december's twinkling happygirl giveaway

Oh, December, with your twinkling white lights and that whole feeling of goodwill towards men, you are just the loveliest month. While the Coppertone days and Margarita nights are just a wistful memory, this month is filled with mugs of hot chocolate (with marshmallows, obviously), snowmen building and present giving that just makes you feel wonderful. And warm. And happy.

Here at The Happygirl, during this very special month of giving, we'd like to spread love, joy and goodwill with our best giveaway yet. We included some of our favorite things like:

• A twinkling glassbaby (our signature gift)  in aqua verde 
• Heavenly chocolates from Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador. . . (Trader Joe's)
• Our favorite Lulu Lemon headband in the brightest pink
• The prettiest polishes from Essie (fingers: adore-a-ball toes: cute as a button, of course.) 
• A very ladylike and cheeky "Let's do Lunch" card holder from Kate Spade 
• Our favorite new before bedtime tea (Wellbeing: Rest) from Tazo
• Jo Malone's heavenly holiday candle in Pine & Eucalyptus that we're burning in our studio right now. See the Jo Malone box? It was decorated especially for The Happygirl by an artist at a Jo Malone event in Nordstrom (Bellevue, WA.)
• An elegant silver laquered tray (which would perch perfectly on an ottoman with appetizers)
• And the following items handmade in our studio:  An aqua satin headband (directions here), Happygirl elastic hair ties (directions here) , our signature aquamarine and 14k gf Happygirl Bubbles necklace and creamy caramel toffee.

One very lucky winner will win this December Happygirl Giveaway! To enter, tell us what your happiest moment has been in 2012. Just comment below by 11:59pm PT on December 31, 2012.

From all of us here in The Happygirl, thank you for being on this Happygirl adventure with us! Do you have suggestions for what you'd like to see us cover on The Happygirl, send us an email at Taylor at the happygirl dot me.

Happy Holidays!

the guide: how to make your business card stand out

It was an accident, really. I was packing my things for the upcoming BlogHer12 Conference on my desk. This included my business cards. At the time I was also working on the elastic hair-ties (instructions here) at my desk when it hit me. What if I wrapped a hair-tie onto my card? I did and it fit so perfectly that I made 400 more to bring to NYC for the BlogHer12 conference.

Were they a hit? Yes! At first people thought it was a ribbon decorating the card but then they saw the elastic hair-tie on my ponytail and on my wrist and they laughed. Throughout the conference it was actually how I was identified. Someone I had given a card to was with someone else who wanted one. When they saw me they would say "That's the Happygirl! Go get a card!" I ended up giving away all of my cards as well as the extra hair ties I carried with me in my bag. By the end of the conference I saw Happygirls everywhere with the hair-tie in ponytails and on wrists as bracelets.

With so many business cards exchanged at a conference, it was a little thing that hopefully made the card stand out. Other options to make your card one that they save: letterpress, a different shape, an unusual material like vinyl or vellum or even scented! I received one last week that smelled like the sea! I kept it! Do you have a memorable card? If so, we'd love to see it!

the august happygirl giveaway

Oh, August. The sunshine, the family time, the late night talks outside by moonlight and fireflies, the way we try to treasure every last drop of lemonade summer. August.

I love August. I love the way the sun feels against my skin on a morning walk by the sea. There is something about the way candlelight  moves in a glassybaby on a hot evening too, almost languidly as if it was just too much trouble for the flame to dance in the heat. August means a canvas Lands' End bag instead of a purse, heavenly coconut, pretty ponytails, s'mores, family game nights with popcorn and a pretty aqua pedicure that chases the waves. It's the way orange blossom smells on your neck after a cool shower.

It's all in here, the August Happygirl Bag. These are some of our favorite things here in The Happygirl Studio and we want to share the sunshine with you.

The August Happygirl Bag includes:

-Lands' End canvas bag (purse size with handles and strap. Style/color combination no longer available.)
-Uncle Woody's Truffle Salt Popcorn from Seattle Popcorn
-Turquoise glassybaby
-Jo Malone Orange Blossom Body Cream (travel size)
-Essie Turquoise & Caicos nail polish
-Tazo Wild Sweet Orange tea sachets
-Butter Baked Goods Toasted Coconut Marshmallows
-24 Elastic hair ties in Happygirl colors (aqua blues) Click here to see how I made them.

To enter, leave a comment here telling us what's been your happiest moment of the summer so far. The giveaway is open through August 31st, so after your dip in the pool and before you fall asleep to the sound of a fan, tell us your thoughts.

And happy August!