Craftaholics Anonymous Holiday 2012 Handmade Gift Exchange

Happy Friday!

This week went by too fast and my house is turned upside down. I am behind this year with my Christmas decorations, but it will get done this weekend. : )

Today, I wanted to share with you what I made for Craftaholics Handmade Gift Exchange. This was super easy and so much fun to make for this person. I hope they like it. (Fingers crossed) :)

These are handmade coasters and a bottle with etched lettering. I added some vintage lace and tag.

As you can see I used etching cream to create the letter of the person's last name. 

I don't have a Silhouette machine or anything that can create these vinyl cut out's, so I got very creative. I will post the tutorial on this over the weekend along with the giveaway. Thanks so much for stopping by and leave me a SWEET comment. Appreciate you all and have an awesome weekend.

Hugs,

Vanessa

Chalkboard Paint DIY's!

Hope you are doing well this week and recovering from shopping. LOL

I have this super fun and easy tutorial for you today and know you are just going to love making these for yourself and kids. Several weeks ago I found these great serving trays for $1.25 total. I knew right away I wanted to use these serving trays as a chalkboard for my little girl and for me.

These lovelies received a coat of ivory paint.

Once the paint was dried I painted one tray pink and other black chalkboard paint by Valspar. I was impressed with Valspar chalkboard paint; so do give it a try.

I did give each tray three coat of chalkboard paint, but two coats were fine.
Once the chalkboard paint dried I rubbed chalk all over the trays and wiped clean. 

My little girl LOVES to write on her chalkboard tray. She spends a couple of hours at her desk just drawing on a chalkboard tray. This is great to take in the car and long road trips so the kiddos can play games (tic tac toe, hangman, draw etc.). The oval tray is going to hang on a shutter I have, but I really want to find some more. These trays are great to turn them into chalkboard trays and put them in the kitchen, office and kiddos rooms and anywhere your heart desires. I am so happy with the results and I love using these two different chalkboard paints. Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks for leaving a SWEET comment. Have an amazing week!

PS: Come back on Friday, I am going to have a SWEET giveaway! See you then!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Christmas Handmade By Letters and Lace

Thanksgiving came and went and I would like to go back to Thursday so I can enjoy it again. The food was awesome and I am so grateful I was with my family, but I am in full swing decorating my home for Christmas and shopping. Well, I am going to do a lot of my shopping online and going to buy from small businesses. Today, I would like to share with you another small business shop owner and Lisa has a lovely shop called Lisa Mae West Letters and Lace.  Here are some of her lovely gift creations. 

Handmade Joy garland.

Shadowbox Magnet bottle caps Birds/nest.

Winter Whimsical Jar of trims and tags.

Many of Lisa's creations have been features in Today's Creative Homearts magazine and when she is not working on her Etsy's shop is is posting tutorials on her lovely blog, Letters and Lace. Stop by her lovely Etsy's shop and her blog. Thanks again for stopping by and I always appreciate your SWEET comments. 

Hugs, 

Vanessa

Christmas Handmade Gifts Ideas!

I'm here again today to share with you two more of my favorite shop owners that I love!

If you love shabby chic, bouquet charms, wedding accessories, jewelry, hairpins, vintage gifts then Keepsakes by Katherine is your shop. Katherine is the lovely shop owner and when she is not working on her lovely shop she is working on her blog, Katherine's Corner. Here are some items you will find in her shop.

Art Deco Brooch, Love!

Swarovski Pearls with blue crystal clasp necklace. 

How lovely!

What a sweet blue charm to give a bride to be. 

This next lovely shop is called Whipple'sWhimsy and Beverly is the shop owner. Beverly creations are gorgeous and I LOVE all the different creations she has in her shop. She makes versa shawl, baby blanket, hats and much more. She even does custom orders, Love! You can also find her on Facebook. Here are some of her lovely creations.

How sweet is this, Christmas hat? 

This beautiful red shawl.

This piece is versatile and is gorgeous which can be wore many ways.

Another way to use this versatile shawl.

Katherine and Beverly are talented and creative women and you will enjoy looking around their shops, blog and Facebook page. There is something for everyone and handmade is a good thing! Enjoy your lovely weekend and enjoy planning your Thanksgiving feast with family and friends. I appreciate you all and appreciate your sweet comments.

Hugs,

Vanessa

Christmas Handmade & Homemade Gift ideas!

I'm here again today to share with you some more of my favorite shop owners I love!

For all those who LOVE art, the Little Photo Hut has some great fine art photographs. Jennie the shop owner has a great eye for picture taking and she finds beauty through her lens. Here are some of my favorites -

Just love how she captures the sun and these lovely flowers. Peaceful!

Love this one, do you see the moon to the right?  

I love how the green car stand out.

This next shop is called Pitter & Glink and Bethany is the shop owner of these lovely creations. She specializes in handmade signs that are very colorful! When Bethany is not creating signs she is working on her blog, Pitter and Glink. I always enjoy stopping by Bethany's blog, she has the best tutorials. Make sure to stop by her blog too.

Great for a little girl.

Lovely for a boy's room.

Jennie and Bethany are very creative and talented women that truly LOVE what they do. Think outside of the box and get creative in your shopping this year. Buying handmade goods is a good thing! Here is a great article on buying handmade goods.  Enjoy looking around Jennie and Bethany shops. I always enjoy and appreciate you stopping by and leaving a SWEET comment. Thanks so much and have a lovely week!

Hugs,

Vanessa

Christmas Homemade Gifts!

It's that time of year where you are looking for the right gifts for family and friends or home decor, baking goods, crafting supplies. What ever you are looking for there are small shops owners you can buy from. These next few weeks I will be sharing my favorite small business shop owners with you and encourage you to stop by their shops and consider buying from them first. The last two years I am turning more to handmade goods because its more personal and I believe in investing in their business; their dream. There are many gifted and talented shop owners out who have a passion for creating good quality products, so give them a try.

To start off this first week, I want to introduce to you Audra from Once Upon A Sprinkle. Audra's love for baking cupcakes and crafting created this lovely shop. Her creations are cupcake toppers, which are creative and adorable. She has toppers for any occasion and will turn your cupcakes into WOW! Here are some of my favorites.

Audra is not only a shop owner, but she has this great blog call The Kurtz Corner, so stop by today and give her a visit. I love to promote shops because they have a vision and I want them to prosper in their endeavors, in saying this these are 100% my opinion and I don't ask and do not receive anything from these lovely shop owners. I always enjoy and appreciate you stopping by and leaving a SWEET comment. Thank so much and have a great week!

Hugs,

Vanessa