This time of year I can’t help but get the itch for glitz. More gold, and glitter too, if you don’t mind! It’s not my usual look, so if I’m going to make a golden, glitzy purchase, I like to make sure that it will fit into my life the rest of the year. These golden trinkets above could certainly find a cozy, often-used place in my life!

 gold star clutch from ASOS | $52.63
 gold eye crayon from ASOS | $14.00
 gold polka dotted iPhone case from Kate Spade | $40.00
 gold tie necklace from ASOS | $28.00
 gold plated spade watch from Kate Spade | $175.00
 House of Harlow 1960 earrings from Zappos | $30.00
 glitter rain boots from ModCloth | $39.99
 Bodum french press in gold and silver from Zappos | $29.95
 glitter belt from Madewell | $39.50
 mini bow ring from Madewell | $15.00

Everywhere I go, there’s wrapping paper for sale. And I, being a lover of pattern, am always tempted to buy another roll. But this year I thought it would be a fun project to make my own! So I broke out my craft paints and combined a hand-made stamp technique along with a little painting.

Hand-made stamp DIYs are hardly anything new, but they never get old. I remember the first time I tried my hand at making stamps after seeing an article in my American Girl magazine in the ’90s. All those years ago I used strips of rubberbands glued to wood blocks (“with the help of an adult” as they would always add), but this time I’m a full-fledged grown-up, so I used my X-acto blade, and kept some band-aids on hand just in case. (I didn’t end up needing any! Hooray!)

This particular project works best in small scale. If you’re wanting to stamp a larger piece of wrapping paper make your pattern more spread out or follow the directions of another method like this.  For my version, all you need to make the stamps is an X-acto blade and rubber erasers.

To create the stamp, carve your design into the top of the eraser, keeping the blade straight up and down slicing downward about 3/16″ into the eraser. Then turn the blade to the side and cut into the side of the eraser, notching out the negative space in your design. To use the stamp with acrylic craft paint, you’ll need a foam brush to lightly dab the paint onto the stamp. Don’t use too much paint, or your design will look globby. But make sure you apply enough for the design to show vividly, especially if you’re using white paint on a colored background.

After your paper has dried, go ahead and wrap the gifts! I even made some tags with craft card stock and one of the stamps I had made. Add a little twine and maybe a pom pom or two (tutorial here), and you’ve added the perfect handmade touch to your holiday gifts!

Every year we gather ’round with friends, food, drinks, and games, and slow down long enough to just laugh and enjoy each other’s company. This year we missed some key players, but had some friends who had never been to a Thankschristmas before. The great thing (one of the many great things!) about my group of friends is that anyone can join in and they fit perfectly! If you can come up with a funny response to “Things you shouldn’t name a children’s book,” then you’re golden. By the way, the winner for that prompt was Allie with “The Birds and the Bees; a Pop-Up Picture Book.”

I’ve been completely slacking when taking pictures around family and friends in the past year. I love to have physical evidence of memories and fun times, but I never want capturing those memories to surpass the actual moment when it happens. You know what I mean? But I have been trying to make more of an effort to photograph things in my life every since Lucy was born. Now I’d like to actually print out the photos (which I haven’t really done since the advent of Facebook!) so that one day Lucy will know her parents weren’t always sticks-in-the-mud…. not that she’ll ever think that we are…. Right?