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

1. Holiday Branch Decor via Remodelista. A very simple way to spruce {get it??} up a corner of the house for the [...]]]> My Halloween DIY Roundup was pretty popular, so I thought I’d do one for the Holiday season, too. Here are some neat Holiday-inspired crafts & DIYs I’ve found around the Internet:

1. Holiday Branch Decor via Remodelista. A very simple way to spruce {get it??} up a corner of the house for the holidays. All you need is a tree branch {I believe the one pictured is birch} and a string of white lights.

2. Cozy Winter Felt Wreath via The Inspired Room. This wreath is made entirely from neutral-colored felt squares and it’s so pretty!

3. Twine/String Ball Ornaments via Simple Mom. These holiday-themed string balls are very easy to make and they can be used as ornaments or as additions to centerpieces.

4. Sparkly Pears via Pretty Shiny Sparkly. Okay, this isn’t technically a tutorial, but they’d be very easy to make: pears + glue + glitter. I would make these not more than a few days before you’re having a party because real pears will go bad. Alternately, you could use fake pears.

5. Ladder Tree via CB2. Don’t have a tree? Or maybe you’d rather not cut one down or buy a plastic one? Stringing lights up around a ladder is a really cool alternative. I wish we had a ladder…

6. Mini Present Garland via Oh Happy Day. I love how fun, colorful and kate-spade-esque this garland is! It’s made with crepe paper and cereal/raisin boxes. I may go out and get raisin boxes just to make this! {And, of course, to eat the raisins.}

7. The Sweater Stocking via made. Turn your old/too-big/too-small sweaters into stockings! Genius! For those of you who can make more than a pillow on a sewing machine {something I still haven’t quite accomplished yet…}, this is a wonderful way to make personalized stockings for friends, family, or yourself!

8. Glitter Globes via kirtsy. My niece loves snow globes, so I’m going to box up these instructions and supplies and give them to her as one of her gifts so we can make one together. I might get too excited and make a bunch for the apartment, too.

9. Paper Ornaments via Etsy. I love these ornaments because they’re so unique. I’ve never seen any like them! Plus, they’re also pretty easy to make.

10. Pom Garland by Hank & Hunt. I realize I have a garland problem. Also a pom-pom problem. Also a sparkle problem. So, this sparkly pom-pom garland makes a little crazy with happiness. I can’t wait to make a bajillion! Poor Stan.

11. Hand-Drawn Printable Gift Tags via Hey Look. These printable gift tags are so pretty and simple, and they’re perfectly paired with kraft/butcher paper giftwrap and twine. A great simplistic look for wrapping gifts.

There are so many great holiday decor tutorials circling around the web, but I had to limit my list otherwise it would have gone on forever. Check out my holiday decor diy pinterest board for more inspiration!

Saturday was my birthday party at La Boca!  It was so so so much fun!  We got there at around 8 o’ clock, and since I didn’t make reservations, we ended up waiting a little while to eat.  But when we finally did it was awesome.  Sami and I split chicken fajitas and shortly after that followed [...]]]>

Saturday was my birthday party at La Boca!  It was so so so much fun!  We got there at around 8 o’ clock, and since I didn’t make reservations, we ended up waiting a little while to eat.  But when we finally did it was awesome.  Sami and I split chicken fajitas and shortly after that followed my Hello Kitty birthday cake and mini cupcakes!!!  Courtesy of Sami and Suzi.  (These girls are freakin’ talented!)

After dinner we had some drinks with a bunch of close friends and a few surprise guests too.  A lot of people showed up!!!  I wasn’t expecting that.  Is it customary to send thank you notes for birthday gifts?  Because I want to thank everyone!  My gifts were adorned with Hello Kitties, cupcakes and vampires and judging  from the gifts I received, my friends know me pretty well.  I loved them all!  So by the end of the night I  made it home in my pumps and party dress and realized what a bunch of great people I have in my life.  Thanks to everyone who came and/ or left me birthday wishes.  It really meant a lot to me.

mish<3