WREN handmade

There is still time to order for Christmas gifts!

Holiday craft sale recap

We had our Holiday craft sale yesterday at Divine Studios. The weather didn't really cooperate but there was so much beautiful stuff we still had a great time. Here is a small selection of the sellers.

Wren Handmade.

Earrings by Handle & Spout.

Silke Stoddard.

Marcie McGoldrick Design.

Fabric panels by Leigh Douglass Renshaw.

JodiL.

Jones Fife.

Ali Douglass.

Fritz Karch.

A few dolls in the shop!

I just put a few more dolls in the shop. These have been sold and I won't have any more listed before Christmas. Thanks to everyone who bought a doll this year!

Special holiday tags!

For orders in my shop during December I am including a free holiday tag for every item purchased. Here are some samples.

And a little friend who I found while going through some old boxes of stuff, just in time to go on the tree. I think I made it as a stocking stuffer for a shoot once.

Trimming the tree

For the first time ever I've bought and decorated a Christmas tree. It was all quite fun even though I probably didn't actually have time to work on it. Oh well, we have been enjoying the scent and the festive decorations. Even though for 11 years at Martha Stewart Living I decorated countless trees, hand crafting hundreds of ornaments (double sided by the way, in case they spun around at shoot time) I never felt like expending the energy to do my own. It felt like work. Since I know longer am crafting Christmas for a living, I thought this should be the year to start. And that we finally have a proper living room! So here it is, I didn't want to do anything breakable because of the cat so I just went with paper and straw. Maggie is finding all the dangly sparkly stringy things VERY hard to resist. I picked up some ornaments at Ikea and then made a few, and used my sewn paper garland.

A few handmade paper ornaments. The 3D balls I did in MSL ages ago, based on an idea my grandma always did.

I had always wanted to try these German stars but had heard they were very tricky. I used a YouTube video and it worked great for a topper. Or Ikea sells them for $2.99 for a 6 pack, which is so cheap!

And finally a few holiday decorations. I made 4 candles into a advent wreath, although I guess it's actually four little wreaths. Each Sunday we light a candle until Christmas.

I hope everyone is taking time to enjoy the holidays and getting some decorating done!

Getting in the spirit...

I'm off to the craft sale at Martha Stewart Living. Tomorrow Saturday it's open to the public. Here are some sneak peeks at what I'll be selling. I didn't realize it but there seems to be a color palette going on. It's a little bit of a trek to the very west side of Manhattan but it would be great to see you.

Switzerland

We have returned from a pretty quick trip to Switzerland. We had a great time. Our friend's wedding was in a little town called Waltalingen but we also spent time in Basel and Zurich. We even spent the night in a castle and Ben got to play the alp horn. We also bought a lot of good chocolate, all in all, a good trip!

This is the chapel and town where the wedding took place.

We had one free day at the end to sight see but it was Sunday and just about everything was closed. This museum was open though and I loved all the bird and insect specimens on display. I love how graphic they look against the plain backgrounds. For the insects they had microscopes that you could use yourself.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all of you readers and supporters of my little business.

A few dolls in the shop!

Hi,

It's been marathon doll making lately around here. I've still got a few ends to tie up but the majority of the dolls are finished and ready to be shipped! Check out the shop to see the latest ones for sale. I'll be adding some felt coats and some more clothes soon too. I know lots of you have been waiting patiently, so thanks. I always underestimate how long every little detail is going to take.

Just popping in to say hello. I am crazily trying to finish all the doll orders (and some for Etsy) before we leave town on Wednesday. We are going to Switzerland for our good friends' wedding. And the Holiday sales are fast approaching. I always know this time of year is so hectic and seems to be true again this year.

This year I am doing two local sales here in NYC, mark your calendars now!