The Gold + Bee Craft Party

For those cold dreary winter months why not call a group of friends together and craft near a warm fire.  Let creativity go wild  as your guests enjoy creating beautiful art with champagne in hand and appetizers to graze on?  Gold + Bee will create a splendid event for you.  Please contact us for details about craft options, food, and pricing.

DIY Holiday Gifts

This year I made the decision to make holiday gifts for all the special people on my list.  The beauty of this is that I don't have to spend hours in a crazy mall, spending too much money on mass produced stuff that nobody needs, and instead I get to stay home (with a glass of wine) making one of a kind gifts while exercising my creative muscles.  Hooray for projects!

This weekend I started off with some feather charms and leather cord that I had stashed away in my jewelry drawer, but needed something special to make it pop.  Suddenly, I came across this angel wing keychain my mom gave me before leaving for her winter trip south.  Ta-daaaaa, an earthy necklace with special meaning was born!  So I decided that something like this would be amazing for some of my girlfriends, and went onto etsy to scour the shops for some unique pieces that reminded me of each one of my besties!

Another great idea I had was to flex my culinary skills, and make some cutesy gift totes filled with my homemade jam and southern corn muffins.  Magically, on Saturday morning, my wonderfully talented friend, Sarah, invited me over for a day of canning and holiday cheer. I was thrilled!  Yesterday after shopping for ingredients, we spent the day canning in the kitchen. We sang along to Mumford&Sons, sipped local beers and made a scrumptious dinner as well.  So MUCH BETTER than the mall.  

The final result....9 pints of "Mae-Bee's Very Berry Jam" (aka, strawberry-raspberry-blueberry jam) and a dozen half pints of Sarah's scrumptious Lemon Curd.  I absolutely cannot wait to get some sweet fabric and ribbons and tags to personalize them. Stay tuned for the finished packages!

Miss Mae, decked out in her favorite apron while reading us some new
recipes from the holiday issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Cheers and Happy Gifting!

xoxo, Gold+Bee

A good gift is hard to find

what is it about finding the perfect gift for someone?  occasionally i nail it... usually without much effort and more about luck...but sometimes I obsess about it.. waste a ton of time "looking" and then end up with something that I could've spent 10 minutes looking in Anthro for... why do we try so hard?

i think it's spectacular when we give a gift that a loved one with open, squeal, and cherish.... at least this is the reaction I strive for... but why does it not happen when we try so hard?

ok... so my conclusion is...i think people really value the heartfelt touches... the handmade card... the photos from a recent activity together... the cute personalized packaging... the homemade cookies in a cute mason jar adorned with bright ribbon... this is what makes a gift special... it is the heart that you put into it.  as simple as that!

For those recipients who value the monetary value... my 2 cents is (ha)... no matter how hard you try... it will never be enough so cut your losses and move on.

oh, and if anyone reading this would like to get me a gift that will make me squeal... look no further...

Cheers!