Holiday Crafts & Gifts at The Lavender House

The Lavender House at 779 East Pole Rd in Lynden, Wa has a beautiful selection of holiday items for sale. We have our earring cards and handcrafted holiday cards on display there along with tons of other beautiful handcrafted items by other local artisans. The Lavender House is a renovated old farm house that is actually lavender. Karen, the owner, has done a beautiful job of capturing the holiday spirit with all her excellent displays. Just walking in the door makes you feel the Christmas spirit. The lavender house will be open every weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) until Christmas. My mom and stopped by and couldn't resist getting some of our own goodies for the holiday season. The prices are wonderful and the selection is great. If you are coming from Bellingham, just take Hannegan Rd all the way out and then take a left on Pole Rd. The house is on the left at the top of a little hill. They will be open 10am to 5pm Friday and Saturday and from 12pm-4pm on Sundays.

Creative Kids Christmas Presents

Every year since my first son was 1 we have come up with a Christmas presents the kids can make. I feel it is so important for them to have the joy of giving at Christmas. Especially something they have made with their own two hands. Every year I have the pleasure of watching them present their family and friends with their creations. You can see the pride on their faces when they say they have made it all by themselves. I remember having that same pride as a child. My mom and I would always come up with something I could make that was affordable and not too time consuming but really cool in my eyes.

For the last couple of years my boys have made tie dyed socks for everyone. We would pick the really heavy duty socks that you want to wear around the house and I would get those great kits from the craft store that have all the dyes in bottles you can squirt out. It was a challenge to make the two socks match each other and we had fun trying out different methods. Last year my son Mason actually drew pictures on each sock with something he thought the person liked. It turned out great. The socks held up great and we didn’t have any incidents with the laundry turning colors.

This year we are trying something different. The boys are creating specialty hot chocolate that we are going to package and stick in mugs. We have spent the last month and a half collecting cool coffee cups from thrift stores. We plan on doing different flavored hot chocolate. So far our favorite is the Cinnamon Hot Chocolate. We designed labels with instructions and their names on it so we can mark each flavor. We are also going to dip wooden stir sticks in chocolate so the Hot Chocolate can be served with it. The mugs have been fun to choose for the different people. I am amazed at how accurate the kids are in picking mugs. Each boy is picking someone in a couple. Mason is doing his Uncle and Cody is doing his Aunt. I look forward to putting the whole thing together. We have been doing it in phases the kids don’t get burned out. I have found that they do best when we only work on one thing for about a half hour. Then it stays fun. I will make sure to post some pictures when we get it all put together.

Kids Pick! Custom Firehouse Playhouse

My kids and I were browsing the toy selection at Etsy.com and came across the coolest thing ever. We found this custom firehouse playhouse that goes over a card table. It has so many wonderful details and extras. You can customize it with your name, color and city. There is removable mail and apples. It is made from eco friendly felt.

The playhouse is available in lots of different themes like fairy cottage, princess, and post office. The feedback for this product is amazing and the whole item is hand stitched.

If you think this is something you would LOVE to have please contact http://www.missprettypretty.etsy.com/ before the 5th of November because she is going to stop taking orders for the holidays by then.

Penguin Holiday Card... Perhaps I will pick this one

Here is my newest painting turned into a card. I love all the fun colors so now I can't decide which one to use for my holiday card. The penguin or the snowman? Maybe I should paint another one with both the penguin and snowman. It is available in our shop http://www.gwynnsgifts.com/ and if you are interested in purchases a larger quantity for the holidays we would be happy to give you a discount.

It feels good to get it OUT! My new Christmas Paintings

Last month or so I brought my paintings into a imaging store and meet the man who runs it. He loved my work. I have never heard it call "my work" before so I thought that was really cool. I wanted my paintings turned into greeting cards and he did an amazing job. He matched the colors perfectly and they turned out wonderful. I have just been in for my third trip and picked up the cards from paintings I did for Christmas. I wanted them to have a holiday theme but I wanted something very colorful and cheery. I love the way the snowman turned out and that he looks so happy. I think I am going to use him for our family holiday card. I also am very pleased with my PINK Christmas tree. I always thought it would be cool to have a pink Christmas tree. I have got them listed on our etsy site http://www.gwynnsgifts.com/ and I hope they do well. I am also thinking of bringing them around to the local stores to see if maybe they want to stock them for the holidays. I just finished a really colorful penguin painting that I will share with you when I pick it back up. I would love to hear what you think about the cards.

These stunning items were created using age-old process of gravity casting and forging. The artist behind these pieces is Karen at http://www.kdemarte.etsy.com/ Each piece is a incredible process of carving the mold, pouring in molten metal, filing, adding texture, hammering, antiquing and then hand polishing. With each piece you know you are getting the heart and soul of the artist. These delightful handcrafted items would make a perfect holiday gift for those in your life who appreciate the hardwork and time that goes into each item.

Flirty Fun Aprons

I came across this delightful apron today and just had to share it with you. I would have never believed an apron could make you look hot but Joan at http://www.momomadeit.etsy.com/ has created aprons that do just that. They look wonderful and serve such a great purpose. Her store has a wonderful variety of aprons for all occasion and lots of fun styles. Please stop by her shop and check out all the stunning choices.

The Holidays are Around the Corner

Here is our handcrafted greeting cards that we are offering to personalize for the holidays. We are planning on including your holiday story, your return address and the postage on each envelope so all that has to be done is for you to address it. It is available at our store located at www.gwynnsgifts.com.