Hungry hungry hungry...

I'm not much of a breakfast eater in general, mostly just toast, cereal or occasionally some oatmeal.  But this morning I woke up HUNGRY!  When I was doing the tweet/Twitter thing this morning (which I'm totally addicted to by the way, so if you have any interest in what's going on in my life every 30 minutes or so, follow me there @deedsandpetunia.  I still don't really know what I'm doing.) I came across two amazing recipes.  Yesterday I found a couple as well and thought I'd share them with y'all.  I love cooking and am very excited to try these!

Grapefruit Roasted Chicken looks mouth watering and exotic.  I've done orange roasted chicken and lemon roasted chicken, but never with grapefruit!  Head on over to the Slow Kitchen Blog and check it out...

Grapefruit Roasted Chicken at The Slow Kitchen

Oooooh yes.  I am what some might call an enchilada connoisseur.  These Sour Cream Enchiladas from The Pioneer Woman's website look incredible.  I was contemplating making them at 10 AM so I could eat them in time for lunch.  But blast it all!  No green onions, so dinner will have to do...

Sour Cream Enchiladas from The Pioneer Woman

This will also give me time to craft a sauce from scratch.  The recipe for enchilada sauce from Martha Stewart is awesome.  I use jalapenos (instead of poblanos) and Anaheim chiles (in lieu of long red chiles) because that's generally what's available around here, and it still rocks.

I found this little gem via moneysavingmom.com!  A free Betty Crocker Soups, Stews and Chiles ebook!  Full of recipes and a downloadable version for your desktop.  My crockpot is my best friend in the winter, so I have all kinds of new ideas like Slow Cooker Tuscan Bean Soup, French Onion Soup and Creamy Herbed Chicken Soup.

Free Betty Crocker Recipe ebook

Here's a little something sweet from Martha Stewart Crafts - Candy Gems shaped like jewels along with a project for creating a little jewelry box for them!  I think I'll try this with my girls for Valentine's Day.

Semiprecious Candies in their own jewelry box

Share your yummy recipes with me if you have some!  Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Gift Exchange Surprise!

I'm participating in my very first gift exchange hosted by The Ardent Sparrow!  I've handcrafted two very exciting and Christmassy lovelies for the exchange, and wrapped them to the best of my abilities.  Gift wrapping is not my forte, but I think it turned out pretty good. 

The example photos of beautifully wrapped gifts presented to us at The Ardent Sparrow were admittedly a bit intimidating.  I went for "original" and "what was on hand" in my creative process.  I raided my sewing stash for some inspiration and the theme emerged - behold!  Upcycling!  A scrap of pretty fabric that could be used again!

Fabric feels so good and makes me happy...

Pinking shears to prevent fraying; a loose running stitch to hold in place.

Folded and hand stitched ends.  Use pins to keep fabric from slipping, remove after a few stitches.

Next I found a bit of vintage gray yarn that's too scratchy for a hat or scarf, but still good for other crafts.  I thought it was wintery, textural and complimented the colors nicely.

I found a few buttons from my vintage button collection to embellish with.

I wove the yarn and buttons together and tied at the bottom.

At an Estate Sale earlier this year I scored a giant pack of vintage florist cards.  They're the perfect size for gift tags!  Just punch a hole and voila.  I tried to add a little flair with vintage sheet music, another vintage button and some millinery tulle.

 
I shipped it off today and forgot to include the card about myself (of course!) but will send that off separately tomorrow. 

My daughter was home sick from school today and she helped me cover the shipping box in her little dog and cat Christmas stickers.  I hope Laura appreciates her efforts!  :)

This was so fun to do.  I can't WAIT to share what's inside the box!  But you'll have to wait until she opens it...

Sweet and Sentimental Handmade Ornament Tutorial Links

Today I came across this Pasta Angel Ornament tutorial that's so cute I just had to share!  It's from Craftily Ever After, a blog I've been following full of crafty ideas, tutorials, free downloads, etc.

Pasta Angel Ornaments

These are incredibly adorable and remind me of some of the ornaments I made as a kid! 

The Pasta Angels got me on a roll seeking tutorials for crafts that reminded me of my childhood.  There are so many great ones out there!  I thought I'd post a couple more that I came across today...

Salt Dough Ornaments

I found this one for salt dough ornaments over at It's All In My Head. Remember making these? Just salty cookies that you cut out and paint with acrylic, decorate with glitter, etc. Mine weren't pretty, but mom kept them anyway and put them up on the tree every year (they lasted forever!)

And isn't that what Christmas decorating is really about anyway? The sentimental stuff!!! And speaking of sentimental stuff...

Christmas Candy Trees from Life Is A Party

These are wonderful!  I found the tutorial from Life Is A Party via Under The Table & Dreaming's Sunday Showcase Party (which has tons of craft tutorial links!)  I want to make a forest of gumdrop and hard candy trees (if I can keep the gumdrops hidden from the husband long enough...)  Remember gumdrops?

Happy crafting!  :)

Tacoma Etsy Craft Party on June 18th!

From Etsy's website:

"Let's celebrate! Today, along with ReadyMade and Meetups Everywhere (and you), we're launching Etsy Craft Party, a global initiative to energize your local community, make art together, and throw a party in your neck of the woods. We want to celebrate crafting together on June 18, 2010 (which just happens to be Etsy's birthday) with as many celebrations across the globe as possible."

And thusly, I give you the Tacoma Etsy Craft Party on June 18th! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122505821114587#!/event.php?eid=122505821114587

The location is Hello, Cupcake in Downtown Tacoma, at 1740 Pacific Ave. Come by the open house from 3-6 PM and learn how to make some arts and crafts for a small donation, buy some delicious cupcakes, browse items from Etsy sellers and get to know each other! Everyone is welcome! It would be a nice excuse to collect some donations to aid wildlife rescue efforts in the Gulf of Mexico as well. Our party is going to kick so much ass it will hurt us more than it hurts you. So mark your calendars people!!! June 18th from 3 - 6 PM! Be there or be SQUARE...

Archives - Distraction Strikes Again 02/03/2010

Originally Posted 02/03/2010

Well, to be certain I have been busy. Been spending much of my time crafting, researching craft blogs and listing items on Etsy. I'm selling vintage notions, trims and findings for crafters. So far, I've had a few lookers, but no bites! Fingers crossed. Here's what I've been working on:

Antique Handkerchief cafe curtains from handkerchiefs handed down from Great Aunt Sophie. She shared a birthday with me and always passed on her lovely things. Finally found a use for them other than collecting dust on the shelf!





Hand-embroidered coffee cup cozies (gave them away as a present without taking a photo. Blast!) Felt cozies with nicknames embroidered on the side. Got the idea from the book Hand-Stitched Felt.

Appliqued vintage sweaters for my girls, this is the applique I just finished. It's handmade, hand dyed 100% wool felt and very soft. I found this awesome cotton rainbow thread for a mane.



Felt flag "bird" banner, vintage fabric appliqued onto wool felt. I'm trying out National Nonwoven's 30% synthetic wool felt. Lovely colors and very soft.



And an assemblage piece using plaster (photos to come soon. I promise.)

Every week we head to the library where I devour craft books. Some of my recent reads are a book about re-purposing pillow cases, hand-stitching onto felt, up-cycling discarded linens, blankets, towels, etc. into useful items. I go NUTS over thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales, the mythical "flea market" (have yet to find one within a reasonable drive), and ebay. I've finally found my dream job within Deeds and Petunia on Etsy.

I'm also working on a business plan. My hope is that I can craft enough to sell items over the summer at markets, craft fairs, etc. But I need to be organized, to have money (thus the etsy store), and to improve my skills to I can churn out enough to make it worth while (and good enough quality to sell.)

Crafting and sewing make me very happy. I love the thrill of finishing an item. I've also always wanted my own retail specialty store, so this is how I shall proceed in getting my feet wet.