A Gracious Plenty

Thanksgiving Giveaway!

Well, here at A Gracious Plenty our Halloween was a 'hoot,' and we hope yours was, too!  With Halloween now officially behind us, though, we turn our thoughts ahead to Thanksgiving.  And I have a confession to make:  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of them all!  I love the focus on family, friends, and yes, since I'm in a confessional mood, food!  But I especially love reflecting on all of the 'things' in my life (most of which aren't 'things', so to speak) for which I am thankful.

In truth, 2009 has been a challenging year for many of us.  Despite the ups and downs, as the year is winding down I realize I have more blessings than I can count.  First and foremost, I am thankful for good health - mine, my family's, and my friends'.  I am grateful also for the love and support of family and friends.  And most certainly, this gratitude extends to the wonderful customers we have the pleasure of serving through A Gracious Plenty. 

As an expression of my gratitude to all of you, I've planned another giveaway!  To enter this giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post sharing what you are most thankful for this year. One lucky person who shares their blessings with us will receive the beautiful monogrammed crystal serving platter pictured above!  (And we'll even ship it for free, just in time for your holiday entertaining!)

Don't delay - comments will be closed this Friday November 6th at midnight, Eastern Time.  A winning comment will be selected at random, and the author of the comment will be notified over the weekend. (If the winner does not reply via e-mail within 72 hours, a new winner will be selected at random.) Please, leave only one comment with a valid e-mail address where we can contact you if you are selected as the winner.  (Duplicate comments, including multiple comments coming from the same IP address, will be eliminated.)

Our goal is to monogram and deliver a personalized platter to our winner in time to use for Thanksgiving entertaining. So please, without further adieu, share with us your attitude of gratitude!  We look forward to reading your comments and learning what is important and meaningful to you, and we thank you for sharing!

Happy Halloween!!!

 

Wishing you all

a

 Happy Halloween!

Hope it's SPOOKTACULAR!!!

 

Feature Friday: Monogrammed Heritage Biscuit Barrel/ Cookie Jar

This week at A Gracious Plenty we've talked about getting ready for the holidays, with host/hostess gifts for holiday gatherings and custom holiday stamps for holiday gifts and correspondence. For our Feature Friday item I'd like to shine the spotlight on our monogrammed biscuit barrel/cookie jar.  It can be filled with biscuits for people or pets and makes a wonderful gift for anyone looking for stylish storage. 

In fact, it makes a great host/hostess gift - just fill with it homemade cookies (or if you're here in the South, cheese straws or biscuits!) and tie on a ribbon for a great gift presentation.  Now your host/hostess has a delectable treat to enjoy soon after the gathering, and an elegant, displayable storage container for long after!

This 7" crystal cookie jar awaits your innovation.  We personalize it with hand-cut monogramming in your choice of fonts, and we package it in an attractive blue and white gift box. Gift wrapping (dark blue paper with silver ribbon) and a gift card are also available for an additional charge of $5.95.  

This item usually is ready to ship within 5-7 business days from our receipt of your order.  (Please allow a few extra days between Thanksgiving and Christmas.)  Shipping time is additional.  Standard shipping is via UPS Ground, although shipping upgrades to 2nd Day Air or Next Day Delivery are available.

Hostess Gifts for Holiday Parties

I know it's hard to believe, but Halloween is at the end of the week, and it's time to start thinking about the winter holiday season - if you haven't already!  You may have received an invitation to a holiday party or two, and perhaps you have started to think about some options for gifts you can give your hosts and hostesses this year.

When you receive an invitation to a holiday dinner or party, you might find yourself wondering what gift to give the host or hostess. Often, party-goers just don't know what to bring.  Wine is nice and it is the most common gift to bring, but frankly, some generous hosts and lavish events merit a more distinctive gift.  (One giant no-no is fruitcake, unless you know for sure that your host or hostess is a big fan!)  So in today's post I'd like to suggest some terrific, sure-to-be-welcomed gift ideas for that special host/hostess.

A common theme at holiday parties is great food, beautifully served.  Everyone has their own favorite holiday recipes and treats, and my favorites are decadent desserts!  So give your host/hostess an attractive desert platter – we suggest one of our monogrammed crystal platters, which we offer in several shapes and sizes.   You could even bring it with a sampling of chocolate-covered strawberries or some other bite-sized treat for your host/hostess to enjoy later...because you certainly don't want to compete with your host's/hostess' holiday cakes or pies at the event!

Another gift that is sure to please and make a lasting impression is a beautiful monogrammed crystal bowl.  For a festive gift presentation, you could fill the bowl with a creative compilation of colorful holiday ornaments or miniature decorations.

A "Breakfast for Two" gift bag is another personalized idea to give your host/hostess with an assortment of treats they can enjoy in the morning, after a late night of entertaining.  Place all the goodies in a monogrammed tote bag that the host/hostess can use again and again!

Gifts with a personal touch are always appreciated, so you pretty much can't go wrong with anything monogrammed or personalized.  At A Gracious Plenty, we offer over a thousand classic, practical items that can be personalized in a variety of fonts, thread colors, ink colors...so the possibilities truly are endless!  We'd love to help you find a gift that is meaningful and memorable...after all, you do want to be invited back next year, don't you?

 

Personalized Holiday Stamps

 
 

 Now is the time to order your personalized holiday stamps!  A Gracious Plentyhas dozens of holiday stamp designsto choose from, and each of these designs can be customized by you with your own address or phrasing.  You can make a fabulous 'impression' this holiday season by giving gifts bearing your custom stamped message. We carry stamp designs by several  of today's most popular manufacturers, including Three Designing Women, Noteworthy Collections, and PSA Essentials.  We also offer colored ink for our stamps in holiday colors like red and green and many other colors as well.

There are so many ways to use these high-quality, self-inking stamps.  Of course, may folks order them as return address stamps for their Christmas and Hanukkah cards.  But they also are great for creating your own personalized holiday a gift tags and labels!  One of my favorite activities is to decorate plain wrapping paper to create our family's personalized gift paper.  If you have kids, this is a wonderful activity to do with them in preparation for the holidays.  This simple craft will entertain your children and add your family's own special flair to upcoming gift exchanges - and you can do it all with a single personalized stamp.

Don't delay on ordering your personalized holiday stamps, especially if you want to use yours on your holiday cards!   In order to receive them (with Standard Shipping) by the first week of December,  we recommend you place your order no later than November 15^th.  

 

Celebrating Mom

Mother's Day this year is Sunday, May 10th.  Here at A Gracious Plenty we are well into our Mother's Day rush!  So far the most popular item we're receiving orders for is our Double Strand Freshwater Pearl Bracelet with Monogrammed Silver Charm, followed closely by our Love and Wisdom Necklace.

Are you still looking for just the right gift to show your affection and appreciation to your Mom?  Come see what A Gracious Plenty has to offer!  We recommend one of our hand-stamped pure silver pendants, which Mom can wear close to her heart, or one of our beautiful silver bracelets engraved with her name or monogram.  Nearly all of our jewelry is stamped or engraved right here in our Atlanta studio, and every piece is packaged in a complimentary gift box, with gift wrapping available for a small additional charge.

There's still time to order a personalized jewelry piece for your Mom, but our order deadline of Friday, May 1st is quickly approaching, so start shopping now!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day 2009!

It's a beautiful day here in Atlanta, and we must have a touch of Spring Fever! 

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day - and our fabulous weather - we are offering a 17% discount off of all orders placed online at A Gracious Plenty today!  To take advantage of this offer, simply enter LUCKY at checkout, and 17% will be deducted from your total merchandise amount.

This offer will end tonight at midnight, cannot be combined with any other offers or coupons, and is valid for one order only.  But you can include as many items as you like in your order, and the discount is valid for every item on our website.  AND THAT'S NO BLARNEY!

February flew right by!

Just realized that I haven't posted a single update yet this month - and today is my last chance before we say "Hello!" to March!  I know it's the shortest month of the year...but really, where did February go?! 

Once again I am thrilled and humbled by the level of your interest in our products, particularly our personalized jewelry, at A Gracious Plenty.  Our wonderful customers kept us busy this month with a record number of Valentine's Day orders, and we were more than happy to play Cupid's assistant! 

Since Valentine's Day, we've been busily expanding and updating our studio where all of or stamped silver jewelry is made and most of our engraved jewelry is done.  We've got a bit more work to do, a few finishing touches to add here and there, but already we're benefitting from the additional space and improved layout. 

Soon we hope to add new jewelry designs (both stamped silver and engraved silver) to our collections at agraciousplenty.com, so please check back often in the coming weeks.  You might also want to check out our new page on Twitter, or sign up to follow our updates there.  You can find us on Twitter at @agraciousplenty.

As always, we welcome your questions, comments and feedback about our products and service.  Our e-mail is customerservice@agraciousplenty.com, and our toll-free Customer Service number is 1-877-253-3939.

Valentine's Day is Less Than a Month Away!

As you know, our personalized gifts take a little bit of lead time to create and ship.  So I'm just going to gently, quietly, and respectfully remind you that

Valentine's Day

is

right around the corner! 

(Was that subtle enough?)

For delivery by February 14th, our order deadline for jewelry (both hand stamped and engraved sterling silver) is Friday, February 6th. 

All of the other personalized gifts we offer (i.e., those made by our partner companies) will be completed and shipped in the time indicated on each respective product detail page.  Keep in mind that this means some of these will need to be ordered well before February 6th to be delivered by Valentine's Day!

We look forward to helping you 'spread the love'!

 

 

Happy 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

MAY YOU AND YOURS BE BLESSED

WITH

A GRACIOUS PLENTY!