Notes from A Cottage Industry

My Love-Hate relationship with Ikea.

Mmm hmmm. If you're lucky enough to live anywhere near an Ikea store, you may have the same kind of relationship with them.

I love the giant warehouse-y building filled to the ceilings with oh-so-affordable household items from potholders and coffee cups to sectional sofas and entertainment centers. (Oh! And the fact that you can smell those incredibly huge, gooey, cinnamon rolls baking as you approach the checkout!) I hate that the place is so flippin' ginormous that you almost need a gps to get around, and God help you if you ever get separated from your family or friends inside the world called Ikea, 'coz the place is so full of metal in the ceilings (it's a warehouse, after all) that you cannot get any sort of cell service to try and locate them ever again.

I know this first hand, you see. Yesterday I went to Ikea with Carter and Coen's Mama, just to pick up some curtains she needed for her guest room. Sounds simple enough, right?

Ya....Notsomuch.

You see, we found the curtains in a flash, and then my daughter decided she also wanted to get a set of sheets. So far, we're doing fine. While she went on the sheets aisle, I spotted bed pillows for ninety nine cents. Yes! I said, ninety-nine cents! (That is the magic that is Ikea, people!) At any rate, you can imagine just how close bed pillows were in  relation to the sheet department...right there, in view of each other.

Or so it seemed to me and my lil' buddy riding in the shopping cart.

I turned around from grabbing a few of the bargain bed pillows and...wait. Where did she go?

I looked around for her for a few more minutes. No luck. I tried calling her cell phone. No service. I then attempted texting. Nada. Carter tried hollering for his Mama. Nope. No Mama around the bedding department.

I decided Carter and I should do the sensible thing and just stay put, right there in the bedding department. (after all, we were shopping with my most naturally sensible minded child...) we waited some more.

Finally, after attempting many more cell phone calls, and standing on my tippy-toes trying to find my missing shopping buddy, and chatting with the two Ikea guys who were up on a ladder hanging lighted lanterns in the bedding department, I...gave...up.

I was truly beginning to wonder how this day was going to end. The value of a ninety nine cent pillow no longer felt like a big deal. I decided that this store was just too big. and too full of...stuff. I pushed my cart full of pillows, a pair of curtains, and a two year old around the corner through the drapery department and through more home goods, and finally...finally, out to the check out area. I checked my phone. Cell phone service at last!

Moments later, Carter and his very-frazzled-almost-to-the-point-of-losing-her-sense-of-humor Gramma Cupcake were reunited with his Mama. It turned out that my daughter hadn't thought I'd stay put in bedding, and so, frustrated herself, she wandered (and wandered and wandered....) around looking for us.

Go figure.

Welcome to my new blog-land home!

This post was due to launch early this morning, but some internet woes prevented me....
Oh well.
Happy May Day, and welcome to my new blog address!
I'm still working on getting organized (A big shocker to none of you, I know.) around here on the new blog address, but I was beginning to think I'd never get up the nerve to move entirely if I waited until everything was in place, so...I picked the date and here I am.
If you look you will find that my blog roll is now on a secondary page (see the link up near the top...) and when you click on it, you will then see that I haven't moved too many blogs over yet....I am working on it, day by day, and I am determined to get things wrapped up here within the next few weeks!
Also, please bear with me as I get used to Blogger verses Typepad. Just so you know, I was perfectly happy over at Typepad, but I admired my friend Kristen's Blog look (Isn't it nice? And she's just so witty and tells it lie it is.) and so I decided to go with her Blog Designer. Designer blogs was happy to do my blog makeover, but they don't work with Typepad, so... here I am.
If you haven't already, please feel free to follow me on FaceBook or Twitter, over there on my sidebar.
Also, since my blog is new, I have to start a whole new "Followers" box, so feel free to join in over there too!

**edited on February 23, 2012 to add: I've moved BACK to Typepad...for good!**

ANOTHER move.

...and thank God, this time I won't be having to pack any boxes, 'coz...........my blog is moving! The big move will happen Sunday, May 1st. (You'll simply be redirected with a link to click to take you to my new-and-improved-and-oh-so-cute blog...) I'm pretty tickled with the way it's turning out, and I can't wait to share it with you!

 Actually, not only will you see a new look on my blog, but my entire business..my etsy shop, my business cards, price tags (not 100% sure on price tag colors yet, by the way...)... everything is going to have a fresh new appearance.
Right now I am trying to decide between two looks for my new business cards...but I am having trouble getting the colors to be exactly what I want, and little stuff like this makes me over-the-moon-crazy-nuts. Seriously, I am a complete spaz when it comes to making sure things are centered, and colors are matching or what-have-you. (Are you like that?)

Anyway, it's coming along, and I'm excited to share it all with you this Sunday..so stay tuned!

 **Edited on February 23, 2012 to add** I've moved my blog BACK here to Typepad!

Don't forget about the jingle contest!

How'd you like the chance to win some cash? Well, there is still time!

Mmm hmm. I thought so. Check out my review blog to get the scoop and enter...Good Luck!

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT.

Spring is sprung, at last.

Just in time for the Easter weekend, we're experiencing some actual-honest-to-God spring-time weather here in the Pacific Northwest, and it feels oh-soooooooo-good! I've been busy here painting things for my booth, and the window display, and for the upcoming BarnHouse show all outside in my eensy-weensy backyard.

I've got my windows open, and my peach-mango candles burning.....mmmmm, I hope it's beautiful where you are too!

A cupcake egg-stravaganza as far as the eye can see.

I'm late with today's post because I was busy with, among other things, baking cupcakes for my daughter's LLS fundraiser. Baking 240 baby-cupcakes to be exact. (I know. You thought I might be getting prepared to take over the front window next Thursday at Camas Antiques...not to worry, I will be ready.)

The baking part actually went relatively fast; less than an hour and a half. The four colors of frosting on those 240 baby-cakes? Notsomuch.
Then, there was the time to load 'em into their lil' cartons....*sigh*

So sweet. And so yummy. Folks are gonna love them, and it's all for such a good cause.

An extra lil' blog post for Wednesday...and a contest!

How'd you like the chance to win some cash?

Mmm hmm. I thought so. Check out my review blog to get the scoop and enter...Good Luck!

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT.

My easy-peasy-tastes-like-scratch version of Coconut cake.

...with coconut cream filling, and coconut buttercream frosting, thankyouverymuch.

Many of you asked for my recipe from the coconut birthday cake yesterday, so...here it is, in it's all-too-easy entirety, and I guarantee that it will impress most anyone that enjoys coconut cake.

The Cake:

1 Duncan Hines white cake mix (follow complete baking directions, except...in addition to the egg whites, water and vegetable oil, add:

1 cup real mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Coconut flavoring

Bake as directed, cool (I like to put mine in the freezer, as it seems to keep it more moist and is much easier to cut to fill later)

While the cake is cooling....make coconut filling:

1 box Jello Brand coconut cream pudding mix (instant or cook and serve...your choice) Follow directions. Chill.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting:

1 Bag or 2 boxes sifted confectioners sugar

 1 cup margarine or butter (I use Imperial Brand myself...)

1 Tablespoon Coconut flavoring

milk to thin to desired consistency

2 cups toasted coconut (I brown mine in the oven on a foil covered cookie sheet at 425 degrees until brown- about 5 minutes, then stir and go 5 more minutes or so)

Beat all ingredients together except browned coconut.

To assemble:

Cut both 8 inch layers lengthwise, creating 4 layers. Place 1 layer on cake plate.  Pipe a fat bead of frosting around the edge of the layer, fill in with coconut pudding, add next layer, slather with frosting and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Add third layer, repeat the bead of frosting and pudding, then top layer more frosting and top off with toasted coconut. No need to frost the sides of the cake..it's pretty enough as is.

See?

I told you it was easy.

 

The birthday celebrations continue...and a few affordable gift-y ideas.

Today we celebrated my first born daughter's birthday...with coconut cream cake.

Yup. Coconut cake with coconut cream filling and coconut frosting, then topped with toasted coconut. Too scrumptious for words, if I do say so myself. I know I shared in my last post that my budget is tight these days, and I share this because I don't think budget has anything to do with making things special. For example, we can make someones day by baking them a homemade cake (or pie, cookies, cupcake, rice crispy treat, whatever...you fill in the blank with what you know your special someone likes..)and decorate it with a home made banner or flag. As for big-impact-for-little-cash gift ideas...well, again, all it takes is a little thought. I took photos of my Rock n' Roll Buddy's grown kids and framed them in old frames I had stashed in my workroom for a present...it was virtually a free gift, as all it took was some time. My pal that was up visiting from the Biggest Little City when her birthday arrived..well, I designed a lil' free blog for her (she is a teacher and runs her own Day Camp on some of her weeks off from year round teaching) along with a homemade gift certificate for blogging support-help from me....the ideas are endless. Things like babysitting for a friend to have a date night with her hubbs, a delivered homemade dinner, pet sitting, errand running, or even a a pedicure given by you. (I was a licenced cosmetologist way back about, oh... a million years ago...it still comes in handy at times.)

I'd LOVE to hear your ideas for thoughtful-yet-oh-so-cheap gifting ideas...please, do share!!!

Birthday decorations that won't break the bank, but WILL look like a million bucks.

Most of us are on budgets these days. Even people lucky enough to still have good paying jobs are dealing with the ever rising cost of gasoline and groceries. I've realized that I am having to live more creatively than ever before in order to still enjoy living my charmed life on a shoestring. Case in point...

Three birthdays within seven days,(One of my dearest friends from the biggest little city who coincidentally was up for a visit, my rock n' roll buddy, and my first born daughter!) and I wanted everyone's birthday to be special for them. You know, birthdays only come once a year, so they should be special. With a little thought, some scraps of paper and a little time, I had created lots of little touches that made the birthday clebrations fun. I thought I'd share them with you so that if you feel so inclined, you can make someone's day special too.

First of all, I made a fabulous Beatle inspired "You say it's your BIRTHDAY" banner that worked for all three of my birthday people. 

Another fun idea is to make a custom gift tag. I took the opportunity to borrow an old family photo my rock n' roll buddy had when he wasn't looking. I took it home and made a copy on my printer (never use an original photo for this!) and cropped the picture to become part of my gift tag on his presents. I matted the picture copy to piece of scrap book paper. I added a second tag to coordinate, and seriously, it took all of three minutes....the best part was that he loved the tag nearly as much as the gift, and he was surprised to think I had managed to borrow his old family photo, which made it all the more special. One more bit of fun was this lil' flag I made. You know I love flags on birthday cakes, pies...whatever...so this time I made my rock n' roll buddy his most favorite treat and took them down to his office.(By the way, I think his office mates enjoyed them as much as he did...)
Oh, yes. The fabulous lil' button adorned flag made the rice crispy treats a hit, taking them from ordinary to extraordinary! Stay tuned...Monday I'll share a few more birthday ideas!

 

The big question of color.

With a couple of actual spring-like weather days this past weekend, I am really feeling oh-so-ready for flowers, and Easter, and...well, some color.

And that goes double for my booth space at Camas Antiques.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the weathered, shabby, soft shades of creamy whites and ivories, but after this very long, very gray, record-breaking-rain-amounts kind of winter, a little pop of pastel color is just so......refreshing.

And invigorating.

And cheerful.

I am aching to paint an entire vignette of items Robins egg blue, or a vintage peachy-pink...but I am still a whole lot little bit concerned that I am in the minority here on wanting some color. I am not sure I should take the risk. I sure as heck don't care to have a pile of colorful vintage items staring back at me week after week in my space, only to have to re-paint them a pale shade creamy white down the road, you know?

So tell me....Are you feeling the same way? Are you longing for a splash of color, or are you still happy with the paleness of washed out woods and fabrics?

This inquiring mind wants your input, please!

Blooming cupcakes and more on the lil' flutter-bys.

The lil' bouquet of edible flowers came out nicely and the butterflies were a perfect finishing touch!

The butterflies were easy to do. Once I made the pattern, I simply laid a piece of parchment paper (available on the aisle with the aluminum foil at the grocery store) on top of the pattern and then piped out the main color of my butterflies...
I then filled another parchment bag with the darker color frosting and piped the outline and details. I let them dry for several hours and they were ready to be placed on my cupcakes. For those of you that are interested in learning how to create the sweet lil' flowers, as well as the recipe for making the butterflies, I have added several new pages, with complete step-by-step instructions to the booklet that accompanies my "Make it Special- Cookies and Cupcakes" DVD kit. You can order it here.

I've linked this post to Metamorphesis Mondays from Naps on the Porch. Check out LOTS of other great ideas by clicking here.

A lil' Pre-Easter cupcake fun for a really good cause.

The favorite Auntie is fund-raising for Leukemia, (and gearing up for a race this June!) and we are baking some Easter love and selling it to friends as part of the fund-raising efforts.

Mmmm hmm. It turns out that my babycakes are just the perfect size to fit onto these adorable pink and periwinkle blue pastel egg cartons that we found online! This first batch was a prototype, and I do think I'll tone down my colors just a teensy bit, but over all, I am loving the idea..what do you think?

Flutter-bys.

Can you guess what this sketchy home made pattern is for?

I betcha can't.

Well....I'm working on a cupcake order for a friend that is hosting a bridal shower and she is going with a spring-time theme. I thought I'd do the cuppy-cakes all up like flowers, with a few solid ones mixed in, but I wanted to add something a little more unexpected.

The unexpected part will be sweet lil' butterflies! I'm making them with Royal Frosting this morning, so they will be nice and dry (like candy) and ready to place on a few select cupcakes.

I'll be sharing the finished product once the cupcakes are all frosted, but for now, I couldn't help but tease you with a teeny tiny peek at my homemade patterns! (Oh! I am also adding a few lady bugs to the mix....)

Answers to a few often-asked questions.

Besides comments here on my blog and through FaceBook, I get quite a few private emails each and every week, and I love reading them all. It makes the world a much smaller...and friendlier place.

Many of them ask me the same questions....so...I thought I'd simply address the most-asked questions, in no particular order for you here.

What print program do you use?

I use Printshop by Broderbund for most everything from lil' flags and my business cards to banners and posters. It's a really easy, affordable program, but a bit limited...great for non-techie's like myself.

Is your Camas Antique's buddy your sweetheart?

I laugh every time I am asked this question.

No. I am not sure how this confusion began, since I shared, long ago. (here.) My Camas Antiques buddy is very near and dear to me, but his heart definitely belongs to Larry.

How do you stay so positive all the time?

Um...I don't. I just don't write about my mini (many!) periodic melt downs and pity parties. Seriously, who would want to read that?

I try (let me stress that word..try) to keep the head-light approach to the daily challenges life tosses my way..(you know, look only as far ahead as your headlights can see at night)..that being said, my nearest and dearest friends and family endure my oh-my-Gawd-how-am-I-gonna-get-through-this-and-why-oh-why-did-this-latest-setback-happen-to-me-moments (some more than others I am afraid...and you know who you are.)

How do you do your decoupage with the old book pages?

I share my technique here. It's easy, easy, eeeeasy. Oh, and you can buy liquid starch at places like WalMart.

Where do you get all that energy and how do you get by on so little sleep?

No clue.

Okay, my best guess would be that perfect mix of stressed-and-kinda-scared-coz-I-just-looked-at-my-bank-account-balances-again-and-now-I-am-wondering-what-my-tomorrow-might-look-like, and Pepsi Max. (By the way, I do not really recommend this combo. I know many, many of you are in the same boat as me. If you have a solution for me..please, do share it!)

The plain and simple truth to this one is that I used to go to bed by 9:30 pretty much every night when I was married and I slept like a rock.

I haven't slept well since becoming single. I do sleep much better than I used to (Man oh man, looking back, the first eight months or so I think I slept maybe two hours a night, if that, and it was broken up into twenty minute cat naps all night.) I just sleep so much better when there is someone else in the bed, and so I pile all the bed pillows (I have oodles of shams and bed pillows on my bed when it's made up) in the shape of a body on the "other" side of my bed when I hop into bed at night. Not sure why I continue to do it, as it doesn't really seem to help a lot, but it does add a sense of weight to that other side of the bed.

Can you give me tips on how to go about getting into an Antique Mall, and what kind of money can a girl make doing this?

Let's break this into two parts.

First off, The easy part of getting into an Antique Mall...you just ned to find a mall you feel like matches your style somewhat, and find out about booth prices (or getting on a waiting list for a booth) from someone at the counter. My friend Deb has more infop on this hot topic here.

Making an actual living doing this...hmmm Well, I do not honestly know anypone doing only a booth space, making a living. I know many vendors that also do shows (So much fun, but a lot of hard work!) or have booth spaces in more than one mall, or that work at a day job part or full time to supplement.

I also have to be honest here and say that very nearly all of my booth friends are either married, or live with a partner, so, if you are not goign to be the sole support of your family, yes, you can do a nice job of bringing in some income, and loving every minute of it!

As for how to set up and wow folks with your Antique Mall Booth, check out this link with more info from the display Guru herself (along with her oh-so-amazing hubby, Bob!)

Where can I get your Robin's Egg Blue Paint Recipe?

It's on my side bar...here. I get it mixed up in "eggshell" finish, in the lightest base color-way.

I think those are the most asked questions...if I missed any, let me know in the comment area and I will be happy to answer!

The new front window display at Camas Antiques.

The girls at Brocanteur Vintage have got a definite eye for display and detail. One look at their booth and you know this....

They've just taken over the big front window at Camas Antiques, and they are doing a fun lil' Easter-time discount idea.

Pretty clever, huh?
...I love. it. all.

 
Industrial, rustic, weathered and worn...everything goes together in a vintage-y kind of way. I love it all, (even though my own personal taste for my home leans a little more toward the refined side.) and I find it a very refreshing change.

April fool.

You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm.                                                                                      Colette (1873 - 1954), in New York World-Telegram and Sun, 1961

Happy, silly, April Fool's Day, twenty-eleven, my friends....from me and the Moose.