Days like this don’t have to be expensive. I scoured etsy for these easy gift ideas, but you could always bake her these awesome peanut butter brownies or get someone to sing her a funny song about being a mum on fiverr.com. Who said your mum was difficult to buy for?

How soft-looking is this cotton and crochet scarf? $20 US, plus postage.

Gorgeous nautical print, $30 US (unframed), plus postage.

Hand stamped vintage teaspoon, $12US plus postage.

Cream homemade Turkish knitted slippers, $20US + postage.

Paper mache silver and white bowl, $26 + postage, made to order.

Soft fleecy green sweatshirt, a bargain at $40US + postage.

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I love wandering around the markets in whatever city I find myself in these days. And if I can’t, shopping on handmade and artisan website Etsy is the next best thing for me. I love it. Love. Here’s my favourites from today.

I Love My Boots framed print, $30 US.

Custom rings with a secret message inside, $50 US.

Handbag made from old leather jacket, $125US.

Cute polar bear print, $25US.

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I managed to do a fair bit of shopping in 2010 – especially for Christmas – on Etsy. The website is entirely for handmade stuff – literally all kinds of stuff – and every time you look, there’s something new and awesome on there. Here’s where I spent my cash.

I got the man in my life these beer coasters for a stocking filler – the search function meant I could type in “beer” and get a bunch of different options.

Red Bird Ink's awesome beer coasters

Etsy seller Red Bird Ink wrapped them beautifully, and sent them to me in a week – the total cost? $15. Great news.

Then, I decided on some personalised shopping for my favourite little person –  including a Little Digger T shirt by gatetim.

I pretty much thought I was done, but then “accidentally” stumbled over something for myself … a cool tote bag on theboldbanana.  Just $9US plus postage, bargain!

Etsy’s great because most of the shops and sellers care about the environment, their goods are incredibly well priced and you get better-than-best personalised service, including a little email chat with pretty much every single item bought. It feels nice to support people doing this on their own, rather than giving your bucks to the big companies, and the Shop Local function means you can support people closer to home if you choose to.  What’s your fave Etsy or homemade purchase this year?

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Congratulations to Mandy, Laura and Casey, you have each won a set of gorgeous, old fashioned stationery from www.frenchnavy.com.au. Cuteness!

Fun stuff from round the web for your weekend cruising …

Is this singing guy creepy, scary, funny, or somewhere in between?

Want to hear how your fave website sounds if it were a tune? Check out this, ahem, URL organ here. Try typing  www.jogirl.com in – I don’t think the tune is funky enough, do you?!

I’m loving these new book covers found by one of my favourite bloggers from NYC, Joanna Goddard.

Stand up While you Read This! My fave NYTimes article from the last 24 hours.

If you haven’t signed up to my free weekly email you can do that here - next week’s giveaway needs you to be a subscriber to win. And you can follow me on Twitter here (oh, the fun stuff I tweet, you’ll be amazed).

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FrenchNavy card cuteness.

I don’t know about you, but I love beautiful, old fashioned, ‘real’ stationery. It even says so on my bio. (Forget the NYC/midget obsession bit). I used to have to think up excuses to send lovely cards. But now, everyone I know is getting married. No joke. Or popping out a tin lid. Or getting engaged. Or throwing a housewarming. Um, when did we all become so adult?

Anyway, a return to old-fashioned notecards and the like has me tickled pink. I love, love, love the personalised feel of a ‘real’ card … it just seems so much better than writing on somebody’s Facebook wall, doesn’t it?

One of my fave new stationery brands frenchnavy.com.au has a set of beautiful stationery each for three lucky JoGirl readers. Simply go to the FrenchNavy site, and leave a comment on this blog below telling us which design is your favourite*. If you’re one of our three winners, Miss French Navy will post it to you! Personally, I love the Stiletto cards, the cute “XOXO” kisses cards (very Gossip Girl meets Jane Austin, I likey) and the monogrammed “J” notecards. Cute!

*Comp closes 5pm Friday February 26. Australia and New Zealand entries only.

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Yes, it’s true, I love shoes. So everything I say from here on in could be a little biased. Whatever. I am really loving the design your own shoe trend that is slowly infiltrating the Aussie footwear market.

Shoes of Prey’s current range gives more than 3 trillion combinations for your designer shoe … from flats to a classic office-height shoe to the oh-my-God-are-you-kidding-me (um, they’re not) 4.5 inch heel. And after doing a little Fantasy Shopping on the site myself, I liked the fact that their most expensive shoe is $300.

Of course, even if you love them, you can’t leave the store immediately with a pair of self-styled shoes. A quick flit around most of the designer shoe websites in Australia and overseas shows it’ll be a month or so to make and deliver to your door. Does anybody else think this kinda takes the rush out of the purchase, and maybe – just maybe – we’ll start making better shoe retailing decisions? No, I didn’t think so either.

Shoes of Prey are offering all Jogirl readers free worldwide shipping for the month of February.

And if you’re enjoying my posts and would like a few extra ways of making good shoe money, make sure you sign up to the JoGirl free weekly email.

PS Worth a re-watch: the incredible difference FreeSchools World Literacy is making – teaching underprivileged Thai children. I work for this charity and I love what they’re giving kids a chance. Oh, and this is my favourite Youtube video ever. Ever. Doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it. Oh, and this little breakdancer too. And what about this kid? We all know about being nervous in front of the camera, but whoa …

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Ohhhhhh, JoLoves LOVES this giveaway from the stylish but budget conscious Specsavers.

Oh, love them. Almost wish I didn't get laser.

The www.specsavers.com.au site has a spiffy new tool for ‘virtually’ trying on glasses (and it is also very good for those of you who can’t see at all without your glasses. I feel your pain). It is a digital mirror if you like, and a way of trying on hundreds of frames before you set foot anywhere near the shops, or taking a screen grab to send to your more stylish mates for them to give you an instant thumbs up or thumbs down.

This week on JoGirl, one winner scores two pairs of glasses with single vision lenses – up to a total value of $499, depending on the frames you choose. Fun! Oh, and you can order glasses with plano (no prescription) lenses from Specsavers, so you can enter even if you’re not blind as a bat.

To enter, simply visit www.specsavers.com.au, then leave a comment below on my blog in the comments section –  in 25 words or less what you like best about the Specsavers digital mirror.

Remember, only people subscribed to the JoGirl free emails can enter – subscribers, please use the same name + email as your subscription when leaving your comment. Ohhh, and this totally has nothing to do with the comp, but if you are feeling brave and breezy, email me a pic of you with your dream “virtual” glasses from the digital mirror and I’ll put them up on the blog! (I am clearly not brave enough yet. If someone else emails me one, I’ll put mine up too for public scrutiny and comments!! Deep breath. Safety in numbers and all that).

You’ve still got time to sign up to my emails be eligible to enter - comments must be received by 5pm Friday Feb 12 AEDST. Winner notified by email. Open to Aussie and NZ residents only. Good luck!

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Most books about finance and money are boring. The ones I’m going to talk about aren’t. They’re interesting, engaging and most of all, practical. Here are the books I recommend to people who have NEVER read a book about finance, money, or getting rich.

OK, now for all the eye-rollers, let me defend my first two choices. Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a great book if you just aren’t in the mindset to be wealthy and to think about money in a certain way – he essentially re-programs the financially un-savvy to simply think about money in a different way (ie, it works for you and not the other way around). The second book, by Suze Orman, is actually good, and yes, I find Suze Orman scary too! But the cleverness of this book is who she is preaching to this time: fabulous types with no cash (sound familiar …?)

Now, once you start to read books about money, there’s plenty of others around too – about spending less, and budgeting, and there are plenty of Australian books too if that American in-your-face model doesn’t get you motivated. But I would say … just read one or two. Get into the mindset, then you can choose your own adventure.

And I should ask- leave me a comment about this one if you can – does anyone actually HAVE a budget? If so, how did you make it? Loads of people have asked me about online budget sites, but I am still sceptical …

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Ahhh, Etsy, how I love thee.

I just bought these super cute cupcake notelets … just the right amount of writing room, and very cutesy for girlie thankyous. I’m also thinking I should get these mini business cards, or web cards, print ‘em up with the JoGirl logo, and leave them at all the best spots in the city. What do you think? I love these cool Save The Date cards, kinda retro but funky, too, and nicely personalised.

But my favourite thing from around the net right now is this photo series of a snowball fight in Times Square. I can’t stop looking at it, and search it every day or so at the moment. Um, this is so not helping my obsession with New York City at the moment! And while we are on the New York City theme (just for something different), I bought this poster of beautiful brownstones in Brooklyn for James’ Christmas present. Hint much!? I’m hoping I get to go there again soon ….

And I stumbled across this stunning DwellStudio label doing – you guessed it – more gift research for my pregnant friends. These have to be amongst the coolest, non-mumsy nurseries I have ever seen. Two thumbs up from me.

Oh, and I promised – you? myself? somebody, anyway – that I’d do one sensible item in this every time. So this is it. Bitches on a Budget has only a couple of references to American stuff – everything else I love – it is a bit rude, a bit naughty, and for a money book, that is a seriously good title.

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Don’t you love these Borne Naked Handbag liners? They’re the brainchild of the very stylish Amanda George, and these removable handbag liners mean you simply take out the clear, zipped liner, and slip it into your next bag … and don’t forget your lip gloss, keys or anything else essential still lurking in your other handbag! What a great idea.

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