In which I wax on about fabulous Etsy finds & show off my Christmas Tree

I've received my first wave of Etsy holiday purchases and *must* show them to you. What a joy to receive these in the mail!

First up is this incredible wee whale pin made by the ever-so-talented Casey of Elegant Musings (picture above is from her site).
He's every bit as handsome as in the photo and came unbelievably lovingly packaged. I am so, so thankful to have this little guy on my jacket! Casey has temporarily closed her Etst shop for the holidays, but will be back up and running the day after Christmas (and I can't wait!).
I also received this cutie stuffed gnome ornament (complete with an itty bitty jingle bell attached to his hanger!) from Sweet Ninja. I think it would be hilarious to have a whole army of these on your tree...(photo below is from her site).

And, lastly, I splurged and bought this incredible hand-spun cotton octopus ornament from Vintage By Crystal (photo below from her site).I found him one night while browsing Etsy and was awestruck but resisted getting him because I had just bought a handful of ornaments from other Etsy sellers. I woke up the next morning realizing I had to have him no matter what. I'm *so* glad I snagged him. Hand-spun, hand-painted, and his arms are even wired so you can bend them into snaggly positions. Truly keepsake quality. And look how amazing he is in the tree! I'll be buying more of her whimsies soon.

On their way in the post are these neat felt key ornaments from Something's Hiding In Here:

And this lovely screenprinted birdie ornament from Things Are Better With A Parrott:I think collecting handmade ornaments may just be a new obsession of mine. I just want to go out and snag all sorts of gorgeous, weird, and lovingly hand-crafted ornaments from other artisans.

And, speaking of ornaments, you certainly need a tree to display them on, no? I have a small aqua tinsel retro-modern tree that I love dearly (you just can't find nice aqua ones anywhere! What gives?) but wanted to get a slightly larger white tree this year, preferably that I could put lights on (the tinsel trees are unlightable due to fire hazards, unless you get a safety pre-lit one).

I searched everywhere and finally wound up trekking through a new Kohl's store in the area. Well, what do you know, they were having a massive Christmas sale and I got a 3 foot pre-lit white tree for under $20 (originally $40). Mega score. It's so perfect! Perfect size, shape, and it lights up, which makes me very, very happy indeed. Here it is, all decked out in funky ornaments in my living room:Here's a close-up:And here are some close shots of some of my fave ornaments on it:My palace guard was collected on my recent trip to England in glorious London.

I made a bunch of Beatles ornaments a couple years ago for a Beatles-themed tree and four of them are made just like the one above--that is to say, out of toilet paper tubes. I cut them in half, painted them black, then mod-podged my favorite panoramic Beatles shots on each one. A little ribbon and decorative trim and voila! Instant kitschy ornament! I really need to make some more of these.

Well, this was quite the long post. Are you still with me? This will probably be the last time you'll hear from me until after Christmas. Lots to do, and lots of busy work days ahead. I'm busily preparing for a big shop update filled with paintings, new prints, mini print trading card packs, and other surprises. Not sure yet when it will be--probably the last week of December or early days of January--but I promise it'll be worth the wait! When the details are worked out, I'll let you all know.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays, dear friends! I love you all dearly and hope your last days of December are filled with merry-making, food-stuffing, and friendly conversations with your loved ones.