Blog - Cotton & Flax

holiday gifts

Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco is this weekend!

Yet another weekend of craft fairs for me! This time it’s one of my favorites: the 4th Annual Renegade Craft Fair San Francisco Holiday Market on December 15 + 16! It will be hosted in the Concourse Exhibition Center (a cozy cabin of a venue, I really love it) from 11am-6pm both days. I’ll have lots of textile home goods available for sale, so if you live in the Bay Area, come by and say hello!

Here’s more from the Renegade SF website:

You’ll find 250+ of today’s very best indie crafters, exciting interactive workshops, music, food, booze + plenty more. Strolling among the carefully curated booths at the SF Holiday Market, you’ll see some of the very best in contemporary handmade crafts. Add to that a free-to-use photobooth and some excellent shopping music, and you’ve found the very best spot to get your holiday shopping done!  It’ll be a festive handmade holiday in San Francisco.

Renegade SF is always one of my favorite shows to participate in. There are so many talented artists and makers in the Bay Area, and I love having an opportunity to talk with so many like-minded people in one weekend. If you’ve never been to Renegade SF, this year looks like it’s going to be the best show yet!

Gift Guide for the Beer Enthusiast

I know I published a strikingly similar gift guide a couple weeks ago, but I recently visited Portland, Oregon (my hometown), and decided to do a Pacific NW version of the perfect gift for anyone who loves a good brew.

1. Rogue Chipotle Ale
2. Cast Iron Bottle Opener from Schoolhouse Electric
3. Wool Felt Coasters from Cotton & Flax

This is the fifth gift guide I’ve posted so far this holiday season! See all my gift guides here!

Grown Up Gift Guide

Can I share a secret? My apartment still doesn’t make me feel like a grown-up. I’m stuck in the post-college phase of home decorating – including a half broken IKEA couch and an assortment of dishes from four different thrift stores. I know I am not the only one out there coveting a more “grown up” home, so I thought I’d put together a gift guide for anyone looking to make their home look a little more put-together.

1. Cushy hand-knit throw blanket (DIY!) from Purl Bee
2. Custom Terrarium from Chaparral Studio
3. Wooden spoons from Schoolhouse Electric
4. Throw pillow from Cotton & Flax
5. Chemex coffee maker from Schoolhouse Electric

Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles is this weekend!

Cotton & Flax at Unique LA

(Pictured above: an only slightly sleep-deprived textile designer [aka, me!] at the helm of the Cotton & Flax booth at Unique LA over the weekend. Photo by Danni of Oh Hello Friend)

Today I am happy to announce that Cotton & Flax will be participating in the 3rd Annual Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market in Los Angeles on December 8 + 9, from 10am-5pm each day at the Los Angeles State Historic Park. I’m so excited to be selling my new line of home goods in person, I love having opportunities to meet my customers and talk shop with other vendors.

If you live in LA, you should definitely stop by! I love doing my holiday shopping at Renegade, there are always lots of talented artists selling their wares. I’ve been participating in Renegade LA since it’s beginnings, and I think it’s just getting better each year. As of right now, the weather looks like it’s going to be great (70’s and sunny!), so you could even take the Metro (the fair is right near the Chinatown stop), and stroll around the park all afternoon.

Snail Mail Saturday – Gift Guide for the Snail Mail Enthusiast


Just another gift guide for your favorite snail mail enthusiast! The set of colored pens from Le Pen (#1) is definitely on my wish list. They come in the best colors, and rank among my all time favorite pens. Had to include a set of Cotton & Flax postcards, of course (#2). Finally, my favorite sheet of USPS stamps from 2012, the Earthscapes series.

Don’t forget: Cotton & Flax will be a vendor all weekend at Unique LA! If you live in Los Angeles, I hope you’ll stop by, and get your holiday shopping started with this celebration of local makers.

Free Patterned Printable Gift Tags

Regular readers know I love to give away freebies when I can (you’ve seen my series of iPhone wallpapers, right?), and for the upcoming holiday season I’m happy to offer my readers these free printable patterned gift tags. I’ve selected six of my favorite patterns from the Cotton & Flax 2012 collection to feature for these tags, I hope that one of your favorites is included, too.

These tags can be printed on a variety of colored papers, although I am partial to brights and natural kraft paper. If you’re feeling extra crafty, you could even use them with some handmade stamped wrapping paper (remember my DIY gift wrap tutorial from earlier this year?)

Click here to download the .pdf file of the gift tags that you can print at home. Downloading should begin as soon as you click the link. I just ask that you please use these tags for personal use only. Thanks!

After printing on the paper or cardstock of your choice, just cut along the edges, use a hole-punch to create a hole near the top, and thread through some ribbon or twine and you’ve got a great set of gift tags for all your holiday gifts. Enjoy!