Gifts from White Nest

  Top photo by me.  All other photography by White Nest.

Joe and I look forward to the Renegade Craft fair every year in Chicago.  It's just a great vibe with yummy eats and such a collection of crafty talent it makes my head spin (but in a good way)!  I love to talk with the artisians that set up shop every summer.  It's nice to get to know who you buy from, right! Joe noticed my loving gaze when we entered the booth of White Nest.  But being his sly self he just pretended not to notice.  So it was a nice surprise indeed when I recieved 2 lovely gifts from White Nest for the holidays!  Can you tell I love birds?!  Haha, well now they have a space on my wall and on the couch.  They are both minimal works of art and I am happy to have them in our interior mix!  They are currently having a great sale right now if you'd like a piece for your home too.

DIY: "Lace" Ribbon

I look forward to wrapping my gifts tonight, especially getting to use some of this lace ribbon to complete some special gifts!  Although this does take some time to complete (I did mine while vegging in front of the tv) it's totally re useable and because  the color choice is not very holiday specific,  it would be great to use for a birthday, house warming, or hostess gift too!  I'm loving the results and I hope you get a chance to paint a spool or two yourself :)  Happy wrapping!

Handmade Holiday: Vanilla Extract

A perfectly simple gift for those who love to express themselves in the form of baked goods.  Joe and I whipped up a small batch of these bottles for a few of our family members (sshhh.. don't tell).  They are already turning a yummy carmel color but they won't reach full potency until the end of next month, hey something that our family will HAVE to wait to use!  Feel free to get creative and create your own label or download one of mine here.  Anyway you make it, this is sure to be a gift that will continue to give all year long :)

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday to everyone! Excuse me for being mia this week. Although we are heading into our slow period at work we (all the photographers) just got handed a major photo assignment from the marketing and sales department. It entails exploring the city for me and capturing its architecture in an interesting way. I'm excited to check out some of our studios awesome equipment and lenses to make this happen. On another note, I've started making my Christmas list this morning! I'm starting early this year to make sure I put enough time and love into creating all my homemade goodies for the ones I love. I'm so excited to start and will be happy to share my creations along the way. The lovely magazine Gifted definetly got my creative wheels spinning earlier this week. If your looking for a beautifully inspiring digital mag to cozy up to this weekend please do check this one out! You will keep coming back to this one for ideas, for sure!