Note: I did get a little nervous and goofed! My soaps are NOT animal-based! They are 100% free of animal fats and by-products and aren’t [...]]]> I was on Better Connecticut today with Scot Haney and Kara Sundlun! Check out my segment below. If you can’t view the video below, watch it here.

Note: I did get a little nervous and goofed! My soaps are NOT animal-based! They are 100% free of animal fats and by-products and aren’t testing on animals, either.

My all-time favorite gift was the Hogwarts acceptance letter that I gave [...]]]> This holiday season was my favorite so far as an adult. I had so much fun gifting! Most of my gifts were handmade and the few things that I bought were mainly fun gifts. Here are a few of my gifting highlights:

My all-time favorite gift was the Hogwarts acceptance letter that I gave to Jill:

I bought it from this Etsy seller who customized it with Jill’s name and address {right down to “The Loft in the Tiny Apartment”}, and I sneakily left it clothes-pinned next to her door while she was at work. See her reaction here. This was my favorite gift because it had nothing to do with the money I spent, it was 100% about how perfect it was and how crazy excited I knew she would be when she found it unexpectedly. That is my favorite thing about gift-giving and surprises. Images courtesy of {totally stolen from} Jill.

As I said before, many of my gifts were handmade, including these holiday-themed soaps, made possible by an early gift from Michele and Jeff:

I also made these two necklaces with the help of Ali from Birds and Beads. The one with just the sparrow was for Stan’s sister Danielle, and the one with the sparrow and scissors was for Mish.

Another thing you must know about me: I am a prankster, especially when gift-giving. One year, I got my brother an iTunes gift card and I put it in about 4 layers of wrapped boxes. It was great! My prank gift of this season was actually a gift box from Prank Pack. They sell gift boxes that look like the packaging to “real” gifts. The products on the boxes aren’t actually real, but they’re crazy enough that they just might be. The one I got for Stan was for iDrive, a supposed mount that you use on your steering wheel to play with your iPad while you’re driving. Ha!!!!

The idea is that your recipient thinks they got this whacky gift, and you let them think that for a while, then you tell them that their real gift is inside. Prank Pack has some other hilarious ones like a shower coffee maker, slipper speakers, and a griddle alarm clock, which reminds me of The Office episode where Michael burns his foot on the George Foreman grill that he kept by his bed. I bought the iDrive one because Stan doesn’t have the best driving record {that’s putting it mildly…} and he’s pretty obsessive about his Apple devices.

I made a few candles and some bath salts and sugar scrubs for friends and family, and I made a mix cd for my Dad, but I didn’t take photos of those things before wrapping them. What were some of your favorite things you gave this holiday season? xo

January: Wow, January was [...]]]> After realizing I didn’t do many of the things I set out to do last year, I wanted to take a look at what I did do. Really, where did all the time go? Here are some of the fun things I did and posts I wrote during 2011:

January: Wow, January was a pretty crazy/spectacular month. Stan and I spent the last week of 2010/first week of 2011 in California {specifically, Los Angeles} with my aunt and uncle. We were there to help him switch his website over to WordPress, but we did far more play than work. After we got back from our trip, Stan and I moved right into our very first apartment. Also notable are the Sweet Heart cupcake soaps that I introduced that month. To be honest, they didn’t sell very well, so I don’t know if I’ll bring them back this year.

February: I didn’t blog very much in February, but Stan and I did a fun Valentine DIY and I looked back on some of the crazy hairstyles I’ve had in the past 4 years.

March: In March, I finished up my hair timeline, took on Sabrina Allard’s re-style challenge, and wrote a few posts for the Jennie Fresa blog.

April: Like January, April was another busy/exciting month. For starters, I introduced a few new “spring” scents — Aloe, Juniper!; Plumeria; Rice Flower & Shea; and Strawberry — to the Etsy shop. They’ve done so well that I’ve kept them year-round. I was also profiled as a successful student/entrepreneur in UConn Magazine. I had an amazing time restyling my wardrobe with Sabrina Allard and doing a photo shoot for it with my friend and now-fellow-alumna Mayya Medved. I also redesigned the blog and shared a recipe for my favorite breakfast meal: chocolate-chocolate pancakes {courtesy of my Mom}.

May: I discovered a few of my favorite local businesses in May, including Bolo Bakery, Chet’s Italian Ice, and Simpson & Vale. Stan and I visited some of his family in Long Island, I dyed my hair red, and I turned 24!

June: I did two great hair accessory DIY posts: one for yarn-wrapped headbands and one for braided fabric headbands. I celebrated turing 24 with some good friends during a role-playing murder mystery birthday party, took a stroll with Stan in downtown Glastonbury, and introduced some new summer soaps to my Etsy shop.

July: I made delicious red velvet cupcakes and blew up a watermelon with my family for Independence Day, Sani did a great French pedicure tutorial, I made my own beachy sea salt hair spray which became pretty popular, Jill & I teamed up to do a super fun Bohemian-inspired photo shoot, then we went to the final Harry Potter midnight showing, and I bought a perfect polkadot dress.

August: Mish and I made the most amazing vegan cupcakes and I discovered Priti NYC non-toxic nail polish & gave myself pink nails and turquoise toenails. I also attended the New York Renaissance Faire with some family and friends, and I dressed sailor-esque.

September: Stan and I had super-relaxing massages from Apricot Blossom Therapeutic Massage, I introduced American Pie and Pumpkin Pie cupcake soaps, and I made a list of things to do in New England during the fall.

October: I explored 25 ways to tie a scarf, rounded up a few great Halloween DIYs, had a wonderful weekend in Collinsville, scored a sweet vintage leaf belt from loveyvintage, and exhibited at my very first craft fair!

November: I introduced new products, got colorful with my sexy artsy floral skirt, exhibited at the Brazen Betties Indie Craft Fair, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends and family.

December: I met Rebecca Pickering from Like A Fresh New Penny, graduated!!!!!, made tra la las, and rocked red and green for Christmas Eve.

Phew, 2011 was a busy year!

Friday, I vended at the Brazen Betties Indie Craft Fair in Torrington and it was a blast! I made [...]]]> I hope all of my US readers had wonderful Thanksgivings, and all of my international readers had wonderful weekends! :) I spent my Thanksgiving with my Dad, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Ray, Stan, and Jill!

Friday, I vended at the Brazen Betties Indie Craft Fair in Torrington and it was a blast! I made a good amount of sales, and lots of people stopped to chat with me about why it’s so important to buy from independent, local, small businesses, so I was happy to see that many others are doing their own versions of a Conscientious Christmas Challenge.

I didn’t have Jill with me for this craft fair, so you’ll have to excuse the slightly grainy iPhone photos. Not everyone can be a stellar photographer ;) This fair was a lot smaller than the Manchester Art Association fair, so I got to travel a bit, see other booths, and make new friends!

This is Ali Smith and she is just an all-around cool person. She’s a graphic designer, she makes jewelry, she lives about 5 minutes from me, and she plays roller derby. We are definitely going to be hanging out soon. Check out her Etsy shop, Birds and Beads.

Rachel DeCavage runs Sugar Plum Designs and makes some of the coolest aprons and skirts I’ve ever seen. I bought one of her shirts {above} and wore it yesterday.

I also bought this sweet mug from Matt Guerette, who was selling handmade pottery. I’m actually drinking green tea out of it now. :)

How did you spend Black Friday and Small Business Saturday? Did you do some independent shopping?

I hope to see some of you at the Brazen Betties Indie Craft Fair tomorrow in Torrington, CT! Here’s a list of vendors to entice you:

Birds & Beads {Ali Smith} ~handmade earrings, bracelets, and other beaded jewelry. Fabulously Felt {Marisol Velasco} ~ felt Voodoo dolls — might make [...]]]> Happy Thanksgiving, readers! :)

I hope to see some of you at the Brazen Betties Indie Craft Fair tomorrow in Torrington, CT! Here’s a list of vendors to entice you:

Birds & Beads {Ali Smith} ~handmade earrings, bracelets, and other beaded jewelry.
Fabulously Felt {Marisol Velasco} ~ felt Voodoo dolls — might make a nice alternative to coal this year! ;)
In Sheep’s Clothing {Ginger Balch} ~ yarn, scarves, hats and bags.
Janet Iffland ~ art.
Kristin Mazuroski ~ handmade cards.
Lucy Nathan ~ jewelry.
Matt Guerette ~ pottery.
Phillip Modeen ~ Phillip makes amazing hand-painted silhouette necklaces and broaches, along with other artwork. I’m definitely going to put one of his necklaces on my wishlist.
Poor & Pretty {that’s me!} ~ I’ll have my cupcake soaps, coco balms, jars of frosting, and bath truffles in tow.
Sugar Plum Designs {Rachel Decavage} ~ whimsical and colorful handmade clothing & accessories, made from sustainable materials. I love her skirts!!
Sylvie Dahl ~ clothing, handbags.
Tie Food {David Ossorio} ~ David makes really neat tie clips and pendants.
Yellow Violet {Shelley Cassky} ~ nifty fabric coasters, baskets, kimonos and boxer shorts. Kind of thinking of grabbing a funky pair of boxers for Stan!

Can’t make it to the craft fair on Friday? It’s okay, you can still take part in Small Business Saturday or buy from your favorite online indie shops on Cyber Monday! Just remember to buy local and support independent businesses and entrepreneurs!