Homemade Valentines

Elli is in full getting-ready-for Valentine's Day mode. She has made cards for her teachers and for all the kids in her class. And this weekend we are going to make homemade truffles to give to her teachers as gifts.

She's a "do your best" kind of gal. It makes me crazy. Where I see mistakes and messiness, she sees beauty. She's way more accepting of life's little imperfections. And obviously not a perfectionist. (I'm the opposite.) I love the way her cards came out anyway. They look like her.

I can hardly wait to see what our chocolate truffles look like!

A card for one of her teachers.

Cards for the kids in her class.

A mobile for another teacher.

I remember making cards when I was little. I loved playing with the doilies and all the shades of red, white and pink.

And now we're about to make homemade CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES. Yuuuuuuum. Can't wait.

Here are two truffle recipes in case you want to try to make some this weekend too. I haven't tried these myself so we can all experiment together. They look really easy and chocalicious. I mean really, how can you go wrong when the main ingredients are chocolate and heavy cream? (I think I just gained a pound typing heavy cream. Good thing these are gifts.)

1) Valentine's Day Truffles by Jenna Weber. Super easy. Perfect recipe for kids.

2) Chocolate Truffles by Jacques Torres. The chocolate god. Not hard. But not super easy according to one commenter.

So there you go. Homemade cards and candy made from little hands with a big heart. My favorite kind of gift.

What is the best gift you've ever given?

SWAGG is a free mobile app (download here) that lets you shop smarter using your mobile phone. Buy, send or swap SWAGG GIFTS and organize your old school plastic gift cards. For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) , up to $125,000.

Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! Download the SWAGG app and then visit the Ultimate SWAGG Getaway Sweepstakes site to enter to win a trip for two to the Sundance Film Festival. Entry deadline is January 3, 2011, 11:59pm, PST. 


So, are you like me and you've done some shopping but not everything and now it's the weekend before Xmas and you're like, Holy Moly. What am I going to do? There's so much pressure to get just the right thing for all the special people in your life. It gets even harder when you're on a tight budget.

What's the best gift you've ever given? Is there one thing that really stands out?

Honestly?

I can recall numerous great gifts that I've received. But only a few that I've given that I would categorize as a "best gift ever given".  Mainly because I am married to the BEST GIFT GIVER EVER. He is. Hands down. The best. Ask my family.

I try really hard to be a really thoughtful gift giver. But I'm always trumped by Don. He always manages to outdo me. Mainly because he spends more than I do so my gift comes across as less spectacular. So that doesn't seem fair. He always goes for it. I'm a conservative shopper. I always wimp out.

• Our very first Christmas together (when we were dating) he gave me a Fendi purse and a super cool pair of leather boots. My parents were so impressed and we ALL decided he was a keeper.  I have no idea what I gave him. But I bet it was a sweater from Macy's.
• For my 40th birthday he surprised me and rented a private home on Virgin Gorda for the week. I gave him a Gibson guitar for his 40th.
• For his 50th birthday I treated him to a weekend at the Fairmont in Sonoma. It was great. Except that we got in a car accident the minute we left the resort. So it definitely put a damper on the weekend. Big time. (ok. THAT was not my fault.)
• For Mother's Day in 2009 he treated the three three of us to see Wicked in SF and an overnight at the Ritz Carlton on the Concierge level. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Elli and I still talk about it.
• And this year for our anniversary he gave me (us) the cooking class at Cavallo Point. Loved it!
• I could go on, and on, and on......

So what have I, Kris Mulkey, given to someone that they would say is THE BEST GIFT EVER? How do you define the "best gift ever given" anyway? How do you know what the recipient thinks is the best gift?

I'm pretty sure the best gift I've ever given was to Elli.

She had been begging, and begging, to get her ears pierced. I told her when she was 13 and more responsible we would do it. She thought this was completely unfair and way too long to wait.  She would beg every few months. And I would tell her "No. You're too young."  Most of her friends did not have their ears pierced. And I don't think they really cared too much about it. Elli was obsessed though. And did not like the thought of waiting until she was 13 - at all. So for her 9th birthday last year I surprised her and I let her get her ears pierced.

I will never forget the look on her face when she opened the little box and read the special certificate I made. She couldn't believe it. It was the best moment ever. For her, it was like a dream come true. It was the ultimate, unexpected surprise.

This certificate entitles you to get your ears pierced at Claire's. TODAY.

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

We made it a very special experience by taking our time at Claire's and then having lunch at the restaurant of her choice. It was one of those days neither of us will ever forget.

It's nice to be able to give someone something they REALLY want. Some people are easy (like Elli) she is very open with what she wants. Others are harder (like Don.) One of these days I'll give him a spectacular gift that will knock his socks off.  Probably won't be this Christmas. Unless I just happened to pick the right numbers on the Lottery Tickets. But maybe sometime soon. Wish me luck.

The end.

Don't forget to download the SWAGG app on your iphone. Stand Up to Cancer gets $1 for each download. And make sure you register for the awesome trip giveaway to Sundance. Park City is totally fun. You'll have a blast if you win. 

Learn more about the coolest new app that revolutionizes the whole shopping, gifting, and gift card-organizing experience and Download the SWAGG app to your iPhone or Droid. I was selected for this sponsorship by Clever Girls Collective , which endorses Blog With Integrity.

SWAGG has partnered with non-profit Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). For every download of the app between now and Dec. 31, 2010, SWAGG will donate $1 to SU2C up to $125,000. Awesome, right?! Visit the SU2C site for more info.

THIS IS WHAT YOU COULD WIN!!!!

Clever Girls Collective and SWAGG are sending a lucky pair of movie fans to the Sundance Film Festival! The sweepstakes is offered exclusively through the Clever 1000, and it has a pretty kick butt prize, including:

• 2 night/3 day stay at Yarrow Hotel in Park City Utah (Jan 21 - Jan 23, 2011)
• Ground transportation to and from hotel to airport in Park City, Utah
• Dinner for two at Tao Lounge, including 2 nightclub passes
• All access to The House of SWAGG Gifting Suite and to a SWAGG demo for a special "celebrity
• guest" - guest tbd
• 2 tickets to a movie premiere on Saturday, January 22nd -- movie tbd
• $4,000 value

Cutest lunch tote EVER!

Check it out. I discovered these lunch boxes on TheKitchn website over the weekend. They are made by a company based in NY called BUILT. Aren't they cute? What girl doesn't like lunch boxes that look like purses in cute patterns and colors. Why didn't I think of this?

 

They have a lot of different styles, sizes and fabric choices. They're all pretty girly. Although they do have some in solid colors that I think a guy might carry. Maybe. I can't see Don carrying it. It's a little too pursey for him. Not sure that's a word. But he is way too manly to carry a purse. And this looks like a purse. But some dudes out there might like it though.

I thought they were super cute. Elli saw them and said "Hey, my friends have those. I don't like them though." I couldn't get her to say any more than that. But I was kind of surprised.  She wouldn't say any more when I tried to prod. So, huh. Not sure what the reasoning is. And she asked me not to write that she said that. Hmmmm. Now I'm even more curious. There is a story here. I must find out.

I was actually thinking of these for an adult, not a 4th grader anyway. I think using one of these lunch totes for work would definitely make my peanut butter sandwich taste so much better. Don't you agree?

They would make excellent Christmas presents or a gift for the teacher, too.

They also have cases for laptops, cameras, phones, wine bottles, water bottles and ipad. I would seriously carry it as a purse. For years I carried a huge Coach briefcase that was actually a diaper bag. I liked the built-in water bottle/baby bottle holders on each end. It was red leather. No one ever knew it was a diaper bag. I mean, I only pulled out the changing pad when I needed something cushy to sit on. KIDDING! Ha. It did come with one, but that was discarded immediately. There was one person that called me out on it. It was a stranger at the airport. She walked up to me and said, "Hey, I had that diaper bag. It's great isn't it?" DOH! Go away lady.

Anyhow. Back to BUILT. I think these totes would make awesome gifts for all the girls on your shopping list. And now you can save 20% on lunch totes.  Enter this code at checkout: APT20     http://www.builtny.com  

NOTE: All photos are the property of www.builtny.com.  And I was NOT paid to write this post. I just think their stuff is cool and wanted to share it with you. So there you go.

Hand made gifts by ta. (as in "ta da!")

I have a special post today from my friend Noelle Walker. I met Noelle a long time ago when we were Delta Gamma college sorority sisters back at TCU. We reconnected a few years ago when I moved to San Francisco. 

Some of you here in the Bay Area may recognize her from her work as an Emmy award winning TV reporter. In fact, she just interviewed Tom Brokaw before a Governor's debate. And she currently runs her own business called Scoop Media.

In her spare time she crochets amazing hats and scarves. So for those of you that just finished reading the article Killing off Supermom. You're in luck. Noelle is here to save us. So ladies (and gents), put down your knitting needles, set aside the beads and please, put down the be-dazzler. It's not "in" anymore anyway.  I have the solution.

Hand made gifts. Made with love, from an old college friend.

In her own words:

My hands are stiff.  Achy.  The joints crack with every bend.  I think of my Grammy, telling me not to hold the needle and yarn so tightly.

Grammy taught me to crochet when I was about 7 years old.  With my little hands sweating over every stitch, she cooed over my miscounted, misfit creations.  There is  photo evidence tucked away in a box in a closet somewhere of me wearing my “designs”.  I vividly remember a crooked vest of burnt orange and gold (in my defense, it was the ‘70‘s) that I fashioned from my grandmother’s scrap yarn pile.  My mom cried when I insisted on wearing it to document my 2nd grade year.  Grammy couldn’t have been more proud!  

It’s been decades since I picked up a crochet hook, or thought about how to do a 1/2 double or seed stitch.  So I don’t know what gave me the idea to make a baby blanket for my oldest and dearest friend.  It wasn’t just left field, it was an idea that came from the left side nosebleed bleacher seats!  I called Grammy, who’s now 97, hoping she’d tell me to just go buy one and be done with it.  Instead, she told me it was like riding a bike.  She had all the confidence in the world that I could, indeed, make a BEAUTIFUL baby blanket.  I had to ask if she remembered that horrible vest!  She remembered it differently than I: perfect.

I had no clue the baby blanket would lead me down a road that wasn’t even on my map. After years as a news reporter and media consultant/coach, the roads I travel lead to press conferences, crime scenes, and the occasional Hollywood star gone-to-jail-rehab-jail-rehab.  When I picked up that crochet hook, I really went off the map!

I started making hats and scarves for friends’ birthdays. A few of them told me I should sell them (sometimes you need friends to tell you you’re better than you think you are), and “ta da!”... a business.  In my case, it was just “ta”: that’s what I named my business.  “Ta” is Australian slang for “thanks”, something everyone who I gave one of my hats/scarves to said...genuine thanks.  To them, I say ta for believing in me!

So here I am; crocheting my way to early arthritis, channeling my Grammy with every stitch.  “Loosen your grip, sweetie...”  “That’s just beautiful...”  (Smile). 

ta accessories are available at The Store, Mill Valley in downtown Mill Valley, and by special order. Click here to email Noelle directly.

Noelle is kindly inviting everyone to a trunk show here in San Francisco featuring her crochet accessories, jewelry, and greeting cards/stationary.

2nd ANNUAL LOCAL DESIGNER TRUNK SHOW

DATES: WED 11/17, 5:30 - 8p and SUN 11/21, 2pm - 5pm

ADDRESS:  245 Laussat St., San Francisco

**Jewelry by Tami von Isakovics and Kelly Chamberlin

***Stationary by Erin Finnegan

Thanks, Noelle!