Last-minute bath bomb recipe

Okay, I've dialed down the gift-giving this year but still, I like having some gifts on hand for hostess gifts or for friends. To that end, I whipped up some fragrant fizzy bath bombs in an ice-cube tray last night. You really only need a few supplies and you can make them up lickety-split. And you can package them up in a cute little box or drop them into a Ziploc bag or Gladware container. Easy peasy. I just like saying "easy peasy."

Learn how in my CraftStylish tutorial.

Restyling the regift

This week I've been thinking about regifting. Shocking, I know, especially from such a lovely gal such as myself. But you know, I'd rather give some wretched gift a new life in a loving home. And sometimes, this can't be done in its current form. So my latest post on CraftStylish gives you a few ideas on how to restyle that Cosby sweater or completely transform that stuffed penguin someone thought was a good idea. Enjoy!

Rethinking the holidays: give the gift of yourself

The holidays are kicking me from one end of the street to the other. I'm not gonna lie. I'd like to say I'm making everything by hand and each precious gift will be exquisitely wrapped and shipped out by, well, now, but that's simply not the case.

Life, or in this case, my book deadline, gets in the way.

So my girlfriends and I decided to forego actual gifts to each other this year. Instead, we headed to Olympus Spa in Lynnwood for a relaxing evening of naked girl talk in hot tubs and crazy heated rooms with different properties: i.e., "Mud & Jade Room," "Charcoal Room," and "Salt Room." It was exactly what we needed to recharge and attack our work and the holidays. On the way home, we swung by Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream for some organic ice cream (candy cane ice cream for me, birthday cake with caramel sauce for the others).

In lieu of gifts, consider a shared experience this holiday season with loved ones, be it a dinner party, a weekend matinee, or naked hot tubbing. It's good for the soul and it's a gift that you'll be giving yourself. What's a better gift than quality time spent with your favorite people?

Great gift-giving story? Bring it on!

For my next Prairie Girl's Guide, I am looking for stories of meaningful, spot-on gift giving. Have you ever given or received an absolutely perfect gift? Something that touched you to the core? Made the recipient cry like a little girl? Was she a little girl? If so, I'd love to hear all about it.

To give you an example, my friend Jared knows of my obsession with photo booths and knew I was a bit envious of his framed wall of photo strips. So one Christmas, I unwrapped a long frame, complete with a matte cut for seven photo strips. He even prepaid the frame shop so I could have my favorite strips mounted. What a guy! What a gift!

If you have any great stories about thoughtful gifts, no matter how large or small, I'd love to hear them and include them in the book.

The gift guide for guys

If you need a bit of inspiration about what to make for the fellas in your life this holiday season, check out my latest CraftStylish post.

It even includes my grandmother's Cowboy Cookie recipe, a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie that has rendered all other cookies dead to me.

Rockin' graduation gift

Along with her mom, my high school friend Sheila (Go Lakers!) made this quilt for her son's (gulp) high school graduation. Isn't it gorg? She used Cody's jerseys and t-shirts for the quilt, which I'm confident will make him the BMOC when he hits the college scene.

Small pleasures

Camille came over last night for crafts, Thai food, and a Flight of the Conchords DVD. I needed a small project so I unearthed some cotton yarn and started this dishcloth, from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I think this might be the new gift for friends: a hand-knitted dishrag and some sort of household cleaning product. I am considering knitting a whole passel of them for my mom and throwing her ancient gray dishcloths in the wood-burning stove the next time I'm in Michigan.

Seriously.