Make it Yourself Monday- Holiday Decorations

Yes the air-conditioner may still be in use, but VERY soon, long before you think it should happen, well before you know it, the holiday season will be here. So now is the time to begin preparing, the time for making decorations, and the time to begin making your gifts. think about it, the more that you accomplish now, the less stressed and the more enjoyable your holidays will be! So today's Make it Yourself project is a very easy, yet very cute decoration. This one is so cute. Make several, some to keep for decorations and some to give as gifts!

You will need-
(plastic) ice cubes
paint (black, orange)
artificial snow
glue
*optional components; remnant material for scarf, felt for hat, iridescent and/or textured snow, pipe cleaner, pom poms, and wood or cardboard for a base.

Glue three ice cubes together, either in graduating sizes or if they are all the same size, as mine are, just off-set them a bit for added interest. Leave sit until the glue is completely dry. Once dry, paint a face on your snowman and decorate with a hat and/or scarf. I like to glue some snowmen to wood or cardboard bases. Just paint the wood or cardboard and then cover it in the type of snow that you paint on. I prefer the type that is textured, as it looks more real, but the iridescent kind (that comes in a tube, similar to icing gel) is also pretty neat. These are so quick and easy to make you can easily do some of each! Just let your imagination take you to a winter wonderland, and have fun!

To make ear muffs, cut a portion of pipe cleaner and glue small pom poms to each end. Bend over the top ice cube and glue in place. To make a hat (you can buy these already made in your local craft store), cut red felt, fold in cone shape and glue edges in place. Cut a strip of white and glue to bottom edge, then glue a small pom pom to the pointed end. Once dry, glue hat to corner of top ice cube.

Make it Yourself Monday- Pumpkin Brulee

In keeping with the holiday season, this week I am offering another food recipe. I just found this one (a video on recipes.com), and actually will be making it for my Mother's birthday dinner, as well as our family Thanksgiving dinner. 


To make it you will need some ramekins, and I just ordered a set, complete with the brulee torch, for twenty bucks from kitchen & company, and their shipping was only $5.50 for priority, so none of the usual "handling" fees! Anyway, if you already have some, great! 


You will need; Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup heavy creme (you can sub a lower fat milk, but it's a holiday, so splurge!)
1 cup pumpkin puree (you can sub butternut squash if you prefer)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg*
1/4 tsp. all spice*
1/4 tsp. cinnamon*
1/8 tsp ginger+
pinch of salt
*You can add 1/2 tsp. of these to spices if you want to make it more spicy
+ You can add up to 1/4 tsp. of this spice if you want to make it more spicey


Simply mix the egg yolks with the brown sugar, then add in the heavy creme and mix for about two minutes. Then add in the pumpkin puree and the spices. When it is well mixed, fill the ramekins until they are about 1/2" from the top. Then place the ramekins in a baking pan (best to use something in the bottom to help prevent sliding. You can use a towel or a silicone mat). Then fill the pan with water so that 1/2 of the ramekin in under water. Bake for 30-35 minutes. They are done when a knife/toothpick put into the middle comes out clean. It will still giggle a bit. Place ramekins in the refrigerator for at least a few hours. The brulee must be completely cold before you can finish it. When it is cold, and just before you are ready to serve, remove the ramekins from the fridge and place a good covering of sugar on the top of each, covering the entire surface. You will probably use between one and two teaspoons of sugar, and can use white or brown sugar, but most that I have talked to prefer the white. After you have the sugar sprinkled evenly, use the torch and dissolve the sugar until it is completely dissolved. Spin the dish around so that you can get an even melt, but make sure that you use the bottom half to turn it, or you will burn your fingers!   Once all melted the sugar top will look like glass and will crack when someone goes to eat it. Every creme brulee junkie listens for that sweet sound, let me tell you! It is like Pavlov ringing the bell, it gets your saliva going for sure. While I love creme brulee, I have not ever had pumpkin, and am very anxious to try it. I can't wait until I get my new ramekins and torch! Oh, by the way, you can use the broiler to melt the sugar if you absolutely don't want to buy a culinary torch, but it is a LOT more difficult to manage.

What You Up To Wednesday

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas all Across the Globe!

I am pausing from the LONG list of Essential oils to discuss Christmas! Lol, It may be a sunny 70 degrees where you are at today, as it is here in Ohio since we are enjoying one of the last days of Indian Summer, but it is nearly the end of the Christmas shopping season for overseas buyers. Yes, you may not be aware, but most foreign buyers will need to purchase their holiday gifts within the next eight to ten days to be assured that they will arrive in time, and that they will have the time to wrap and relax before the big day. The internet has made global marketing an easy reality, yet few us us really take the time to figure out what that really means! For instance, what did you do over Labor Day weekend? Labor Day is celebrated nationally on a Monday every year. I bet that you were at a social gathering of some type on that Monday, or cuddled up on the sofa watching television. No matter how you celebrated it, I would wager that your handmade business was far from your mind that day. That in itself is no problem, but did your overseas customers even KNOW that it was a holiday for you? For that matter, do YOU know what their holidays are? To avoid confusion and hard feelings about shipping dates or a lack of response from emails, you really should post any holiday interruptions in your shop announcements. Never assume that everyone knows that the USA celebrates July 4th as a holiday. While Christmas is an International holiday, you still have to remember that it takes time to ship to other countries. To further complicate issues, customs may hold packages for inspection which will delaying your shipment. Soooooooooooo, as I previously stated, it is almost time for the International shipping of Christmas items to be over! You were probably just getting ready for Thanksgiving, and in your shop you have probably just begun to add Christmas items, but really the season is almost over!\ If you were not aware of this, hurry and post your Christmas and gift set items now. Don't forget either that half the world has Christmas in the summer, while we are burried deep in the snow. Also, you may want to mention International shipping dates in your shop announcements. At the very least, be aware of the times frames needed. Most foreign buyers are more aware of shipping dealines than we are, so they likely already have their personal deadlines in mind. This does not, however, excuse our own ignorance. We need to know that most items shipped to Canada take 10 days, but when held by customs can be a month, if not more.