A Different kind of Christmas Story

If you are a fan of South Park, then you already know who this guy is.  Personally, I’ve only watched this adult humored show for about 15 minutes, but I know enough people who have enlightened me on the basics.

Here’s what I do know. These little cartoons use foul language, humor that only teenagers and adults can understand, They kill a character named Kenny at the end of each episode, but decide to let him live in the spirit of the Christmas episode, and there’s a smiling little piece of poop with a Santa hat that they call Mr. Hankey.  He’s both disgusting and hilarious all the same. 

While browsing craft blogs, I came across Live to Create andCrochet BLOG with a free pattern, courtesy of Maggie McGhee.  A friend said she wanted a Mr. Hankey , so I gave the pattern a go.  This piece of poop with lots of personality worked up in jiffy.   Thanks Maggie for sharing your pattern.

So there you have it my fantastic readers. You too can make your very own Mr. Hankey and have a Howdy Ho Merry Christmas.

Save those dead old burnt out light bulbs

'Tis the season to be gre-een.. fa la la la la , la la la la

           

Want to see what you can do with those burnt out, energy busting, old fashioned light bulbs?   

Enter Exhibit A, everyone’s favorite fat guy, Santa Clause.  What was once a brightly lit plain light bulb, eventually dimmed and fizzled away.  Until one day, a woman with an idea, lots of talent, some paint brushes and a little bit of felt fabric gave our jolly friend new life.

I can’t take the credit for this one, because my mom was actually the one who made him a few years ago.  He’s one of my favorite ornaments and hangs from my (fake, but real looking, eco friendly re-usable) Christmas tree every year.   Who would have guessed that an old light bulb, some red, white and black paint, and a little felt with a pom pom could be so darn cute?

Do you re-use your old light bulbs?

One more way to use your Toilet Paper

My son is on spring break this week and I decided to take a much needed day off at the office to spend some quality time with my little guy. We hopped into the car and headed over the Bay Bridge to San Francisco where we decided on visiting the Ripleys Believe it or Not tourist spot.
I want you all to look very closely at what I seen in a Ripleys Display case. I thought this was a gorgeous wedding dress.

 

 

I can't tell you how many bridal showers and parties I've been to where us girls have lots of laughs and bond over cocktails and that silly game where we team up to see who can make the most chic and elegant wedding dress out of toilet paper.  I'd like to add that my own sad looking toilet paper ensemble won the last game I was in, but, by no stretch of the imagination did it ever look anything like this one.  

As much fun as the bridal shower contests were, I never gave it much more though, until now.  This signed accompanied the dress on display at Ripleys. Congrats to Terri Glover of Marlin Texas , not just for winning 2nd prize in the Cheap Chic Weddings annual toilet paper wedding dress contest, but for also showing her prize displayed in one of the top tourists destinations!

Did you see the details in the dress?   I became so fascinated that I decided to google Cheap Chic toilet paper wedding dress contest, and was amazed at the entries and other winners.  I might need to take notes so I can win at the next bridal shower contest I go too.  Who knows, maybe the bride to be may want to wear my creation on her special day. Imagine that, a multi-functional dress that allows you look pretty and blow you nose at the same time while you're exchanging vows at the alter.  Who could ask for anything more?

When I say Yummy Shoes, I really mean Yummy

My mom always has her nose in her cake decorating books, coming up with new ideas.  She never stops creating and I'm so thankful for that. She knows that I love shoes, and she brought me these today.

at first glance, these might look like Dorothy's magic slippers to take her to the land of Oz, but in reality, they are the tastiest cutest cupcakes you ever will experience.  Home made Red Velvet cakes with a sweet cream cheese frosting top with red sparklies! Who could ask for anything more?

I showed these to my friends and they all asked the same questions. They wanted to know how these are made, and how they can be 100% edible.  Well my faithful blog followers, I'm going to break it down for you.  Grab your notebooks and pencils, because with the right tools, you'll be surprised at how super easy these are to construct.

Here's another view of the shoe to give you a better understanding.

The Obvious:

Take notice of the front platform. That's your cupcake. inside of a foil metalic wrapper

See that bow on the front? That's a stick of Big Red cinnamon bubble gum.

The Not so Obvious:

Take that slope leading to the heel for instance; you look, look, look some more, and you say "What the heck is that made from?"  I'm here to tell you that is nothing other than an orginal Graham Cracker piece.  That's right, just frost the center with whatever color you want the inside of the shoe to be, and then frost the edges to match the cupcake.  Once that is done, you'll want to slide it diagnally into the edge of the cupcake. 

That sure does look like a wooden high heel, doesnt it?  That, my friends, is a Pepperidge Farm Piroutte cookie.  Just cut it to the height you want your shoe to be, put some frosting at the top of it to use as a base to connect to the shoe.

Wouldnt these make sweet Valentines treats,  or fun snacks for the next Girls Night out?



Happy Baking and Building !

Keep the Door Open

Back in September, I told you about the friendship stones that I made using the pattern from Sascha at Love toKnit's blog, and Aunt Lydia's #10 cotton crochet thread.  Well, don't laugh, but, I got to thinking that if I can dress up mini pebbles, than there's absolutely no reason why I can't pretty something up for inside the house too.  I actually came up with this idea more out of necessity as opposed to a desire to just yarn bomb anything I could get my hands on. 

You see, my front door would just slam shut every time even the slightest breeze traveled through.  On a nice day I want that fresh air in my house, I want that door to stay open, I NEED to see the outside world.  The annoying constant slam of the front door was becoming intolerable.  So I ran out to my backyard where a perfectly oval shaped rock was waiting for me in the garden. I picked her up and washed her really good with Lavender aromatherapy soap. 

A word of advice though.... if you plan on doing this, don't waste your good soaps or washes on a rock. Contrary to what I thought;  the aroma therapy smell does NOT linger, a rock just smells plain and boring and no matter how much you wash it, it will never smell pretty or calming.

I began stitching a freeform  style based on the idea from Sacha's blog and before long, I was left with a pretty door stop.

Please.... DO try this at home !!