Fave Five: Gift Guide For Her

If you're at all like me, you only tackled about 10% of your holiday gift shopping this past weekend. I did shop a couple online sales, but I still have a lot left to do! I'm terribly indecisive when it comes to shopping for others. So, I've been scouring gift guides for ideas and thought I'd make my own as well. 

Above are five lovely gifts for your mom, your sister, your best friend, any lady in your life. Next week I'll tackle some gift ideas for guys! Below are the links to these fabulous items....

1) Navy Polka Dot & Leather Foldover Clutch from rouge and whimsy

2) Brass Arrow Triangle Earrings from of matter

3) Sodashop Dress from Madewell

4) Azteca Raglan from Choke Shirt Co

5) Mini Planters in Neon Pink, Set of 5 from Wind and Willow Home

How about you, have you finished (or come close to finishing) your holiday shopping yet? If your answer is yes, do you mind explaining to me how you did that? :)

-Megan

Black Friday thru Cyber Monday Sale (and an Etsy Sale Gift Guide)!

It's Black Friday! Instead of hitting the long lines at big retail stores, I like to curl up with a cup of coffee and my computer and shop the online sales. And I'm having one of my own! Now through Cyber Monday, every order will receive free shipping with the coupon code HOLIDAYFREESHIP. This is a once-a-year sale so go take advantage at my shop!

And while you're there, you may want to check out a few other sales from Etsy shops this weekend! Below is my guide to a few can't-miss shops to kick off your holiday gifting...

Recipe: Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats & I'm Back (Again!)

Hello there! So sorry for the blogging hiatus once again... it's hard to have time to post when I'm so busy with my shop and work! (I'm gearing up for a big Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale in my shop... details tomorrow!!)

I've had a lot of recipes and projects I've wanted to share, so hopefully I'll get back on track and start posting regularly again. Today I have another easy dog treat recipe to share with you all -- do I spoil my pooches or what? Read below for the super easy recipe...

Fave Five: Indie Artisans Collection

This month my button up neckwarmer is featured on Indie Artisans as part of their Thanksgiving inspired collection. There are so many amazing handmade products featured on their site this month! So for this edition of fave five, I'm sharing a few of my favorites from the collection. Check them out below...

Recipes: Butternut Squash Bisque & Pumpkin Seeds

I'd like to go on record and say that fall is my favorite season. It used to be winter, when I was a kid, because of Christmas and my birthday in December. Then it was summer (lazy days of no school and vacations? yes please) but now that I'm all grown up and stuff, it's definitely fall. The weather has been beautiful, the leaves are changing, and I have been cooking some delicious recipes...

Review: Lovely Little Journals from Subtle Acts

A couple weeks ago I won Subtle Act's fall gift pack giveaway, and I was thrilled to receive these three beautiful journals! Organizing my life and business is a constant struggle for me (I am by nature messy and cluttered), and so these journals are helping me fight the battle :)

Read on for more about these lovely journals and where you can get your own...

Recipe: Dog Treats, Puppy Pumpkin Pies

Hello again! It's been almost two weeks since I last posted... between orders in my shop and extra hours at work, I just haven't had the time! I'm back today with a recipe for the canines in your life. This dog treat recipe is perfect for this time of year -- puppy pumpkin pies! These are yummy and healthy for your dog, as pumpkin helps to regulate digestion. Read on below for how easy these are to make...

Fave Five: Wedding Trends

Even though I've been married over a year now, I still love looking at wedding inspiration. I blame Pinterest. I do have an excuse though -- both my sister and sister-in-law are getting married next summer, so my slight obsession with wedding decor, dresses, etc. can have an outlet. Above are five of my favorite current wedding trends...

1) Eclectic reception table centerpieces via Ruffled Blog

2) Vintage inspired wedding dresses via Ruche

3) Braided knot bridal hairstyles via Whimsical Wonderland Weddings

4) Nature inspired invitations via Martha Stewart Weddings

5) Mismatched (yet coordinating) bridesmaid dresses via Love and Lavender

Ah, if I could do it again... I'd elope. Just kidding, I loved planning all the details of our wedding and reception (which was kickass by the way). But it was stressful, and I'd never do it again. 

Hope you're having a great week!

-Megan

DIY: Mini Cards Tutorial

Today I'm sharing a quick and inexpensive way to make personalized mini cards. I love sending out a quick handwritten thank you note with all orders from my shop, and mini cards are great for this! Making them myself is an added personal touch, and as a bonus, can be really inexpensive. Read on for how I made the above cards...

Holiday Sneak Peek!

I'm really excited to share a sneak peak of some new holiday knits with you... In a week or two, I hope to have these up and ready for sale in my shop! I'll be launching holiday ornaments including Santa hats, mittens, and stockings... as well as a couple other designs that I've got up my sleeve :)

I promise my Christmas tree isn't actually up yet... I just used the top third of it for picture taking purposes. It is now safely stowed away again until after Thanksgiving :)

 Happy Wednesday!
-Megan

Fave Five: Giveaways!

Image / Print via Little Natty

As I mentioned yesterday, this week I'm hosting giveaways here at 20 Best Twenty and as part of a fall giveaway pack here at Violet's Buds.  In keeping with this trend (and with the above statement... how awesome does it feel to win something beautiful and handmade for free?!) here are five of my favorite giveaways that are going on right now. Hurry up and enter because they are ending really soon! You better believe I've already entered all of these...

Free Knitting Pattern: Easy Chunky Knit Beanie Hat

Are temperatures cooling down where you are? Here in Missouri we have actually had a frost overnight for the past two days! It's definitely time to start bundling up in some cute and cozy accessories. Today I'm sharing a free knitting pattern for a basic beanie hat. Using chunky yarn, this hat knits up really quickly, and is sure to keep you or a friend cozy this fall and winter! I've included instructions for both a men's and women's beanie below...

Pre-Weekend

Image via CMYBacon

If the above saying is true, then I usually do a pretty good job deciding how to allot my time. Today I wasted some time and cleaned though. I spent a lot of time today preparing for this weekend, so I decided the best word for today was pre-weekend. Or maybe preekend...

DIY: Halloween Costume Ideas

I've always had a blast dressing up for Halloween! In the past I've been everything from a lion (above -- and yes, that is my hair, teased out and pinned around my face as a mane!) to Edward Scissorhands, to Woody Allen (partner costume, one of my bffs was Annie Hall), to a "walk-of-shame" (think messy hair, smeared mascara, high heels with a cute going out top... and boxer shorts!). The lion was the most fun, but it was a real pain -- literally -- un-lion-mane-ing my hair the next day :)

Anyway, Halloween is less than 4 weeks away, so it's time to start brainstorming costume ideas! Last year my husband and I didn't do anything for Halloween (the soccer team he coaches had a game that night) and this year I'm bound and determined that we hit the town in style.

Half the fun of a Halloween costume, in my opinion, is making it! So here is a round-up of awesome DIY Halloween costumes from around the web...

Fave Five: Vintage Blues

Image via CountryDreaming

Lately I've been digging blue hues... I know autumn is all about warm colors, but there's also something about that bright blue sky as a backdrop to the yellows and oranges of autumn! (How stunningly gorgeous is the photo above, by the way?!) So below are five of my favorite blue vintage finds...

Business Cards

Washi tape business cards via mint design blog

So a couple weeks ago I bought a Groupon for Vistaprint -- $17 for $70 worth of products! -- with the goal in mind of stocking up on business cards...

DIY: Aromatic Fall Home / Happy October!

This is kind of ridiculously simple, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a DIY... but it's a quick and inexpensive tip to make your home smell like autumn amazing-ness. Since it's officially October, I think the timing is perfect for some fall aroma around the house.

I was at the grocery store the other day and came across packages of mulling spices and cinnamon sticks, which reminded me of this easy method of home aromatherapy. I learned this trick from one of my college roommates...

Recipe: White Bean Chicken Chili

I realize that the last 3 recipes I've shared have all been soups/chilis/stews: this is not a coincidence. When cooler weather arrives, I make a lot of these meals. Here is another that I just have to share with you: white chicken chili. My recipe is adapted from this version on Epicurious... and it is not health conscious, in case you were wondering. To my credit, I did reduce the amount of half-and-half and cheese that were called for in the original recipe :)

Let's face it, though: sometimes you have to treat yourself.  Tom Haverford and Donna say it best:

Sidenote: I couldn't be more excited for the season premiere of Parks and Recreation tonight. I've been watching marathons of past seasons all summer, and I need some new episodes. Update: Somehow I'd missed the fact that it premiered last week! So bonus, I got to watch two new episodes tonight instead of one!  Yes, I'm a TV nerd.


So next time you have a treat yourself day, here's what you need for dinner...

DIY: Yarn Wrapped Storage Tin Tutorial

One of my long-term goals is to organize my "workspace" in our house. I use quotation marks for this name because I don't actually work in it... and there's no space. It is too messy for either working or for space. It's just an overflowing storage area. One of these days, when it's transformed, I'm going to do a before and after makeover post...

Weekend

This first weekend of fall was amazing! It still looked like summer, but the weather was cool and the sun was shining. I love the month or so in the Midwest where there's no longer any danger of heat exhaustion but still no chance of snow :)


Before I get to details of my weekend, I'm guest posting on Julie Ann Art's blog today and sharing a recipe for my homemade peanut butter dog treats! Be sure to go check it out :)