Getten' the Work Done

I just finished these two orders tonight.  I had another necklace organizer ordered along with this fancy name sign.

Thanks again to my friend Bobbi who cut the vinyl I needed on a days notice.  Don't you just love the font!  I really like how this turned out.  It was ordered as a wedding present.  What a good idea!

 I did a little better with the nails on the necklace organizer.  The square nails are tricky to get in there straight so I punched the holes with my aul first before hammering the nails in place.  Wahoo!  Glad to get that finished.

Here are a few of the other random things I have been working on...

My kids and I are planning a science "egg"straviganza to show off the campain started by Clorox Clean-Up and TheMotherhood.com.  They have launched a program supporting kids’ messy play and I was asked to show off what us crazy moms can do to make a fun mess with our kids.

This particular experiment involves putting raw eggs in a jar of vinegar for a week.  You change the vinegar every day and at the end of the week you have rubber eggs!  More on that in 5 days :0)

OK, this one is a little embarrassing.  I babysit the cute little 2yr old that lives across the street from me.  Monday when I got home from the gym, about 5:55 am, I saw this bunny in his yard.  I was so excited to have seen my very first jackrabbit I ran in the house, put the big lens on the camera, and started taking pictures.  

About 2 minutes later mom and 2 yr old came out of their house to find me in my gym clothes standing in their yard with my huge lens on my camera :0)

Gulp!

I promise I am not a peeping-Vanessa!  I had to show them the photos to prove it. 

That wasn't all that was embarrassing, that wasn't a jackrabbit!  It was their rabbit ;0P  Uggggh!  I was standing in their yard taking photos of their pet rabbit, not a piece of iconic folklore.  At least now they have proof that the bunny was getting out of the back yard :0)

Less embarrassing is the huge number of fire pits I have been selling lately!  I made them for the Blue and Gold banquet and they were so popular, I threw a couple on etsy.  This particular set was for a customer who bought the fire pit to be played with their American Girl dolls. 

Well, we can't expect those little dollies to hole huge marshmallow roasting sticks.  No, no!  I had to make mini roasting sticks. I could have gone smaller.  Was actually quite tempted to see just how mini we could make them, but came back to my purpose and made them just the right size for the American Girl dolls. 

Fun!

Anyway, we are on the second week of our Spring Break.  I ended up working all of last week so starting tomorrow, we are going to make a mess!  Lots of messes!!!  And I can't wait to show you.

Also coming up, I have a baby shower in a box to get together, new fabric for making Emmers some sundresses, and a Noah's Ark cake to plan.  I am actually thinking of going cake pop with the Noah's Ark and make a new cake pop board.  We shall see... Wish me luck!

Boy Name Sign

Guys, I am sorry.  I have two posts I have been working on and my family keeps stealing my computer.  I finally decided to show you this project and hit the sack.  

My sweet friend Whitney had a little boy so I made her this name sign.  I put hooks on it instead of the hair bow ribbons, bet you can guess why :0)  I found the hooks in a big pack at Joanns on clearance.  They were bright gold.  I spray painted them with hammered-metal spray paint to make them look a little more worn.

I also made the two neckties and the two changing table pads.  I love the pads, couldn't get enough when Emmalee was a baby.  The ties, they are so very, very easy to make.  I re-worked and re-worked the pattern so that it would be adjustable and not have to be tied on every time you use it.  You will never guess what I used for the strap!!!  It is a bra strap!  Not a used on, mind you, but I found new ones also on clearance at Joanns.  They didn't have the very small clips I was looking for, but I noticed the same hardware on the bra straps and snatched them up!

I tried to hide the fact from the baby's father, but it still came up that women's lingerie was used in the making of his son's neck tie :0)

While I am at it, I contacted The Ribbon Retreat and asked if they knew where I could get clip-on tie attachments.  After a lot of back and forth, they found them!!!  They are now available on their website at TheRibbonRetreat.com!!!  I will be posting more about how to make these ties and the clip-on ties in the next month, hopefully in time for Easter.

The Clippies Are Ba-ack!

Oh My GoOOosH!  I could not be happier to announce that 

I HAVE FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My HUGE order of clippies is finished...ARE YOU DOING THE HAPPY DANCE?!?  

I sure am.

I sent some images, to my customer, to give her options for charms.  She bought like all of them :0)

I hand traced then cut out each piece on my scroll saw.  Then I sanded, base painted and sanded each piece. 

After that, I lightly sanded and re-traced the image on the wooden charms all over again.  Are you getting the play-by-play emphasis here.  I don't want to have anyone escape this post without knowing in the truest sense how crazy in the head I have been the last two months since recovering 

FROM THE H1N1!!!

Next was to base paint each piece in all the different colors, some requiring the smallest of paintbrushes.

The next steps were to shade the charms to give them depth, line each piece with a fine tipped sharpie to emphasize the designs, and almost lastly, make a million tiny toothpicks into paintbrushes, pencils, and chalk.

Once all the tiny add-ons were painted, they were glued in place, then the entire charm...each charm...was hand coated-TWICE- with polyurethane for durability. 

Done at last?!? 

NO!

Next step, the felt backing.  I cut and cut and cut (luckily not by hand) on my die cut machine 600 scalloped circles and ovals.  They were all glued together, then the charms were glued on top. 

Done now?!?  Nope.  

Lined alligator clips and ponytail holders were attached, each item was inspected for hot glue stringers, then they were all boarded for these photos and eventually, shipping.

I know you wanted to get the full effect of the charms so I decided to show you all of them...

And still more... 

Not done yet... 

Where is the Kleenex?  I can't believe it is over! 

These are tears of joy ladies and gentlemen, tears of joy.

Whew!  Enough said :0)

p.s a special thank you to any and all that contributed to the completion of this order

-from me and my terribly abandoned family, from the very bottom of our hearts!!!

Now That's A Sweet Burger!

We went camping this weekend with our church and the kids decided we needed to make these.  They have been a favorite for many years.  We have taken them to picnics and BBQs many times over the years.  I got the idea from the Family Fun website way back when.  They are actually on top of cupcakes, along with mini hot dogs, but Dad told us we could only do the hamburgers.  He said something about keeping it simple, or some kinda crap like that :0) Please excuse my harsh language.

The hot dogs gross me out just a little because you make the dog out of a caramel that you heat up with you hands and roll into a hot dog shape.  Don't ask me why it is gross to me.  I make all sorts of things with my hands.  I guess maybe because it is usually the kids that make these as an activity and I think about all the germs under their grubby little fingernails that never do wash out...Grossed out, aren't ya'!?!

We took a little different route this time.  Usually we make the hamburger patties out of mint patties, like York.    I figured the Keebler mint cookies look about the same, but are way cheaper.  

Eli is showing us the first finished hamburger.  Madison made lettuce leaves from some green marshmallow fondant.  We can never find green candy in the stores to use as our pickles/lettuce.  If you want to make these when the normal world out there has campouts and BBQs, go grab some of that edible grass for the Easter baskets.  It would be PERFECT for these little guys!

Basic rundown for those of you too busy to click on the link to Family Fun- box of vanilla waffers divided in half, top and bottom buns.  Cookie or mint for hamburger, then toppings according to your own taste.  We dyed icing red and yellow for the ketchup and mustard.  The final touch is to brush the top with orange juice concentrate and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  So fun!

Madison and Eli were able to make this whole tray without arguing even once!  They were just so excited for the campout.  It was very fun and the burgers were a huge hit!  

I have never camped in the desert before.  I wasn't prepared for all the dust, cacti, 

and threat of snakes and scorpions.

Emmalee had no problem adjusting to her surroundings though :0) 

 It was like the hugest sandbox she had ever seen! 

This is what we call a mountain in Arizona :0)  It seems kinda small compared to Mt. McKinley (Alaska), but huge compared to Mt. Kato (in Mankato, MN).

These prickly burrs made their way into the flesh of many a child before dinner was even served.  

The ground underneath the cacti was covered with them.

Looks like we just missed the blossoms.  Another week or two and they will be bloomen'.

The sun shining on these prickly needles was absolutely heavenly.  The whole plant seemed to be glowing in the morning sun.  Breathtaking!

This tent was well guarded against surprise attack :0)  

Check out the wall of cacti!

Look how small these kids look next to that cactus.  

I read somewhere a cactus doesn't grow an arm for 70 years.  That makes this cactus pretty old.

Desert camping is much different from lush forest or mountain camping.  It is pretty though, in it's own way (like pretty dusty for example :0)  I didn't sleep a wink, but would not have traded the time with my family for anything!

Oh, and speaking of desert life, the cat brought in the first lizard of the season today!  Such a pleasant surprise to find a reptile in the living room :0)

Checken' a Few Things Off The List

I took a break from my never ending clippie orders yesterday to check off a few more customer orders.  I have been throwing the design for this necklace organizer around in my mind for a couple weeks.  Luckily it was ordered by a very patient friend.  She must have figured out that my best ideas take a couple weeks to surface through all the brain-haze :0)

I am so loving the shape of this board!!!  I have been using it in a 1 1/2" size for another project and just loved it so much I had to blow it up and see what happened.  It turned out so well I figure I have to make one of these for everyone I know :0)  I cut it out of 1x12" pine.  I painted it black, then white, then sanded it here and there for that aged look.  It is about 12" tall, 16" wide, with two rows of railroad tie nails.  

The nice thing about those nails is that they are square, or have corners.  The corners hold the necklaces in place even if the board were to be bumped in passing, or if, heaven forbid, I got a nail slanting downward slightly :0)  My customer went with the double black and brown ribbon to match her room even after my persisting plea to go with the baby pink :0)  She mumbled something about her husband and him not being the biggest fan of pastels...too bad.  This board screams Shabby Chic and a fluffy pink would have been perfect...

See!  I couldn't resist making another to fulfill my pink needs.  I may actually use this second board as a hairbow holder.  It is just so precious it will be perfect for some darling little girl.

Next on my list was to paint this flock of birdies.  Another customer had requested...

OK, OK.  She did not request quite this many....

Yes, she ordered 5, but by now you must realize I just can't stop once I get started :0)

Here are her 5...

I have to admit I wasn't really sure about these "tweet" little guys, but seeing them all together, I like them!

I painted this big B for the same customer today as well.  I am so loving the 24" letters!  Seriously, I know I mentioned this earlier, but I am going to have to make one for myself!  Who cares if my last name monogram letter is lame and less decorative.  Seeing this one sitting around my house has made me want one!

Maybe I will just pretend mine is a B :0)  or an S...those are always cool looking.

Lets take just one more look at my flock.  With spring coming in the morning, 80's all week here in AZ, these birdies sure get me in the mood for blossoming trees and the smell of fresh cut grass.  

My other project I worked on today was a pile of roller skate charms for a friend.  Her son is in a competitive figure rollerskating league and she requested clips for the girls on his team.  I will be back in a couple days with pictures when I make the final breakthrough with those.  

Have a great Sew*CakeMaken' Day!!!