Holiday Shopping

Um, so, some slightly shameful self-promotion here today. I'm participating in Etsy's Cyber Monday promotion by offering 10 percent off everything in my store until midnight. To get the discount, just use the code CYBERMONDAY when you check out.

Also, because so many of the items in my shop are made-to-order in your size or special color requests they take awhile to make. In order to make sure your gifts arrive by Christmas, I need to have your order by  Sunday, Dec. 12.

Sadly, and happily, I suppose, my favorite earrings already sold today even though I just put them up for sale yesterday. I was kind of hoping no one would want them so I could keep them. But that's ok. I won't tell you what my other favorites are so you won't feel bad about buying them!

And, you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook if you want more updates about new items or holiday specials.

Friday Flutter: Wood? Doily? Yes, please!

Ok, I am not usually a doily person but this I love.

pssst... there are wood doily coasters too!


Photo via Uncommon

Friday Flutter: Dogs

A Friday collection of some fun Etsy items I found that make me think of my puppies.

 Custom dog silhouette by Happy Thought

 Dog nose imprint by Rock My World Inc

A beautiful lapiz paw print that was cut for me by Tom at Harnessed Earth

 Adorable dachshund chasing its tail in this ring by Mooshy Gooshies

Puppy love enamel ring by Marmar (Husband once bought me the necklace that matches this)

Friday Flutter: Gifts

I've been thinking a lot about gifts lately. June seems to be the season for gift-giving. My dad's birthday, my mother-in-law's birthday, Father's Day, Husband's birthday, my friend Shawna's birthday, a friend's birthday (party tonight... no gift in hand yet!), wedding receptions, and on and on. Ahhhhh! So I've been spending a bunch of time on Etsy looking for gifts. Here are some things currently in my favorites file*

Father's Day card from Monkey Mind Design (I bought this for my dad this year)

 

It's a teapot! And a clock! Two of my favorite things by Decoylab Shop. 

These would be perfect for my dachshund-loving friend.

Wedding gift, perhaps? Vessels and Wares has some amazing pottery.

 Father's Day? Wedding? Birthday? Yes, a shameless plug for something I made. But hey, who doesn't want a gift made by me? :)

And this one would be for me, of course. Because I'm that crazy puppy-loving lady who wants a needle felted replica of my dogs.

*Unfortunately, not necessarily for the people listed above. So my search continues.

Grown-up Graduation Gifts

It's graduation season. All around me people are graduating... mostly from college now that I'm getting old. Many from grad school (thank God I'm done with that too!) and some are just ending one year to enjoy the break before school starts again next year.

I've never really understood graduation presents. I get that it's a big deal and people want to celebrate. I guess I just never expected any gifts for completing something that I always expected to do. But, that's not really the point.

The point is that I only remember four graduation gifts ever. When I graduated from high school my parents bought be a nice DSL Canon camera. I used that thing like crazy until a few years later when film became, well, obsolete. I also got a set of giant Costco towels from some church friends who had graduated from college only a few years before. They were right--big towels are very handy in a dorm.

My college graduation gifts are less useful, perhaps, and yet much more meaningful. My oldest family friends (these are the people who claimed my sister and I as their so-called daughters when we were just wee things*) gave me the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go," which I thought very suitable.

And my mom's best friend (my other family**) gave me the best gift of all.

Isn't that fun? She told me that it should be a reminder that we're never too old to play and that hopefully work would always be something I enjoyed. It has sat on my desk at every job (ok, that's only three) I've had since college.

Any other clever graduation gifts I should keep in mind for future events?

*Our family had great friends--mostly from church--when we were little. Funny though, they were family friends but they didn't always have kids. In this case, their son is probably the person I've been friends with longest in my life. I think we met when I was four. 

**Again, apparently I have lots of adopted families. I don't see many of them anymore. How does one go about creating new adopted families to go with this new baby family of mine?

a 'Stache

In the interest of torturing my dogs as much as they torture me, wouldn't this be ridiculously fun?

I'm sure my dogs would only chew the ends, thus depriving me of the fun of taking pictures of them with a mustache. But still.

Photo via the Blah, Blah, Blahg, via muttropolis

Coffee Table Love

I went to this new consignment shop in my town the other day. Back behind the counter I spotted a strange and oddly intriguing mid-century coffee table that I couldn't quite figure out. It appeared to be a nesting coffee table, but that didn't see quite right. Then I saw that it had six legs, which also seemed strange. Finally, the sales girl showed me that it was a swiveling coffee table. The top and bottom were attached near one end and could rotate independently of each other.

Did you see that? I said SWIVEL.

Not sure I'd ever been so excited about something before.

They wanted $200 for the table which was more than I wanted to spend. It needed a little work so I thought about trying to talk them down, but instead sadly went home. But you know how sometimes you can't get an object, or movie, or idea out of your head? And you just know it's good and that you really, really need it? 

So I called Husband on my way home from work and told him I was stopping by to pick it up. Except, when I arrived the sales girl said they had sold it THAT DAY. Nooooo!

When I got home I saw this:

Yes, Husband was the secret purchaser. And he talked down the price. And it had been mismarked. So he brought home my new love for only $100.*

*and the price of the lovely daffodils he picked up and had sitting there. He's a good husband, yes?

Found: Etsy Bike Clock

Isn't this clock fantastic?

I just found it on the Etsy shop 1.by.liz. Liz makes all these clocks by hand from reclaimed bicycle parts. I am definitely getting one for my dad for Father's Day (hooray for planning ahead!).

My dad loves cycling. We used to go on long rides when my sister and I were kids. Then, he'd leave us at the house and continue on for a "real" ride. We grew up knowing more about cycling and the Tour de France than any other sport.

In fact, when I studied in London one summer I snuck away to Paris for about 30 hours, just to see the final stage of the the Tour and watch Lance Armstrong win again. I brought my dad back a shirt and a Tour pendant that I found.

He's going to love it--I hope!

Photo: via 1.by.liz's etsy shop.

A Note

I came home from work today to find this on the bulletin board near our bathroom (the one we tried to use as a list board).

What a good husband.

A puppy gift

My family loves to buy and give gifts. We make a big deal out of Christmas presents and agonize over finding or making just the right things. I received many lovely gifts this year and gave many wonderful ones away (at least, I think they were wonderful).

But my favorite gift this year was from my husband and our two big puppies. In addition to the Clarisonic I've been lusting after for awhile now, he bought me this necklace. It's adorable, no? And it looks quite like our puppies (one is a pointer/dane mix and the other a pointer/pit bull mix--we really aren't sure about either but that's our best guess).

And the most endearing part? Husband off-handedly informing me that both puppies approved when he showed it to them. Yes, we love our dogs. And yes, they get to sniff approve Christmas gifts. And yes, my husband is adorable too.