P is for porcupine~

Have you ever been doing a project that was going so wrong, but you HAD to finish.... YOU JUST HAD to FINISH no matter what!?

Even though you thought you were going to DIE before you got through it?

Ugh.

This should have been FUN. Normally I would look forward to each step, yearning to see the outcome.

Not this time.

Hmmm... they look cute and innocent enough don't they?

Nova and his preschool class are learning about the letter "P" this week. Tomorrow is my day to bring snacks. So after being inspired by the critters in Over The Hedge, I thought how cute would that be to make porcupine cupcakes?

It'll be a CINCH thought I..... one of the quickest cake decorating projects ever.....

Just use a grass tip...

...and paint a few lines on the inside of the piping bag with brown food coloring so the quils would be variegated....

...Slap a face on 'em, and voila!

Hmpf.

Thank goodness these are for children, who will not care what they look like.... and actually, they're not too bad. But they are FAR from my vision.

I HATE making icing. I have dabbled in cake decorating for years thanks to my mom, but haven't made much icing. Mom always made it. I helped do a wedding cake in Home EC in highschool for a pretend wedding... but the teacher made the icing.

I don't know what I did, or didn't do. But I could not get the icing to perform for me. Perhaps it is just the grass tip, which I hope I NEVER have to use again. GRASS TIP SUCKS!!

At any rate, I wanted to break down and cry after doing about 2 cup cakes. And I had 10 more to do. (Thank goodness it's a small class!)

I seriously thought I was gonna lose it while working on the last one.

I'd rather birth 12 babies naturally!

My hands were shaking... It took over an HOUR, when I should've been able to knock these out in about 5-10 minutes! BLHAHAHAHHH!

I was dreading doing the icing beforehand and even asked the Walmart bakery if they sold their decorating icing in a tub. No luck. Phooey.

Anyhoo.... here they are. They're cute. They're edible. That's all that matters.

In this pic you can kinda see the variegation on the top ones (click to enlarge)

... the food coloring just did not "paint" on the vinyl bags, it beaded up. I thought I remembered the Wilton pro food colors to be more pasty, not slimy. So, would have to use parchment bags for that I suppose. Good thing I made chocolate cakes so they have *some* other color showing through!

OK.... after spilling my guts and crying on your shoulders here.... I think all I really needed was a large grass tip. Which... you will not find, in a little one horse town such as the one I live in. Ahh well, maybe next time.

Tales of a shoe hoarder, Espisode Ten~ Let's go to the hop!

Girls... is there anyone out there that doesn't have or once had a pair of Keds? Hmmm??

I recently found these beauties~ looked like they had never been worn. Leather Keds for only $2.99 at the consignment shop. Just in time for a sock hop!

My client/friend invited us to a sock hop in honor of her 56th birthday. It was fun! The sad part is that we only got 2 pictures there, when my batteries died. Yep. I know. Blogger's worst nightmare. But had you been tagging along you would've seen all the great food and lots of twistin' goin' on! Everyone was in costume. I really enjoyed seeing the kids dressed up.

So, unfortunately we have no pics from the party action, or the birthday girl! But we do have some black and whites taken in a photo booth there, and a few from when we got home.

Here's the only pic from the party, Nova's first ice cream soda!

Here's what my little rebel wore~

Here's our black and white picture booth shots. I look like a total goof in some of these, but you know how those photo booth pics can be, lol!

Kevin wore a 50's style "bowling shirt" and jacket, rolled up jeans, and saddle shoes.

I'm all for poodle skirts, but I prefer pussy cats! My skirt and blouse are vintage 50's. I tacked on the kitty. The skirt is made of a fine wale courduroy, I love the texture... you can see it in the shoe pics. Thank goodness for wide 50's belts because after gaining my Thanksgiving/Christmas seven, this skirt was not zipping up all the way, lol!

I'm sporting faux bangs, black liquid eyeliner, and vintagey lips in Revlon's Cherries In the Snow. (which by the time these pics were taken it had probably worn off a bit!)

Musn't forget the high curled ponytail, complete with ribbon!

Closeup of eyelet blouse~
And lastly, here I am with Elvis and a friend at a work party back in 2005. Had to show you my pink crinoline! And look.... there's my saddle shoes!

Happy Birthday Andrea!

Tales of a shoe hoarder, Episode Nine~

These boots are made for walkin'!

Cheap faux suede slouch boots. I don't remember where I bought them, probably Walmart or Payless. Very comfy!

I like to wear them with my hippy/bellydancer/gypsy outfit. LOL! Most of my *ensembles* are very cheap. I usually only shop clearance racks. Each peice probably cost $5 or less, including the earrings. I definitely don't like to pay over $10 for anything. This skirt is just TOO much fun. I got it at Rue 21.

And such an outfit must be finished off with the proper hippy/bellydancer/gypsy hairdo...

(Especially if one is a hairstylist like moi!)

This is a very easy do, and I did this one quite hastily. It's sloppy and I didn't get it even in the back but oh well. Three minutes and I'm out the door...

Starting in front, grab a section of hair near the temple. Take a section just underneath it, and twist it over the top of the first section. As you go down, add hair to the bottom section before twisting over top. For this do, I stop at the ears, and keep twisting the loose strands to form a rope. I secure one finished side with a tiny clip to my scalp(otherwise it will come unwound). After twisting other side I bring both tails together and tie them with an elastic. I then flip the tail all the way over, towards my head.

Great for Renaissance Fairs! Here I twisted all the way down the sides, then secured both sides together with an elastic at the nape; made a bun and pinned.

Cottage goodies!

Oh my goodness, do I have something pretty to share with you! New sheets!

No ordinary sheets mind you...

Vintage sheets.

Beautiful, glorious, vintage sheets!

Just look!! Aren't they cottegy-licious?! C'mon, say it out loud~ you know you want to!



My friend at work loves to go to yard sales and estate sales, and has recently rented a booth in an antique mall. She had these sheets there and I told her if they were still there the next time she went in, to please bring them to me. I thought for sure they would be gone... (they were only there a day or two). I was in luck! ( I had to pay her quickly before SHE decided to keep them!!) The price tag you see is what she paid for them at the estate sale.

Thank you SO much Mary Beth!

The photo is one that she had sent me, so I'll get some more later with them on my bed.

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OK.... next up is a little Christmas present I bought myself. I love cottages, and I love vintage needlpoint purses. Could a girl get any more lucky than this?




















I thought surely
it would go over $60...
maybe even $100!
But alas~
I got it for $30!!
Woohooo!


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Now for some bad news, or perhaps blessings in disquise?

You may have wondered what the floral motif is from in my blog banner. Well my friends, it's a photo of some vintage drapes that were on eBay about a year ago. I bid high... I wanted them terribly....but I was outbid. I am still mourning the loss. Here they are~




Sniff.

Here's a recent loss. I was SO in love with this vintage needlepoint bag... pristine, in the box!! I have had it on my watch page since December. But I couldn't justify spending so much during the holidays. The auction ended without any buyers twice. Then it was listed again, for a lower starting price! I couldn't let it go this time! Once more, I bid high. But not high enough. Farewell beautiful bag.....



Wait till you see the inside.....................
Pink.....
vevlet.....
lining.
Complete with a pink velvet change purse. Yah, I know.... here's a Kleenex for you too!


Now I've lost my fair share of auctions over the years, but those two I shall never get over~
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*Wipes eyes and shakes head*
Ok, on to the next sob story!
Remember the border I wanted to hang in La Boudoir? Well, guess what. It's discontinued.

Believe me, I have SCOURED the net till I thought my eyes would bleed. There is none to be found. I even saw it on two different sites...put orders in and they emailed me back saying the border was no longer availabe and my card was not charged. I bet somebody SOMEWHERE has it, they just don't have it labeled right for me to find it. Grrr.

What really makes me mad is that it is STILL availabe in OTHER colors!

Alright, so the good thing is that I do have one roll of it. I love the color. I can have it color matched and go ahead with my crown molding. But I really wanted that embossed look of a lincrusta frieze, you know? Oh well. Sniff. I suppose I could save my shoe money and get the real thing. We'll see. I'd have to give up a lot of shoes.

Thanks for listening to me gloat and rant! If you missed out on La Boudoir and bedroom pics, please click the labels below this post~

6th file folder, 6th photo... I've been tagged!

Hiya folks! LaTeaDah over at Gracious Hospitality has tagged me! As many of you may know, you're to go to your photo files and look in the 6th file... then choose the 6th photo there, whatever it may be~ and share it!

Ok, so I looked on my pc and frankly the photo was rather boring. It was a photo of some scroll work that I had saved to my decorating files. Trust me, not that great, not worth sharing.

So, I went to my flickr files instead. And this is what I found.


Deja vu, it's Kevin's gingerbread "outhouse". You can review it along with my gingerbread house in this post.

But I thought you might like to see the houses on display, on my kitchen island tablescape...
Just take a look at that homemade cheesecake, compliments of my sister. And Christmas cookies baked by my mom.... along with chocolate cracker candy that Kevin likes to make. All of this with Santa staring at you as he "does his business". Great huh?

Ooo, let's zoom in on that cheesecake!


Before Christmas, I whipped up a little "Gingerbread Subdivision" for the kiddos at Nova's preschool. I was to bring them on a Thursday, and his Christmas Program was that Wednesday. I had to work that Wed. as well. If I had made these little graham cracker houses up too soon, they would go stale. So yah... I was up late Wed. night slapping these puppies together! I cheated and used Poptarts for the rooftops, which turned out really cute.

Normally, you take a razor blade and cut the front and back of the house out of the large rectangular graham crackers. But the crackers I bought were already divided in squares... so, there's big gaping holes under the eaves... oh well, the kids certainly wouldn't mind!

I gave each one a gumdrop chimney, and used M&Ms to get the most color. Besides, is there any child who doesn't like M&Ms?

Eek! Looks like one house is missing some M&Ms! Pretty shoddy construction.... it was a rush job. Unfortunately that is how many real "cookie cutter" subdivisions are, eh?
I didn't get my builder's permits either... shhh... don't tell anyone!
I always make extras, so I hope none of the kids got the unfinished one!

Finally they were dry and I could bag 'em and go to bed!

Nova's teacher recently sent me some photos of that day, and I would gladdly stay up and do it all again. The kids were so cute eating them!
I'm not sure who's kids these are.... thus the heart faces!


Awww man!! Looks like this poor boy got the incomplete shack! You guys don't know how much that realllllly bugs my anal self! He still looked happy though!


What I found to be funny was that is seems that every kid picked up the entire house and tried to eat it like a sandwhich or something.... I expected them to pick off the M&Ms one by one, lol!

You can find directions for graham cracker houses here. I used Royal Icing on mine, but this recipe calls for white chocolate chips melted.... that probably would've been much easier on the little one's teeth, as royal icing gets very hard. I wanted to be sure they'd stay together though! You can google royal icing recipes, or buy the little can of meringue powder to make it where cake decorating supplies are sold. I bought mine at Walmart.

I've seen the 6th photo game going around a lot... so if you'd like to join in on the fun, just tell us in a comment here and we'll come visit!

If you want a good laugh (or many!), you must check out Cake Wrecks. I spend hours there, I get lost in their archives. TOO much fun!

Pink Saturday, Episode thirteen~

Welcome to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Please visit her and check out all of the other PINK Saturday bloggers!

Today I will share PINK SHABBY ICE SKATES! As soon as I learned that I was to be Becca's Secret Santa, I just knew these were what I wanted to try and make for her! Gee... the hardest part was trying to find the skates, (and stay within our secret Santa budget!).