Stacy:

I am fortunate enough to live in two places. It is not that uncommon for residents of NYC. We have a hectic-paced city life during the week - and retreat to a second home, either in the mountains upstate or on the ocean, for a weekend or holiday escape.  My weekend home is in the seaside town of East Hampton on Long Island. It is a charming town, first established by English settlers in 1648, that is at once rustic and elegant. Though packed with seasonal visitors during the summer months, it is all the more enjoyable out of season, when the slanting rays of the setting sun light the ocean on the deserted shore. 

I have spent my winter holidays at my East Hampton home for the past 30 years. I usually do my gift shopping in the less-crowded boutiques in town. One of my gift-giving indulgences is to shop at Tiffany or London Jewelers.  Shopping these stores is an amazing experience. I try to keep my gifts to $100 or less, and though challenging, I always manage to find the perfect gifts. The rest of my time is spent enjoying quality time with family, cooking and enjoying the holiday meals. The highlight of my holidays is the annual formal-dress party we throw for friends and family on New Year’s Eve. Seeing everyone in their finery is the perfect way to send off the old year and welcome the new. 

This past year saw a new version of The Great Gatsby on film. This story also takes place on Long Island, its Gold Coast, and the film’s Flapper Era fashions have re-sparked an interest in vintage jewelry. There was a fabulous 1920’s piece that caught my eye in a local shop window, so I asked a frequent collaborator of mine, the talented Long Island-based knitwear and master jewelry designer Andi Javori, to combine her talents to create a necklace and bracelet inspired by this piece. And the happy results of her creativity are these jewelry kits that we are offering to you. I can envision all the women at my New Year’s Eve party wearing either the silver or gold version Andi has created (which will make my holiday shopping much easier this year). Andi and I hope you will appreciate the beauty and elegance of these pieces to dress up your own holiday season for years to come.

Andi:

In my home the holidays are all about putting everything aside, and getting together with the extended family and friends. Fortunately my husband’s and my family both live in New York, so we don’t have to travel far. I truly enjoy inviting everyone to my home, cooking a special dinner, and just enjoying everyone being together.

The holiday for us is not complete without a visit to Manhattan. My children love visiting Rockefeller Center, seeing the holiday window displays, and sampling the rich hot chocolate in Bryant Park. This has become our annual tradition. At the same time my personal self-indulgence is walking through the fashion district and looking for unique materials to knit into my designs.

When Stacy Charles contacted me to collaborate with him on a special project for the holidays, his vision for this new collection was prolific. We spoke about his find of a beautiful piece of vintage jewelry in a shop window. Inspired by the look and glamour of the Gatsby era, the Jacqueline necklaces and bracelets represent the union of Stacy’s well-known fashion sense coupled with my love of design.

What’s more, when completed, these pieces make a special gift for this holiday season. We hope you enjoy the timeless beauty of the Jacqueline knitted necklace and bracelet kits, and that they add sparkle to your holidays and to all of your joyous occasions!

Saremy, the owner and designer behind Chicken Boots and creator of the two largest bags (the Double Double, and a specially created for JBW slightly larger version) we are featuring in our 2013 Holiday Collection shared with us her holiday traditions story below. She and her family try not to travel during the holidays so that they can spend the day in the comfort of their home. We love her traditions, and how cute are her chickens!?!?!

"There is always something special about the time between November and January-whether you celebrate Christmas, another holiday or none. My family is quite small with only me, my husband and our daughter, Cricket, who is 11. We tend to stay at home during Christmas. Occasionally we have ventured to see our families but typically we always try and wake up at home Christmas morning. I do love lights and we usually have big paper star lanterns in all our front windows each season and a live tree in the house decorated only with homemade ornaments. The only other decorations are our stockings-my favorite part- and a gingerbread house or two. We don’t actually let our chickens eat them though!

 Our tradition is to open one gift on Christmas eve (usually nice jammies-which was instigated by mom when I was young because she always wanted us to wake up in something nice that could we could be photographed in while opening our presents). We always put out snacks for reindeer and Santa, track him on the Norad Santa tracker (http://www.noradsanta.org/) and then when we wake up Cricket is allowed to open anything that was set out in the night by Santa including our stockings. We do not actually go to extremes in gift giving and really try and only get what someone wants or has requested. But it is nice to have at least one thing you get to ‘play’ with or figure out the rest of the day. And of course I knit and drink mulled wine-but not usually at the same time.

We eat a splendid meal of local items-the past few years included chickens we raised and even a turkey once. My husband loves to cook! And I LOVE that he cooks! It’s win-win. Our daughter is vegetarian so we always have multiple entrees at each meal. Cricket is also quite passionate about helping houseless or less fortunate people and we will go to great lengths especially during this time of year to help where we can-but it’s a year-round interest for her.

I am excited this year because my parents have moved closer to us! This will be our first year in a very long time that they will be with us on Christmas day- that probably means homemade donuts! Another of my mom’s traditions! It’s a good one. Happy holidays!

Saremy

Beers, brats, badgers and basements? It’s Christmas in Wisconsin! For the last 15 years, Doug and I have spent every other Christmas at Doug’s parents’ house in Middleton, Wisconsin. And for the last 15 years, I’ve had to remember to pack a bundle of rubber bands in my suitcase. You see, after a few days of drinking beer, eating brats, and watching the Badgers play hockey on the basement TV, I have to call upon these rubber bands to help keep my pants up. (Remember the pregnancy trick? Yeah, well, only in this case, my “expanding belly” isn’t the result of a growing baby… it’s the result of blissful gluttony!) Oh – and did I mention that Doug’s mom is famous for her Christmas baking? She makes hundreds (yes hundreds!) of cookies each season. Sigh. I’m drooling (and happily expanding!) already!!

But the cookies and the beers aren’t my favorite part about our trips to Wisconsin. No, my favorite part is simply being there. It’s watching Huck have the time of his life with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It’s walking with Doug past the elementary school that he attended; listening to stories about him and his childhood friends. My favorite part is being able to see – and to feel – just a wee part of Doug’s life when he was a kid. Call me sentimental (yes, I am in fact crying a bit writing this), but being able to sleep and eat in the house where Doug grew up (and being to watch Huck enjoy the same house) is one of the most special things in the world for me! And now it’s a tradition. (As is knitting on the plane to Wisconsin and knitting in the basement while the Badgers play!)