BBA Secret Santa reveal

One of the things that the BBA decided to do for the end of 2011 was a Secret Santa present exchange.  We could give handmade and/or store bought gifts totaling no more than $20.  Sharla did an excellent job with the logistics of this endeavor.  Thanks Sharla!  Everyone did an excellent job getting their gifts together and out on time so the whole process went very smoothly.

I was Santa for Karen of MysticWynd.  Karen loves Chai tea.  I ordered a bunch of tea from Tim of teaman for gifts this year, including some Chai tea for Karen.  For the Secret Santa package, I also included some Tazo Chai tea bags, as this has been one of my all-time favorite teas for about 7 years now.

Karen loves bookmarks and two of her favorite colors are purple and blue.  I created this set of reading bookmarks for her.  I used ribbon scraps left over from tying jewelry packages.  I covered the bookmarks with contact paper (which I still have a lot of left over from teaching) so they'll last a long time.  These were a lot of fun!  I may be making more of them in the future.

I also made Karen a little set of winter cards.  I included envelopes that are not pictured.  These were also a lot of fun to make.  I'm so glad that I'm working with paper again.

My Secret Santa was Sher of SherHastingsDesigns.  She ordered three sets of beads from Shannon of beadsandbabble that were in my favorites list on Etsy.  These will definitely go to good use in 2012!

Sher picked out this beautiful holiday picture frame.  We don't have any holiday frames so this will be a nice addition to our collection.

She also picked out a holiday scented candle for me.  It is VERY strong!  I have kept it closed in my craft storage/photography room and the smell is still very evident.  This may be one that I keep closed on the mantel or buffet and let it do its work like that.  I love the cinnamon scent in it and how it has little tiny "candies" on top.

I enjoyed making/selecting my Secret Santa gifts and am really happy about the gifts that I got in exchange.  Sher did an awesome job selecting items that fit my interests and preferences.  Everything was beautifully packaged, too.  Thank you Sher!  Thus far the team consensus has been very positive about the gift exchange so hopefully we'll do it again next year.

Check out the BBA blog this week to see what other team members received in the gift exchange!  If you are not already part of the BBA, hop over to the join section while you're there and think about becoming part of our team.  We'd love to have you!

Newest HubPages articles:

Button Wedding Theme Ideas: Bouquets, Wedding Cakes, Invitations, Favors, and More

Valentine's Day Card Ideas: How to Make Unique Homemade Handmade Cards (no, it is not too early to start thinking about this!)

Button Greeting Cards: Ideas for Handmade Homemade Card Making

If you've missed any articles or can't find links to older articles, click here.

Etsy 12 Days of Christmas: the 2011 version

I had this day reserved for the weekly Scavenger Hunt, but there is no hunt this week!  So I worked in a 12 Days of Christmas feature instead.  I did this back in 2009 and it was way past time to revisit it.  For those of you who aren't ready to let go of Christmas yet, enjoy!

A lot of these shops have sets of 12 Days of Christmas items so if you like any of these designs, check out the shops because there may be more from the 12 Days there.

Partridge in a Pear Tree Original Watercolour Holiday Card by jellybeans

Two Turtle Doves by FeltForest

Three French Hens - Ukrainian Egg by Suzy6281

Four Calling Birds Stamp by thefolkheart

Five Golden Rings - Perfect for Christmas by missashleylu

Six Geese Laying Golden Eggs by TeroldegoAndTomatoes

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Seven Swans Swimming - ACEO Print by sqstreater

Eight Maids a milking - Eighth Day of Christmas Ornament Paper Cut Wall Hanging by mountainbrook

Glass Ornament with Original Nine Ladies Dancing Drawing Inside by jenniferhanson

Ten Lords a-Leaping Print - 8x10 by lisachow

Stained Glass Christmas Ornament by SingularArt

Antique AQUA Twelve Days of Christmas Twelfth Drummers Drumming Postmarks Music Digital Download for Transfer, Pillows, etc Burlap No. 3409 by AntiqueGraphiqueAged

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of my readers and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!  Treasury round up will return next week.

These are actually for a Valentine's Day project (yep, trying to keep working ahead so I have these things ready before the actual holidays are here), but I thought that it would be a good message for today.  I don't think that there's a much better place to find inspiration than in the true meaning of Christmas.  Take some time to think about that today while you're enjoying your celebration.

Enjoy the day off today and see you back here tomorrow with our regularly scheduled programming.

Saturday Link List: the New Year's Eve edition

Happy Christmas Eve!  Welcome to the final holiday edition of my weekly link list for 2011.  Since I started working on my New Year's Eve Pintrest board last week, it has had a ton of interest so clearly I haven't been the only one thinking about this topic.  I don't have any of my own articles or other resources for New Year's Eve, but I found a lot of great decoration ideas, printables, recipes, and more.

You can check out the entire board here.  Here are a few of my favorites.

The Practical Mommy on HubPages wrote a great article about things to do with children of all different ages on New Year's Eve.  She breaks down her ideas for different age groups.  There is nothing wrong with letting kids stay up for the holiday, but you should structure the evening so that they have fun.

Source: thepracticalmommy.hubpages.com via Rose on Pinterest

The Fiskar's company has several fun New Year's craft ideas, all of which are very inexpensive and many of which require on hand materials.  Aren't those little corks with the star punched numbers cute?

Source: fiskars.com via Rose on Pinterest

Here's a fun tutorial for New Year's poppers.  Bookmark this one if you ever want to make poppers for other occasions, too, such as birthday parties.

Source: makeandtakes.com via Rose on Pinterest

This was repinned 8 times within the first couple hours of me pinning it on my board so I figured it would do pretty well here, too!  This isn't actually a tutorial for this cute cookies, just a lovely picture of them, but those with some crafty initiative shouldn't have too much trouble creating something similar.

Source: beeinourbonnet.com via Rose on Pinterest

The author of this post explains how she and her family put together a "best of" list/collection for the year on New Year's and create some sort of scrapbook or envelope to preserve it.  I love this idea!  You can customize it any way you like.

Source: kojodesigns.blogspot.com via Rose on Pinterest

Again, you can check out the board for the complete set.  Have fun with all of your crafty New Year's Eve endeavors this year!

Did you use one of the resources, tutorials, or recipes from my link list?  Leave me a link in the comments or send me an e-mail (randomcreative28@gmail.com) with your photos and stories.  I would love to post them here! 

Friday feature: roses

Before I get to my regularly scheduled feature, I wanted to mention that there are a couple people who were nice enough to feature me and my work on their blogs this past week.  The first is Athena of MissMillificent: BBA Team Member Feature for December: randomcreative!.  I really appreciate Athena doing this for me!  The second is Eleise of oneartsymama who agreed to feature me this fall and finally got the feature up: feature: rose.  Thanks Eleise!  Please check out these posts if you get a chance.

The last time that I did a roses feature was over the summer so it's definitely time to revisit this theme.  Enjoy!

Single Wrap Beaded Leather Bracelet, Never Promised You a Rose Garden by riskybeads

Art Nouveau Rose Necklace in Rhodolite Garnet by onegarnetgirl

Romantic Country Farmhouse Brooch Shabby by TrueRebelClothing

Golden Roses Vintage Zipper Lapel Pin by ZipperedHeart

cherie - vintage brass leaf and rose earrings by jewelryvixen

Pink rose necklace by daniellart

Fabric Wreath with Felt Flowers - 10 in - Lace Wreath v. True Blue - SALE by cakoons

Smokey Quartz and Thai Silver Rose Necklace by LiTelle

Sterling Silver Three Rose Ring by ThirtySixTen

Turquoise Rose Ring by meltemsem