Our First Real Christmas Tree

This year was the first year my husband and I have been able to get a real live Christmas tree.  Before, we were in an apartment, then we got a puppy, then we had a baby... so this year we were finally able to get a real tree!  

To commemorate this special event I had my husband cut a slice off the end of our Christmas tree and I turned it into a special hand-etched snowflake ornament for us.  It's a little big and a little lopsided, but it'll be a special keepsake of our first real tree.  On the back I wrote "Our First Christmas Tree - 2014."  

Proud to say: As seen in Martha Stewart Living Magazine!

Pinch me, I must be dreaming... 

Honored, thrilled, and amazed to be able to say that a photo of our hand-etched maple snowflakes is featured in the December issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine!  You can find us right on page 8.  

To celebrate, I'm offering 20% off everything in my Etsy shop through Nov. 24th, just use the coupon code MARTHA at checkout.  Please visit our shop and help us celebrate!   

Coupon code expires 11/24/14. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just be over here framing this magazine..

Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Okay, so I'm really afraid to go into detail because I don't want to jinx anything but I have some VERY exciting news about this little Instagram photo!  

...all will be revealed in November :)  

Finding my niche...

My Etsy shop and this blog are still very much a work in progress - I have all kinds of ideas on products I want to make, things I want to write about.  I often wonder if this blog is trying to be too many things at once... 

Just about all of the most popular blogs out there (including some of my personal favorites) share so much about the author's daily life, their families, their homes, the whole nine yards.  Their reader gets to know them personally, gets invested in what's going on, and it keeps them engaged.  But that's just not me - I don't feel comfortable posting detailed photos of our home and life publicly.  I try to walk that line, but I know staying on my side of this fence will alienate much of my audience. 

I know if I want a shot at a successful following on the blog and Etsy storefront I need to find my niche and stick with it, but I'm not there yet.  I'm still testing the waters on what kinds of things I truly enjoy making and writing about, and until I find my focus you all get to enjoy a little bit of everything ;)  

Thanks again for reading and please feel free to leave some feedback - I'd love to hear your thoughts!  

A bit of inspiration..

My Great-Aunt (who is now 97!), gave me this handmade card when I graduated high school.  Though she hadn't made it herself, even then I thought the stamped Emerson quote was just beautiful.  

Just about 10 years later I still had the card, and this summer I finally framed it with her signature safe on the back.  It sits on my desk now, reminding me that success comes in many forms.  

Success

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent
people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest
critics and endure the betrayal
of false friends; to appreciate
beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
a garden patch or redeemed social
condition; to know even one life
has breathed easier because you
have lived.  This is to have succeeded.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome to Birch Landing Home!

Today there are so many stay-at-home moms with successful blogs and Etsy shops and I figured, why not?!  I know there's a lot of competition out there, and I still have so much to do to get this site and my Etsy shop to where I want them to be.  This is still very much a work-in-progress, but I would love to hear what you think of everything so far!  

The website/blog aspect will mainly follow along what I've been working on, give tutorials, and follow my Pinterest-inspired experiments; the Etsy shop will be where finished products will be available for purchase.  I'm also looking forward to expanding my products on Etsy to include more things for the home. 

So please take a look around, leave some feedback, and be sure to visit again - thanks so much for stopping by Birch Landing Home!