Limited time off on my buttons. I’m redoing how I make/sell my buttons and thus have a lot of inventory to clear out. So for a limited time, you can buy highly reduced grab bags of buttons in my etsy store.
Edited: November 30th, 2009
I’m really digging this shop of the week from the Etsy Twitter Team. She makes the lovliest knitted things don’ you think? You can read her entire interview at the etsy twitter team blog or go to her store on etsy.
http://www.twitter.com/yarncoture
Edited: November 30th, 2009
My favorite cousin came to visit for the holiday and we made stuff on Saturday. Not as much as we’d have liked to make, but 9 pieces is nothing to scoff at either. Much as it breaks my heart (and it does because I love them all), I’m listing them in my etsy store because I promised I would. I have three listed so far. Just click on the photo and you’ll go right to them.
Edited: November 30th, 2009
My favorite cousin came to visit me and we’ve been working on art stuff. It makes me really happy to have someone in my studio working on stuff with me. Good music, lots of tea, and Erin = this stuff
We’re trying to figure out how to sell them in my etsy store and what they should be priced at when we do list them. For now though, I’m really enjoying having someone to play with in the studio.
This is my DIY project for the week. For more DIY projects, head over to A Soft Place to land and check out the list 
Edited: November 28th, 2009
Here is my obligatory post on Thanksgiving. I don’t think my blog would be complete without one. … or at least that’s what it feels like after reading the blogosphere.
My favorite cousin ever (Cousin Erin) drove out to see us and we had the best time again. We spent yesterday cooking a ton of food, so much food that five young men couldn’t make a dent in it. Yeah… 6 desserts for 11 people? Probably a bad idea lol. In any case, I enjoyed having the airman over for dinner last night.
As you can see… we made way too much food. I am going out and buying some normal lights today too because the yellow tint in all my photos just rally bothers me. Apparently normal light bulbs will help with that. I was thinking of replacing all the light bulbs with some daylight ones but we’ll see what happens. My house colors are really pretty to me during the day when all the lights are off, but at night when we use our lighting, it makes me hate my wall colors. /sigh
In any case. I’m thankful I have a house to complain about :-p And that I had so many people over we had to bust out a second table. I’m thankful my favorite cousin could come to visit and that we have a lovely space to do art in together.
Edited: November 27th, 2009
This is one of my favorite things to make this time of year. I forget where I found the recipe, but it’s delicious. It calls for kirsch which is difficult to find in my area. I talked to the liquor guy at Parker’s (a local grocery store and the liquor guy is AWESOME) and he recommended 99 Black Cherries instead of kirsch. He said it’s about the same flavor, easier to find and only $17 instead of $44. Given that you use so little of it, I didn’t think the substitution would matter and it doesn’t. I tried a bundt pan this year and that was a fail… I’ll be putting whipped cream on the top to hide the mutilation for extra yumminess…
On a side note… I need new light bulbs. I really don’t like my eco friendly ones because my house looks very yellowy in person and in photos. It’s really starting to bother me and I don’t know if I should just try another type or if that’s just how they are. I hate the ones I have though. HATE
Cranberry Cake
makes 1 9×13 or 1 10″ springform cake
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 tablespoon kirsch (optional)
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups cranberries (1 bag)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan or a 10″ springform pan.
Beat eggs and sugar together for 5-7 minutes; the eggs will increase in volume quite a bit, streaming into ribbons when you lift the beaters. They will also turn pale yellow. Add butter and flavorings and beat for 2 minutes. Stir in flour and fold in cranberries. Pour into greased pan.
Bake 45-50 minutes for a 9×13, or a little over an hour for the springform. You made need to tent the cake with foil in the last 15 minutes or so to keep the top from browning.
Cool completely before serving.
Optional pecan topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup pecans, toasted
Heat the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the sugar and stir. Add the toasted pecans and cook for several minutes, stirring, until the butter and sugar mixture is shiny and smooth and the nuts smell toasted. Spread over the cake batter and bake as above.
Edited: November 25th, 2009
There’s a craft fair at the State Fair College campus in Sedalia Missouri on December 5th and I bring it up because I’ll be there with my husband and my handmade goodies. I wanted more than just buttons and prints to sell so I’ve been working with my china collection I have stashed in the basement. My camera died while I was taking photos, but I still have one or two to share. I have new and improved photos now AND the teacups are up in my etsy store! 
I took the photos late at night which means I had to use my flash on the camera. I’m taking better photos today and listing my tea cups. I have several different styles of tea cup and several different things I’m putting on them. I really like how they turn out an the Soylent Green one makes me giggle. I have to wonder though if anyone else my age gets that cup or not.
More good news? I’m adding new teacups all this week AND I’ll be bringing them to the State Fair Craft show on Dec 5 which means if you’re local, you can buy them in person and save on the shipping. I’ll even have some paired up with loose leaf tea which will make them the perfect gift!
Edited: November 25th, 2009
I bought these chairs awhile ago and finally got around to recovering the seats. The curtain fabric is a well worn goldish fabric with some ornate pattern on it. The new fabric is just plain old black with a slight texture. I thought about putting a nicer fabric on them or the cherry blossom fabric I recently purchased and after realizing the damage the children did to my last chair set… I went with cheap black fabric I already had on hand. It was super easy to recover the chairs btw. Just pop the seat off, place on fabric, pull really tight, staples edges, screw the seat back on.
If I was a good girl or had more time, I would rip off the old fabric, redo the cushion underneath, then put my fabric on… but I’m not, so I didn’t. I do like the pattern that was originally on the chairs but it’s really worn out and an unfortunate color. I also think the chairs would look better in another color but the husband said he liked them this way so I will leave them for now…. plus it means less work. Happy husband + less work? It’s a win/win imo.
Edited: November 25th, 2009
Yes, that’s right. I have 54 yards of fabric right now. YARDS. Not feet. YARDS. What was I thinking? Well there’s this neato fabric store in Kansas City and I could buy fabric for $1 a yard… if I bought the entire bolt. So I did and spent a little more than $54 for my 54 yards of fabric. My mom is coming soon and she said she’d help me sew curtains for the house. I like that plan Since I can’t sew and it was at least $900 for just the front living room curtains I wanted. I liked them but I can’t afford to do my entire house in curtains if one room is $900 for the stuff I like in a long enough size.
Anywho
The cherryblossom one is my favorite and I have 20 yards of it. The orangey/blue one reminds me of hot air balloon fabric in person. I may put it in my youngest son’s room after I paint it etc. I may make pillows out of it. I don’t know yet. It was all of $4 though so I figured I may as well buy it since I kept coming back to it. The black one has a honey comb pattern to it in person. A very small honeycomb pattern. I’ll be using it upstairs I think and recovering some chairs. I didn’t quite find the perfect fabric for the front living room yet which makes me a bit of a sad panda. I think the cherry blossom one could look good but I want it in the back living room more. I picture a really lush dark red fabric in the front living room or something with a damask pattern on it.
This room from a Harry Potter movie kind of makes me happy. Yeah yeah, it’s very dark and gloomy… I like that though.
Edited: November 24th, 2009
