want to share, click here for free advertising and networking:

 

We have two new favorite Etsy shops from the DFW area!

Wolf Blue Design creates one of a kind and custom stained glass pieces, ceramic art, handmade rustic tools, and more from Grand Prairie, TX. Just take a look at this gorgeous stained glass:

 

 

 

The Fairy Mermaid whips up wings, crowns, and other magical things from Arlington, TX! These charming, unique wings would look adorable on any aspiring fairy:

Plus, she really is a beautiful fairy mermaid! Check out her website to book her for events.

 

Now that I think about it, things are a little fishy around here today …

Share the Love,

Chelsea

 

Thoughtful Thursday – Last Minute Ideas To Save the (Holi)Day!

Put on that antler headband, and beat the bah-humbugs with our list of last minute holiday cheer!

Christmas is less than a week away, and yuletide is upon us. If you haven’t made your home festive (or you want to add some extra,) or if you just haven’t been able to come up with gifts for you friends, neighbors, or that relative that’s really hard to shop for, here are some last minute ideas to make your season merry and bright. (Click on the images for more info.)

Easy Decorations:

 

This has to be the prettiest, simplest tree I can imagine. Outline with lights and add paper cutouts of stars (or snowflakes!)

Speaking of snowflakes, here are some beautiful patterns to use!

 

Make an inexpensive outdoor star decoration with yard sticks.

 

Forego the can of fake snow, and break out your glue gun instead!

Free Printables:

Buddy the Elf printable.

 

 

Holiday subway art printable.

“Noel” banner printable.

 

Forget the expensive wrapping supplies. Use magazine or newspaper, plus these cute printable tags.

Quick Gifts:

An adorable gift for the women in your life!

A natural home fragrance that smells like the holidays. A great gift for the neighbors!

 

What tween or teen girl wouldn’t love some pretty lip gloss in their stocking?

 

Whip up a big batch of this manly smelling shaving cream, and divide into small containers for a great gift. Add a straight razor (and print out a good how-to) for a gift the guys will use all year!

Of course, don’t forget our giveaway to enter to win this gift-able handmade necklace:

 

Share the Love,

Chelsea

 

December of Giveaways – Week 2!

Today begins our second giveaway!

This week, enter to win this sparkling vintage sequin bow ring:

The ring is made from a vintage applique, attached to an adjustable metal ring base that fits most sizes. The back of the bow is carefully covered with matching felt for a soft, finished look. Perfect to wear at holiday parties!

How to enter:

1. Now through Sunday, 12/15/13, follow us on Pinterest.

2. Then, pin this giveaway to one of your boards by using the Pin It button on your browser, or the one at the end of this blog post.

3. Finally, comment with your pinterest name (the name that appears at the end of the URL for your boards page.)

The winner will be chosen randomly based on the comments made, and will be announced here on this blog post on Monday, 12/16. Winner will also be announced on Facebook and Twitter, and the winner will be contacted by the email address associated with the account they use to comment below.

Open to US residents. Enter up to once a day throughout the week by repeating steps 1-3. Voting will close at the end of the day Sunday, 12/15.

Good luck and happy pinning!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Handmade Holidays 2012 & What I’m Making

So excited to be a part of Etsy817’s Handmade Holidays again this year! Last year we had the show in one of the gyms in the UTA activity center, but this year it’s in Arlington’s Lincoln Square, which is a large shopping center on the north side of the city. The team leaders were able to find a couple of spaces available for rent, and are currently hoping to upgrade to the larger space due to the massive amounts of vendor applications sent in this year. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the bigger space comes through, because it’s going to be an awesome show already. If you’re in the area and interested in more info, check out the Etsy817 blog here.

Since the show is going to be here before we know it (in early December,) Mom and I are both in serious creative mode. I’ve been hanging on to some pretty crocheted pieces my grandmother made and left to us, wondering what I should do with them, when it hit me. I’ve been into the trend of body harnesses and jewelry for a long time now. In fact, one of my favorite treasures is a beaded hand harness (ring/bracelet combo) that my grandmother gave me for Christmas years and years ago. Now, of course, it’s this huge trend, and I’ve been thinking of ways I could make the trend my own to sell in the shop. Enter the crocheted squares, hearts, teardrops, flowers, and circles that have been taking up space in one of my many plastic storage containers! So, I started hand beaded each of them, adding charms and buttons, picturing how each piece would lay as jewelry. Add chain, and you have very fall & winter appropriate shoulder and body harnesses.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

So, what do you think? It takes a certain person to brave body harnesses, I think, but I’m one of those people! I hope that these pieces are distinct enough that people will want to wear them over sweaters and blazers as the weather gets cooler. If you’d like to make your own, easy and understated chain body harness, take a look at this easy to follow tutorial.

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Whatever Weekend: In The Works

As I worked on finishing the letters for my friend’s little girl, I realized that we haven’t listed much in our shops lately! So, finished and listed a hair clip in our JuJu Eyeball store:

Click on the image to view the listing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As my hubby would say, it’s made with my two favorite colors: sparkly and shiny! I covered a plastic skeleton hand in blue glitter, made a couple of pinwheels from green tulle and black lace, and cut/formed shapes with patent leather ribbon and added an ostrich feather. Viola! Super lightweight and super fun to wear.Now, back to the letters, here’s what the progress looks like so far:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies for the crummy images – I’m definitely a fan of natural light as opposed to flash. Anyway, a fairytale princess theme with lots of pink and a dash of sparkle equals four year old heaven (I hope!) I’ve said before that I’ve never considered myself a painter, but I think I’d like to take a class to beef up my unexistent knowledge of mixing, highlighting, shadowing … because I’m just making it up as I go along. Although I am pretty happy with the results as is; it’s hard not to be proud of completing something of which you have little to no history or skill.

Finally, happy Father’s Day to all you dads and single moms out there! (Single moms wear the dad hat, too, you know.) I hope it’s been a wonderful day, and I wish everyone a fantastic week!

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Weird Wednesday – Girls, Girls, Girls

Last week, I dedicated a “Weird” post to the guys. This week, it’s all about the weird girls:

For the animal reject lover:

A Girl And Her Beloved Ugly Dog by ElisabethNicole

 For the funny girl who likes to work out (and her eyebrows, thankyouverymuch):

Knitted Eyebrow Headband by wifeofbrian

For the subtle weirdo – a.k.a. “business professional” 

Eyeball Hairpins Green Eye Copper by BeanDoll

And finally, for Kate Middleton, because you’ve got to be a little weird to rock those hats:

Couture Derby Hat by ArturoRios

Share the Love,

Chelsea

Make It Monday – Simple, Elegant Holiday Earrings

A pair of simple, sparkly earrings made using vintage beads.

If you’re looking for a quick, festive holiday accessory or a simple gift or stocking stuffer for female family and friends, a pair of earrings is a pretty safe bet. Provided one of your friends doesn’t have piereced ears (you could always invest in some clip-ons), it’s the one piece of jewelry that women are most likely to accessorize with. Even if they don’t wear necklaces, bracelets or rings, they’re likely to put in (and probably keep in) a simple pair of earrings that go with everything. Start an assembly line of beads and wire for this project, and you’ll be done in no time!

Here’s what you need:

Earring hooks in silver, gold, or steel

Matching headpins or wire

Decorative beads (plastic or glass; clear, silver, and gold are classic choices)

Round nose plyers

Needlenose plyers

How to make the earrings:

Step 1: Once you’ve decided which beads to use, place them in the order you like on a headpin. You can play around with shape – use 3 different size beads (small to large) to creat a teardop, for example. Repeat for the second headpin. If you’re planning on making all of the earrings the same, go ahead and repeat for all of the headpins.

Step 2: Taking a beaded headpin in one hand, use the round nose plyers to grasp the open end and curl it into a loop. Before you’ve closed the circle completely, bend the plyers back in the opposite direction a bit, so that the wire at the bottom of the circle is crimped. This centers the loop above the wire, gives the earrings better balance, and makes them look more professional.

Step 3: Place the earring hook in the circle you’ve made, and close the wire using needlenose plyers to gently push the end in.

That’s it! You can customize the length of the earrings by clipping the headpins to different lengths with wire cutters, or leave them long for a dangly earring with lots of motion, adding as many or as few beads as you like. You can place the earrings in jewelry boxes to giftwrap, or punch holes in cardstock squares to insert the earring hooks and attach to packages (a needle works well; the closer the hole is to the size of the hook, the less likely it will be that the hook slips off the card.) The ladies in your life will appreciate the beautiful jewelry, and you’ll appreciate spending less money and less time searching for the perfect gift!

Share the Love,

Chelsea