New Year 2009

Happy New Year 2009! New Year’s Day I think maybe the most universal holiday of the entire year and the easiest to celebrate. There are no religious associations to be concerned about, no concern for a change in the date of the day problem to worry about. For me it is the most politically correct holiday we celebrate. Saying Happy New Year is just being nice!

Different celebrations and customs are followed around our nation. New York is famous for the big ball drop in Times Square. In post Katrina New Orleans the New Year has been celebrated with the dropping of a Gumbo pot. This year I understand a change for the event in New Orleans has been made to dropping a Fluer de lis.

What ever and wherever you are, New Year’s is a special time. It is a time for each person to celebrate the survivor of the past year and a time to give thanks for the blessings, opportunities and prosperity we have experienced. The New Year offers a chance to grow and make resolutions to diet, exercise and be healthier, to clean and be more organized, to be wiser, more giving and more thankful. It is a time to celebrate and plan for the year ahead.

The first step in any project is often considered the hardest one to take. I hope you have someone to not only step with you into the New Year but to dance with into the New Year. If not you have 365 days to plan for 2010, make 2009 the best year of your life. For me New Year’s 2000 started with a proposal of marriage at the stroke of mid night that changed my life for the best! You really never know what the New Year has in store of any of us.

Wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR filled with happiness, prosperity, peace, joy and love. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy reading and shopping at www.giftsetc.com in 2009
Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Celebrations

Christmas is just days away! New Year's 2009 is next week. Mardi Gras is February 24, 2009. We look forward to a wonderful time of celebration with our family and friends over the next few days and coming weeks. We also look forward to assisting you with gifts for the upcoming Carnival season. Wishing you joy, peace, happiness and all the best in your Celebrations of the Seasons!

Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Fleur de Lis Glassware & Bar Accessories

www.giftsetc.com offers a collection of Fleur de lis Glassware & Bar Accessories. Many of these pieces have been top sellers on our site for several years. The items are hand decorated in Louisiana with a Louisiana created pewter casting. The items have a very sophisticated style. These pieces are perfect as a gift for a wedding, or as a favor or crew gift for Mardi Gras. The pieces are in various price points fitting most budgets.

The best feature I like about the glass items offered on our site is the fact that the pieces are dishwasher safe. We have tested these pieces. My mother has been using a set of the Fleur de Lis Beverage Glass and the Fleur de Lis Double Old Fashion glasses in her home for everyday use for about six years. These glasses have been used thousands of times and washed in her dishwasher daily. We are often asked, "Do you use the products you sell?" The answer is yes. We often try out pieces before placing them on our site. We want the products we offer to be of quality. These pieces happen to some of our favorite items.

When we process an order for glasses the pieces ship in packaging appropriate for gift giving. Most items are packaged in a white gift box. If you indicate when ordering we are happy to package with ribbon ready for gift giving at the time the order is unpacked at no additional cost.

Keep these in mind for Mardi Gras gifts. Mardi Gras 2009 is on Tuesday, February 24th.

Happy Reading and Shopping with www.giftsetc.com
Sincerely,
Marilynn
http://www.giftsetc.com

Do Not Forget Our Sale Items

Everyone loves a sale, well most people do. I love to sale shop. I want to remind readers to check out our sale items. The pieces offered in this section are all first quality items. Many of the pieces were over runs. These items are available for same day shipping and perfect for holiday gift giving.

One of my favorite pieces in this section is the vase with the yellow rose pattern. I like to name many of the designs or patterns we offer on china items to make it easy to identify when processing orders. This yellow rose pattern is actually named after my dog, Libbie. The pattern really does not look like Libbie but as a childless married woman I found it very appropriate to name a pattern or design after "my child", Libbie. Libbie is a chocolate lab; I think she is as beautiful as this yellow rose pattern.

This vase is really very nice and sure to be perfect for anyone who loves antique reproductions. The vase has nice detailing and a very soft shape. The rose pattern appears to be hand painted; it has rich colors and nice enamel detailing. The piece is decorated in the United States; it is dishwasher safe. We do have a stock of this item so do not be afraid to order today for Christmas.

If you have a question about this item or any product on our web site, please call during normal office hours, Monday - Friday, 9 am to 5 pm central standard time. We are welcomed to leave a voice mail message and we will get back with you.

Happy Reading and Shopping at www.giftsetc.com
Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Crawfish / Lobster Dinnerware

Today I had the pleasure to assist a client with an order over the telephone. The order was placed by a lady who grew up in my home state of Louisiana. She no longer lives in our area but cherishes her connection to Louisiana. She had been searching for additional crawfish dinnerware pieces to add to her collection. She had found our site by searching Google. She ordered a soup tureen with the crawfish/lobster pattern to add to her collection of dinner ware pieces. Most people from Southern Louisiana associate our area with crawfish, or "little Cajun Lobsters". Over the years we have produced thousands of pieces with the crawfish/lobster pattern offered on our site. Often it is only a matter of geography that determines the name by which this pattern is described. Earlier this month I assisted a lady looking for “lobster” dinner plates.

The crawfish dinnerware we offer on our web site has been produced by our company under two line names prior to our www.giftsetc.com site. Pieces produced back in the late 1980's were labeled with our parent's company name of Ceramic Treasures, Inc. This logo often has an alligator with our home town name of New Iberia, Louisiana. In the 1990's we launched our gift line, Faust Heirlooms, offering American decorated porcelain specializing in antique reproductions of tea set pieces. Pieces were produced with the same crawfish art and were labeled with our Faust Heirlooms logo. The Faust Heirlooms logo features a column design.

The crawfish/ lobster art for this design is not an original piece that we designed. The art I understand dates back to the 1970's when the pieces were carried by Dillard's and Goudeux's here in Louisiana and on the Gulf Coast. Many of the original pieces I have been told were produced in various factories in Europe. Some of the older pieces had oyster shells in the design in addition to the crawfish/lobster design. If anyone knows of any additional history about this pattern please let me know.

It is really rewarding as a small business when clients order to add to their collections of items. We are always happy to speak with client in assisting them with product questions, especially when working on adding to collections. Maree and I really love what we do and are so thankful for our orders. We try to take pride in our work and provide attention to detail for when shipping gifts. Please feel free to call our office during normal office hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm central standard time, Monday - Friday. You can leave messages at other times and we will return your call.

Happy reading and shopping at www.giftsetc.com
Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Street Car Ornament

New Orleans is rich in history. There are many landmarks and attractions that when seen you immediately think of New Orleans ,one of which is the New Orleans Street Car. The New Orleans Street car is the oldest continuously operating street car system in the world. It is truly an historic attraction.

www.giftsetc. offers an original and exclusive, Louisiana Made, ornament made of polished pewter to celebrate the New Orleans Streetcar. The Street Car Ornament is a perfect for anyone who loves New Orleans. It makes a perfect gift for the holiday season, as a convention or Mardi Gras favor or as a gift for those attending a special event or wedding in New Orleans.

The art for this original ornament was taken from a pencil drawing I drew in the early 1990s. It shows lots of detail. The ornament can be hung on a tree or displayed year round on a display stand. It is very affordable priced at $4.95 each.

This item is available for same day shipping on orders placed before 2 pm cst.

Happy reading and shopping at www.giftsetc.com
Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Gifts In Time For Christmas

We want to THANK everyone who is ordering gifts for the holiday season from www.giftsetc.com. It is our pleasure to assist you with gift giving. We understand how important having gifts for specific dates are to everyone. We are processing orders daily. Any order placed by Dec 16 Th shipped via standard ground service should be safe for Christmas giving anywhere in the continental United States. Any order placed after the 16th if there is any question of it reaching you we will contact you for possible express service if needed. If any item is not available we will let you know.

We sincerely appreciate you allowing us to supply you with gifts for your holiday needs.

Happy shopping at www.giftsetc.com
Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Fleur de Lis Favors and Gifts

Christmas is rapidly approaching and so is Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras 2009 is February 24th. We have two new Fleur de Lis items I would like to point out that make perfect gifts for this Christmas season or favors for Mardi Gras.

The first one is our new Fleur de Lis Key Ring with Bling. It is very economically priced at $1.95 each. This item as a little bling. It is made of silver poly resin in the shape of the Fleur de Lis. It is enhanced with clear rhinestones and an attached metal chain and key ring.

The second new item I want to point out is our new Fleur de Lis Magnetic Memo Clip. This is a perfect favor or office gift. It can be used to jot down a grocery list or just make note of something important, your guests are sure to use these pretty Memo Collection memo pad favors over and over. Each magnetic memo pad measures 4 ¾" x 3" and features a silver poly resin pad holder clip in a detailed Fleur de Lis shape, enhanced with clear rhinestones and backed with a magnet for easy attachment to the fridge or other metal surface.

These two item coordinates well together. We have used the memo clip in our office on a file cabinet in the processing room and find it very useful with a nice modern style with a little bling. The key ring is a nice size and is comfortable in your pocket.

Happy reading and shopping at www.giftsetc.com
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

What would you serve sugar plums on?

The Sugar Plum Fairy is a character in The Nutcracker and children have been known to dream of sugar plums in literature. But what is and how would you serve sugar plums?

Sugar plums are round or oval candy made of sugar. I checked out several recipes and found out as with any recipe there are lots of variations. One thing I can determine from all of the recipes (some have plums in them others do not) is that sugar plums should be served just like chocolates or truffles. A dish like our Monogrammed Square Tray, or our very affordable Monogrammed Plate (priced under $10.00) would be perfect to serve sugar plums on or give as a gift with sugar plums on it. These two pieces make perfect gifts; they really show how thoughtful you were in selecting their gift. The person receiving it as a gift knows you planned this gift for them since it is monogrammed. The dishes are dishwasher and microwave safe and decorated in the USA.


Happy reading and shopping at www.giftsetc.com
Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com

Don't forget those little dancers...

www.giftsetc.com offers a wonderful collection of items perfect for the little dancer / ballerina in your world this holiday season. These items are perfect for dancers, dance teachers, friends from dance classes are a gift for yourself. Many of these pieces are exclusive to Gifts Etc; they are pieces designed created by Maree.

Maree and I were both blessed to have taken dancing lessons as children. We have very happy memories of ballet lessons from a wonderful lady, "Mrs. Twinkle". I never process an order with a dance theme piece that I do not think of the wonderful times spent in the dance studio.

Don't miss the chance to give one of these wonderful gifts to the dancer in your world this holiday season.

Happy reading, shopping and gift giving even if it is a gift to yourself.

Sincerely,
Marilynn
www.giftsetc.com