One Pin at a time

I am slowing working on completing some of my many Pinterest pins and here are a few!

I saw this idea done on paper and decided it would be fun to make it into shirts.  Aria and her cousin Jordin had lots of fun making these and they loved having their hands painted!!!
 

 With Christmas just around the corner I decided to make some salt dough ornaments with Aria. I was going to make lots of hand print ornaments but she's growing like a weed and her handprints are huge so we made 2 and cut out lots of other ornaments with Dad's help!  Aria loved cutting them out but her placement on the dough needs some work as some poor gingerbread men ended up with  no legs and arms :).I used this Salt dough recipe but I dryed them twice as I didn't feel they were fully dried after 4hrs.

 Aria gets very serious when painting

 Need little paint cups? I use the numerous medicine cups I have collected over time! They are perfect for little hands!!

Some of our painted ornaments!  Once they are dry I'm going to spray a clear sealant on them to finish them up!

Monday Munchies: pizza with pizazz!!!

For thanksgiving this year I decided that turkey was not going to be on the menu, and that instead we were going to have pizza.... but with pizazz. Andy was game for it and we had some people from church over who liked the idea as they were having their big thanksgiving meal on Friday. Some weeks ago I had a fig, prosciutto, and goat cheese pizza at a restaurant and decided I was going to try making my own. I looked online to find a recipe that had all the ingredients that the one at the restaurant did...but couldn't find what I was looking for so I made it up:)
You'll need the following:
Pizza dough
Prosciutto about a 3rd of a pound
Mozzarella
Dried figs sliced up-- about 5 figs
Arugula
Lemon juice
Goat cheese
Thyme

Roll out the dough, and preheat the oven to 450. Put the mozzarella and dried figs on the pizza and put in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the crust is done. While the pizza is cooking tear the prosciutto up into smaller pieces and take about 2 handfuls of arugula and toss it Ina some lemon juice and about a 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. When the pizza is cooked, take out and put the prosciutto on top and then the arugula. After the meat and arugula have been added, crumble some goat cheese on top. Let cool and you have a great pizza!

The other pizza we tried was mother copy from a restaurant, but not the same one! This one was a spicy chicken Thai pizza. You'll need the following:
Pizza dough
Peanut sauce-- bought from the grocery store
Cooked chicken-- canned or rotisserie
Shredded carrot--1 big one
Bean sprouts
Cilantro
Green onion

Roll out the dough thin and put the peanut sauce and the chicken on top. Cook few to ten minutes at 450 , or until the crust is cooked. Meanwhile chop up three stalks of green onions and toss with the carrots and sprouts. Add fresh cilantro as well. Once the pizza is done, top it with the sprout mixture and enjoy! The spice is in the peanut sauce.

It was fun making gourmet pizzas! Both were relatively easy and super tasty:) we'll be making them again for sure. Nathania also has a great salmon pizza we tried that she will add later!
Are there any fun pizzas you've tried lately?

Happy cooking!!!!
Sarah

Monday Munchies: Enchiladas

 

I participate in Foodie PenPals with the Lean Green Bean. My penpal, Michelle, sent me some green salsa and suggested making some green enchiladas with a suggested recipe. I’ve never really used green salsa, so I went for it.

Heres what I did:

I used cooked ground beef that I had on hand, about cup and a half.

I added a generous handful of spinach, chopped up

I put in some goat cheese—about a ¼ of a cup

Chedder cheese, as much as you want

I chopped up a little bit of orange pepper— ¼ of the pepper

 

Mix this all up in a bowl. Michelle uses pepperjack and ricotta, as well as some Mexican seasoning. I used what was in my cupboards.

I put the mixture in some flour tortillas and then put in a casserole dish. I pour the jar of salsa over the rolled tortillas and then added some chees on top. Michelle gets fancy with some jalapeños…but I didn’t have any!

Put the casserole dish in the oven at about 350, until the cheese is bubbly and browned slightly.

This was soooo good.  Michelle had sent me the salsa from Trader Joes, which is not a place I can go to…we don’t have one in the state…boo! So I will have to find an alternative here in Anchorage. Andy said the only thing he would change is to add some chopped onions( he would eat an onion like an apple…that’s how much he loves onion!).

Try it and let me know how you like it!

Happy Cooking!

Sarah

We've done it...

We've joined Facebook that is! We would love to have you "like" us! We'll try to update and post pictures often!
We're under Sew Dutch Sisters!

As for those other two....twitter and pintrest...we haven't made that leap yet!

 

Sarah

Numero Dos

Craft Fair that is.... last Saturday we had our second Craft fair of the season. What's nice about this on is that you get to set up the night before, therefore allowing more sleep in the AM! So we set up the night before and still managed to forget things in the AM....like a camera, and other things. Craft Fairs can be funny things. We sold the same things as the previous sale, but different things were popular. We sold out of Christmas Tree ornaments quite quickly, but barely sold mittens...but I'm not complaining! Overall it was a successful day. We had fun, we sold a fair amount of things, and we have there weeks to get ready for the next one!

 

 

The above picture is what happens when you're slap-happy tired setting up  your booth! But good advertisement right?

 

Happy crafting!

Sarah

Craft Fair #1

WOO HOO, we survived craft fair 1 of 4...that's right I said 4! Somehow Sarah convinced me we should add one more fair as we were marginally(just marginally!!!) better prepared this year with product than last year :).  Thankfully only 2 of them are back to back Saturdays so I'm not freaking out yet.  While our declaration to meet up once a week starting this summer to work on product didn't happen (no surprise to our husbands) we did manage to meet up enough to not have to pull any all nighters this year!!!
 

We sold baby slippers, mittens, headbands, hairpins, Christmas tree ornaments, baby balls, dog toys and wreaths, all made from felted wool sweaters. We, meaning Sarah, changed up our display for a more rustic look this year and I have to say I like it better than last yrs. Much easier for people to get to all the product. It wasn't as busy as last year but we were kept busy!  Here's hoping our other craft fairs go as well!!

Happy Crafting
Nathania

Craft Fair Prep: Day of Sale Reminders

On the day of your Sale you’ll probably be pretty excited! We were…and we forgot a whole bunch of stuff. Uh-oh! So here are some things you won’t want to forget!

Day of Sale Reminders!

1. Money, Money, Money, Money!! Don’t forget to go to the bank the day before and get a whole bunch of ones, fives, and tens. Have a few twenties—but those will probably come with the day, so don’t worry too much about it. But seriously, go the day before. We forgot about this our first sale….and the bank didn’t open until after the sale had started….husbands to the rescue! We remembered for the next oneJ

2. Place to Write Checks: Have a decent place to write checks and a pen. Once again this was a rookie mistake of ours. I think this year we’ll have a clipboard. Also, have a sign that spells out the name of the person who you want the checks made out to…with us it is paramount, cause Nathania and my last name sound nothing like they are spelled!

3. Storage: Both for the containers you bring your wares in, and your money. We stored our containers under the table…and had a pretty table cloth to go over it . Hide your mess…it’s worth it!  Also, figure out where you’ll put your money. We had a cigar box last year that was hidden. This year we’ll have aprons, but we’ll probably still put the big stuff in a safe location.

4. Chairs: Bring something to sit on during the lulls. It will be a long day…we had one chair…for our first one. SOOO not comfortable! Some places provide a chair, others don’t. Bring one or two just in case!

5. Food Glorious Food! Bring enough food to last the day…and beverages! That is unless you want to get the fair food…but it’s usually a hot dog and pop. Water is key…you’ll feel better if you bring some!

This concludes our Craft Fair Prep miniseries. Are there any questions? We would be more than willing to do another post answering questions!

Good Luck and Happy Crafting

Sarah

Craft Fair Readiness: Designing your Booth

3rd day of prepping...you ready? This is probably one of the most important aspects of selling your wares at a craft fair--designing your booth. Your booth is what draws people in. If it looks crowded, thrown together, or boring--you may not have as good of sales...and you're at the fair to sell stuff!

So, here we go:

Designing your booth

1. Think Out Your Booth: Think about your design ahead of time. Tape out your booth space, practice your set up. Make sure the ideas in your head work ahead of time. We had an idea, and then practiced it...and it didn't work...but we had time to change it because we tried it out ahead of time.

2. Utilize the Vertical: Most booth spaces aren't very big, usually just big enough to have a table or two. Just laying your stuff on the table doesn't really attract people to the booth. Using vertical gives you more room to display, shows off your stuff in a more attractive manner, and draws attention to your booth.

3. Use a Unique Way to Display: We used a Christmas tree, some tree branches and an old suitcase to display our wares. This gave our display a unique look. Don't get me wrong, bookcases/shelves have their place, but having a unique/different way to show of your stuff will set you apart. Think outside the box...it'll pay off.

4. Decorate for the Season: Some craft fairs have contests for their vendors. We won the most Festive Booth award at one of our shows last year. Getting into the mood at a Christmas show makes this more fun...but also may give you some good reasons to use different things to use to displays things.

5. Tell the World Who You Are: Put up a sign, have some business cards, or contact information. People like to know how to get a hold of you afterwards...or to look you up the next year. This is especially important if you're wanting to grow your business more!

6. Signage, Signage, Signage: Don't forget to label the price of your items with a sign. We totally forgot about this our first craft fair and we had to put up ugly signs...yah sure better than nothing, but definitely detracting from the booths look. Some people don't want to ask for a price...so they'll just walk away.
7. Easy Access: Design your booth with accessibility in mind. Make it so your customers won't get bogged down when they are looking at your stuff. We didn't think about this our first craft fair and our booth got bogged down. Easier it is to access...the more people are able to look at your stuff!

Happy Crafting!

Sarah

Craft Fair Prep: Find your Sale!

Here's round two of our Craft Fair Prep mini-series. After deciding what to sell, you need to

Find Your Sale

1. Pick a Fair You're Familiar With: To start out, we pick fairs we had been to and enjoyed. Knowing the type of vendors, size of the crowd(roughly), size of the venue, etc. can give you an idea of what you're getting yourself into.

2. Determine How Many Fairs to Do: Think ahead of time of how many you want to do. Sure it would be great to do 6 or 7 fairs...but not too realistic. You have to think about the time frame, taking into consideration how much inventory you may have to re-supply in a week.  Cost is also a factor in determining how many you want to do.

3. How Much Money Do You Have to Start Up? Craft fairs are not cheap. Most worth registering for...at least here in AK...are $85 and up. On top of your costs for your craft...consider how much you would be able to recover at a fair, and then that can help determine which fairs to register for. Also, keep in mind that you may find a fair that is pretty cheap, may not have very many people coming to it...so you won't sell much.

4. Plan Ahead: The fall fairs up here begin registration in June or July. August for sure. That means the really popular fairs fill up fast. Some require you to jury and those are usually 2-3 months before the fair. Also, if you're going to do a fair...you should be working on your inventory...or you may not have enough stuff, or you'll be pulling some all nighters!

5. Jury or Not: Some fairs require the vendors to go before a jury or send in items and /or pictures of the items to be judged 2-3 months in advance (hence planning ahead). We've only done one fair that required us to do this. Man were we nervous. We had  images of going into a room with 15 people sitting behind a table, with us having to do a presentation...yah not so much. We went in and sat a table with one person from the committee, who looked at our stuff, asked questions, took a few pictures and sent us on our way. We were notified a few days later. This year we were invited without having to jury. The point of this story is that you may have to jury to get into the fair you want to. Each fair has different rules...but juries aren't scary:)
6. Electrifying: On all the applications we've ever filled out...they ask if you need electricity. It usually cost 10-15 dollars extra for a booth with electricity. Also, those booths are in short supply so if you need electricity...sign up early!

Hope this is helping, now go find your fair:)

Sarah

Craft Fair Prep: Deciding What to Sell

New Mini-series....and this one I'm actually going to keep up!

What I thought I would do is a little series on prepping for a craft fair or bazaar...why they are called two different things I'm not sure, they mean the same thing...but I digress...

back to the topic at hand:

Craft Fairs!

I'm going to cover the following topics:

Deciding what to Sell/Inventory

Finding and Registering for your Sale

Designing your Booth

Things to Remember the Day of the Sale

I will also do a day of answering questions if anyone has any....

So here we go with round one!

Deciding What to Sell and Inventory

Before you find a sale you need to decide what to sell. Determining specific items it crucial. There are few areas that you especially want to look at.

1. Is it Something People Want? We didn't even look to sell anything at a fair until we realized that people wanted the items we were selling. I sold a whole bunch of mittens at school before we thought about a fair. We knew heading into the fair that there was a market for our items, which is what you want. Going into a fair that you've spent money on....you want to know that they will sell:)

2. Price Point: Don't charge and arm and a leg...you won't sell anything. But...make sure you're making some profit on your items. Take into consideration what you would pay for your item, how much time you put into the items, and what your materials cost.

3. Some Variety is Good...Too Much is eh: You're gonna want to have a measure of variety, but if you have too much, your booth is going to look cluttered. Personally the booths that have too much stuff are ones that are some that I avoid. I like to see booths that are cohesive, presented well, and there isn't too many different things. Plus having a focus makes getting an inventory together a lot easier.

4. Inventory, Inventory, Inventory! Once you've decided what to make....make a lot of those items. I would advise doing so right after you send in your application...or to be honest 4 months ahead of time. We were really bad at this last year and it resulted in 2-3 all nighters, which was not fun at all! We've done much better this year! Selling out of stuff at a show is great...but if it happens at 10 in the morning, the people in charge may not be too happy. And you're not usually allowed to take down your booth early either. Make more than you think you'll need. It'll pay off!

5. Keep a Inventory Sheet/Log: Another area we may have learned about the hard way. Keeping track of how much you have will give you piece of mind and keep you on track for know what you have and don't have for your show. 

Up next week...Picking your Sale!
Let us know if you have any questions:)

Sarah

Tutorial Tuesday: scarf

This is my friend Alex...isn't she pretty? Alex and her husband Peter came up to visit this summer. We had a great time seeing them again. It had been wayyy too long. Well, Alex is a fashionista. She has fantastic taste in clothing. I on the other hand do not...I'm a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl...but I do love me a good scarf to dress things up. Well Alex was wearing this scarf when she came up here and I loved it. It has snaps so you can wear it in so many different ways. I asked her where she got it...and of course it was at a store we don't have here...and it was way out of my budget.

What do you think I did?

That's right...I measured her scarf and made my own. For a grand total of $7. 

Anybody else wanna make one? Good...here's how:

You'll need about 2 yards of stretchy-knit fabric. I used a striped jersey. 

Know what is even better? I couldn't find any striped jersey at Joann's here...which is our one fabric store that sells anything besides cotton. I found the exact fabric I needed at none other than...Value Village! This should be no surprise to you at all!

My scarf was 68 inches long. I cut the piece of fabric in half lengthwise...about 32 inches wide.

After you get it the length you want it to be, fold over each end twice and pin in place. I had about 1 inch, folded over twice. 

Sew into place.

You don't need to sew the edges lengthwise. The jersey doesn't fray. Even on Alex's really expensive scarf they weren't finished.

Over lap your two ends, and mark where your snaps are going to be. My snaps are 2 1/2 inches apart.

I used 15 small snaps from Joann's, and I followed the directions of attaching the snaps from the back of the package.

Snaps are actually really easy to use...this was the first time I had used them and it wasn't difficult.

Now if you're thinking that this is too complicated you're wrong. You need to be able to sew in a straight line, measure and yield a hammer. Easy peasy!

You should make one!

Sarah

Linked To:

Foodie Pen Pals

I participated in the Lean Green Beans Foodie Pen Pals this month!

It was so fun and I loved the package I got from Linda over at www.getlindagetfit.com

She was super sweet and sent me some great things from Florida...talk about a long ways, I think Florida may be the farthest state from AK!

The package arrived and I was so excited! I love getting snail mail...it makes my day! I love checking our mailbox...but am usually disappointed with bills and junk mail. Sigh...

Back to what Linda sent:

She sent:

Mustard and Hot Sauce...Gator Sauce--super spicy, just the way I like it

Her own homemade vanilla--crafty lady!

Some Bread sticks...delish with pasta sauce

A vegan hamburger mix---still have to try it!

and the most delectable banana bread ever--it was gone it two days!

and the recipe for the best banana bread

 See how cute the banana bread was? Yah...didn't stay that way for long...it was in my belly!

Here's the vegan burger patty mix...gonna try it this week!

Thanks again Linda!

I love free things...

I love to get things for cheap and free is even better! Like this box of apples I passed on my way to a playdate.  I slowed down, almost stopped but passed on by...why? Call it a momentary lapse in judgement and I was kicking myself by the time I got to our playdate especially as my friend was making spiced crabapples and her house smelled delicious!! As luck would have it they were still there on our way home, woo hoo!!  I was pretty stoked and decided to make applesauce out of these little gems! 

I must have been really enthusiastic as my husband even gave me a hand and we had it made in no time!  I have no idea what kind of apples these are, just that they are alaskan grown and a tad on the tart side. We added some brown sugar and cinnamon and it turned out rather tasty, just a hint of tartness.  Not bad for our first try!  I have some left and I think I may add some store bought apples and see if that will help cut the tartness more as I don't really want to add a whole lot of sugar.

I was so happy to have a reason to use this strainer thingamagig, it will survive the cupboard yearly purge once more!

Taking a bath

All clean and ready to eat!

Nathania

Can I get a little help from my Friends?

Hi All!

I have something I'd like a little help with...if you're so inclined.

I work at a school with kids who are lower on the economic scale. Many of our students will never travel outside our state, and the exposure to new and or different places around the world is limited. One of our 5th grade teachers is trying to collect postcards from around the world, to ignite discussions about different  places--and this is where I need your help!

Would you be willing to send our students a postcard?

This doesn't have to have much information...just your name and a hello! If you want you can include a return address...the students are working on special "Alaskan" thank yous, which you will receive if you include a return address. But it's not necessary.

If you're willing...please email me and I will provide the schools address.

Thanks!

Sarah

Random Acts of Craftiness: Backgammon Anyone?

I found this blog that I really like...his-and-hers-blog.blogspot.com...Erin, the "Her" of the blog makes me laugh all the time. Anyways, she has this link up party each month called:

(click to check out the other cool crafts!)

This is actually the first month...but back to whats what...each month she announces something that you have to use in your craft. And its got to be original...no copying from Pintrest here!

This month it was game pieces. And we couldn't use scrabble. We could manipulate the pieces anyway we wanted.

I went to good ol' Value Village a couple of time scouring the game aisle and couldn't think of a thing, until I found this beauty:

5 bucks and she was mine. Now, I have absolutely not a clue how to play Backgammon, but have always been drawn to the pattern it makes. I remember playing with the set my parents had when I was little...mostly making patterns with the pieces:) 

I ripped her apart...I wanted the the board pattern.

I also ripped off the front velvety fabric...and the pleather.

and then I got stuck!

I thought about making the following:

a pouch

a bunting/banner

a book cover

scrapping the whole thing

coasters

a rocket to the moon

I tried the pouch...it didn't work

I didn't have any books to cover

I didn't want to give up

coasters are boring and I have too many

I didn't think my rocket ship would last.

so...I cut circles out of the backgammon board, velvety fabric and pleather...and started making the bunting....which would have gone into the:

“What the $*%#@ is That?!”

Random Acts of Craftiness Fail Club

but I persevered

and

made

a

wreath!

Which I really like, but my door is purple...so it is currently searching for a home in my house.

The overall effect is pretty snazzy in my opinion, and it only cost five bucks!

I really like this challenge because it's super easy to fall into a copy craft mode and this made me think outside the box!

Be sure to go and check out the other creations...just follow the button up top!

Sarah

Who doesn't love Elmo?

I can't believe my little rambunctious girl is 2 already!!! Where does time go?! In my case it's taken up by trying to keep up with my little runner!  She is a spitfire and is such a blessing in my life!  Happy Birthday Aria!!

Aria loves Elmo so I decided to try my hand at an Elmo cake I found on Pinterest. It turned out pretty good minus the red frosting...do you know how hard it is to get Elmo red frosting?  I had to make do with a maroonish red :(, but Aria however could have cared less and recognized Elmo right away which was my goal!!

Aria enjoying a piece of Elmo's head!

RUNNING!!!!

Nathania

Some of my latest projects...finally

Here are some of my latest projects...

I purchased a little dresser for $5 at a garage sale eons ago and the plan was to redo it for Aria's room. Instead it languished in purgatory, I mean my garage, after receiving it's initial coat of new white paint. In a sudden fit of crafty energy I decided to get the poor dresser out of purgatory and into a nicer location. I modged podged some cute scrapbooking  paper onto the drawer fronts and added some IKEA knobs that I had laying around.

Small note to self: after modge podging said paper onto chosen surface, do not apply top coat right away as it makes it impossible to get paper bubble free...one SHOULD put modge podge to the back of the paper, place it on said surface, in this case drawer fronts and smooth out all the bubbles and let it dry.  :-). To ensure the paper stayed flat and bubble free I put the drawers paper side down on a flat surface with weight inside the drawer and let them dry overnight. I then applied 3 coats to the top of the paper and once it was dry I drilled holes for the knobs and VOILA it was done!

 I love how it turned out and decided it would go great in my craft room!

My next project was my poor craft room...or junk room as it has turned into!!!

Sarah came over one day in a whirlwind and declared Operation Clean-up Craft Room had commenced...

Before

After

She even got me this awesome chair and footstool to create a little corner just for me to relax in sans child toys and household mess!  She also made the pictures hanging on the wall. Sisters are the best!!  Especially mine!! Love you Sarah!  Doesn't the dresser look nice?

My final project was this coat rack. I had purchased some cool old door knobs in Michigan years ago and spent a long time trying to find some more. Then for my birthday one year my awesome friend Lisa bought me some!!  I was soo excited!  With some help from my husband I got the knobs spaced evenly (I may have issues with measuring) up on the board and then maybe months later, I know, I know I'm horrible at completing anything in a timely fashion, I got it up on the wall. I love the character it adds to the entryway!

What have you been working on?

Nathania