Handmade Gift Giving

With the start up of my Etsy shop, Today is a Sunny Day, I created two goals for my gift giving. I want to mostly give gifts that are handmade and that are useful. Here are a few things I purchased for friends and family last holiday season.

Onesies
 

For the new additions to our extended family I bought two onesies from Brown Owl Designs. A close friend saw them for sale at a market in Orlando and passed on the contact info to me. The joys of word-of-month advertising!

Desk Calendar

I love this desk calendar from Shannon Blue Photography. There were lots of 2012 calendars to choose from online, but I choose this one because of the neat stand that can be used for display purposes once 2012 is history. The photographs are all taken by the seller I purchased it from.

Soap

This soap was purchased from one of my favorite Etsy shops, Rocky Top Soap Shop. Handmade soaps from a gentleman from the Northeast with a kickin’ beard. I got a variety pack through him and made sure to save one for myself. I got the rooibos tea shampoo and it’s fantastic!

Coasters

Ignore my “fat baby” in the picture. The coasters in the foreground are handmade from Geek Details and inspire by the BBC’s Doctor Who.

Address Labels

I purchased adorable address labels from Moxie Paperie for a present for my mom. I love adding beautiful details to life and stylish address labels definitely dress up a letter and make bill paying glamorous.

Tea

When visiting USF for a random event, I sampled roasted almond tea made by the Kaleisia Tea Lounge. To those of you local to the Tampa Bay area, it’s a tucked away tea lounge on Fletcher Ave. by the Brass Mug. For those of you not from the Bay Area, you can check out and order their selection online at www.thetealounge.com.

What is your favorite homemade, handmade, or locally-made gift?

Red Hat Society

If you are under the age of 50, chances are you don’t know much about the Red Hat Society. You might see these groups of ladies wearing mismatched red hats and purple attire shopping at the mall, having high tea, or taking up a large corner of a restaurant. I remember seeing them when I was a teenager, and thinking this was all very silly and all very silly looking.

Until I learned a little bit more about them. The Red Hat Society started by accident really. A friend was inspired to give the gift of a framed poem and yada, yada, yada, they soon had 18 ladies going out for tea dressed in purple dresses and red hats inspired by the poem. So what does their organization do? Nothing, really. And that is the part that I really enjoy. It solely exists for women to pursue fun and friendship; that’s it. And I love it.

As I grow older, I’m beginning to see the ultimate value and sheer importance of harnessing solid friendships. When times get tough, you turn to the friends who are already there. Because of my schedule, job, and lifestyle, it’s no longer convenient to spend time with friends. They aren’t just down the hall at work or a member of my church that I’ll see after service.

You silly red hat wearing ladies inspired me again. And while I’m not about to go out and buy a pink hat (for junior members under 50, really silly, right?), I do plan on making my time with ladies in my life intentional.

Here are some photos of my delicious breakfast with Kristen. Cinnamon roll pancakes were on the menu.