I'm really excited to share this unboxing and review of the first ever Enchanted Beauty Box! It's their December box and since this box is Disney themed they created a Star Wars box to celebrate the release of The Force Awakens. I am so thrilled to see such a fun theme! Check out the video below to see what I got and then enter to win the giveaway below so you can have the chance to win one of January's Frozen themed boxes.
I've kept this post brief because I know unboxings aren't for everyone. I've actually decided putting videos of my subscription boxes on YouTube is a better way to let you all see what I'm trying out too. So from now on I'll make short posts like this that you can feel free to skim over if they're not your thing. Thanks for stopping by, and good luck on the giveaway!
I hope you and yours have spent a wonderful holiday with family acknowledging all the good things you've been blessed with this year. Personally I am very thankful to have all of you readers here as I get to know you more each day. I'm especially glad you stopped by today because I have a wonderful batch of small business owners I want to highlight as we think about our holiday gift giving.
While I love many mass produced things like comic books, clothing, and makeup I also have a soft sport for all the beautifully handmade items. And the great part is there are tons of makers who focus on handmade items that fit more niche interests. I believe that spending our money on their great products is one of the most rewarding things we can do this season for our loved ones and the makers. So I hope that you will join me in shopping at some of these amazing stores as you find the right beautiful, geeky, fun, and handmade gifts for some of those special people on your Christmas list. At the end of the list you'll find a giveaway too!
Lydia's Designs - 2015 Handmade Holiday Gift Guide
Paper & Chocolate Press
I heard about Paper and Chocolate through The Rising Tide Society, and was hooked the moment I saw their fantastic superhero themed journals and blank books. As you can see they cover a bunch of great fandoms, plus they have more traditional journals as well as some lovely Christmas ornaments! They're running the following sales this year:
Seasonal Deals:
During November use the coupon code NANOWRIMO15 to receive 15% off writers notebooks and journals; excludes recipe books, ornaments, and guest books.
Black Weekend Special: Free Domestic Shipping with coupon code: BLACKWEEKEND2015, November 26-December 1.
Holiday Deadlines:
All custom orders and made-to-order items need to be ordered by Thursday, December 10, in order to arrive by Christmas. All ready-to-ship items need to be ordered by Thursday, December 17, in order to arrive by Christmas.
Authored Adornments specializes in literary inspired jewelry. Seen above is a beautiful cuff bracelet, and in their shop you'll find rings, pendants, and earrings as well as bookmarks and wine bottle stoppers. Most of the works featured are classic literature, but they also create custom pieces and have items in partnership with John Green which you can find at http://store.dftba.com/collections/john-green.
Seasonal Deals:
Black Friday is amongst us once again! This weekend will include some great sales. Each sale will be announced the day before, so please stay tuned! Since Thursday is Thanksgiving and I'll be spending my time with family, the Friday deal will be announced a little early, thanks!
Use: FRIDAYISBLACK for 20% off your entire purchase, good through 11/27. Visit the shop for more information.
Sometimes I find myself looking for a more traditional gift, and ornaments are the perfect fallback. My husband, Bryan, is picky about no glitter being brought into out house, so I've found that one of the best types of ornaments we can both agree on are laser cut wood ones. Wood Notions has pegasus and griffin designs, many animals, and nature themed pieces, as well as creating custom designed pieces. I found them while looking for the perfect dragonfly Christmas ornament as part of Bryan's Christmas gift last year.
You all may recall not that long ago I wrote about how I'd found a wonderful Ravenclaw themed planner, well, Ruskerville also carries planners fit for a time lord! And for those with less nerdy inclinations there are a variety of other general printed covers to choose from as well.
Paper From Heaven is a fellow North Carolinian who creates bags for just about anything you could want, from the fantastic cosmetic set above, storage for essential oils, crayon aprons for kids, to crochet hooks. And her fabric choices are lovely to boot!
Holiday Deadlines:
12/12 for US order 11/27 for International and military orders
Each pendant and earring in Amber's shop, Spicy Paprika is made delicately from tiny beads and semi-precious stones to create completely unique pieces. Each one is imaginative and has characteristics inspired by nature's own beauty. One of her pieces occasionally makes appearances here on my blog too, I was lucky to be able to watch her create it while visiting her home in California.
Olive + Pine collects beautiful handmade items from different makers and curates a collection that's sure to please the most picky people on your list. And importantly, their shop carries items hand picked for the men in your lives.
Seasonal Deals:
10% off storewide with the code SHOPSMALL valid Friday-Monday (for black friday, small business Saturday, and cyber monday!).
Flytrap makes beautifully designed botanical printed clothing. I own and love one of their cowls that I got last year when I first saw their work at the Boylan Heights Artwalk in Raleigh, NC. Their work is also 100% made in the USA, down to their labels. Additionally they carry a couple of shirts for men as well as womenswear (currently available in S-XL).
Seasonal Deals:
11/27 15% off your entire purchase 11/28 20% off all apparel, both men's and women's 11/29 20% off all scarves 11/30 - Cyber Monday, $30 off orders over $150, free shipping, plus a pack of blank Flytrap Clothing notecards.
BabyCorn Soaps create a variety of fun bath and body products as well as traditional soaps. Plus they make monthly subscription boxes on a nerdy theme (Star Wars is December's, and November featured Doctor Who) and a more conventional box with seasonal themes too. Anything from their shop would be perfect for the beauty lovers out there. Additionally they make items for men too, such as radioactive shave cream and lumberjack soap.
Seasonal Deals:
BFRIDAY for 20% all items except wholesale and subscription boxes from 12/27-12/29
And last but not least is The Little Smith. Their jewelry designs are hewn from wood and silver to create stunning geometric shapes and sinuous metal details. They've been kind enough to allow me to do a giveaway for one of their gorgeous Tigerwood Geo Pendant necklaces, pictured below. I'm thrilled to be working with them on this article since they happen to be longtime friends of mine.
Seasonal Deals:
11/27 - 20% off the Earth Collection with code blackfriday2015 11/28-12/16 - 20% off orders over $25 with code holiday2015
Thanks for stopping by and letting me share some of my favorite handmade shops with you today! If you have any questions or comments I'd love to talk to you more, so feel free to leave me comments.
Today I've got two book reviews for you plus a great featured store. Let's get started!
Book Reviews
Top 12 Places to Visit in Texas by Jody Rookstool
I was given this book to review by the author after seeking some guidance to planning the Texas trip I thought I'd be going on. I've also been writing a series on travel planning that started around the same time, which you can find here. Texas is an amazing place that as Rookstool says, has a lot more diversity that people often assume beyond just cowboys. I loved my last visit as I helped my friend Holly move there a couple years back, and am sad I won't be able to make it there for her wedding. But, I was excited about all the possibilities the state could offer for a visit. Rookstool's book highlights some of the best, and while the book is small she gives a great overview of both big name destinations such us the Space Center in Houston to less well known gems like Enchanted Rock. I'm just sorry I didn't get to explore some of them. But if you're planning a trip to Texas and want to choose a couple great spots this little guide is a great way to pick a few out. You can find it here and visit the author's site here.
Battling Boy: The Rise of Aurora West
The Rise of Aurora West◊ by Paul Pope, JT Petty, and David Rubin is a great read that can be approached by kids or adults easily. It's a graphic novel that follows a coming of age type story, and is a prequel to Battling Boy, though you needn't read them in order. This is the first book in the series I've picked up, and I just happened to spot it at my local comic books store. In some ways Aurora's family reminds me of Jonny Quest and the Venture brothers, which I love. Finally we get a girl adventurer in a similar situation! She helps her dad fight monsters each night, and is tutored in fighting each day. She begins to find clues that explain some parts of her past she wondered about for years, and as events unfold she takes initiative to investigating exactly what happened in her past. This is a great little read, I just wish it had color. The art is great though, and I look forward to reading other books in the series.
The Master of Formalities
The Master of Formalities◊ by Scott Meyer is a book that came up in my Amazon recommendations a while back and intrigued me. At the time I hadn't yet read any of Meyer's other books (which you can find some of my reviews of here and here) and I just thought the premise sounded good. About a week ago it went on sale as a Kindle daily deal and I snapped it up. I feel like this is where Meyer shines, sure his other books were good, but this one is great. The characters have of depth, and there are many fantastic females in the cast. The premise involves a large cast in the home of the royal family of the planet Apios. They're at war with the Hahn of the Hahn Homeworld and through each step of the way have their master of formalities, Wollard, to smooth everything and keep them from losing face. He advises them in every situation and when things change in the house he begins losing the respect of the royal family as things don't go as smoothly as usual. Who knew a grumpy, adopted Hahn teenager would be such a problem? But even Wollard isn't perfect, and there are surprises in store for him as he performs his job as the master of formalities.
Geekyloot
Now it's time for a bit of a review. You may remember the guest post from last week (Dean Winchester - A Pumpkin Pie Kinda Guy), which was penned Geekyloot's owner Christina Clawson. Her site is host to a blog, but it's also a great deal destination site too! Each week the site has 3 deals that are only good for a week, similar to sites like Groupon and Pick Your Plum. The great part about Geekyloot is it has all kinds of fandom friendly items that are picked with female geeks in mind!
Geekyloot was kind enough to send me a sampler pack with some of the recent deals they've had when I made my first order from them, so I can share it with you all.
Fun stuff, there's the two Baymax keychains from Disney's Big Hero 6, a Hobbit Locket(!!!!), a Marauder's Map (Harry Potter) necklace, a Mockingjay necklace (Hunger games), plus some Simpsons inspired socks. Bryan was happy to receive the white Baymax keychain, and honestly who doesn't love Baymax! The Hobbit locket was what made me order from them, I love things that open up have secret compartments and such.
Here's a closer look at the necklaces fronts, and below a second shot of the ones with more detail to them. They're all costume quality, which is great for everyday wear and cosplay on a budget.
The socks are super comfy, and though I've personally never been a huge fan of the Simpsons I loooove donuts! And I collect socks too! I put them on to take a picture while we had Scarlet out for exercise and she came over and starting investigating them and finally marking them. (Rabbits mark items similarly to cats by rubbing their face against them.) So these socks have the bunny seal of approval.
A big thanks goes out to Geekyloot for providing me with some awesome items to review. If you like these go check out the store at www.geekyloot.com/store! This week they've got the Simpsons socks, a beautiful little Game of Thrones Pin, and a Black Widow necklace. But hurry, new items will be up Saturday! Thanks for reading, I'll see you all again soon.
