New Etsy Buys and a Little Surprise

When it was time to scope out Valentine's Day gifts for my family, I returned to Etsy's Ivy Lane Designs, where I'd found the wonderful Andy Williams notebook for my sister the Christmas before last. This time I discovered a notebook featuring another campy crooner, this time for my mom.

When I was a kid, my mom played her Michael Bolton tapes in the car so often that "Soul Provider," "How Can We Be Lovers (If We Can't Be Friends)?," "Said I Loved You But I Lied," and "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You?" became the soundtrack of my childhood. (Well, that and Hall and Oates.) She looked a little shocked when she saw Michael's face peering at her from beneath the wrapping paper. (As would anyone.) But I think she was amused.

Here are some of the other goodies I picked up:

I didn't find Uncle Oinker's Gummy Bacon candy on Etsy. A friend of my mom's stumbled upon it at Jack's Country Store and thought it might be a fun gag gift for the bf, because he's such a fan of bacon. I liked the idea so much that I ran with the theme, throwing in the Oscar Mayer notebook pictured above and a card featuring a heart made of -- what else -- bacon. He seemed to get a kick out of it.