Yah, it’s Saturday! Let’s keep the weekend easy!

Do you like pretty things? Like these?

Ruffles

I met the adorable and charming Gussy (given name Maggie, but I’m not even going to pretend I’ve ever called her that) at The Creative Connection and after two days of stalking her and hanging around her booth she gave me a zipped pouch, probably so I would go away.

And because I am a super nice person, I’m going to give it to you.

ME = SUPER. NICE. PERSON.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. THAT’S IT.

Tell me what you’re doing this weekend. Tell me your favorite Halloween candy. Tell me what Gussy item you like. Tell me my hair looks pretty. Tell me YOUR hair looks pretty.

Giveaway open until November 6th, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email so make sure you use a real one when you comment. I’m mailing pouch my own self and am willing to send it anywhere, so giveaway is open to EVERYONE.

I also highly recommend Gussy’s blog, Twitter and Facebook. And your free tip of the day: If you sign up for her newsletter, she sends out discount codes.

Disclaimer bit: This post is not sponsored or endorsed by Gussy, although I did ask her if she would be mad that I’m giving away a gift. (For the record, she said no). Consider it my thank you for putting up with my eight zillion Creative Connection posts.

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs
Day 3 is open until November 3rd! Taradara
Day 4 is open until November 4th! Peggy Ann Design
Day 5 is open until November 5th! aPearantly Sew

How’s that for perhaps the cutest shop name and logo ever in the history of handmade shops? Alison makes adorable wristlets, bags, hair pins and more out of bright interesting fabrics and sells them in her online shop, aPearantly Sew.

Alison found me via Twitter (which is another reason everyone should tweet – awesome people like Alison!) and offered to participate in my giveaway week. After exchanging a dozen or more emails, I can assure you she is just as cute as her product – and clearly very talented, to find time to make stuff with TWO boys only 18 months (to the day!) apart. She is also happy to answer frantic questions about double strollers from those of us who are obsessed with such things. So I like her.

I liked her even more after she sent me this:

Do those colors look familiar? That's because they're ALL AROUND YOU. Alison says it wasn't intentional but she totally made this wrislet with my blog colors!

The attention to detail is fantastic - don't you love the matching lining?

And although it’s a great little bag for coupons or make-up or a pencil case, I prefer to use it when I’m pretending I DON’T regularly carry poop-filled diapers around with me for several hours.

iPhone, keys, driver's license and credit cards - everything I need for a babyfree shopping trip!

That's with all the stuff in it, including my giant keys! It even has a handy wrist strap for carrying, which makes me feel classy.

And to help you feel just as classy, Alison is offering one of my readers a $20 shop credit! (For the record, that will totally get you one of these wristlets.)

All you have to do to enter is visit aPearantly Sew and leave a comment on this post telling me which item is your favorite! And yes, you can totally say “all of them”, because that would be my answer.

Alison is also rather new to the blogging world, so I know she would love if you checked out her blog or followed her on Twitter too. Although all her blog does is make me jealous I can’t sew worth crap.

Giveaway will be open until November 5th, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email, so make sure you use a real email address when you comment.

Disclaimer bit: Alison sent me my wristlet for free so I could review it honestly and take pictures. No other compensation was received and her gift did not influence my opinions in any way. Neither did her patience in talking to me about double strollers.

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs
Day 3 is open until November 3rd! Taradara
Day 4 is open until November 4th! Peggy Ann Design

Despite CLAIMING to be not-so-domesticated on the internets, Hannah of Peggy Ann Design sure knows her way around a sewing machine. Her aprons are so gorgeous they make me want to bake stuff just so I have an excuse to wear one and her picture frames are definitely too pretty for any of the photos I’ve taken recently. But her real genius lies in her pom-poms.

Mama size pom-pom and a NEW mini pom-pom for little fans (or for your ponytail)

Now, Hannah is a fan of something called War Eagle and is always yelling about them on Twitter. I Googled it, and discovered War Eagle isn’t actually a vicious bird but the mascot for Auburn’s football team. Which makes a lot more sense. But since she was tired of ugly ball caps and jerseys as her only options to show her Auburn love in public, she created these pom-pom pins in her team’s colors!

Since my college didn’t even have a football team (I think we were famous for…basketball? And at some point might have had the #2 tennis player in the country? or something?) I had to go with *real* sports when she asked what colors I wanted. And since I live in New England the answer is obviously red & blue – Go Sox AND Go Pats!!

OMG don't we look insanely alike in this picture?

This is Little Evan and I in our adorable pom-poms*, watching the Patriots almost lose even though they had a TWENTY POINT LEAD. Please note Evan’s vintage football sweater that simply supports an imaginary “team team”.

WTF PATS?!?!?!?!

Luckily, that last touchdown didn’t count and we won. I give all the credit to our new pom-poms.

*For the record, the pom-pom hair clippie is actually for Baby Girl, but it’s a little hard to get her to model things right now. Also, Hannah made using Evan as the model a requirement for the giveaway. True story. Oh, and the small pom-pom can also be put on a pin if you’d prefer that to a clip.

If you want to support your team with your very own pompoms, Hannah is going to give one of my readers their very own set of matching mama & baby poms in YOUR CHOICE of colors!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling me what colors you want! You can see what Hannah has in stock here but your choice can be ANY team colors. Just don’t say blue and white pinstripe, because we don’t allow your kind around here. I’m not even joking.

You can also follow Hannah’s blog (which I recommend, she’s been doing some awesome giveaways) or follow her on Twitter (which I also recommend, because she’s hilarious) but those aren’t extra entries.

Giveaway will be open until November 4nd, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email, so make sure you use a real email address when you comment.

Giveaway is now closed!

Disclaimer bit: Hannah sent me these pom-poms free of charge to photograph and review, but I think she really just wanted to see Little Evan in a hair clippie. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are entirely my own. I wasn’t even extra nice because she’s a fellow Navy wife.

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs
Day 3 is open until November 3rd! Taradara

Don’t you love her tag line? I knew I liked Tara as soon as I met her. She’s feisty. And funny. And the first thing she said after I gave her my card at The Creative Connection was “You have a boy? I have two boys at home. I know EXACTLY what you need.”

Meet Little Evan's new best friend: Snake

She was definitely right. Tara makes these adorable 5 foot long snakes out of bright fabrics and minky, so they’re soft and cuddly. You can order them in boy-ish, girl-ish or either-ish colors.  And since she understands kids, they’re even machine washable.

Hitting Mommy with Snake is Little Evan’s new favorite game. AND THAT’S TOTALLY OK, because getting whacked with a soft fabric snake is a thousand times less painful than a plastic sippy to the face. I speak from experience. I think Brutus appreciates the soft-snake-as-a-weapon even more than I do.

And when one gets all tired out from the playing, Snake also makes a nice cuddly friend.

If toy snakes aren’t your thing, Tara also makes wallets, card holders, burp cloths, passport covers and more (as she puts it) artsy fartsy stuff. And she adds to the shop all the time, so put her on your favorites list and keep an eye out for the perfect gift this holiday season.

And to help you on your merry holiday shopping way, Tara is very generously going to give one of my readers a $30 credit to her Etsy shop!

All you have to do to enter is check out Taradara on Etsy and leave a comment telling me which item is your favorite. That’s it! One comment per person.

Giveaway will be open until November 3rd, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email, so make sure you use a real email address when you comment.

Giveaway is now closed!

You should also check out Tara’s blog (especially what she did to this china cabinet) and follow her on Twitter, because she’s funny and creative.

Disclaimer bit: Tara sent me the snake in this post for free so I could review and photograph it, but no additional compensation was received. Opinions are all my own and were not influences by her gift in any way. Except for the fact that I got a full hour’s peace and quite to WRITE the damn post just by giving Little Evan the snake to play with. IT HAS MAGICAL POWERS.

p.s. She also sent me this beautiful camera strap cover as a gift:

Isn't that print fantastic?

But since she doesn’t have them in the shop (yet), it’s truly a one-of-a-kind item. You’re the best Tara!!

Day 1 is open until November 1st! Allora Handmade
Day 2 is open until November 2nd! Uff Da Designs

Today I’m kicking off this:

With this:

Have you heard of Allora Handmade? (Of course you have!) I’ve seen her beautiful rosettes on blogs before – we seem to have a few overlapping friends in the online world – but after meeting Jessica in person at The Creative Connection I was BEYOND desperate for one of her gorgeous necklaces.

I told her I was asking E to buy me one for Christmas.

And then I went ahead and bought one anyway.

So when you buy me my Christmas present E, don't get blue. I like yellow & pink.

She calls this the "modern pearl rosette statement necklace". I just call it MIIIIINE.

If that picture looks familiar it’s because it’s over there in my sidebar <———– I also made it my Twitter avatar and my Gravatar when commenting on other blogs, because like I told Jessica, her beautiful rosettes make my face look better. Shouldn’t that totally be her new tag line?

She also makes headbands (oh, did I mention I have one of those too?), earrings, bracelets and shoe clips in a huge variety of colors. I think I need one of each. In every color. I’m only half joking.

And today, because she is AWESOME, Jessica is giving one reader the chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Allora Handmade.

And today, because I like to keep things easy, all you have to do to win is visit her shop and leave a comment on this post telling me which color rosette is your favorite!

I also high suggest you read Jessica’s blog and follow her on Twitter but none of those are part of the giveaway today. And P.S. If you’re lucky enough to live near San Diego do you yourself a favor and check out The Queen Bee Market Jessica is organizing too. I’ll be sitting here in Connecticut freezing my butt of jealously.

Giveaway will be open until November 1st, winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email so make sure you use a real email address when commenting.

Giveaway is now closed!

P.S. If you don’t win but want to put some Allora rosettes on your Christmas List, make sure to get the order in before December 1st! Handmade means MADE BY HAND and we want Jessica’s poor tired fingers to get some rest this holiday.

Disclaimer bit: I purchased my Allora Handmade products with my own money. No compensation was received for this review besides the pleasure of getting to exchange funny emails with Jess. She’s providing this giveaway for you out of the kindness of her heart.