I’ve had blogs for years but this year I decided to mashup all of my individual blogs in to one. My stats aren’t stellar but they are showing some progress. The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.
Last week I announcement resliced by Jordan’s Handmade for the Holidays Blog Hop. Today is my day! I’m so excited to share with you my favorite handmade tutorial as well as some of my favorite handmade businesses. If you are in the Columbia area, I give you a couple local events you can attend to purchase handmade gifts this holiday season.
I have spent a lot of time in the craft room lately, preparing for the holidays. Today, I would like to share with you an easy wreath you can create for your home or a gift for someone this holiday season.
What do you need?
This tutorial is from Chic’n Scratch and it was created at Halloween. I used this tutorial to create holiday wreaths.
I loved making this wreath and made a couple of them. I overlapped my paper a little more than the video showed and I also used a hot glue gun to adhere my paper on the wreath. This allowed the wreath to be stronger than if I just used a craft adhesive.
12″ and 8″ wreaths
Handmade Businesses I Love
HazRat
jellykoe – is an independent toy company based out of Columbia, SC. It is owned and operated by Kelly and J. Spencer Shull. jellykoe specializes in handmade designer plush and custom vinyl, resin, and hand sculpted action figures. In addition to their toy lines, jellykoe also offers original artwork and illustration. Online Shop, Facebook
I absolutely LOVE their plush designs!
Surcee
Surcee Jewelry – This is a new addition of a handmade business that I love. I found out a past student of mine is creating jewelry. She resides in Charleston, SC. All pieces are hand-crafted and made with quality materials. We love to use beautiful gemstones and beads and are always looking for unique charms and pendants. The pieces are beautiful and one of a kind. Online Shop, Facebook
Summer Days
Grapes and Gallery – This might be a little off the beaten trail for a “handmade business” but Grapes and Gallery is a local shop where you can “explore your inner artist” and create your very own painting. You can paint with an artist guiding you on a specific painting or you can “do your own thing” by painting what you want on Saturday mornings.
Local Events
Are you in Columbia, SC and want to see some great handmade items in person? Here are a couple of events I love!
Soda City – This market is every Saturday from 9:00-1:00. It’s open year round so you never have to be without something to do on Saturday morning. The vendors vary from local farmers to handmade items, baked goods to vintage fashion.
If you can’t make it to Soda City on Saturdays, stop in to Nest Monday through Friday. Nest is Soda City’s artisan store front on Main Street.
December 14
Crafty Feast – is a 100% handmade, juried, independent craft fair in Columbia, SC. Their goal is to bring unique and funky crafts from around the region in a 1 day festival format. This is my favorite craft fair of the year. I’m usually a vendor at this event but decided to take this year off to be a customer. This year Crafty Feast is December 14 from 12-6pm at the Columbia Convention Center. Admission is only $2!
Don’t forget to check out my fellow bloggers who will be sharing more crafty gift ideas with you this week:
Continue to support handmade businesses by following Columbia’s Etsy Market Team on Facebook where you’ll stay in the loop with upcoming events and all things crafty in Columbia.
Life is a Maker Faire 