See and Sew: A Sewing Book For Children, By Tina Davis Book Review

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here. I just haven't been motivated as of late, but now that I will be making Christmas presents this year, I decided there's no better time to jump back in to craft blogging.

So last year I started working on a doll wardrobe for two people and their two dolls. I got halfway through the list of clothes I wanted to make before time ran out and then I stopped working on it completely. :-( So I've decided to work on the wardrobes again, and now I have four more dolls added to the madness. Fun! I'm also adding in some extras as well. So I want to document my work here as well as on my doll blog.

Now I want to try to do some hand-sewing with these doll clothes because I could get more control and details in the clothes, but I wanted to get a book on hand-sewing, and when I found See and Sew by Tina Davis I jumped at it after reading the reviews of adults finding this book helpful in hand-sewing as well as kids. I got it about two days ago and finally read through it today. Here's what I thought.

The one thing that caught my attention was the bright colors on the cover and the cute vintage art. I loved that the book was hardback as well, it added to that vintage feel, but I kind of wish that I had gotten the spiral-bound book. In fact I believe I bought the last hardback book on Amazon.com. When I first got the book and saw how big it was, I loved it and wanted to get the other two books by Tina Davis, one for cooking and one for gardening. But now I'm not so sure if I will do that, even for the cute vintage pictures.

The book has 7 chapters on actual sewing, the dos and don'ts, the techniques, etc. This is all for hand-sewing, by the way. In the first couple of chapters it teaches how to get ready for sewing by setting up a sewing basket or box, how to sew safely with techniques and when to get an adult involved if the person reading the book is a child, and how to begin with how long of thread to use and how to knot the thread. There are detailed illustrations to show how to do all of this.

The next two chapters talk about basic sewing and embroidery stitches. You will learn how to baste, sew  basic stitches, and hemming stitches, and decorative stitches. There are illustrations showing how to do each stitch with detailed explanations on how to do each as well as showing some alternatives for the stitches.

The next chapter is about how to sew on a button. I found this chapter pretty helpful as it taught how to sew on a shank button and how to sew on a non-shank button. It also teaches how to sew on snaps and hook and eyes, though this part is not really that detailed, but the pictures give you an idea of it.

After all the project pages, there is a chapter on finishes and trims. You will learn how to make pom-poms, tassels, and monograms on your finished projects. The pom-poms and tassels have a little more detail and description about them than the monogram section.

There are ten sewing projects in the book and one project on sewing on cards. Most of the projects are more for fun, at least in my opinion. Most are functional, but a lot made from felt and fleece because this a beginning sewing book and those two fabrics don't ravel. So for a child or beginner, this projects are perfect for them, but for someone a little more advanced or someone who wants to use different fabric, these projects may not be for you and you will want to try another book.

So what did I find wrong about this book? Well first of all, a lot of the information you can find in this book you can find either online or in a more detailed sewing book. So while the book is charming, if you are just looking for techniques to teach your child or you are learning on your own, then I would suggest just looking elsewhere.

The book keeps suggesting to have the patterns printed out on a copier. The thing about this that bothers me is that if you have the hardback like I do, you will have to force the book open to get it copied, possibly ruining the spine of the book.  Another thing is that in order to do the projects you have to go get the pattern copied and you have to size it up as well. I would have preferred if the book would have taught how to design your own patterns with measurements and using pictures as guide. I guess technically you could still do that, but this just kind of irritated me. Another thing that irritated me was that some of the stitches she says do for the projects she didn't teach in the book, so you'd have to look them up anyway. Again, a little irritating.

So what are my final thoughts on the book? A very cute book with tons of cute graphics, but the information is easily found elsewhere and for free. If you are just looking for techniques, go that route. However, if you like vintage and craft books, then this book would be a cute addition to your collection.  The projects aren't all that great either, that is if you are looking for something a little more fun or functional to make. However using felt or fleece is a great fabric to start with so if you just want sewing practice, then these projects are perfect for you.

I don't know if I will get the other books by Davis. I do like the look of them, but I have read they are really about the same, basic projects you can't really use and not really the information you'd need for the subject matter. I love craft books, but I think this will be the last one I get in the series, still thinking about it. If I do get the others I will of course come and do a review on it.

And on that note I am off to start planning out the doll clothes I will be making. I will be updating here again soon about what I'm doing. Take care until then, bye for now.

Michelle

Don’t worry. Be crafty.

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Hello my lovelies, I am back. My computer situation has not been sorted, but I am making do with it for now. Looking to upgrade later on this year so I can deal for now.  Now on to today’s crafty post.

Have you ever had it when you are overwhelmed with the supplies you own, the ways you could go with a project, or the many ideas floating around in your head?  Or perhaps you are sabotaging yourself with the ever popular “its no good” or “I don’t know what to make”. Well, don’t feel alone, many an artist have gone through these exact same feelings. I myself have suffered with these feelings and thought perhaps I was a weird one.  That is until I found this interesting article about this exact same topic.

Alison Lee of Craftcast broke down typical worries of artists and explained why you shouldn’t take things so seriously and to enjoy and have fun with your art.  I know, easier said than done, but the tips Alison listed really clearify things and make sense out of the garbled mess that can be the artistic mind.  Head on over to Craftcast and read Alison’s article “5 Things The Artisit In You Can Stop Worrying About Right Now!” and finally release those fears, push past your barriers, and get crafty!  I’ll do the same. 

And on that note, I will talk to you lovelies later. Be good until then.  Bye for now.

Looking around at her big stash of stuff,
Michelle

I give up for now guys…

I’ve been trying to get back into blogging but if its not one thing its another. As you may know my computer has been unusable because it overheated and needed a cleaning. I finally got it back a couple of days ago and was trying to sort things out on it so that it would work faster and blah blah. Well I kept noticing something weird about it. It gets hot on the completely other side of the keyboard now and there’s a constant humming. For days I thought it was just me, but no, I’ve used this thing enough to know that Best Buy Geek Squad has messed up my computer!!!  They put it back together wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am beyond pissed because its going to take an act of some higher power for me to get it fixed back around and those dillweeds better NOT expect payment for it!!!  I’m livid, if you can’t tell.  I haven’t been able to use my computer much because its slow and sluggish, probably from all the heat that is barely escaping because all the vents are ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COMPUTER and so the air is not getting out and my computer is just staying hot. Sorry, just frustrated by this on top of other things. And to make it more frustrating it’s Script Frenzy this month and I haven’t worked on it yet because I am reading through what I wrote last year to see where I left off.  Loving the story I wrote last year, btw. But now I may have to put it off for a few more days while the dillweeds that insist they know what they are doing fix my computer, AGAIN. Once again, sorry, just frustrated and this is just the tug that broke the doll’s neck. Ha, did you see what I did there…oh nevermind.

So basically, if I owe you an email, its coming, but probably not until hopefully this weekend but don’t count on it until next week. My email is muy backed up again and I was all set for a big cleanout when I finally got my computer back since my sister’s is kind of slow to do it and I thought my computer I’d whiz right through it. Yeah, not so much. So yeah, if you sent me something you will get a response next week at the latest. Sorry, but it is what it is. I’ll see what I can do from my sister’s computer, but honestly its only really good for watching things and not much else. So yeah, odds are I’ll be silent for a while, but I’ll be back as soon as those jokers get things fixed. Ugh! Dillweeds.

And so on that note, I’m off. I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter if you celebrate. If not, I hope you have an awesome weekend. I will talk to you lovely people later. Be good until then. Bye for now.

Wishing she knew how to fix her own computer,
A rather pissed off Michelle

Secret Lives By Terry Border

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A creative guy by the name of Terry Border took a concept, what would happen if regular everyday things took on a life of their, and decided to make that happen through art. In his gallery, pictures like the one above takes regular items like a raisin and puts them into a "real life" situation.  Poor elderly "grape" up there surrounded by the youngsters.  Even me at my age, and I'm not that old people, I can relate to that feeling.  LOL!  The gallery is full of other fun and cute pictures.  One of my favorite is a nibbled and kissed on chocolate bar locking himself into a room trying to save his life.  You have to see it to get it, but trust me, its awesome.  In searching for more from Terry, I found a picture not in his gallery on the page from article that I just had to share with you.

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Too cute and funny right?  Of course now this makes me crave a powdered doughnut, and I'm trying to change my lifestyle and diet. *sigh* Someone out there have one for me, ok.  Thanks.  :-)  Oh and in doing a little search I found where you can see more of his art from this set of objects he calls "Bent Objects", I was in luck and found his blog where he shares them.  Awesome.  There's also a main website, but it doesn't look like its recently been updated.  I'd stick with the blog and his Twitter to keep up with him.

But I just had to share his neat work with you all today.  I love how creative he is and I can't wait to go through his blog and see all that he's done.  Yes, I'm excited. :-)  And on that note I will say good bye to you lovely people.  I shall be back soon with another fun crafty find from the net.  Until then, be good and I will talk to you soon.  Bye for now.

Craving fried and powdery baked goods,
Michelle

Believe It Or Not, It’s Edible!

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Look at this super cute cupcake.  Lolo (Lauren) of “Vegan Yum Yum” fame created some cute knit related cupcakes for her friend’s going away party.  How did she create such cute and detailed cupcake toppers?  With marzipan!  I have never worked, nor do I think have tasted marzipan, but I think it’s amazing how it can be formed into such detailed shapes.  And when I say detailed, I mean it.  Look at this next picture.

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Look at this detail!  She made a sweater, two finished scarves with tassels, balls of yarn, a knitted work in progress, and my favorite, a frogged piece of work.  So freaking cute!!!  So I bet you are curious on how to make these cuties.  Never fear.  Lolo was on Martha Stewart and taught Martha and the audience how she makes her little treasures.  Have a look.

Can you believe how simple that is?!?  And how the makes it look like knitting, it was a facepalm moment for me.  Genius.  It’s just amazing how crafty people are and what they come up with.  I just had to share this little find with you all.  I know it’s a bit dated, but it’s new to me and I’m sure some of you are looking at it with fresh eyes too.

And that will be all for this post.  Trying to tidy up my computer so hopefully I won’t lose too many files when they take it apart.  *sigh*  I hope to be back posting soon.  Especially since OWOA is coming up soon.  So excited.    Ok talk to you guys soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now.

Ready to warm up now,
Michelle

Most Expensive Gingerbread House

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Wow, I’ve forgotten how I blog.  I wanted to make this quick post to try to clean up some things I’d been meaning to do and never gotten to, since I have to take my computer in to be cleaned soon.  It’s been doing the annoying turn off thing because it’s been overheating and diving into my computer to do it myself really seems daunting when you see you have to take the WHOLE THING APART.    I’ve got it working ok as long as I have a fan blowing on it.  Let me fill you in on something, it’s 33 degrees outside, my room is the coldest room in the house in the winter, my fan is right next to me blowing, and I’m wearing my jacket with the hood up.  In short, I do this for you. 

So around Christmas time I did a search for dollhouses because I was on the search for different ways to set up one, when I came across this interesting article about a gingerbread house made to look like a dollhouse basically.  It was located in Gothenburg, Sweden and basically instead of making your generic gingerbread house the person decided to show the inside of the house as well as the expansive grounds, and all of it, you guessed it, is edible.  Pretty neat right?  It’s 50 cm, a little over 19 and a half inches tall.  And why is it considered the most expensive gingerbread house?  In Sweden the house costs 35,000 SEK, or close to 3,000 Euro, if it were that price today it would cost us American peeps roughly $3963.90.  A bit pricey for a cookie house, for me at least. 

But isn’t it pretty?  You can get some closer views of the inside here.  For food it is pretty detailed.  This all got me to thinking about how I would create a gingerbread dollhouse for actual dolls to reside in.  For one thing I think the house above is missing a gingerbread staple, candies.  I think it would have made it look more like a gingerbread house and not just a brown house covered in snow, kwim?

Then I started thinking, would I make it for 1/12th or 1/6th.  Now I would prefer 1/6th, but 1/12th seems like it would be easier to work with on a project like this, thinking size-wise and and all.  Maybe if I have a kid some day I will entertain this thought again and have them share in the fun of making it with me.  But I just had to show you guys this and try to bring some life back to the blog.  Still not back yet. I have a ton to do.  My emails are backed up again thanks to my computer, and so many other things are being pushed back. If you have emailed me I will get back to you.  Sorry about the super delay.

And that’s about it for this post. I will talk to you lovely people later.  Be good until then, by for now.

Wishing it wasn’t so cold in her room,
Michelle

Coming back full force in 2012!

So I just wanted to pop on to say I have not abandoned the blog, just taking time for myself at the end of this year. Can you believe by the end of tomorrow we’ve all just gone through another 365 days?  Crazy right?  Here’s to another 365!  Humm, there isn’t a leap year next year is there?  Well if there is, add one more day to my cheerful wish. 

But with that said, until I return I wanted to leave you with some entertainment.  The following video is an animated version of Wicked’s “Defying Gravity”.  The artist did it in an attempt to get the play done in animation instead of live action.  Seems it will be live action in the end, but I so wish I could see a full Wicked animation.  Oh and in case you were wondering, the artist who did this works for Disney.  It’s pretty awesome.  Take a look.

And on that note I will wish you all a Happy New Year, and I hope that this year ends on a good note for everyone.  See you in 2012!!!

Singing songs from famous Broadway plays,
Michelle

Merry Christmas everyone!

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I hope all of you had an awesome Christmas. Mine was ok. It ended up being mostly just another day for me.  I didn’t get my gifts done because I realized late in the game a lot of stuff had to be hand sewn and while I’m getting faster at it, one item can take one or more hours. So while its no sweat to have things be a few days late, I still feel bad about it.  But I am coming up with some cute things that I think they will like.  This whole process is giving me a lot to think about when it comes to making clothing for dolls.  As soon as gifts are done and given out I will be jumping right back in making stuff to sell finally.  I think I really needed to get over this fear of creating and making a mistake and wanting it perfect the first time out.  I made TONS of mistakes on the clothing I made and I’m learning two things.  One, it can usually be undone and redone again.  Two, it’s not the end of the world and usually the mistakes are only things I will see and I am being nitpicky about.  So yeah, this whole experience is turning out to be good for me.

And I know this place has become a ghost town but I will be back to blogging here really soon.  I’m going to be altering the focus of this blog a bit but I will tell you more about that in the new year.   Hey it’s only a couple of more days.  Can you believe that?  A couple of more days and that’s a wrap on 2011.  I don’t even know how to describe this year for me.  It’s had ups and downs, thankfully mostly ups.  I’m hoping next year will be a better year though.  I’m hoping everyone in my life gets into better health and that I can take BIG HUGE LARGE strides towards my future.  Fingers crossed tightly.

Silly thing, my mom is kind of sad that today was kind of a bust when it comes to Christmas.  She misses how it was and had planned an old fashioned Christmas but things just didn’t turn out that way. So she said she wants a do over and has chosen Valentine’s day to do it.  Don’t ask me why Valentine’s day, she just wants it.  So I guess I might have two Christmases next year.  Who knows.  She wants to pull out the top half of the tree and put presents under it and celebrate.  LOL!  So I guess we will see.

And well that’s all for now guys.  Blog posts will resume in the new year.  For now, for the next few days I will try to finish gifts, do some Winter Cleaning, and just close out the year on a hopefully good note.  So once again I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.  I’ll talk to you all soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now. 

Popping another piece of candy into her mouth,
Michelle

Sewing Pattern Reading

With the world of technology, there’s practically nothing you can’t learn about or learn more about on the internet.  This is a great thing for me because I am a very visual learner.  With the help of Youtube and other various websites and blogs I am able to learn a lot about the crafts I am interested.  I learned how to crochet solely by watching great Youtube tutorials on the craft.  So in thinking about how helpful Youtube is to a crafter, I thought I would start sharing some of my favorite videos with you on crafts I do and even some I don’t.  I hope you will find something of interest to you through these videos.

I am trying to relearn how to sew.  It might not be the best thing to be learning on a such a small scale, doll clothing for those who don’t know, but I’m a glutton for a good challenge.  So back in high school when I was taught about sewing, I was never taught how to properly read a pattern.  Oh sure I knew what “cut 2” meant, but there are other parts of the pattern that I didn’t know or understand about until a video I saw yesterday about it.  Curious what I mean?  Have a look at this neat and informative video below.

Short and sweet and too the point.  There were some tips in there I hadn’t hear of before, which will be great knowing now when I try to sew for myself in the new year.  This is just another great example on how Youtube, among many other places, can be super helpful to you in a craft you already love or a craft you are just dying to learn.

Now, if you aren’t a fan of Youtube, especially after their “improvements”, you can still find some great videos out there.  You’ll have to use Google or whatever search engine you prefer.  Go to the search line and type one of two things.  For this example I will use sewing, but of course you will use whatever you are looking for.  In the search line you can type “how to put in a dart”, I find it’s best to put all lower case because upper case can sometimes have them looking only for links with upper case while lower case tends to look through them all.  After you type that and it loads the page, you simply click on your video link at the top of the page and various videos will pop up.  You will of course have Youtube videos show up in the mix, but you will have other options as well.

Now another way you can try searching is typing in the search bar “how to put in a dart+video” or “ “how to put in a dart+video” “.  Now the first option will tell the site you are searching for a video, but it will kind of search for all the words individually.  You will more than likely get videos of how to put in darts in clothing, but don’t be surprised if you get videos on how to put in a dartboard or how to play darts or some other crazy stuff.  Now with the second option that has quotation marks around the phrase, this is telling the site you want to search for the phrase exactly how it is.  Now this will return fewer search results but it will get you closer to your goal of what you are looking for.  These tips will work for any kind of search not just for crafting videos.  But yeah, this search should get your exposed to the various websites and blogs out there that also host crafting videos.

Another suggestion I have is if you know a craft really well and feel you can teach really well you should make a video.  I guarantee people will watch your videos.  There are people looking videos and they need you to make them.  If/when I get to the point I feel I know a craft well enough I will make a video for sure.   Now don’t worry, I’m not asking you to give away your trade secrets, just some hints and tips that are general knowledge or things you don’t use now in your work but used to use with success.  Also, if you watch one of these amazing videos, be sure to pay it forward by “liking” the video and leaving a quick comment to thank the artist/crafter for their tutorial and sharing it with the world.  If we want more videos in the future we have to let those who make them know we appreciate the time and energy it took them to make it for us and we’d be super happy if they decided to grace us with another.  No, don’t kiss up to them,that’s just fake and people can tell fake, just know a little kindness goes a long way.

And well, that’s it for this post.  I just really wanted to share this video with you all and let you know to expect others with you on various crafts.  If there is a craft you are interested in and can’t find information on, let me know and I will see if I can hunt down something for you.  And that’s it ladies gents.  I’m off.  Have an awesome day and be good until next we meet.  Take care.  Bye for now. 

Happily crafting away,
Michelle

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you and yours are having a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  And if you are thinking of going out into that mess tomorrow please be extra careful and safe.  Talk to you all again soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now. 

Happily watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,
Michelle

Google Friend Connect Shutting Down

I know this might not affect many of you, but some of you it will and I wanted to mention it.  I was randomly looking at my Mozilla browser and noticed the headlines button.  Clicked on it for the first time today and noticed a title mentioning Google was shutting down some things.  I usually don’t pay attention to stuff like that, but today I did for some reason.

So from what I’ve read, if you do not have a Blogger account, and you have a Google Friend Connect gadget on your website or blog, come March 1, 2012 you will no longer have your followers gadget on your website.  It doesn’t seem to affect Blogger though, just non-Blogger sites.  They are encouraging people to instead make a Google+ account and use their gadget on there to drive traffic to your Google+ account.  Yeah, don’t see how that works for people to stay connected and follow your blog or website, and I do see this as Google’s way of getting more traffic in an attempt to surpass Facebook, but I see them closing the service as lame.  I have seen so many blogs out there using Google Friend Connect, so I call bull poo on this one not being a success.  But I thought I’d mention it to those of you in danger of losing your followers gadget.  If I’m on your non-Blogger Google Friend Connect, you have no worries of me not continuing to follow, I’ll still be there.  But you might want to mention it to your readers who maybe only follow you through the service and might lose your website after it closes down.

And with that I make my return back to real life again. *sad sigh*  I’ll be returning guys, I promise.  After Monday some time for sure.  I have things to share with you still.  I might post about some of that tomorrow when I get a free moment.  But I shall return soon.  Until then, be good, and bye for now. 

Sadly returning back to real life,
Michelle

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter?

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So I’m sure most of us learned as a child to sing a favorite Christmas carol, O Christmas Tree, I’ve heard it in both English and German many of times.  But it seems the years since that song was written that Christmas trees have been changing and getting quite, dare I say it, crafty.  As evident from the picture above of a crafty Christmas tree made out of Mountain Dew cans and topped with a Mountain Dew bottle, Christmas tress are a’changin’.  After seeing this picture I was curious what other crafty Christmas trees were out there so I googled Creative Christmas trees, and boy did I find some unique and creative ones.  And of course I had to come share my findings with you.    Have a look at these cool trees.  Click the “source” links under the pictures to go to the website these trees are hanging out on.

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Plywood tree.  I saw a miniature version of this tree as well.  Pretty cool, and you can actually hang ornaments on them or just leave them as is.

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Christmas ornaments hung on wall in the shape of a Christmas tree.  Love this idea.  Also made me think you could something like this with varying sizes of picture frames.

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This is more for outdoor decorating.  A Christmas tree made out of lighted balls.  Some of the trees made around the world will impress you.

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Get your kids in on the creative fun by having them make a tree and decorations out of Lego.

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A ladder dressed up as a Christmas tree.  Love the idea and even the look of it.  It just seems to fit for some weird reason.

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This is so cool.  It looks like an actual snow covered tree in a house.  Made easily with rolled cotton and snow glitter.

I do hope you’ve checked out the websites these pictures came from because these pictures are only scratching the surface of the cool stuff out there.  I hope, perhaps, that you have gotten some ideas on how to think outside of the…errr…um…tree box, and came up with some ideas on how to make your Christmas a little bit more unique this year.  I’m collecting these ideas to try out when I finally get a place of my own. 

And now that the Christmas season is in full swing, I’m hunting the web for unique and interesting items in the handmade community.  I will be sharing my cool finds with you in the coming days and weeks.  Hopefully you’ll find that thing you’ve always wanted from my searches and reveals.  Fingers crossed tight that you will.    For now I am off.  I’m wayyyy behind on Nanowrimo and I think I want to try typing some tonight.  *Looks at clock.*  Or maybe I’ll get some sleep instead and start catching up tomorrow.    Talk to you lovelies soon.  Be good and crafty until then.  Bye for now.

Yawning from looking at the little yawn emoticon,
Michelle

Black Friday Ad Scans

This post is for my USA readers.  But for those of you outside the USA who are curious, the day after Thanksgiving in the USA we have one of the biggest shopping days during the year, Black Friday.  If you are hoping to get a good deal Black Friday is the day to attempt to get it.  A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving some websites will share scans of Black Friday ads.  You can simply just Google Black Friday and find tons of websites dedicated to the day.  Granted it does further force the commercialism of the holiday, but hey a deals a deal, and if you are in the market for some craft items you are in luck this year.  Tons of sales, some starting on Thanksgiving, are centered crafty deals.  So be sure to get your newspaper on Thanksgiving morning because some of these good sales need a coupon from the news paper.  Humm, I wonder how much the newspaper companies lose out on because you know everyone will have a coupon on Black Friday but not all of them will have paid for the newspaper it came from.  Hummm.

For your ads sneak peek click on the picture above to be taken to be taken to the ads scan page and enjoy.  I found some crafty deals in the AC Moore, Michaels, and Jo Ann’s paper.  AC Moore has a 30 percent off your entire purchase coupon for Thanksgiving between 4 and 10 in the evening, along with some equally good coupons for Black Friday.  Let me know if you find any equally good sales, I’m still hunting around.  Oh and there are also some awesome sales on other stuff too, so make those lists people.  You’re welcome. 

And I’m off.  Must return the real life again, but had to let you guys in on some of the cool finds I found.  Talk to you again soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now. 

Window shopping the night away,
Michelle

Happy Veteran’s Day

Thank you for your bravery and thank you for my freedom.

Proud to be an American,
Michelle

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween to all of your freaks and ghouls out there!    I hope you are all playing it safe and having a fun time tonight.  I’m doing my usual Halloween thing of spending the night in.  It’s raining something horrible out there so I don’t think there were any trick-or-treaters out tonight.  My friend even took her kids to the mall because we got hit with one of the coldest and wettest Halloweens in a long time. I remember Halloweens just a few years back where you had to wear short sleeve shirts because it was hot an muggy.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the cold, but the wind and rain make it extra brrrrrrr.  So I hope you are staying warm tonight if your neck of the woods is unseasonably cold too tonight.

Right now I am currently counting down the hours to the start of Nanorwrimo.  I am being a Nano Rebel this year by not writing a novel.  I’m going to be finishing up a script for the photostory I’ve been trying to finish for a long time now.  I think my time of Nanowrimo is coming to an end.  I don’t know if I’ll be doing it next year.  I do cherish the crazed writing during November, I just think I want to start making that an everyday thing than just a one month thing, so I don’t know about future Nanos.  But this year is my first as a Rebel and I’m kind of excited about it.  I don’t want to write a novel just to write a novel and waste time on something I’ll hate, so I will write the script which will hopefully help me write my story and get it done so I can start taking pictures in December and start putting it up next year.  Fingers crossed.

As for other things I am doing right now, I’m focusing on my health right now.  There are a lot of things I need to get done by the end of the year.  I have something I am dreading coming up in 28 days, and I don’t really want to talk about it right now because I’m that nervous about it.  It’s really silly to be nervous about it, but when I explain it…on the 28th or 29th of next month, then I’m sure it will be clearer why I dreaded it.  I’m working on inventory for my shop.  I finally found a place to put my shop.  I think that was another problem for me, where to put my shop, but I found a nice place for it to be that a lot of other doll sellers are on so it works.  And well, I guess that’s about it right now.  So the goals for the end of the month is to work on the immediate health issues at hand, get through that situation I’m dreading at the end of next month, and get the shop open.  I know I won’t make the Christmas rush with my shop, but that’s ok, as long as I get it open.  Oh, and yes I am still working on emails, comments, etc., etc. etc., you get the point.  I’m working on all that.  Now that some stress has been taken off of me with my parents health either doing better or being looked at, my mom still worries me some with her heart issues, I’m getting a little more calmer and I can focus better.  I’m hoping this next month will be busy and productive for me.  I’m ending this year on a good note, no matter what.  And NO Michelle, that isn’t jinxing it for you by saying it aloud.   

And on that crazy note, I will bring this post to a close.  I will talk to you lovelies soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now. 

Realizing she needs to get up and exercise some of this candy off,
Michelle

Homemade Butterfingers

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Ok, so about a month ago I found this recipe online for homemade Butterfingers.  Supposedly candy corn, peanut better, and compound chocolate make for a spot-on replica of the crunchy peanut butter treat.  So I was super excited to try my hand at making it.  So I got a two pound bag of candy corn…you only need a pound for one batch, a 18 oz. jar of JIF honey peanut butter…you only need 16 oz. but I used the whole jar, and compound chocolate…I couldn’t find any at the store I was at but knew you could make some from chocolate chips.  So with my ingredients in hand I set out to make the most awesome treat in the world…or so I thought.  What’s to follow is my experience with the recipe and what I learned about it. 

So first of all, I had a big two pound bag of candy corn.  Nothing wrong with that right?  Except that the candy corn was for Halloween…as in trick-or-treating.  What does that mean?  The candy corn came divided into individual baggies.  I needed a pound for my recipe.  So I had to sit there and cut the baggies open to get a pound.  If you are doing this recipe, be sure to get the bag from the regular candy section. It’s just a bag of candy corn.  You tear it open and you are good to go.  It took forever to get a pound of candy corn from those baggies.

So next I put the candy corn in the microwave for a minute.  Stirred.  In for 15 seconds.  Stirred.  in for 15 seconds.  Stirred.  In for 15 seconds.  Stirred.  You’re getting the idea right?  Now when you stir it be sure to fully stir because I think some of the candy was cooking on the bottom but not getting stirred and got a little hard.  But yeah, so that took a little while but I got it melted, but it was quickly cooling on me, so I had to hurry and get the peanut better into the bowl.  This lead to lesson learning two.

Ok, so this hot mucky orange mess in your bowl is starting to cool no sooner that microwave turns off.  You have got to get that peanut better stirred in and then put it all in a pan to fully cool.  But like I said, this stuff is already cooling. This is where I made my big mistake I think.  When I pulled the candy corn out and placed it on a tray on the counter I had to open the peanut butter…as in take off the top and pull off the protective seal, and scoop it out and into the candy corn blob.  I stirred every time I got a little something in, but this stuff was cooling fast.  By the time I was done the stuff at the bottom was hard as a rock and I gave up fully blending so I wouldn’t end up with a rock in the bowl.  So I quickly scooped it into a parchment paper lined 8x8 pan.  Now what I quickly learned was that I should have scooped the peanut butter out into a separate bowl and have it waiting with a spatula to quickly scoop into the candy corn the second it comes out.

So I put the mess into a parchment lined 8x8 pan and put it into the fridge.  I believe this was mistake number 3.  Why? Because when I pulled it back out it was super hard to cut.  I think if it would have been allowed to harden at room temperature it would have been easy to cut and not have crumbled like mine did.  But after some hard work, and yes a little bit of sweat, I got it cut into some chunks.  Now it was time for chocolate.

Ok, so I couldn’t find almond bark or melting chips at the store I was at, so I had to pick up an alternative that I wasn’t to happy using, but it was the next best thing.  Chocolate chips.  Yes, like the kind you put in chocolate chip cookies.  So you’d think I would just melt them and coat my candy with it right?  Wrong.  Seems chocolate chips are too dense when melted.  It needs some fat in there to make it flow more.  Enter vegetable shortening.  Yes, we are talking about the Crisco here people.  Ok so here’s the recipe of how to make compound chocolate out Hershey’s chocolate chips.  Ok, so for every cup of chocolate chips you have, you add a tablespoon of shortening to the mix.  I used two cups of chocolate chips, roughly the whole 12 oz. bag, and two tablespoons of shortening.  I pop that into the microwave and microwave it for 40 seconds and then stir.  Then I put it in for 20 seconds and stirred.  20 seconds then stirred.  20 seconds then stirred.  You get the idea here again right?  Good.  So once it was melted I realized that I hadn’t cut the peanut butter mix beforehand, another thing I would suggest.  So I thought I could do it quickly.  As stated above, it took a while.  Well once I got it cut I was worried the chocolate would be hard again, but oddly enough it wasn’t.  It was still smooth and flowing…something I must admit freaked me out a bit.  Makes you wonder what that stuff does in the ol’ arteries.  But I digress.  Moving on.

So here I had my nice homemade compound chocolate.  I had two mini racks of yet to be coated Butterfinger bars.  So I started pouring the chocolate over the bars.  Mistake number 4.  Dip it people.  Your chocolate will go farther.  I didn’t realize that until I got done with the first rack.  The second rack I dipped as best I could in what was left of the chocolate…I was not making another batch.  For the most part things got covered, on top.  The bottoms of most of them were basically bare.  So dipping surely is the best way to stretch your chocolate and get full coverage.

I popped my Butterfingers into the fridge for about an hour to set.  I pulled them out and went to try one.  Mistake number 5.  People, when you are messing with candy or sticky stuff in general, coat whatever surface you are using in cooking spray or some cooking oil of some kind because it will stick otherwise.  I had chunks pull off in my hand but then leave the bottoms of the chunks attached to the rack.  *Shaking my head.*  So I grabbed a flipper and scraped off the bars as best I could.  Once off, I finally got the try the fruits of my labor.  Final thoughts?  The peanut better part tastes shockingly like the Butterfinger peanut butter, but it was more soft and chewy than hard and crunchy.  The product as a whole?  Yeah with the chocolate I wasn’t tasting Butterfinger, even though my friend swears it did taste like it.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t Butterfinger.  I still have a ton left in the fridge and I planned to give it a second try tomorrow since it will have had some time to “age”, and then see if maybe I can taste Butterfinger.  As it stands right now I don’t see myself making this recipe again.  It just wasn’t what I expected.  So now I have tons of peanut butter, chocolate chips and candy corn sitting around.  Humm, well the candy corn is in baggies so I can eat those as a little sugar kick…which I really don’t need after my visit with the dentist the other day.  As for the chocolate, there’s always uses for chocolate, so I’m not worried about it sitting around for too long.  And the peanut butter is destined for good ol’ fashion pb&j’s.  Yum.  But all-in-all I’d call this experiment a mixed success. I got what I started out to make…well…sort of, and it doesn’t taste bad just not really like Butterfinger.  So while it’s not 100% what I wanted it wasn’t 100% what I didn’t want.  So we will loosely call this a success. 

So, tell me what you think.  Still want to try your own Butterfingers?  Have you already done it?   What did it taste like?  Did you use something different from me to get the taste you got?  Please share, I’d love to know.  Maybe with the right encouragement I’ll be willing to give it another try…next year. 

And on that note I will bring the post to close.  It’s just after…4 a.m.!!!  What am I still doing up?!?   I wanted to craft in the morning!!!  I guess that’s not happening.  Oh well, early afternoon crafting is just as fun.  Hope all of you have a great and crafty weekend and I will talk to you soon.  Be good until then.  Bye for now.

Yawning and stretching,
Michelle