I also received my package from Noobina. She made extras!!! and did groups of different themes.

1st is her recipe for fettucine alfredo...yum...


next is something I love to collect....


this set is kept hidden so my 6yr old doesn't disappear with them 'cause they rock...


okay and here are my favourite set....ready?....i don't know if you can handle it.....


I love rabbids! I keep wondering why hasn't there been a swap just for them?? Anyways I really love all the inchies I was spoiled with by my partners. Thanks again.

Wow! So many amazing inchies! I love the teeny cross-stitched ones... very cool.

I received from Fullmoon a few days ago but have had so many issues uploading...but without further delay......







I think I love the owls the most. Thanks, Fullmoon.

So today I heard a thud as the mail hit the floor. My envelope arrived!

Here it is...

It is full of awesome paper, stickers, yummy lipgloss, beads and tons of other stuff. There are even monkeys! My son is asking if he can have bits and pieces of this and nearly made it impossible to take the photo.
Thanks so much Psyche.

*not sure why my pic is so tiny?!*

I usual work in silver but never post anything 'cause I suck at any kind of technology stuff and until I made this, I had never done a cabochon setting. I should have taken photos or at least polished this before taking pics...

Anywhooooo...here is my jasper ring.


My obsession with circles once again rears it's head....


Please excuse the well worn appearance.

C&C welcomed and appreciated.

Okay so I never make homemade beauty products. I confess, I fear I will make a mess and waste supplies.
But in searching for homemade gifts for guys I came across tons of recipes for aftershave. I amalgamated a few and took my chances...here they are....



I put them in flasks and put tags with various names such as Spiked! and Spiced and spiked.

This is so easy but you should start today if you want these to be gifts for Christmas.

You need 1/2 cup of vodka
              spices mix for scenting
              1/2 cup mineral water non carbonated
              Small glass jar with lid
This makes one cup of aftershave.



In a clean jar place vodka and spices. Store in a cool place..I used the fridge. Steep for one week or longer. Shake gently sealed jars each day.



When you are ready strain the scented vodka. I used a coffee filter to make sure I removed all bits. Then I added the mineral water.
Funnel(..I had no funnel so I twisted a piece of paper into a cone) the aftershave into non porous containers of metal or glass. This should last up to 3 months. I recommend keeping it in the fridge it adds a cool sensation when using and lasts longer.

Because of the alcohol this acts also as a toner and antibacterial for nicks and cuts. The light scent lasts only an hour or so making it perfect for cologne wearers.

Here are some spice mix ideas.
#1 -- 2 bay leaves
        15 whole cloves
        1/2 tsp white peppercorns

#2--  star anise 1 or 2
        1 cinnamon stick broken in half
        10 cardamon seeds
        2inch piece of vanilla

#3-- 1tsp cassia buds
        1 star anise
        1/4 tsp white peppercorns
        2inch piece of vanilla bean
        2 bay leaves
Try out whatever you like in the way of spices and then let me know. This is also great for a cheap Valentines or Fathers Day gift!

These are super easy and have been a hit so far.


All you need is some wooden toothpicks and a small bottle or jar and flavor oil.
I used natural flavor oils that I bought at the local bulk food store. I tried Anise, Lemon, spearmint, cinnamon (which may not be natural?) and peppermint all were yummy.

So in a glass jar..spice jars work well...pour approximately 1/8 -1/4 inch of oil. Stand toothpicks in jar so only one end is in the oil. Be sure they do not lay in the oil.


Allow the oil to be soaked up by the picks. Depending on how strong of a taste you want allow the oil to be absorbed 2 hours to overnight (8hrs). **Note that mint or cinnamon can become too strong and feel like they are burning your lips off. But hey, some like it like that. The anise and lemon need longer in my opinion.

Remove from jars and lay on non absorbent surface ie cookie tray. Allow to air dry in a warm dry spot for a few days. When dry place in clean jars. The spice jars are perfect with the holey tops for easy dispensing!
**If impatient like me..place toothpicks in 250f oven for approx. 5 mins. Watch so they do not burn!

I call mine Toothpicks with taste. I think they are great for quiting smoking or that annoying nail biting habit or for anyone who is hard to gift.

Let me know if you try it.

So I received my package last week. I am a total newb and it took a while to resize photos and find out proper posting procedures. So here is a glimpse of the fab frame and pics Idlersdesign sent me.
There was a whole lotta screaming when inside there was Mario all the way from the Netherlands!

Love the Mario/Galaxy pic she chose for the frame since it is one of our favorite games!
Inside this super cool frame/box was 'Star bits' my son and his friend were so excited and agreed to be hand models ....

I adore the photos she took and here are my other favs..
Love the detail in this photo and the way it expresses the lifestyle in Leiden.

Cool tree from textile exhibit. Check out the knitting here!

Prehistoric caves/hiding places in the rocks. She knows I am a rock hound!!

Thanks for all the great goodies and excitement!

So my son loves Batman (did until he discovered the multi faceted Mario now Batman is lagging in popularity), and for his 6th Birthday I wanted to be all Craftster like about it and include a few creative and economical aspects. I have become enthralled with all you creative geniuses that post some of the most amazing things I have ever seen!

I did a Batman signal cake for his actual birthday and had him follow riddles left by The Riddler who left his hat (think St patty`s hat with felt question mark) to find his hidden present. He thought that was a blast.
Here is the cake...


His party was held at a really old church that had been converted to a hall and the town did kid`s parties. It was perfect since it had Gothic arches and could pass for a Gotham city building. The inside was bland and I made a ton of Word bubbles on bristol board to make the wall less beige.
I made the invites too. which I will have to post later. I was super pleased with those!

For Loot bags I went with capes and utility belts for all 20+ kids. They were worth the effort when the kids could hardly wait for assistance to tie the capes on. I printed up certificates stating completion of training to be superheroes and handed out their bag of equipment.
Here are the capes....Boys and Girls each personalized because I always over do it!  

And the girlies with rhinestones...

Here is a pic with a belt that was made from dog collars, yes it is true, a little leather pouch with finger lasers, flashlight, binoculars, batarangs made from foam sheets. They each received a lik-m-aid candy and a pen and pencil. I always go crazy with loot bags but these were adored by almost every parent was thankful as well as the kids. I had a blast doing this.

I am sad that Batman has taken a back seat at our house but glad it is to a great man like Mario.

So last year I made the TV dinner cupcakes for April Fool's day and this year I came across this sweet little idea in the Family Fun magazine and thought I should post this for all to have some good ol' fun this April 1st.

These are too easy!




All you need to do is melt some white chocolate chips,  pool onto wax paper lined tray and sit yellow m&ms into center. (I wing everything and use what I have so I did not follow exact instructions as per in Family Fun.) Chill.

Then take a tootsie roll midgees and square caramel nuke for 5 seconds and manipulate like clay, stack and squeeze gently then cut in half and stack again.

Cut into 1/4 inch pieces.

Squeeze and pull these into "bacon strips" and then ripple the edges for a realistic look.

Serve to all the Fools you know.


This is my first Real post and so I apologize if this is somewhere I have not seen or if I have offended by wrong board posting or something.