Etsy Highlights – Under $25 Gift Guide

Thanksgiving is barely over, and it’s not quite December yet, but if you’re anything like me, you’re already dreading shopping for that one person who has everything and is always impossible to shop for!

This year, I lucked out, since we’ve basically agreed to go the home-made route for Christmas this year, but I know everyone else isn’t so lucky!

Etsy is a great place to shop for gifts for those ‘hard-to-buy-for’ people, as it is full of unique, one of a kind finds. They also have this GREAT feature to help you find gifts for your Facebook friends, and today I thought I would share with you how to use it, as well as share some of the great things I’ve found on Etsy!

First off, Using Etsy’s Gift Finder. (You must have a Facebook account and be logged in for this to work)

Starting on the Etsy homepage, www.etsy.com, scroll down the page. On the left hand side, under the list of categories you will see a black title labeled Ways to Shop. The first option under that title is Gift Ideas. Click on this option and you’ll be directed to a new page call “Gift Ideas for your Friends”. This page lets you type in the name of a Facebook friend that you’d like to shop for. It then goes through their Profile to find out what they like and matches that with listings on Etsy. Try it out, it’s quite fun!

And now on to my fun gift guide! These items are all found on Etsy, and clicking on the picture will link you to the shop that sells them!

For Techies – Allmaciphone:

These guys have some great decal stickers for iPhones, iPads, keyboards and Mac books, and right now they’re Buy 2 get 1 Free! Did I mention nothing in this shop is over $11.99?!

B U Y 2 get 1 F R E E decal'   cell phone decal sticker cover AT&T Version  Skin--------Retro NES Game ControllerB U Y 2 get 1 F R E E decal'  'B U Y 3 get 2 F R E E decal'   computer decal sticker -------- simpsonB U Y 2 get 1 F R E E decal'  'B U Y 3 get 2 F R E E decal'   computer decal sticker --------OWL

 

 

 

For Harry Potter Fans - Bells & Gems:

Bells & Gems has a lot of great Harry Potter stuff, but my favorite is their Harry Potter Fridge Magnet Set – Harry Potter Fridge Magnet set

There are over 350 magnets in this set, all for $10!
She also sells potion necklaces, character cell phone charms and radish earrings!

For Goofs – Mustache Glass

Everyone has that goofy friend, or couple of friends, that likes unique things. Mustache Glass is a great shop for them!Mustache Drinking Glass - Fun Drinking Glassware Bar Ware- 4 Piece Set - MustacheGlass

Honestly, who wouldn’t want these glasses!? They also sell Mustache’s On A Stick, and Mustache Necklaces.

Mustache Lips And Eye Glasses on a stick - Photo Booth Mask Prop  12 Piece Set for Wedding Parties or Just for Fun - Black and Red FeltMustache Necklace - Black Acrylic Stash - 18 Inch Chain with Clasp

For Music Lovers – Records and Stuff

These guys do some cool things with Vinyl Records! They warp them to make clocks, bowls, and also sell album cover journals.

David Bowie Vinyl Record Wall Clock (Changes One Bowie)

ABBA Recycled Record Bowl (The Visitors)BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Record Album Cover Journal / Notebook

And there shop is split up between Rock, Pop and Msicellaneous records, so you can customize it to the recipients taste!

For Artists and Writers – Leather Bound

Leather Bound sells a large variety of, you guessed it, leather bound books! They come in a variety of colors, and from the pictures, they look gorgeous!

Leather Bound Notebook Dark Olive Green with a hint of Brown Antique finish. Handmade

That’s going to wrap it up for today! There is a LOT of fun stuff on Etsy. Try to gift idea finder and have fun!

Holiday Hat Winners!

Congratulations to Lena, who entered the giveaway here on this blog, and Megan Covington, who entered the giveaway at the craft show this weekend! I’ll be contacting you both to see which hats you would like!

Cyber Monday Discount!

In honor of Cyper Monday, Sweet Kiwi Crochet is going to have a GIANT sale on all patterns! From 11:00 PM tonight until 11:00 PM tomorrow night, you can use coupon code CM2012 in my Etsy shop, www.sweetkiwicrochet.etsy.com, and you will receive 50% off ALL patterns! There is no limit on the number of patterns you can buy, so go crazy! There will be no limit on the number of patterns sold at this discount, so tell your friends and help spread the news!

This weekend we have two shows going on! We are in Logan and Spanish Fork today and tomorrow! See the bottom of the site for info on hours and locations!

Holiday Hat Giveaway!

It’s begining to look a lot like Christmas where I am, and with Thanksgiving fast approaching it’s time to start thinking about Christmas gifts! To help you in your gift-giving this holiday season, I will be hosting at least 2 giveaways, and the first one starts today!

There will be at least 2 winners for this first giveaway. Each winner will receive the hat of their choice in any size, free of charge, including shipping*!

To Enter:

1) Comment on this blog post!
2) Like us on Facebook
3) Sign up to get email notification for the new website! www.sweetkiwicrochet.com The box to enter your email address is at the bottom of the page, on the left.
4) Spread the news about the giveaway on Facebook or on your blog, or both! If you do both, you get an entry for each!

For each of the above entries, please leave a comment on this blog post stating which you did. If you promoted this giveaway on your blog, please leave a link! I’d love to see your other posts!

Want more entries!?

This Friday & Saturday Sweet Kiwi Crochet will be at two locations, Novemberfest and the Christmas Craft Show. There will be entry forms at both shows, so if you attend be sure to stop by the booth and add to your luck!

Winners will be announced on Monday, 11/28, so check back to see how you did, and for the announcement of the next giveaway.

*Free hat includes only hats normally made by Sweet Kiwi Crochet, and do not include special requests. Hats normally made can be found under the Shop tab on this site. If you have any questions, please email me at sweetkiwicrochet [at] hotmail.com

*Shipping is within the U.S. only. Winners from outside of the United States will have to  pay an extra shipping cost.

Weekend Pattern Giveaway!

It’s time for a pattern giveaway! In honor of the snow that’s falling right now, this weeks pattern will be the Hooded Scarf pattern. 5 copies will be given away!

To Enter:

1) Leave a comment on this blog entry with your email address

2) Sign up to get email notification for the website. The box to enter your email address is at the bottom of the page, on the left.

3) Like us on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall!

4) Spread the news about the giveaway on Facebook or on your blog. If you do this, please leave a comment on the blog of on facebook with a link back to your promotion.

Winners will be announced on Monday, 11/21, so enter soon!

Hopes for next year…

As I work my tail off to get ready for the Christmas season, I find myself often thinking about the things I hope to do differently next year. So right now I’m setting my goals for 2012.

  1. Pace Myself! If I got more done in the early part of the year, I wouldn’t be pushing myself to finish 9 hats everyday now!
  2. Think Ahead! Especially when it comes to patterns. A couple of weeks ago I decided that this year I HAD to write a Santa Hat pattern. It had been in my head for months, and I decided that I needed to write it and get it in my shop before November got underway. Notice I said that this hat had been in my head for months. But I didn’t do anything about it until October 20th. Genius. Thanks to my wonderful group of testers, and the wonderful Camilla Olsen at Cioco Photography I was able to get it completed and posted less than 2 weeks later, but it would have been a lot less stress if I would have done it earlier!
  3. Relax! This one is actually going into affect this year! Last year I was filling orders until Christmas Ever. This year, NOT going to happen! I am going to enjoy my Christmas. I am going to buy a tree with my husband, make an early Christmas dinner with friends, and watch lots of Christmas movies. I’m going to enjoy Christmas this year!
  4. Take Care of Myself! Lately I’ve found that I don’t exercise as much as I did a couple of weeks ago. Some of that has to do with the change of weather. I can’t hike nearly as much, and sometimes it’s just too cold at night to take a really long walk. Next year I need to find an activity that I can do year round, and that I enjoy enough to stick to!
  5. Don’t Over-Commit! I actually had most of these thoughts last year, and to be honest, I did a much better job and getting more hats made earlier, but I blew that by committing to more and more shows until I ended up more stressed this year than I was this time last year! I just need to keep it going and not commit to taking orders I know it will take a miracle to fill!

So those are my 5 goals for the coming Christmas season, and for next year. Anyone else have to set crazy rules for themselves in order to keep sane!?

Freaking huge pile of hats!

Sometimes it’s fun to take all my hats out of their boxes and make a giant pile on the floor. It makes up for the fact that I don’t have a yard full of leaves to jump in this time of year!

I thought this was a fun pile last March:

Until I made this pile this weekend:

Much more fun! Hopefully this pile will be much smaller 6 weeks from now!

Wonderful Vacation and Great Inspiration!

I just spent a wonderful 4 day weekend in the sun in St. George, Utah, and Zions National Park! It was a much needed break from all the pre-Christmas crocheting madness!

On the way home we stopped at my grandparents house to have a short visit. My grandma is a crocheting-machine, and it was her and my mom that taught me how and got me “hooked”!

Aren’t they adorable!