sneak peak: gifts

I have the best family and this year they really outdid themselves on gift giving. About half of the gifts given and received at my parents house this year were handmade and that really made my heart smile. I'll share some of the diy gifts I did later this week but for now here is a little peak at some of the goodies I got to take home.
1. an amazing set of packaging and crafting supplies from my mr. that I mentioned here, 2. handmade feather arrows by my lovely older sister, 3. handmade amazing nc art by my lovely little sister and parents, 4. a cookbook that I can't wait to use- it follows the best local foods by season!

Thank you so much to my family for the sweet gifts, but even more for the time we got to share this Christmas!!

heart & craft holiday in a box

Friends, I am so excited to share with you the handmade gift I put together for the Handmade Gift Swap hosted by FreshlyPicked and ArdorBlog that I participated in this month. Besides getting wonderfully handmade gifts from five other bloggers, I got to put together and send out my own little creations.

For my handmade gift I put together the "holiday in a box" full of little treats for holiday decorating. I included a small glittery garland for wrapping around gifts, a large garland for decorating your walls or tree, shimmery cake flags for adding some sparkle to desserts, our 'this if for you' gift tags, a set of holiday banner greeting cards, and a golden-painted little deer figurine just for fun. In addition to designing the cards, inserts, packaging, and contents I had SO much fun packing and sending of these little gifts! I hope they brought a smile to someone's face and I can't wait until next year's gift swap!Find my greeting cards, gift tags, garlands, and flags all in my shop.

pretty pairings

Loving the combination of this spoon and well by up in the air somewhere & this hand printed napkin set by Namoo. Both on etsy, both under $30. Hello, gift giving season.

treats for my sweets

Ok, I have to admit I feel like the blog has been all about me, me, me this week. Things I have been doing or things I just want! So today I want to share some things I have found that I would love to give to all the wonderful people in my life! Everything is from the always exciting Curiosity Shoppe.

For my sisters::
vegetable garden greeting cards.
Russel Wright sugar bowl and creamer.
mustache pencils, just for fun.

For my brother::

a pinhole camera kit and a diana camera, because he is awesome and needs to take more photos. (and draw me pictures)

For the parents::
glasses-shaped USB drive, you can never have enough space.
wooden salt and pepper shakers, because they are just awesome.

For the mister::
the sweetest book I've ever read.
a wooden flashlight, stylish and handy.
cute wooden radio, because I just know he would love it.

For everyone I know::
the "I am not a paper cup" porcelain cup. Because someone gave one to me a few years ago and it is one of the greatest things I have ever owned.

I am not endorsing this as any kind of gift guide, but just some things I love that I would give the the people I love... if I had a lot of money and I hadn't already made all of their gifts. :)