Monday, November 29, 2010

Bottle Cap Advent Calendar Tree ~tutorial


~SO I really wanted to make burger an advent calendar, I actually have never even had one myself.
We have been really into discussing numbered Days and the order of our fall events so I thought we needed this holiday activity. I pulled this one together this weekend all from stuff around the house.


~I decide I would use bottle caps as the doors or boxes. I already collect them compulsively for pin cushions and I am always looking for other uses for my mounds of them however I usually only stash 2 types. So I stashed every bottle cap for the week and that gave me a nice assortment of caps.
All the little surprises came from around the house too. Burger is quite a littles collector and he has more than he knows. I went around after he was sleep and picked a bunch of little things to stash in the caps.

materials
card board box flattened out
ruler
tape
scrap fabric or wrapping paper
felt for backing
hot glue gun
ribbon or trim

24 bottle caps

24 little surprises
old sales fliers of some way of numbering your caps
construction paper
glue and or modge-podge
scissors
Process
1. Gather your caps and toys. I used all sorts of things. from stickers and tiny toys to little treasures from my own stash. I just tried to make it something he would love or find amusing.( like wolvie's lost claw) Lay the caps out on a tray with the toys in them and make sure the lid can lay flat against the tray. Also try not to use items that are too heavy. I think candy is a great idea if you do candy( we r trying not to right now) also stickers work great too.

~2.Cut Your tree. There is no specific size I just wanted it big enough to hold my bottle caps nicely. I used a mason jar box. Open it flat. On one of your short sides mark the halfway point. This is your treetop. draw a straight line from the pint to each corner on at the bottom of the box. Cut along these lines. add on a proportionate tree base ( mine had one for me)and reinforce your tree anywhere you need on the back with extra card board and tape.

~3.Cut your tree cover and backing. Choose some fabric or decorative paper for your tree and the trunk. I had this really cute vintage green and red woven fabric, That is not Christmas really, but I always think it is.
Lay out your cover and trim it to about 3/4 " around your tree. Do the same to the trunk allowing for the truck be covered under the button edge of the tree. Stitch or pink a finished edge along the bottom of your tree because it will not be folded under to the back side. (or leave it raw if you like). Cut a piece of felt that will cover the entire back side of your tree including the trunk

4.Glue your cover to your tree. Using your hot glue first glue the trunk cover in place then the tree cover.

5. Attach your hanging ribbon. Using @ 8-10" of ribbon make a loop and attach it to the back of the tree at the tip top.

6. Glue the backing onto your tree. Trim any excess once you have it glued.
7. Add any garland or other embellishments to your tree.


8. Arrange and glue your caps.
Decide where you want each cap then line the edge of the cap with hot glue and adhere it to the tree. You don't have to go too crazy here because you want them to pull off kinda easily.


9.Number each cap.
I used cut outs from all the gazillion black Friday and pr thanksgiving fliers we got in the mail.
I went through and found 1-24 in varying fonts keeping in mind the size of the bottle cap.
Kg cut out coordinating stars in multiple sizes from construction paper. I used glue and modge-podge here. I made the numbered star first with glue and adhered it to the cap. I then glazed the whole thing with modge-podge. Let it sit over night to dry
10. count down the days till Christmas!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Fall sale sneak a peek


~here is a quick sneak peek at a few of the new items for this Saturday's sale...I am so in love with my new fall dress pattern. It is super comfortable and layers well . I love the ease of the silhouette,
something that will make it flattering on most figures...


I also have loads of skirts,(this one is fuchsia and truly truly truly outrageous) ****musical interlude***





slip dresses...yes that is snake skin knit, and Pancho t shirts.

In addition to the clothing I will have the usual hodge-podge of accessories and gifts. Don't forget I am still taking custom orders for Holiday gifts. So If you have been wanting to get someone that special belle and burger apron or bag or what have you , let me know and we will get it done! Happy Little Friday y'all and c u SATURDAY

Friday, November 12, 2010

~belle and burger and Cabbage Moon Company Sale~


~Sale next weekend with belle and burger and Cabbage Moon Company.~
This is our first in a series of team sales. The rest will be at Farmers Market for the Holly-daze season. This one will highlight clothing from me,I will be posting ramshackled photos of sneaky peeks all week. You should hop on over to Cabbage Moon for some peeks at her beautiful creations.
The last few days I have been making loads of my new knit slip dress and the cropped Pancho T-shirt.

This one is translucent........

I also made this custom playboy robe and nightie set, I am planning more of these one of a kind slumber items....stay tuned for more previews.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dolce's pecan spice tea cookies

~My good friend Dolce gave me this recipe after burger was gobbling them up at her house. They are very lightly sweet and quite tender. Also there is a lot of room for variation; She made them with banana last week and I was thinking pumpkin or sweet potato might make it into a batch of mine eventually. I sprinkled mine with cinnamon sugar but she doesn't; I also upped the spices( adding the spice to the cookie). They are perfect with tea and a great excuse to eat a cookie! I could see adding this to my Christmas cookie repertoire this year for sure. I am thinking a candied pecan would be real nice baked on top!

Dolce's pecan spice tea cookies

Ingredients

1/2 plug of butter room temp
1c ground pecans
1 egg
1/4 c brown sugar
1tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp all spice
cinnamon /sugar for sprinkles

process
preheat oven 375. cream butter and sugar add vanilla and beaten egg mix/ beat for few minutes. fold in nuts. In separate bowl whisk rest of dry ingredients. Mix dry into wet till blended.Dough will be sticky but not too sticky. roll your cookies about a heaping (teaspoon ) into balls . Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake about 10-12 minutes ... till just nutty sandy brown. So lovely!

Friday, November 5, 2010

new t~shirt design

so here is a new T-shirt design for fall/winter. I am planning to try the 4 panel pattern with re purposed T-shirts....
I am also still sorting the hem out and I want to test the sleeve widths as well (when I have more knit to play around with)but I think I am loving it.~ thanks Zuul for the inspiration oh yeah and memories of units clothing stores

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Its time to eat the pumpkin and recollect


~so I made the first pumpkin pie of the season last night. I used fresh pumpkin(of course) and Martha's recipe, except I used a store bought( gasp) crust... Hey I may be crazy but I ain't insane; I know my limits. I am not risking our first pumpkin pie with an experimental crust from these rookie paws. Mine came from her book but I love this clip with Betty white.
While munching pumpkin pie for breakfast I figured I would do a little photo~tage of the last few crazy sick birthday weeks from here in central Texas...because I need to remember.
~First Burger had a birthday and a party and lots of cake. Here he contemplates the one I made for him . ....homemade Strawberry birthday cake. I was completely disappointed with this recipe. It was more like corn bread than cake. It was actually not so bad warm outta the oven but after being in the refrigerator and then frosted the next day; It was just way too dense. I love this part shot of me and spidey. Burger recently switched from wolverine to Spiderman,
my little man is growing up!
Kg's celebration was the next week and I made this little kitty dress for our date~nite. It is the tank dress I made late this summer without the shirring at the waist and belted, instead.
I made pickles for Kg's bday in lieu of cake. I altered Bertie's recipe by adding mixed vegetables and jalapenos. My version of Escabeche .

Under direction from Burger, Kg bought a Ghostbusters costume for his Halloween getup ( someone needed a blaster and power pack). Kyle was Peter Venkman ...so handsomeSo decided to go as the gatekeeper or Zuul .
I made my dress by altering on this pattern.
Among all this I also wanted to share a "coming home " custom baby outfit I made for a very special little boy expected to arrive in December. He is a miracle baby; he was conceived by egg donor in Uruguay and we are very excited for his safe arrival! Welcome little Seeley!

Yay it is November!!!!!!!!!!!!