angry chicken

happy spring!

Many things have been made this week in preparation for the first day of Spring (our big family event at home) and Easter. This bunny cake is lemon ginger and is a modified version from this month's Everyday Food. Or was it in this month's Martha? I can't remember. I also realized why I liked it so much—it's almost identical to a mailorder recipe from 2 years ago.  I am so predictable. It was served with mixed berry compote and almond whipped cream. Sadie thought the whipped cream tasted funny and the bunny had a broken neck. Also, note to self, before I use these crazy big animal pans, think about what I will serve it on. I had nothing big enough to present this creature, so he was served off the rack. Sort of tacky.

Hot crossed buns made from the challah dough recipe from my new bread book. They were very very good and can't wait to make more from this dough. There wasn't an exact recipe for this in the book, I just used the dough, added cinnamon sugar and and egg wash on top before baking and then made an orange icing.

Only one Easter dress was completed. This was weeks ago, and since then dresses were purchased by various family members, and the girls were more interested in dress up, so this is the only one this year that was sewn by me. As I was about to trim this with lovely ribbons and make it all fancy, the middle child said to leave it plain because it's Cinderella's rag dress. Ah, yes, of course. My tastes once again don't quite live up to her sparkly version of a proper holiday dress. But at least Cinderella can wear it while cleaning. And she does.

I am super excited and flattered that a Bend-the-Rules Sewing Swap has been organized by Clicky the Moose! How cool and fun! The first project is a swap for the Pleated Beauty Handbag, check it out. (sign-ups are closed March 31st)

what our cookies look like

We made some Spring sugar cookies last week. I made these cookies in 3 stages—one day I made the dough, one day we cut out the cookies (with 2 adults I freak out less, but this time it was just me and the 3 girls and it went just fine, somehow.) Then one evening Grammie and I made the icing and let the girls have at it. They got to decorate them completely on their own, no food styling here. These shapes are all bunnies, chicks, flowers, and whatnot, which is awesome, because you can't even tell what they are now. I made a simple icing of melted butter, powdered sugar, and milk until it was sort of drizzle-y dropped from a spoon. I also put out little bowls of sprinkles. I used this great natural food coloring (in the post here) for the icing, which was completely negated by the large quantity of creepy sprinkles that were dumped on each cookie.

A bunny head. Okay, these cookies were so good. They set up hard, well, they do if the icing isn't 1/2" thick, which is what these were. I used the sugar cookie recipe from my new cookie book (although I'll bet the recipe is similar to this one) and as you can see, they look quite different. But, you gotta love that 100% kid baking thing, you know? They were so proud.

primitve dolls wearing shawls

I got these very sweet primitive painted dolls for the house for Spring/Easter. They are from Bayberry Cove, which is a lovely shop, I always fall in love with something when I look there. These are designed by Stacey Mead and I can't find much about her online, but did find this amazing pig, which I might need as well.

I have only made a painted rag doll once, from a Gail Wilson kit, and I totally loved it. It was so fun making a muslin doll, stuffing it, and then painting it. I really would love to make more. (When?) So, I thought about making something similar to these, but time is limited right now and I wanted to get something up before next week—so I had to buy these. They are wearing shawls and little slippers! You understand.

On the  other shelf next to the dolls are these turned wood people and eggs with watercolor added by the girls. I think Pete added the faces, but I wasn't around for this craft project, so I'm not sure. They have quite a few egg shapes at Casey Wood Products, which is where all this stuff came from.

Unrelated, I plan to get some books from the library about handwriting analysis. Just cause. I have always wanted to know more about it. I distinctly remember what all my friends handwriting looked like in middle school, with the note writing and all. . . do middle schoolers still write notes? Or is it all texting now? That would be so sad, I loved looking at handwriting growing up, now, I love it when it looks familiar, you know? Like, when I really know it, and could spot it right away. I need to handwrite out some blog posts, that would be cool.

chocolates and stuff

Here's a small cake. It's orange chocolate. I made 6 of these all baked in white, red, and pink heart shaped ramekins—super cheap from Micheal's. Mariko and I added an easy frosting (about 4 oz melted chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons sour cream) and it was amazing. The cake recipe is from One-Pot Chocolate Desserts, a book I have had for 10 years. I love it. It's very bare bones and basic, great for the girls because they love to hand mix everything.

I didn't get around to buying heart molds. Pete suggested the lollipop molds. . .brilliant! This is a good quality milk chocolate chopped from a huge hunk, melted, and supposedly tempered in the microwave, but I don't think it worked. These are still tasty as all get out, anyway. They get melty fast which makes the sticks even more handy. I am so into melting chocolate into shapes now instead of buying over-priced junk for the holidays. I need to get going on easter. I want to try a bunny, 3-D style.

We had a valentine craft get-together last week with some fun friends. Paul made some pretty cool valentines, I wasn't prepared for such intense parental participation with the craft projects, I'm glad I had enough supplies to go around. Melissa was pretty deft with the heart shaped paper punch.

big love, tiny style.

These are valentines I made for the girls. They are shrinky dinks—some special ink-jet shrinky dink stuff, the opaque white kind. (Second item on this link over at ReadyMade) I was going to include a little magnifying glass. I still need to find that. I also need to make 2 more tiny envelopes. Each will be tucked in a little box, and then hopefully be put in the baby books (that don't exist yet) to save. Actually, I will have to print another set for that, these will disappear in no time. Who am I kidding?

Each of these mini letters have a little bit about each girl and some sweet observations like "You are funny and like to climb trees" and "I hope you take a bath soon" Pete got all misty eyed when he read them. I actually got this mini letter idea from a random shrinky dink pack I had lying around from last year and I thought it was super cool. I burnt the first round of these, by the way. Don't use a convection toaster oven, it's way too hot.

swedish christmas braid

Grammie always made a Swedish Christmas Braid for Christmas morning. I have been making them for our family for about 5 years now, more or less, and they are a favorite holiday tradition of mine. I usually make it on Christmas eve and then leave it out overnight for french toast in the morning, or just with butter and jam. I love the idea of baking it fresh in the morning, but there is no way I can get up that early. I guess I could do the first rise and then braid it and then put it in the fridge overnight. Then I could take it out and do the second rise Christmas morning. That would work. But this requires a bit more brain power than I seem to have during this time of year.

Here it is as french toast yesterday. I froze it. And I have to eat it with jam.

Cardamom, which is the spice in this braid, is a wonderful flavor to me. I like to use it in apple pies, but don't very often because it always disappoints someone. "Why does it taste soapy?" Hmmm. That's the nice version. "Why did you ruin a perfectly good apple pie?" is probably what is really meant. This also happens when I add orange rind to chocolate chip cookies. Which is pure heaven in my book. It's getting to the point now that I splint a batch in half, one with the orange rind, one without because I love the orange rind so much. I like to avoid making gender generalizations, but it's interesting to me that men seem the most offended by orange rind in my cookies. Or baked goods in general. The most upset I ever saw Pete in a restaurant was when his waffles came with orange rind in the batter, which wasn't described in the menu. I think not knowing it was in there is what did it, but still, he was pretty aggro. Grammie says women like citrus flavors way more than men. Grammie is the master of sweeping generalizations, a quality I absolute love about her, and I make my share as well. What's best is that we never remember saying these things, so when people quote us back to ourselves later we always say "Did I say that? I didn't say that. I must have been smoking crack." But, back to citrus. . .  is this true? I love citrus in baked goods and love lemon tarts and all that but the men I know really don't get all excited about a lemon tart. Or orange pound cake. But good ol' chocolate cake? Yup, that goes over big.

The Swedish Christmas Braid recipe I use I posted here on flickr last year for the December Tie One On submission. Oh, don't forget the polka-dot aprons for Tie One On are due February 1st! Perfect theme for Valentine's Day, huh?

fudge & sugarplums

Again. . . . I need to post some pre-holiday stuff here to play catch up before I forget.

Our holiday cards had a fudge recipe on it. An insanely easy fudge which is begging for customization. The recipe I used is from here and then I just added some mix-ins. I suggested adding cayenne (just a pinch) this year and called it "slightly naughty fudge" and it was suburb—but then later I made a batch that was even better (to me, of course, cooking being subjective and all) and I call it Salted Fudge.

I made a batch using the same recipe as above but used 1 part semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 parts milk chocolate chips, added a bit of vanilla, a teaspoon of instant espresso powder, and then on top very lightly sprinkled my fancy finishing salt mixed with a tiny bit of cinnamon and sugar. If you try this, make sure and dust it right away, the fudge sets super fast and then the salt and sugar won't stick on top.

Oh good lord almighty. Really. This finishing salt is crazy because it doesn't even taste like salt. Okay, I could go on here, but for the sake of brevity. . . the salt makes the whole chocolate thing very complex and so amazing. It's one of those "oh, what is in my mouth? It's is so good, perhaps it's not even food, but a bit of chewable heaven" moments. I had several friends and family members experience this as well when eating this stuff.

An all time favorite pre-Christmas photo. Now I have four Sugarplum Fairies. Thank you Hillary, they love them so much and so do I. And look, I even let the girls play with them. I have to. I tried to hide them twice and got totally busted.

Happy 2008!

I thought this photo was fitting for today—a blank slate for the New Year. Or maybe it's just a bit dorky. And hey, I am so glad you guys liked the Holiday Gifts tags! I still yelled random things at people when they were opening gifts, but that's what I do. I can't stop.

Anyway, I put together these chalkboard sets for the girls from Santa and I think they were my favorite homemade gift this year. The chalkboards, erasers (wool felt!) and little rulers I got from Casey Wood Products (thanks again for this amazing resource, Amanda) and it was all insanely cheap. I sewed a little bag to store the chalk, erasers, and rulers in. It closes with a bit of Velcro sewn into the inside. Very pleasing. I tried to get the girls to draw something for this photo, but the fun part is erasing, so leaving a drawing on the boards is not an option. Understandable.

Okay, so 2007. I love making lists and looking back, but my brain is so very soft that what is popping into my head borders on. . . .well, mental. I also realize that all these items are mostly from the last month, which shows my inability to remember anything. I like to call it staying in the moment, but it also could be called early onset of Alzheimer's.

Personal Excitement in 2007 (that sounds naughty!) in no particular order:

-Paper cutting
-successfully making homemade marshmallows (will post this soon)
-having a baby
-getting a new niece
-releasing my book and the awesome booking signing event that you all came out for
-fitting into jeans again (albeit, still 1 size larger than before kids. Ahem.)
-cake in a jar
-all the cool new blogs out there
-going to a movie last week, by myself. I saw Darjeeling Limited, which I really enjoyed.

Super Lame in 2007 (again in no order)

-the demise of Blueprint Magazine
-the demise of MS Kids (yes, that was more than a year ago, but it still upset me this year)
-the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (Horrible that I list such a tragic event in with magazines, but such is my brain.)
-worrying about all the lead/toy recalls. Good god.

Much has been left out. I just got a TON of new music and am so excited to get into it all. So, that should be on this list, but isn't. And I should list books too, but I am not organized enough. Oh well. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's Eve and that your 2008 is crazy phat!

If you got Bend-The-Rules Sewing for Christmas, don't forget to look at the flickr group for amazing photos of completed projects and the awesome discussion section. There are now over 120 topics discussed (and there is a search option) and the book errata is on flickr too. (These have been corrected in the 2nd edition of the book, BTW.)

pretty much all set. sorta.

Okay, well the crafting stars have aligned this week. We got some baking done. These small loaves of cardamom orange coffee cake (from this month's issue of cooking light) are being given out. But, I have to keep that red one. These flippin adorable little ceramic loaf pans are on sale at Kitchen Kaboodle for you Portland folks.

Cookie bags were packed this morning. 5 kinds of cookies this year with some fudge. Some have already been mailed. I still can't believe I got these done. It was pushing it this year. Not the year for baking. It's the babe in arms + hot oven thing. Not so good. Bar cookies would have been a much better idea. But, they are done and they are tasty, so it all worked out.

And here are some small holiday gifties for our wee friends. Each year, for the holidays, I try to make something super fast, very inexpensive, and not totally lame. I love this challenge. I have dyed silk scarfs in the past, and last year I made these crackers (not the eating kind.) The year before we gave out these music wands. This year we have personalized picture hangers. Enclosed are little wooden clothespins with stars glued to them. I used these way cool transfers to spell out each child's name on the star and then added some baking twine as the line.

The girls love hanging up photos around the house, especially of their friends, so I though this would be fun for other kids, too. I included a printed photo of them (sized to look like a small Polaroid) to start the photo collection for each kid. Okay, this was the most fun I have had making a project in a long time. It took about 1/2 hour and rubbing the transfer letters on was so thrilling. It makes me feel like I am 10. The clothespins and stars are at Michaels, along with the twine.

Okay, whew! The list of things I haven't gotten to is long, but I am so over it. I am really looking forward to being on cruise control from now until the holidays and hopefully a bit after that. Grammie and I might try homemade marshmallows next week, and I might (big might) have a little sewing/paper cutting left in me, but I have back up gifts so there will be no pressure. Plan B, that's what I am about. I have a ton to wrap and a few gifts left to make/buy, but other than that we are lookin' good.

Christmas music is on heavy rotation around here and The McKenzie Brother's 12 days of Christmas song still makes me laugh. I love the old timey Christmas songs, but nothing says Christmas to me as much as stuff I heard between 4th-6th grade. Like Band-Aid's, Feed the World. Remember how bad everyone looked in that video!? Wow, Bananarama looked horrible! That was awesome.

it's like a virus

I started with an e-mail containing this link. From eggplant, where many new obsessions start and are shared. Cupcakes in a jar. Huh? I saw the link and didn't really think about it again. . . but then it crept into my brain. Slowly at first. Before I realized it, I knew I had to try and make something baked in a jar. It became an obsession. The potential for gift giving seemed endless. They are perfect. Small, portable, weird, dessert-y and mildly trashy, yet have the ability to be quite cute and elegant. A cupcake in a jar google search didn't turn up much info, but a cake in a jar search was a goldmine. There is a ton of info out there about baking in jars. What a wonderful world it is.
 

These are 1/2 pint jars of pumpkin spice cake (the recipe is from from mailorder last year.) I called eggplant the next day—she had been researching it too and we both had this bug real bad. About 5 calls and several e-mails later I told Grammie and like some sort of crafting angel she busts out with a case of these jars, brand new, she happened to have on hand and gave me 8. Awesome. I filled them in the next 12 hours. If you want to frost them you have to fill them less then I did, which was about 3/4 full. I just pressed the lid on and squished the cake down before they cooled. The result was a tender cake, almost like a pudding, because it steamed a bit. Heavenly.

If you get a jar with straight sides and don't frost it, the cakes will slide out whole. No kidding. Just oil the jars first. I didn't flour mine and they still came out fine, but eating them out of the jar with a little spoon was more fun. The girls totally freaked out, and they don't even eat cake. Well, they do now.

These actually seal when you close them up hot. Some sites say you can keep them, sealed, up to 6 months on a shelf. Of course boil the lids and all that—and no frosting, of course. I am keeping them in the freezer, they can thaw in a day, ready to be given out with holiday fanfare. My mind is racing now. . .cakes on picnics, in the mail (but they are heavy, that shipping would be expensive) and in lunch sacks, or you could keep one in your jacket pocket! And then Mariko and I discussed different jar contents; brownies, pound cakes, gingerbread, oh good lord. I am thinking some sort of pie type thing now, a graham cracker crust layer with fruit on top, or a creme pie. I mean, if I freeze them, I can fill them with whatever, right?

We are both on a crazy cake in a jar train going in different directions. Mariko is going the light cake and frosting route, she dropped off a pint size which was an amazing chocolate cake with an espresso frosting. I am more about the dense cake, without frosting, and exploring packaging potential. We both agree the 1/2 pint size, which is so easy to accidentally overfill, is definitely the way to go for the cute factor.

We both used our normal recipes, watched the baking time, (bake these on a rimmed sheet for easy removal) and then just winged it from there. 1/2 of a cake recipe easily filed 8 1/2 pint jars (about 8 oz) with some left over.

I have calmed down, sort of. But really, there will be more of these. Baking in a jar. . . pure genius.

candy cones (or, burning the midnight oil.)

Last week I was able to get some craft out. It was late at night and I snuck this project in between about 6 different nursing wake-ups. No teeth on this baby yet, but she sure is uncomfortable. It was actually a good thing because it forced me to stop and think about each step before diving in—so these came together painlessly, which wouldn't have been the case otherwise, I can tell.

There are 3 candy/treat cones here, one for each girl. The cone shape is made stable with iron-on interfacing and the retro girl circles are stuck on with heat n' bond. A velvet ribbon and bias tape give it some holiday cheer and vintage buttons cover the bias hanger ends. I plan to give these filled with goodies on winter solstice, although they are very un-solstice-y to me. . . but oh well. My goal was to make something in one evening using what I had on hand and didn't even know what I was making until I was done. And they use 3 types of glue. Wow. I find this creepy and impressive. Actually, turned upside down with just the bias trim they made lovely trees. . . but candy cones they became. They are quite sturdy (with all the glue and fabric) but very light and flexible, so they will last. (She said while trying to figure out how to hide them away after the holidays.)

Specifications:

-The red fabric is from god knows where.
-Cute girl fabric is this one. . . wait. . . okay, this fabric is 3 years old. I know some of you remember this one. It's by Robert Kaufman and called "days gone by" but there are several fabrics in this series, I have a feeling it's not available anymore. My blog categories are shockingly incomplete and lame. Must work on this after the holidays.
-the striped bias trim is vintage
-the wood snowflake tags are from here
-the snowman is from here (I know it's there, but couldn't immediately find it, sorry, I'm a bad blogger. I bought the 4-pack last year.)
-killer red ornament from the Martha Kmart line but I can't find it right now (Okay, this list sucks!)
-glitter bottle brush tree is from somewhere. . . I'm not sure where
-I used light iron-on interfacing to make the cone shape (sewed a seam up the back) and heat n' bond to get the cute girl fabric on, and glue gun (gasp!) for the bias trim and it worked like a charm. I would have sewn it, but the mouth of the cone was too narrow for the machine and the glue worked great. I have made it clear how I feel about iron-on interfacing in my book, but for some projects it's just perfect.

It felt so good to make these. I was craving a non (almost non) sewing project and I love all this cute retro business. After seeing all Sarah's holiday cheer, I was feeling very very passionate about getting some crafty fun into my life that was more of the knick-knack variety.

love shacks

Hey, thanks to you all for the awesome comments on my mommy freak out "I have no time to craft" post. It made feel feel so much better and so not alone. Which is wonderful. So, thank you. A whole lot.

We made these up at Grandma's this week. She went out and got the candy with the girls while the houses were drying and what a perfect selection she brought back! Red hots are the best. We made them using the holiday cinnamon graham crackers and this fabulously disgusting product. (Mine was a bigger size than shown, BTW) There was no way I was going to make royal icing, shove it in a bag, and get it all over myself and someone else's kitchen. Not with one hand. So, this glue (I mean frosting) worked great. Because these are not going to get eaten, I can't recommend it enough. I got my supplies at Target.

Here's the village. Of course it was inspired by this great spread last year in Martha's holiday issue. Ours is a bit more . . . casual. It's more like a shanty town that's been hit by a storm, but I guarantee our parties are way more fun. Oh, and two words here. Serrated knife. I glazed over this detail when I started ours and after swearing and wasting about 4 crackers remembered this important tool for cutting the gable ends. It works like a charm. It takes about an hour for these to set before little hands can press the candies on.

While working on this project I was chasing M&Ms with stick pretzels and was struck by the crazy/delicious combination it made in my mouth. And yet it was familiar . . . and then realized it tasted like this heavenly treat I posted about last year over on Kiddley. Ugh. These are so good but take you on a one way train to Sickville. I'm not sure I can go there again this year. But they sure are fun to make.

 

happy thanksgiving!!

I started early today—gingerbread for breakfast. With whipped cream. Glorious. The recipe is from here, and I split the recipe between 2 8" rounds and froze one. It's perfect and not too sweet. This somehow makes it seem good for me. So, that is what I choose to believe.

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. —Buddha

succuming to the folk

Oh, that Martha. This is all from K-mart (You devil, Hillary.) Gads. I usually only buy after Christmas, 1/2 off, but the folksy splendor was to good this year.

I wanted this tree skirt too, but we have a nice one I made years ago and I decided to stay sane. But if it goes 1/2 off--that sucker is mine. Wait, is this even a tree skirt?? Now I don't even know. Well, I like it, whatever it is. This is what happens when I save images without naming them. It's a placemat. I am awesome!

And, speaking of holiday freak-outs, this site is making me crazy!! Talk about folksy love. I have started a holiday penny rug just to deal with my dreams about the images from this shop.

getting ready

Apple raspberry pie, all ready to be baked Thursday morning. I didn't know you could freeze fruite pies, unbaked, until last summer. . .but you can. This will make Thursday so much easier. Now I just have to wait and make my final decisions on the side dishes (Grammie is doing everything else.)

the season of the witchy

I don't remember why I was researching herbs for kids, but I was, and found this book, A Kid's Herb Book, which I just bought. I love it. It's simple and easy to read because it's meant for kids but is perfect for adults learning about using herbs and plants for the first time. It has an overview of about 15 herbs that are safe and perfect for children. Then it includes recipes (teas, baths, salves, etc.) for each of them. Over the summer, the girls loved gathering basil and thyme for cooking so I thought they would also dig learning about using herbs for medicinal purposes. I need to find a good Portland shop for herbs (any suggestions?) because I didn't grow many of these this summer, so don't have any dried herbs on hand. I think I might get some dried herbs, muslin bags, and beeswax from Mountain Rose Herbs in Eugene if I don't find a good Portland shop. (There must be one.) I love this kind of stuff and love the idea of being able to make my own non-creepy vapor rub for little colds this winter.

In a similar theme, I just got this lovely print from the Tiny Showcase by Katy Horan and it's called The Healers. Perfect! I have loved Katy's work for a bit now and was super excited to see it for sale. (It sold out.) Pete suggested that the bison (?) which looks dead, is a tad creepy and the spooky masked figures might freak out the girls. I suppose he's right, but there's bunnies there too, see? It will probably go in my art pile of "too freaky for the girls" art for a while, anyway. I actually might put a bunch of prints in an album, so we can look at them whenever instead of stashing them away. Hey, that's a good idea! okay, I am going to do that.

Katy's work is so crazy cool and witchy-pagan without being too hippie/acid-ish. Sorry. That was probably the least elegant art description I have ever written--but there you go. It's Friday and I haven't had coffee yet.

more halloween stuff

It's pretty much the same Halloween decor here as last year, but I still have to show it. This garland is from mailorder #4, the one with the earflap hat pattern, and I realized while moving around boxes last night that I have about 20 left. It's a great one, with a pumpkin spike cake recipe card and cool paper projects for Halloween. E-mail me if you would like one (they are $12 which includes shipping)

Okay-thank you! They are gone! I am 99% sure that eveyone who has e-mailed me is getting one, you will be hearing from me shortly. . .

I am getting a new camera-see that weird purple?? My girl M gave me the lovely porcelain faux bois vase lurking back there. I love it so much.

These are new. Halloween Sonny Angel Kewpie dolls to add to my collection, from the eggplant of course. So flippin cute and funny, boy parts and all.

I also am now organized enough (new print run) to sell bonnet patterns wholesale, so if you have a brick and mortar shop or an online shop and want to sell some, please send me an e-mail! Thanks!

spooky stuff

These are the .68 cent cupcakes I mentioned last week. 2 kinds here--a pound cake with marionberry swiss buttercream and an espresso cake with mocha swiss buttercream. Mariko and I did the testing. I'm not a huge frosting fan, a little goes a long way for me, so I knocked off more than half. The marionberry was the winner-just a tiny bit of tart, very lovely. The Halloween sprinkles were added by the baker, which the girls loved, but they still wouldn't eat a bite of these. I plan to order more for a upcoming baby shower and will report further. They are from holiday essence, and it's run out of a house and you have to order in advance. It's old school, and there's something very reassuring to me about patronizing a non-hip bakery. I also ordered a Swedish princess cake for Mariko for a belated b-day, she will have to show photos of that one. They didn't even flinch when I told them to write "you suck" on it. It was perfect.

With all this cake love I should announce that the bend the rules flickr group is well over 1000 photos now, and I did eat way too much cake, coincidently, so thanks for helping me get a sugar headache you all!

Sally. This is who the girls want to be this year for Halloween. I plan to sew some muslin dresses, but I am also trying to be reasonable after my hardcore burnout last week. For instance, I am ordering the cupcakes for the upcoming baby shower, not making them from scratch. And, when grammie and I were out last week, we picked up some 50% off fairy costumes for the girls (complete with wings) to have in my back pocket if I just can't sew costumes this year. I feel sort of sick at the idea of not making the Halloween costumes, and I probably will, but come on, man! Plus, if I actually do, I can save the purchased ones for Christmas, they will be prefect in the dress-up box. I actually have felt a ton of relief knowing I have a back up plan.

Sally is from e-bay and the girls actually get the play with my Nightmare Before Christmas toys, although I sort of have to look away so I don't get all mean and controlling. I started collecting these before I had kids. They love them, good girls!!

autumn!

I was going through old blog photos while setting up our new mac (!!) and found this Halloween display from last year. . .I am getting excited to bust all this stuff out soon. I actually am wearing slippers today. I love it when the weather really turns.

We had our first apple cider of the season yesterday to celebrate the beginning of autumn. The girls were excited, but didn't even sniff at the cider. No marshmallows, you know. Next we are going to make these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with some substitutions, like applesauce instead of most of the oil and less sugar--I will report back. I need to try some woodland crafts like these outstanding ones from Country Living but my velvet ribbon stash is terribly low. I need to remedy this very soon.

In a random search for a decent non-creepy eye makeup remover I found using grapeseed oil works just fine and I picked up a $4 bottle last will last a looooong time. I haven't done a ton of research on this, so if anyone knows if this causes blindness, give me a shout-out.

Easter part deux.

Both cakes fit in the pie carrier basket. It was such a satisfying experience, plopping them in and toting them all cozy to the belated Easter Family event Sunday. It was actually thrilling. I realized I could fit 2 pies or 1 double layer or a cake and a pie, or 2 single layer cakes. So awesome.

I used this recipe for the upside down pineapple cake but added of 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom and a bit of almond extract and it was lovely. The chocolate ganache cake was a shocking success. It's from Ina's Parties book,(the exact recipe is here) and I was doubtful because it looked WAY too easy and it's main ingredient was an entire can of Hersey's syrup. It seemed too weird, so I had to try it. The cake itself was not all that chocolate-y, Hersey's syrup not being the pinnacle of chocolate flavor in my book, but the super easy chocolate ganache on top made it unreal. The whole cake seems so 1980s to me, (it even has gold leaf as a garnish in the book) and it was so gooooooooood, I will definately make it again.

Okay, I know these look a bit messy and perhaps even unappetizing, but it's only because I couldn't stop messing them up as I ate them. Made not by me, but by my aunt, they are a Henniger family tradition, (as is the fiercely competitive Easter egg contest that has been going since 1970 and deserves its own book, I'd say, full of family lore and craziness) never in my life has an Easter come without these deviled eggs garnished with the olive bunnies. The way Grandma (Grammie's mom) did it was with olives with the pits still in them, sliced long-wise, and the ears stuck on some how, but these did the trick and were easier to eat without the pit. I need to document these here because I can't stress enough the importance they have to me.

Grandma was big on garnishing and having fun with food. In an odd ironic, sly, way. Not in a goofy way. Hard to explain really. . .and my family does their best to carry on the tradition. I don't know if we will ever make a rat shaped meatloaf however, I don't know if we are that cool. Perhaps one day. Grandma's holiday was Easter, and we miss her so, it warms my heart that the craziness continues.

And good god, I just read about the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Ugh. my heart goes out to all those families.

getting ready for easter-

Thank you all for the mailorder love! Madly stuffing red envelopes now. . .

And in doing some research for Easter fun, here are some natural easter egg dyeing recipes I found:

-Martha kids (Great Easter crafts)
-Wild Oats
-All Fiber Arts

Has anyone done this before? I'm not a huge direction follower when it comes to dyeing, I usually just wing it. But I would like these to not be all murky brown, or so light you can't even tell we dyed them when they are dry. . .

Oh, and I meant to mention regarding the No Knead Bread I made. I thought it had too much salt. So did Pete and my Mom. I still ate the heck out of it (I think all the jam covered the saltiness a bit, so I didn't notice so much) but when I make it again I will probably reduce the salt by half.

weekend goodies.

The sun was out on Saturday and we spent the whole day was spent basking in it. It was amazing. Luckily, I had made this bag and these clothespin dolls earlier in the week, so I could spend Saturday doing nothing but being outside. We had a 3 & 5 year old b-day party to go to this morning, and these were for the sister. The clothespin dolls were not finished, like these were, but more in a DIY kit form, which Stephanie had mentioned she had done before, which I thought was brilliant. Although Sadie was bummed to not actually make them up all pretty for the young recipient. The amazing ducky canvas is from atelier JADE, unless it was from Superbuzzy, now I don't know which and can't find it on either site. Sorry for the lameness.

Saturday also brought me a box from Bayberry Cove with these weird /cool Easter ornaments I fell in love with for the feather tree. These go under the heading of; I could have probably made them but feel just fine buying them instead. There are some painted wood eggs in back and then these bunny and chick freaky things. I love weird Easter stuff especially when it involves large heads. And the boxes they came in were so cute with the clear lids. . .  a very pleasing package to get.

baking and coloring

Sadie decorated the windows. I realize we need new window screens. This is quite obvious now that I see this photo, please ignore the holes and move on. . .

She also learned how to use the tape dispenser all by herself last week. I loved tape sooooo much when I was little. I didn't know that what I really loved was the idea of laminating everything. I'd just use tape as my personal laminator and would get in trouble (just a little) for wasting it. I actually thought about buying a laminator at Paper Zone last week, but held off. I'm not saying I still won't get one. Most of me is thinking "ick, more plastic." but then the 4 year old in me is all about the shiny badges, membership cards, and plasticy homemade stickers.

Chocolate chip banana bread. I'd give up the recipe but it's from a mailorder (#3 I think) so I can't without violating mailorder code. But it's what we made yesterday and what I am eating right now. But now I'm obsessing over the cake/berry/jam combo. I was going to make cupcakes, like these ones here from Sarah actually, or bake cakes like these here, (I think Alicia is trying to kill me.) but um, I need to get a handle on this pregnancy weight (she said while eating chocolate chip banana bread) and I know I'm eating chocolate tomorrow, so I am trying, trying, to be reasonable.

And speaking of mailorder, if you are stuck on the word scramble from #5, let me know and I can send you a hint. The prize is a Valentine, so you still have time to crack it and get your PDF prize for the big day tomorrow. I think you will find it worthy of your efforts.

what can I say but thank you.

Wow. I am stunned. Your comments have meant so much to me. The personal stories, the well wishes, the empathy, it's all so amazing. Thank you all so much. I can't tell you have much differently I have felt since Monday. I have slept so much better. I don't think I realized, until I wrote about it, just how much I was holding in. So, I thank you so very very much.

Okay, I got out the Kleenex, and I will now compose myself and move on to crafty stuff. Sniff. Sniff.

I have been reluctant to put away this feather tree since Christmas. I made this tree about 5 years ago and it was so hard and took so long, I have decided this year to milk it for all it's worth. So, we made Valentine's Day felt heart ornaments and then will hang eggs on it for Easter. This great fabric on top of the felt is from Superbuzzy.

A few things I have been meaning to link to:

-Sister Diane of Craftypod has this new amazing site listing local Portland classes and events called The DIY Alert. The amount of stuff going on here is mind blowing, as is this site she has set up. I had no idea so much was happening in this town! I need to get out more, obviously.
-Another local link, in Portland this Saturday Feb 3rd only, is the Wurst Gallery Wurstminster Dog Show at the very very new Ace Hotel. I hope to be cool enough and (motivated enough) to get out of the house and go.
-Queenthings has a wonderful new site up for her jewelry. This piece is my favorite. The collection is all very dreamy and the theme is so imaginative. I think everything is sold out now, but please visit anyway, the site is just lovely.

rehash of valentine's day stuff

I was looking for this image and realized my categories are a complete mess. I need to get a search feature on this blog. These are from last year and aren't even listed in the archives because that list only shows so many months at a time (can I change this?) anyhow-I am gearing up for some Valentine's day crafts around here and forgot I need to bust out this garland and hang it. Then start sweeping up glitter again.

and these are from last year too and I think I will do this again, it made normal candy bars so special.

I am feeling behind. I have the mini-swap to get together and. . I guess that's it, but still, for a family with 4 kids, most of whom are boys, so I'm gonna have to do some research. .also, Pete's b-day is coming up and I need to work some magic in 48 hours. hmmm.

Don't forget about the Tie One On theme for Jan/ Feb, the Valentine's Day apron. I need to get on this too. I think it will be a dolly apron this time, and I will use some of that cute fabric for it. oh, the coffee is kicking in now!

happy holidays!

We are super excited for the next few days of parties, a real tea at a fancy hotel, cookie swaps, and general silliness. My mom and brother have some time off and my plan is to not craft, but chill out and have a lot of hot chocolate while they entertain the girls.

These goodies that the girls are holding are super tasty, and I am thrilled to show you how to make them over at the always wonderful Kiddley. Hope you have time to try them out. And thanks so much for all the cheesecake recipes, I will report back. I bought 5 bricks of cream cheese today. (Is that gross? Maybe.)

Okay, we are outie until the New Year. Don't get in trouble, be safe, and relax!

doin' good.

We had a very productive weekend so I think I can relax and enjoy this next week. I got the cookie bags done, Pete bottled his amazing mustard, and then with Sadie's help, we actually made these little gifty crackers for our small friends, which I wasn't sure was actually going to happen. They have chocolate coins and either a stretchy frog or a paratrooper inside. Not too shabby. Pete choose the gifts. I heat Cost Plus.

Here are the bags all ready for the freezer. I think the ginger cookie flavor in there might be leaching into the butter cookies, but what can you do.

Okay, things are good. We dressed up on Saturday night and went to Pete's office holiday party which was so fun. Too much fun, perhaps? I wonder if I need to get out more. I had a really good time. I think I need to get out more.

And wow, kiddley has been rockin my world-there are so many cool ideas over there right now, I can't believe it! I think my project will be up this week, and keeping in the theme of my sugar obsession, it's cooking related.

ornaments, how I love them.

I love family ornaments. Some of these are from family and some from Pete's ornament box. Pete's parents had this wonderful tradition of buying ornaments to hang on their tree for their children (when they were too young to choose) and then the kids would buy their own every year until college (I guess in the teenage years, some were purchased for them as well, you know, cause teens are too cool for that kind of thing.) This ornament was made by my great Aunt Mickey.

Then when Pete and I had our first real tree, right after college, he got all the ornaments from over the years from his parents in a box. They are so special to us and he loves looking at them. It is so cool to have him show the girls his favorites when he was their age. He loved wooden ones that were toys, so his collection is mostly made up of that kind.

This is my favorite of his, certainly chosen by his mother because it's from when he was one. She dated them on the bottom.

I am 99.9% sure this one was his great Aunt Bea's. I am going to start this tradition of getting the girls ornaments every year too-so they have their own box when they get their own tree. It would be fun to make an extra cool box for them too, maybe with photos from Christmas over the years. So far we have been a bit lazy, skipped a few years, and haven't dated a thing. I might have to buy a few at once and do some back-dating, but they won't know, right?

little bits.

The decorations are starting to go up. And look at that Tord. (Wow, blogging friends are so generous, I am spoiled rotten, thank you!) I realized after some monkeying around that these garlands don't really drape, so the shelf seemed the best place for them. The deer is new and I heart her so much. She is flocked and jaunty as heck.

The village is up-almost exactly the same as last year. We also have one less snow globe in the house now. I didn't see what happened, but I found glass and snow and a lot of water in the couch and the 2 year old won't stop talking about it.

I made that white feather tree on the left about 5 years ago. I blocked it out. I actually made it from floral wire, real goose feathers, and floral tape with what could have been the most vague directions I have every read. It took a long time. A really really long time. But if you have ever priced one of these things, the real ones, you'll know why I made it. I don't plan to ever do it again, but I love it, and I usually hang little balls on it but these photo were taken mid-process.

This shelf now has a Tord garland too. The snowmen are from here, they come in a 4-pack. With these new items, I'm done buying holiday decorations this year. (Except the sales after Christmas, can't help that.) And we hope to get the tree this weekend. Seems so early this year, it's not even December 1st yet, but that early snow fall got me all excited. And the banner has a new holiday look too, refresh if you can't see the snow.

behind the curve? I think so.

I'm seeing some trees out in blog land and some holiday decorations up already. We are still looking at Lester the turkey and not a single Christmas decoration is up except these pillows, which I made a bit back. I don't feel behind, it's not even December first yet, but we need to get our tree this weekend, obviously. It snowed a bit here today, so I am in the mood. I'm always in the mood to get a tree, anyway. I am bummed because for 4 years we have been getting our tree down the street in a urban lot from some guys who I was secretly hoping were actually the Doobie Brothers. They were sure in a good mood every year. But there are gone this year-we are so sad. So, we need to come up with a plan B.

The holiday pillows are from this lovely fabric (sold out, but here's the info anyway) which I think will be just fine through march because they don't scream holidays. I saw the eggplant yesterday and got my super cool extra awesome superbuzzy order (love the walk-in shipping option) and she and her lovely friends and I had crepes at this great place on Alberta, so very good I can't stop thinking about them. I had the raspberry/nutella with lime juice on top. Yum, and yum. That Mariko is such a good time, but a bad influence. I'm not sure how, she just is. She's the type that makes you want to spend money and eat all the time. in the best way.

happy eatin' day!

Tomorrow is the day. Grammie's is where we are headed, with 2 pies in tow, a chocolate silk (her request) and a Thanksgiving pie, which is an apple and fresh cranberry filling in a single crust with a crumb topping. Both of these I have never tried before. I was assigned the Real Simple Chocolate Silk pie (link broken, but it is there on the Real Simple site), but after looking at the recipe, I skipped it. I have no problem eating high calorie foods, trust me, but at over 800 calories a slice, 6 eggs, and a pack of purchased shortbread cookies in the crust. . .hello? That's just dumb. So I found a classic 3 egg homemade pudding version with a normal crust that will work just fine. And I am still covering the top with whipped cream, of course.

I have been surfing way too much. There is a great art gift guide over at port2port and for random news items, I can't get enough of digg this week, courtesy of my husband. This is a cool news-feed type site slanted towards tech stuff, and has some really great articles and links. For instance, who knew megapixels don't matter (how can this be?) or that flickr has a Camera Finder? As someone who always feel like the last to know, I love these kind of sites. Also, it gives me something to talk to other adults about 'cause I usually just talk about poop, snot, and play dough.

sale tomorrow-

Thanks so much for all the Tord help. I think I am good to go, a few generous souls are sending me garlands to help counteract the train/fiber optic situation. . .thank you, really.

Tomorrow at 12:00 (noon pacific time) I will be selling the holiday ornaments and small quilt notecards. Now the ornaments will be sort of a pain, sorry, but I only have made ten sets, so you will have to e-mail me at 12:00 and it will be a first-come first-served type thing. I am apologizing in advance for this and whatever confusion is sure to ensue. The cards however, will have a handy paypal button. I will also have this free download up of a gingerbread guy and a poinsettia thingy to make a holiday garland. All over at kingpod tomorrow. . .

no Tord for us.

I knew we were too late for Tord. So, I held off going to Target, why drive myself crazy? But last week we got the urge. The long evening was ahead of us with girls bouncing off the walls, so we bundled up in the rain and went out to the nearest Target, which is pretty far out, really, so I still had some hope.

Well, the dishes were there and the candelabra, but no garlands, which is what I had hoped for. They don't even have them online. But you know, I am totally okay with all of it. I got some wrapping paper and some tins of smores and peppermint Oreos (warning, the packaging is way better than the taste) and I thought, "Well good, we didn't spend money on stuff we don't need. .blah, blah." If they had the Tord I wanted, I would have gotten all hordey and weird and stressed about how much to buy, etc.

So, I figure we were all good to go and I round the corner to see Pete stuffing a god awful moving train figurine into our cart. The kind that lights up with fiber optics and goes around. Seriously. There is not one cute/kitsch thing about this, um, decoration. It's just bad on every level. "What are you doing?" He freezes. I think if he thought he could fit it in, I wouldn't really notice. He quickly explains that the girls loved seeing it last year (they did) and that they sold out so fast and. . . . .so we got it. It's so flippin ugly, I can't believe it. The girls stare at it mesmerized and the fiber optics are so over the top. I thought we'd put it in th play room downstairs, but no, it's right in the living room on top of the modern Danish sideboard that would have been so perfect for Tord-type holiday decor. Oh the aesthetic pain here is very real, but somehow, in a fabulous way, it seems perfect. And I love Pete for wanting it for them so badly. And, the music turns off, which is a good thing.

Lester the turkey.

Thanksgiving is a hard one fro me to decorate for. I always run out of time. I wanted to make an acorn garland, but I don't think it will happen. I always have notion of a woodland animal/pinecone/forest type thing, but I seem to lose steam. Lester came to us recently and is proudly on display. The little sheep are meant for Christmas, but they were found by the girls so they came out early and they have to go right there, on the very edge, and you can't move them, ever. Lester is a bit fancy with a very small amount of glitter is on him, which I think he finds embarrassing, actually.

And my minimal display. It'd pretty much empty, I realize. This shelf has such potential but is perilously close to the sofa "jumping zone". In all this rain the girls need to run and jump and they do this on the couch. Feet are supposed to stay down, but when Sadie is flying, she says, they need to go up, and then the shelf gets in the way sometimes. . .

This is a vintage postcard I just printed super big and mounted on board. I love the turkey images on these old cards, and have always thought the whole turkey thing was sad and funny because, you know, that kid is going to eat him.

that dog was scary.

We had a lovely time trick-or-treating at Grammie's. It was cold and clear and there was only one dog that spooked the girls, a sweet but lively golden retriever about 10 times bigger than Delia, who for the rest of the night, wouldn't stop talking about. Sadie was bummed papa wasn't wearing his wig which she has grown quite attached too, unlike her mama. Lord help me.

I discovered the Take 5 candy bar tonight. What? pretzels and chocolate? What are they trying to do to me? Almost as tasty as the chocolate dipped mini pretzels from Trader Joe's that are crazy good straight from the freezer. I haven't indulged in that badness in awhile and the Take 5 brought it all back.

The Halloween aprons will be up soon-as will the new theme! And I think this new theme will be perfect for the busy holiday because it requires very little work and yet there is such a big reward. Excellent.

can't wait to get sick. (candy)

It's foggy here and all spooky, perfect for dressing up. We are going to go to a party this weekend, without the kids, which is so very exciting and needs to happen more often. I am going as a Spanish folk dancer and Pete as Magnum PI. Obviously they are unrelated (unless this comes up in a fantastic episode I don't know about, it could happen!) I really don't need to see my husband in shorts that are as short as Magnum's are, nor am I huge fan of fake mustaches, but what can I do. I think all I need is a flower for my hair and big earrings, the rest I have covered.

And don't forget to make a Halloween apron for Tie One On this weekend, the perfect costume accessory! And speaking of aprons, I got a nice mention and link in the Washington Post yesterday about the resurgence of aprons, very cool and thank you!

Okay, biscuits. They have been on my mind lately (and in my tummy) and along with Halloween candy,I feel a bit sick. The biscuits I am speaking of are in the new Everyday Food #37. You make 16 and freeze them, then bake them as needed, yum. That's just plain yummy in my mouth is what that is. I recommend skipping the herbs so you can eat them with butter and jam.

This crazy pumpkin man who is yelling about who knows what is from this great vintage postcard book. Perfect old-timey weird! They have some really cool books on their site.

mini cuckoo and fabric

I was all ready to post this lovely mini cuckoo this morning (we got this over the summer at the sweetest little toy shop in Canon beach) when I saw a similar find over at little birds handmade today! I need to thrift with Mia more, I assure you mine did not cost $5, but it makes makes me happy as a clam nonetheless. . .it's for the girls (um, yeah, right)  but I still have it tucked away. Maybe it will come out next month.

Also making me happy as a clam is this amazing holiday fabric from Cia's that will be pillows for the sofa very soon. I can't make them before Halloween however, that just seems wrong, right?

I can't believe it's 9 weeks away!

I usually don't start Christmas stuff until after Halloween, but the bug got in me early this year. Mostly because I need to get holiday ornaments, cards, and framed small quilts to Art Star in early November, so that has forced me to face the jingle bell music early. These are little mini framed art ornaments under glass. They are 2" x 2" and the 3 are $32 (includes shipping and a lovely gift box)  I love these fellows, but I know I will freak out if I have to make too many, so maybe just 10 sets? I am wishy-washy today.

And small quilt fold-over note cards. These aren't really specific to the holiday season, but the red and white make them seem appropriate if you were so inclined. . .I will be making notecards of the other two quilts in this series as well, but that requires some organization I am lacking at the moment, so they will come later.

Okay, now I actually need to make/pack/assemble the stuff. I am shooting for end of October/early November sale for these and will send out an e-mail to the maillist when I can get my act together. I have to wallow in Halloween first. Twix, I hear you calling. . .

new on the wanty list. . .

 

I have been spending some time looking at these cuckoos (they are all from this site) and I love them. Some are so stern and intense. I can see why they used to scare me when I was little. My aunt had one and I loved it-and it freaked me out a ton. I would wait for the birdy to come out and then when it did, I just wanted it to go away.

Here's a chalet style. I told Pete we needed one. He said they were too creepy. But I love them and he agrees they are way cool (yet creepy.) I don't think I could wind it. Our house is so quiet. We are quiet, the girls are quiet--the cuckoo bird would give us all a heart-attack. But how can we get one and not use it? I am so into the hard core folk art mixed with the modern furniture . . .this is one of those things we will talk about and not get. At least for a long time. Too much $$$. And for cuckoo clock? But the ridiculousness of this makes it even more pleasing to me.

Oh!! I just had an idea! I should make one! Out of flat paper and then just put it on the wall! HA! Like if I could find a really good photo, then blow it up,  and color copy it, even paste on pieces for a shallow layered effect. . .then cut it out so it looks real. . . . Oh, I need to get working on this. . .maybe even frame it, so it becomes a not-clock. Like a clock piece of art, not a clock at all. . .hmmm

 

And I am also diggin' these with the scenes. . ..

And I do think we need to get a candle pyramid at some point. We had one growing up (mom, where is this?) These are from a great site, the Wooden Wagon, which has toys and all kind of German folk art. I love them.

Pete says this one looks too oak-y, I am on the fence. I really like the votive candles on this as opposed to the tapers. Oh, the details. . .

 

slowly returning to a kind of normal

My relationship with my back is really spotty. I always take it for granted and I always am shocked when it goes haywire. But no one in my family and none of my friends are ever shocked. My first back episode was my senior year in high school (there is a long line of back issues with almost everyone in my mom's family) and I was so scared. It was exhaustion and stress applying for colleges + a dash of bad lifting form, or a sneeze, or whatever, and it went out.

Same thing in college. During the end of each term it would go out and I was always so surprised--like, really shocked. I think it's because I never wanted to be someone with back issues. I was a jock my whole life, always running around doing sports and injuries were normal. I have a horrible left ankle and a chipped kneecap and have been on crutches more times than I can count, but back pain, that is so scary. Like lifelong and horrible, so I just don't think about it.

My back and I went around again when I had the girls. My 9th month with Sadie I could barely move my back was so bad and then, not surprisingly, had a horrendous back labor. It took 9 months after that to get it back to a sort of normal and to learn what I can and can't do-like nursing in bed on my side- and wearing the sling in a bad way. Then I had Delia, and had back labor again (the midwife had warned my of this) I made it through okay and I didn't know any different. The recovery was faster and I was more careful, but I know, and can feel, that my back will never be the same after the births.

Then I started this blog and the stretching/pilates/yoga got less and less frequent. Sometimes I only have an hour a day to craft (often, actually) and I don't want to spend that time in a stretch, you know? Then add lack of sleep, a b-day party, work deadlines, and life, and I guess a hot shower and a bad sneeze? (Apparently a hot shower/bath is the worst for acute back pain, it should be ice-ice, baby.)

So, I need to work on this. I am on day 7 now of pretty bad pain. I am on the mend, and I am seeing specialists, making appointments, and doing what I can. Pete used up some vacation days to stay at home and help and that kills me. Kills. Family time is so precious, to have to use it this way makes me crazy. I need to balance this out. Maybe a little less art and craft time and a little more body awareness? And breath. And walks. And trying to figure out how to stretch with the girls not jumping on me. It can be done, I just need to try it. I hate having my creative time bitten into, but I know I am a body and a brain and need to take care of both. And thank God everyday I am in a little less pain. . .

And, we (Pete) decorated for Halloween. . .

sadie is 4 and we are beat tired.

The weather was amazing for Miss 4 year-old's little party. The ice cream sundae bar was a big hit, specially with the grown-ups. Much thought was given to the combos, like if you start with mint ice cream, it really limits your topping options. Kinda like "choose you own adventure" in dessert form. I loved those books.

Sadie started opening gifts on her own and then later hid with both the Woodkins and the paper doll book. I was able to coax her out with the cake lit up, but just barely. This great photo was taken by her grandmother. . .my brother got some loot this weekend too, it being his b-day as well, and he had his share of ice cream, I think he had the brownie on his.

Okay, we are all petty exhausted around here. The girls woke up with full on colds today. Lots of tears in the last 24 hours, toy sharing issues, my back going out (actually, it went out last Thursday, and has been slow to heal), icky diapers (worse than normal, anyway) emergency Kleenex run to the store and a missed trampoline class this morning because of it all. I hope to rest-rest-rest and hopefully that will rub off on the girls, that's the plan anyway.

I did get The Tie One On gallery up, along with the new theme posted. We have some pressing issues now. Like making Sadie's new dolly (the BIG gift) Kirsten, a nightgown. And maybe some soup tonight and an early bedtime for everyone.

spooky Tie One On

Thank you all for the Mailorder Love! I am thrilled to have so many new members. I will leave the buy button up through the day and then off to the printers! Woo-hoo!

The pinafore for this month's Tie One On theme is done. I had been kvetching about the idea of making pinafores for Sadie and Delia's witch Halloween costumes (I must multi-task with these craft projects, especially with both their birthdays coming up in the next 7 weeks.) but how could I make witch dresses without sleeves? Will they look witchy enough?

I imagined big bell sleeves, you know, that kind of thing, and Pete suggested  a capelet. My God! A Capelet!! Perfect! Who is this man!? I have to tell you, he didn't use the word caplet, but cape, and although it my seem a bit dandy, I should mention here this is the same guy who has made me put Magnum P.I. in our Netflix queue (and he does have a few Hawaiian shirts, but would never wear them with shorts.)

So here is the capelet, which completes the witch outfit. Now Sadie can wear it all over normal clothes (hopefully with the perfect stripy tights) and be all warm, snug, and comfortable when we go trick-or-treating. I really try to make costumes that will not be too small for dress up later. Mom always made mine and I wore them for years. Seriously. Like one costume, a bumble bee, I wore for more than 4 years. I loved that get-up. I probably still have it somewhere.

So, now I just need to make Delia's caplet and pinafore and the hats for both, none of which will happen before the 15th, but I have a good start anyway. I used my new machine's fancy stitch to attach that green ribbon, giving this whole witchy-poo costume a slightly folksy look.

I have noticed that my sewing projects this year for Sadie are running a tad short. I think I am in denial about how much she has grown and how tall she really is. Sigh. The Big girl is turning 4 next weekend and I really really can't believe it.

papa day!!

We did father's day gifts this morning because we will be celebrating father's day tomorrow with pete's wonderful dad (cinnamon rolls will be attending) and the girls and I made this card and framed photo thingy yesterday. I am so happy you can get cheap cool frames ($5!!) with mats now. So happy, it saved us, cause we had nothing yesterday morning. Just a little photography, a printer, and there you go! The art on the cards was the girls contribution as well as the stamping. .and in a fit of complete unoriginality we got pete an electric razor, which is almost as funny as getting him a tie or golf tees, which is even funnier if you knew him-but he's using it now and it's pretty deluxe, it cleans itself! we all watched it this morning (yeah, not much going on around here), so there you go.

The ice cream cake was not as successful in my eyes. I was hoping for one more like this, but it's okay. We started eating it 2 nights ago because it was too huge and was freaking me out. It suffered from sever structural flaws which made the act of frosting it a bit hysterical and caused some shirking. And I would not use buttercream frosting again to frost, just whipped cream I think. It actually looks fine here, but the actual cake is really horrible looking and weights no less then 12lbs it sort of looks already eaten, so I am sparing you the photo. Of course, Pete loves it.

We are off to our little neighborhood farmer's market looking for raspberries cause that raspberry buckle in the new everyday food I got last night has my name all over it.

Happy father's day to all you papas and thanks for helping us mamas be all crafty!

good lord, thank you!

ah man! thank so much for all the swell birthday wishes. It was so wonderful to read all the comments. It was really rainy here yesterday and I was in all day with a big goofy grin on my face reading what you all wrote. thank you. and so good to hear of the mutual LesportSac appreciation. And they still come with matching zip pouches! so I don't need another. The matching pouch was a big deal for me when I was little and obviously still is. So happy they didn't ditch that fabulous detail. This lovely card from Pete is by Johnathan Alder and I love it. Letterpress and all mod and folksy.

And this amazing card is from grammie-a quilt from the 1900's. The two color quilts always look so incredible to me.

And the most comfortable shoes ever. And I got sick not on cake, but on Lebanese takeout and way too much baklava. There is a special kind of sickness that comes with too much baklava and I am hurting. Must rest. Really, again thanks to all of you that indulged in anything yesterday, I felt your love and I have a slew of e-mails to write, please forgive my slowness. You all are awesome.

my happy day!

I am 34 today.

That sounds old, but then again, not so old, you know? That's mom and me at the beach. I obsess over old photos of her. It's funny, I think about my mom so much more on my birthday now that I have kids because she is the one that gave birth on this day. Yes, I was born, but I don't remember a thing. Really, aren't birthdays a much bigger deal for the moms? I remember the parties, mind you. The snoopy theme being a favorite of mine.

Back to being 34. A few things are different this year. Little things. A few more grey hairs. . and I wonder about things. . for instance, if I am ever going to be too old to wear barrettes? I think my own personal answer is no, but if I am wrong, just don't tell me. When the bliss catalog comes now (why do I get this?) I find the "corrective" products very very interesting. I never used to ever look at these and now I do.Who knew my upper lip needed so much attention and so many products could help me? I have been in the dark about this. Literally. Our house has the worst lighting. I know because I pluck my eyebrows way less now than I used to because inside the house they look just fine. Then when I do look in the mirror in the car. . . yikes. I know there are more important things than looks and I certainly could write about all my inner growth this year, yadda-yadda but really, I wonder who would want to read that stuff? And I just have not been in a very deep mood lately and honestly, it's been wonderful. And I feel pretty much the same inside year after year, so my birthday benchmarks are more on the shallow end of things I'm afraid. . .speaking of shallow, I am thrilled with my b-day presents-

The best bag from grammie (LeSportsac that I ordered for myself and had it sent gift wrapped. We are all very busy and damnit, I knew exactly which one I wanted!) The best gift for me is something I feel so guilty about not making myself, so this is the best indulgence. This is my new summer bag, complete with small illustrations of sassy snails on it. This might be right there with the barrettes. Am I too old for a bag that most certainly looks like it should be my daughter's? And more importantly, will she fight me for it? (She might relent if I give her the matching pouch. . shoot, I will have to get another for Delia!) LeSportsac takes me back, man. I loved my mom's so much in the early 80's and had my very own a few years later. Good times.

And these amazing shoes (Campers no less. Can there be a cooler shoe company?) from my brother and these I love so very much I am dying. They are still in the box which I can't open yet, hence the photo without my feet in them.

I had big plans of special downloads, recipes, and all these things for you all who come by and read the blog to help me celebrate. . .sorry, I didn't do squat. But, I do encourage everyone reading today to grab a cupcake somewhere and eat it. Then have a strong cup of coffee and then maybe eat another. Make me proud!

happy mama day!

I hope every mama out there is having a wonderful day! it's beautiful weather here and I had a lovely time with Grammie yesterday eating Thai food and going fabric shopping. Now I'm going to eat breakfast (chocolate) look at my tulips from Pete, finish a dress for Sadie, and buy some tomato starts. Perfect! I can do all this because of all the extra time I have from my All Electric Kitchen. Which is actually gas. And look at  the matching aprons here in the 1951 Better Home and Gardens magazine, which I adore. Okay-now for my chocolate (it's not yet 8:00am here, BTW)

may!

I don't know what I was thinking not making a "D" bag for Delia for Easter when I made one for Sadie. My bad. She has been copying her sister when we leave the house, collecting all sorts of things to take with her, in her not-bag. She usually grabs a huge felt bucket which she hangs from her neck. It's about as big as she is and she won't leave until it's full to the top. Sadie asked me if I could make Delia her own bag, because the felt bucket is really dumb in the car. It's a vision hazard. It's that big. I can't believe Delia is only 18 months. This second born thing is amazing. Sometimes she acts like she's almost 3. But then does a crazy baby thing (eats dirt) and all is normal again.

This "D" on the pocket pocket uses the amazing freezer paper stencil. Hannah has started a very cool group over at flickr for freezer paper projects/ideas. Check it out and add your photos if you have tried it. It's so cool to see what people have done.

It's may day! (tomorrow) one on the best days ever in my book. I just need to work on that maypole and some flower wreaths. At the very least I will get some flowers. Or pick some. There is a fun family style mayday thing happening at the Kennedy School, for you local types. I really really wish I were more witchy/pagan and knew all this stuff better (Beltane) I looked for a cake recipe and found none, but I think I could make one anyway and just call it a May Day cake. Actually, I need to hold off on that because I just tested the next mailorder recipe and it is so good that I need to take a break from the desserts for a bit because I have eaten it all.

Oh, I just have to say, not to sound completely vapid, I realize that May Day is now more about labor rights, but I also like it to be about flowers.

The new theme is set over at Tie One On for May, or at least I am going to do it very soon, hopefully tonight.

sicker. (I am gross)

A wonderful Easter was had here-but it was cold! like almost snowing, cold. But this didn't stop the Easter bunny from coming. The girls ate way too much chocolate, and so did their mama. I overindulged in this Teuscher bunny from Pete. Our local chocolate company Moonstruck makes stunning chocolates, and I do love their hot chocolate, but for straight chocolate and truffles, Teuscher is my fave.

And here's a tote for Miss Sadie. Using the idea of "use what you have" for April, which I could do for the rest of the year, seriously. The deery lou came in her Easter basket. Sadie is now wanting to take her "stuff" with her when we go out (understandable) and she needed a good sturdy bag for this. Big enough for books, dolls, sticks, and scotch tape. This one I lined with batting so it's nice and soft. The "S" is a big pocket (freezer paper, I still love you) with just surged edges. Minimal and a bit raw, because she has such deconstructed taste. (ha.I think all kids are true deconstructionists, right?) oh-the dots and the flowers I did with mini-hole punches and felt quite clever about that.

easter at my fingertips

Easter is coming so soon. It's usually such a big deal here and the decorations are normally up by now, but this year I am a bit behind, and you know that is O.K. (I'm saying this in a Stuart Smalley voice. does anyone remember him? I am dating myself, for sure-but man, I'm not that old!) This lovely glass bunny container is from target and I think was $1.99 or something ridiculous like that.

I like to dig out all my old MSL mags during the big holidays and I was wasting a lot of time flipping through ads, etc, when all I wanted was to find the article on Easter egg dying with nautral dyes from god knows when. Hello Martha Dex at the amazing craftlog. All I had to do was type in "dyeing eggs" and there it was. I use MarthaDex quite a bit. It's especially pleasing to me because I do have all my MSL all organized (anal) so it's super easy for me to find all the articles. Thank you again maitreya, and I still need to send you some early MSL weddings.

Now I'm going to go back to look up all the Easter stuff. So much more my speed at this moment than, um. . .  standing up. Tomorrow is Monday? gads.

b-day girl

miss delia jean is 1 today! she's is usually such a ham-I love this serious b-day cake photo. this year has gone by so fast. she's not walking yet, crawling works out so well for her. why walk? but I think her crawling days are numbered-cruising around furniture is her favorite. the b-day cake here is gingerbread. our whole family is crazy about ginger-anything.

there goes the small glass cake plate.

the evidence left. we had a small family shindig, which was low key and really nice. so far, sadie has been really good (sort of) about actually letting delia play with the new toys she's received-but I'm not sure how sadie will feel about delia getting this. hmmm. happy birthday my crazy chicken girl!