Tuestorial: Pumpkin-Crazed Snickerdoodles

On Saturday I was driving through West Marin in search for apples and there were all these sad little pumpkins abandoned in pumpkin patch fields. I asked my friend - "So, do they just leave them there to die after Halloween? Think of all the yummy stuff one could make with that!" I believe that's when I became Pumpkin-Crazed...this happens for most people when Starbucks comes out with their seasonal pumpkin spiced latte...but not me... it took seeing abandoned pumpkins to get my mind thinking about how to use them in my baking.

The next day, I made Pumpkin Biscotti. But the recipe I found online only asked for 1/2 a cup of pumpkin...and there I was with another cup to use up because a can of pumpkin is actually a cup and a half. Whoopsie - guess I gotta make more pumpkin treats - oh darn.
I guess I could have put it to good use inside a soup or something - but Pumpkin Snickerdoodles just sounded just a tad-bit more delicious.

Also - with our winter team show coming up - you can make some of these wonderful delights for the table and impress me...since I'll be there volunteering at the baked goods table.

I modified this recipe to make my version healthier, more moist and also more pumpkin-y.

For the cookies:
3¾ cups Red Mill Wheat Flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 cup unsalted Straus Family Creamery butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated organic cane sugar
½ cup organic (light or dark) brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. Madagascar Vanilla Paste


For the coating:
1 cup organic granulated can sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice

Step one:
Combine wet ingredients... then put in all the dry ones. Usually I skip this step...but this is important here for these cookies since you'll want to make sure they stay fluffy - and this will help.

Step Two:
Chill your dough for an hour in the fridge. Why? Because you want to make sure your butter becomes firm again and your cookies hold their shape during baking. When you are mixing the ingredients together...the butter looses some of it's binding ability. Putting the dough in the fridge will bring the dough back together and make rolling your dough easier later down the line.

Step Three:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees - line your cookie sheet with a cookie sheet liner OR parchment paper. This is so the sugar coating doesn't stick to the cookie sheet. If you use a cookie sheet liner, not only will you be able to get your cookies off the sheet easily, you will also end up with a perfectly-perfect cookie bottom and your cookies won't dry out as much as they would if they were placed directly on the sheet.

Step Four:
Make your dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls. Coat your little nuggets in the sugar & spice mixture. Place them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Take the back of a spoon and lightly smoosh your cookie down (smoosh is a technical term for pushing down lightly). This will help them cook all the way through and also gives a nice "thumbprint" look to them.

Step Five:
Bake for 13-15 minutes each batch - let cool for 5 minutes before transferring your cookies onto a wire rack. Repeat until all the dough is gone. This recipe makes a boat-load of cookies - up to 6 dozen since I increased the amount of pumpkin. Which is why they would be perfect for a craft event - since you can help feed lots of customers who come to shop at our show.

Side Note:
About the Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice...
it's a combo of Cinnamon, Allspice, Nutmeg, Lemon Peel and Ginger - which is why I LOVE this stuff...it gives a great flavor to most all things that ask for Cinnamon and Nutmeg...and takes up much less room in your cupboard for those of us who want to save our pantry space for more art supplies. ;-)

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - BOO! Halloween Costume Ideas

Happy Tuesday to all my Witches and Goblins!

Halloween is less than a week away...and if you're like me, finding the time to get costumes ready is just one of those things that gets pushed to the back burner until just before it's time to go out and get some candy! Not only that...I'm a cheap crafty lady...I'd much rather spend my money on craft supplies (and bite-sized Snickers) than a pre-fab Halloween costume.

As I was brewing up my spooktacular costume idea...other ideas popped into my head and I thought...self, this would be a great Tuestorial.
I sketched out some ideas for you... just in case you're still on the "haunt" for something easy to build just before you head out the door.

Don't mind my sketches...ha ha... they are meant to give you a little smile AND get the basic idea across for each costume.

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BE A BUNCH o' GRAPES! (for a kid or an adult)



Materials:
Purple Balloons
Black or purple extra large shirt
purple leggings
purple beanie

What's Great about this?:
if you get an extra large T-Shirt... you'll have some more room to maneuver around during the evening.

How To:
All you have to do is staple (or hot glue) the balloons onto your shirt. That's it!

- Extra credit -
Be a bubble bath! all you have to do here is wear all white, use white balloons and attach a yellow rubber ducky to either your "bubbles" or the top of your beanie!

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BE A PIECE OF SUSHI!
Okay, so this would work as an adult costume (if you just wore all white), but can't you see how cute it would be if it were on a baby?! And technically, this costume is a piece of Nigiri Sushi (just in case you get that hard question). :)



Materials:
White Onesie
Black felt
Orange Felt (the "salmon")


What's Great about this?:
Babies don't need to overheat in a large pumpkin for their first Halloween...and everyone will just love these creative idea!

How To:
hot glue the felt orange rectangle to the front of the onesie
Then, wrap the black band loosely around the onesie (measure the band on your baby first, so you know how big around you need it).

I think it goes without saying...you want to make this costume when the onesie is NOT on the baby... but I'm just sayin' that as a blanketed legal footnote.

- Extra credit -
Take a black baby headband and glue on a bright green piece of "wasabi" felt to the top of it. It will be the perfect accessory.


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BE CANDY CORN -or- A GNOME!

What's funny about these two ideas is that they are basically the same thing... just a different arrangement of colors! This means, you can look at what clothing you already have...and go from there!




Materials:
Long sleeve t-shirt in either orange or light blue
Pants in either dark blue, brown or yellow
Construction paper in either white or red


What's Great about this?:
Like I mentioned before, these two ideas are basically the same thing. AND they are made from very basic materials...so, if you needed to get one of the items quickly, you can easily get them at Goodwill or your local store.


How To For the Candy Corn:
Look at a piece of candy corn - as you can see...the candy goes from yellow(or brown) at the bottom, then to orange for the middle, and then white at the top. That's basically it. All you have to do, is where those colors and make yourself a hat.
For fun, you could glue candy corn to the hat (maybe just at the rim)...then people will know exactly what you are. Super comfortable and SUPER easy!


How To For the Gnome:
Similar to the Candy Corn...all you need for this is to wear a light blue top, dark jeans or brown pants (brown would be like David The Gnome) and then make yourself a red cone hat out of paper. Then, use a belt or a piece of felt to wrap it around your waste for that extra-gnomey look.
For the beard, you can just paint white on your face like a beard or leave yourself as-is for that young-gnome look.

- Extra credit -
Think of other costumes that you can spin off of this same idea... such as, a crayon! Make a hat, just like for the above costumes and then wear a matching shirt and pants. Using felt, cut out the word "crayon" and hot glue it to your shirt.
One of my favorite colors is pink... but maybe you'd want to be green or even magenta!



We are all very creative people... but sometimes, we have to push ourselves to think a little outside of the box during Halloween with very little time to take away from our Etsy businesses. Hopefully these few ideas have given you some inspiration.

PLACES TO GATHER SUPPLIES IN THE BAY AREA!

Scrap - a great resource for cheap craft supplies - all proceeds go to the Unified School District of SF

Our Craft Swap - THIS weekend!!! - This weekend, if you're feeling REALLY last minute...come to the Craft Swap and see if you can't swap someone for that last minute supply you couldn't find anywhere else!

Boneflowers! - a wonderful woman by the name of Jenna owns this great shop with amazing vintage finds and steampunk jewelry. She's also a great stylist and would be happy to help you find that perfect Halloween costume.


And for a final giggle:
This is one of my costumes I'll likely be wearing this year. My friend Astra Brinkmann (also the photographer) and I built this dress from an old prom dress I had laying around. Lots of hot glue to put that skirt together. Which comes to my final point... look around your house. Do you have a old prom dress you've been hanging out to? Maybe you can be a zombie bride... that's always a great go-to.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - Pucker Up with Homemade Lip Balm

It's been a while since I posted...and for that, I apologize! But I hope you enjoy this week's short tutorial on making simple homemade lip balm. This project would be great for small Christmas gifts or a stocking stuffer...and it's a great introduction to what goes into lip balm for someone who is interested in taking some of the mystery out of this type of project.

Gather your materials!

- Pots or Tubes for your lip balm (20 small pots or around 12 tubes)
- lip balm base (see breakdown of this below)
- flavoring
- colorant (if desired)
- disposable eye dropper
- microwave safe bowl

STEP ONE:
To start you'll need a lip balm base.
Now - for mine, I just got a finished lip balm base from Brambleberry.com
BUT! here's a basic lip balm base which would be easy to also make if you wanted to buy the ingredients separately.

-2 tsp. beeswax (chop or grate it, then measure)
-2 1/4 tsp. jojoba oil

I've talked to a few friends who like to make their own lip salves and they say that getting the texture and balance right for your personal taste is the hardest part. If you want a softer lip balm, add more oil... a waxier lip balm is from less oil.


STEP TWO
Melt your base on a microwave safe container until it's melted. Some say you want to leave it in there for about 1 1/2 minutes...but it really would depend on your microwave. You don't want to boil your base...because if it's too hot, it will crack and break when drying in your pots. I just kept an eye on my base until it was melted all the way through.

STEP THREE
Add your flavoring and colorant.

1 oz. flavoring of your choice. (check out all these great options here... all food safe and yummy!)
.25 oz colorant (or a few drops)... also needs to be food safe.. like these

STEP FOUR
Using a disposable eye dropper, dispense your melted base into your lip balm base before it cools. You have to be a bit quick on your feet here so that the base doesn't cool before you've transferred all your lip balm into their finished pots.

TIPS & TRICKS

- I wasn't fast enough during Step Four, so my eye dropper got filled with lip balm and my lip balm started to cool in my bowl! Eeek!!! But... I'm a little smarter than the average bear so I just put that bowl back in the microwave for about 20 seconds until the material was warm again and kept going until I had used up all my base.

- To fix my little eye dropper, I did the same thing...just popped it in the microwave for a few seconds so that it would release some of the lip balm that was stuck inside. You don't want to cook any of the dropper for too long or you'll melt your eye dropper...and probably burn your little fingers when you touch it. So be careful!

- I think this would be a great little project for kids - ages 6 and up who can understand the concept of dangerous hot liquids. Kids would have fun choosing the color and flavors and giving these to friends at school for Christmas presents. For me, this project made about 20 little pots of lip balm.

- Total cost for this project is around $20. So it's truly an affordable gift giving idea.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Tuestorial - BOMB Stress AWAY!

Once a week I take 45 minutes to exit the stress of my week...
I set myself up a soothing bath...grab the latest DIY magazine and (most times) bring a cup of tea, or a beer, or a glass of wine in the bathroom with me. (or all three...ha ha)
It's my once a week ritual that has been helping to keep my stress from eating up my creative soul.

This all started when I went to Lush with my Mom a while back...but at over $5 per bath bomb or bubble bath...I just couldn't keep up with the cost of my baths. So...I decided to learn how to make my own aromatherapy baths. I also wanted to make something that was good for the environment...it's nice to know that what goes down the drain after my bath won't hurt the environment.

Making them is SUPER easy...so easy, that Sunday night I made a half dozen of these with my boyfriend's daughter who is 6 years old. She is very excited about taking baths this week. I guess if your kids hate taking baths - you could try to do this to get them a little more pumped about gettin' in the tub.

Finding the ingredients in San Francisco...surprisingly NOT easy (for me) so I did write down some tips for finding all of the bits and pieces here in San Francisco...which hopefully will help you out wherever you are.

Recipe:
1 cup Baking Soda (This is what will make it fizzy)
1/2 cup Citric acid
1/2 cup Corn Starch
2 Tablespoons Witch Hazel
3/4 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons Essential oils
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 drops food coloring (optional)

Here's how I did it.
Put all the dry ingredients in one medium size bowl
put all the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
combine the two once measured...

put your mixture into molds. Fill the mold all the way up and then press down firmly to make sure the mixture is solid and will not crumble once dry.

keep your molds out of reach of yourself for a few days...then release from the molds and put into an air tight container for use later!

To use: fill up your bath with water... drop in a few bombs and watch them fizz away all the stress of your day.

TIPS!

- Finding the molds shouldn't be an issue...but if you want something Fun... you can make a bunch of mini bombs in those crazy rubber ice-cube molds that come in every shape you'd ever want.

- Pay attention to the details of the recipe: Normally, I'm the lazy kind of DIYer and I usually just dump everything in all at the same time...but since this recipe really is combining chemicals together...I take the separation of dry and wet a lot more seriously. I don't want to fizzle out my fizz by putting the wet ingredients in too quickly.

- What if your bombs never set in the molds and they crumble all over the place? NO worries! Thing is...you could just put all the good stuff you made above and just put it all in an air tight container if you wanted pretty much...spooning it into your bath instead of pressing it into a mold will work just lovely as well. Don't you worry...you'll be fine. However, if you're gifting these...perfecting the molds is a plus. I bought some cloth bags for cheap which make great companions to the bombs.

- Finding Citric Acid - the hardest to find. This was the hardest thing to find for me. the recipe I had found said that you could get this at any craft store or drug store. no...no you can't. But then someone said to me that citric acid is in foods, so I should try a food supply place. The light bulb went off. I ended up purchasing it at San Francisco Brewcraft. I got 5 pounds of it and when I got home I felt so silly since you only need 1/2 a cup. ha! If anyone needs any...I have some extra to go around, clearly.

- Essential Oils and you! A while back I found this gem of a place called The San Francisco Herb company. You know all those bulk teas you see in stores? Yeah...they pretty much all come from here. So knock out the middle man and check out this place. I got my essential oils from here because if you're a business, they GIVE YOU A DISCOUNT! Hollar at my money saving techniques...what what! ha ha... but really...they have pretty much all of the oils you'd want to see there since they also have pretty much anything you'd want to put in a killer potpourri. For just under $20 I got myself some vanilla, peony, jasmine, honeysuckle and spearmint. I have been able to use my oils many MANY times since then...a little goes a long way.

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!

Art for Kids from The Enchanted Square

Got kids? Got kids who love art? Then you'll be very interested in this fun news from SF Etsy team member Ruth of The Enchanted Square!

The Enchanted Square is thrilled to announce our first camp, Color for Kids! It will be held Spring Break week, April 5-9, in the mornings from 9am-12pm.

Ruth says, "My classes focus on nurturing the budding artist in your kids. I teach them techniques on how to use color in various ways in their art. This class will expose them to color theory in fun lessons. From basic color skills through how to combine colors in various projects in amazing ways."



Classes are designed for 3rd grade through middle school. For more information, check out the webpage for The Enchanted Square.