My Handmade Nursery - QuietudeQuilts

I have been in baby land for the past couple of months, but now that my son is almost 4 months, I've gotten into a routine and wanted to highlight some of the great handmade finds I have found for his nursery!

My first Handmade Nursery Find is from Quietude Quilts on Etsy.com. Her cute "Tiny Forests" are just adorable and come in all different colors and prints.

I loved the black and white high contrast prints. My son is only still very young, so I'll have to wait till he can add them to his play repertoire, but they look lovely just adorning his bookshelf until then.

You can see more of her Tiny Forests and other wonderful handmade items at her shop on Etsy.com.

Handmade Gifts Under $10

On the 12th day of Christmas, My true love gave to me..
Wonderful handmade perfect gifts for anyone for just under $10!

These lovely Birch tree printed coasters by Redbirdink

These fun & funky Gocco printed birds by Platypusfile

How about a towel that says it all, by Paintedpearstudio

This beautiful recycled note set by Pachysandrapaper

A perfect felted bowl for all your goodies by Moonflowercreations

And this darling paper bird hanging made by Lorenzkraft

All on my wish list this Christmas season!

Snow Fight

On the 11th Day of Christmas, My true love gave to me...
Fun and whimsical hats to wear for our snow fight!!

We can get this fun beard hat for your brother made by Brennagunderson

And this beautiful white pom pom hat is perfect for mom! made by Chicksale

The kids can be decked out in these fun monkey hats by Cottonhead

And of course we can't forget Fido, This caroler outfit is perfect! By Mattionline

What a day of Fun and good times we'll have in our fun hats!!

Snuggle Up

On the 8th Day of Christmas, My true love gave to me...
Perfect Snuggle Up gifts to keep us all toasty n warm!

Like these wool slippers made by Quiltery

This beautiful jewel tone quilt by ClothScapes

This adorable fantastic fox coat by LittleGoodall

And these snuggly organic pajamas by Snugorganics

All handmade items to keep your family toasty and warm this holiday!

Kitchen Goodies

On the fifth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
Perfect Kitchen Goodies for anyone on your list!

Like these beautiful wood insturuments including a toast tong, my favorite, made by Goodwoodshoppe

These lovely printed towels by Madderroot

This perfect sponge holder, I love these..By Mudpuppypotteryworks

and this charming pig teapot by Rith

Your kitchen will be the talk of the neighborhood with these perfect additions!

Trimming The Tree

On the fourth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
Beautiful ornaments to deck the halls and trees!

Like these amazing wood snowflakes by Timbergreenwoods

This cool and colorful recycled ball by Colorstorydesigns

This beautiful Metal "Hope" ornament made by FTTDesign

And these charming moss in a bottle ornaments by 31Summers

All to make your tree sparkle and shine this season!

Sweets n Treats

On the Third Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..
Yummy Sweets n Treats for this Happy Holiday!

Like these peppermint goodies from Sweetmelissasmn

And some warm cocoa from Mywinterwonderland

How about some yummy toffees from Thechocolatesmith

And some marshmellowy goodness made by Hollyhollow

OOh..What a yummy Season it is!!!

Decorating The Home

On the Second day of Christmas, My true love gave to me..
Wonderful handmade items to decorate my home this Season!

Like these playful printed garlands by Flagsandtags!

And this lovely wreathe made by Fayemarie

Stuff this very cool stocking by Chickadeeshop

And dress your tree with this beautiful tree skirt by Loveelaine

All perfect items for decorating your home this Holiday Season!

Holiday Card Cheer

On the 1st Day of Christmas, My true love gave to me...
Beautiful Cards to share with my Family & Friends and Spread Holiday Cheer!

Like these colorful Holiday letter cards by Zeppe!

Or this whimsical handdrawn set by RobEdwardsArt!

How about these beautiful letterpress cards by KrankPress!


And these lovely printed cards by BlushDesignStudio!


All sure to spread some Love & Cheer this Season!

12 days Of Christmas

Celebrate the Holiday Season with the 12 Days of Christmas
Featuring Lovely Handmade Gift Ideas from Etsy.com for your
Friends & Family This Year!

Each day I will choose some of my Etsy.com favorites to showcase pertaining to a specific theme. the 12 days will include-

Dec 1- Holiday Card Cheer
Dec 2 - Decorating the Home
Dec 3- Sweets n Treats
Dec 4 - Trimming the Tree
Dec 5 - Kitchen Goodies
Dec 6 - Hearth n Home
Dec 7 - Toys n Play
Dec 8 - Snuggle Up
Dec 9 - For Your Man
Dec 10 - Alittle Bling
Dec 11 - Snow Fight
Dec 12 - Gifts under $10

Shopping Starts tomorrow!

Holiday Gift Wrap Ideas

The Holiday is coming up quick and that means it's time to wrap lots of presents! Oh the choices we have! Let's think of some fun ones, you may already have materials in your house to do..
First, try and use up all your leftover wrap from last year before buying more. I'll treat myself sometimes and buy 1 roll to use that's new to add in. Try and find recycled gift wrap. It's out there! And it's important to try and use recycled everything when you can. Just be sure and read the labels.

Good other materials you can use for giftwrap are:
- Using newspaper with nice twine or bright ribbons to offset the neutral color
- Leftover wall paper (untreated on the back)
-Try using a recycled magazine, take out the staples and use the sheets as wrap. This can be a fun glossy brightly colored alternative!
- Print designs on kraft paper - You can use fabric you may have. Play with wrapping it like a big candy and tying ribbon at both ends, or maybe using safety pins to adds some details?
- To make packages more fun, wrap gifts in various styles and designs.

Good materials to use for ribbons are:
-Any ribbons leftover from last years packages, reuse!
-Ribbon, lace or fabric you may have. -Raffia, paper ribbon
-Yarns work amazing! Use a fun novelty one!

Once you have the ribbons, add on:
-Any ornaments you may have you can pass along to a friend or family member
-A small toy, little decorations of any kind or bells
-Cinnamon sticks, Dried flowers, Holly or evergreen sprigs

When the package is just about ready, we need a tag!
-Make your own easily by cutting out paper and hand writing a note
-Use a stamp you can buy at a craft store that says TO and FROM, use on anything!
-Use sticker labels, using less paper and adheres easily to the paper.

Gift wrapping can be fun! Put on some Christmas music and spend the evening with a nice cup of tea and wrap away!

My CPSIA Labeling Law Solution

Well, as many small businesses that create children or baby toys or products have learned, the CPSIA has created the need for "track labels", where the manufacturer now has to have labels that can be used to track merchandise, show when it was made, where it's from, etc. That way the manufacturer can know what materials were used when, if there should ever be an issue with a product. To read more about this law visit..http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/sect103.html

So in light of this, I had to come up with a way I could abide by the law and not spend too much money. Since I'm a hands on person, I decided to continue as I have been, and stamp my own tags!

Before, I had just stamped my company name on the fabric tape and sewed it in. Now I do the same process, but have created a much larger stamp...

-I first, designed a tag template on adobe photoshop, any design software would work.
-I measured the tape and decided how large I wanted the tag to be, and then designed accordingly.
-I uploaded my design to an online stamp company and ordered it, it was very simple and inexpensive.
-I then located a fabric stamp ink pad online that can be heat set to be made permanent. For the separate small initial and date stamps, I just cut up some small translucent/clear stamps you can find at any local craft store in their stamp section.(After everything, not including the twill tape, I spent about $25-30 on stamping materials, but will have them to use for a very long time, so it's not a bad way to go!)

I wanted my name/logo on one side and when folded, the tag would have the rest of the information, such as-

- materials used
- city, state, it was manufactured in
- item id
- date of manufacturing, which was determined to be once the product was finished
I would then stamp the date and item id separate. Above, you can see the tag laying flat open not folded as it would be sewn in to an item. The item ID is "W" and the date of manufacturing of DOM is A9, which to me is August 2009. It unfortunately takes more time than my previous tags, printing the item and dates, but is legal and has more information for the consumer.