Merry Christmas giveaway worth $90!!! - yours for free - if you win.

How would you like to win this??? A beautiful and professional END-GRAIN Cutting Board 12" x 16" x 1" thick crafted from Cherry, Hard Rock Maple and Red Oak valued at 90.00!! 

Cutting boards are a kitchen "must-have" for all the cooks on your holiday shopping list.  And with all the holiday cooking just around the corner, make sure your own kitchen gets this gift as well. Read on to find out how you can win...

Meet Gary Lindsey...a family friend and a new shop owner on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaryLWoodCreations  Gary lives in Savannah Georgia, a place known for it's history, beauty, and the arts.  He is a father of 5 (#6 bun in the oven), a musician, a photographer, and an active member in his church's praise team . Gary has two special needs children and is very active in his local Autism community. Gary was in the "corporate America"  for 20+ years.  The recent poor economy has led him into another business venture...his own. Gary creates BEAUTIFUL, top of the line, professional grade cutting boards made by hand.  Get to know this artist better; here is my interview with him:

How been have you been working with wood? I can't remember not doing it.  My dad "got me hooked" building with wood at 15 years old.  I have been building a variety of wood creations 35 years now.

Do you remember the first thing you ever made? A Dachshund dog shaped tie rack for my father. I made it in high school wood shop.

What is your favorite wood to work with and why? Walnut, it is beautiful and rich.  Walnut is even more luxurious looking when finished.  It smells good when you are cutting it, too.   This high - end wood always turns out beautiful when properly crafted.

What do you like about woodworking? I love the creativity of taking a raw piece of wood and then molding,  shaping, and crafting it into a beautiful finished product. I enjoy the smell of it and the feel of wood. I enjoy repurposing things and the connection to nature.  Taking a tree and  transforming it into a cutting board, a doll bunk bed, etc is a great creative challenge and fulfillment.   I must admit, the alone time of escaping into my little garage wood shop to do my work is also a nice break when you are raising a village of children.  (We parent crafters can relate to that!)

What made you decide to open an etsy shop?

After years of creating a huge variety of wooden creations that have included large farmhouse-style tables, monster-sized wooden porch swings, cutting boards, picture frames, etc...people would see them and say, "You need to sell these!"

After much encouragement through the years, I decided to open a shop. An Etsy shop had much less overhead and allows me to exercise more creative control than a traditional store
 The Etsy Community is great to! The community has opened up so many possibilites like networking with other crafters and being encouraged by the success stories on the blog.  It provided an opportunity to offer my creations all over the world.  In addition, the opportunity to create an income stream on Etsy to support my growing family is unlimited in this very challenging economy.  My wife and I have made the decision to homeschool our children, so every little bit helps.  And because two of our kids are special-needs,  the "make your own schedule" flexibility allows me to help my wife raise our children even more.  Also, I'm able to be an active member of the music ministry at my church.

Is it hard to balance your Etsy shop and your kids, your church commitments and life in general? How do you balance it?  Yes it is.

The fact that my wife is the combination homeschooling /

stay-at-home mom, allows me the opportunity to spend a few hours "working my Etsy shop" during the day. We generally put the kids to bed earlier than most and then I'll be able to work into the night as needed.

Side note: his wife, Erin, also has a budding shop on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/myellidesigns .  She makes adorable kids clothes.  I have seen some of her recent creations that she needs to post...A D O R A B L E!!!

What is your long term vision? 

To create items that "wow" the recipient. I see that more and more folks are going "back-to-basics" by opening Etsy shops.  The country is looking for quality versus quantity nowadays  and there is something to be said about the appeal of handmade, meticulously crafted one-of-kind products.  In this difficult economy, I believe your own business is your best bet at stability, since it is all on you and you're not subject to the whims of executives at some distant corporate office.  An additional goal is to produce enough income to work in the home, allowing me to be a maximum part of helping to raise our children. Raising kids is a difficult job, and raising special-needs children...even more so. 

I know you are a christian...how do your morals tie into how you run your Etsy shop? I treat every customer with integrity and will always endeavor to go "above and beyond".  Any opportunity I can, I will exceed my customer's expectations.  My reputation and long-term success is dependent on it.  These values are not only good values, but Godly values.  Christ calls us to bless our employer, bless our customers,  bless those around us, and bless those that are less fortunate.

What advice do you have for my readers when purchasing wood products? Make sure to select the right wood for your purpose. For example a table  that will take much abuse (the kids or a family table), needs to be made out of a harder wood to last.  It is worth the investment.  Harder woods include: Maple, Oak, Cherry.  On the other hand, some softer woods would be a great choice for a table that you want to look rustic, like the farm table I made for my family.  Pine will show up every nick, but if rustic is what you are going for, stick with the pine because the nicks will give it more character. Soft woods include, Pine, Cedar, Cypress, Spruce.  Keep in mind that the softer woods are cheaper for a reason.  Harder woods are more expensive because they will out last all of us!

What can we expect new from your shop? 

I am about to roll out a few pieces of "American Girl" type furniture.

American Girl is the wildly popular 18" doll that seems to need every accessory under the sun :)  These items I roll out will be 100% applicable to any 18" sized doll.  Yay!  I am putting my order in for my girls.

Being that you are a bass player, Who is your favorite rock star and why? Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles.  Why? Because he is a great bass player, composer, and he always delivers.  The man is 70 years old and he is as good now as he was in the Beatles.


I want to thank Gary for his time in this interview and most of all his GENEROUS giveaway.  I myself bought a few of these for myself and family.  They are beautiful and his completion of them was done in a great timely manner.  You almost hate to cut on them.  They are so beautiful, that mine stays out on the counter as a decorative piece in my kitchen as well.

So here is the scoop on the giveaway:
Giveaway will be active from Dec. 12  - 17 
in hopes that you will get it by Christmas!  
Entries will be drawn on Dec. 17 at 10pm East Coast time via Random.org.


HOW TO ENTER FOR THE GIVEAWAY:
Do one of the things below...get one entry do all four...get four entries into the giveaway.  Do the two extras also...you will have six entries!  The more entries, the higher your shot at winning!

1. Like Gary's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Lindsey-Wood-Creations/286373721462960
2. Favorite his Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaryLWoodCreations
3.  Favorite one item in his shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaryLWoodCreations
4. Share a link to his etsy shop or facebook page on your facebook and get 2 extra entries!
5. Don't forget to come back to this post and comment your name and email and what you did for the entry.  How else will we be able to contact you if you won?

extra entries (these only count if you did the ones above):
1. like my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lillollipopsdesigns
2. like my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lillollipopsdesigns

My Pinterest Inspired Room!

I am SOOOOO addicted to Pinterest.  Aren't you??  I have actually done more than pinned items.  I actually made some of the cool DIYs I have seen on there, can you believe it???  lol  My dinning room is ok, but it needed a little love.  Being that we are in a rental until our new house is ready, I have decided not to take the time to paint the walls here.  I will save it for the new home.  I hate white walls, but what are you going to do?  I'll tell you what to do...decorate in other ways.  Our table has been worn and used quite a bit over the years, but we bought it in Hawaii, when we lived there, so I kind of love the rustic, old world feeling to it.  Refinishing that will have to wait for another day.  First I did this cute and simple craft I saw on Pinterest.  I am sure you have seen it.  I changed it just a bit.

I used the same kind of candle stick holders and changed the sizes of the jars.  I bought them at Hobby Lobby.  I don't have a hobby lobby near me, so I ordered them online.  The jars are glass with a metal top.  Actually, now that I look at the picture, not sure why the middle one is leaning...I will have to check on that. :)  So if you have read the Pinterest pin or seen them on many blogs basically you need this:
-3 larger size circular wooden plaques
-3 wooden candle sticks (any size or style, I used the same size and style)
-3 smaller circular wooden plaques
-3 different sized glass jars with sqrew top lids
-3wood finials.
-twine or any natural kind of rope
Check out the post I got this from at Uncommon Designs http://www.uncommondesignsonline.com/2010/09/boo-apothecary-jars.html

Glue all the items together with E-6000 multipurpose glue you can find at craft stores.  I tried hot glue...doesn't hold long, so skip the hot glue.  Start with the larger plaque on the bottom, glue on the candlestick on top.  Let dry.  Glue the smaller plaque to the top of the candlestick.  Let dry.  Glue one of the jars on top of the smaller plaque and let dry.  While doing that...have the lid of the jar off and glue the finial on top of that so they can dry at the same time. Once all of them are set, I would give it at least 1/2 a day, get out the paint!  Any color will be great.  I choose black, but I have seen white, cream, even hot pink.  Once everything is painted, including the top of the lids and the finials and they all dried you can do one of two things.  You can make it shiny by using a spray gloss over all of the pieces, careful not to get it on the glass of the jar, or you can do what I did and shabby them up with a sand block or sand paper.

The final steps are dressing them up.  I took twine and wrapped it around the outside of the lids and hot glued it on as I went so it would look organic. Above is a better picture of that.  Also this is before I shabbied the paint up, so you can see how that looks.  Next the ideas are limitless. You can hang letters from them that spell out something, you can hang wood plaques, you can add bows, you can leave them as they are, whatever you like.  Play with it and you can change it depending on the season.  I choose to use black paint on wood and oil pastels for the words. As for what to put inside, that is endless too.  I put three different types of colored beans I bought at the grocery store for very cheap.  You can use nuts, you can use candy corn, fake snow, leaves, fighter fish (:)) anything really.

I LOVE coffee.  Let me rephrase that, if there was a way to have a coffee keg... I would want it!  On Pinterest, I saw how someone on a blog had made a coffee bar.  Hers was very rustic and cute.  I thought, YES!!!  Coffee is so special and such a ritual it needs it's own special spot, an alter, if you will.  So after looking at goodwill, salvation army, and other used furniture places I decided to go to the unfinished furniture shop.  There are ALWAYS good deals to be had there.  I was lucky enough to find something already finished, and on sale.  SCORE!  It was the only one in the store as well.  So, I bought this apothecary (which I am still learning to pronounce) cabinet/chest.  It was perfect!  So I moved it into the dinning room a brought in all my coffee items.  A lot of it is in the drawers to avoid a cluttered look including my french press, grinder, extra coffee pods, and mugs.  I even remembered to put a small trash can next to it.  I went to TJ MAX or Marshalls, can't remember and picked up this lil standing twiggy thing too.  Check out the coffee bar that inspired me here at the Vintage Wren: http://thevintagewren.blogspot.com/2011/08/coffee-bar.html

You may have noticed in the picture before this one that there is a wreath hanging from the window.  That I did not get from Pinterest, but I have since pinned it, if it wasn't there already.  VERY EASY!!!  Actually, it was so easy, my mother in law and my kids made it for me. Take a twig wreath that you can find at any craft store and buy some assorted nuts with shells and a ribbon.  FYI, I could not find any nuts with  shells in my area...went to 5 stores, crazy!  So if you have the same problem, do what I did...go on Amazon and you can buy two HUGE bags of assorted nuts with shells.  So all you do is hot glue the nuts all over the wreath and add a ribbon.  Ta DA!

Hope this gives you lots of ideas and encourages you to not just pin, but create what you pin!!  If you wish to follow me on pinterest, you can do it here: http://pinterest.com/lillollipops/ or search my name under lillollipops.  Please let me know if you have any "pinterest rooms".  If you do, I would love to feature you on my blog or direct my readers to your blog, if you have one with an article on your creation.

Do you need a laugh???

As I mentioned in a prior post, I am pursuing my BFA degree in Fashion Design. Hopefully I will be able to share a lot of the tricks of the trade with all of you. Today I want to share something that will crack you up! This is my 5 year old who thinks she is a fashion designer.  To get her to wear anything other than zebra and leopard is a challenge.  A few years ago we were buying her a "big girl bed" and we needed to shop for bedding.  I tried to get her to get this cute little owl bedding and what does she do???  She runs down the aisle and says, very dramatically, "Mama I WANT THIS!!!"  She pointed to a hot pink zebra print comforter with black Marlboro feathers.  "Um.."I stuttered..."that is only for teenagers."  Of course we had a bit of a fit at that point.  We ended up getting a cute little pink set with flowers.  I think the next room we decorate...which will be soon when we move, I might give into her Rock Star fantasy.  Keep in mind, we have NEVER had MTV or VH1 on in our home.  Where did she get this idea???  :)  I made the mistake of singing in a rock band at a Fourth of July celebration in our town when we lived in Savannah.  I had never seen her eyes so big as she watched me singing on stage for the whole set.  I almost thought she was going to start mosh pitting.  Ever since...and that was when she was three...she has had this fantasy of being a rock star.  So now you have the background on my lil crazy one.  :)  The first video below is her crazy, sassy personality...boy do we have our hands full!!  The second one she is...describing "her latest fashions".  It was as if she had her own infomercial on fashion.  Have a good laugh and feel free to share.

NEW Fall 2012 Colors

If you are wondering what to put your child in this this fall, or even yourself for that matter, you don't have to look far to find the new colors for fall.  Pantone.com is the go to for colors for each season.  Many fashion magazines will quote them and all of us fashion designers follow them too for each season.  Here are the colors for us girlies this season:

The colors for lil boys and men is just a bit different:

An as most of us know....not wearing white after labor day is no longer a custom.  Many designers had lots of white in the fall runways so don't be afraid to rock the white!