Little Baby Bobby helping Mama and Aunty pick out his first Halloween pumpkin!
Joe and I had a delightful time last night at my sister Andrea and her husband Robert's house. Our grandmother and father joined us with sweet baby Bobby, who wore two costumes: a white pajama suit with a hood with black pinstripes "Jail Bird" and "Casper" wearing our father's long white 100% cotton night gown with sleeves that folded over his hands...so cute!
Granddad with little "Casper" Bobby...adorable!
We all had dinner together; something simple: pizza, salad, oysters, chips & salsa, and pickled okra (ha ha, our typical family shmorgishborg)! We had Spicey Orange Punch (spiked with Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum) and my fun little Haunted Grave Yard Cupcakes (made with all-natural ingredients and food colorings of course)! These cupcakes were my favorite dark chocolate cake recipe with a raspberry preserve filling...Mmm, decadent!
I used a mini loaf pan to make the tombstones and a regular cupcake pan to make the ghosts (there is a tombstone for every ghost in this haunted graveyard)! The center cupcake features a smiling bat flying in front of a full moon (colored yellow with turmeric)! I didn't have Andrea's cake decorating kit with piping bag so I improvised and used the "Ziploc bag with tiny hole cut out in the corner" method...and it worked out pretty well I think! Doesn't the center cupcake kind of resemble the batman symbol...ha ha, that wasn't intentional. ;-) Oh, if you want to recreate this cupcake creation, don't forget the googly eyes for the ghosts; also, I used cocoa to color the brown bat and lettering.
After our dinner and while indulging on cupcakes and spicy orange punch, we all sat and watched the Tim Burton film "Coraline"...this movie was awesome; with amazing graphics and a very spooky/creepy story! Although this is a cartoon, I think it might be to scary for children...I could see this encouraging nightmares about freaky dolls with button eyes as well as frightening spider ladies! However, this movie is intriguing and imaginative for adults!
Here is Andrea and I with Daddy and Bobby (I am dressed up like a saloon girl and Andrea is "Suzy Homemaker"...our grandmother "Nana Sharee" dressed up like a geisha).
Today marks the one year anniversary of my Etsy shop "Eco-Friendly Freckles"! So far I have made 24 sales...which may not sound like a lot to some people, but to me it is something that I am proud of! :-) I made my first sale after my shop had been open for nearly three months; at the beginning of the year I was learning a lot about Etsy and how to promote my shop. I look forward to the year to come and hope that I can more than double my sales from this year! I love looking over my 100% positive customer feedback; this assures and encourages me that I have creations/products that people enjoy as well as good customer service and packaging skills...some customers even say that they would love to do business with me again! Maybe in this upcoming year I can accomplish some goals for my shop that I have not yet pursued such as participate in a local craft show, throw an "art party" with my friends & family and showcase my work, and talk to my local libraries about getting some of my decoupage canisters in their display cases for one of their featured displays (maybe they will feature how-to books about corresponding topics that go with my work; such as recycling, decoupage, etc.)
In celebration of my Eco-Friendly Freckles Etsy Shop's one year anniversary, I would like to demonstrate another "function" for one of my hand-painted upcycled decoupage canisters. This canister is titled "Traveling Lady" and you can find it listed in my Etsy shop. Here I have the canister containing a spool of lace I have so it is easy to access when I need to use it. My canisters are great for storing large spools of lace, ribbons, and yarn for your craft room or studio! Just another thought of how you can use an artsy, one-of-a-kind Eco-Friendly Freckles canister!
