Christmas Bazaar

 

Hopefully you’ve been following the journey and saw that we were making another stop at a Christmas Bazaar this past Saturday. One of my former co-workers came and brought a friend with her, they enjoyed themselves and both of them picked up some homemade blankets. It was a nice event, unfortunately (or fortunately) I was too busy to get up and wander around to see the other vendors and what they were offering. But they had tea, coffee, cakes and mince pies for sale; tables set up so people could sit and chat; they had a raffle and all the proceeds went to MacMillan Cancer support.

In the days leading up to the bazaar I received a large order care of my college roommate. I had to make a few more items so that I’d have stock for Saturday. I made 15 pairs of jingle bell earrings hoping they would attract attention to the table – and they did!   

 

 

 

In the end I sold about 12 pairs of earrings including both pairs of wreaths (and I’m not making any more of them), the pearl snow woman, most of the jingle bells, two eco-chic designs including the orange curling ribbon, and one design I adored which I think was called 3 peas in a pod.

 

 

 

 

 

Even better I got a good response to the earrings even when people didn’t buy them. Ladies came by and talked about how nice they were. I had little gift tags with holes punched in them so the few that were purchased as gifts I placed them on the festive card which had the blog address on them.  I also gave a few cards to people who didn’t buy anything but seemed interested.
 

I’m just so happy that this went so well. As I said in the previous post we’re taking the rest of the year off but again that doesn’t mean to stay away. I may have a few tricks up my sleeve. To be safe if placing an order for the US place your order by the middle of next week since shipping can take up to two weeks. Shipping within the UK is quicker but to be safe place your order by the 12^th.  And I’ve already started thinking forward to next year so I may post some previews. But in the meantime the holiday season has started. The Christmas rush has begun. It’s Cyber Monday! This year don’t forget to support small vendors.
 

Jingle Bells

Silver Bells

 

1 PAIR REMAINING

This is another design I’ve wanted to do since last year. It isn’t artsy like the things I did last year but it’s fun. There is no better way to celebrate the holidays than to jingle your way through them. And there are three designs to choose from.

2 PAIR REMAINING

 

Last week I mentioned that these were for the UK only. That is only because I cannot guarantee they won’t get damaged in shipping. And what’s the point of wearing bells if they don’t jungle? But not to worry these aren’t irritating bells. They are very subtle yet absolutely adorable.

2 PAIR REMAINING

 

They are for the UK only and if you make it down the Christmas bazaar in Wraysbury you can pick them up for just £1.00. That’s right only £1!

 Will ship to the US as an add on item only (not on their own) $2.00 + shipping (approx. $5.00 for shipping depending on the size of your order)

Thank you so much for making this The Dangling Journey’s best year so far! Now #TDJ will be taking the rest of the year off to celebrate the holidays and to prepare for the coming year. I already have few ideas lined up for next year. I am going to try to do a few fancy things. But don’t let that stop you from stopping by the blog, the Facebook page or twitter to see what we’ve done this year and possibly a few previews for next year.

 

In the meantime I hope to see many of you at the Wraysbury Village Hall this Saturday November 26^th from 10am to noon.  Here are some directions to the Village hall:

From M25 take junction 13 (Staines), take third exit on the roundabout to B376. At the mini roundabout take the third exit to Wraysbury Rd. At the “T” junction (at the Chemist) turn left. Make the first right at the end of the village green. The village hall will be 160 meters on your left in. There is a dead end after the hall so you can’t miss it. There is a parking lot across from the hall and street parking on the street.  

U-N-I-T-Y!

Umoja and Ujamaa

 

I wanted to have a more inclusive line this year, last week I released my Hanukkah earrings so this week I am presenting my Kwanzaa earrings. Like Hanukkah there is a special candelabra that is used to celebrate the holiday. So last year I thought about making the Menorah and Kinara for the holidays but I just couldn’t figure it out. Then my mother shared the symbols of each day with me and saw that I could make two of the symbols.

 

Kwanzaa or first fruits of the harvest is a holiday celebrated by some African-Americans from December 26^th through January 1^st. It is based on seven principles of African heritage which are:

Ñ Umoja or Unity

Ñ Kujichagulia or Self-Determination

Ñ Ujima or Collective Work and Responsibility

Ñ Ujamaa or Cooperative Economics

Ñ Nia or Purpose

Ñ Kuumba or Creativity

Ñ Imani or Faith

The designs I made for Kwanzaa are Ujamaa

 

 

And Umoja which was in the preview I sent out on Friday.

 

Since this is pretty much a solely American holiday I don’t expect to sell any in the UK. So I’ll only give American prices. But don’t worry members of my British audience, next week’s earrings are a UK exclusive. Oh, and did I mention #TDJ will be making another stop? This time at the MacMillan Christmas Bazaar in Wraysbury. So if you aren’t too far away you can swing buy and pick up your earrings for Christmas. I’ll have the entire stock on hand so you can pick up Christmas presents and earrings to wear around during the holidays. Come by and say hello on Saturday November 26 from 10am to noon.

Ujamaa $3.00 including shipping

Umoja $3.50 including shipping

 

This has officially become a holiday line!

 

Eight Crazy Nights!

 

I’ve wanted to do something for Hanukkah since last fall but I couldn’t come up with anything. Once I got the craft wire I realized I could make these. I wish I could make a dreidel or a menorah. But of course it doesn't have to be Hanukkah to wear these lovely Stars of David! 

 

I love Hanukkah! When I was in elementary school (3^rd and 4^th grade) we learned about Hanukkah. In music class we learned a Hanukkah song which we sang at Christmas concerts. When I got to High School I learned another Hanukkah song (which I love to this day) and my senior year (because the choir disbanded) one of my teachers put on a Christmas show and I sang the Hanukkah song in an assembly … in Hebrew. I was complimented by one of my teachers on my Hebrew. I have another confession to make, if Rosetta Stone offered me the chance to learn any language it would be Hebrew. I love the Hebrew culture and food and I admire their resilience. I’ve thought about converting to Judaism but JC is a big deal me.

 

Hanukkah is called the festival of lights and was set up as a time of Thanksgiving. A brief history, after reclaiming Jerusalem the Maccabees wanted to light a Menorah in their temple but there was only enough oil to last for one night. Miraculously the oil lasted for eight nights until they were able to make more oil to keep the lights burning. Although the date of Hanukkah changes every year because it runs on the Hebrew calendar it sometimes falls on or around Christmas. This year Hanukkah begins on Christmas Eve.

Fingers crossed I’ll have another Holiday Design for you next week.

£3.50 including UK shipping, $8.25 including US shipping

Wreaths

 

Did you get my teaser the other day? Did you guess what it would be?

 

 

I worked for days on this and I almost gave up on it. I may try another pair in a different style but I’ve run out of wire.  I’ll have some more in a few days so until then this is all there is.

 

Last Christmas we made our own Christmas wreath. My church has an afternoon of wreath making event every year. I’ve wanted to go for years but last year I found out it costs a lot to go to and Neil wasn’t really interested in going. He always wanted to make a wreath though (he just didn’t want to do it at church). So since we have evergreen trees, ivy and holly in our front yard we made our own wreath. We even found smelly pinecones. It was a bit flimsy because we made our own structure rather than buying one (Neil is quite thrifty) but it was nice, and it lasted a long time. And it was HUGE!

I’m really busy this week. Neil’s birthday is Friday and I’m so excited. I’m more excited than he is. I planned a gorgeous (hopefully) cake for him and it will take all week to make. I made the decorations on Monday, I made part of the cake (actually 2 cakes) yesterday. Today I’ll make the other tier and I’ll have Thursday to decorate it.

The birthday boy hasn’t decided what he wants to do for his big day yet. He’ll get a steak for dinner though and probably chips (French fries) as well.  And I’ve got loads of presents for him which I hope he’ll love. This is a special birthday even though he doesn’t see it that way. So I want to make sure he gets a huge celebration even though it will just be the two of us.

BOTH PAIR SOLD