Merry Christmas From Our House to Yours

Christmas Treat Bags

I went back and forth on what to give to Camryn's teachers and my friends. I always end up making cookies. But this year I at least spiced it up a bit. I am in love whoopie pies and thought of doing Red Velvet to make them more Christmasy.  

 They are delicious and so easy when you make them with a cake mix. Three ingredients, butter, cake mix and eggs. 

 Then I just added crushed candy cane around the edge of the cream cheese frosting.

I found this printable on pinterest here. It took a while to get the spacing right on the bag and 15 crumpled bags later I had a cute finished product. So excited to give my treats out this year as opposed to the plastic wrap paper plate look. Merry Christmas!

Orange County Swap Meet

Another Christmas DIY

I have just been in craft mode these days and when I find a little inspiration it makes it so easy for me to take off with it. Lucky for me, my friends and I had a craft night to help me get started on my projects. I had seen this garland on Pinterest and knew I needed it. Well after seeing that felt balls cost close to $25 for 100 I nixed that idea and thought about pom poms. 

 All I needed was a large needle, thin crochet yarn, and 5 bags of pom poms  (we have a 7 foot tree). They have a lot of colors to choose from at Michaels but I thought this mixed bag worked well with our tree. And instead of $25 per 100, they were $2.79. Much more like it. So it turned out to be close to $17 for the whole thing.

 So much like my last tutorial I just strung the pom poms on in the patterned I liked. This time was much easier though since I didn't have to tie knots to make them evenly spaced. The pom poms are just hard enough that they will stay pretty well without knots. Unless you have young kids that you know are going to be pulling on it. Happened once when my daughter got mad and yanked the garland off the tree on the way to time out-no biggie though I just pulled them apart again. 

 I tried to make a line as long as possible stringing to the middle as far as I could pull without getting it tangled. Then I would change the needle to the other side and go toward the middle again. This made it so much faster then trying to string all the way to the end of the yarn. 

I love the way it turned out. We went the inexpensive route this year since we won't even be here for Christmas and got a douglas fir which aren't my favorite.  However, with the added garland it gave the tree just  right amount of character. I can't wait to use this year after year.

New Adventure for Twigg

This weekend we are off to the Orange County Swap Meet. I am excited to try this out and see what all the hype is about. I have never been to the OC Swap Meet, but from what I here it is like no other swap meet. I guess that is Orange County for you. I am hoping to clear through a bunch of inventory to make room for winter and spring trends. So if you are in the area stop by between 7-4 on Saturday. My prices will be cut and deals will be flying! Wish us luck as there is a lot do before our big day. 

Elf Gender Change

If you know my daughter she is all girl. She is constantly asking if things are for boys or girls. If they are for boys she won't have anything to do with it. This year I knew I was so excited to do The Elf on the Shelf Tradition, but once I saw there were only skin color options (which is awkward in and of itself) I knew I needed to make some additions.

 Here is the boy/plain elf:

And here is my girl elf creation:

With felt I already had I made a ball on the end of the hat, bow, buttons and skirt to match the collar. Such an easy makeover and I think it makes her so cute. Now we won't have to sell the fact that the elf is a girl, she will clearly be able to tell. 

Shipped Out

I love Click & Ship. It is my new best friend. Before I had 2 kids it was no problem running to the Post Office. Now I don't even know what I would do with out my beloved postage scale, computer and the man that comes to my door to take these away. Cyber Monday was not stressful-just fun.

Ornament Garland Tutorial

I have a ton of craft ideas on mind this Christmas season. Too many. In such a small space that we call home, I find myself needing to scale back. But I knew that the mantle needed a little more spice. One trip to Target for a little inspiration was all I needed. 

I love an easy craft and boy was this one easy. So easy my 3 year pretty much did it on her own.

All you need dollar ornaments from Target-you know the ones (I bought 2), tape, scissors and some sort of string of yarn. I just used what I had laying around.

 And a handy helper of course

 She loved figuring out the pattern of what one came next and stringing them on one by one.

 I just wrapped the end of the yarn to make it easier to thread on and it became like a simple sewing project for kids.

 Once you get them on figure out the desired spacing and tie a knot. I made sure to cut a long piece of yarn at the beginning and knew I could cut off the remaining at the end.

 And that is it! I love a craft that takes less than an hour to complete.

Hope you try it out yourselves-I would love to try an assorted colored one next time! 

Packed Up

This was my first year participating in Cyber Monday. Well, and knowing about it! Both my husband and I didn't know what it was-guess we are a little bit slow. Well I am glad someone filled me in because it was fun! I love a good deal and so glad to see other people do as much as I do.  Hope it was a fun day for you too!

Cyber Monday-25% Off Everything!!!

That is right everything at Twigg will be 25% today only! So shop all our styles for you, your daughter or someone you love. Make sure and spread the word-Happy Cyber Monday everyone!

Cast Your Vote

I just added a poll on the sidebar to select everyone's favorite shoe below. 

Please cast your vote and we will buy the winner!

Opinions Please

I got such great feedback on the last post where I asked your opinion and you are my consumers, so I thought it only appropriate to ask again. I love a good trend and right now there are some really fun styles. Whether they last for years or just another couple seasons-these styles are totally worth it. So cast your vote and tell me which shoe you think I should add to my collection.

Oxford Wedge-It took me awhile to catch on to the oxford shoe for women; I always liked them on others, but was too scared to wear it myself. I have loved how they have merged into classic shoe styles. This oxford wedge I can imagine wearing with so many outfits. Thoughts?

Double-Wrap Peacock Wedge-I am a sucker for this color, especially for the fall and winter. I think it has classic enough lines that you can pull off something formal, but is still casual enough for every day wear-especially the working girl.

Braided Pump-If you know me, you'll know that these should already be in my closet-I just can't decide on the color. My husband likes this color and I like the rust below...HELP!

Zig Zag Flat-Definitely a trend right now, but I think the colors and pattern are awesome and will stick around for awhile. Mom of two, I can't have enough flats. You have to see these on your feet they look a million times better than this blurry photo. 

Thank for all your thoughts and opinions. Be honest and give me your feedback. Who knows, maybe we'll have another giveaway right before Christmas if you love these styles as much as I do. 

We Have a WINNER!

Congratulations!

Jessie Lucas 

of North Carolina

She has requested these lovely ladies - The Tortoise Shell Ballet Flats.

Which I think are right on trend with the Missoni love that is all the rage right now. 

 Be on the look out for my next giveaway! Thanks for such great participation!

My New Do

Yup I finally did it! I have been talking about going dark for years and I finally pulled the trigger. And yes, this is dark for me. I was going for a more golden blonde with more of my natural color for the fall and winter. We definitely achieved a more natural color but not so much golden blonde. So not exactly what I wanted but I still like the change. And should be so low maintenance which is great for my current stage of life. What do you think? Definitely taking some getting used to.

Last Chance!!!

The Annual Peppermint Giveaway is almost over! 

Check out Fabulous Fun Finds to enter to win any free pair of shoes!

4th Annual Peppermint Giveaway

This week I am participating in a huge giveaway on Pinterest. You can enter to win any of the gifts on their page but I hope you at least try and win ANY PAIR of shoes on my site. All you have to do is check out the Fabulous Fun Finds blog for details on how to enter the giveaway. But all you have to do is LIKE Twigg on Facebook and leave a comment saying so on her blog. Check it out! And win away!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Laura Nile!!!

I just got the shoes mailed off today. So be on the look out! Everyone else be on the lookout for my next giveaway and upcoming fall/winter sales. Thanks for such great participation and especially thank you Leanne from Elle Apparel.

A Sponsor & A Giveaway!

Twigg is now a sponsor of:

 I adore Leanne's creations. I am not seamstress in the slightest. The closest I come is watching Project Runway. So when I see people like Leanne I am so amazed. This week she is doing a giveaway for the Gold Glittery Flats. I have done this giveaway in the past and with so many requests we decided to do it again. Check out Elle Apparel for the giveaway details. Maybe you could be the winner this time! Good luck!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all had a good one. I know we sure did!

Don't Lay a Finger...

On My Butterfinger...

That is right I made homemade butterfingers. Minus the perfect crunch that makes a butterfinger a butterfinger-that taste is spot on. I made them last night and let's just say I need to LAY off! Here is the recipe for all of you that want to try it yourselves-it is so easy and delicious. I tried it with milk chocolate and semi-sweet and I have to say I liked the semi-sweet.  They tasted like a cross between a Reisen and Butterfinger. I also made mine a little thinner so the ratio of peanut butter/candy corn to chocolate was larger. With all the candy corn laying around it is a perfect Halloween treat. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do-definitley not helping with baby weight!

Fetish Much

You all think I am obsessed. Well it looks to me like my better half is right there with me. Maybe even passing-well maybe not quite yet. I think within the last three months there have been 6 new purchases. I think we have some issues to work out here in the Smart household. What about you? Are you shoe obsessed? Are you spilling out of your closet? I want to see. Take a picture and email me and I'll post them here! Can't wait to see so I can feel better about myself, well and my husband.

Gettin' Crafty

As I mentioned earlier, now that I feel like I actually may survive two kids and the fact that I'm in baby prison still a little-I've been craftin' it up. I DO NOT consider myself a crafty person, but with the heroin addiction that is Pinterest, how can you not get the bug. I took an idea and then put my own twist on it. We needed a pillow that tied in my oldest daughters bed with the baby bedding and crib we currently had.

I just used a pillow I already had, sewed a peach cover with fabric I had used for the chandelier cord cover and free handed some felt trees that I tacked and hand stitched on. I think it worked out pretty well and all with materials I already had. Not sure when and what the next project will be, but I'm sure with the cooler weather (well for CA), holidays and multiple children I will find a few more things make.