Craftyminx

Date-iversary

Today is the 3rd Anniversary of our first date. In a way, I think this day is more exciting than our anniversary of marriage. We've been married for one and a half years but we've been together for 3 years.

The day of our first date I remember thinking how lucky I was to be going on a date with a guy I had been crushing on for years whom I would have never thought would want to date me because he was so much cooler than me. Now I realize that we are so perfect for each other because we are both huge nerds. I love you Sheldon!! I'm glad we get to spend the day together going on one big date :).

Christmas Tradition

 

I believe my body has decided to start its own Christmas tradition of giving me a sinus infection the week before Christmas. It happened last year and it has happened again. Thankfully this year I have had a little more energy so I actually did some DIY blog prep last night. I took all the photos for 2 blogs and then hit a wall. So tonight I will hopefully be able to edit photos and get some posts up! I also need to wrap all of our presents tonight. I managed to get a few wrapped last night for our niece in Las Vegas since they are being taken tomorrow by my MIL. I decided to start a new tradition of making the nieces a handmade ornament every year so I'll share those too! They are ca-ute!

Oooh I also painted my nails last night! I was inspired by this post on Nails and Noms. They turned out really pretty! They remind me of jawbreakers and fruitcake. Very festive :)

What are your Christmas Traditions? Anyone else get sick every year? 

 

What I wear when it's cold.

It has been a really long time since I posted an outfit post over here (it was summer time!). I know a lot of you really enjoy seeing outfit posts from me, so I thought I'd do this little round up of iPhone photos of outfits to show you what I wear when it's cold out. 

Lots of cardigans and tights... (pro tip: put lotion on over your tights to keep your dresses from sticking because of static. Re-apply as needed)

Hat: Target -- Sunglass: Ray Ban -- Dress: Lane Bryant -- Cardigan: Ross -- Belt: from my Bettie Page Dress -- Tights: Target -- Shoes: T.U.K. 

I just recently started wearing belts over my cardigans and I really love how it brings in my waist!

Cardigan: Target -- Sweater: Addition Elle -- Jeans: Lane Bryant -- Shoes: Chucks -- Belt: Eloquii

Tights and Cardigan are the same as above. Dress: Maurice's -- Shoes: Target

As it gets colder, I break out my scarves and my lighter coat and my super warm snow boots (I don't care if it's not snowing I wear them all the time to keep my feet warm). 

Coat: A million years old from Burlington Coat Factory. It's literally falling apart -- Scarf: Handmade by me -- Dress: Old Navy -- Tights: Lane Bryant -- Boots: Sorel

This isn't the greatest photo but I just got this super warm wool coat to wear this winter and I love it! Coat: Wilsons Leather Outlet -- Sweater Skirt: ASOS Curve -- Tights: Target -- Shoes: ASOS

I wore this outfit to work for our Christmas luncheon. I think I'll wear it for Christmas dinner next week too.
Sequin Top, Ruffle Cardigan and Necklace: Talbots Outlet -- Pants: Lane Bryant -- Shoes:  T.U.K.

You will also notice that I wear a lot of black. This isn't really my doing. It's more of a plus size clothing thing. Everything for Winter is Black or Grey. There's usually some Red and metallics in there but ughhh soo boring. I always try to beat the winter clothing blues by wearing something bright with an outfit like a bright scarf, belt, cardigan, shoes, or tights. 

Yesterday was unseasonably warm so I got away with this new 3/4 sleeve dress.

Dress:  Thrifted (from the 80's or early 90's) -- Belt: Forever 21 Plus -- Tights: Lane Bryant -- Shoes:  T.U.K.

At home I wear these:

I just bought these footie pajamas the other day kind of as a joke to see what Sheldon would say. OMG you guys I LOVE them. I'm only slightly ashamed to admit it now, but they are so warm and comfy. Like a snuggie but cuter (they even have pockets!). I'm seriously wearing these all winter. Now if I can just keep Dash from chewing the ears and eyes off of them. 

What are your cold weather staples? 

Want a Christmas Card?

Hi everyone! If you've read my blog for awhile you probably already know about our crazy Christmas cards every year. Here are the last two if you aren't in the know:

This year's card is pretty much the best one yet. I always show our card on Christmas Day here on the blog, but a lucky 10 of you can see it early!! I have 10 extra cards this year and I would love to send them to some of my readers. The first 10 people to leave a comment here (so everyone can see who has claimed one) and then e-mail me your address gets them. Send your mailing address to dana at craftyminx dot com. 

If you want to send us a Christmas card that would be great too!! Since I don't have a P.O. Box you'll have to e-mail me to ask for my address, but I'd love to get cards from you guys :) Maybe next year I'll get a P.O. Box for craftyminx handmade. I do love getting letters!

Deluxe 2011 Wrap-Up

I had so much fun this year at Deluxe! My mom came to town to help me with the show. We ended up staying up the whole night before, and only giving ourselves a 30 minute nap to keep us going. I don't recommend this at all, but I had a lot of little things to do that I didn't have time for the week before the show and honestly I rarely sleep very much the night before a show because I'm too excited. 

This was my first year to have a wall. I built it out of pvc pipe with some help from Bill at Home Depot. I had enough pipe for three sides, but Walmart didn't have enough of the black shower curtains so I just went with one for the back of the booth.

I had a pretty good show considering that I cut back my production quite a bit this year. My booth was really busy most of the day. Every time I'd get a break I would start to get up to walk around and then I'd get a huge group of people again. I was finally able to walk around and do a little shopping at 4.  

I didn't buy very much this year. Most of my Christmas shopping was already done and we didn't really need anything. I wasn't in shopping mode at all, which is really rare! I got a Fried Okra sock monkey angel ornament for my niece and another Sweetheartville prayer candle for my collection (this one is the patron saint of sewing). Then Sheldon and I picked out a piece of art from my booth neighbor, Hook Line Sinker. Ashley makes really awesome jewelry from fishing lures but she's also a local tattoo artist (at the same shop where we get tattooed). I've admired her paintings for quite awhile and Sheldon agreed that we needed one of her Oklahoma pieces. We always try to pick up one piece of art at the shows we attend and our walls are slowly getting covered with really awesome pieces of art. 

I really liked having the iPad show photos of the pieces, especially since the bows can be used in so many ways. With a small booth, it's hard to talk to everyone that comes in because the space gets crowded really quickly. Having the slideshow looping in the background was really helpful at showing people styling options. 

This was also my first year to accept credit cards. I've had a Square reader for a year now and finally had a chance to use it. Not only is the app great because it allows you to scan credit cards and offer receipts. But, it also is really great to keep track of all sales. It changed my life as a craft show artist! 

I had a great time and I can't wait for my next show! Hopefully this year I won't have to wait another year for my next show ;)

Christmas Happenings

While I'm not going to be doing 12 Days of Christmas this year I just wanted to let new readers know about the series so you can see all the Christmas DIYs and recipes I shared last year. You can see the full 12 Days of Christmas Round-up here.

I will be sharing a few DIYs and recipes this year as well, just not the big series like last year Deluxe took a lot out of me this year! 

Here are some Christmas Blog Happenings you should check out for great inspiration:

Danielle Thompson's 55 days of Vintage Christmas

Sunshine and Carousels' Making Christmas

Ez's Gifted Online Magazine

Waverly Home 12 Bloggers of Christmas

Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club is sharing daily homemade stocking stuffer ideas (these are really cute!)

Ninth and Bird's Deck the Blogs

Are you hosting a Christmas blog series or have your come across any other great Christmas blog series? Share the link in the comments. I really love getting to read through holiday inspiration posts. I always need a little extra inspiration this time of year. 

For those of you waiting for a Deluxe wrap-up post, it will be coming tomorrow. I have to take a photo of the stuff I bought this year :)

Deluxe 2011 Preview

Deluxe is this Saturday and I'm super excited! I've participated in Deluxe since the very first year and have really enjoyed getting to see this indie craft show grow into a huge event! This year, I really focused my work as an artist into what I do best right now, crochet. I decided to forgo all the other crafty bits that I usually take to Deluxe and really made it about my crochet designs. I've been working on a digital lookbook slideshow that will loop in my booth this year to show styling options for my designs. Here's a few photos from the photoshoot: 

A big thank you to my friends Reagan and Abby for modeling for me!!!

I will also have coffee cardis and a few granny square stockings this year and maybe a clearance corner to get rid of old stock. ;)

You can also check out my Artist Profile on the Deluxe Blog. 

If you are a local reader (Oklahoma City), you should definitely go to Deluxe this Saturday from 11-5 at the State Fair Grounds Centennial Building. It is completely FREE and is the indie craft show that you don't want to miss! Come by and say hi, I love meeting my readers. 

Deluxe 2008 --- Deluxe 2009 --- Sadly I couldn't participate in Deluxe 2010 because of the stress of Bella's death and my grandfather on his death bed (geez last year was AWFUL!) but I did go as a shopper and it was amazing -- the best Deluxe yet!

Making Christmas Guest Post

Hi Everyone! I'm sharing a fun little embroidered gift tag DIY today on Erin's blog, Sunshine and Carousels. It is part of her Christmas series "Making Christmas." Check it out :)