Feeling Creative

Last night I went with my friend Annie out on a bit of a creative binge. We were feeling pretty inspired to make gifts and decor and seasonal things. I needed to put together 4 little similar gifts for the Pendergraph Christmas Exchange Party. You can make, bake or buy your items, and package them to make them appealing. After a stop at Hancock and Michaels, Annie and I found our way to the much beloved Half-Priced Books. We are two peas in a pod in that place -- what a blessing! We stayed until close, and we both made fantastic discoveries! Clearly the camera could not contain all the goodies we unloaded.

For my 4 gifts, I made mini-children's libraries. They each have 3 books for different ages and 3 vintage bookplates. I found some great stuff, including The Railway Children, Meet Addy (with the original illustrations), and Peter Pan. Here's a picture of one of them I really like:




Here's another one:





I still need to add some little tags or something, but I think they look really cute! Wouldn't you pick one of my gifts??





I put some pretty Martha Stewart paper up in our little built-in bookshelf (actually it was a little while back, but without a camera, I couldn't show the pictures). Sara Mincy inspired me to add some color by putting up pretty paper! Here's a full length view followed by a close-up:
















Finally, I wanted an autumn wreath on my door since all my decorations are in storage at my parent's house in Illinois. So I found these gorgeous velvet flowering branches for 90% off and made a wreath out of them. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.