Monday, December 13, 2010

What You'll See at Our House Around the Holidays!

I'm sure all of you are busy busy baking and making!
I still haven't had too much time to do anything gift related quite yet. We've already told the family that we'll be shipping gifts sometime in January. I know this may sound like a bad idea but with hubby's schedule and my carpal tunnel we haven't been able to do what we normally do this time of year! I haven't even baked one cookie yet! Looking back on Christmas' I definitely see a pattern with me. One year I'm "on it" the next year I'm not....over and over like clock work. This year needless to say I'M NOT ON IT this year!
My Etsy shop is as stocked as it's gonna get until the New Year and I have almost all of my existing orders complete so I'm looking forward to later in the week when I can buckle down and get some stuff done!
I'll be making a gingerbread village if my wrist cooperates with me which I'm really looking forward to - all mini houses no big ones this year.
I finally finished my first gumdrop wreath which was so fun to make. A lot of hot glue and 3 cheap $1.00 bags of gumdrops from Wal-Mart and a styrofoam wreath from Michael's! Check it out!
If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't take the time to try and get all of the colors to match up perfectly - a mathematical improbability!  But it's always a learning thing for me - I just wing it! and hope it works out okay!
Another shot of it hanging on the wall in my kitchen
Although zero cookies have been baked I did manage to squeeze in some candy making. Another "first try" or shall we say "Operation Buttermint"! I'm renaming them "pain in the booty buttermints" instead. The recipe was from Land O Lakes and was classified as "EASY" - I beg to differ.....I mean I'm not saying I know a lot about making candy but I think I can at least roll a decent rope of two different colors of dough without too much of a problem. Not even close! The dough was so finicky and very hard to work with. I only made a few like this and then gave up:
Then I started to roll them into tiny little balls like this:
Cute but time consuming!
I was happy when I came up with the idea to make them into garlands like this:
I figure they could double as an edible necklace right?
Oh I almost forgot I did bake something but it was only because I had an excuse. I needed to make a little cake bunting and how can you make one of those and not have a cake to stick it in. I totally cheated and made a boxed red velvet cake and popped some cute wooden mushrooms made by Craftsty on it too:
sliced and ready to munch: 

Well folks that about does it for me! I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with some pin topper pics!
I hope everyone's having a great evening : )
I'm ready to eat a little dinner and watch some tv tonight!
Cheers,
Gigi



Sunday, December 5, 2010

A Continuation From Prior Post....



Hello everyone! I"m sure you all know about this but in case you don't.........
So you could say I'm a little slow on the get go here but I didn't know this website even existed! It's called Craft Cult! You can go to their Home page and then go to "The Vault" and then go to "Search For Member". Type in an Etsy seller's name and it will tell you how many times they've made it to Etsy' Front Page! Well this was a fun thing to find out today! I knew I had made it to Etsy's Home Page once but not 4 more times too! Wow! I'm a bit happier today than I was in yesterday's post : )
Have fun searching some of your favorite shops and of course your own!





Saturday, December 4, 2010

A Vintage Trailer Featuring Campy Cupcakes

                                  
Today I sit at my computer with a wrist guard on protecting me from further carpal tunnel damage : ( Ugh.......I guess when I worked out in the yard hula hoeing weeds when my parents were here for Thanksgiving I must've really given my wrist a run for it's money. I take for granted all I do with my hands and arms for that matter! I told hubby I don't want to be a Debbie Downer about being out of commission but really???? Could it have come at a worse time or what? The holidays are in full swing, cookies need to be baked, gifts need to be made and wrapped.....hmmmm....what else needs to be done? Oh just about a gajillion things! I tend to get a little sarcastic when things aren't going my way!!! Sorry for the rant everyone! But what am I suppose to do with myself if I can't stay busy with my hands? If anyone has an idea for me please let me know! I shouldn't be typing either but it's like I have serious problem relaxing doing nothing - "it's just not my bag ~ baby!"
Okay I'm done now..........
Well at least I got to paint one little plaque before the wrist guard was put on. I'm not sure if many of you know how much I adore vintage trailers but I do! I fantasize about fixing one up and plopping 'er in the back yard and making it like a club house! No Boys Allowed! Ha! Just kidding...well wait a minute maybe I'm not. I guess boys could come in but only if they wipe their feet and wash their hands first! I imagine myself baking cupcakes inside the trailer and decorating every inch of space while listening to Modest Mouse and daydreaming about all the cute things I've conjured up in my head...that would be my ultimate dream come true.
I suppose that is whats so wonderful about painting on a blank piece of wood! You can daydream the entire time and let your imagination run wild with delight. So this is what I came up with: a pink trailer with scallops, a lone owl watching over me, bunches and bunches of Black Eyed Susans spilling from vintage glass vases and let's not forget about the most important part ~ the cupcakes and the treats!!!! Would anyone like to join me there sipping an Arnold Palmer perchance? Wouldn't it be lovely.....lovely......lovely....so says Audrey Hepburn anyway.