Giveaway, Day Seven: SerendipiTea. CLOSED.

Friday has finally arrived! Many of us wind down from the crazy week with an indulgence, so I figured today's giveaway would be something of the sort. SerendipiTea is a Long Island based company that sells a delicious assortment of teas + an array of accessories to make each cup an experience. Linda, the lady behind SerendipiTea chose a wonderful gift for the winner - an assortment of Chocolate Tea + a fantastic guide to tea.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

While you're over at SerendipiTea, stock up on some of their delicious teas + save 15% with the coupon code HOLIDAY GREETINGS [it expires at the end of December]. My favorites from SerendipiTea are Chaucer's Cup, Holiday Cheer + Pagan Alms.

Giveaway, Day Six: Kouture. CLOSED.

Happy Thursday! I don't know about you, but I am stoked to be thisclose to the weekend. The sixth giveaway for Giveaway a Day December comes from Kiley, who has been on the blog a few times before. She owns Kouture, which is one of my favorite shops.

Kiley's gift to one lucky winner is a $25 gift card + a 20% gift code, personalized just for you! She's also giving away a $500 shopping spree, so make sure you get your entry in [last day for entries in both contests is December 16]. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you've missed a day in the giveaway, catch up + see what you missed. While you're here, don't forget to check out today's Teach Me Something Thursday.

UPDATE: Since none of the entrants who used Rafflecopter to enter followed directions [none of the entrants left a comment on this giveaway, which was a mandatory entry]. The two individuals who commented below did complete the mandatory entry, but did not utilize Rafflecopter, so I had to use random.org to choose a winner of the two ladies that entered.

Teach Me Something Thursday, Volume Fourteen.

Welcome to Teach Me Something Thursday. This week, Cindi, owner of Bracelets by Cindi, teaches us how to make a double stranded pearl rhinestone chain bracelet. If you prefer to give handmade goods during holiday season, this would be great addition to a goodie bag filled with cookies + homemade chocolates!

Double Stranded Pearl Rhinestone Chain Bracelet

What You’ll Need:

-18 inches of leather cord

- 12 inches of pearl rhinestone chain (2 strands, 6 inches each)

- embroidery floss

- button

- scissors

- craft glue

Directions:

Fold leather cording in half so that you form a loop. Make sure that the loop fits around the button, which will serve as a clasp. Run the tip of the embroidery floss up the length of your leather cording towards the loop, and wrap your embroidery floss around the cording 5-10 times working your way down the leather cord.

Place both strands of the pearl rhinestone chain along the leather cording and begin wrapping your embroidery floss around the pearl chain 3 times (between each pearl rhinestone) down the length of the cord.

Continue wrapping, meanwhile checking for fit around your wrist.

When you reach the end, wrap the embroidery floss around your leather cording 5-10 times, like you did in the beginning, and secure with a double knot. Add a dab of glue.

To finish, thread button onto both pieces of cord and tie an overhand knot with the leather cord ends. Snip off extra cord.

Have fun with this project and be creative - you can substitute the pearl chain with rhinestone chain or ball chain to create a whole new look! Also, you could turn this into a double or triple wrap bracelet by doubling or tripling the measurement of the materials. Happy crafting!

Make sure to stop by Bracelets by Cindi + Hello Cindi, to see her latest creations.

Wacky Wednesday.

This morning was bizarre. Usually the cats will come + wake us up in the morning for two things: Penelope will meow this long, monotone meow, which means "Mommy, lift up the covers so I can snuggle with you [she's a major mushball]," or Puar will come over + gently touch my face with her paw [repeatedly] until I get up to give her wet food. Nothing I mind being woken up for, because it only takes me about twenty minutes to doze off again.

Penelope resting her head on Puar. So precious.

This morning, I was woken up by a commotion like no other. I figured they were just playing with each other, so I didn't think anything of it. Until I heard a chair fall over. I got up to see what was going on + nearly shit my pants once I realized why they were going bonkers.

They were trying to catch a bird.

Yes, you read that right, there was a bird in our quarters. Our apartment is a renovated garage + we usually leave the front door open, because there is a mudroom with a glass door that the girls like looking out. There's a small gap between the concrete + the door, which we planned on finishing before Sandy rolled through, but since we had flooding, we need to wait for FEMA + an engineer to come to the house before we do any repairs, as there are cracks in the foundation.

I screamed like a little bitch, which made Erich scream, as I just scared the living shit out of him. I manage to shout "BIRD! THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL THE BIRD!" He jumps out of bed + tries to grab one of the cats. The little bird starts flying around to escape their wrath + the girls are moving at warp speed in order to catch their prey. I'm ready to pee my pants at this point, because I'm half asleep, heart beating a million miles an hour + we can't catch the cats. We finally grab them + put them into the mudroom, but Penny runs back in to try + get the bird. Erich grabs her + tosses her in the mudroom [gently, of course - he had to be fast to make sure Puar didn't run back in + Penny didn't either].

I carry them from the mudroom to the house [where Erich's parents live], while Erich attempts to get the bird to safety. After about ten minutes, he comes in + tells me the bird is out. He's cranky, because we were up late doing schoolwork + he had to wake up to me screaming, then get a bird out of the apartment. We go back inside + get back into bed. I'm still so thrown off about it that I didn't even ask him how he got the bird out [I keep forgetting to ask him - once he gets back from Dunkin' Donuts, i'm going to have to inquire how he finally got it out].

Craziest. Morning. Ever.

UPDATE: I finally asked Erich how the bird escaped. He said he opened all of the doors, plus opened the window + popped the screen out. The bird went by the window + after bumping into the glass, found his way out + flew far away from the crazy kitties.