You can follow my creative adventures at my personal blog: Vegetablog. Here you can see many more of my personal sewing, scrapbooking, crafting, and gardening projects. 

Final regalia ornaments

In the past almost six years, I have made approximately 100 regalia ornaments for about 63 different schools.  I have had some incredible interactions with some wonderful customers.  I have learned a lot about academic regalia.  I have learned a lot about owning a tiny self-run custom order business.

Including: having a custom-order business is not healthy for me.

And so, as I closed custom orders for the 2016 season, I also made the decision that my Etsy shop will be closed for the foreseeable future (read: forever).  I will be accepting NO MORE custom ornament orders.  I am grateful to all of my customers, past and present, for your support!

Below, you can have a look at the final regalia ornaments that I made for my Etsy shop.

Auburn University

Another for Auburn University

Florida International University

Kennesaw State University - Masters in Nursing

Regent University

Stanford University

University of Louisiana at Layfette

University of Minnesota

University of Cincinnati

University of Rochester

University of South Florida

PhD Ornaments for the 2013 season, part 3

PLEASE SEE THIS POST ABOUT MY SABBATICAL FROM MAKING CUSTOM ORNAMENTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

~~~

During the 2013 holiday season, I made 16 custom regalia ornaments.  I shared the first four HERE, and the next six HERE.  Here are the final six for the season:
Northwestern University:

Northwestern University Masters:

University of Maryland:

University of St. Thomas in Minnesota (Ed.D, I believe)

University of Washington:

Yale University:

PhD Ornaments for the 2013 season, part 2

PLEASE SEE THIS POST ABOUT MY SABBATICAL FROM MAKING CUSTOM ORNAMENTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

~~~

During the 2013 holiday season, I made 16 custom regalia ornaments.  I shared the first four HERE.  I'll be sharing six more in this post:
Fordham University:

Marymount University:

Red Rocks Community College- PA-C / Saint Francis University- Masters:

Texas A&M:

University of Illinois (the second one of this season, and a returning customer!  yay!  thank you!!):

University of Denver:

(Just a note: it actually takes me hours to put these posts together, simple as they are!  It is quite difficult to photograph glass ornaments when you want to focus on what is inside!  Then there's the photo editing and preparing the photo collages for each ornament.)

Shop announcement: PhD ornaments sabbatical

During the month of February 2014, I will be working on making custom ornaments for the people on my waiting list from the December 2013 holiday season.  I will be in contact with them in the order in which they confirmed their interest with me.  After that, I will be taking a sabbatical from making custom ornaments until further notice, and my Etsy shop will be in "vacation mode." 

Thank you for supporting my little shop!

Custom orders CLOSED for the 2013 holiday season

Custom orders are now closed for the holiday season!  I truly appreciate everyone who has purchased a custom graduation ornament this season and supported my little business.

I will be adding posts periodically, sharing images of the ornaments that I made this year.  It has been really cool to see all the different regalia!

If you have further questions, please contact me at QSOgirl at yahoo dot com or through the Etsy conversation system.

PhD Ornaments for the 2013 season, part 1

I've been hard at work fulfilling orders for PhD/graduation ornaments this season!
I thought I'd share the first four that I made, along with a reminder that custom orders CLOSE on December 1, or if I receive 16 orders before that date.  Please see THIS POST for more information. 

Baylor University:


Drew University:


Harvard University:


University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:

I have many more to share in future posts!  Thank you to everyone who has supported my little shop!

More custom ornaments

Throughout the spring, I had the opportunity to make seven custom ornaments (five PhDs, one MD, and one undergraduate).  I haven't shared them on the blog yet, so with the holidays approaching, I thought it was a good time to show them off.
Rutgers PhD:

Southern Illinois University - Carbondale PhD:

University of Connecticut PhD:

Duke MD:

Duke PhD:

Georgetown PhD:

Washington State undergraduate:

As of the time of this post, custom orders for the 2013 holiday season are open!  Check out my shop (and this post) for more information!

Shop announcement: PhD ornaments for the 2013 holiday season

It seems that the Christmas ornament season is upon us!  I have been contacted several times already about ornament orders for this Christmas.  It's exciting!  Since I'm starting to receive requests, I've decided to make a couple of announcements on the blog and in my shop about custom PhD ornaments this fall/winter.

This holiday season (2013), the number of custom PhD ornaments available will be limited to 16.  Ornament orders will be first-come, first served (as in, when your purchase transaction comes through, your ornament will be next on my list to make).  I will make announcements on my blogs/in the shop if this number has been reached.

In order to submit a request and purchase a custom ornament, contact me through my Etsy shop or via email (qsogirl at yahoo dot com)

Ornaments are are $35 plus $6 shipping+handling, and if you're in Maryland, there is sales tax, too, since that's where I am located. (Note: if there are special modifications to the standard design, I reserve the right to adjust the price.)

It generally takes me 1-2 weeks to complete an ornament.  However, if the waiting list begins to grow, that amount of time it will take might increase.  I am always in contact with my customers while I am working on their ornaments, so I will make sure that you are well aware of when you will receive your ornament!

In order to ensure that ornaments are delivered by Christmas, I will close custom orders on December 1 (whether or not I have had 16 ornament orders).  

I look forward to sharing the PhD ornaments I make this season!  Thank you for supporting my shop, Lettered Olive Handmade.

PhD ornament update

It took me a bit longer than I expected to get back to making PhD ornaments, since I had to get different glass balls from what I had before.  But I have sourced a (so far) small supply of new ornaments and have worked out my new “regalia insertion” method to use with them.  So, in short, I have started making ornaments again!

I’m working my way through the waiting list that formed.  If you’ve contacted me since December, don’t worry– I’ve got your name on my list and I’ll be getting in touch in the next several weeks (in the order in which you contacted me).  Once I’ve talked with everyone on the waiting list, I’ll add listings to my shop again.

Thanks so much for supporting Lettered Olive Handmade!

Even more PhD ornaments

The 2012 holiday season was a really busy one for Lettered Olive Handmade!  Here are the rest of the ornaments I made, for an even dozen total:

My second Illinois ornament this season...


There's even an Ed.D. thrown in for good measure (NC State)!


University of Minnesota...


UC Davis...


University of Maryland


Colorado State University...

and another NC State!

Just a reminder... custom orders are now closed for the 2012 holiday season (I'm out of ornaments and shipping boxes!).  I still have a completed ornament listed in my shop, ready to ship by the next business day!  I will be relisting custom requests in my shop in the new year, after I've had a chance to restock my supplies.

I am overwhelmed and honored by the response I've had to my PhD ornaments this season!  Thank you to everyone who has contacted me and ordered ornaments.  It has been an exciting time!!

That being said, I am sorry to announce that at this time, I cannot accept any new custom PhD ornament orders for the 2012 holiday season.  Please contact me if you have further questions.  I am sorry for the inconvenience!

more custom PhD ornaments!

Since I re-opened my shop on Oct 30, I have completed five PhD ornament orders!
Do you recognize the schools?







This Christmas season is shaping up to be a busy one for Lettered Olive Handmade!  Thank you to all the people who have purchased ornaments!  It has been great working with you.  My congratulations to all these new PhDs!