Caramel Apple Cider

I am a fan of apple cider, but my friend Tia introduced me to caramel apple cider. (In fact, she came over this morning & made me one before we took an impromptu visit to a new thrift store in town.) Oh my. Yummo! Starbucks makes 'em & other coffee shops do too, but they're easy to make & you HAVE to try one. Perfect treat for Fall!

All you do is pour a packet of powdered spiced cider mix into your mug of boiling hot water & dump a heaping spoonful of caramel topping (used for ice cream) into it. Stir-- & add more caramel to taste if you'd like. Top with a dollop of whipped cream & enjoy.....It tastes JUST like a caramel apple.

And here's what I picked up on our thrifty trip....A really cool vintage lamp. It is totally missing the base & a lampshade, but I love her. And she works!!

I also found these itty-bitty things & thought they'd be perfect for my girls' Christmas stockings. I don't know if they're vintage or not. The box says "Made in Hong Kong" & they were 75cents each! You can't tell the scale of them by the picture, but all these sets would sit next to each other on a dollar bill. They're tiny & adorable & my 4 year old especially loves miniature things.

Well, I'm off to help out at the kid's "Fruit Harvest Party" at church. Each class is setting up games & prizes & candy in their rooms. I help teach the Kindergarten age girls & our room is doing tattoos & an apple bobbing game. My girls want to get all fairy-like & princess-y before we go. Should be fun! I'll have pics tomorrow!

Another Fabulous Saturday!

I'm getting back into my little "Nikki time" routine on Saturdays & I must say....I LOVE Saturdays. Today I had a fun one indeed. To start off the day my sweet mom & I went to 'Antiques in the Park', which is a fun outdoor venue with a couple dozen vendors selling their sweet vintage treasures--& sometimes cheesy collectibles. I've gone for the past few years & I always bring my 20 bucks & find a bunch of cool little items. I picked up these 3 lonely children's teacups...& these WONDERFUL vintage buttons! I can't wait to make them into button rings--& other lovely handmade surprises!

I bought these vintage flash cards for 25cents each. I'm not sure what I'll do with them---probably display them somewhere.

I also picked up this vintage children's book for a bargain because it's missing its front & back cover & a few other pages. It'll be great for making into notecards!

Then my mom & I stopped by one of my favorite coffee spots. I sipped on a peach italian soda. Yum. It was hot outside. Very hot.
We also hopped over to "Art in the Park" which is a HUGE collection of vendors from all over the state (& surrounding states) selling their stuff by the river. This weekend is a busy one in our city as it's the weekend of the Hydroplane Boat Races that come ever year. I got to meet an Etsy gal--my first encounter with another Etsian! She & I are also on the Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team (EWAET) & we're anxious to get together with other local Etsiers to have lunch, craft & get silly.

Sally sells skirts & aprons on her Etsy shop, but at the "Art in the Park" she was selling her other line of products--windows that she has turned into tables, shadowboxes, message boards, chalkboards, etc.

I guess I didn't have my thrifting appetite filled, so I ran over to Goodwill & found this AWESOME vintage globe lamp! A steal at $3.50. It is so cool. I have always thought it would be cool to have one. And now my dream has come true. Mr. WhiMSy love rolls his eyes when he sees me comin' home with my bags full of "crap" (as he calls it).

And now I'll show you my weirdest purchase of the day. It's a hamster wheel. I was drawn to that vintage blue color. Strange, I know. I don't have any pets either. But my girls are having a blast playing with it. I'll think of something unique to do with it.

After a day of shopping I came home & made those "cup" cakes that I mentioned on the previous post from Laura's blog. I must admit that my first attempt was a disaster--I forgot to add the sugar. My 2nd attempt wasn't any better--I added the sugar this time, but cooked it too long & it became a "cup" brick. I will try again tomorrow.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Cool Chunky Crayons Tutorial

I've been having so much fun this summer making all these creative projects that I've been wanting to try for a while. And this "Summer Fun Idea" tutorial is no exception! I made some giant crayons--I call them "color cakes" with some old crayons I bought at a thrift store. Two dollars & 50cents got me about 300 crayons. And yes, I counted them. I'm weird like that.


This is such a super easy project. I love crayons. But I found out that I love NAKED crayons even better!! They are so vibrant!


I actually have a thumbnail injury from peeling off so many crayon wrappers. So pace yourself & take breaks as necessary.

My girls helped me with this project. It was a great mellow craft to do--especially with my youngest one, who just had surgery on Monday & is still recovering & needs to not be active. She loved helping me peel the paper. We thought the paper scraps looked cool too!

Once you have your crayons peeled, grab a large or mini muffin tin. You can create whatever color combos you want. Break up the crayons & fill it to the top. To make "color cookies" (you'll see them later on) just fill up about 1/3 of the muffin tin.



Here's the mini muffin tin. I would recommend not using your muffin tins again to bake edible goodies in. Keep one strictly for messy craftin'. So, this would be a great excuse to head to the thrift store or a yard sale & pick up a used one!

If you'd like to, you can add ultra fine glitter to your mound of broken crayons. Oooh look! Pink & glitter....two of my favorite things!


Here are the crayons all ready to hop in the oven!

I'm pretty sure I baked my crayons at too hot of a temperature. I am impatient. I baked it at 350degrees. It didn't take long for the crayons to melt. If you cannot keep an eye on your crayons at all times, then lower the temp to about 225 or so & check on it every few minutes. If your pans are not non-stick put a SUPER TINY amount of non-stick spray in the muffin tin.

I pulled out the mini crayon biscuits to show what they looked like "mid-melt".

And here they are all melted! Let them cool for a few minutes.

This is what it will look like as it's setting. Now you can stick it in the freezer to COMPLETELY harden. The cold will also pull the crayons away from the sides of the pan & they'll pop right out!

Here are the finished color cakes.

Here are the color biscuits (made from the mini muffin tin). That pink & brown combo is my favorite!

The second row from the top shows the color cookies.

Pazely tried them out right away! YAY! They work!

These crayons are especially great for making crayon rubbings. We put different leaves & grass under the paper & rubbed with the new crayons.

Have fun creating your own crazy color combos!!

Saturday Morning Fun

Hiya! I had the bestest Nikki time today! (I feel that way every Saturday though!) My mom & I had a fun (but hot) time at the 'Antiques in the Park' event. She picked up a couple of white vintage frames for her new white bathroom. I'm her sidekick haggler when we're out bargain shopping. I love haggling. She freezes up, so I have to step in! Yay for bargains! I also picked up a few things: An old 1925 newspaper from Walla Walla Washington. (My grandmother lived there in 1928), 4 old wooden dice, a little girl's dress (for a project I'm making for the shop soon!), a set of old metal measuring cups (I needed some!), & 2 bags of buttons. I was hoping to find other cool odds-n-ends, but the selection was just a bit different this year.

Across the street from this event I also checked out the newest place in town to sell yer crafty stuff. It's a place that sells used books, Cd's, records, & has spots for artsy stuff. There were only a few vendors there: tole painting & painting on glass. Not my taste of stuff. I was told that a metalsmith-er is coming in & someone that blows glass. The price for the space is a steal, really. It's something I'm still thinking about. It's REALLY close, compared to my last space that closed down. I think I'll peek in now & again & see how it's going. It'd be a lot of work to upkeep & I'm loving just having my Etsy for now...

OK, here's the haircut makeover. I decided to be brave. My husband & kids couldn't tell a difference. So, it's not a HUGE difference I guess. For me it is. The stylist really went in & lightened it up with his hair-chopping-razor-dicing mad skills. I learned that I have a rectangle head & I have great hair. I think I said it before, but getting my hair done is as bad as going to the dentist for me. I shared that with my stylist, Mr. Christopher. I'm sure that's a new one for him. HAHA!

BEFORE:

AFTER:


Oh, & while visiting with my mom & grandmother after the shopping, I found out some interesting things about my family. My grandmother's father (whom I had never met), used to be a baker & owned a bakery! (No wonder I'm obsessed with sweets!) The bakery burned down after he bought a brand new oven (for $300!). The wiring was messed up & that caused the bakery to catch fire. My grandmother said she remembers the night before the bakery burned down, her dad had a big batch of chocolate chip cookie dough in the giant mixer ready to be baked the next day.
Another interesting fact is that an Uncle & Aunt of mine (the aunt that loaded me with button goodness a while back!!) were the first people to help bring the kiwi fruit to the US for planting & growing. Aren't those awesome & random facts?

I am so excited tonight because I just bought a drawing pad! And, in my past posts about "doodling", I guess I used the wrong word. It IS "drawing". I guess to me drawing is "doodling with a purpose." I took a basic art class my only year of college, but it was a long time ago & I, honestly, am pretending that I know what I'm doing! I just try & it seems to end up OK! It was funny when I purchased the drawing tablet this evening because I was also buying ice cream sandwhiches. The cashier asks, "Oh, do you draw?" I siad, "Yeah, I'm giving it a try." But, she didn't ask me, "Oh, do you eat ice cream sandwhiches?"

Apron Jackpot!!

I know I already posted today, but I had to show off my finds! I so scored on my apron hunt today!! I got 3 aprons total. The weather was great! The girls were good! I was happy! YAY!

The blue full-size apron has some lacy ruffle detail. It has great panels on each side that wrap around & tie in the back

The full-size pink & white vintage floral/vine one is a (what I call) "grandma-style over the head" apron with two ties on both sides. I would actually wear this one though because the vintage print is bright, young & hip! I am going to smack a little larger cupcake on one of the front bottom corners & make it cock-eyed. Totally excited about this one!!

And I picked up a green & white sorta plaidish/floral half-apron. I don't think it's vintage as there were 2 hanging on the rack, but I didn't see any retail store tags, so who knows? It is definitely a vintage inspired print fer sure!

And is this vintage fabric totally WhiMSy love-ish or WHAT? Love it!

A Sweet Treat!

Look at this cool stash of chenille bits & pieces that my mom picked up for me at a garage sale today. She was totally thinking "neck wraps". Some of the floral pieces would make adorable pillows. And, if I could quilt, I'm sure all of it together would make a schnazzy lil' blanket! But I don't quilt. So, there won't be a blanket. It pays to share your crafty projects, dreams & visions with others!

I'm so excited! I got a new solder gun/iron yesterday. (Crazy crafty chiks & their toys!) I hope this one works. It was in the mid price range, but I made sure that if it doesn't work that I can return it. I'm hoping to get rolling on my bottle cap rings! My buddy bellacolle has been giving me tips & pointers. I don't know if you remember my April blog posts about the whole "As Seen On TV" solder gun? Not fun.

I'm hoping to rip the packaging off tonight & get to it! I've been busy filling orders (yippee!!) so I've not been able to "play". Come tonight, I am totally gonna play, play, play!!!

The fam & I are going to the 14th annual Cool Desert Nights Car Parade tonight. We've gone the past 3 years, since we moved back to Richland from Arizona. It's just the most awesome fun of chillin' out in your beach chairs, eatin' something tasty, & watching really neat old cars drive by. They block off streets & everything! Some cars light up, some cars are very LOUD, some blow smoke & squeal their tires, but they are all unique & mostly really old. We always pick out our favorite car in the parade. Some of the people in the cars throw candy to the kidlets & my girls have a lot of fun. The first year we went I was 2 weeks from my due date with Pazely! I'm sure I was quite the roly-poly site! We always get a good spot in a park-ish area with grass & the girls can run around & play too. I'll try to get some fun & silly photos if I can to post tomorrow...

Happy Summer evening my friends! And by the way, thanks for visiting!