Hellooooo Monday!

Today and tomorrow we’re taking a short break from the gift guides to bring you some holiday card ideas. Today’s edition features cards you can find on Etsy – some are single cards, most are sets. Take a look:

Candy Cane 4 pack ($15) by Darling Clementine

Letterpress Gone Fishing Holiday Cards, set of 8 ($15) by LookyLoo

Letterpress Damsel, set of 8 ($15) by LookyLoo

Hanukkah Menorah, set of 6 ($18) by Foxy & Winston

Snowflake Girl Letterpress and Reindeer Bear Letterpress, sets of 8 ($18) by Fugu Fugu Press

Red Bulb ($3.50) and Candy Cane ($3.50) by Gold Teeth

Woodland Panoramic Scene, set of 8 ($16) by Modern Printed Matter

Stitched Holiday Owls, set of 3 ($8) by Polka Dot Shop
Christmas Blossoms Greeting Card ($3.60) by tsktsk

Christmas Parade cards, set of 10 ($18) by Lila B
Custom designed Holiday cards by Ollie Graphic

Baubles, set of 4 ($6 – free shipping for two or more packs) by Mrs. Eliot Books

Ok, I have to confess: I adore that Snowflake girl card by Fugu Fugu Press. I also really love the Woodland Panoramic Scene by Modern Printed Matter and the Red Bulb card by Gold Teeth (a favorite shop at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this summer).

What about you? Have any favorites?

I need all of my friends to start having babies right away, because I  have a lot of baby gift ideas…

Custom name plate ($60) by ninainvorm
Kanoe Baby Hammock ($290) by studioleroux

Chubby Night Owl ($21) by rabbitsmoon
Baby spoons ($22 each) by beehivekitchenware

Number Pipeline Print ($25) by ModernPop
Flock Organic Cotton Baby Quilt ($44.50) by Organic Quilt Company

Happy Cloud t-shirt ($12) by Jen Skelley
Lovely Lilac Snookie with personalization ($40) by Chickabiddybaby

Elf Hat ($16) by Mani-Mina
Eames Rocker Baby Name Birth Date Keepsake Print ($35) by prettymod

Modern Striped Candy Cane Stocking ($25) by MissMosh
Pear Tree Wall Art ($38) by Almost Sunday

Mix n Match Fruit Hats (Pick 3 for $60) by LA Originals
Wooli Felt Garden Diaper Caddy ($49) by BabiesBreath

Custom Silhouette Ornament ($30) by lepapierstudio
Deer in the Woods Growth Chart ($84) by Anna Joyce

Custom cloth blocks ($50 for set of 3, each additional block $10) by SmidgeboxDesign

♥ ♥ ♥

Is it Friday already? It’s been an especially fun week here – thanks to all of you for your kind comments, which we love reading.

The beauty of these gift guides is that if you really liked them, you can bookmark them for anytime you need gift ideas (and not just gifts for the holidays). Right? Karin and I both added a lot of new Etsy shops to our favorites.

Next week we’re starting the week off with some holiday card ideas, then we’ve got a whole lotta stocking stuffer fun, and finally, gifts for the person who has it all.

See you on Monday!

Ok, you’re right. We had just as much fun picking out these gifts for little boys as we did for yesterday’s little girls’ gift guide.

Tell us if there’s anything you especially love in today’s guide – we’d love to know.

Aqua Cowboy Print ($30) by jenskelley
Bear Woodland Set ($80) by small town toys

The Beep Beep Car Stamp Set ($18) by The Small Object
Bernie the Monster t-shirt ($28.50) by NissaLisa

Blast Off Finger Puppet set ($35) by stay awake
Say Cheese Vintage Camera t-shirt ($20) by b children’s wear

Treasure Chest ($55) by Illustrious Rose
Organic Cotton Circle Wooden Toy Boat ($19) by willowbaus

Lemon Ball Vintage-style Baseball ($28) by Lemon Ball
Special Edition Winter Boy Doll ($104.25) by hasenpfeffer

Gertrude the Goldfish ($7 each) by MiChiMa
Tiny Friend print ($25) by KidsHaus

Zoo Blocks, set of 13 with drawstring bag ($30) by tiny giraffe
Little Hero Cape ($42) by Discovery Denim

Of course, pretty much all of these gifts work for little girls too.

Tomorrow: We’re going a little crazy with the Gifts for Babies guide. We can’t help ourselves.

Karin and I have three girls between us. No boys. We’re all girlie, all the time, so we especially loved picking out today’s gift guide.

How can you resist any one of these items? That’s right, you can’t.

Forest Friends Satchel ($30) by Mee a Bee
Custom Kid Portrait on Canvas ($165) by LittlePinkHouse

Chickadee shirt ($22) by 1girl1boy
“Hannah” notecards set of 12 ($12) by Peony Paperie

Apple Maryjane Flats ($20) by Utopiapedia
Hayride Ruffle Cape in Tweed ($60) by red possum

Caterpillar and assorted hair clips ($5) by Sun Drop Clips
Nahla Bear with Coloring Book Set ($57) by all things small

Forest Critters Reusable Wall Stickers ($74.50) by Mae
Felted Flower Fairy ($30) by FairyFolk

Mary Had a Little Unicorn, 8 x 8 print ($20) by Helen Dardik
Nest. Sweet Nest, wool bird in a cotton nest ($25) by Sugar Elf

The Sasha Dress ($22) by Mani-Mina
Bunny and Radish, 8.5 x 11″ print ($20) by yumiyumi

Which is your favorite? I’ll confess: I bought one thing (so far!) in today’s gift guide. I can’t tell you which – but it’s more fun to guess anyway. (Ok, if you ask me on Twitter, I’ll tell you!)

Tomorrow: rats and snails and puppy dog tails.

Do you struggle to find interesting gifts for the guys in your life? So do we. We hope this Gifts for Him guide helps.

iPhone Sleeve and Wallet ($39) by Joli Originals
Espresso Cups and Saucers with Stingray Bike, Set of Two ($60) by Circa Ceramics

Hortence J. Pacadorf 8 x 10 print ($15) by Grand Ole Bestiary
“Breakfast” t-shirt ($22) by Moth Written

Wall Topo in Olive No. 14, 8 x 10 ($20) by Crafterall
College Bag, Black Top ($65) by Badimyon

World Atlas Bowl ($125) by Bombus
Dual iPod and iPhone Docking Station ($119) by Woodtec

Mustache Pint Glasses, set of 4 ($52) by Bread and Badger
Pine St. Wool Scarf in Cherry ($40) by Mr. Sköna

Star Wars Poster for Minimalists, 11.5″ x 16.5″ ($29) by Graphic Nothing
Fishing with Dog letterpress card ($8) by Old School Stationers

Tomorrow: Gifts for Little Girls! Hooray!

Happy Monday!

Today we’re kicking off our Handmade Holiday Gift Guides, which we will feature for the next two weeks. Karin and I have had a lot of fun picking out handmade items mostly from Etsy but also from Paper N Stitch, Craftsbury Kids, and Mahar Dry Goods. (Certainly not an exhaustive list of places where you can buy handmade items).

The first of our gift guides – and probably the biggest because we’re experts in this category (!) – is Gifts For Her. We hope these ideas give you some inspiration for your holiday gift giving.

The Letter Bag ($118) by Moop
The Orange Book print ($18) by LilyMoon

Bird Cupcake Stand ($38) by Whitney Smith Pottery
Pink and Cream Plaid Set of 4 Notecards ($7.50) by Olive Manna

Amoeba in an Oval Necklace ($35) by Starving Artist Bazaar
Chalk Cloth Table Topper ($21) by Modern June

Clouds Are Raining Happily Medium-Sized Pitcher/Jug ($35) by Ninainvorm
Block-printed Medium Lampshade – “Minileaves” ($80) by Home Sweet

Letterpress Recipe Cards and Recipe Box ($46) by 1canoe2
“Today is Awesome” print ($20) by The Small Object

“Birdies on Chairs” Fabric ($8.50 for a fat quarter) by Scarlet Fig
Personalized Loveheart Notecards, Set of 12 ($18) by modernemotive

Low Wide Coper Bowl ($200) by Jill Rosenwald
Little Black House ($30) by Nora Aoyagi

Dachshund Wall Hanging, two 8 x 10 panels ($45) by BellaBlu Designs
Bird Planter ($48) by PrettyRandomObjects

Wide Collar Wrapped Blouse ($93) by Moon Circus
Brown and White Striped Vintage Ribbon Belt ($25) by Jessie Chapman

See anything you liked?

Tomorrow: Gifts for Him

Halloween parades are fun.

Is it time to open the bags of Halloween candy yet? I could use a Butterfinger.

I rustled up some old Halloween photos of me (of which there aren’t too many), Rolando, and the girls.

Kindergarten. Scary witch mask!

First grade. That’s me in the polka dot clown costume facing the camera. Do you see me? My town mixed a bunch of candy into a pile of hay in front of the five and dime store, and then had all the kids scramble for it. Who thought THAT was a good idea?

Rolando and his sister Diana. Scariest clown ever. The stuff of nightmares.

Fourth grade. You have no idea how proud I was of this costume, which I made all by myself. To clarify, the color in this photo stinks, because the two sides you see are orange and pink (and not both pink).

Nice bangs!

Punk rock love in California.

Valley Girl love in Indiana. (That’s me on the far left. My sister spray painted polka dots into my hair.)

Elena as Snow White’s evil stepmother. Rosa as a butterfly.

Waiting for it to get dark.

Elena as Pippi Longstocking.

From last year, Elena as a sushi roll and Rosa as Super Mario.

This is the first year I won’t be making any part of their costumes. Their grandmother bought them flamenco dresses in Spain, which they wanted to wear for Halloween. Pictures to follow soon.

I hope everyone has a fantastic, warm and sunny Halloween filled with only the best candy (i.e. no Good n Plenty!)

***

Starting to think about the holidays?

Karin and I have been collecting our favorite gift ideas. Starting on Monday, we’re bumping our regularly scheduled blog posts for two weeks’ worth of handmade holiday gift and stocking stuffer guides and as well as a holiday card round-up. Stay tuned! Lots of fun and pretty things for you to see!

Just as a follow up to my 2010 calendar round-up, I wanted to share some pics from Night Owl Paper Goods and their Critter Calendar, which I already own and adore, and the Pattern Calendar, which is also lovely.

I love the April duckies and the August otter.

The calendars (as well as many of their single notecards/postcards) are printed on eco-friendly yellow birch wood which has been sustainably harvested (yay!).

Here’s the Pattern Calendar:

I especially love those blue/green/yellow flowers of October.

If you follow them on Twitter, they often have one day sales which you can take advantage of, and visit the sale section of their website for some really good deals.

Night Owl also designs for Tiny Prints. You might remember that not long after Christmas last year, I totally fell in love with these Valentine’s Day cards:

So, yeah, I’m pretty much a big fan of Night Owl. Can you tell?

In the market for return address labels, a stamp or embosser? My recommendations:

• Erin Condren large address labels. I’ve mentioned these before. I love them because they’re huge (2.5″). You can get them in many different styles and colors from the website.
• The “Katie” self-inking rubber stamp by Lettergirl. She also has several different styles, but “Katie” is my fave.

Embossing samples by Wilshire Graphic Press, where I got my embosser. Pick a design, pick a layout, and they make it into your own custom embosser. It’s cool and looks great especially on big round metallic-colored stickers!

I don’t own either of these, but if/when I am in the market for new labels, these designs from Tiny Prints are at the top of my list. (“Christmas Wishes” by Tallu-lah on the left and “Bright Days” by Good on Paper on the right).

Another place that has really interesting address labels is iomoi – take a look.

Stay tuned for more: I will share a round-up of holiday address labels in the next couple of weeks.