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‘tiny happy’ was a journal of my handmade life from 2006-2025.

5th birthday giveaway

Friday 1

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Good afternoon. It turns out that I've been blogging for five years this week! I wanted to say thank you to you, sweet readers, for following along and being interested in my work. I've loved writing in this space each day over the past five years. It's been a lot of fun so far. 

As a celebration, I wanted to offer up a little giveaway. I'll send you this embroidered drawstring case, useful for keeping your small projects in order or for keeping anything in, really. I'll also send a mixed set of printed cards and a piece of my 'heidi' fabric (and others, if they've arrived in time.) 

Thanks again for your support and friendship here at tiny happy. It's much appreciated!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post- you can write anything you like but it would be interesting to hear your film recommendations. (I'm hoping to get lots of film-watching in this winter, and maybe you are too?) Last year's blog birthday comment section produced some great music recommendations- you can check them out here if you like.

I'll post to anywhere in the world, and leave this open till Monday morning.

Enjoy your weekend.

Posted in

287 responses to “5th birthday giveaway”

  1. Annika Avatar
    Annika

    Sorry about my triple commenting action. I thought the comment was not showing up until I figured out that there were several pages! Good morning, me!

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  2. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    think my last comment didn’t work {so hope i haven’t commented twice!} happy 5th blog anniversary,
    having small children, my only recent recommendations are for kids films, but they {& i} love watching ‘ponyo’

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  3. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    Happy Anniversary Melissa! Your blog is always beautiful. I have not seen a film in so long but I second Denise’s suggestion of In the Mood for Love and have you seen the Swedish films Harry’s Daughters and Tre Solar? Both really interesting.

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  4. Ellen L. Avatar
    Ellen L.

    Happy Anniversary!
    Our family loves some oldies: Bringing Up Baby, Father Goose, and The African Queen. We have watched them many times.

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  5. Mirabel Avatar
    Mirabel

    Oh my! These recommendations are wonderful. I am jotting them down right this minute.
    I would like to add a delightful/beautiful/slow/amusing/ heartening Japanese film called Cha no Aji, or The Taste of Tea.
    And happy blogversary!

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  6. Sarah Couling Avatar
    Sarah Couling

    Happy Anniversary! 🙂 good for you for keeping it up so long!!! The movie i always love to watch is A Walk In The Clouds. Such a sweet movie. 🙂

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  7. Nicola Avatar
    Nicola

    Congrats on your 5 years, I am heading for mine too. Love your work. Daisies so appropriate for me.
    Films I have enjoyed this year have been the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Red and Kick Ass. The last one was recommended by a work colleague, its a bit strange but I enjoyed it.

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  8. Beth Avatar
    Beth

    i’m looking forward to THOR!

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  9. Chrissie's Ribbons Avatar
    Chrissie’s Ribbons

    Happy Blog Birthday!!! Thank you so much for your beautiful and inspiring blog. I absolutely love your style and have used your tutorials and recipes which have always been a great success. Keep up the fantastic work!

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  10. lucy Avatar
    lucy

    happy 5 years!!!!
    Stranger Than Fiction is my all time favourite film!!!
    x

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  11. Maria Avatar
    Maria

    Happy blog aniversary. I’m embaresed to say the only movie I’ve seen this year (hubbies choice) was Fast and Furious 5. I had no wish to see it but absolutely enjoyed its entertainment value. Keen to see the previous ones now.

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  12. Jannette Avatar
    Jannette

    Happy blogoversary! It’s always a treat to visit..
    We watched ‘A long engagement’ the other day – definitely recommended. Poignant without being sentimental. I thought so, at least..

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  13. cyndi Avatar
    cyndi

    happy birthday, tiny happy!! 🙂

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  14. Barbara Avatar
    Barbara

    Oow Denise-Mood for Love is such a great recommendation it’s so beautiful!
    I like the films Camille Claudel, The story of Adele H.,The Summer Hours, I also would recommend the series Downton Abbey.
    Happy Blog Anniversary to you Melissa, it’s been such a pleasure to follow your blog.

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  15. Imogen Avatar
    Imogen

    Happy Five Year Blogging Anniversary! My favourite films are old ones by Kieslowski – especially The Double Life of Veronique, which I think you might enjoy.

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  16. Ane Avatar
    Ane

    Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain) if you haven`t seen this movie you definetly should!

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  17. Barbara labram Avatar
    Barbara labram

    Mmmmmm, so many good films to talk about, Krzysztof Kieslowski makes sublimes films, sometimes funny, sometimes philosophical but always achingly beautiful, meaning that you emerge from them feeling touched and moved in a deep way. Try The Double Life Of Veronique for starters and then his trilogy and end with his Decalogue. Should keep you busy all winter long. Thanks for the blogging, such an oasis of calm to visit you.

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  18. Binnie Avatar
    Binnie

    Congratulations on your five year anniversary! I recommend Jane Eyre, if you haven’t already seen it. Make sure you’ve got a hanky (perhaps embroidered?).

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  19. Claire Garland Avatar
    Claire Garland

    Happy 5th – here’s to the next 5! and more…

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  20. Cherie Avatar
    Cherie

    Happy 5th birthday! Your blog is always a highlight of my afternoon. We have been doing Classic Movie Sunday for a while now – some favourites have been Casablanca, Singing in the Rain, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, All About Eve and Annie Hall. General favourites are Frida, Little Women (the Gillian Armstrong directed version with Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder), Sylvia, Down With Love (a bit silly but set in the early 60s with Renee Zellwegger and Ewan McGregor, great costumes and design). Last year I loved A Single Man, it was just too visually beautiful. Look forward to seeing some of the others people have recommended!

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  21. domesticali Avatar
    domesticali

    Congrats on the 5 year milestone – and still being a fresh and cheerful read! I don’t see all that many films these days, but I loved The Kings Speech – worth it for the great interiors shots alone!

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  22. Jill Wignall Avatar
    Jill Wignall

    Congratulations Melissa! Saturday Night Sunday Morning is about a couple in 1960s Northern England (I love that film), From Russia with love has colourful set and wardrobe (1960s Bond Film) and I think that you would asthetically really like Gray Gardens (although I have only seen clips and not the whole thing).
    I love the embroidery of the jug and flowers, it’s lovely.

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  23. Sylvia Avatar
    Sylvia

    your blog is a bit of tiny happy for me every time you post.
    film recommendations: haven’t been to the movies for ages, and it’s spring with summer approaching here in germany. but let me see:
    “after the wedding” a danish movie with mads mikkelsen
    and i also still love “paris je t’aime” very much!

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  24. Katheryn Stanford Avatar
    Katheryn Stanford

    Congratultions!! I enjoy your blog so much! The Kings Speech is the most recent movie I’ve seen…it was a very good one too. Thanks!

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  25. roxanne reynolds Avatar
    roxanne reynolds

    oohh! film recommendations! donnie darko, blade runner, the dreamlife of angels,local hero, never let me go, jar city, tout les matins du monde, juno. i could go on and on!

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  26. Julia Avatar
    Julia

    Happy 5th Anniversary. Please keep blogging – it’s one of my daily pleasures to visit each day.
    One of my favorite movies is “Onegin” – it’s visually very beautiful and the music is very good too. I also enjoyed “The Edge of Love” which covers a little of Dylan Thomas’s life – Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller wear some really lovely outfits which is probably the best part of the movie.

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  27. Wendy Avatar
    Wendy

    Bon Anniversaire! Oh dear, this is a difficult question for me as, and I know this is odd, I don’t really enjoy watching films… I can give you a non-recommendation – I saw Inception and didn’t understand it at all. I do quite like Love Actually though!

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  28. Katherine Avatar
    Katherine

    Hooray! I’ve been reading now for I think about 2 years after finding your Etsy… how exciting for you 🙂 Congratulations!
    My all-time favorite movie is the French film Amelie. Have you seen it?? It’s wonderful. A Very Long Engagement is from the same director and is very sweet, as well. I also recommend 500 Days of Summer, Benny & Joon, The Darjeeling Limited, Garden State, the Secret of Roan Innish, Penelope, and Big Fish.

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  29. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    Good morning. Happy Birthday to your wonderful blog. It’s my quiet happy place when my day gets away from me. I enjoy it tremendously. Thank you.
    Movies? I’ve been craving Darjeeling Limited lately and even if you don’t like Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr Fox is a family favorite. Winter’s Bone and The Road are my two dark favorites right now.
    Have a lovely weekend!

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  30. Suzanne Avatar
    Suzanne

    Hi Melissa,
    congrats on your 5th blog birthday
    reading your blog is always so inspiring
    my film recommendation is Stellet Licht by Carlos Reygadas
    Beautiful movie, hope you’ll find it somewhere
    thanks Melissa for this chance to win a giveaway
    Suzanne

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  31. Lynda Atkins Avatar
    Lynda Atkins

    Happy 5th anniversary! Great giveaway and loving getting others suggestions for movies to see, great idea! One of my faves would be The Dinner Game, French version, just love French comedy

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  32. Christina J. Avatar
    Christina J.

    Congratulations on 5 years! I really enjoy reading your blog. My son and I just watched the 2nd Nanny McPhee movie–we’ve enjoyed both of them.

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  33. carol wills Avatar
    carol wills

    Melissa, congratulations on reaching your fifth anniversary of blogging. I enjoy your posts every day, and have often been inspired to make something myself. Better yet, I think I see the world differently since I’ve been following: I notice small flowers and think, O Melissa would embroider a linen drawstring purse with that one!
    Movies: I love British movies: Howard’s End, Tea with Mussolini, Enchanted April, Mrs. Dalloway, The King’s Speech. I’d be glad to hear your recommendations as time goes on.

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  34. Mel Avatar
    Mel

    Amelie is a favourite in our house. I love your blog, your photos always remind me of home …

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  35. Katerina Avatar
    Katerina

    I wish you blog for ever.
    i like everything with DeNiro.
    Katerina from Greece

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  36. MzTallulah Avatar
    MzTallulah

    Happy blog birthday! Five years seems such a long time, but I bet they flew by… I haven’t watched an adult movie in ages (we’re stuck on Mary Poppins and Fantastic Mr. Fox here – not that they’re bad films, mind you, but maybe not the kind of suggestion that you’re looking for), but the first one that sprung to mind is Heavenly Creatures, by Peter Jackson – maybe because of its New Zealand setting?

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  37. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    I just got my drawstring bag and needle case in the mail yesterday…what a wonderful package to come home to! I love them both.
    The best movie I’ve seen recently is Soul Kitchen (German w/ English subtitles)…it’s very very funny and original. I loved it.

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  38. ~Heather Avatar
    ~Heather

    Happy 5th year! It’s always lovely to see your work and read about your creativity from day to day.
    I was pleasantly surprised by ‘The Perfect Getaway’ (if you can suspend your disbelief in a few places) as a good suspense movie it has Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant.
    And I watched the 1st season of ‘The Walking Dead’. I hate too much gore, which usually deletes any zombie material from my viewing, but this has some marvelous character interaction (and not too much gore) and a ‘Lost’ like quality of an unlikely group of people being stranded together and figuring out how to survive together.

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  39. Jane Avatar
    Jane

    Happy 5th blogoversary, Melissa! Gosh, I’m not the one to ask about films – with 3 children under 6, we rarely see any. I did watch ‘The King’s Speech’ on DVD tonight and enjoyed it, though. J x

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  40. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    Thanks for this wonderful giveaway and congrats on your blog. I like French movies with Alain Delon, like la Piscine. Romy Schneider is playing in it. I love her fashion sense and also Jane Birkin. They did a remake but the original French movie is much better. I saw Bill Cunningham who is a photographer leaving in NYC and taking photographs of what people wear on the street. It was describing his day to day life. Refreshing his approach on life. My favorite one is l’Herisson with Josiane Balasko, another French movie. It was based on the book. Touching story.
    My email address is shimmerstolz@hotmail.com
    Have a good day!
    Catherine

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  41. Cindy W Avatar
    Cindy W

    Happy five years! I recommend The Last Station (love films about authors) …

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  42. natalie Avatar
    natalie

    oh, what a sweet giveaway! i love the little packet of cards :)! & as for films- “away we go” really warmed my heart. that, or “forest gump”- always a star in my book!

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  43. guildmaker Avatar
    guildmaker

    happy blog birthday! i love your stitchery antics. i just watched coco before chanel and it was lovely. a little like your blog, actually – nice slow pace, so so pretty and a little chic. you might enjoy it too!

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  44. Maggie Avatar
    Maggie

    Not long ago we watched a great little French new-wave film called “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” which is lovely for all the usual 1960s French new-wave reasons, but also this one is almost entirely done in song. So a French new-wave musical. It sounds campy but it’s actually quite demure at times and just a joy to watch.
    What else…if you’ve never seen Into Great Silence you really ought to, because everyone needs to sit and embrace simplicity from time to time. (Even if one often does so on one’s own!) And in a completely different direction, we recently watched the original “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” — the 1916 silent-film version — which features some of the first footage ever recorded underwater. That film is incredible for all the reasons it’s not meant to be — the actual plot’s intensity point are pretty tame, and we were not scandalized but in fact laughed with delight when we met the “child of nature”. But watching the divers jump into churning water amongst huge rocks without the safety gear such a stunt would these days require was pretty eye-opening. Those guys went through a lot to get a shot.

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  45. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    Congrats! i haven’t seen a film in ages, but I have been thinking about Amelie lately and her mischievous smile.

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  46. Holly C. Avatar
    Holly C.

    Happy birthday to your wonderful blog, Melissa!

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  47. Kristina Avatar
    Kristina

    I can’t wait to see Werner Herzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,” the 3D documentary about the Chauvet cave paintings. Thank you for your beautiful blog!

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  48. hEaThEr Avatar
    hEaThEr

    Congrats! I love your embroidery. Is it possible you could do an alphabet piece? Also, your blog makes me want to move across the world to your side- it looks so beautiful.

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  49. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    happy birthday. i love reading and seeing what your up to every day. i hope you have a great weekend.
    Andrea from Canada

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  50. sherrieg Avatar
    sherrieg

    Happy blogaversary! One of my favourite films that we watched in one of my university film classes (that I need to watch again) is a western, of all things – Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Bob Dylan’s in it (the theme song is by him and one of my favourites of all time), and it’s a great story of friendship and loyalty. I love that your winter is just beginning when our summer is – I hope you have lots of cozy evenings to enjoy!

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