Christmas Gift Hit List Part One

Skype

I hope that all my readers had a wonderful holiday! We had a great Christmas with our furry babies but our kids live far away in different states, New York and Hawaii. So we were missing them big time! We were able to Skype Jess's granddaughter so we got to watch her open all of her presents. That was awesome! If you have never tried Skype I highly recommend it. You can make free video and voice calls to anyone with Skype so say good bye to huge phone bills!

Our Christmas cards from Vista Print 

This year I was late on ordering Christmas cards so if you are reading this and still have not received one you may get it in the mail before 2013...lol. We ordered our Cards from Vista Print for the first time. The Vista Print website was great because it allowed us to upload a photo and actually see what our Christmas Cards would look like before ordering them. They had a great sale making each card only a few cents each. The cards came with white envelopes and Jess made these beautiful glittered stickers to seal them. Cards for far away friends and family were mailed and for our local friends we tied them with bakers twine and a candy cane.

I was a little sad that Christmas came so fast this year. I thought I was much more prepared for the holidays than any other year and the time still flew by. The shop was very busy with last minute orders so my days and nights were full. I was a little bummed because I had ordered and traded for many handmade gifts and some were a little disappointing, Next year I vow to be one of those people who start shopping in July. So to cheer me Jess gave me a present early. It was a huge box wrapped with packing tape...packing tape, really? It took forever to get it open. Inside was another box, wrapped with more packing tape...more than necessary. I finally got all of the tape off and guess what?...another box and another. After about 5 minutes of this I could barely do anything but laugh. Inside was the most beautiful engagement ring ever! All I could do was cry...typical woman! It is amazing and has so much detail, I absolutely love it! I really was not expecting it at all considering I was told I am way too picky (I knew that already, by the way) and buying me jewelry would be way too hard. 

My Vintage Inspired Engagement Ring

I also got this gorgeous ring with my favorite gemstone, smokey quartz. Jess bought it to match the acorn necklace that I bought from Adorn You, a wonderful etsy shop with homemade jewelry. Sharon makes unique and beautiful jewelry and I had my eye on her acorn necklace for awhile. She is located in Canada but shipping to the US took about a week. I highly recommend her shop!

Beautiful Smoky Quartz Ring I received for Christmas

Tortoise Shell Acorn Necklace 

Christmas Gift Hit List. These are the items I felt the people I bought for really loved. 

Back to the Roots Grow at Home Mushroom Garden

This was an awesome gift for Jess who has a mushroom fetish! We actually spent 10.00 on a special brush to clean mushrooms because apparently getting them wet is a mortal sin which you can never be forgiven. So we can not wait to grow our own pearl oyster mushrooms. I bought the double kit and was so impressed with the packaging. It even came with a spray mister. I will post an update with photos when we grow them in a few weeks. Thank you for the totally awesome and interesting gift Back to the Roots Garden!

Sea Salt Caramels Olive Oil Soap Bar by Anderson Soap Company

When this soap arrived a few days before Christmas I had a really hard time wrapping it to give away. It smelled amazing! The bar was a really great size and wrapped beautiful. I sent this to my daughter in law who loves homemade soap and it was a big hit! A big thumbs up to Dennis and Brandy from the Anderson Soap Company.

Widmer  Hefeweizen Beer Soap

Another unique bar soap from the Anderson Soap Company. I sent my son the Widmer Hefeweizen beer soap which I thought was cool. I always remember as a teen washing our hair with beer to make it shiny but didn't know you can make soap out of it. 

Waterfall Soap Bar 

This little 2-3 oz, bar of soap is not only vegan but packs huge punch of scent. This smell is amazing and if you like really clean scents that remind you of laundry on the line or a soapy bubble bath this is the scent for you. I am kicking myself for only getting one bar so I am sure I will be ordering more soon! This size bar is great for traveling or to put in a guest bathroom. 

Honey Pot with Dipper Stick from Fatty Frog Pots 

This was my all time favorite gift that I gave this year! My friend Jennifer of Fatty Frog Pots made this incredible honey pot! I am blown away by the craftsmanship. The deep red jasper color will go great in our kitchen and it even came with a little honey dipper. I can not wait to have friends over for breakfast and fill the honey pot with delicious honey. I normally would never blog about how much I paid for a gift but in this case I have to. This honey pot was only 20.00! I can just imagine the amount of hours spent to make this beautiful piece of artistry. Please check out her shop as you will love it! 

Jar of Organic Honey and Handmade Honey Pot

Empress Honey Company Jars of Honey

I could not give a honey jar as a gift without giving honey so I contacted a friend who purchases my little bee tags for her honey jars. (See my little bee tags, so cute!)  Empress Honey Company makes the most delectable honey, I just love the jars they came in and how they were packaged perfectly for gifting. The flavor is light and sweet and is a perfect topping for morning toast!

Part 2 of the Christmas Gift Hit List coming soon!