Domain Name, Cupcake Journal and New Items

I decided to get a domain name for this blog. I figured I might as well since it'll make it easier to get to and it doesn't cost that much. Instead of going to mythreadofthought.blogspot.com, you can just type mythreadofthought.com and it will take you here. Try it out! :)

I sold another item. I actually sold it because of a site called LinkReferral. This is the only time I know another site has led to a sale (because she mentioned in her review of my site she stopped to buy the item halfway through). I sold this Cupcake Journal:



The only problem is I couldn't find the journal (I think it sold at a craft show my mom did and she didn't remember if it sold) so I have to make it again. I'm really excited I sold something else though.

I also listed a new box with the same cupcake fabric:

Cupcake Lover's Box



I also got a couple other new items up in the past week:

Orange Chaos Watercolor Congratulations Greeting Card



I was playing around with red and yellow watercolor paint for this one. I wasn't sure what kind of card to turn it in to, but I made it a "Congratulations" one.

Set of 8 Invitation Tags



These are some more stamped tags. I wasn't sure what to do with these so I figured I'd list them. This can be used for invitations instead of gifts.

I'll be getting more items up in the next few weeks too. I made this snowflake journal that I'm going to try to get up by Christmas.

If you've been paying attention to Etsy news, you know that Rob (the old CEO of Etsy) is back at Etsy. I'm not sure exactly what this means yet, but it seems like he'll add some positive changes to Etsy - like making the Front Page more fair and getting rid of gift guides. I'm excited to see how Etsy develops in the new year.

Gift Wrapping Tutorial

I haven't done a tutorial in a while so I thought I'd do a little tutorial on how to wrap gifts and tie bows. This isn't anything super fancy, but my mom asked how I tied the bow on my Secret Santa present, so I figured I'd just write about how I wrap gifts in time for the holidays. These are basic steps, but tell me if you find it helpful. Feel free to post your method and ideas for wrapping fits.

1.) Start by getting the item you're wrapping. If your item is an irregular shape, you can put in a box so it's easier to wrap. My photos are from wrapping a journal I made from my sister so I didn't use a box because it's a basic square shape.

2.) Wrap your item in tissue paper. This step is optional, but I think it's nice to wrap it in tissue paper and not just wrapping paper to give it a little extra protection. I usually use 2 to 3 layers of basic white tissue paper. For this present, I did a layer of yellow tissue paper too. I cut the tissue paper to the right size, folded the long sides over the journal and taped it with clear tape (if I'm doing an order, I usually put a sticker with my logo over the tape too).

3. To get the other ends, I usually trim them down a little. Then I fold the corners over for each side, fold it over twice and tape it. It looks something like this with the tissue paper on:


4.) Find wrapping paper for your gift. I used red holiday wrapping paper I found around the house, but if you want to save paper and use recycled items, any paper item can work - newspaper (you can make this personal by using something that would fit the character of the person who the present is for, such as using the Comics section), magazines (you can even cut out different items from magazine and make a collage like wrapping paper), grocery bags (I saw some Trader Joe's one with snowflakes on them and thought those would look nice as wrapping paper, all you'd have to do is cut it up and lay it flat), decorative paper, etc.

5.) Now wrap your present. This is probably something most people know how to do, but it's basically the same as wrapping the tissue paper. I cut out a square piece big enough to cover my item. Then I fold the two longest sides over each other (on the backside of the present) and tape it like before. I trim the other sides and do the same method of folding corners as I did with the tissue paper. Wrapping presents is actually the same way I make covers for journals when I put the decorative paper on (except I use glue instead of tape and cut the corners instead of folding them over).

It looks something like this when it's wrapped:

6.) You can stop here, but I like adding ribbon too. Take a ribbon of choice. I used a transparent type red ribbon here to match the paper (I looked for white ribbon too, but couldn't find any). You can have it match the color of the wrapping paper or just use a color you think looks nice. Cut two pieces long enough to wrap around the present with a little extra room to tie a bow. You can use two different colors if you wish.

7.) Wrap the first piece around the present and tie a basic knot and bow. After I did the first ribbon, I put the other piece of ribbon under the first one (on the back side) and tied another knot and bow. If you find the ribbons are loose and might fall off, sticking a piece of clear tape on the backside where the ribbons are could help them stay in place.

8.) Now you have two bows. Take one loop from one bow and a loop for another one and tie them around each other (by just making a basic knot with the loops). Do this with the other two loops. There's lots of different creative bows you can do, but this is just a basic way. Adjust the loops so they're even. Trim any pieces of ribbon sticking out that aren't part of the bow. Ta da! Now you have a nice looking present.

9.) If you don't have a card, you can cut another small square out of the wrapping paper, fold it in half and tape it on the present to have a name tag.

Here's the finished present (on the right), next to another present I wrapped with the same wrapping paper:


Here's another example of a present wrapped using the same method (the ribbon shows up better in this photo):

I got some new items up which I'll write about in my next entry. My Holiday Reindeer Greeting Card was featured in the EtsyVeg blog here. That same card was also in Etsy's Paper Goods showcase this week. Before the showcase, it had about 90 views and now it's at 130 which is a little bit of an increase, but not significant enough that it'd be worth the $7. I'm also looking for some new craft shows and shops to put my items in. Let me know if you know any shows or shops in the Chicago or Pittsburgh area.

Showcase and Secret Santa

My Reindeer Greeting Card is in the Paper Goods Showcase today. If that sells, I have some other holiday cards lined up too. I know showcases aren't usually that effective, but I figured doing it just one time couldn't hurt. I'm going to see if the views for that item go up.

I'm doing a Secret Santa type gift exchange in the EtsyVeg team. I'm a little late sending it out because I was so busy with school work, but I got my gift for my partner sent out

When you open it up...
I decided to make my Secret Santa a sketchbook because she likes sketching. I found this pretty blue rose fabric at a store near my college and decided to use it.

I also gave her this card. I thought the Penquins were a good fit because of it being the EtsyVeg team:



I also got my Secret Santa gift in the mail. I decided to not open it until Christmas, but I know it's jewelry and soap (because I read the card). I can't wait to see it. I love handmade gifts. I'm still working on my gifts, but I'll also do a post showing what I gave out as gifts for my family.

Speaking of gifts, for my mom's birthday, I got her a gift certificate to my Etsy shop and she chose this box. It's not listed now, but if you want a custom one like it, I can re-create it:

Pink Flowers Box



I ordered a lot of new paper and a lot of it came in the mail. It looks really nice in real life. I can't wait to start using it. I also got some vintage paper and greeting cards I'm going to play around it. I don't have any glue left though so I probably won't start making new items until after Christmas.

Featured, New Items and Done with Finals

I'm almost done with finals and I'm going home tomorrow. I got featured in this blog. Check it out. I was really excited she decided to feature me. :) She wrote a nice little write up about my shop.

I went through all my photos and wrote all the items I still needed to list. I don't know if I should keep listing a lot or try to save them for later (when I won't have as many new items to list). I might try to list a couple new items every week. I got these new items up:

Book Lover's Script Greeting Card



I actually have this in a shop, but I can easily get it if someone buys it. I made a bunch of book lover's cards and one of them sold so I decided to list another one.

Baby Clothes Greeting Card



This is another baby greeting card. I love the baby clothes decorative paper.

Set of 3 Friendship Tags



I decided to make some tags. I didn't know if I would list them when I made them, but I decided to just go ahead and put them up. It has a quote about friendship on it. I thought it'd be good to put up since it's the gift giving season.

I was looking through Etsy's official gift guides and noticed they had some similar items I had in mine. Does anybody know if the Tech Geek guide was put up recently or if it's just been up for a while and I didn't notice it? The reason I ask is because I remember reading a post from someone (maybe last year) that Etsy used similar items she put in her blog's gift guide on the official guide right after she put her gift guide up and she thought they might have been using her ideas. I think that might have happened to me because I noticed they had a couple of the same items I posted and similar sections that I had. It's not a really a big deal (it's nice to think someone got inspired by my gift guide), but I remember looking at the gift guides before I made mine to make sure I used different items than Etsy had. Has this happened to anyone else?

Either way though, the gift guide seemed to be a success. A lot of people who were featured said they tweeted or wrote on their Facebook about my blog. It'll help get exposure to my blog and the shops that were featured. :) I usually do a Christmas wishlist, but they'd be basically the same as the items I already posted. What's on your Christmas list this year?

Coffee Lover's Collection and Updates

I thought I'd do an entry showcasing all my coffee themed cards. I used this paper a lot so it's sort of like a collection of coffee lover's items.

Coffee Lover's Holiday Greeting Card



Coffee Lover's Holiday Greeting Card (Version II)



This card says "Happy Holidays!" on the inside and has a heart cut out of coffee decorative paper.

Coffee Addict Wavy Greeting Card



This card says "I'm addicted." on the inside. Perfect for coffee addicts.

Coffee Addict Greeting Card



Great Day Coffee Lover's Greeting Card



I did an interview for this site called WhoHub, where you can read or answer interviews about creative jobs. You don't have to be asked to be interviewed, anybody can fill it out. If you're a type of artist or have a blog, you should fill one out and post a link to yours. :) I talked about my etsy shop and this blog. You can read it here.

One of my holiday cards is featured in this EtsyVeg blog treasury. I didn't win their challenge on their blog for this month, but maybe next time? I think I have to ask a lot of people to vote for me if I want to win.

Speaking of challenges, I'm entering a craft challenge for a gingerbread house contest. I'm just doing it for fun, but if you have any ideas, let me know. I'm trying to think of a unique way to make a house (like I saw a gingerbread house of a pyramid and I thought that was really creative).

I sent out my first mailing list update. It's basically a recap of stuff I talk about in the blog and I'm either sending it monthly or twice monthly. It also has some special discounts in it. If you want to subscribe, the box is on the right side of this blog. I think it's helpful for people to get updates in their Inbox because they'll usually at least look over it. If you want to see what the first newsletter looked like, click here (and tell me what you think!)

I started working on some new cards and journals over the weekend. I'm really excited about the new stuff. I made some new journals, envelopes, cards and another item I haven't tried making part. I also worked on a journal for my EtsyVeg holiday swap partner. I'll post photos once I have my camera again. I can't wait to list them. :)

Gingerbread City

I wanted to make something different than a gingerbread house this year so I decided to make a gingerbread city. I made the city out of gingerbread. It is loosely based off Chicago.






I added water to represent Lake Michigan. The water is made out of blue frosting. The waves are made out of coconut flakes.

Have you ever made a gingerbread house or city?

Gift Guide Part 3 - Movie Lovers, Music Lovers and Tech Geeks

Here's the final part of the gift guide. I featured gift ideas for movie lovers, music lovers and tech geeks. Enjoy!

For Movie Lovers

I had fun looking for items for movie lovers. Not only did I find a lot of film themed items, but a lot of items related to specific movies. Try searching for your favorite movie on Etsy (or the person you're giving the gift to's favorite movie) and see what items come up.

Movie Reel Earrings



These cute earrings are perfect for movie lovers or film makers. I like how each side is different.

Fight Club Soap



This is a great soap for Fight Club fans. It looks just like the one on the movie poster.

Wizard of Oz Zipper Pouch



I love the fabric on this pouch. It's a Japanese fabric with characters from Wizard of Oz.

Breakfast at Tiffany's Ouotes - Set of 5 Cards



This cute stationary set has five quotes from "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Audrey Hepburn. It would be a great gift for fans of the movie.

My Life Is A Soap Opera Keychain



This is more TV related than movie related, but these keychains have cute sayings that say "My life is a soap opera" and have various endings. This would be a perfect stocking stuffer for a soap opera addict.


For Music Lovers

There are a lot of music related items on Etsy. You can always find a lot of iPod cases. Here's just a couple items that would make great gifts.

Silkscreened Organic Cotton Tote Bag



This silkscreened bag is so cute and perfect for music lovers. I love the mixtape image. There's also shirts with this image in the shop.

Tegan and Sara Gig Poster



This shop designs posters for bands at shows. I love seeing these types of posters when they have nice designs. This specific poster is for a Tegan and Sara show in 2008.

Mix Tape Pouch



This pouch is creative and a great gift for musicians or people who love music. I love the bright colors used on this particular one. It'd be great for keeping music related items like guitar picks or an iPod.

Glitter Bird Bag



This is another bag that would be great for keeping music related items. love the little bird and music notes. I also love things that glitter just a little like this.

Crochet Pattern Piano



This is a crochet pattern for a piano. I think it's meant to be a kid's toy, but it'd be great for any music lover or piano player too. I actually had a little piano like this when I was little (except it wasn't crochet and you could actually play it).


For the Tech Geek

There's so many cute tech geek items on Etsy. I love the creativity behind these products.

Ctrl - Alt - Del Three Pillow Set



I think this set of pillows is so cute. I like how the item is soft, something you wouldn't expect to use the "Ctrl+Alt+Del" wording on it.

Keyboard Long Zipper Pouch



This adorable pouch would be perfect for keeping USB cables, flash drives or other computer relate items. I love the unique keyboard fabric.

Custom Computer Geek Charm Necklace



This cute necklace is perfect for computer geeks. You also get to customize the type of charm and chain type.

Woodland Deer Vinyl Laptop Decal



Laptop decals can bring personality to your laptop. This simple, cute deer one is nice and I like that it is colored.

Less Than Three Silver Charm Pendant



I love the design on this and how they decided to use the digital heart instead of just a regular heart shape. There's also rings with this symbol available.

That's the gift guide. I hope you enjoyed it and found some items that interested you. :) Let me know if you think I should do features like this in the future.

Gift Guide Part 2 - Nature Lovers and Travelers

I just got a ton of decorative paper in the mail. I can't wait to use it. I'm already inspired and have a bunch of ideas. I actually started on a journal yesterday. I have finals tomorrow so I probably shouldn't have started on a craft project, but I got inspired and it's a good stress reliever. I don't want to say what it is yet, but I'm working on a more unique journal that I think will turn out nice. I can't wait to list it. :)

I noticed 2 of the items I listed yesterday in Part 1 of the gift guide sold. I don't think either were because I blogged (they're just popular shops), but you never know. It's interesting to notice things like that. Here's part 2 of the gift guide - gift ideas for nature lovers and travelers.

For the Nature Lover

I was surprised how many nature items I found. Nature themes seem to be pretty popular in crafting - a lot of animals like owls, birds and deers are used in craft items.

Golden Pine Cone Gold Hoop Earrings



These pretty earrings are gold pine cone shapes. I love the idea of bring nature in to jewelry.

Large Autumn Tree Wall Decal



This large scale wall decal would be great to transform a room. My old room (at the house I grew up) has different seasons on each wall and I've always loved nature themes in rooms.

Autumn Sunset A Bird on a Branch Silk Clutch



This cute clutch feating a bird on a branch would be a great gift.

Summer Daydream Photograph Print



You can find a lot of photos of nature, but I like this one because it captures a simple moment in nature and uses some text. It says "It was all a beautiful dream" at the top.

Carved Into a Tree Mug



This creative mug is perfect for somebody who likes the outdoors or camping. It is carved to look like a tree trunk.


For the Traveler

These would be great gifts for people who love to travel or are interested in other areas of the world. I stuck mostly with a map theme.

Map Chair



I've had this map chair on my favorites for a while and I love how creative it is. It's kind of expensive, but very admirable.

Paris is Calling Earrings



These would be great to get for a gift to someone who loves Paris or is planning to travel there. I love the Eifel Tower pendants.

Blue Felt Texas



This is a pillow shaped in to the state of Texas. I love the idea of state shaped pillows. It looks so cozy too.

I Heart Illinois Necklace



This is the jewelery version of the pillow above. It's the shape of Illinois in a necklace. I love the little heart cut out of the pendant.

The final part of the gift guide will be up tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

Gift Guide Part I - Children, Fashionista and Food Lover

Welcome to the gift guide! This is a list I made of suggestions for gifts for the holiday season (or just some new items you can add to your Etsy favorites). There's going to be 3 different parts - posted Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Here's part 1 that has items for the children, the fashionista and cook/food lover.

For Children

There's so many great items for children on Etsy. I was looking at a toy store over Thanksgiving break (just for fun) and realized there were a lot nicer items on Etsy that were handmade. I love handmade children's items because they're unique and would make great memories for children.

Goat Milk Tub Soap



This crayon soap is a perfect gift for children. It's creative and encourages them to wash themselves.

Counting Sheep Musical Fleece Mobile



This hand sewn fleece mobile is great for babies. I love the sheep idea.

Stuffed Hippo



Hippo were my favorite animal when I was little. Stuffed hippos are always so vibrant and bright, I love looking at them.

Wish Upon a Star Elephant and Rabbit Print



This simple artwork would look nice in a children's room (or an adult's). It looks like a page out of a storybook.

Your Name in Crayons



There are a lot of unique crayons on etsy in different shapes and colors. I like these because you can personalize them for a gift. You also don't have to buy the whole alphabet and get to pick 8 letters.


For the Fashionista

I didn't include any clothes, but found some jewelry and accessories on Etsy that would make great gifts. It was hard to choose just a few.

Extra Long Corset Fingerless Gloves



I love these fingerless gloves from a fellow EtsyVeg team member and the ribbon around them. I think I read somewhere that Courtney Love has bought from this seller.

Giordana Rose Ring - Teal



These rings made out of polymer clay roses are so pretty. It would be a great gift for any women in your life. I love the blue color in this one.

Pocket Mirrors



I never realized how many cute pocket mirrors were on Etsy. Here's an example of one seller. These would make great stocking stuffers or great for anyone.

Sketchbook Bangle



I love the unique look of this bangle and the handmade look of it.


For the Cook/Food Lover

These items are great for anyone who loves to cook or just loves food.

Kitty Cat Recipe Cards



This cute recipes cards are perfect for food and animal lovers. It features original illustrations of cats with cooking items. There is space to let you write a recipe, serving size, preparation time and other information.

Hand Painted Lemon Slice Recycled Wall Clock



I love creative clocks like these and knew I had to include it in my gift guide when I saw it. This clock is made to look like a lemon. It would look great as a kitchen clock.

Grow Your Own Food Shirt



I love the statement on this shirt. Great for gardeners and food lovers.

Ice Cream Sundae and Popsicle Full Apron



This apron is perfect to give somebody who loves to cook. I love the cute fabric on it and how it has a nice shape to it.

Cookies Are Love (Print)



I love the cute prints in this shop. The saying on here is so true and it would look great in somebody's kitchen.

Thanks for everyone who made suggestions in my threads. Check back tomorrow and Sunday for Parts 2 and 3!