Dear Santa:

My Christmas List consists of the following. Please feel free to pick any or all and stick them under my tree on Christmas Eve night.

A Silhouette Digital Cutter


A Wacom Bamboo Craft Tablet



A Yudu Personal Screen Printer


This bedding


This Apron


This giant food processor (for pie crusts)


And last but not least, this VW bus to tote around all my babies.


Many Thanks,
Rosemary

Christmas Vacation

Due to the fact that I have a loaded schedule now until January 2nd, I've decided that our Handmade Parade Etsy shop will be going on vacation until Monday, January 4th.


So, we will be having another 50% off sale now until Monday, December 14th for all items that are in stock and ready to ship! Act quickly because you won't be able to order after the 14th!



And don't worry, the shop will re-open with a bang in January with a whole bunch of fabulous new things that you will fall in love with!

Etsy Christmas Gifts: Little Girls

Here's another Etsy roundup of great gifts for girls!

1) Fantastic Toys has a bunch really cute stuffies, like this darling pink fawn!


2) Emmi's cottage has super sweet plushy dolls like Candi. I love love love her strawberry pink hair.


3) If you want to get the little girl in your life an outfit for Christmas, this Rose Blouse & Pants are so cute. Pretty Me has all kinds of to die for clothes that I want for my girls.


4) I think that felt play food is so fun, and it is nice to have in case you have little bitties that like to chew on stuff. Your infants to little girls will have fun with it, and if you can't find your pincushions-use a felt cupcake! These cupcakes from Studio of Whimsy are my favorite.

But I also like this tea party play set too. Olivia would flip out if she got this from Santa


5) Since a girl can't have too many fairy wings, Sweetie Pies Tutus have them at the low price of $9.50 so you can get one in every color to match all your tutus.


6) And, if you are in need of some tutus we have some listed on Handmade Parade's Etsy shop. Toddler & girls sizes are $20, and newborn tutus are $15. Free shipping of course, and you can get any color you wish!

Etsy Christmas Gifts: Little Boys

If you are not in the crafting spirit this holiday, you can still give the gift of handmade with all the Etsy vendors that are out there! I found a ton of great stuff for my son, and I wanted to share them with you-since boys are a bit harder than girls to shop for.

1) These Discovery Totes from HELICOPTER STUDIOS are great. I love the campfire one for my kids to take outside and pretend they are camping. Check out the marshmallow sticks!


2) I need to get Landen one of these Clip On Dinosaur Tails from The Blue Orange. He would look so awesome at Ashly's wedding with one of these bad boys. I love the Seuss-a-saurus one.


3) This Treasure Chest Play Set from palumba is great for those pirate-y days. All wood so you can paint the set if you want, or leave it unfinished for the natural look.


4) Palumba also has these plain old wood blocks for the kids to build with. Sometimes the simpler the toy, the more they love them.


5) Check out these funny upcycled mustache crayons from chasedreams! Perfect for my little gent.


6) I am definitely ordering this today. Buddy loves choo-choos. Handmade wooden train from countrysidegiftsllc.


If you've seen any other cute little boy gifts, send them this way!

What to do tomorrow

If you are in Phoenix you should go to Frances Crafeteria to bask in all the holiday glory. It has been all over Twitter and it sounds like an amazing event. I'm heading over to Smeeks for some fun stuff for my kids (remember this post?) And I've only heard great things about Frances from my friend Jessi so I can't wait to check it all out.

Also, visit Jaimee Rose's blog for more events going on in the morning tomorrow. Better go bust open my piggy bank.

First Day of December

Can you believe it? We only have 24 days til Christmas, and only 30 more days of 2009. My head is spinning with all the stuff I need to get done. Don't you feel like the holidays are always over before you have a chance to appreciate them? Why not Journal your Christmas with an online class? I found Shimelle's online scrapbooking workshop via Rhonna's blog and I think that it would be a great idea to have a scrapbook to remember all the great Christmas memories you are making, while you are actually making them! Check out how it works and sign up asap so you can get a jump start on all the project ideas for the book. I'm going to start mine today in my 8x8 Bazill album, and I embarrassed to say that it is going to be my first real scrapbook and I'm vowing to actually finish it.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Chirstmas

After checking out all the new holiday goodies out there this weekend, I was really inspired by Knock Knocking's gorgeous wreaths she has for sale, and wanted to recreate my own for my door. So, on Black Friday I went out and bought craft supplies at Joanne's and whipped up my own Glittered Peppermint Yarn wreath. Do you love it?


It took a while to wrap all that freakin yarn, and I did successfully burn the crap out of my finger with my hot glue gun, but SUCCESS! I think it is darling, and now have to whip another one up for my sister in law.

Do you want to make one? You need:
1) Styrofoam wreath
2) Spool (Is that what they call it?) of yarn, any color you choose
3) Various holiday picks (Joanne's has them for 50% off!). I used poinsettias, a bird, leaves-all glittered
4) Various ornaments

As you can see, depending on the supplies you choose your wreath can come out very different than mine, but that's the beauty of it. I like glitter on holidays, but if you don't you can always go the more traditional route.

I liked my wreath skinny, so I just tied my string around the top of the wreath and started winding the yarn around it. I used a bunch of smaller pieces and tied them all together to make them easier to work with. If you want a fatter wreath, you can follow this tutorial. Once the wreath was all covered in the yarn, I got my glue gun out and started putting the picks on there. I cut out a piece of white felt and glittered it to look like some snow, and stuck my bird on there. Then I took some ric rac and hung some small ornaments through the middle, added some ribbon to the top to hang, and it turned out lovely. I fear this yarn wreath thing may become an addiction.

In other news- House of 3 is having another sale for Cyber Monday today!


And Handmade Parade's Cyber Monday Sale also ends tonight so hurry and scoop up the rosette jewelry, pettiskirts, & tutus you've been eyeing quick before they go back to regular price!

Black Friday Deals

Yes, I am up at 3:30 am writing this post. I plan to hit Joanne's this morning, but I wanted to share with you some of the great deals you can find on Handmade items for the holidays.

1) House of 3 is having a 50% off sale on EVERYTHING today! Wohoo!



2) Two Peas in A Bucket is having a sale on select items & digital kits.

3) Knock Knocking is offering free shipping on the most amazing yarn wreaths I've ever seen. You MUST check out her site.


4) Finley & Oliver is also offering free shipping on all her darling mod shirts for kids. My kids Thanksgiving shirts were made by her, pictures to come!

5) And of course, Handmade Parade's Thanksgiving & Black Friday Sale- which has just been extended through Cyber Monday! Hooray! Keep checking back, because we are adding new stuff all the time. (Like this Phoenix Suns tutu & flip flops).

Early Bird Black Friday Sales

I am trying to furiously finish a ton of projects that I have been working on this week that I plan to share with you all soon, but I have to keep it short and sweet today so I can get back to work!

If you have been waiting for all those holiday sales to hit, Black Friday has come early for all of you! Wood Creations Furniture is offering 50% off of EVERYTHING in their store until they close at 6:00 pm on Black Friday! Skip all the insane crowds the day after Thanksgiving and visit them now to get your savings!

If you have been wishing and hoping for a new dining room or bedroom set for Christmas this is THE place to go. They have a ton of the same styles you see in Pottery Barn, Ethan Allen, & Crate & Barrel but for a fraction of the cost. Also, all their stuff is unfinished so you can have it painted or stained any color you desire!

More Fun This Weekend!

I just saw on Dolce Vita Mia's Twitter that there is ANOTHER fun event going on this weekend. Sunday is the Hissyfits Hullabaloo in Phoenix and it's another great place to get a jump start to your holiday shopping! I love me some handmade presents!


Oh, and another thing, today is FREE DAY at Joe's Farm Grill. Go between 11-3 & 4-8 for a free soda, free fries, & a free burger!!! I trying to get my kids together so we can get there early. They're expecting 4,000 people!

Wardrobe Wishlist

None of my own clothes fit me any more and now that I am officially in the 2nd trimester (already?) it's time to stay away from the jeans/pants and wear skirts/dresses exclusively. If I had an extra $500 lying around, and I could spend it on just me, I would buy these.



Dress & Shooties from Anthro, headband from Miss Ruby Sue.

Handmade Goodness Coming Your Way

In case you didn't know, we have a lot of crafty ladies in our family. We also have a ton of friends that specialize in the handmade arts, so after much deliberation, we have decided to do a backyard boutique the first Saturday in November! I am starting a website to sell all the handmade goodies from (we'll also be putting stuff on the much loved Etsy) so check the website for some sneak previews of what's coming to the Handmade Parade Backyard Boutique! You can also special order the goodies from the website or linked to the vendors blogs. I'll be showcasing the talented ladies here up until the festivities so keep an eye out for some tasty morsels.

I Heart the Queen Creek Olive Mill

I have had one hell of a morning, let me tell you. I was looking so forward to breakfast at the Olive Mill, that my kids were all ready to go and waiting in the car at 8:00 am sharp. While we were waiting for Kathie to get to our house, Penelope barfed all over herself. It was pink milk, which if you have never experienced firsthand how truly disgusting curdled thrown up milk is, you have quite a parenting adventure ahead of you. It is the WORST to clean up. It sticks to everything like putty, and the stench permeates the nostrils all day, no matter if you wash your hands in paint thinner. So, before we even left, I had a disaster to recover from. I rushed in, put Peepers in outfit #3 of the day, quickly cleaned up the barf the best I could, laid down a blanket, and buckled her in. Once we got to the field at the Mill, Penelope promptly barfed again. This time was less milk, more apple juice. So, dress #2 came off, and I just let her roam the field in her bloomers, in case she felt like throwing up again. After being there for 10 minutes, Landen had diarrhea that had to be changed. On the way home, Penelope screamed her head off (poor baby) then threw up again twice in her carseat, all over herself. And Landen had a diarrhea blowout that seeped out all over his shorts and into his carseat. I could have lost my head, but I am proud to say I was completely calm through this whole ordeal. Once we got home, I pulled out Peepers and carried her inside (which of course got puke all over me, but not really worried about it). got Landy out, stripped them both down, hosed them off in the shower and let them play in the tub. They got out 100% happier and smelling 200% better.

I know that this is the makings of a horrible day. However, this may be one of my best days ever. Why, you ask? Because at the Olive Mill I had this for breakfast.


It was the chef's special, Green Eggs & Ham Panini. Delicious buttery foccacia bread, eggs, basil pesto, provolone cheese, and the most amazing smoked ham from the Queen Creek Pork Shop. I can't even tell you how ridiculously tasty it was. It was probably the best breakfast I've ever had. Ever. And the kids had a great time running around the field barefoot (and topless in Peepers case) through their misters on the patio eating gelato and climbing the Olive Trees. It was a great morning regardless of all the digestive problems. I left today with a bottle of their truffle oil, which I will use tomorrow for dinner brushed on some homemade french bread and toasted in the oven, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I will also post a recipe for Truffled Parmesan Popcorn that I'm going to try next week. I HIGHLY recommend the Olive Mill, you simply must go.

More Digital Goodness

House of 3 has just come with some new tasty morsels to create some awesome digital layouts, cards, invitations, and whatever else you can think up. I just ordered this inspiration kit

And this damask kit.

I also love all the new fonts they came out with. I bought this one (they're dingbats)