Notes from A Cottage Industry

Votive candle holders; my newest obsession.

Who knew simple glass cylinders could have so many uses?

I have about three dozen or so of these votive candle holders. (They cost under a dollar if you shop around, and are even cheaper when you buy them in bulk online.)

Of course they are wonderful for their intended use, on a dining or coffee table, all lit up, a sea of glowing canlelight.  Even better though, they are make fabulous little individual serving containers for appetizers, desserts, and treats.

I shared my sweet little m & m Valentines shooters a couple of weeks ago.
They also work great holding bite sized brownie sundaes, or mini banana puddings (how about topped with a nilla wafer and a sweet dollup of whipped cream?)

Votive holders are also perfect used as nut cups, and make a memorable impression when used to serve little tomato soup shooters, topped with a teeny tiny triangle wedge of a grilled cheese sandwich. (Can you picture that? Fabulous.)

I have to say that my current favorite way to use these great little containers is for veggies and ranch dressing (double dipping allowed, 'coz you don't have to share with anyone!)If you want to get really fancy, add a bit of jute or ribbon around the votive, as added adornment.
I bet there are a million ideas for votive holder uses that I haven't even thought of yet. (Have you got a use to share? Do tell!)

Did you hear me squealing this weekend?

Maybe you did... and, I'm still pretty tickled today.

I got a sweet lil' write up in Woman's World  magazine!
I was thrilled to be contacted by them one day out of the blue, and this past weekend, when the issue hit the newstands, I was thrilled once again.

Thank you, Jody, for giving me such a fabulous opportunity to share my work.

Weekly words to live by...

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything. Irish Proverb

(Shameless Gramma post, masquerading as...) Photography tips from an amateur picture-taker.

We spent last weekend in the biggest little city, seeing friends, my son and daughter-in-law,and those two precious grand babes! My daughter-in-law had the great idea to have me take some pictures of the family at a nearby park that has an old historic one room schoolhouse. That old schoolhouse turned out to be a perfect backdrop for our photo shoot.

Now, I do not claim to be any sort of expert on photographing people, but I think I do okay with posed shots. I have a Mac, and I use iPhoto to edit my pictures sometimes, or I use PicMonkey, which is a very easy to use free photo editing site.

Simple backgrounds are always best, I think. (see this simple stained door?)
If the backgound is too busy, it seems to take away from the main focus of the picture. The simple lines of the old doors on the schoolhouse and the white siding make for a perfect, calm backdrop, and my makes my subjects really stand out.

If I am not thrilled witht the backdrop, I can always crop the photo in really tight, and just get the subject, with virtually no bacground showing.
Speaking of cropping, the first thing I do with posed-people-pictures is crop them. I typically crop them to be 8 by 10 constraints, so if I want to get them printed (I always use Walgreens, because I can send them online and they are done in an hour, but you can use a home printer, or whatever...) they will fit nicely in a frame.

Once I crop the photo, I usually sharpen it up. Then, sometimes I change the finish. Here is the same photo from up top there, but in an antique finish.
I am putting this version in my new home office. (oh yes! I am in the midst of creating a wonderful space to work on all of my crafty-computer-y things...my bliss.)

Anyway.

Back to what I was talking about...photographing posed people.

Sometimes in a group shot, one person stands out, and you can crop the photo to now be a single....
How can you not love that face?! (Ooooh! I just wanna hug the stuffins out of him!)

Black and white is another nice way to go. I have ony black and white photos in my cubical at work, and I love the artsy look of them.
Lastly, I take a ton of photos when I  am trying to capture something. More is more in this case. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take 300 pictures, and while you may only end up with five good shots, you aren't out a dime. Just delete the bad shots and move on.

So, there you have it. Photo tips from someone that isn't a pro, but still manages to snag a few great shots.

Weekly words to live by.

Why stop dreaming when you wake up?

Cutie-Patootie Valentine tags

Who needs "Be Mine" when you can use a song lyric to get your message across?

Not your ordinary Valentine.

...for my extraordinary buddy at Camas Antiques, so that makes it kinda perfect, right?

My buddy's last name is Crawford, and when I found this vintage hanger, I grabbed it and put it away for a fun little Valentine's present.
I made the tag in my print program on my computer, and used a digi-stamp picture of a vintage hanger to carry out the theme.

I hope your Valentine's Day is anything but ordinary!

 

Oh-so-easy cupcake packaging.

One of my friends at work had a birthday last weeka nd I wanted to do a little something special for her. I keep unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer, and so I pulled one out, along with some pink frosting I had frozen in a tub as well.

After frosting the sweet little cuppy-cake, I put it in one of my clear cube boxes, and to make it look more festive, (and to make it so the cupcake wouldn't move around in the box) I sprinkled Valentine (red, pink, white)candy corn around the bottom of the cube.

I added a big fat ribbon and a home made tag.....viola'!

Instant party.

Little details, for Valentine's Day entertaining....or any day, for that matter.

We had our "Hearts And Crafts" Valentine party last Saturday,and I thought you might like to see a couple of the details that made the party fun. You can adapt these ideas for any event..birthdays, Christmas, Easter, or special dinner parties, or brunches.

Little details make everyone feel extra special. A simple name tag, done up in pretty colors, and tied to chair backs with multiple coordinating ribbons, makes a really bold (and fun!) impression on guests.

Likewise, a little surprise treat, like these m & m shooters, make a nice surprise at place settings. (I use simple votive candle holders for my shooters, by the way)
Taking it a step further, adding an oh-so-fun flag to your m & m shooter (Leave it to my four year old grandson to think of this..brilliant!)

Of course, I am a huge fan of banners...

,,,they always make your statement loud and clear.

What kinds of things do you do to add that element of surprise and charm to your table to make your guests (or family, or just you) feel special?

Please...Do share!

Weekly words to live by...

When you get right down to the root of the meaning of the word "succeed," you find that it simply means to follow through.      F.W. Nicole

Big news about a little something.

No, it's not another grandbaby.

It's kind of exciting though.

I went down to Camas Antiques a couple of weeks ago after work. You know, I have been feeling this creative stirring in my soul for a while now, and when I popped in the shop to visit with Clark one evening, it became clear that what I wanted...what I was longing for...was to get back into my vintage-booth-junkin' groove.

But not in a big-as-in-large way.

No. In a big-as-in-best-I-can-be way. I decided that what I might really-truly-maddly-deeply love was a small space.

Yeah.

So, a couple of days later, I headed back in to sweet lil' downtown Camas and talked with Joanne, the owner of Camas Antiques.

Be still my heart.

She gave me a fabulous built-in case along the wall.

My mind is absolutely reeling with ideas for displays and items, and junk, and all sorts of wonderfulness.

If you live nearby, pop on in and see my sweet lil' space. It's a slice of vintage heaven.

*sigh*

Somebody pinch me.

Vintage Valentine love.

My Rock n' Roll Buddy says that Valentine's Day is the ultimate Halmark holiday. He doesn't like the idea, or the pressure, of feeling that we have to buy an item to show our undying feelings of affection for our special someone, on a certain day of the year.

And, I agree.

Still, I'd have to say that Valentine's Day is about my most favorite holiday. Put aside the every-kiss-begins-with-Kay jewelry, the long-stemmed-deep-red roses marked up double (or triple) for the occasion, and the heart shaped boxes of 1000 calorie chocolates. Look at what this sweet day represents.

Love.

I mean, what is not to love about kisses, and romance, and warm fuzzy feelings, and..well...love? A day to commemorate how much we really care about our special someones. You gotta love that.

I've really been busy crafting up a lot of Valentines the past couple of weeks.
I think my most favorite so far are the ones I made with a tea-washed-vintage feel.

What do you think?

They're all available in my etsy shop, where you can simply open them up from an email, print and cut them, and be ready to have yourself (and your sweetheart) a pretty fabulous (and romantic) Valentine's Day.

Hearts and crafts for Valentine's Day.

Oh, how I do love Valentine's Day.

This year I'm having a party with some of my Grandsons. We're going to make some Valentines, and decorate some cookies and cupcakes, and we're going to have a very yummy supper filled with heart shaped goodies.

In preperation for the party, I made some fun paper decorations, and I set them up in my daughter's red kitchen as a practice run, so I could share pictures with you.

(What can I say? colored paper and pinking shears are my love language.)

Let's start with the sweet lil' invitation...
...and the Be Mine Banner...
....then I added some homemade flags. (So cute by everyone's place settings...
as well as loaded up in the vintage champagne bucket!)
I painted some nice big Hugs n' kisses letters (x's and o's.....) from the craft store..

and added name cards along with a cute little menu card.
I have a few more details to add to the table (little glass votives filled with m & m's, Valentine goodie bags...) that I am still gathering.

In the meantime, I have created a couple new e-kits so you can make these sweet decorations for your own party. They're in my shop now, and will arrive right in your inbox, ready to go, if you like. (Find the banner here, and the flags are here.)

Heart Breaker.

With Valentine's Day coming up, we just couldn't resist doing a photo Valentine with Grand-babe number six.

His Mama smooched him up and I took the photos.

Pretty danged cute, if I do say so myself.
My custom Valentines are on my etsy shop now...right here, if you'd like me to make some especially for you, with your photos, and custom wording, of course. (Delivered via email to your inbox, so you'll have them in plenty of time for Valentine's Day!)

Weekly words to live by...

Need I say more?