new blog love (and great gift wrapping ideas)

I love when I stumble upon a new (to me) blog. So much inspiration from allerliebst right here! Maybe my christmas presents will look half as good as hers next year...

mother's day

Mother's Day- like all holidays- snuck up on me this year. I was determined to do something nice for my mom (and my husband's mom), since becoming a mother myself, the role has had new significance. A wave of domesticity came over my body earlier this week and I managed not only to do homemade cards for the (grand)mother's, but also made peppermint chocolate chip cookies that I distributed to some fellow mom friends who take a music class with me. 

The cookies were easy enough- I made them (a modified version of the Barefoot Contessa's chocolate chunk cookies), packaged them in some leftover glassine envelopes, and slipped a little mother's day greeting into the bags.

The cards- which were supposed to be fairly easy as well- took much more time then I had anticipated. First- was getting my 17 month old to cooperate. Luckily, I had my husband help do the handprints, but that didn't stop my son from getting paint into his mouth. I laid out one big piece of blue scrapbooking paper (from Michael's), dipped his hand in some paint, and then stamped both hands as many times as he would let me. None of the handprints were perfect, but I felt I had gotten enough for two good ones.

Then I used my circle cutter to trim the handprints. I experimented with the size, and learned the lesson early on you really only get one try at it- so pick the size you want before you get cutting! Then I affixed the handprint to an individualized greeting I printed on my computer, with a little heart at the top. The handprint circle was sized to cover up all of the message, except the closing. 

I tried to come up with something clever to say, that would somehow link the handprint. Ultimately I decided on 'Happy Gram-mother's Day' (my son's name is Gram).

The whole thing took over an hour by the time my perfectionist tendencies had their way, but I was glad to do it and felt accomplished when I got them in the mail! 

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms. I'm signing off for the weekend.

owl love this idea forever

Another amazing handmade gift bag via d. sharp! 

because, who doesn't need a cape?!

My friend, Jessica, passed along the website of a super-creative friend of hers...Eleni. Eleni makes handmade custom pieces- including adorable mobiles, ornaments and yes, capes! What child wouldn't adore their very own personalized cape? For those of us who are not-so-crafty, it's reassuring to know we can buy something like this, even if we don't have the skills to execute it on our own. Above is the cape creation Eleni made for Jessica's daughter, Reese, nicknamed 'Reesecake', and her son, Robert- deemed 'Giggleman.' For $50, I'm betting this would not only make an amazing gift for your tiniest superhero, but it would be around (and used) for a long time to come.

one word

brilliant! from d.sharp

oooh...purl

I love Purl Soho's blog, and really just about anything and everything they do (such a pretty logo, too...Brooke!). So it was no surprise when I came across these cookie beauties on the Purl Bee. Yes, yes...I know- they were intended as holiday gifts- and I promised no more Christmas, but I think this is one of those ideas that could be easily translated to any time of year. They give a great tutorial for packaging them...and for a fabric hound like me, I'm loving this super easy idea.

more handmade gifts...

More handmade/homemade goodies via inchmark, black eiffel, eddie ross and parcel post.

handmade gifts

Do you have friends that you are in awe of? My friend, Miller, is one of those people. She's a mother of 3 girls under the age of four, and yet somehow managed to make Christmas gifts for friends. This year she delivered a belated birthday gift for my son, Gram...a freestyle hand-embroidered American Apparel tee (we love it!). She also decoupaged a picture of her girls atop a simple red box, filled with holiday m&m's. It's a simple, but really lovely, idea. Of course...I have no willpower, so the candy is already gone!