THE BEFORE:

Coming soon: The after

With money being tight for many people this year, we are all looking for ways to save on Holiday gifts without giving up the thoughtfulness that comes along with gift giving. We want to give our loved ones something they’ll want, use and appreciate. One of the best ways to do this is to make them something.

I’ll admit there are people on my list I’d never make a gift for. Not everyone on my list would appreciate something made by me. My own kids would be really disappointed if I made them something. So for them, I stick to store bought, and I think that’s ok.

However there are plenty of people that seem to like it when I make them something. Not everything I give has been warmly received, but I’ve learned that the trick is to make them something they’ll like; not something you want them to like. Don’t spend days learning how to knit your sister a scarf if she lives in Hawaii. Don’t decoupage a wooden jewelry box for your mom if she already has a favorite box to store her jewels in. Think about the recipient and tailor the gift to that person.

If you’re not the crafty type, don’t let that stop you. Let this be the year you delve into handmade. Do you need some ideas? Well over at Just A Girl, she’s hosting an “I Can Make That” party today. As of this very moment there are 78 links to various blogs featuring hand made gifts with tutorials. Go on over there, and check out the amazing projects. There are projects for beginners all the way up to experienced crafters. Take charge of your budget and make something!

Just go ahead and click the picture or click right here to get to the post and get started today!

Fabulous Fall

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know I’ve updated the online store with a lot of new products. There are over 80 handmade items to choose from.

Material Girl

Christmas is right around the corner and you might just find the perfect gift for that someone special!

Starlight

I have everything from necklaces, bracelets, earrings, brooches, charms, and hair clips to stitch markers for knitters.

Stitch Markers

Please visit me over at Jen Tucker Creatives to see what’s new.

Hey everyone. A few days ago I mentioned that I was working on a new website. Well I’m really excited to tell you I’ve officially launched the site and I hope you’ll take a look.

You can find it over at http://www.jentuckercreatives.com/

I have a blog post up at http://www.jentuckercreatives.com/blog/ and I share with you 3 ways to enter to win the earrings you see at the top of this post.

Please help me out and head on over, see what’s there, and then tell your friends and family about it. I can’t do this without you!

When I was growing up, my mother displayed the most embarrassing Christmas decorations. She had this hideous gingerbread man and candy cane fabric garland. She had ugly wooden ornaments, and atrocious golden sequined bell ornaments. There was the Rudolph made out of plastic melty… stuff for lack of a better word. And the cream of the ugly crop, the jewelry tree.

I was always excited to decorate for the season, and yet, I hated almost everything we put up.

Here’s the thing. I’m in my mid 30’s now and every year, I put up almost all of those decorations that I hated so much as a child.

Most of the ornaments and decorations mentioned were handmade. I think as a child, I associated homemade with cheap and being poor. Now that I’m an adult, I can look at the craftsmanship of each item and really appreciate the work that went into each piece.

Take that jewelry tree up there. That’s a picture of it as it hangs on my wall right now. I know detail is lacking, but hey, the shot was taken with my cell phone. What do you want. Looking at it now I see a very impressive work of art. It’s made with plywood, black velvet, Christmas lights and over 100 pieces of costume jewelry. They were laid out in such a manner that everything lines up and it’s an absolutely perfect tree. I have no doubt that it took hours to put together as well as time and money spent collecting all of the costume jewelry. Who know what the cost to make this project was. (BTW, this tree was created by my uncle for his mother, my grandmother, over 35 years ago)

I can tell you that I adore this piece. I think it’s beautiful and a fantastic way to recycle all that jewelry you’ll never wear again and doesn’t hold much monetary value.  I love this tree so much that I’ve started my own collection of costume jewelry, so that in a few years when I have enough, I’ll be making one of my own. I really can’t wait for that day to come.

I’m not sure if I didn’t appreciate it because I didn’t actually see my mother working on the handmade decorations. I never saw her crafting. My kids always see me working on projects. Caitlin, my oldest daughter, has been bitten by the craft bug. She sees AND appreciates all of the work that goes into creating something beautiful.

In fact the jewelry tree is hanging up in our place right now because she specifically requested the jewelry tree.

I think Jessalyn is just as fond of it as the rest of us are.

Jessalyn and Jason circa 2005