I'm sure lots of folks are putting Christmas trees away this week, but here's a project from Heidi Kenney that I think would be fun to make any time of the year! Head over to her blog for a tutorial on how to make these snow cones yourself.

Sara from Creative Jewish Mom sent us these last-minute ideas for decorating for the holidays. I'm sure you have packs of price tag sticks out in the garage tucked into garage sale boxes for next year, like we do at my house...

Snowflake Garland
Candle Jars
Gift Wrap

Last year's holiday greeting card from Chronicle Books featured a 25-foot long knit scarf, and this year's greeting is equally charming. Watch as snowflakes are made from all kinds of objects, including a rainbow to spools of thread.

It is difficult to write a gift guide for all guys without overgeneralizing them. So allow me to get specific. This is a gift guide for a certain kind of man. He's sweet and he's smart and he loves you. Lish introduced me to him last week. Consider this the guide to perfect gifts for Handmade Ryan Gosling. "Hey girl, I know you worry that when people click on your gift guide they will just look at the photos and skim the words you wrote. But I promise, it's really good."

Ryan always makes sure he can help you out when you are in a jam. If you locked your keys in the house, Ryan wouldn't want you to late to the craft fair planning meeting. He'd have the front door open in a jiffy, thanks to the Beginners Lock-Picking Blend Set you gave him.

Most men wouldn't understand why you need a full length mirror. But not Ryan. He totally gets it, and feels awful that the mirror in his apartment is so awkward. He really wanted the one you found on Pinterest, too. But he was thrilled when you scored one at the thrift store that is just like the mirror from CB2.

Ryan really loves doing craft projects with you, but sometimes he wants to work on projects on his own. When he opened the Gakken Mini Electric Guitar Kit, he couldn't wait to build it. "The sooner it's done, the sooner I can write a song about how you are really great at giving presents," he said.

Ryan has really good taste in music. And he loves listening to his favorite playlists when he heads out on his bike to pick up the thai food you ordered. The earbuds used to get tangled with the strap of his messenger bag, but he doesn't have that problem any more since you got him that awesome Wooden Ear Bud Holder from that amazing woodworker in Georgia.

Ryan is always wearing the Paracord Survival Belt you got him from Etsy. The texture and color are super hip and rugged. And he loves know that if something crazy went down, he'd be able to save your life with 80' of rope.

Ryan is really nice, but if he were too sweet, you would get very bored of him. That's why you are so supportive when he wants to go on a mountain bike ride. And you didn't get him this Garmin Edge 500 GPS because you want to track his every move when he's not near you. You got it for him because like most geeks, he loves data and numbers and coordinates.

It is difficult to write a gift guide for all guys without overgeneralizing them. So allow me to get specific. This is a gift guide for a certain kind of man. He's sweet and he's smart and he loves you. Lish introduced me to him last week. Consider this the guide to perfect gifts for Handmade Ryan Gosling. "Hey girl, I know you worry that when people click on your gift guide they will just look at the photos and skim the words you wrote. But I promise, it's really good."

Ryan always makes sure he can help you out when you are in a jam. If you locked your keys in the house, Ryan wouldn't want you to late to the craft fair planning meeting. He'd have the front door open in a jiffy, thanks to the Beginners Lock-Picking Blend Set you gave him.

Most men wouldn't understand why you need a full length mirror. But not Ryan. He totally gets it, and feels awful that the mirror in his apartment is so awkward. He really wanted the one you found on Pinterest, too. But he was thrilled when you scored one at the thrift store that is just like the mirror from CB2.

Ryan really loves doing craft projects with you, but sometimes he wants to work on projects on his own. When he opened the Gakken Mini Electric Guitar Kit, he couldn't wait to build it. "The sooner it's done, the sooner I can write a song about how you are really great at giving presents," he said.

Ryan has really good taste in music. And he loves listening to his favorite playlists when he heads out on his bike to pick up the thai food you ordered. The earbuds used to get tangled with the strap of his messenger bag, but he doesn't have that problem any more since you got him that awesome Wooden Ear Bud Holder from that amazing woodworker in Georgia.

Ryan is always wearing the Paracord Survival Belt you got him from Etsy. The texture and color are super hip and rugged. And he loves know that if something crazy went down, he'd be able to save your life with 80' of rope.

Ryan is really nice, but if he were too sweet, you would get very bored of him. That's why you are so supportive when he wants to go on a mountain bike ride. And you didn't get him this Garmin Edge 500 GPS because you want to track his every move when he's not near you. You got it for him because like most geeks, he loves data and numbers and coordinates.

It is difficult to write a gift guide for all guys without overgeneralizing them. So allow me to get specific. This is a gift guide for a certain kind of man. He's sweet and he's smart and he loves you. Lish introduced me to him last week. Consider this the guide to perfect gifts for Handmade Ryan Gosling. "Hey girl, I know you worry that when people click on your gift guide they will just look at the photos and skim the words you wrote. But I promise, it's really good."

Ryan always makes sure he can help you out when you are in a jam. If you locked your keys in the house, Ryan wouldn't want you to late to the craft fair planning meeting. He'd have the front door open in a jiffy, thanks to the Beginners Lock-Picking Blend Set you gave him.

Most men wouldn't understand why you need a full length mirror. But not Ryan. He totally gets it, and feels awful that the mirror in his apartment is so awkward. He really wanted the one you found on Pinterest, too. But he was thrilled when you scored one at the thrift store that is just like the mirror from CB2.

Ryan really loves doing craft projects with you, but sometimes he wants to work on projects on his own. When he opened the Gakken Mini Electric Guitar Kit, he couldn't wait to build it. "The sooner it's done, the sooner I can write a song about how you are really great at giving presents," he said.

Ryan has really good taste in music. And he loves listening to his favorite playlists when he heads out on his bike to pick up the thai food you ordered. The earbuds used to get tangled with the strap of his messenger bag, but he doesn't have that problem any more since you got him that awesome Wooden Ear Bud Holder from that amazing woodworker in Georgia.

Ryan is always wearing the Paracord Survival Belt you got him from Etsy. The texture and color are super hip and rugged. And he loves know that if something crazy went down, he'd be able to save your life with 80' of rope.

Ryan is really nice, but if he were too sweet, you would get very bored of him. That's why you are so supportive when he wants to go on a mountain bike ride. And you didn't get him this Garmin Edge 500 GPS because you want to track his every move when he's not near you. You got it for him because like most geeks, he loves data and numbers and coordinates.

Whimseybox is a new monthly craft supply subscription service, created by Alicia DiRago, a Houston-based DIY blogger and instructor. I connected with Alicia shortly after I moved to Houston last year. I finally met her in person at Quilt Market back in October, and was excited to hear about her new venture with Whimseybox. A cute box of surprise craft supplies delivered to my doorstep? Sign me up!

The mission of Whimseybox is to encourage creativity. We know how easy it is to get stuck in a creative rut or get swept up in the pace of life and let months pass without making anything. We are here to encourage you with a monthly package of new products, a project gallery with step-by-step tutorials, a blog full of inspiration and a community of fellow crafters.

When you register for Whimseybox you'll receive 4-5 craft product samples in the mail every month for just $15. We'll select the products based on the things you tell us you like

Whimseybox is brand spankin' new, and still in beta mode (you can request an invite here) but I was lucky enough to get a preview of the December box to share with you. Everything was so beautifully and lovingly packaged that I wanted to document each step of opening it. It was hard not to tear right in! See pictures of everything included in this month's Whimseybox and learn more about how it works after the jump!

The first thing to note about the Whimseybox is the actual box in which everything is packaged. It's a lovely white, sturdy box with a magnetic flap closure and a bracket on the side in which you can slide a label. The box is made to be reused, and is perfect for craft supply storage. Stacks of these in your craft space would be handy and visually pleasing.

When you open the box, you'll see a professionally printed 5X7 art card. December's art was provided by Mae Jane Poulin.

Each month Whimseybox is proud to feature work from a different artist. We hope you'll enjoy and be inspired by these small collectibles.

On the reverse side of the card is a list of the contents in that month's Whimseybox, along with resources for finding more information on each product. There are also links for sharing your projects and ideas and seeing other people's projects and ideas on the Whimseybox web site. The Whimseybox blog posts information about the supplies included each month, and other crafty inspiration.

Alicia has paid great attention to detail in the packaging of the Whimseybox. Opening it is like opening a special gift.

Each month, the Whimseybox will contain samples of new or popular craft supplies. I like the idea of getting to try out different kinds of supplies without having to buy a full-size package of them. This glitter eyelash yarn from Lion Brand isn't something I would have picked up on my own, but I'm excited to have some of it in my stash now so I can play with it.

I'm really excited to try these glitter fabric paints from DecoArt. Again, Alicia has created beautiful packaging and just the right amount of the supplies that is perfect for play and trying new things.

I'd been wondering how the printed cotton sateen fabric from Spoonflower looked and felt, and now I know! Included in this month's box is a 27"X18" screen pattern on organic cotton sateen, as well as a swatch book to get a feel for all the fabric options from Spoonflower.

Finally, there is a 5"X7" laser cut reusable stencil from Americana Stencil. The polka dots are fun and playful, and will be great to use with the fabric glitter paints that came in the Whimseybox.

Aside from the new surprise products each month, Whimseybox's web site will grow resources for projects and community interaction. As I mentioned, Whimseybox is still in beta mode, but you can sign up for an invite over on their web site.

My Midwest partner in crime Chris Gardner asked me to be one of the design bloggers to submit their holiday wish list to Curbly this year and I was more than happy to oblige. Check out my post (hint, family, hint), as well as some of the other great bloggers, like Cambria Bold of Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest and Jaime Derringer of Design Milk.

Enough about me. What are some of the crafty/design-y/DIY-y gifts you guys have on your wish lists this year? If you need any inspiration, don't forget to check out Craft's 2011 Gift Guides.