Hometown Girl

Links Galore, Ideas, Giveaways and More!

Ok, so I had to add "more" I thought it would be fun to rhyme!  Did I tell you there was a  mix up with my Country Living subscription (gasp!) I didn't receive my December issue until yesterday. I LOVE seeing it in my mailbox :) Ok, on to the links!

Ideas for more homemade / handmade gifts. Isn't this photo wreath just fantastic! This would make such a thoughtful gift for a loved one. The best part is they can use it all year round. From Country Living.

I whipped up a batch of these vanilla caramels last night. With only 5 ingredients they were a breeze. The only additional thing you need is a candy thermometer which I had on hand. If you do make these don't worry if the caramels are a little soft (at least mine were) once they were wrapped and I put them in the refrigerator they were perfect!

 

Take a look at this gift wrapping. I thought this was the cutest idea. I love that the wrapping is part of the gift. You could easily do this with a thrifted/vintage shirt & pin or new!

 
  

Seems to be lots of giveaways, here are a few I stumbled on.

Kasey from Lola B's is having a giveaway, a box full of goodies!

Pioneer Woman is giving away two sets of pots & pans.

Cup Of Joe is giving away a pretty Steve Alan dress!

French Charming is giving away $100 to the Pearl Necklace Source.

RikRak Studio is giving away $25 to spend in any one of her sponsors shops!

My lovely friend Kristina is having a giveaway, just tweet her your favorite item from her shop to enter.

I went to our local Michael's today, they had small wreaths on sale for only $1.99. I bought three of them and hung them from ribbon over windows in my mudroom and kitchen. It looks so festive!

 I also shopped for the ingredients to make homemade granola and caramel corn for gifts. I found the caramel corn recipe at Orangette. Granola from Country Living.

 

I truly hope you are enjoying this beautiful season. I am so blessed in so many ways. Thank you for stopping by. See you soon!

Susan
  

 

I love red

It's been one of my favorite colors for years! Here are a few beauties that I would love for my kitchen.

I saw this mixer in Willimas Sonoma, it's so pretty and sparkly! I already have a red stand mixer so I don't think I'll be getting this one unless I win it from The Pioneer Woman's blog (she's giving one away!). This is the anniversary edition it's gorgeous. Love the glass bowl!

I would love to see this sitting on my stovetop. Also available at WS.

When I go to the mall (which is pretty rare) I would rather spend my money in a store like this than on clothes. The mold for these little apple pies are red. I think I might have to order it, it's under $10. Wouldn't that be so cute to make individual pies?

 

I hope you're all healthy and enjoying a nice week. Thank you so much for visiting!

~Susan

p.s. I have a minor studio destash/cleaning going on! See paperhillfabrics for destash items :)

open for business, thank you Susie!

Susie Harris did a lovely feature on my shops, thank you Susie! Don't forget to stop her blog and leave a comment. I'm giving away two yards of fabric from Paperhillfabrics, your choice!

I've been busy listing all kinds of new things in the shop, here's a peek.

I'm so happy with the way this collar turned out. It's romantic and reminds me of another era.

I thought this would be lovely for an afternoon tea.

In it's former life this was a clip on earrring, now it's a fun ring.

I created this from dotted swiss material, formerly curtains in my mom & dad's first apartment. I made it to wear over a pretty slip. I handcut & sewed the petals down the sides using vintage muslin, added some vintage lace & muslin tie.

Happy Wednesday! Thank you for visiting. ~ Susan

and the winner is.....and friday's finds

Using the random number generator at 9:00pm, number 11 is the winner of the Barnes & Noble gift card! I have to go see who it is myself...........it's Kasey from LolaB's! Hey Kasey, congrats!

 

I thought I'd also share my finds from today. I got a whole pile of vintage wrapping paper. Not sure exactly what I'll do with it but it was too cute to pass up & cheap, just $2 for all of it. I found two sweet pins, one has an "m" on it. I thought it could stand for Mom as well as any M' name. There were a lot of slips but this one was perfect, never worn and still had the tag on. I liked it because it's much shorter than the ones I have. I'll probably dye it and put it in the shop! The two tea towels I couldn't pass up either, the colors are gorgeous, maybe pillows? I also got a set of steak knives, seriously, we have like 2. I don't know where they go? My husband has been bugging me to buy some. I got a set of six for $7 and three of them were still wrapped in tissue in the box (Happy Father's Day, hon!) Sorry not in the picture they were already in the dishwasher.

 

I just wanted to say Thank you to Karen from The June Bride for doing a beautiful feature on my little shop. Have a great weekend! See you soon.

~Susan

twilight inspired etsy picks

 So most of you know I'm reading the Twilight saga. I just started the 4th book, Breaking Dawn last night. I'm going to try to savor this one a little longer since it's the last one. I did hear from my Twilight loving friends that the 5th book never made it to publication due to some type of illegal distribution and that it is posted online . I'm sure at some  point I'll read that as well. It won't be the same though, there is nothing like sitting with a great book in your hands.

So today I picked items from Etsy, my favortie shopping venue, that reminded me of Twilight. I'm not saying that this was the intention of the creator it is just my humble opinion. I hope you enjoy!

Gorgeous headband from Nanichan. I love the color combination of this piece.

 

Dress by 13bees. Beckons to another era like the one Edward came from.

 

Necklace by Allthosethrees. I loved the simplicity of this and it reminded me of something Edward would say to Bella.

I promise I'll get over this Twilight thing eventually! Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the Barnes & Noble gift card, drawing will be this Friday, June 19th! Here is the link to the comments section of the post. Please leave the title of your favorite book, I"m going to need something to read when I'm done :)  Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!