Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Shake your butter

What to do when kiddo is on the verge of a boredom induced mutiny and you're stuck in the house? Why, let's make some butter! Butter is fun, right?

As it turns out, yes it is.

Step 1: Pour heavy whipping cream into a clean empty jar, seal the lid tight, aaaaaannnnd
2. shake shake shake!
3. shake shake shake!4. shake your butter!Until it makes a *thunk* sound and you've got yourself a big ol' ball o' butter.

4. Try to say that three times fast.

5. Use cheesecloth to separate the butter from the buttermilk, and voila! Buttery goodness. Save the buttermilk for baking or give it to your cat or something. I think cats like buttermilk.Mmmm, toast. At this point you can add salt, herbs, garlic, or any other flavoring to your butter, or just leave it plain. Unless you own a cow making your own butter isn't exactly cost effective, but it's pretty cool and it'll keep a kid occupied for a good half hour or so. Plus if you use organic cream you won't have all the funky preservatives and crap that's usually in butter.

My hands still smell buttery. Not sure if that's a good thing.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Happy Earth Day!

Let's celebrate with a few of my favorite green Etsy finds.

From top left:

1. T-shirt dish scrubbies from RightBrainThinker

2. Glass bottle serving dish from Biolum

3. Plantable greeting cards by Retrowhale

4. Bamboo flatware set from Ponyup

5. Snack bag coin purses by MoJoTrashion

6. Perrier bottle glasses by Bottlebottoms

7. Shopping totes from AndyEatsOnlyCandy

8. Recycled skateboard pendant from 2ReVert

9. Recycled balloon necklace from NormalIsBoring

Stay green!

Monday, April 21, 2008

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Pink and Orange and Yellow Polka Dot....Backpack....with a cat....

This little backpack is a gift for Adam's niece Sunny, who will be turning four next month. Autumn drew the picture on the pocket for her because "Sunny just loves cats and pink."
I'm afraid I may have made the straps a bit too long, but other than that I'm happy with it. I'm planning on filling it up with art supplies, including a coloring book and some homemade crayons. Would it be silly to buy a new box of crayons just so I can melt them down into cuter ones? I think not.
The funniest thing was that one of our friends saw the backpack and thought I drew the picture on the pocket. Oh yes, I did it all by myself! See how I've been practicing my "y"s?

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Dawn of the Dollies

I have a confession to make, dear readers. I have been keeping a secret from you. No, this isn't the thing that's been stressing me out lately (that problem is, for the most part, over with). This is a much happier secret.

Lately I've been thinking about my Etsy shop and the direction in which it was going, and I was feeling stuck. I realized that I was focused more on making things that I thought other people would like instead of making things that I enjoy. I was bored with the cutesy pastel stuff. It just isn't me. That's not to say that I don't like the precious, pastelly things--I do like them, and I use them quite a bit. But I don't love them. Making them doesn't necessarily bring me any joy. I have pink hair and I listen to the Sex Pistols, for pete's sake. After much thought I've decided that it's time for a change. Yes, Sugar and Snails will be closing its virtual doors this year. It's a bittersweet end, but it's for the best, because I think my next project will bring me a lot of happiness. So with great excitement I'd like to introduce you to my newest crafty business venture...
Zombie dolls! Oh, come on, you saw it coming. I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I love these little girls, and I know there's a niche market out there for them. I've always liked combining the cute and cuddly with the dark and macabre, and I think these are the perfect mix. Gross and snuggly at the same time! So you can now find me and my bloody little orphans at the Zombunny Orphanage for the Undead.

Each doll I make will be one-of-a-kind, with their own unique names and personalities. Most of them will be inspired by real people. Friends, family, acquaintances, strangers, people who picked on me in high school, no one is safe from being zombified. In fact, there's already a little me available for adoption. Can you guess which one it is?


Since listing my first three dolls the response has been overwhelmingly positive--in fact, Tara has already been adopted! To me, that's a definite sign that I'm doing the right thing. Thanks so much to Adam for helping me through the anxiety about my Etsy move, to Adam's sister-in-law for encouraging me to sell my zombies in the first place, to PixelbyPixel for helping me design my awesome logo and to Autumn for telling me my zombies are cute. Now I'm off to the fabric store to buy more felt!