The Ultimate Etsy Christmas Gift Guide: For the Foodie

FOR THE FOODIE

1) DIY Gift Set - Create your own tea blend by EllipsisBooksandMore - I'm fighting the urge so bad not to get this for myself.

2) Gourmet Salt Sampler by CraigsMarket - YES!

3) Gusto Rubs of the States Barbeque Rub Gift Set by GustoSpice - My father-in-law would LOVE this!

**For the original gift guide post or to view other lists, click here!**

The Ultimate Etsy Christmas Gift Guide

Greetings!

Welcome to one of the largest and most collective Etsy gift guides for Christmas! As an Etsy seller, I thought that the creative work of my fellow sellers should be showcased on this blog and the idea for the expansive Etsy-only gift guide was born. 

Below, you will find the links for several gift guides which will surely fit everyone on your Christmas list in some way. I've scoured Etsy to find fun, unique, functional and thoughtful gifts. So, get comfy and explore all the treasures I've found exploring the inner depths of Etsy! Have fun!

FOR THE...

TECH LOVER

ZOMBIE ENTHUSIAST
THE MUNCKINS
FOR THE DIYer

FOR THE FOODIE
FOR THE HARRY POTTER LOVER

FOR THE PET LOVER

FOR THE MUNCHKINS

FOR THE CHRISTMAS LOVER

The 12 Dates of Christmas: Black Friday Shopping

 

For our first Christmas as a married couple, R.J. and I have compiled a list of twelve Christmas-related dates to celebrate the season and enjoy the holidays together.

I can't take credit for the idea. I ran across this new tradition on Pinterest from Michelle over at Dream Home DIY. However, we've made it our own and added a few twists and turns. Here's our list of dates (in no particular order):

Date 1: Black Friday Shopping

Date 2: See a Christmas play

Date 3: Sleep under the lights and watch the "Grinch Who Stole Christmas"

Date 4: Make ornaments

Date 5: Bake holiday cookies

Date 6: Christmas light-seeing

Date 7: Christmas movie marathon

Date 8: Cook a holiday dinner

Date 9: Newnan Christmas Parade

Date 10: Paint Christmas pottery

Date 11: Make a gingerbread house

Date 12: Christmas giving

First up on our list was Black Friday shopping! I have always wanted to go Black Friday shopping. I know, I'm crazy. I finally talked R.J. into it. We racked up and saved a nice chunk of change. The first stop was at Target where we found the lengthy line below. We waited for just under an hour with my mom and sister. 

Line at Target on Thanksgiving night

We also staked out Old Navy until it opened and raided Belk's after that. We literally shopped until we dropped from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. By the time we got home with our bags full of Christmas treasures, we were red-eyed and delirious.

However, after we got up Friday morning, we went back out to face the madness again! This time we ventured to Petsmart (for Bentley, of course!), Office Max and Office Depot. 

Shopping at Petsmart for the fur baby!

Will we do Black Friday next year? I'm not sure yet. If so, there will definitely be a nap between turkey eating next year!

Our Black Friday stash!

What date is next? Stick around and find out! Until then, you should definitely be looking out for my Cyber Monday post! *hint**hint* ;)

Love always,

Miranda

**Would you and your significant other like to participate in the 12 Dates of Christmas also? We'd love to have you join us! Be sure to grab a button and link back. I'd also love to see the links to your posts in the comment section. I might just feature a few of them. :) **

 <center><a href="http://mrandmrswinslett.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas"><img src="http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr99/rjandmiranda/12DateBlogButton.jpg" border="0"/> </a></center>

Crayons, Cards and Christmas Fever

Hello blogosphere! I have missed you. I am so sorry that I took a week-long hiatus. I know, it felt like forever.

I'm finally done working the extra hours at work. I'm not going to say it wasn't a blessing because we've got Christmas covered with the extra money I was able to pocket. As many of you know, that can be a huge relief!

Speaking of Christmas, the Winslett house is officially decked out for the holidays. I tried really really REALLY hard to wait until after Thanksgiving, but I couldn't do it. I have no will power when it comes to Christmas. I will do a post next week to showcase the festive decor I came up with this year. However, I'd like to introduce you now to the first ornament that was placed on our tree this year: Jimney Cricket! He is a special memento from our honeymoon in Walt Disney World this past September.

I'm very sorry to report that I cannot seem to find the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ornament which we also bought on our trip. I have not given up though! I'm still on the hunt for it so wish me luck.

Now then, I did manage to get a little crafty in our time apart. I work with three-year-olds at a daycare. When you are three and you are tired of scribbling all over your color sheet (and the table), you entertain yourself by snapping your crayons in half and peeling the paper off of them. The stripped and broken crayons below were annihilated in two and half months.

Lucky for these kiddos, Mrs. Miranda came to the rescue and made new multi-colored crayons. Thanks to a super easy tutorial I found on Pinterest, I had these suckers melted into new crayons in no time.

My kids had done the difficult (and most time-consuming) part for me - peeling the paper off. I bought a $4 mini cupcake tin at Kroger, sprayed each cup with vegetable oil, put my crayons in the cups and stuck it in the oven for 10 minutes at 250 degrees. After pulling them out of the oven, I found it most efficient to stick the batch in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Once you do that, the crayon slides right out of the pan.  

The kids loved them and I might have had some fun playing with them too. After Thanksgiving break, I am moving into the two-year-old room. Pray for me. Haha!

Bentley missed the blog world too. I thought you'd all enjoy seeing his furry face before we parted. So, what've you got to look forward to? Christmas crafts. Christmas decor. Christmas gifts. Oh! I can't wait!

See you then!
Miranda

How to Make: Salad in a Jar

As you may have been able to tell from my sporadic posts, my new job has been keeping me plenty busy. I'm working full time hours until Thanksgiving which has been an adjustment for our little family. It has meant eating a lot of crock pot dinners. It has meant R.J. having to learn how to clean to my standards - which he swears are impossible to meet. (He's just a baby) It has also meant that I have to fix two lunches for the next day instead of one for only R.J.

I'd like to share with you something that has been working out very well for us in fixing those lunches every day: Salads in a Jar!

Each week, I buy whatever pre-cut salad packs the grocery store happens to have on sale. I pull out my stash of quart-sized mason jars and fill the bottom with a squirt of salad dressing.

Next, I add a layer of vegetables on top of the salad dressing. (Note: This step is extremely important! By putting a layer of vegetables between the salad dressing and the lettuce, the lettuce will stay fresh and crisp!) To save time (which is in short supply at the moment), I buy the bags of vegetable which are already pre-cut.   

After arranging your layer of vegetables, stuff the rest of the jar with your pre-cut lettuce. Screw the lid on your mason jar and ta da! You've got salad in a jar.

Total time for me to make 10 salads in a jar from start to finish? 15 minutes. (Those pre-cut vegetables make a huge dent in this prep time for me!) Every day, I simply grabbed the jar out of the fridge and throw it into the lunchbox. Easy peasy!

And now, if you are curious as to which Christmas card won...CARD #1 will be circulating this year. Perhaps, one will land in your mailbox this holiday season. If you feel in love with one of the designs (which I hope you did!), all three will be listed in my Etsy shop tomorrow for purchase.

See ya later!
Miranda

Need your help!

Greetings readers!

It's that time of the year to pick out the Christmas card you will be mailing to friends and family. I'm not going to lie that I'm really excited to show these all to you because it means Christmas is that much closer!

After playing around with my Christmas card creations, I've narrowed it down to three designs. I need your help to chose which I should send out this holiday season. The inspiration for all three of these cards centers around the Christmas wrapping paper and gift bags I picked for this year. I gravitated to these colors this year and loved how modern it looked.

So, take a look and don't forget to vote!

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Do you see one you'd maybe like to use this year? Great! They will be posted in my Etsy shop next week for you to purchase for your family!

Which Christmas card is your favorite?
	Card #1
	Card #2
	Card #3
pollcode.com free polls

Thanks for your help!

Miranda

Mustaches, Graduation Caps and Business Cards: Etsy Shop Update!

Today, I wanted to post about some of the new and exciting things going on with my Etsy shop and my budding paper goods design business in general. I'd also like to share the story of how my humble little shop started.

My senior year of college, I took a class on InDesign at Georgia State University. It was a challenge, but it became a creative outlet for me. Naturally, I gravitate to crafting as my creative outlet. I've dabbed in a little bit of everything from scrapbooking (my personal favorite) to crochet. I've spent hours roaming the aisles of Hobby Lobby and Michaels - not to mention all of the money I've spent there too!

Through my class on InDesign, I was opened up to a whole new world of creativity with the weapon of choice being a computer program not paper, yarn or glue. After completing the class, my fascination and interest with the program continued. When it came time to select the invitations for our wedding, I decided to create my own!

Our guests loved them. After the warm reception and having so much fun designing them, I decided to try my hand at creating some more invitations and selling them in our Etsy shop. When we came home from our honeymoon, I hit the ground hard with it and managed to win a nice chunk of sales. 

Next year, I plan on participating in several craft shows to bring my creations to a new audience. To do so, I have been slowly building our craft show table and inventory as money allows. The first of it arrived in the mail this past week and I am beyond excited about it! And of course, I have to share it with you!

First up, are the business cards. I spent a whole day laboring over these business cards. I know that might be a little ridiculous, but I was determined for them to be perfect. I wanted something to somewhat match the look of this blog so I used the color scheme. I'm really happy with how they have turned out. Aren't they cute?!

Next, comes the boy baby shower mustache invitations. This design has been the most popular on Etsy which is why I chose it to be the first to be added to the inventory. I had the sample on the listing printed  which I plan on putting into a display book on the craft show booth. I created a fill-in-the-blank version of the invitation also which can be sold at the table. Lastly, the mustache invitation is completed by mustache envelope seals!

As you can see, I've started my little collection and can't wait to see it grow! So, what can you expect to see in the coming weeks? I've had some requests for graduation announcements. You'll see these grace our Etsy shop in the next few weeks. I've also been working on our Christmas line - starting with Christmas photo cards! I've almost completed the one for our family (maybe you'll find one in your mailbox in the coming weeks). 

After Thanksgiving, you'll see these cranked out. My work schedule is currently preventing steady progress on them right now. However, once Thanksgiving rolls around, I'll be able to devote more time to my shop! My plan is to devote any money made from these graduation and Christmas cards to building our craft show inventory.

My prayer is God continues to bless my little shop and allows me to continue to grow it! 

Until next time!

Miranda