Salt Cookie Christmas Tree Ornaments

 I teach in the pre-school class at my meeting(I'm Quaker) and this year at the Holiday Baazar we're going to make and sell salt cookie Christmas Tree Ornaments. This is a great activity for kids, families, friends everyone who love to get crafty. I got this from  http://crafts.kaboose.com/saltdoughgifttoppers.html

What you'll need:

• ½ cup salt
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup water
• Rolling pin
• Cookie sheet
• Toothpick
• Miniature cookie cutters: star and Christmas tree
• Acrylic paints: green, yellow, and various colors of your choice for tree ornaments
• Glitter glue or glitter paint
• ribbon

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until dough is formed.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.
4. Roll out the dough to about ¼” thick with a rolling pin that has been dusted with flour.
5. Use cookie cutters to cut out as many trees and stars as you want.
6. Use a toothpick to make a hole toward the top of the shape. Poke the toothpick into the shape, then holding toothpick straight up and down, make a circular motion as if you were stirring something. Keep circling until the hole is the size you want.
7. Place all shapes onto an ungreased cookie sheet and place into the preheated oven.
8. Bake for 2 hours.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
10. Paint the trees green and the stars yellow.
11. Use the handle end of the paint brush to dot on ornaments by dipping into paint then dotting onto ornament.
12. When paint is dry, use glitter glue (we used green) or glitter paint (we used gold) to put a sparkling cover coat on your ornaments.
13. When dry, thread ribbon through hole and tie in a knot in the back.
14. Tie onto package.

Tips:

• If your toppers are large enough, you can make two holes in each so that you can thread ribbon through like a button, only showing a small amount of ribbon on the front.
• These make adorable pins to wear to school. Just don’t make a hole. Glue a pin back to the back of the completed ornament instead.
• Uncooked salt dough doesn’t keep well, so only make enough dough for the ornaments you are going to make. If you are only making a few toppers, halve the ingredients above. The listed amounts will make enough ornaments for a classroom of 20.

This Christmas...

The day after Thanksgiving I got up at 3am to visit my local Target with a friend. I figured I had never done the Black Friday thing before, why not this year? I am a hypocrite and maybe a poser because the day before I made my status "buy handmade and local this Friday! Stick it to the big business' and help the little guys!" But we go and it's just awful. I looked around the store and could find nothing that I wanted to give
 my family. It's all the same! 
   Now I've been on Etsy for a little over a year now. While I haven't sold much, I realized that there are 
some incredible Artisans on Etsy. Like these fantastic shoes http://www.etsy.com/listing/53597636/studio-jellyfish-comic-heels-in-yellow byStudiojellyfish. I adore them! You can find anything and everything. Or if you like to see and touch 
what you're buying first hand, shop local, support your local small businesses. I decided to make presents for 
my family this year and I shopped at 2 different yarn stores to get what I needed. Yes it can be more expensive 
but you're helping the little guys make it through these tough economic times too.
  The point of this long shpeal is this: I want to start a campaign to revamp Christmas. And I've even worked 
out a slogan! "Personalize it, Don't Commercialize it". So the next few week I will encourage you to do just that. 
For phase one of my campaign, I will bring you tips for homemade decorations, ornaments, great places to shop 
local around Atlanta and great items from Etsy. Of course for those new tech gadgets you'll need to go to you 
local giant chain...but why not by a nice casing and personalize it? http://www.etsy.com/listing/62788956/sale-peacock-water-resistant-padded?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_search_query=ipod+cover&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=&includes[0]=tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade 


Signing off until tomorrow! Happy handmade shopping!

Holiday Bootcamp Pledge

I, Morgan, pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere!

On fire!

   As per my goals, I am back with another blog post! Do you like the look of the blog? They have a fancy new app where you can design and backgroud of your blog. I really wanted an image of my own work but the file was too big. I need to play around with it more.
    This week I made a Dual color bath mat. I found a new way to cut strips of cloth which in the long run I think saves time and there seem to be fewer threads sticking out of the mat. I sold the other one I made last week to a woman in Santa Barbara and she seemed interested in possibly buying another one if she liked the first alright. Whether she does or doesn't I just really felt the need to make another mat. Here are some pictures of the finished product:

   I am on fire because I have already finished my product for this week! And I took pictures! I haven't uploaded them to my laptop yet but hopefully I will get that done in the next couple of days. For now I will bid you all good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.

What's on for this week

Now that I'm home from camp I've decided to set goals for myself in terms of my Etsy bussiness. Some how being at camp helps me to become more focused on my own life goal and opens me up to new possiblities. Every week I will set goals for myself for what I want to do with Morgaine Le Fay and in my own personal life.
      Every week I will try to post 1 item in my Etsy shop. It doesn't sound like much but I have ADD when it comes to crochet projects and tend to take on massive projects. I really need a place to work in my house so my goal is to my desk which is currently serving as a storage shelf into a workspace. So everyday I will find a new home for 5 things in my room so I can clear a space. And lastly I will actually try and post something once a week in this blog. Even if it is just pictures or a video of something I like. Hopefully it will pertain to crochet.
        So this week I have been working on 2 projects. I sold the bath mat I made from sheets which inspired me to make another one, only bigger and with more color. So far I have finished the first layer of colors and have to make the strips for the next color. Hopefully there will be three. I'm also working on a sweater in pumpkin yarn. The yarn is a cotton/Viscose Microfiber/Silk and I got a great deal on it when I was at camp! And I also got a friend of mine to agree to take pictures and her twin sister to model so it should be great!

A song that's been stuck in my head all week:

Shopping local, supporting handmade.

A perfectly lovely way to start my day is shopping for yarn. I think I have a problem: I had a mini panic attack when I thought my credit card had expired and I couldn't buy yarn :). But all in all I love to buy yarn, and I love to buy it from small local shops. I know they are more expensive and people might feel that they are getting less bang for their buck. But what you are paying for is higher quality yarn. Even the acrylic yarns are softer where I shop. But I think is most important is that you are shopping local, supporting small business similar to the ones you see on Esty. I think on a way I'm paying it forward. Shopping local, supporting handmade.

My soon-to-be baby sweater. I wasn't even planning on buying and making this but I saw the yarn and had to have it :)

Support your local hooker! Week 1

And this time I'm not talking about Rugby! Although I do it there too :) So my Etsy team has decided to post blog questions/topics for team members to answer in an effort to bring more readers to our blog and to learn more about one another.

Here is the week1 question: When did you start crocheting? Did you teach yourself or did someone teach you? Tell us the story of how you became a hooker.

   My sophomore year of high school, I joined the fiber arts club. A couple of my best friends from high school were in the club run by  Ms. Taylor and they taught me the basic stitch and I loved it. My first project was a pretty sad, although Ms. Taylor told me it was beautiful ha ha.
   My mother had taught me how to knit when I was in elementary school and while I enjoyed it, I didn't take to it like I did to crocheting. Seeing this, she bought me a book of stitches and I would just sit there with the book and practice the different stitches. Somehow during that time I taught myself how to read a pattern but I'm not really sure when I learned that.
   I think my first major project was a blanket for my twin bed which I never finished ha ha. I think I bit off more than I could chew with that one but it did turn into a lovely throw. I love crocheting. I get so excited about new projects and ideas that I tend to jump from project to project. I'm trying to work on that :) Hopefully I will be crocheting long into the future. I would love to own a boutique with my friend Dan that includes unique hand-made items, but I'm still working up to that. Hope you learned a little something about me :)

A Foray into Book Making

I have always been interested in paper crafts. I have kept old magazines, books, wallpaper samples, in the hopes that I could make something out of them. And I finally am! I enrolled in a book making class and I am loving it! I have listed my first journal with coptic stiches and I couldn't be more proud. My favorite part of the book are the inside covers. I used pages from a 1947 copy of Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Jewel that I've had for a few months and was falling apart. I love that I could use it to make something new instead of throwing it out. I also used the orginal covers from the book to make a journal for myself. But that's just for me! Ha ha. I have no plans of selling that one :) Check out the picture below. I can't wait to share the box I made using old wall paper and the tape bound book I'm making now. :) Until then check out the photos of my first journal.

Manayunk Eco-Arts Festival

I guess I'm not really a blogger. I've always like the idea of keeping a journal or blog of my witty private thoughts that are now public to the world, but I am not good with the follow through. But I got something in the mail today that I thought was pretty interesting and I think I want to participate in. The festival is called the Manayunk Eco-Arts Festival and it's all about "celebrating a healthy and earth friendly lifestyle". Seems like a great place to showcase my new eco-friendly items. Like my up-cycled bathmat crochet from bed sheets:
   I've also been taking a bookmaking class where we are learning to make hand bound book and gift boxes. Every part of the books or boxes that I've made thus far are from recycled objects or paper that have just been sitting in my house waiting to be turned into something else. So hopefully I will be churning out new paper products for my new shop :)

Frogs

So the Create Crochet team is having a frog-a-thon. Meaning this week we will try and finish up all of the projects that we have started but have not finished. I'm posting my before pictures but I don't have a great deal of faith that I will finish considering most of my projects are massive but we shall see.

A set of earrings for a friend.

A ladybug baby sleeping sack

A cell phone case

A blanket that will probably be ripped out and look totally different

A cotton Groccery bag.

I have a lot of work to do!

Custom Scarf

I sold another custom item Saturday! Very exciting. The wife of the family I’ve been babysitting for 5 years is one of my biggest fans after my parents. I made her a really pretty caplet out of mohair that she loved the color and feel of so she requested a scarf in the same color and material. My friend Dan has a fancy new camera and came with her nephew to take pictures. She also has an etsy page, check out Dinhnydan. She makes hand-made cards among other things that are simply divine! Check out her blog for the other stuff she makes, http://dandannoodle.blogspot.com/ .


Alight here are the pictures of the scarf I made. Also we re-shot some of my other stuff so check out my etsy page in a bit for those pictures!

That's her nephew in the background :)

Dorothy's Other Ruby Slippers

So I have finished the first boot of my Wizard of Oz inspired slippers. I used a pattern from a book I've had for a while and tweeked it to fit what I was doing. And I took pictures!

Phase 1: So this is the boot plain and simple made with Vanna's Choice yarn in ruby red.

Phase 2: I wanted to add more of the glitz that my converse and the original slipper so I added sequines

:

I had a hard time with the sequins! I used a hot glue gun but it was a little messier than I wanted. If anyone has suggestions on attaching sequins please let me know!

Phase 3: Finally, we add the ribbon:

Let me know what you guys think!

There's No Place Like Home

So I bought these shoes today:

I think this has inspired me to do a Wizard of Oz themed project. Can't wait to start!

Quick Tip

I found this on Lion Brand Yarn's site and I thought it was very helpful. I always have trouble with with this:


Subject: Knitting


You can always find the right side to your knit or crochet project by finding the "tail" of the yarn from where you started your project on your left. If it is on your right, it is the wrong side. Just remember to work the "tail" in after you finish. No more marking the right side of a project.



Amazing

Etsy in the AJC

Check this out!

http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/etsy-com-gives-hobbyists-306141.html

Pretty cool Etsy, Pretty cool.

Baby Mitts

I have re-listed and an item I have sold before, my baby hatt, mitt and bootie set. I really enjoy making baby stuff so I just had to make them again. Check them out:

   I am also excited to say that I am in the process of creating my 2nd orginal project! It's a pretty small one but I think complex none the less. Can't wait to post pictures once I'm finished. Also I have decided not to buy anymore yarn for a while. I work at a craft store and I have a horrible complusion to buy yarn when I don't need it. So far now I'm just going to work through the plethera of yarn that I aready have at home. :)

New Stuff on Etsy

I am a very bad person and have not been keeping up with this blog! Blame it on the so-called part-time job! Bah...I need to quiit and get on with life. BUT in the mean time, I have made some thing. It it a hat and scraf combo made from my favorite yarn, Lamb's Pride. For some reason with this stich, everything comes out too big! I need to figure that out because I had to buy extra yarn for this project, when, if I had made a guage, I probably would have been fine. So let this be a lesson to everyone, use the guage! With out further ado:

Right now I am currently working on a mohair scarf for the woman I babysit for and hopefully perfecting my hodge-podge look.