So remember how I was designing a hoodie for my mom for Mother’s Day on Spreadshirt?
It came out exactly like the on-screen design! She loved it! It fit her perfectly and she thought it was pretty nifty how I also included the fur children on it. :) (To be honest, I have to compete with our black lab Madison for attention when I go home.)
I’m thinking about making one for my dad for Father’s Day, but I have yet to come up with the perfect design.
Brandon and I saw a sign this weekend that said, “9 Days ‘Til Mother’s Day” and I turned to him with huge deer-in-the-headlights eyes and said, “WHAT?!”
Time is sneaking up on me. I’m not sure what I’m getting my mom yet this year, but I’m going to put together a little (affordable) gift guide in case you are in the same boat I’m in—a last minute, oops-I-can’t-keep-track-of-the-month boat.
Stay tuned! :)
(The picture above is my mom when she was a little pipsqueak herself. Little did she know that I would be just as—if not more—mischievous than her!)
This Valentine’s Day, I don’t want flowers.
Let me tell you also that even if you’re single, you shouldn’t feel like you’re left out of the game. Buy yourself something amazing. One of the most important things to realize in life, I believe, is that you should never be defined by your significant other or lack thereof. If you are your own best cheerleader, then you will have a step up over a lot of other people and will be happier for it. The trick is to have a significant other that you don’t need to “fix” to make work, that doesn’t need to fix you and is just a compliment of everything you already are.
Well, preachy paragraph above aside, send yourself something fabulous for Valentine’s Day. Send it to your office, actually. Don’t lie and say it’s from a “secret lover,” either. If you’re single, say, “I’m a grown-up and buy things for myself.” If you have a significant other, show them this post. Either way, don’t be afraid to express what you want! If you hate Valentine’s Day, order pizza and watch Apocalypse Now. If you love Valentine’s Day but hate flowers, don’t ask for flowers. Gift giving just to conform to expected cliches is so cliche. Stop and think about what you really want to do, give and get.
What that being said, here’s what I’d like for Valentine’s Day!
I’m kind of over flowers, if you couldn’t tell. For $80, you can sure get a lot of other nice things that won’t die in a week and get thrown in the trash. If you do decide to get flowers, please stop at a local market, local florist or Whole Foods and pick up flowers for less than $15. Do not get suckered in to the commercial ridiculousness that is FTD, Flowers.com, 1-800-Flowers, etc.
Let’s explore my alternate gift ideas! (P.S. Brandon asked me the other night what I wanted. I usually never make lists of what I want for holidays or birthdays, but he begged me, so voila.)
Total: $91
Compare the $91 above to $91 of overpriced, FedEx’d flowers:
I’ll take the lotion, please!
One of My Favorite Christmas Movies (That You’ve Never Heard Of)
One Special Night was a TV movie made for CBS with Julie Andrews (love!) and James Garner (also love!). It’s a little cheesy, but it’s so heart-warming and Christmasy and is a really lovely story. It’ll become one of your new favorites, I promise!
P.S. I feel so old. I feel like I JUST watched this on CBS and apparently it aired in 1999. Eek!
You better watch out or she’ll put you on the naughty list!
(Taken driving home to Virginia for Christmas, 2007)
P.S. Let’s all take a second and mourn the loss of the french manicure. K, I’m over it!
Kent Envelopes with Red Liner
Kent Envelopes with Silver Liner
I just picked up these amazing Crane & Co. Kent envelopes for our Christmas cards! I couldn’t decide between the silver and red liner, so I bought one of each!
I got them at this amazing stationary store called Downs Engravers & Stationers about four-ish blocks from my office. I nearly got side-tracked by the Kate Spade journals and Moleskine planners, but I stayed the course.
A fellow Jaclyn (yay!) wrote me:
I’ve got a 15 year old sister and I’m having trouble shopping for her christmas gift. At 15, she’s not only way more stylish than I was at her age, but way more stylish than I am now (I’m 28). I guess I’m looking for clothes and/or accessories.. She tends to wear a lot of anthropologie and urban outfitters, if that helps!
First let me preface this by saying that these gifts are very. grown-up. gifts. I would gladly welcome any or all of these lovely accessories under the tree Christmas morning, and I’m sure your sister will love them too!
P.S. Those gloves especially—so adorable!
Here’s what Intretorr asked:
I have a couple suggestions for you!
None of these work? Let me know and I’ll find something else for you!
Brooke wrote me:
I am hoping you can help me find a pretty and festive holiday headband. I’m not talking green and red, but sparkly and fabulous!!!
Didn’t you know?! Sparkly and fabulous are my specialty!
Here are my favs:
If you prefer, check out some of these pretty handmade ones from Etsy:
Like Jessica said, the commercialism/consumerism at Christmas can cause a lot of bitterness and anxiety. I feel sick when I see people buying gifts way above their means for people they don’t really care about it in the hopes of impressing their elegance or appreciation for luxury. In the midst of all these $500 spending sprees, you lose a little bit of what makes gift giving so special in the first place—the fact that someone is so important to you that you want to express it with a token of affection.
Tokens don’t have to be $500 TVs or $200 pashminas that will be worn once and thrown in the back of a closet somewhere.
In fact, homemade gifts are sometimes the most cherished because of the time and thoughtfulness that goes into each and every aspect.
Martha Stewart (god of crafts and decorating) has a great collection of homemade Christmas gifts on her website and I’d like to share a couple of my favorites with you.
Match it to your family or friend’s home decor for extra brownie points.
(Note: Martha recommends making your own bath fizzies. If you’re not up to the task like me, simply visit your local T.J. Maxx, Marshalls or ROSS and pick up a few pretty soaps, bath salts, etc. and place them in customized holders like the ones seen above. You can find jars like this at your local craft store or Michael’s.)
With a few different shades of Rit Dye, cheap wooden beads and some cord, you can make a bunch of necklaces in a friend’s favorite color.
A pack of hair pins costs less than $1 at a local pharmacy or Target. Add a faux flower or two, maybe some pearls or even feathers. You’ll get tons of ideas walking through your local Michael’s. Trust me!
P.S. If you don’t have a hot glue gun, ask around! I guarantee you know somebody that has one you can borrow.
And for my favorite idea (this one’s from Real Simple, sorry Martha):
I received a family recipe book as a wedding gift from my family and—oh my. It was by far my favorite gift. It had my great grandma’s recipes in there—my grandma’s chili, even stuff from my mom! It was so special!
Make one of your own with materials from a craft store (and it doesn’t have to be this fancy, trust me) and you will definitely hit the jackpot Christmas morning.
This is the kind of gift that you’ll cherish forever and pass on to your children!
Do you have any favorite homemade gifts to give/receive?
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