Posts Tagged ‘gifts’

Party in A Box by Katie

November 16th, 2011
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Until I get my studio set up at our new place, I’ll be posting mostly thrifty finds, ideas & guest posts. If you’re interested in guest posting here, please email submissions (photos at least 500px wide) to melissa at melissaesplin dot com.

Hello ISLY readers! This is Katie from hello truelove. A big thank you to Melissa for having me on her blog today! A friend of mine is having a baby soon and I am very sad that I won’t be able to have a baby shower for her here in NYC. You see, she used to live on the East Coast but she is a West Coast girl these days. One of our mutual friends is headed out to see her in a couple of weeks and I thought it’d be fun to send her a mini-baby shower in a box. Now, in my opinion, a party in a box must contain:

a) Something frivolous and decorative

b) Something sweet (or at least something to munch on!)

c) Gifts, of course!

So, I broke out some trusty tools and went to work.

My first idea was for a little safety pin banner. I printed and cut out the letters and used double-sided tape to stick them on my punched hearts.

Then I punched two holes in each heart and used the safety pins to connect the hearts.

Last, I tied some ribbon on either side so it’ll be easy to hang when she starts the party;)

As for the gifts, I wanted to get her some practical stuff…

and some things that were too cute to resist.

You didn’t think I was going to send something without proper NYC love, did you?

I managed to find an old map and punch some hearts out of that too:) Since my friend was kind enough to volunteer to carry the gift on the plane I kept the wrapping simple.

Have you ever sent a party in a box? Since I’m not from New York there are lots of people I love who are far away. I only wish I had started the tradition sooner! A party in a box seems like the perfect way to send cheer to family and friends if you can’t be with them during the holidays!

I love this idea, Katie!  Thanks for sharing! Be sure to check out Katie’s blog Hello True Love & shop Hello True Love Paper Goods.

Hand Lettered Cut Out

November 8th, 2011
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I’ve had this lying around in my studio forever. Don’t know why I haven’t shared it with you. OH wait, I know why, it’s so that I have something to share on here while my house is a complete disaster from moving. ;)

I hand lettered this in Illustrator & cut out using my Silhouette. It was more than a little tricky to figure out how much space I needed to add in the tabs to keep everything one fluid piece. It’s pretty delicate, so it’s great that it’ll remain behind glass.

I love how this turned out with the floral/butterfly paper peeking out from behind the letters. I need to do this with the word Esplin for myself.

Coolest Knits EVER

March 4th, 2011
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My cousin-in-law made the most gorgeous baby gifts for Felix & I have to share them with you. Natalie has been knitting for ever & we’ve been the lucky recipients of her handiwork in the past.

She made these sweet little striped legwarmers. Stripes are so adorable. Perfect for a man child.

I’m completely in love with this sweater & I can’t wait until Felix can fit into it! The orange & grey color scheme melts my heart.

A hoodie?! How could it get better? After we opened these gifts, Penelope quickly snatched this hoodie, tore off her clothes & put this sucker on. She wouldn’t take it off for about two days!

Isn’t his smile just precious?!

And this baby blanket is la piece de resistance! OH gosh, it’s awesome. It’s soft, wool, stretchy & perfect for a little cuddle session with my man child. Best. Blanket. EVER.

I can’t imagine all the time Natalie spent on making such beautiful things & I’m just blown away at her kindness & thoughtfulness. Every time Felix uses/wears these treasures we’ll always think of her. Thanks, Natalie! We love you!

EDIT: Natalie just posted this, for any of you who would like more info on the patterns & yarn she used – For anyone interested in the patterns I used I got the 2 sweaters and blanket off of Ravelry. I have a username: nannersboo. I don’t ever upload pictures, but I include the yarns I used. The pattern for the gray sweater is called Organic Guernsey by Fawn Pea, the hoodie (also available through the Bernat website) is called Lil’ Bear Hoodie and leggings, and the blanket is called NuckNuck and is by Gina Bonomo.

Purple People Eater

June 21st, 2010
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Last Friday, one of Penelope’s friends had a birthday party. The theme was purple (Maren’s favorite color), and we all dressed up in purple – it was sort of a purple people eater theme. Genius idea, right?

In honor of the purple party I made Maren a little purple creature thing with some of the remaining bits of fabric I still have from my favorite SF bay area event: Fabmo. It’s been such a long time since I’ve made a stuffed creature, I forgot how easy & fun they are to make. As soon as I got my sewing machine to work correctly, this purple people creature took about 15 minutes to make. I used a brightly colored canvas material for the body, velvet embroidery thread for the “hair” and a fabric paint pen for the facial features & tramp stamp.

Did you make anything fun this weekend? Please share!

Cheater, Cheater

January 5th, 2010
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I was hoping to make this year my third annual handmade Christmas, but there was just no physical way that was going to happen. Up until just recently I’ve been working full-time as an in-house designer for DownEast; so between that, other design work, sleep and a ferociously hyper toddler, there was just no way I could squeeze in a million hours of crafting. It just got to the point where I had to ask myself, “Do I want to be institutionalized?” to which I breathed a sigh of disappointment and let go of all of the crazy ambition for handmade gifts and crazy cool decorations. Next year, perhaps?

Springfield Armory

I totally could’ve bought handmade gifts, but I wanted to surprise Chris more than anything.

Just after my brother-in-law bought his gun, he brought it over to show off to Chris. Chris was clearly jealous by the drool on his chin. I knew right then, that was what I needed to get him. Something that he’d NEVER suspect I’d buy. Well, not unless he got a little nosy. I pretty much dragged every male from my family and Chris’s into the whole thing asking for advice, models, etc. Even the guys at my work were excited about it, too.

There were a few times leading up to Christmas day where I thought he had figured the whole thing out. Turns out he was thinking I was getting him a wedding ring. (note: he’s been through two wedding rings so far.) It was better than Christmas to see the surprise on his face when he opened his gift! AH! It was a fabulous surprise. He’s taken it to the range a few times since Christmas and it’s just fun to see his excitement about all of it.

Chrome Buckle

Chris sort-of surprised me this year, too. He had led me on thinking that I was getting a pair of boots. Then a couple of weeks before Christmas he asked me about my camera bag and if I wanted a bigger one. That was a dead give away. While I had my suspicions I would’ve never guessed he’d get me the bag that he did.

Chrome Bag

Have you heard of Chrome bags? You might if you’re from San Francisco or you’re super hip. The bag that Chris got me is the smallest of the messenger bags and it’s ENORMOUS. There’s so much room inside. Did you peek at the cool buckle above? Rad. Now when the sun decides to come out and warm up the frozen valley, I’ll be the hippest fixie rider in town with my Chrome bag, rolled up pant leg and  bright blue & yellow fixie. Thanks Chris for upping my coolness.

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