(still) feels like the first time

Every time I make a sale, I still get as excited as if it were my first. I immediately text Tom (if he's not sitting next to me) and spill the beans. I've never been good as holding exciting news in. Since each of my books are OOAK (which I just learned is the abbreviation of one-of-a-kind, I'm slow to that game) they are all super personal. I mean, I've spent at least two hours glueing, sanding, carving, glueing & messing around with each of these books. And when someone buys it, it's an rush of "they like me!"

Anyway, I was lucky enough to catch Pommes Frites on the front page today, and within 30 mins I had 30 new hearts and two sales. But I gotta tell ya, even though I knew what to expect, it still felt like the first time.



So to all my Pommes Frites fans & shoppers: thank you, you rock!! Thank you for the exciting end of June.

Etsy Finds: alyssaaettinger's porcelain replicas

Today's Etsy Finds come to you from Brooklyn, NY. I'm completely enamored with alyssa aettinger's porcelain replicas of old milk bottles, mason jars & knit-covered vases.



mason jar lanterns


milk bottles


So pretty! I wish I could afford to buy a whole lot of the lanterns and string them up in my backyard.

Find more porcelain beauties, like textured coasters & tumblers, in her shop.

weather was hot; business... not so much

Yesterday I had a booth at the bi-monthly Austin Handmade Market and did not sell a thing. Ok, I did sell four things: one TX ornament and three 1" pins. And I gave away three pins. You do the math.

Yep, it sure was a bust for me, but I guess that's the way craft fairs go. Either I'm crazy, running around & selling out of items or it's so slow that I don't even make my coffee money back.

And this Handmade Market took place in front of Once Over Coffee (which is right next to brick-and-mortar Austin Handmade), down on S 1st, so I definitely did not make my coffee money back.

Low foot traffic and sales were probably due to the fact that it was 101 degrees. In the shade. Under my tent. Where I still got a sunburn despite being (as I said) under my tent in the shade!




I did get to experiment with a few new add-ons to my craft fair set up, namely in the form of a "sale cart" and these DIY'ed chalkboard frames to display my magnets & pins.

I got these two matching frames on sale at Hobby Lobby and then bought two pieces of sheet metal that I scored/cut to fit inside the frames. I spray painted the sheet metal with chalkboard paint and fit it inside the frame, finishing with basic hot glue gun-ing.





I had to magnetize the back of the pin frame (so they wouldn't blow away in the wind) and stuck about 100 ceramic magnets to back of the sheet metal. The magnets worked! and a slightly classier display than my previous piece of burlap scrap fabric.

Now I just gotta work on my chalkboard handwriting.

Flask Safes on Etsy Weddings!

Many thanks to the Etsy Wedding blog for featuring me on their latest post as a great groomsmen/bridesmaid/general wedding gift! Check out the post here, and be sure to bookmark the Etsy Wedding blog for great finds!

that's what I like about TX: grocery store finds

At the HEB the other night (for you non-Austin readers, that's our local grocery chain), we noticed some very interesting charcoal & firestarter.

oh yeah, that's the Official Dallas Cowboys Brand Charcoal! AND Firestarter! Seriously, if you use these items while grilling the entire team will miraculously appear in the flames of your grill and offer life-changing advice about weight training and how to score a mega babe like Jessica Simpson.

And if you act now, it's on SALE!!!!

Speaking of random sale items, we also found this sweet "Musselman" Apple Sauce nearby.



What better way to get teenage boys to eat their apple sauce than to offer it up with side of muscles? (a side of "mussels", however, is not as appetizing).


If you're in Austin, catch me and my books, pin & magnets this weekend at the Austin Handmade Market! Saturday, June 27 from noon - 6 pm. (2009 South First St)

sneak peak: in the studio

Just got done making a new line of pins and magnets using old sheet music...



the 1" are available as both pins and magnets, and the 2.25" are magnets. Perfect for that band geek in your life! They'll be up in the shop this week.

"this old tub"

Last week, Tom and I got all "This Old House" on our bathtub and shaky windows. The bathtub was really something else... I mean when you live somewhere cheap, there's a reason why, and that tub is one of the reasons. First of all, it's god awful ugly. Second, the caulking was all nasty, black & mildewed and definitely not doing its job anymore. It just made the tub look super dirty all the time. Want proof?




um, can we just have a collective "ewwww" for a moment here?

Ok. So I got all in there, pulled out that nasty caulking and tried my hardest to scrub off weird bits left behind on the wall. We're not professional caulkers by any means, and probably did a pretty crap-tastic job, but at least it looks a little bit better and - hey! - actually works. Sorry I didn't clean the tub before this picture was taken - I'd just gotten done using that diy scrub from yesterday!

diy: homemade scrub

I hate to sound like a crappy woman's magazine here, but it's swimsuit season and that means it's time to exfoliate! I exfoliate daily using a loofah but when I want to kick it up a notch I whip up this easy scrub made from coffee grounds, olive oil & a few extras.



Ingredients:
Coffee grounds
Olive oil
Honey
Ground Cayenne Pepper
Ground Cinnamon

I don't have exact measurements of how much I use - about a tablespoon or two of grounds, doused in olive oil with a heaping dash of the cayenne and cinnamon and a squirt of honey.

Not only does this mixture exfoliate beautifully, it has the added bonus of reducing the appearance of cellulite!!! Cinnamon, cayenne pepper and caffeine all help to stimulate circulation and reduce inflammation.

Massage the mixture vigorously into your skin - it may hurt a little at first as you're probably used to more gentle store bought exfoliants.

Obviously a scrub is a temporary fix, because the only way cellulite can be eliminated is thru diet + exercise or to never get cellulite in the first place like 1% of the population, but it will definitely smooth out your skin and get you ready for those short shorts!

sneak peak: in the studio

Today I'm working on block carving. I'm teaching a girl scouts workshop on Saturday, and the ladies and I will be making stamps and then cute little cards.






I thought this "thank you" stamp would be a great addition to Pommes Frites packaging.

ps - shop update today!

Etsy Finds: nowvember

After a brief hiatus from the regular blog features last week, I'm back with this week's Etsy Finds! Coming to you from Portland, OR, nowvember makes super awesome stickers, handstitched notebooks and even light switch plates.

I'm totally in love with the tongue in cheek graphics, such as this sticker set called "your new boyfriend" featuring old yearbook cutouts and hand shaped heart stickers. (men, don't despair... there's a "your new girlfriend" sticker set as well.)




I would absolutely get Tom this hand stitched PBR can card:



But my favorites have got to be the little pocket notebooks:





Check out nowvember's shop for more great finds, and stay tuned next Tuesday for another Etsy Finds session!

diy: hummus... more like yummus.

Given the current economic state, we've made some cutbacks to our grocery list. Namely the cutbacks have been in the form of my beloved Sabra hummus... at $4 a pop it isn't exactly cutting corners anytime soon. (BTW, $4 a week = $16 a month = $192 a year!! Can a person possibly spend $200 a year on GROUND CHICK PEAS? Yes, I can!)

But my yearning for hummus was short lived. We began buying chick peas in bulk, and $6 worth of chickpeas lasted upwards of two months. Then we began making hummus, which is so insanely easy I'm shocked I hadn't done it before. But then again, I only recently started cooking.

Here's my super easy hummus recipe! Hope you enjoy <3



Ingredients:
-1 can of chickpeas. Alternately, you can use freshly made chick peas. In this case, you'll use 15-16 ounces of chickpeas.
-1/3 cup water
-1 tbsp tahini
-1-2 cloves of garlic, depending on how much garlic you like
-1/2 lemon
-salt, pepper, garlic powder. dill if you wanna get creative!
-olive oil - I don't have an exact measurement, but most likely equal to the water. And no, you cannot substitute canola oil!

My recipe differed from others I found on the internet because I found that using olive oil rather than just water makes it super creamy & delicious.

1. Add chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon & some olive oil in a food processor or blender.
2. Blend/food process.
3. As the chick peas mash up, add the water.
4. Same goes for olive oil.
5. Once you've got a creamier consistency, add the salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.
6. Repeat step two until desired consistency.
7. Garnish with some olive oil & paprika, enjoy! This also tastes amazing after a day in the fridge.

when the going gets tough, the tough wear bows

Alright, I admit it. This weekend I was a major, major grump. I mean, all these stupid things were happening: my cats discovered they can push open the screen windows and subsequently escaped; I found a live cockroach in my shoe. That I had been wearing (vomit!); a squirrel stole the only thing growing my garden, which was a lovely bulbous cucumber; I overpayed for shipping an item; I got called into work when I had plans to go bowling (and had specifically taken tonight off because of ced plans). Things that, aside from the cockroach, are not very serious or life threatening. Just things that make me bitch and grump.

I guess sometimes you just gotta stick a bow on it and call it day.



I created this bow a long time ago as a test run for the diy bow tie I did for Paperdolls mag. Last night I quickly hot-glued it onto a headband 5 minutes before I was to leave for work and boo-ya: a instant mood lifter. In fact, I'm going to put it on tonight for that work shift I got called into.

Oh ps: the plaid for this bow came from a mumu that I turned into a super cute summer dress. Last night I wore them together.

sneak peak: in the studio

Today was cool enough (88 degrees) to keep the AC off and open the windows, letting our constantly whirling ceiling fans do the magic. Here's a sneak peak of my current view: some flask books in progress, an Arnold Palmer with heart shaped ice cubes, and my recently re-vived succulent. Oh, and in case you were wondering, this round of books are brought to you by the country crooning of Linda Rondstat.



Ps... there are four new books up in the shop, and today (only!) is Thrifty Thursday free shipping.

DIY: reclaiming old jar candles

At the restaurant where I work, each table is decorated with those old-school style glass candles - the kind you'd see at a pizza joint. Ours are amber, and super pretty. Unfortunately, when these candles burn to the end and can no longer be lit, they're headed to the trash. One night, noticing how much wax was left on the inside of the jar, I rescued a few "dead" candles and took them home to repurpose.

Below are the (super easy) steps on how to de-wax and repurpose those pretty jar candles. Once done, you can use the jar as a tealight holder (like I did, above) and you can even repurpose the wax to make other candles. Just be warned: mixing scents and colors is not advised!

Step One: Place your candles to-be-melted on a baking tray. Set the oven to 150. Do not set it higher than 175 (if the candles are taking a super long time to melt, the temp can be raised) as this will make them impossible to handle in later steps.



Step Two: Let the candles "bake" for 20-30 minutes, checking periodically. Once most of the wax is melted, remove from oven.



Step Three: Pour the wax into a container (plastic is especially good if you're planning to reuse the wax, as it can just be cut away when it comes time to re-melt). Be sure to use pot holders!!



Step Four: Let the glass cool for a few minutes, and then wipe down the inside of the container with a paper towel. This will remove extra wax and it will also (usually) remove the wick!

Easy as pie - another item reclaimed, repurposed and really cute!

shop news: thrifty thursday

Just a quick post to let you all know (ahead of time) about a new feature I'll be doing over at the shop.

The first Thursday of every month will be Thrifty Thursday, and I'll be offering special deals like free shipping, free pins or magnet with purchase, and more. Stay tuned here each month to see what the deal is!

This month: FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP!!

This includes pins!

Write THRIFTY THURSDAY in the "message to seller" upon checkout.

<3 !!