Holly's Craft Corner

Did you miss me?

2011-01-09T18:51:00.002-05:00

It has been a whole week since I have posted! In that time I have planed a few things, gathered a few things and gotten a couple awesome books. So I am well on my way. I am getting some things together to post on etsy as well as gathering up some etsy shops to highlight!

So let's talk ideas for handmade gifts for the holiday. Let's begin with those who are less than crafty. There are so many things that you can do. It just takes a little thinking. Can you follow directions? If you can then try this get a great coffee mug from where ever you can find them. Often times the dollar store will have great mugs. Add a couple of tea bags, a pack of hot chocolate or a single pot pack of coffee. Place the beverage package into the mug, add a pack or two of individually packed snacks such as biscotti or cookies or even some chocolates. Place into a gift bag or a decorative bag of some sort with pretty bows or ribbons add the card of your choice and you have the perfect break time gift for anyone from kids to coworkers!

Send me your great ideas! We can all use a little help with this handmade gift year! Stay tuned, In future posts I will include some more great gifts involving mugs!

2011 the year of the Handmade Craft

2011-01-01T15:05:00.002-05:00

WELCOME 2011! It is officially January 1, 2011. This means several things. First off it is the year of the handmade craft! That is right folks 2011 is here. This means handmade crafts for part of Christmas this year! Time to get planning and making.

Secondly this means my Birthday is just around the corner!

Third this means a huge Happy Birthday going out to one bad elf! She knows who she is. Have a wonderful birthday full of laughter and love my friend!

Well I have to make that list of who I am crafting for and what I am making. Never did get done at mom's. Although I did get some great red yarn on an after Christmas clearance for a scarf for a friend. She has already told me to get knitting! So I guess that means it is official. I have my first project.

Now I want to know what your projects are going to be. Don't be shy. Let me know. It will be fun to see what everyone is doing!

Get those creative juices flowing and send in the pictures. There is a lot more blog to come this year I promise.

Happy Crafting folks. Together we can make 2011 a year to remember!

Good morning craft universe

2010-12-27T08:34:00.003-05:00

Good morning world. I am up and getting ready to leave town for a few days to visit moms. What does this mean for the blog and for craft land in general. Well for starters no internet! That is right no computer at moms. No facebook (well just from my phone) no surfing, no anything! Sometimes it is nice and sometimes it is the time I start to twitch from computer withdraw. I know I know. It should not be that way. A simple piece of machinery should not take over our lives but it has and it does.

The good part of going to moms is.......I get to truly relax. I can usually sit and watch her favorite show with her.........the weather channel............and work on a bit of crafting. I also get to go to a craft store I don't have around here so that is always fun! I also get to think and plan. Toss craft ideas around with a friend. You know the things that will be very important planning stages of this little venture.

So I am grabbing a note book to throw in my bag so I can plan plan plan. I will begin to plan what I want to make, who I want to make it for as well as a brief time line of when things need to be done. Right now I am thinking 12 gifts at 1 a month. Not to bad right? I am thinking 12 bigger gifts. You know knitting a scarf, making pillows with favorite sports teams, a fleece jacket. Things like that. Now keep in mind I have not even made out the list to see how many people I have on the list so this may not work. Stay tuned to find out!

OK so now onto another topic. This handmade craft challenge. I was talking to a friend yesterday and told her about it. Her response was "you know I am not crafty". Then I reminded her she could support the little crafter. That she can do and said she would. Think of it this way....it keeps you out of the mall on a horribly busy day. Gotta love that. She also asked if for her birthday I would give her crochet or knitting lessons. She is thinking of trying to make a scarf as a gift for Christmas! AWESOME! You can do it!

So I want to make this an official challenge. Join me in the year of the handmade gift. Make some gifts this year or support the little independent crafter. Learn a new craft. It is great stress relieve and relaxing. There are many things that can be done as a family. Post and let me know you are joining. Send me pictures of your progress. I will post them here (with permission of course). Send in project ideas. There are so many out there. You never know who you may inspire. Know a crafter with an etsy shop. Send me the link and I will include it.

The year of the Handmade Gift officially starts on Saturday! Begin planning today! Here's to a great and creative 2011 everyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2010-12-26T12:57:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone. It seems like a million years since I have had time to post. I apologize for that. Craft show season was really packed with shows. Between that, my new woman's networking group and Christmas I have been a bit crazier than normal.

Oh and I do want to thank my friends for agreeing that I was crazy in my last post. It means a lot. Thanks guys you are gems and I love you.

I was watching Julie and Julia today. I really like that movie. It got me to thinking about this blog and how I never pay it the attention it deserves. I mean life is crazy and I only have so much time right? So I mentioned something the other day and I think I need to take it one step further.

I decided this is the year of the scrapbook. I have several I want to do for gifts and even a couple started. I decided this is the year that i finish them. But lets take it a step or two further shall we. Do you have any idea how much craft stuff I own? How many wonderful gifts I have in the making right here in my house? The correct answer is TONS! probably literally. So this is where I need your help my friends.

I declare this year 2011 the year of the handmade crafts! I challenge you to make handmade crafts for gifts this year for Christmas. You have an entire year! you can do it I know you can. If you can't.....well that is ok I encourage you to support the small time crafters who made all the fabulous gifts. Check out www.etsy.com for some great had crafted items. You can find almost anything. Go to local craft shows. you will be amazed at what you can find. there are amazing things out there. Who will join me in this endeavor? Come on speak up you can do it!

To help you out along the way this year this is what I promise to do. I promise to:

make one handmade item for each person on my Christmas list
blog on an average of once a week about my progress
share lots of craft pictures
offer new and creative ideas for items that can be easily handmade to my faithful blog followers
create a list of my favorite etsy shops here on my blog
actually add new items to my etsy shop

As I think of more things I will add them. For now I think this about covers it. Who knew a movie such as Julie and Julia would make me so creative!

Here is to an awesome handmade gift giving year everyone! together we can turn next Christmas into a great event full of wonderful thoughtful gifts from the heart without spending a ton of money. It will be a special memory for all involved.

I must be Crazy!

2010-09-10T14:09:00.002-04:00

I know we already all knew I was crazy, however this takes the cake! I am not only working full time I have 17 craft show this holiday season. 17!! I usually do 4! Oh and I really need to work on my etsy shop as well. So stay tuned for amazing things!

Oh and did I mention I am now selling avon on top of it all! When am I ever going to sleep! LOL. I do have some great new items this fall! Stay tuned for book marks-lovely beaded ones with ribbon and ones that are the metal that are beaded, tooth fairy pillows and who know what else!

Pictures to come soon.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-18T22:46:00.002-04:00

I just have to apologize to each and every one of you! Life has gotten out of control busy for me lately and I have not been here at all. I just didn't realize it had been so long since I had been. That being said I have a new netbook on the way so I can hopefully always have the ability to check in here even without pictures!

Now that I have apologized I have a question.

What kind of things should I make for my fall craft shows? I need new and exciting ideas. Come on folks I know there are a ton of creative people out there so what do you think?

Step Out: Walk to fight Diabetes

2009-09-04T15:50:00.012-04:00

Hello everyone in craft land! Well my first show of the fall season is fast approaching! And the day after is the diabetes walk at the Pittsburgh zoo. It should be fun! So I have decided to run a little contest and offer a coupon special for my Etsy store. Anyone who donates online to help support diabetes research on my walk page will be entered for a change to win a patriotic chef hat or a set of 4 seasonal puppy scarves your choice of sizes and holidays. In addition to that I will also give Everyone who donates a $1 off ANY purchase from my Etsy store through the end of November! So you can make a donation, win a prize and save a little on Christmas gifts as well!

Patriotic chef hat you can win

A sampling of what the scarves may look like depending on pattern

The scarf pattern may not be what is shown. It is dependent up on size and pattern avalability. The chef hat shown is the pattern you will receive. Easy as can be right? Just go to my page and make a donation. Shoot me an email to craftsandcandy@gmail.com saying you responded to this blog offer and your name. I will Announce the winner in early October! Just click the link below to take you to my walk page! And thank you thank you thank you for helping to support this worthwhile cause!

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/StepOut/StepOut103728010?px=5212392&pg=personal&fr_id=6476

Craft show season!

2009-08-22T14:10:00.002-04:00

Well everyone craft show season officially starts soon! This means I have to get my self in gear and get new stuff made. It is hard to get motivated but I have a plan. First off tomorrow I am straightening up the craft room so I can find things. Then I make ppillows and a few chef hats. Then I find other things to work on. So this is my question to all of you lopyal readers. Since craft show season is officially underway again what kind of new items should I make? Does anyone have ideas? Suggestions? Also I will begin taking orders for Christmas if anybody has anything they would like. Let's get started now! Last year I ended up with a bunch of last minute Apron orders and really want more sleep than last season. I will try my best to check in a lot more often and get more Etsy items listed. I do have a couple new listings or newer listings at elast so go check them out!

A Mother's Day Treat

2009-05-31T15:23:00.003-04:00

A co-worker wanted something really special for her Grandmother for Mothers day. ANd she wanted candy and it had to be sugar free. That being said I did not have a lot to work with. I can only get white chocolate sugar free and only sometimes. Well when I was Up North visiting the Mom I was able to get one pound and only one pound. OK no problem I can work with that. Well next was to come up with something really special. So I made flowers. Daffodil's and Tulips out of the chocolate and put them in an arrangement with silk roses. THis is what I came up with.

There were a dozen chocolate flowers woven into this arrangement. And apparently Grandma loved it! So much that it was all she talked about! That makes me happy since I have a special place in my heart for granmothers!

A Star spangled celebration

2009-05-31T14:54:00.005-04:00

Hello again! I know I know it has been awhile! But I swear I have been very very busy and have just gotten a chance to catch up on everything! I have had orders orders orders and a May craft show and I usually end my season before that. In fact I have been so busy I am still working on my grandmothers Christmas calendar for last Christmas and it is pretty much only 6 months late at this point! Anyway I have been at the chef hats again. For the same lady! This time we needed ones good for the summer holidays you know memorial day and July 4rth! So this is what we have.

I will have ended up doing I think 8 of each when I am done. They used the stars and one fireworks one for Memorial day and will do the reverse for July 4rth. In fact the big boss came in and liked them so much he was taking pictures for the Newsletter! I am going to try to get a coy of that! I also had a snazzy little Mother's day candy order and a vacation mixed in with all of this! SO I will show you the candy in the next post. For now happy crafting mah peeps!

Here come the graduates!

2009-04-08T20:57:00.012-04:00

Well not yet but soon we will being graduation season. I made candy for a party in ALABAMA! well this is not a big deal except graduation is not until May and it gets hot there......chocolate and heat =melted chocolate mess. So I shipped the order on Monday and it arrived today in one piece! That always excites me. I still have to send some pretzels closer to time but for now here are some pictures of the order.

Blackberry hard candy, I also made raspberry and pina colada

solid chocolates

carmels

peanut butter

peanut butter

coconut

The bonus for me of having this order done already is
I spent Saturday in the kitchen but I got completely caught up on 24!

Congratulations Graduates!!

Here come the pirates and pansies

2009-04-01T20:02:00.010-04:00

What a combination huh.....ok I am not sure these flowers are pansies...probably not but hey it sounded good. Well I have a friend in Florida.....one of several actually.....that said hey I need some puppy scarves! This is what I want, purple floral and.........pirates? What a combination..but ok........so this is what I came up with....

purple floral fabric

I did 3 of these total

PIRATES! ARRRRRRRRRRR

and one of these

I really will admit I was not to sure about a floral attern puppy scarf but they are cute! So if you see these in Florida you know the stylish pooches wearing them know me!

Twin Diaper Cakes

2009-03-31T20:40:00.010-04:00

Hello readers! Cj emailed me pictures of the cakes she did for her hubby's cousin who is expecting Twins! She did 2 cakes one for each baby!. Each cake contains the following:

4 wash clothes
2 onesies
2 receiving blankets
1 safety item (one has a thermometer and the other outlet plugs I think she said)
1 Johnsons to go kit
1 bib
1 stuffed bunny
92 Luvs diapers size 3
3 trillions flowers! LOL

I was so excited about these pictures I could not wait to share! She did say that when she gets up and running for orders (which I am sure she will take whenever) these baskets would run around $75 each but can easily be made to any size budget simply by making them smaller or using store brand diapers or by leaving some flowers off.

Front view

Side view

Back View

Other Side View

Front View!

I don't know what you think but I think these look AMAZING!

Chef Hats-the sequel

2009-03-31T08:16:00.005-04:00

Pittsburgh has a cooking school or maybe two for that matter. So seeing chefs is not unusual. What I do find unusual is the popularity of the chef hats I started making. I just did 4 more that all matched Easter ones for an order. They are for the same person who got the St. Patrick ones and the other Easter one. They love them and have so much fun with them where she works.

I can't wait to see if there are more hats and what they will look like!

Craft Show Day!

2009-03-30T07:28:00.013-04:00

Craft Show Day!

Craft Show days always start out really early for me. Most of them have an 8Am set up time. The big Easter show has a 7:30 set up time. I was able to pack the car the night before so that was a good thing. I got to sleep in! Hubby woke me at 6 AM. Got ready and out the door by 6:30 took him to work and stopped for a quick breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I highly recommend the breakfast skillets! They are filling and delicious. Hubby said the easiest way to get to where I was going from Cracker Barrel was through Carnegie. OK I am not the familiar with Carnegie but since he said it was easy and I couldn't mess it up OK we will try it. I even just did it earlier in the week with one wrong turn but fixed it really quick and only had to go around the block. Not to bad! Well after making a different wrong turn and driving around for 10 minutes I got back to where I needed to be and got to the place at 7:45 no big deal need to be set up by 9:30. Well this is the only show I have a bunch of extra stuff for because of the candy. SO it takes me the longest to set-up and tear down. I actually got set up with 5 minutes to spare! WOOHOO!! And let the games begin. Since I had a request for pictures of my display I got some of those as well as my Chinese auction donation.

Smelly Jellies! On Sale right now even!

Solid Easter Candy shapes and samples

Candy display up close and personal

Candy Display

Smelly Jellies, puppy scarves, dog treats and cat toys

Pins, Pillows, flower arrangements and jewlery

Plant pokes, Jewelry and candy

Candy

Chineese Auction Donation......Candy!

This is an upclose look at the bags I used for my candy.

Needless to say I was exhausted by the time the show was over. Ran home unloaded and went and got the hubby from work. Threw a frozen pizza in the oven for dinner. While the pizza was baking I set on the counch and didn't move. Hubby came dowstairs and asked why I hadn't turned the tv on. I was to tired to find the remote. He laughed at me. It was beside me. After we ate I sat and watched the end of a movie and woke up int the middle of a bad movie but didn't want to move to find the remote. I am headed back to work in a few minutes. I feel like I spent my entire vacation working! Becasue I did!

Candy Candy Everywhere!

2009-03-29T22:38:00.012-04:00

Candy everywhere! That is what I am still thinking. Well my Big Easter Craft show is over and I am still exhausted. I promised some people some pictures so here is some more of the candy!

Hand formed and hand dipped peanut butter eggs

White chocolate Marshmallows

Oreos and nutter butters..Looks like the Dark Chocolate ones to me

Stain Glass Windows

Solid Milk Chocolate Bunny

Stain Glass Windows

Mallow Cups-(Thank You Cj for figuring these ones out)

This is by no means everything I made or everything I can make! In fact it is still not to late to order candy for Easter. I filled and Easter order today and wouldn't mind one or 2 more to help with the extra show candy. Ordering now and taking what is in stock gives you special pricing while supplies last! I hope you enjoyed the candy pictures. in the next few days I will post pictures of my show display since I had a request for that. I also have pictures of the Easter Chef Hats I made today. Well I am off to post a new recipe for the week and then probably bed since I am still tired and my vacation is over!

Easter Candy making time!

2009-03-27T01:46:00.009-04:00

I know I have been quiet lately but I promise I have good reason. It is Easter candy making time! That means lots of hours in the kitchen getting ready for Saturday's show. Since several people have said I needed to post pictures of the candy I am. Keep in mind this is by no means everything that I do and the camera seems to have had some problems focusing on the chocolate. So let's take a look!

Milk Chocolate Coconut Carmel

Dark Chocolate Coconut Carmel

Milk Chocolate Marshmallows (on a stick! LOL)

White Chocolate Coconut Bird's Nests

Milk Chocolate Coconut Bird's Nests

I have many other things I have made such as carmel eggs, Peanut butter, coconut, nutter butters, and Oreos that have been hand dipped. I even made some stained glass windows and as I write this I have mallow cups setting up. I will admit it is late and I am tired. However I have about a dozen or so mallow cups to do and I am done! so it is worth my staying up to finish this tonight. I promise to get more pictures up tomorrow. I will probalby split them into 2 more posts that way it is easier to read. After this show I have an Easter order and a graduation party to do. And yes for those inquiring minds it is not to late ot order candy for Easter!

Diaper cakes

2009-03-20T13:11:00.010-04:00

Hello everyone! I have been busy getting craft show stuff ready and all that good stuff. However I do have a fun new project for everyone to help me with. My best friend asked me to help with ideas for a project. She has been making diaper and towel cakes for showers and weddings she has been going to . They are awesome in my opinion and they get a great feedback. She would like to figure out how to get some orders for them and start making them for other people. I suggested Etsy, maybe craigslist, community bulletin boards etc. So she sent me a few pictures to post. So what I am looking for is feed back. what do you like, what do you not like. These are commletely customizable and can be done in any price range to fit any budget. They are ideal for weddings, graduations, bridal showers, house warming gifts etc. There are a bunch on Etsy but she does nice work and will work within a budget. So here we go. I have no idea what she is going to call this venture but for now let's call it Cakes by Cathi-jo.

Dallas Cowboys Diaper Cake

She is looking for towel cake pictures as we speak so hopefullly I can add those soon. The Dallas Cowboys cake was huge and heavy! Five tiers! She made that one for my cousin. She is curretnly working on Diaper cakes for her husband cousin who is expecting twins! I will get pictures of those in the next couple of weeks and post as well. So remember gang I need feedback. She would like to start doing this for other people becasue she loves doing them.

Marching into Spring

2009-03-08T17:01:00.004-04:00

The past couple of day shave been so warm here! I love it! It is like summer! much better than the 7 degrees we had in the last week and a half. It is crazy how warm it has gotten. It has been so nice that I h ave not been in the mood to do much in the way of crafts. I do have a show on Saturday so I really have no choice. So I decided to try something different. Flower arranging! I had a couple little watering cans with bunnies that are actually butterfly's on them. I know it sounds weird but they are really cute I promise. I found some daffodils stashed up stairs so I figured I could come up with something for the show out of them. This is what I managed to come up with.

As much as I was not into crafting this did help my mood. It was 74 degrees yesterday and 63 today. That is plain old nuts. Kind of like me! I hope you enjoy the warm weather while it lasts. If it is still cold where you are I promise warm weather is on the way!

Adventures in Nursing Part 2-AKA Scrub Hat

2009-03-07T13:54:00.012-05:00

I have no idea how I get myself into these adventures but I do. I mean I am not a nurse, I do not play one one TV so why am I having nursing adventures? Actually I do know how this one happened. People have started to ask if I can make specific items they are looking for. Pretty much my answer is always if I can find a pattern or make a pattern then yes I can make it. Well someone asked if I could make an OR cap for her. She works at Children's Hospital and basically they can have any pattern they want. When she asked if I could make one I had no idea what she was talking about so she drew me a picture. OK yeah that helped but I was able to come up with a workable pattern and the ties are adjustable so that will make life easier for her. Now I since the hubby is delivering it I ope it is what she wanted if not no big deal because I know it looks a lot like what they call a Chemo cap so I am sure I will be able to use it at a show. Anyway this is what I came up with.

It actually looked pretty cool to me but what do I know! All I know is they are OR caps or hats, scrub hats or chemo caps depending on where you look for them but they are all about the same thing. So this adventure was actually not to bad to do. It took a bit of time but that is only because it was the first one. I was able to make it this morning before Hubby left for work. WOOHOOO that was exciting for me.

Now keep in mind while I was doing this I had a thought that had nothing to do with the task at hand. I tend to do that. My mind wanders A LOT! My boss had given me a package of sugar cookie mix that someone gave her. It was sitting on the table so I had to move it to make the hat. So I moved it to the kitchen so I could make it. But I didn't want to make cut outs and little balls were so boring so I had an idea. Once they are cool and I taste them if it worked I will make it a bonus recipe on the recipe of the week next week so stay tuned.

So now that I have gotten totally off track. I am pretty happy with the way this hat turned out and I can't wait to see if we have an adventures in nursing part 3!

Do you know what these Items have in common?

2009-03-03T20:20:00.005-05:00

Let's play a little game shall we. I know we all like games!
What do the following pictures have in common? I promise you there really is a connection......

Dishwasher- Picture Courtesy of Steve McCabe Thank You Steve!

A life raft

Windshield wipers

Rolling Pin
Ironing Board
Chocolate chip cookie

Have you figured it out yet? Let me give you a little hint. This is my salute to International Women's day. Every year we celebrate this day on March 8. Can you believe the first International Women's Day was celebrated in the united states on February 28 1909! Crazy! You can read all about the history of this day here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day I spent part of my day at work today and will be spending part of it again tomorrow researching some thngs for an event we are having next week. What I came up with amoung other things are all of the above items were invented by women! Here is a cool link to some great things women have invented http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0906931.html. Women have invented so much more than I have ever even realized! It was really fun to research this.

Since this is a craft and cooking blog primarely let's make this about the chocolate chip cookie. The chocolate chip cookie was invented in 1930 By Ruth Wakefiield. She was making her chocolate cookies for the guests at her Toll house Inn. Alas she was out of baker's chocolate so she made a little substitution. She threw in some broken peices of Nestle's semi -sweet chocolate assuming it would melt into the coookies like the bakers chocolate did. Well guess what. She was wrong and I for one am glad she was! This was how the Toll House Crunch cookies were invented. Becasue of the popularity of her cookies the sale of Nestle's semi-sweet bars greatly increase. An agreement was made between Nestle and Ruth. She was given a lifetime supply of the chocolate in exchange for permission to print her recipe on the package. The Toll House Cookie Recipe that we still use today! So that is your lesson in how the chcolate chip cookie was born!

Face it love them or hate them we all know them. So tell me how you make your chocolate chip cookies. Do you make them in individual cookies or in bars? Do you like the soft or crispy? What kind of chocolate do you like in them? Do you use Ruth's recipe or have another favorite? I actually have 3 recieps that I switch between depending on what I want them for and what ingredient's I have on hand and who I am making them for. And yes One is Ruth's famouse Toll House Cookie Recipe!

Adventures in Nursing-AKA Stethoscope Covers

2009-03-01T20:20:00.008-05:00

Well my friend Mo asked if I could make Stethoscope covers. Usually if I can find a pattern or make a pattern I can make it. If I have clue what you are talking about. Since I am not a nurse and don't play one on TV I was pretty clueless so I asked the next logical question. "what you talkin' 'bout Mo?" So being the ever helpful person that she is she offered to send me one of hers. Now Mo lives in Florida. I live in the frozen north. A very long trek for a lonely Stethoscope cover. So Stethy (as I have nicknamed it, we have become very close you know) arrived on Thursday. Today we spent some quality time together. Stethy now will be going back to sunny Florida with friends. Fall Stehty came to visit. Stethy came forth and multiplied. See what happens when you leave a Stethoscope Cover alone on a long trip! You just can't trust them. We went from Fall Stethy to Fall, Shamrock and Easter Stethy! Things went pretty smoothly until I started to sew. Wouldn't you know I sewed the seam inside out TWICE! Obviously this was going to be a good day in sewing land. I already need a drink! After that little problem got fixed all was fine until the dreaded elastic incident of 2009. The opening is not very big at the one end and needs elastic. Well there is really no easy way to do it and I tried every way I know and then some. I even pulled out the knitting needles and crochet hooks. Well the only thing that worked was Mr. safety pin came to play and we had an old fashioned threading party. So finally after an hour of nothing but elastic. we were done. And they are not to bad.

Now if when they arrive back in sunny Florida there are more than 3...............I do not want to know about it!

Want a "Stethy" of your very own. Check out my etsy store to purchase one or order one!

www.Hollyscraftsandcandy.etsy.com

Baby Bootie Cake

2009-03-01T09:11:00.011-05:00

In December we had a baby shower at work for one of our doctors. Somehow I ended up making the cake. Since it was for work and had to be transported on the subway to work I had to get creative. I mean come on no cake in it's right mind is going to voluntarily jump on the subway and ride around! It is hard enough for people to ride around on the subway. If you have never ridden a subway imagine a very bumpy, jittery, crowded car ride except often times you are standing up the whole time. A very unfriendly atmosphere for a cake. After much thought I decided it would be cute to make miniature baby booties. Everyone could have there own cake and it would make transportation easy. I ultimately decided to take all the stuff to work and make it at work.

Making the cakes at work was a treat with little to no workspace available but I made due. They were really easy and came out so cute. All it took was some miniature cupcakes, frosting, food coloring, coconut and about 5000 hours of spare time in my day to put them together. In the end they were a hit and I did manage to get a few pictures although they may be hard to see.

I did the cakes in pink and blue. Chocolate was one color and Vanilla was the other to make life easier. There was even coconut on some for the coconut lovers in the group

Up close and personal view of the booties.

The bags in the background were the favors. We got small Cucumber melon scented body wash and placed them in the miniature gift bags and tied a small plastic pacifier to it with ribbon. They came out really nicely and people loved the favors. They were very inexpensive. So if you need a few shower ideas feel free to borrow them! Enjoy!

Recipe of the Week

2009-02-28T20:39:00.005-05:00

Well I had a suggestion from friend and former college roommate of mine. The suggestion was that she felt I should have a recipe of the week feature. I though it sounded like it could be fun. Let's give it a try. This is how it will work. I have a box at the top of the right hand column for the recipe of the week. I am going to try to post some recipes that came out of my little head. If you have a great recipe that is just screaming to be shared by all means share it! If you would like your recipe to be considered for the Recipe of the week please email me and I will consider it. I am thinking something along the lines of good food that is economical and nutritious. If it is fast, freezes well, or is a slow cooker recipe please note that because we all can use those for sure! OK gang get to work coming up with those yummy recipes. I will get to work posting the first one! Oh somehow I joked about writing a cookbook and she things I should! OH MY!

Email me your recipes!

craftsandcandy@gmail.com

Blah!

2009-02-27T17:05:00.004-05:00

Ever had those days where you know you should be doing something.......anything.......but just don't have the motivation to do so? Well that is me today. I have 2 weeks until my next show. Several orders I should work on and I just don't want to today. So you know what..............I am not. Instead I spent the day talking to an Angel on facebook, plotting a surprise for a friend who needs a pick me up and figuring out how to download google calendar onto the blackberry so I can use that for my scheduling of work and craft stuff so It is easy to access from work, home or on the go. Got some things ready for the mail I had been putting off and off I went to the box to mail it. Exciting day huh. Hopefully tomorrow the motivation fairy visits me! Oh and I did a load of laundry and dinner is in the oven. So I guess today has not been a total loss. Just a very unmotivting one! LOL! Happy crafting all!

We have been snazzified!

2009-02-25T21:40:00.002-05:00

Ok I thought we needed a bit of an update. So I have been playing around and this is what I have so far. I am not sure how many more changes we will go through in the coming weeks but for now I think this is an improvement! Let me know what you think! If you have any ideas on what I should add or for those of you with blogs I have not linked to (you know who you are Debbie, Melora etc...) Give me you blog link and I will add you!

not enough pictures

2009-02-21T23:26:00.007-05:00

Well I have been told I do not blog enough about my adventures in craftland. I also have been told I do not have enough pictures that are not food related crafts on here. Now you have to realize that it is not that I do not want to blog and post pictures. It is just ..well........I don't think about it. I mean when I get in the crafting zone I forget to eat and sleep. How am I supposed to remember to blog and take pictures? Well I promise I am going to try to do better. Most of the stuff I do is pretty boring. Just the puppy scarves and other items for craft shows. I do have pictures of items in my etsy store. I just do not think about putting things here. Well today I made something I thought came out really cute so before I packed the order up fro delivery I thought I would share.

Chef Hats!

I had an order for 3 chef hats for a cook of the month contest. I am not sure about the contest details. I am only sure about the hats that will be given to the winners. February's winner got A Steeler Chef hat. I of course did not take a picture of that one but I do have 2 more upstairs so maybe someday I will remember to take a picture of them. The winner for March wil get a St. Patrick's Day Chef Hat and the Winner for April an Easter one. Do we see a theme here? Anyway what do you think of the hats?

Adventures in crafting Hell

2009-02-19T22:50:00.006-05:00

Have you ever tried to do something you know you should be able to do and can't. That was me the other day. Someone asked if I could make a onsie for them. No problem. I pulled one apart (only took 3 hours) and mocked up a pattern. I should have known then that this was not going to go well. Well 4 revisions later I have a pattern I am satisfied with and off I go to cutting and sewing land. Got 1/4 of the way into it and I am already not happy. Not happy enough that there is no way they are getting this version and I scrapped it. I am frustrated beyond belief. Well the next day we were going out so I went and bought a pattern. Bring it home modify it and off I go. It only took me 3 hours to sew. A ONSIE! They are not that big! Ok I was really tired and could not see straight by the time I was done. Dave delivered it since It is someone he knows and I told him to tell her I was not happy and by no means did she have to take it. She thought it was fine! I did take a picture of the finished (even though I am not happy with it) product.

Guess what I have been up to

2009-02-11T23:02:00.003-05:00

Well I finally took everyone's advice and started and Etsy store. What is Etsy you ask? Well it is a wonderful fantasy land of nothing but crafts (and some craft supplies). You can sign up for your own store through them and sell your goods. Well I finally started one. It can be found here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6799069 my shops name is Hollyscraftsandcandy! I have even sold my first 2 items! I am sooooo excited.

On top of this I have some orders (which is always a good thing) and have had one craft show so far for 2009 and have a couple more before the end of Marhc. It is also Easter Candy Season so get your orders in for delivery by Easter! Never fear there is still time!

My firend Robin has an awesome blog and is running a monthly contest every month. I am sponsering the contest this month and we have a great prize for the winner. SO head on over to

www.delswife.com and enter her February contest!

Well other than work and crafts life is a bit crazy. So that is me in a nutshell gang! Check out Robins blog and contest and Check out my Etsy Store! See you all soon!

It has been a long time

2008-12-07T10:26:00.002-05:00

Well everyone it has been a long time since I have put an update here. I promise it was not intentional. Life has just gotten in the way. I have been making items like crazy for christmas gifts, craft shows and for people who have said can you make me this. So orders for christmas have been hoping. I am almost done. The end is in near. Just 4 more aprons to go! then I think I am done with orders. Then again I was done and these are new ones.

Even with all of this I am trying to finish 2 baby blankets as well as find time to cross stitch. Well cross stitching ins on hold until at least the one blanket is done. The other blanket well.the kid is 6 months old so maybe I will have it finished for his first birthday! Good thing Imade it big!

I also have some pictures to post one of these days. Of wedding caked and I just made little baby bootie cakes for a shower. So I promise soon I will get pictures posted!

2008-08-23T09:38:00.002-04:00

Well gang this is the final product from the cakes for the shower for the wedding. I even made the firetruck topper in the first cake. Once the wedding is over and I know the wedding cakes have not collapsed then we will see about posting pictures of those as well.

Busy Busy Busy!

2008-08-23T09:29:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone! Believe it or not I have been crazy busy. So much so this will probably be a short little update. I can't believe how the summer has flown by! Craft show season is almost upon me and I still have a million things to make! I think I need 12 of me to get everything done! I am also trying to look into listing items on Etsy but have not had a ton of time to figure it out. Hopefully before the end of September though. That would be good. I am working on the skull baby blanket which I am making a little bit on the larger side since the kid will be in kindergarten before I get it done at this rate! I will post pictures when it is done. Cakes for the shower came out great! At least I think they did. I will try to get those up as well soon. Maybe I can find them quicl let me go look!

But it's a dry heat........

2008-06-18T11:54:00.003-04:00

This is what everyone says about Phoenix. Yes it is hot but it is a dry heat. Well let me tell you that 111 is freaking hot! Dry heat or not! I am still worn out. The time difference and flying and the heat and I have no idea what else wore me out. The conference was great. I learned so much it is not even funny. The dessert or is it desert..........desert yep that is it...is beautiful! I have fallen in love with cactus. I thought about hugging one but I figured it was probably not a really good idea.

Let me tell you about my hotel room. I was on the 15th floor of the Hyatt Regency downtown Phoenix. My room overlooked the city, Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks) and you could see the hills of the desert. It was awesome. Friday night must have been fireworks night at the stadium. I had an awesome view of them from my room. The stadium is only like 3 or 4 blocks from the hotel.

I was able to find time to go to the Wells Fargo Museum and the Phoenix History Meuseum. Oh and of course shopping. I was not leaving Phoenix without Turqouise. And I mean Native American made stuff. So I found an awesome necklace, braclett and earring set made by a Navaho Artist. Actually it was in my price range so it came home with me. I just have nothing to wear with it. I also got to go do Old Scottsdale shopping. And all the things I needed for people. A turqouise/mother of pearl and turqouise 2 sided cactus pendant for me, a copper braclett for me and a pair of earrings for me. Oh and a neclace. I can't remember the kind of stones but it is cool. I seems to have gotten myself lots of jewlery. Well gang that is about it for now. I have some awesome pictures but the camera is at work with Dave so when I can I will post some pictures. Oh and maybe I will fill you in about the conference as well.

Phoenix here I come

2008-06-09T11:48:00.003-04:00

OK gang! I am going to Phoenix! What does this have to do with crafts....nothing really, Just that I am going to be gone for almost a week. I am going to a conference for work. How I got this approved I will never know. I am headed to the National Healthcare for the Homeless conference. So I am trying to find a little craft project to take on the plane. So it is between a cross stitch I am working on from my Grandmother and a bear I am knitting. I have about 5-6 hours of flight time each way plus airport time. So I am thinking maybe both.

Anyway my promise is after I get back I am going to try to redecorate around here and post much more often! After all Christmas craft show season will be here before I know it and I am going to be busy!

Exciting news!

2008-02-24T14:33:00.002-05:00

Well Gang! I have exciting news! Well I think it is kind of exciting anyway! I am going to start an e newsetter! I already have 5 people signed up to be on the list! To me that is exciting!

You may wonder what is going to be included in this e newsletter. Well.......obviously I am going to have a link to this blog...updates on new items I am making.where and when my next craft shows are going to be.deadlines for ordering candy and items for the holidays! From time to time some exclusive discounts and maybe even a contest from time to time!

I am so excited! I have never tried anything like this before so this will be totally new to me! So bear with me it could be an interesting ride! If you would like to be included in the newsletter just let me know! I promise not to over run your inbox with a ton of stuff. I am thinking about maybe 12 -15 a year. probably less during the summer but more around Christmas and Easter since those are my busy times!

That being said............can you believe it is only one month until Easter! And I have exactly .no candy orders..this is really an unusual thing for me and I am not sure what I am going to do with all my extra time this year. So if you want candy let me know I have time! Talk to you all soon!

Baby blanket

2008-02-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

Well our friends are having a boy! Cool! I am so happy for them. So now I have the baby blanket pattern picked out and It will be blue and white I believe. With a skull on it! Yep you read that one correctly. A dark blue blanket with a big white skull or maybe some little skulls. Not sure yet! Friends are awesome but a little odd. He loves skulls. Most things in his house contain some sort of skull motif. We actually found a skull pacifier for them. They loved it. So This is the theme of the blanket!

Now if the book I ordered from Amazon would hurry up and get here (I ordered it yesterday, scheduled to be delivered tomorrow). I know I am being way impatient! But is looks like a wicked cool book and I am excited! There is an awesome pattern in it for a skull sweater!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Well everyone 2008 is upon us. I have so much planned for this year I can't even begin to tell you. I have several things I have to make and I want to try to have at least one homemade item for EVERYONE for Christmas this year. Starting with the beautiful Santa sampler I found! My SIL collects Santas and I found an absolutely beautiful counted cross stitch sampler. When I asked Dave if he thought she would like it all I heard was " it doesn't matter it will never get finished anyway!" Well Mr. Smarty pants! Little do you know I have started it! I am determined that it will get done and before Christmas! But I also decided that Dave can not see me working on it. That is another challenge. SO this is a 4 page sampler so I figure 2 months per page that gives me plenty of time to finish the back stitching. I also want to finish the hummingbirds that I am cross stitching for my Grandmother before her birthday in April. I mean I would like her to enjoy it and she will be 93. It has to be finished for this year. Then there is the scarf I am knitting for my FIL, a baby blanket I need to figure out what pattern I am going to use and get the yarn for that I need for July, something for my Mom, MIL and SIL. Maybe even my Aunt. Oh and Maybe I should make something for Dave. He never gets anything I make since I am always busy making things for other people.

This year is a year with a tight budget. I figured If I could make at least one nice homemade gift for everyone that would help a Lot! That and I really need to shop the sales and shop all year long. Oh my the planning this will take. That is good though. It gives me something else to keep me busy in all my spare time!

Have a wonderful and Crafty 2008! I look forward to hearing lots of great new craft ideas!

Seashell Seashell by the Seashore!

2007-12-06T23:22:00.000-05:00

Well the time has finally come for me to let you in on a little secret. Cruisers get chocolate! My friend Glo asked me to make some little goodies for all the ladies cruising. She didn't give me much to go on other than chocolate and ocean. So I came up these cute little shells. Each shell is milk chocolate with white or colored white chocolate swirled in. Each goody bag held 3 shells and one starfish. Had to have starfish in honor of my buddies at Starfish Travel! The finished product also sported 5 different colors of pastel curling ribbon. I really hope the ladies cruising enjoy these as much as I enjoyed making them! Oh and Tink I hope this is ok with
your shell collecting habit!

Crochet

2007-12-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

Well my Craft shows are officially all finished until February! WOOOHOOO! I have a bit of a rest before I have to get cracking. My stock is dangerously low! I got hit hard this year! So as soon as the Christmas crafts are finished (which at this rate will be never) I have to start seriously restocking for Craft shows. I know next year for sure that I have a February, March, September and November show. AS soon as the date is released for one of the November shows I just have to send the money in. My table is reserved so I get first crack at it. So far That makes 5 shows for sure. If I can get into the Easter and the other November show that is first come first serve kind of thing when applications go out I would love it. Also I am trying to get into a show the first Saturday in December. This is a new show for me. If I am lucky enough to get into all of these shows that will give me 8 shows for the year. Which is right around where I like to be. 8-10 is what I like. Of course If we have a crafters corner at Curves again next year then that adds one more into the busy season but that is ok!

Anyway none of that had anything to do with my question. Does anyone have any really cute crochet patterns to share with me? OR knitting or plastic canvas or cross stitch even. Those are the things I like to do. Crochet is just my newest thing and I have almost no patterns for this. I need ideas people. I try to add one new item at each show so I need to come up with a couple new ideas and soon!

Rumbly in my Tumbly

2007-11-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

OK let's try this again! I had this all ready to post and I have no Idea what happened. Anyway this was my project for today. It started life as a Fleece tie pillow kit I bought last year. I had my Mother-in-law in mind when I bought it. So today Idecided it would be done so at least one Christmas gift was finished. Instead of making ties I made a removable cover and sewed really cute pooh blanket binding on it. It is big. THe pillow for itself is 18x18. It seemed to take me forever to finish this. I had to make sure the pooh picture went on the form just so. Then I was all done and put the pillow form in for the hundreth time.....and the back didn't want to close by about a 1/2 inch. Somehow I didn't take into account how fluffy the pillow was. So after wanting to cry I pulled out some stitches and ran a piece of blanket binding down the opening in the back. The binding is so cute. It has pooh and the gang on one side and honey pots of the other! Anyway the bottomless pit of a craft closet now has a bit more space and I am one step closer to being done with my Christmas projects!

Smelly Jellies

2007-11-24T14:44:00.000-05:00

Well I am back. I promised some people I would explain what a Smelly Jellie was and I will. I even included a picture! Although I am not sure why it looked much better on the camera than it does now but oh well. I will get better at all this!

A Smelly Jellie is a wonderful creation. It is the best properties of a candle without the flame and smoke. You take the seal off or poke holes in it and set it out. Wonderful fragrance will come from this little jar. These are great for people with pets, in nursing homes, dorm rooms, closets, cars....just about anywhere! You can also put a little bit in a popouri burner! I make 8 scents in 3 sizes now! These were quite popular at the last craft show. I make the following scents.

Banana, Pineapple, Pina Colada, MacIntosh Apple, Beach Breeze, Black Cherry, Passion Fruit and Honeydew Mellon.

In the Spring I may be able to add a new scent. I am trying to figure out which one to add! I love the way my craft room smells! All the finished jars makes for a nice fruit salad effect!

Gobble Gobble

2007-11-21T17:39:00.000-05:00

Hello! I thought this little guy was kind of cute. I made him at work today. Sorry the picture is not a good one but I took it with the cell phone. We set up a craft table so client scould make turkey's this week! IT sure made work fun. All it took was a little glue, fun foam, pine cone, pompom, googlie eyes and some time to cut and assemble! Easy as can be!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Herbie Lives!

2007-11-17T15:06:00.000-05:00

Hello agin! I was trying to see if I remembered how to post these pictures and I will admit it took me awhile to remember. I just did it a little bit ago! But the important thing is......I remembered! One of the first things I did for someone in the way of candy were these Herbies! I did 45 of them for a little boys birthday party. They are solid white shocolate that I painted with colored white chocolate to look like Herbie! They loved them! I will admit I had no idea how long they would take me! but in the end they came out pretty good.

Candy Roses

2007-11-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

This is a test picture to see how posting pictures go. I made these a couple of years ago as part of a favor for a baby shower. These ones are peanut butter filled.

Candy

2007-11-17T12:21:00.000-05:00

Ok everyone. Here is the big question of the day! What is your favorite candy filling. I am always trying to think of new flavors to add so that is your mission. Give me new ideas for candy filling!

Also I know I promised you pictures. I intend to have pictures. I just need to figure it all out yet. So I am going to try a sample picture here. If this works I will try to get some pictures of some of my stuff and get them posted.

Christmas crafts

2007-11-12T21:43:00.000-05:00

Well I think this will be a year for busting my rump and making some Christmas gifts. With 2 car payments and 2 cars to get repaired because they do not work at all it is going to be a year with a little Christmas gift budget! So I have a bunch of craft supplies in the house but now is the hard part. What on earth do I make for people. ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME! I have a couple of projects to finish up for people this week then it is Christmas craft and restocking for February Mode. So I can knit, cross stitch crochet and sew. Now all I need is 4,000 days until Christmas and I am all set.

And so it begins

2007-11-11T17:59:00.000-05:00

I have always said I would not get sucked into the world of blogging. I have resisted until now. I guess the saying is true. Resistance is futile. I finally gave in. I gave in because I love to craft. I love to create new items and to see people's reactions to them. I wanted a place I could post pictures of my crafts and also a place where others may be able to help offer suggestions of things they would like to see or ideas to improve upon my existing crafts. I also make homemade candy. I am usually very busy around Easter with candy.

Craft shows and making candy have become my stress release, hobby and passion. It is something I truly love to do. What better way to share my love with people. So this is the start. The start of the blog I swore I would never have. The start (I hope) of a way to help my little craft hobby gain new life all it's own.

My hope is that i will eventually be able to post some pictures of some of the items I make. For now don't hold your breath. I am just happy I made it this far!