eco-friendly edition #22.

Eco-friendly love notes. Yippee!

eco-friendly edition #21.

A bird mobile. Made from vintage French magazines and recycled record jackets. Would be great for a baby gift or a wedding, don't you think?

sweet little gift #10: a vintage picture frame with one of your old favorite baby photos.

For your boyfriend's wonderfully sweet mother, who can hold a great conversation and listen better than most and misses her son always, but holds him very close.

$14 plus shipping & cost to print baby picture, Vintage Brass Frame, from Portugese Vintage

sweet little gift #6: the most true to the heart t-shirt.

For your super stylish aunt who in the midst of raising 4 kids, finds time to dream about changing the world. And after having moved 7 + times with babies in tow, still calls the midwest the best home there is.

$25 plus shipping, Midwest is Best T-shirt, from Megan Lee Designs

sweet little gift #4: a headband full of whimsy.

For your friend full of sass who is in her first year of teaching and directing lots o' plays, because if her students get to dress up all the time, why can't she celebrate with a little flair on closing night, too?

$18.50 plus shipping, Pauline Feather Headband, from kaang.

sweet little gift #2: a mini-vintage wallet.

For your super hip mother who spends hours walking around antique flea markets in the summer and always finds way better things than you ever could, who's also dreaming a big dream of sailing away to Paris for weeks at a time. . .

$22 plus shipping, small toffee leather French purse wallet, from pinguim.

sweet little gift #1: a teeny tiny 2010 calendar.

For your friend who sits at her desk all day while in the back of her mind dreams inspiring dreams, plans trips with you, and has the best ideas for festivities with you and your friends. . .

$16 plus shipping, from kitty roger's etsy shop.

sweet little gifts.

I'm not going to do too much in the way of Christmas gifting this year due to a tight budget and starting to pay back grad school loans in December, eeps! Besides that, Johnny and I are traveling to NYC for the holidays so we're telling ourselves our real gift is going to be spending time together in one of our favorite places. Furthermore, what I DO bring to gift has to be small, since we'll be living out of a suitcase for 12 + days. . .

With this in mind, I'll be posting tiny little gifts for giant-hearted people throughout the week. Please stay tuned. . .

P.S. The focus is not "on the cheap"; instead, the focus is on gifts that support good businesses, causes, the environment, the handmade movement, and most of all, love. xo.

photo via East Side Bride

well hello, beautiful necklaces.

each of whitney deal's necklaces are so feminine and full of whimsy. i think they would make terrific gifts for a close girlfriend or two.

vintage mugs.

i know i've posted about vintage mugs before, but after watching this week's episode of mad men (oh. my. gosh!!), i felt inspired to check out more retro coffee holders. in a scene in his office, don draper holds a mug very similar to the red one with the funky handle in the photo above (maybe it stands out to me more when he drinks coffee, since he's usually drinking alcohol?).

the photo above is from the blogged about already but ever fabulous etsy shop, trampoline.

p.s. how to live like don draper in nyc nowadays (ignore that adultery business).

grand ole bestiary.

while browsing through etsy last night, i stumbled upon these prints. they are made using old photos with a focus on the "faux-antique." kind of wild, but also funny and fun. i think these make for some wonderful (and affordable!) wall art. check out others in the shop here.

cindy tomczyk.

i've been meaning to post about cindy tomczyk for a few weeks now. let me tell you, my friends-- not only is her work fantastic (she creates both illustration and letterpress masterpieces), she's also a complete doll. i found a print that i loved when at her booth at renegade, but someone snagged it before i could. she didn't have any left, but told me she'd check her studio and provided her e-mail. when i went back to the fair the next day, she had the print that i wanted. she went to her studio that morning, and brought the final two she had left, hoping i'd come back. she's just an incredibly generous, zany and cool gal, and the exact type of person whose art you feel great about supporting.

also, i was excited to discover that cindy is having a studio party this friday in ravenswood. i'm hoping to stop by!

chicago renegade craft fair.

one of the best parts of living in the windy city is found in the constant activity and list of festivals happening each weekend. it's even a bit overwhelming at times; however, i've been getting excited for the chicago renegade craft fair, happening this saturday and sunday, for over a month now. it's going to be like walking through all of my favorite etsy stores in person! i'm hoping to find some christmas purchases in an effort to support handmade goods. are any of you chicagoans planning on making an appearance? if so, let me know and maybe we can meet up. xo.

vintage mugs.

thanks to joanna's recommendation, i've been enjoying gleaning through the fun items at ethanoille's etsy shop. i really love all these vintage mugs, and think they'd be fun to start collecting.

more adorable totes.

these sweet totes, from little glowing lights, just went up for sale at their etsy shoppe.

found via frolic.

well hello, beautiful necklace

aren't these necklaces from eva at tinctory just breathtaking? i think they'd be a great gift for a close friend who would wear such a fun and divine piece of jewelry. i think you could wear a necklace like this with anything from a simple white-T to a simple, flowing dress.

found thanks to mrs. french

carnival photos.

loving these fun and whimsical photographs from bomobob on etsy. i'd like to put these prints up in my hallway entrance, but also think they'd be fun for a kids room.