Why I Love This Gift:

My favourite Christmas pillows are from Ten Thousand Villages, and our tree is decked out with ornaments we have found there in years past. This year I got to test drive a few new ones as a sneak peek before they’re available in-store or online. SO PRETTY! So, why Ten Thousand Villages? Villages is one of our no-fail Christmas shopping destinations for a few reasons:

1. My husband likes shopping there, too (WINNING) & my daughter loves exploring the fun pieces in the store

2. We get to taste and buy coffee and chocolate there (more on this in a Gift Guide post to come!)

3. I always find something special for us as well, to decorate our home for Christmas

Another big reason? We’re doing our best to teach our girl to play fair. It’s not an easy lesson for a little kid to learn, and we’re realizing that it is important for grownups to live it out too. So, that means some intention in our gift giving. Living where we do, it’s easy to not worry about playing fair as a consumer. But, it matters that we know that the person who made the things we enjoy didn’t actually pay the price for our gift-giving. It matters that we value the hands of those who string our Christmas ornaments, or the mamas who hand-sewed our pillows. So, we choose where we shop.

And fortunately, where we shop is pretty cool. Ten Thousand Villages’ product is all fairly traded, and totally giftable.

I’ve got a collection of their snowflake ornaments now – every year there are new ones, and they stay up in my house long past Christmas. This new one is GORGEOUS.

I’m loving the non-breakable felt and paper ornaments, because, if you’ve followed me at all, you know I’ve got a bengal cat as well as a bouncy kiddo. And they are perfect for gifting to teachers, or people you give a gift to every year (help them start a collection too!).

This year, a special find was the “One for you…one for me” bracelets. Perfect gift for a friend who lives far away (and I’ve got some of those.) My daughter already tried to ask for them – she wants one to wear when I’m at work and she’s at school.

Where You Can Buy It:

Visit Ten Thousand Village‘s website, or any of their retail locations, to purchase any of the items featured above! To buy online, click the links below:

1. Mirrored Snowflake Ornament – December 2018 Product – Coming Soon! 
2. Quilled Paper Tree Ornament
3. Polka Dot Ball Ornament
4. Felt Stocking Ornament
5. Stitched Felt Heart Ornament – December 2018 Product – Coming Soon! 
6. Felt Mitten Ornament
7. “One for You…One for Me” Bracelets 

Psst…This week’s giveaway will include one of these gorgeous ornaments for your tree! One lucky winner will be drawn on Friday afternoon to receive a surprise Gift Guide prize. To enter to win, be sure to subscribe to my blog, comment on my Facebook post tagging someone who LOVES decking the halls, and ensure you’ve liked my Facebook page.

~ Ellen

P.S. Did you get the first gift last week? It’s a quick recipe guide to my personal, super-easy, sweet & salty Christmas Recipe Favourites! All of these are on heavy rotation at our house over the holidays, and they’re super easy. Download it for FREE now by subscribing here: