Manimal founder and designer Kristen Lombardi started her brand with handmade moccasins, but what I love most about her line now is her suede accessories, made of scrap leather left over from the mocs. If there is a creative way to string suede cut-outs onto a string, she’s used it, and she keeps releasing amazing new variations each season (like this and this). Her designs are awesomely eclectic — and totally inspirational for a DIY necklace that doesn’t require much handicraft, just a lot of creativity.

If you’ve read this blog for long you’ve seen this Manimal necklace of mine before. I love that it’s made of an unexpected material, and that it has an obvious handmade look without being “crafty.” Here are a few close-ups for inspiration!

The hardest part of recreating this necklace would have to be punching holes in each scrap. Instead, I’d try making holes with a heavy-duty needle and then experimenting with what cord works best accordingly. (This variation apparently used string rather than cord, to incorporate seed beads between the scraps.)

If you make a necklace inspired by Kristen’s designs, be sure to say “thank you” by grabbing something awesome from the Manimal store!

Because who doesn’t want an awesome new necklace for Christmas?!

This December, I’m super excited to be hosting my first-ever handmade necklace exchange! Not only does it combine two of my favorite things — jewelry and gift-giving — but I hope it will inspire some extra spirit and creativity in all of our holidays.

Here’s How It Works…

1. To join, fill out the form below. Sign up by this Friday, December 9!
2. On Saturday, December 10, I’ll email you the name and info of your randomly selected “match.”
3. You’ll spend the next 10 days making a necklace just for them. Mail it by Tuesday, December 20!
4. By Christmas, you’ll receive your own necklace, made just for you!

What You’re Making

First and foremost — you don’t have to be a designer to join in! Or even a creative person at all. PROMISE. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be posting awesome handmade necklace inspiration and DIYs (many of which are previewed above), and you are free to use and copy them as literally as you like.

Plus, I hope we can all extend our design inspiration beyond just necklaces! For one, a lot of my favorite necklace design ideas lend themselves to creative gift wrapping. For two, I’m dying to make Viv a stylish pacifier clip, and I have a hunch it’s going to match whatever necklace style(s) I take on.

Bonus points if your necklace includes upcycled materials, like beads from thrifted jewelry, etc.

Lastly, you should most definitely make at least two necklaces — one for yourself!

Who You’re Making It For

Each person who signs up will be randomly assigned a match. (Matches are not two-way, so you’re not giving and receiving with the same person.) That person will include links to their blog, their Pinterest account and anything else that gives you an idea of their personal style, and you’ll make them a necklace that fits.

UPDATE: We are open to international sign-ups! But FYI, I’ll be drawing names among the international sign-ups separately from the U.S. sign-ups, so that U.S. residents can all get their necklaces by Christmas. Those of you from elsewhere will receive yours according to your respective shipping times.

The Schedule

As long as everyone mails their necklaces by Tuesday, December 20, via First Class or better, the USPS holiday schedule says they’ll be delivered by Christmas.

The Fun Of It

I can’t wait to see the fruits of everyone’s creativity! Be sure to send me photos of both the necklace you make and the necklace you receive, and I’ll share them all after the fact.

If this necklace exchange suits your blog, please be sure to post about it along the way! I’d love for you to spread the word now to get more people to sign up. On Twitter and Pinterest, use hashtag #NecklaceExchange.

I know the holidays can be a crazy time, but I can’t wait to put some of my energy into sharing awesome gifts with new friends!

***

Have any time left this year for DIY wrapping paper? (Who am I kidding? Oh well, maybe next year!) I just spotted these celery stamps and couldn’t resist posting them. So sweet!

And with that, I’m off to enjoy the holiday with my family. All the best to you and yours!

Celery stamp wrapping paper via Pot + Pantry

TheFeast.com: Last week I was excited to curate a guide of local, ethical gift ideas for TheFeast.com. My list of 14 picks covers most of my SF favorites, from air plants at Paxton Gate to Early Jewelry at Candystore Collective and Renegade Holiday, which hits SF this weekend. This silk top by The Podolls is one I just snagged from Candystore and love! Read my full list here.

Mimi + Meg: Kansas City blogger Megan Biram posted a beautiful and amazing variety of guest gift guides this month, and mine hit the web on Tuesday. Isn’t Megan’s blog design beautiful? They didn’t hire her at Hallmark Cards for nothing. You can see the full post here.

PR Couture: What a treat to meet Crosby Noricks, founder of PR Couture, and have a Q&A on her blog in the same week! Crosby is a PR professional and has vowed to share her knowledge as much as possible. There is SO much to learn in the pages of her site. She’s working on a for-benefit jewelry line of her own (that sounds very exciting), so she invited me to participate in her series “Show Me the Pretty,” where she asks five questions of a designer, and the designer gets to ask five questions back to Crosby and her PR-pro network. I really enjoyed answering Crosby’s questions, and I can’t wait to see the answers to mine posted soon. If you’re into the fashion industry and don’t already follow this blog, you should start! You can read my Q&A here.

Storenvy: Even though you’re looking many of my gift picks in the face right now, I spent most of my gift-guiding time this season at the Storenvy blog! It was awesome working with Erin Loechner of Design For Mankind, Jessie Artigue of The Concrete Catwalk, Darius Monsef of COLOURlovers and Rachel Ryle of Tweety Got Back on their curated lists, and I loved filling in the blanks with several guides of my own. I think my favorites are 6 Gift Ideas for Moms and yesterday’s 12 Last-Minute Gift Picks from Indie Brands. You can view them all here.

Does this letterpressed veneer tag look familiar? Treasa from IN HAUS Press prints each one by hand on her vintage presses, just like she printed my business cards, which I photographed up close to use for the Fashion Loves People website header! You can get a set of six veneer gift flags for $6, or you can get a “Happy Holidays” set of 10 paper gift flags for $6.50. And while you’re at it, check out Treasa’s entire Winter collection – it’s beautiful. For delivery by the 24th, be sure to order by this Friday!

Get even more festive with your wrapping with red and white baker’s twine. I love this stuff.

I love straws, but I hate throwing them away. Last month at the Heath sale I bought two of these (The Bends, no relation to Radiohead), and I never would have considered GLASS for my permanent straws, but Glass Dharma has a lifetime guarantee against breakage. Amazing! The straight ones start at $7.50, and the bendy ones at $8.50. Handmade in the U.S.

Stocking stuffer of awesomeness, anyone? PACT men’s and women’s underwear has always donated 10% of each purchase to your choice of their selected causes, but with each sale of the Winter Lights designs they recently launched, they’ll donate a solar lantern to a family in need in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Priced at $18-$22 for women, and $24-$26 for men.

You remember my friend Heather, who’s an amazing designer and has collaborated with me on all of the Fashion Loves People tee designs? Well she and her husband Aaron have been on quite the journey this year — they’ve applied and made it onto the waiting list to adopt a little boy from Ethiopia. They are incredibly passionate about it, and they do eventually want to have biological kids, but they’re adopting first as a gesture for how much they plan to love this little guy as their own. I’m so excited for them!

Heather opened a store, Love Is Waiting, a few months ago to sell several items she’s designed to help cover the costs of the adoption. I got a JAMBO tee as soon as they were printed and love it! She just released her newest design, which she hand-lettered, and I think it is the most precious gift for any expecting mama on your Christmas gift list.

Every cent made from the store will help bring their “Arthur” home (who you can read more about on their adoption blog), so go support them all you can. And today only, you can enter to win any item of your choice from Heather’s store through Storenvy, by following the instructions of this tweet or this FB post. Good luck!

“Hair powder for hair on days of unwash” — how sweetly put! For lazy hair days, I’ve been wanting to try Lulu Organics’ hair powder for a while but couldn’t quite justify the price of the full-size package. This travel-size runs $9.50, with free shipping from the brand directly. I bought one but haven’t used it yet — I can’t decide whether to keep it or give it! But honestly… I’ll probably keep it. The Lavender scent smells amazing.

On sale for $20 each, with free shipping and free returns! Fantastic price for some beautiful scarves. Check out these great skirts, too, all sewn by hand from Pendleton wool fabric. The Casa scarf is my pick.

Via Modish