New Year's Giveaway

I'm giving away one item in my shop to celebrate the New Year. The winner will get to choose any item in my shop they wish.

To enter, just post one of your resolutions for 2013 in the comments. Also post your e-mail address and any extra entries you do. The winner will be chosen randomly from all the entries. You can enter until January 8th, 2013.

To get extra entries:
- Add my Etsy shop to your favorites.
- Add any item in my shop to your favorites.
- Like my store on Storeenvy.
- Follow this blog.
- Subscribe to my mailing list.
- Like my fanpage on Facebook.
- Follow my Twitter.
- Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter.
- Post about this giveaway on the Etsy forums.
- Post about the giveaway on any other site.

Good luck and Happy New Year's!

Coming in 2013

2012 Personal Resolutions

For my personal New Year's resolutions last year, I decided to do them in the form of photos instead of words. I think the photos speak for themselves.

My personal resolutions are mostly the same as last years. I am currently finding new photos for this year with my goals/resolutions. I think I might put the photos on my wall or make a collage out of them. What were your resolutions last year?

Personal Christmas Photos

I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Here are some of my personal holiday photos this year:

I made this Christmas stocking to look like an ice skate. I'm going to post more photos and of how I made this stocking in another entry.




I made these green cupcakes which are supposed to look like Christmas trees with snow on them. I had trouble making the frosting look like trees so I just arranged them to look like a big Christmas tree. The coconut on top is supposed to be snow.



I got this hippo bag that I had on my wishlist. I got a book called Blog Inc. that's all about blogging. I also got a vegan cupcake cookbook called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World which looks like it has a lot of fun recipes to try.







This photo is of a plastic Christmas tree I got next to my Christmas Hello Kitty stuffed animal I got last year.



I made vegan fudge with crushed candy canes for my family and put them in a tin decorated with sequins.



I made my pets presents too! I made my cats this cat puzzle toy. It's basically a plastic box with holes cut in the top and bouncy balls inside.



I made my dog these peanut butter dog treats shaped like dogs. He ended up finding them under the tree and eating them early.





Look forward to a New Year's giveaway coming soon! What did you do to celebrate Christmas?

Holiday Gingerbread Houses

I love looking at gingerbread houses. Here are some creative gingerbread houses to inspire you. Find a basic gingerbread recipe here.



This gingerbread house is a grand castle complete with a bridge and pond.



Why stick to a house? Try making a form of transportation such as this Santa express train.



This is the official White House gingerbread house for 2012. It weighs almost 300 pounds.

Gingerbread Carousel



I love this fun gingerbread carousel.

Do you like to make gingerbread houses?

Christmas Food

Try these festive foods to celebrate Christmas:

Lavender Mint Tea

This soothing tea is a great way to relax this holiday season. It uses mint, lavendar and rosemary.

Christmas Tree Waffles 



This Christmas tree waffles uses fruit for ornaments and star, bacon for the trunk, and yogurt for snow. Use green food dye in the waffle batter to dye it green.

Christmas Tree Crudite



Make a healthy Christmas tree crudite with vegetables.

What do you like to make for Christmas?

Christmas Beauty

The holiday season is a great time to dress up. Here are some beauty ideas for the holiday season:

Gold and silver dresses are great for holiday parties. Try this simple gold dress from H&M with gold jewelry and gold or neutral eye shadow.

If you want to go all out, consider dressing as Santa such with this striped dress, hat and gloves. If you don't want to get too dressy, just wear a santa hat with a red shirt.

For makeup, stick to red, green and gold colors like this makeup look that uses green and gold eye shadow. 

How do you like to dress up for the holiday season?

Christmas Etsy Tips

These tips will show you how to get your Etsy shop ready for the holiday season and tips on how to promote it.

Get Your Shop Holiday Ready

Before you promote your shop, you'll want to have your shop ready for the holiday season. Have a section in your shop for winter holiday items. Title it something like "Winter Holidays" or "Christmas" and keep your winter holiday themed items there or items you think would make good gifts.

Tag your holiday themed items with appropriate tags such as "Christmas" or "winter". If you don't have any holiday themed items, tag a few your items with the tag "gift" or something similar. If you want to mass tag items, I recommend using the Etsy on Sale feature (if you use this link, you'll help me get free credits). Put Christmas items or items you think would make great gifts as your "Featured" items on the top of your Etsy shop.

Blog and Newsletter

Promote your shop on your blog for the holiday season. For example, you could do a gift guide like I did here and post about items in your shop you think would make good gifts for certain people. If you have Christmas items, post about them or how you made them. Post some personal things too such as how you decorate for the holiday season or what you're planning to do to celebrate.

A newsletter is another good way to promote your shop for the winter holidays. Send out an issue with a winter holiday coupon just for newsletter subscribers. If you don't have a newsletter yet, learn how to make one here.

Advertising

Consider buying advertising or swapping ads to help promote your shop. If you look on blogs, you'll usually see an advertise button or information on advertising. Some blog advertising costs money while other blogs offer advertising free or want to swap ads. Pick the option that best works for you. If you want to spend money, set a budget for yourself.

To find blogs, start by looking at blogs you read. Google keywords related to your shop followed by the word "blog" to help find good blogs to advertise your Etsy shop on. For example, since I sell journals in my Etsy shop, I googled "art journaling blogs" because people who like to journal would be more likely to purchase journals from my shop. Project Wonderful is a good website you can use to find blogs and post your ads on them. I offer blog advertising on my blog. Click the "Advertise" button on the right hand side of this page.

You don't just have to advertise on blogs. Etsy has a Search Ads feature that could be useful to you. Craftster is a good craft related website where you can advertise your shop.

Social Media

Social media and message boards are a good free way to advertise your shop. For example, if you don't want to buy advertising on Craftster, you can use their message boards which have lots of good craft ideas. Have a link to your Etsy shop and blog in your signature so every time you post, you're promoting your shop a little.

Keep any social media you use, such as Facebook and Twitter, updated. Post about holiday items, coupons and items you think would make good gifts. Don't forget to post some personal things too so it doesn't seem like you're spamming. For my Facebook page, I like to put holiday themed items as my cover photo.

Gift Wrapping

Now that you've promoted your shop, you just have to wait for the orders to come in. Offer free gift wrapping in your shop. Consider posting a photo of how you gift wrap items as one of your item photos or on your blog so customers know what your gift wraping looks like. Make sure you are well stocked up for the holiday season in case you get a big rush. Have items such as wrapping paper, tissue paper, packages and tape available.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Let me know your best tips in the comments!

Holiday Wishlist

This is what's on my wishlist this year:

Waterfall Soap Bar



This soap is vegan and has a clean, waterfall smell. I love the way it looks too.

Birds Illustration Drawing



I like art prints like these. This is an illustration drawn with ink and markers and digitally colored.

White Leggings With Small Birds in Black



I love cute leggings like these.

White Peony Loose Leaf Tea



I want to start buying loose leaf tea like this white peony tea.

What's on your wishlist?

Holiday Season Gift Guide

Here's a gift guide for the holiday season. These are items in my shop that would make good gifts for the different people in your life:

For the Traveler



Items with map themes in my shop are great gifts for travelers or someone who is planning to visit a certain place. I did a tutorial on this blog for this Map of Paris Journal that you can also purchase. 

For Children

At a craft show I went to, a little boy really liked my Autism Awareness Journal. I think the bright colors and puzzle theme make it a great gift for children. 25% of your payment will be donated to KindTree.org, a group that promotes artists with autism.

For Teens

I think this Iridescent Pink Box would be a good gift for teen girls. It's good to hold small items such as jewelry and small office supplies. 

For Your Family




This Yellow and Blue Belle journal could make a great gift for anyone in your life. A journal is a great gift idea for someone in your family, such as your mother or aunt. 

For the Gardener

This Pumpkin Harvest Coptic Stitch Journal would be a great journal to give to gardeners.

For the Chef

A food themed greeting card such as this Sweet Tooth Greeting Card would be a great card to give for the foodie in your life instead of a traditional Christmas card. Also consider giving a journal that could be used a recipe book.

For the Animal Lover

Animal print items such as this Leopard Print Journal would be perfect for animal lovers.

Stocking Stuffer

Small items, such as the mini journals in my shop, are perfect stocking stuffers. This Green Bird Mini Journal measures 3 x 3 inches so it's perfect for fitting in a stocking.

For more gift ideas, click here to see previous gift guides on this blog. 

Christmas Items in My Shop

Here are some Christmas items in my shop that I updated the photos to with my new camera:

Wavy Glitter Christmas Tree Greeting Card



Wavy Iridescent Green Christmas Greeting Card




Where do you buy your cards for Christmas?

Winter Items in My Shop

These winter themed greeting cards in my shop would be good to give out for any winter holiday.

Let it Snow Greeting Card



Coffee Lover's Greeting Card



Green Swirl Holiday Greeting Card



See more winter inspired items here.

12 Days of Christmas Special

12/14 - Winter Items in My Shop
12/15 - Christmas Items in My Shop
12/16 - Gift Guide
12/17 - Crafts
12/18 - Holiday Wishlist
12/19 - Etsy Tips
12/20 - Nail Art
12/21 - Beauty
12/22 - Food
12/23 - Desserts
12/24 - Gingerbread Houses
12/25 - Personal Photos

See last year's 12 Days of Christmas Special here. 

Hanukkah Food

Here are some food and desserts you can try making for Hanukkah:

Latkes

Latkes are traditional for Hanukkah. This website has two different vegan versions of potato pancakes.

Vanilla Cupcake Menorah

These cupcakes that resemble a menorah are a fun dessert to make for Hanukkah.

Hanukkah Gingerbread House

Why not make a Hanukkah gingerbread house instead of a Christmas one? Use blue and white colors and use Hanukkah gelt to decorate the house.

Let me know if you try any of these recipes.

Hanukkah Beauty

If you want to dress up for Hanukkah, use blue and white colors with maybe a bit of yellow. Here are some ideas:

You could wear a blue and white outfit you already have to get in the holiday spirit or find a blue or white sweater like the one above from Forever 21.

For accessories, try wearing blue, white or yellow jewelry such as these feather earrings.



 I love this creative Hanukkah nail art. Click here to learn how to do it.

Blue and white makeup, like the photo above, would be perfect for Hanukkah. Add some rhinestones to give your look a holiday touch.

Check back tomorrow for more Hanukkah ideas!

Hanukkah Crafts

Try these fun crafts to celebrate Hanukkah:

Glittery Dreidel Place Cards

These dreidel place cards are perfect for a holiday party. Use wood or plastic dreidels, craft tags and glitter to make these.

Star of David Mobile



A Star of David mobile is a great craft to do with children.

Paper Dreidle Garland



This paper dreidle garland is a fun way to decorate your home for Hanukkah. Use colorful heavyweight paper and silvercord to make it.

If you celebrate Hanukkah, what do you like to do to celebrate it?