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Shop the Unique, My Pick from the Etsy Design Awards.

August 12, 2019 by Anne Sweet Leave a Comment

Etsy Design Awards

The Etsy Design Awards are Etsy’s first-ever global award program. Honoring the work of creatives from around the world, #TheEtsies will highlight the best of Etsy and celebrate the talented people behind the winning products.

Selected from thousands of entries received from around the world, 160 global finalists are in the running for the $15,000 USD Grand Prize or the top prize in one of five categories: Inventive Decor, Signature Style, Festive Celebrations, Earth-Friendly, and Creative Collaborations.

A selection of items that have been selected for the Etsy awards, personalised pictures at the top, in the middle, a girl with a handmade frock, a smiley colourful armchair, a miniature painting of three houses, on the bottom a swall decor with plants, a wedding and engagement ring and some glass straws. — *Some Etsy Design Award Entries*

My Picks from the Awards

Where do I start? There are 160 items to choose from and I don’t envy the judges one bit!

I’m going to pick one from each category and then a few more (Because I’m not a judge and I can.)

Inventive Decor

This was the most difficult to choose from. I loved so many items but I guess the one that stands out the most for me is the Smiley Armchair, Scarlet Love

You have to admit it really does stand out with it’s vibrant colours and patterns. It’s lovingly made with vintage fabrics and red velvet. It would definitely be a talking point in any home. But most of all, it makes me smile and it’s so inviting, I’d just have to sit on it.

Signature Style

Again, such wonderful pieces to choose from but this one caught my eye. It would be perfect for any pasta lover or chef. Farfalle Pasta Necklace Sterling Silver by Delicacies Jewelry

It’s so pretty and unique, I’d definitely wear it even though I’m not a big pasta lover. Other pasta pieces of jewellery are available from the seller.

Festive Celebrations

From printable wedding invitations to backdrops and dresses. This selection celebrates weddings. There are some lovely items but I fell in love with this unusual ring set. UNGLEICH & Rosé – Engagement ring wedding ring

Now, if only I was not already married!

Earth Friendly

I’m all for sustainability and we were only talking the other day while eating out, that it was good the straws were paper, but what a shame the coffee cups had plastic lids. It’s something we need to think about so I loved this section of sustainability made finds that look great and help the planet.

My choice has to be this lovely Bee Hotel

Not only is it pretty, it offers a lovely safe place for the bees visiting your garden.

Collaborative Creations

These are a selection of personalised hand crafted goods, made to order. Again there is so much to choose from but the one that I have chosen is this lovely family portrait made from paper cuts. Personalised family portraits.

I love the detail that’s put into each one, and they can be made for any family with details and photographs provided. You can tell a lot of care has gone into making them special.

Bonus Choices.

Personalised Love Stories illustrated Maps Imagine having your story lovingly presented in a map form with adorable illustrations. Magical!

2020 & 2019 DIY Printable Typewriter Desk Calendar How cute are these! And you can print them off and make them yourself. I’m so, so tempted.

Kids Doodle Design Dress Oh my, how adorable. This lady takes your kids drawing and reproduces them as decorations on a pretty little dress.

Do you Etsy?

I could spend hours (and I do) browsing the Etsy stores. There is so much to choose from and so many things that you just wouldn’t find anywhere else. I love shopping for those difficult to buy presents, those relatives that have everything already. But most of all, I love shopping for me, in particular the jewellery stores.

The girls are Etsy fans too as it’s a great place to buy the most unusual and fabulous slime creations. I don’t think they will ever grow out of slime. I have a ‘slime’ shelf in the fridge which is probably not like any slime shelf you would think of. (Yes, they all have their own little containers, they are not just dripping all over the food 🙂 )

I am working on some products myself so I can stock my own Etsy shop. I’ll let you know when it’s open and maybe you can take a peek. I can’t wait to join all the other creative Etsy shop owners.

In the meantime, please do take a look at this years entries for the Etsy Design Awards and let me know in the comments which you would vote for. (n.b. sorry but our votes don’t count.)

Disclosure: I am an Etsy affiliate and the links in the post have my affiliate codes.

See my previous Etsy Posts here: Gift for Mums from Etsy and Christmas Shopping with a Difference from Etsy

Gifts for Mums from Etsy

March 11, 2019 by Anne Sweet 13 Comments

This is my entry into the Etsy Mother’s Day competition. All links are affiliate links which will not cost you anything extra if you click through, but they may earn me a few pennies if you go on to purchase. Thank you and I hope you enjoy my post.

Organised Mums

Organised mums like to keep everything in order, they write it down, keep a calendar, store things away in boxes. These type of mums love stationary and storage solutions.

1.Jewellery Organizer £17.50

2.Personalised Storage Organiser £10

3.Small Noticeboard £12.00

4.Suede Journal Notebook – Personalised £16.00

Animal Loving Mums

These mums love their pets, they also love the pretty creatures found in nature like butterflies. They may even have a horse in a field somewhere or dream about dolphins.

Vintage Loving Mums

Some mum’s just fall in love something from the past. There is always a place for something vintage in the home, and for collectors there is plenty to browse on Etsy.

New Mums

Being a first time Mum is really special and they deserve a special gift for Mother’s Day. Here’s my selection from Etsy, but do go and check the site out for many more ideas.

Craft Loving Mums

I think I come in this category, I love nothing more than something to make and create. If you know a craft loving Mum then I hope you are inspired by my chosen gifts.

I know there are many more different types of Mum’s and that I’ve chosen just a few. But, I do hope I’ve managed to inspire you a little. If you would like more inspiration then please check out the Mother’s Day Editors Picks page. You are sure to find something to suit any type of Mum.

Secret Santa Helper

December 14, 2018 by Anne Sweet 3 Comments

It’s that time of year, the name has been drawn and you have just a short few days to sort a gift for your Secret Santa recipient.

I do love doing a Secret Santa, so much so that I have been involved in more than one some years, but it is sometimes so difficult to know what to buy.

I’ve been searching around and have come up with this list which I hope will help give you some ideas.

The usual cost of a Secret Santa gift is around £10, so all my gifts are £10 or under. I really hope you find something you like. They are affiliate links which means if you click through and buy something it will earn me some commission with no extra cost to you. So thank you for your support.

Games for Family Fun

This is a perfect gift for everyone from the age of 10 to enjoy, a great way of finding out more about your loved ones as well as having fun. And only £10!

Mr & Mrs Family Edition

Sticking with the games, this is a fun after dinner game for ages 10 and over for just £6.50

Clarendon Games Brain Elixir After Dinner Riddles

Food and Drink and Other Edibles

Do you know someone who loves their Gin? Well save yourself the expense and buy them some Gin and Tonic sweets to fit your Secret Santa Budget. These are just £5.00.

Piccadilly Sweet Parade Gin and Tonic Boiled Sweets

This super selection hamper will keep anyone happy and it’s only £9 at the time of publishing this post.

Christmas Super Fun Pack

For those who love there hot drinks Whittards are offering 20% off their Christmas gifts like these baubles which you can get filled with coffee, hot chocolate or even chocolate honeycomb. Just £4.80 each.

Christmas Coffee Bauble

For Her

Okay it might be a cliche to buy toiletries, but over on Etsy you can get some lovely hand made and original gifts like these gorgeous bath melts for just £6.37

Squeaky Clean Skincare Secret Santa Bath Melts

Maybe you have no clue what to get her, well why not explain with a bracelet. This one is £9.49 and even comes in a gift box with a card.

Secret Santa Pretty Bracelet

For Him

Has your Secret Santa recipient got a beard (maybe it’s Santa himself?) This beard elixir would be a fabulous gift at just £9.50

Mr Natty Famous Beard Elixir

What about a truly masculine waterproof notebook? This one is £10.

Gentleman’s Hardware Waterproof Notebook

For Chocolate lovers and Football fans, these fabulous Football themed selection boxes are just £4.87 at the time of publishing this post.

Dairy Milk Selection Box Premier League

More Ideas

I had a friend who just had to have her radio on at all times, even in the bathroom. So I remember buying her a shower radio for her birthday and she loved it. Here’s one to suit your SS budget at £9.99

Red5 Shower Clock Radio

For the fabulous fans of basically anything, you are sure to find something suitable at My Geek Box Shop. How about a pop figure, this Harry Potter one costs £9.99. You can choose from many more.

Harry Potter in Pyjamas

I hope you have found my list useful.

Treasure House

November 19, 2018 by Anne Sweet 2 Comments

I’ve recently discovered a brilliant way of exchanging good quality kids clothing in the website Treasure House.

Did you know that the clothing industry is the 4th highest polluter in the UK? It takes 2,720 litres of water to make a t-shirt. The production of 1 kilogram of cotton garments uses up to 3 kilograms of chemicals. Clothing consumption produces 1.5 tonnes of Co2 per household per year. The equivalent of driving 6000 cars.

But we all need clothing, including our kids. Treasure House offers a trading system with children’s clothes from 18 months to 12 years. The help you achieve smart savings without compromising on quality. Recycling and swapping slows the need to manufacture brand new clothes, saving energy and water while limiting wast. You can also save money on your kid’s clothes. Clothes that don’t pass the quality check are donated to Save the Children.

How it Works.

Do you recycle your kids clothes? My methods in the past have included donating to charity shops and selling on Ebay. Now, my donations will continue to the charity shops, but those nicer clothes that I try to regain a little of my cost back by selling on Ebay have a new home to go to. My kids still need clothes, so exchanging them seems a much better offer.

With Treasure House you request a bag which you then fill with your kid’s unwanted clothes.

Treasure house only accept good quality and better branded clothing. They have a huge list of brands they accept but there are also brands they don’t accept like Tesco, George, Primark. So these are still good for the charity shops or Ebay.

Book a Collection or request a pre-paid label

Then you can send of your packaged clothes for free.

Receive Online Store Credits

Your clothes are then inspected and awarded store credit. You get more credits for good quality clothing that has been washed and ironed. If your items do not pass the quality check for credits they will be donated to Save the Children. Or you can request for them to be returned to you, but you will have to pay postage for this.

Buy Clothes On Treasure House

When you have your credits you can then use them to buy clothes on the Treasure House Website. If you don’t have credits you can still shop there and find some fabulous pre-loved bargains.

My Experience

The best way to start using Treasure House is to go along and pick a free gift. Yes, they offer a clothing gift up to the cost of £15 for all new customers. I signed up and chose a lovely woollen dress for Boo. It costs just 99 pence for package and postage.

The dress arrived just three days later and it truly is beautiful, it looks brand new. Also in my package was a bag to use to send off my unwanted clothes. I already have my first stash to send off. I was going to put them on Ebay but the time and effort versus the small amount of cash and Ebay fees really puts me off using it. So now I’m going to send off my clothes to Treasure House and use any credits I receive to buy more clothes for my kids.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links

Advent Calendars for 2018

November 7, 2018 by Anne Sweet 9 Comments

We all love Advent Calendars but often don’t try anything different from chocolate ones. I’d like to bring you something a little different this year and have sought out some Advent Calendars with a twist. Or, with no chocolate at least!

Disney Collectable Coin Advent Calendar

For Disney fans what could be better than opening a calendar with limited edition collectable coins. There are only 5000 of these calendars world wide which makes them even more special. If you want to get you hands on one they are currently available at My Geek Box for only £59.99

Lego Advent Calendar

Do you have a lego expert in the house (honestly, who doesn’t?) This Lego Advent Calendar features 24 lego Star Wars themed gifts. As well as Star Wars you can also buy Lego Friends and Lego City advent calendars. Find them all at John Lewis, the Star Wars Advent calendar retails at £20.

24 Days of Merry Rituals

There are many cosmetic advent calendars out there with lots of different price tags. I’ve chosen this one because the products sound perfectly lush and the price isn’t too bad either. The 24 Days of Merry Rituals Calendar costs £59.50 from John Lewis and Partners.

The Snaffling Pig Co. Porky and Nice Pork Scratchings Advent Calendar

I did say I was looking for something different and this fits the bill. Described as a beast of and advent calendar it contains all flavours of Snaffling Pigs best selling pork crackling. Exclusive to John Lewis and Partners for £17.50

Twinings Advent Calendar

I’m a real tea fan so I had to include this fabulous Advent Calendar full of loose tea filled pyramid tea bags. From Camomile to Earl Grey, Moroccan Mint to Bollywood Chai Latte. I want one now please! It also comes with a little stainless steel tea bag tidy. You can buy one from Twinings for just £21.99

Personalised Coffee Advent Calendar

Not a tea fan? That’s okay, next up is a Nespresso pod a day for 25 days. With a little bonus of being personalised so you know who it belongs too! The Personalised Coffee Advent Calendar is available from PressyBox for £49.95

See anything you like? If not then please watch out for my guide on booze and chocolate advent calendars.