Do It Yourself : Care Packages

One of the universal truths we’ve discovered over the past few years is that everyone – male or female, young or old – loves snail mail. Care packages are the holy grail of parcel post.  They’re a great way to stay in touch and send a little love and they aren’t difficult or expensive to make.

Our dear friend Shaun recently moved to Canada. He’s one of the most talented designers we know and we can’t wait to see the first collection under his new label!

We decided to send him a care package to inspire him as he develops his new line of clothing. Here’s how we did it:

 Shaun mentioned that his new collection will be inspired by the Native Americans of Canada. We decided to throw together some earthy elements like wooden buttons, turquoise beads, strips of leather, and earthen colored zippers to inspire him. We also made some silly composite pictures of his head superimposed on the body of a designer taking his final bow down the runway and paper feathers galore. 

The Final Contents looked like this:

 Another dear friend, Mary Katherine, has been slaving away at her job for the past several months. We decided to send her a care package to make her workspace a little bit more enjoyable. Here are some goodies to send the workhorse in your life:

WHAT/ WHERE:

Buttons à M&J Trimming

Leather à Tandy Leather Factory

Zippers à Zipper Stop

Memo Mouse Pad  and pencil holder à Galison

Stapler à See Jane Work

Paper Clip à Fred Flare

Do It Yourself : Friendship Bracelets

We have seen friendship bracelets everywhere from the runways to the red carpet. We went on a hunt to see some of the designer versions and were shocked at the price tags!

Not to fear! You can make your own for a fraction of the cost and with far more symbolism for your cherished friends and you! 

Instructions and patterns can be found HERE.

An even easier version of a friendship bracelet is the wrap bracelet.

WHAT/ WHERE:

Floss à HSN

Book 1 à Borders

Book 2 à Amazon

For the Book Lover in Your Life

Lea, the woman behind Faerie Dust Art Prints, designs original artwork by printing vintage images on antique book pages and adding her own designs and details to the print. We love the handsome yet whimsical nature of these works. At only $10 per piece, a set of these original works would be the perfect gift for any book lover you know!

We love a good mixture of whimsy and elegance. We think these glass jar bookends fit the bill as well.

WHAT/ WHERE:

Art à Faerie Dust Art Prints

Jars à The Library Store

Charmed : For the Guy Who Has Everything

Without a doubt, males are harder to shop for than females. We know it may seem like the men in your life already have everything and that the gifts you find seem so impersonal. Well, we’re here to help! We found some great gifts for you to give the men in your life…

If he’s Styling and Profiling:

 If his home is his castle:

More unique ideas after the jump!

Opinionated : Baby Gifts

One word that would never be used to describe us is "cutesy". We recently attended a baby shower and discovered that a vast majority of the baby items on the market fit squarely into the cutesy category. Undeterred, we set out on a quest to find non-cutesy baby gifts. Here's what we found:

A gift that is often overlooked during baby showers is art for the nursery. We're not too keen on most of the nursery art on the market but we loved these Alice in Wonderland sketches!

WHAT/ WHERE:

Elephant and Crib Blanket à Guanzito

Baby Bibs à Amy Rose Designs

Mustache Pacifiers à Zieak

Pacifier Clips à CWHELMS

Beaded Pacifier Clip à My Wooby and Me

Alice in Wonderland framed sketches à Urbanoutfitters