Nifty

a bunch of owls

25 to be exact. These guys were made for my Nana to give as a little gift to her fellow members of a doll collecting club. When she asked for my help with this project, I knew exactly what would be fun/easy to make since she needed 25. I found the directions here, but I can't say I followed them exactly (especially that polyfil part--none of that in my all natural owlies!).

rather festive--don't you think??

In other news I am DONE with all my christmas gift making! I think it's a record for me to have it all done in November (usually I'm still crafting on Christmas eve!). This means I have been doing lots of making lately but because I don't want to spoil the surprise--I can't share any photos of what I have been up to! Post to come after December 25th. Not to worry.

 

xo CBB

finds: christmas wishlist

1. Adorable dress from Modcloth

2. Cutesy little cupcake liners from Bake it Pretty

3. Great bag ( just the right size for my laptop! and its on sale right now!) from Modcloth

4. Lovely watch from Fossil

5. Tights (you can never have too many. never.) from Hanna Andersson

6. Crock-pot!

7. Fantastic handmade chalkboard from Mary Kate McDevitt

8. Fair Isle sweater from Gap

And there you have it--some of the things I am wishing for for Christmas! (see full list here)

 

If you (or a little one in your life) are wishing for something from my Etsy shop for Christmas then you are in luck! I am having a 40% OFF CYBER MONDAY SALE. That's right 40% off people. ( I have never offered such an awesome sale so take advantage of it!) All you need to do is use coupon code WINTER11 at checkout. Happy shopping!

xo CBB

happy thanksgiving!

I hope today was lovely for you too! and here's a little holiday cheer: use coupon code BLACKFRIDAY and get free shipping now until 11:59 EST tomorrow (Fri. 11/25) on anything in my Etsy shop.

xoxo CBB

p.s. here's my contribution to the meal--a pumpkin pie with braided crust!

the show

Now that I have recuperated (and the mess in my apartment has been taken care of) I am ready to share some photos from last weekend's craft show. It was a great show with a good turnout and I got lots and lots of positive feedback which is always nice to hear (especially after working away by myself for countless hours--being social is nice, ya know?). So here are some photos of the set up (which I shifted about as things sold)

me & my things

just my stuff

my tiered display--something I scored at a cute little boutique in Salt Lake City

and my vintage suitcase full of goodies.

Believe it or not everything (barely) fit in my little car for transport to and from the show. It might have looked a bit like a clown car though, pulling out all that furniture-- folding screen, table, & chair! The table had an unfortunate mishap when I was putting it back in the car at the end--one of the table legs fell off (three legged tables aren't very useful). But it's fixed now--good thing because I use it as my cutting table!

Now I have just a few weeks to prep for the next one! The next month is bound to be CRAZY. Also relevant, if you plan to purchase something from my Etsy shop you'll want to do so by December 15th. It will be in vacation mode from Dec. 16-Jan. 3. Just a heads up.

xoxo CBB

finds: treasury lists

Did you know about  treasury lists on etsy? They're a member curated shopping gallery and what the admin choose from for the front page. Anyways, I have been having fun putting together some lately so check it out! Especially good if you are in need of some holiday gift ideas.

You can find all of my treasuries here.

Happy Shopping!

xoxo CBB

How-to: Crochet + Pom Pom Garland

So for the show tomorrow I wanted something a little fun to drape across my booth to make it a little more festive. I have a fabric folding screen and lots of products made from fabric so I wanted to add something with a different texture to my booth. I had seen some pom-pom garlands made before and decided to take a stab at it myself and share with you my method. So here it goes--a pom-pom garland tutorial: great for decorating for the holidays, or a special birthday, or just making something pretty ♥

What you need:

- a few skeins of yarn. I chose three different ones, two worsted weight wool and one wool roving. (This would be a great time to use those leftover bits from other projects too!)

- scissors

- crochet hook

- cardboard template. I made mine by tracing a roll of masking tape and cutting it out.

How-to:

1. Make pom-poms by wrapping yarn around your cardboard template until you have almost made it all the way around the circle. Take a little piece of yarn and wrap it around the middle (being sure to get around all the strands of yarn) and tie a knot tightly.

2. Cut yarn off the template by sliding scissors in along the outer edge and trim all the way around. Repeat so that you have the desired amount of pom poms ( I made 12.)

3. Using wool roving yarn, chain crochet for 12". Then it's time to attach the first pom pom. Do so by wrapping yarn around the center of pom-pom (where it's tied together) and then make a chain stitch. Make sure to pull yarn snug so that the pom pom is well attached.

4. Continue with crochet chain for another 8" and attach another pom-pom. Repeat until you have used all pom-poms. After attaching the last one, chain for 12", just like at the beginning of the garland. Trim end and knot. Ta-da! A lovely crochet + pom pom garland!!!

Happy crafting!

xoxo CBB

 

 

puppeting

now there are some friends for little foxy loxy---an elephant, a lion, & an owl!!! I have been keeping busy that is for sure now that the Queen City Craft Bazaar is just 2 days away! Today (in addition to puppets) I made little thank-you envelopes(with coupons!) to tuck in the bag when I sell something at the bazaar. Still on my to-do list for Saturday is making a sign and a garland to decorate my booth with. Those things will happen tomorrow along with putting all the price tags on & packing up for the show--yay!

 

pretty packaging

Awhile back I had some stickers custom printed with my product images and after having the fun of receiving them in the mail (a dream come true for a sticker lover like myself) I hadn't done anything with them. Over the years of craft shows (eight years and counting...) I have learned that you sell the most of your low price point items at the show--the sort of impulse buy kinda things. So as I was brainstorming ideas for the upcoming holiday show I decided that selling some of the stickers would be great (especially for people who love cute stuff--and stickers of course!-- but might not have a child that they would buy one of my products for) The next challenge was packaging since selling a sticker sheet without anything seemed to be a poor choice. I came across a pack of page protectors from my college days and knew that was the solution. So I used my sewing machine to stitch little clear plastic sleeves and made kraft paper toppers that I stapled on. Ta-da! Nicely packaged sticker sheets ready for sale!

foxy loxy

I'm making more hand puppets---this time it is animals! The first is foxy loxy, a little fox with an appliqued face.

(notice the handout for my "crafting a business" class in the background!)

I wish I had time right now to make some more animal friends--but there are more pressing things on my to-do list at the moment!

xo CBB

p.s. foxy loxy is in the shop!

nifty fifty

I think I have set a personal record--50 items listed in my etsy shop right now!

perhaps you'd like a pretty prize-ribbon to celebrate?

xo CBB