Holiday Bazaar

Don't ask me how, but I did it. After a lot of time and hard work, I am ready for this weekend's holiday bazaar!

This isn't just a shameless plug for my forthcoming gig, it is an invitation for everyone to come out and peruse the handcrafted works and wares of more than 70 artisans from across the Rogue Valley and surrounding areas.

Though you may spend a bit more than you would for a similar item in a retail store, there is something to be said about buying locally. You many have more of an impact than you think!

For the occasion, I put together a little collage of a few of the things I have been doing in preparation throughout the past few months. The last photo features a new addition to my greeting card line. I am excited to be debuting two new greeting cards featuring scripture and hope to be adding more soon!

Start your holiday shopping in Medford at the First Church of the Nazarene on Friday, November 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, November 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $1.00 (Under 16 are free)

DIY - Memory Jar

Do you remember those dioramas that you made from an old shoebox in elementary school? What if you could save memories for your children (or even yourself) in the same manner?

Trade out the shoebox for a glass jar, fill it with things collected from a vacation - and maybe even some pictures - and what you get is a 3D memory jar.

I can't claim this idea to be my own, although it is really a good one! Actually, I ran across this in the August issue of Parents magazine.

The timing of this find couldn't have been more perfect because our family had just spent the 4th of July camping, and as a part of our trip, we had my son do a nature-themed scavenger hunt. What started out as an idea just to keep him occupied and interested in a hike, turned out to be a great opportunity to create memories and also bring home some of what he found.

My son has a bit of the photographer gene, so as a part of his scavenger hunt, we asked him to take pictures of two of the items on his list. With those pics uploaded, I jumped over to PicMonkey (seriously the best free photo editing website!) and created a collage, adding words and a couple of graphics to the photos he took. (I thought it would be cute to put a © symbol and his name on the photos as well, because he did take them!) 

All you need is a clear glass jar, the magazine suggested using a pickle jar, but I only had a mason jar on hand, so that's what I used.

A few items is all you really need. I think less is more with something like this. Adding photos is a really nice touch. Especially if you have a lot of photos in mind, creating a collage is a nice way to incorporate all of them.

Lastly, I wanted to have more than one way to view the items, so I removed the lid, leaving the rim that goes with the mason jar. I cut a circle slightly larger than the mouth of the jar out of a plain ziplock baggie. With the plastic in place on top of the jar, I was able to still screw on the rim, creating a "sunroof" of sorts.

This was so much fun to create and I know that my son will enjoy collecting more memory jars for years to come!

Christmas in July?

I don't know where the concept of "Christmas in July" came from, other than I am pretty sure that retailers are working on their Black Friday advertisements right now.

(You won't be seeing me in any line at the crack of dawn, the stroke after midnight after Thanksgiving or any other God forsaken times, even if it means missing out on slashed prices on socks at Fred Meyer. There is not enough coffee in the world...)

In doing some research however, I discovered that in July of 1944, the U.S. Post Office, Army and Navy - as well as advertising agencies and greeting card companies - started a campaign to promote the early mailing of Christmas cards to troops serving overseas.

Now you know!

To say that the holiday season is right around the corner may seem like a long-shot, but it will be here before we know it. That being said, I want to share a few Christmas additions to my Etsy shop:

Because I am already in the Christmas spirit, enjoy 10-percent off your purchase of individual, sets of 3, 5 and 10 cards for the entire month of July!! It's as simple as entering the coupon code Summer10 at checkout. (This discount does not include custom orders)

I now have "Jingle Bells" stuck in my head...