Eighteenth Birthday Presents from Etsy

Today's Tip: An average sized scarf equals the height of the person wearing it. Why does this work? Generally people want a scarf that falls about halfway on their body. To get it to fall halfway, the scarf is the same as the height. So, a long scarf would be more than the height, and a short scarf would be less. If you look at the last tip, you'll see that you can get a quick measurement by holding the scarf between your outstretched arms.

Yesterday, August 2, was my daughter's 18th birthday. In addition to her main gift (her own guitar for Guitar Hero, and new programs), I bought her some wonderful gifts from Etsy. I thought about what she can do now that she is 18. She will be able to vote for the first time this year, so I purchased some fun things about voting. I got these two buttons from rvw2005This journal from ivylanedesigns

and this t-shirt from coolchirts

The other thing she can do is buy cigarettes. Although she has no interest in smoking, I thought these charms would be a fun gift. This one came from heartbreakjewelry

30 years ago - Etsy Treasury

Yea! I did it! After a lot of failed tries, I was able to load a page from Etsy!

This is an Etsy Treasury I created this week. July 16 was out 30th anniversary, and this treasury is to commemorate it.

So, what do these images mean? Well, my dh is Gary, and his hobby is marine biology. He had fish in his dorm room when we met. I'm Alysa, and this was the only image that had my name in it, spelled correctly. Actually I was surprised to find it at all. The wedding topper is obvious. We met in Boston, Gary went to MIT and I went to BU, thus the various images of Boston. One of our early dates was to a Boston Concert. The year was 1978. On our honeymoon, we took a bunch of pictures of baby ducks, which seemed pretty funny when we looked at them later. Gary was from Long Island, my parents lived in New Jersey and that's where we got married. Our song at our wedding was "I Love You Just The Way You Are" by Billy Joel. And finally, St. John in the US Virgin Islands is our favorite vacation place (oh, and the photograph was taken by our daughter)

Today's Tip: When you need to sew pieces of crocheted or knitted work together, use round toothpicks instead of pins. They hold it together nicely and don't get lost in the fabric.

My New Blog

Sometimes you have to hold your nose, shut your eyes, and jump!

I'm just beginning to learn about this blogging thing, but if I wait until I understand the details I might never get it done. I'll learn as I go.

Knitting tip - When you are working with circular needles and a lot of stitches, work one row before you join. It is much easier to get all the twists out, and you can make a stitch to close the little gap when you sew the ends in.

Check out my Etsy Store at AlysaMerle.Etsy.com

I started my Etsy store about 6 months ago. I now have 80 items listed. I have a lot more things finished, and I'll be adding them gradually over the next few months.