Friday, December 3, 2010

Seasoning My Tweeps!

My zesty onion avatar on Twitter is sporting a Santa Hat for December.  So, because I have to be home between 11 and 3 today (ugh!) to accept a delivery package, I'm bored!!  With this boredom, I have to decided to "season" some of my tweeps' avatars.  (disclaimer:  if one of you tweeps don't happen to celebrate Christmas, please don't be offended and just enjoy the sentiment!!).


http://twitter.com/#!/dermiepie

http://twitter.com/#!/CrabbyVegan

http://twitter.com/#!/GraciousPantry

http://twitter.com/#!/KooKoo4Culinary

http://twitter.com/#!/MegVegLibrarian

 
http://twitter.com/#!/ShitServersSay


Thursday, December 2, 2010

Buy Handmade!

Tis the season to spend, spend and spend a little more.  The gifts I remember most were those that were handmade.  I had one grandma that crocheted and quilted and another that sewed and knit.  Now, I crochet a little here and there, but with a busy schedule, well ~ Target is where a lot of my "thoughtful gift cards" come from!!

So, a few years ago, I stumbled across Etsy.com.  It is a fantasatic sight of wonderfully, creative folks that have online shops set up with their artistic goodies.  For the truly creative and funky-minded, a nice living can be made.  For others, it's a great creative outlet that provides some spending money.  There are subgroups of the site as well ~ the Vegan Etsy Team, Military Brats, etc.  Also, I love browsing the sites where people use old items and repurpose them.  When I lived in O'Fallon, Illinois, there is an annual festival called the "Strange Folk Festival" (thank you Autumn Wiggins!).  It is an amazing group of eclectic folks (most of whom have Etsy shops).  One lady took old ties and repurposed them into purses ~ sooo cute!

Yes, I still buy my girls Wii games, Kindles and overpriced clothes for Christmas and birthdays; however, I try to buy a few things each holiday for friends and family that are homemade.  Not only do I enjoy the uniqueness of the gifts, but supporting an artist or fellow SAHM just feels right.  Here are some of this year's finds:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/OutlawHeartCreations

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RogueTheory

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Boojiboo


http://www.etsy.com/shop/bebesniklefritz