One Down ... Three or Four to Go!

With the first craft fair of the season behind me, I'm already ramping up for the next one! Here's a photo of my booth:


Hot sellers were handmade soaps, bath bombs, lavender dryer bags and (yeah!!!) my new cedar closet sachets!

Here's my craft fair schedule so far:
November 29: American Legion Hall - Bothell, WA
December 3: Premera Blue Cross - Mountlake Terrace, WA
December 6: Skyline High School - Issaquah, WA
December 13: Lacey Elementary School - Lacey, WA

I'm off to inventory my herbs/spices today. Time to stock up again - getting very busy with Etsy orders! You all must be crafting for fairs too!

Hugs,
Layla

Alcohol Ink Ornaments

I think I have been sucked into a crafty vortex and can't get out.

While walking through Ben Franklin Crafts this weekend, I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on how you view things) to watch a short demonstration for making "alcohol ink" ornaments.

What ensued can only be described as sheer madness. The flock of crafty ladies watching the demo with me *freaked* at the end when they saw how *gorgeous* the ornaments turned out. In one massive crafty blob, we all rushed to the alcohol inks and "Perfect Pearls" product, scooping the variety of inks and powders into our carts with both hands.

Here's my first ornament:



After subsequent ooohhing and ahhhhing at my work, I went on to make these:


and these:


Needless to say, the laundry did *not* get done this weekend. Or the vacuuming or ... anything. I'm embarrassed to admit that I made a second craft store trip to buy more glass ornaments (104 of them, to be exact). They were 50% off so that makes this ridiculous amount ok but I did get quite a few looks as I pushed my cart through the store. I hope they do well at the craft fairs I'm participating in ...

Magnets!

I have been saying for the longest time that I'd like to try making my own magnets. In a fit of crafty inspiration, I made some yesterday.

I think they turned out pretty good for a first go at them:



If you've wondered about making them, they're super easy! Would make a fun family activity - you could even put family photos behind some of the larger glass pebbles!

Happy Sunday!

How to Make Orange Pomander Balls

These are lovely and fragrant and make beautiful gifts or items to decorate your holiday home. Try picking up the cinnamon, cloves and orris root in my Etsy shop for real savings on those bulk items!



You need:

Oranges
Whole cloves
A few toothpicks
Orris root
Cinnamon

Gently prick the orange with a toothpick, and then insert the pointed end of the whole clove into the orange. Repeat until entire orange is studded with cloves.

Then take a mixture of equal parts cinnamon and orris root, and roll the ball in the mixture, coating the ball. Then place the orange in a dark room for two to three weeks for it to harden. Then it is ready to use or give away for gifts for Christmas.

United States of Pop Tart

One of the things that gives me great hope right now is the sense of unity and overwhelming patriotism that American's are now feeling with the election of Barack Obama as our nation's 44th President.

Regardless of which party you voted for, I think it's clear that things are looking up. This week, a little tiny light was turned on at the end of a very long, dark tunnel.

In my travels on the Internet today, I found a nifty little site that speaks of that coming together of red and blue better than I ever could. I give you, the United States of Pop Tart:

Squeaalll!! It's Here!!

My pillow! My custom made Flowering Tree Botanicals pillow is heerrre!!

Just look at how lovely it turned out:


I cannot recommend ArtfulBeginnings highly enough. This lovely pillow will be sitting on my craft fair tables in lue of a clunky, hard to hang banner. I *love* it, Kati! Thank you so much for doing such a lovely job with it!

Yes We Did.

Overjoyed in Washington State!

Random Etsy "Food" Finds

Is this not the sweetest little felt cupcake you ever saw?



And as a vegetarian, I'm really fond of this ... a veggie burger soap on a rope!

Creations by David

If you're looking for exquisite jewelry, Creations by David has what you're looking for.

Just take a look at these earrings!



Wow!

Outrageous Shortbread!

Literally!

This is one of my favorite special gifts for myself and friends. The unique, buttery, flavorful goodness of Outrageous Shortbread is amazing. If you try one flavor, you'll be immediately wanting to try the rest of their flavors.

You can find them at their web site at www.outrageousshortbread.com and yay! now they're on Etsy!

My favorites:

Apricot Mango



Bittersweet Chocolate Lavender



Tomorrow, I'll be showcasing one of my favorite pieces of jewelry on Etsy with you -- stay tuned!

Love,
Layla

Crafting Weekend!

Well, I'm back after a little break and excited about a lot of things. I finally decided upon a name for my herb business (which has expanded faster than I ever thought possible). I'm now officially known as "Flowering Tree Botanicals"!




I'm staying really busy working on goodies for a few craft fairs I'm participating in. Bath salts, soy candles, lots of culinary goodies - herbs, spices, sugars, salts, peppers, etc.

I'm also having another sale in my shop - 20% off your whole purchase now through end of October! It's time to stock up!

Finally, I'm so excited to share a product by KnitHippy! She's one of my super crafty customers and made these really cool stamped sachets using items from my shop:



Aren't those cool? You should check out some of her other items too!

That's it for now - I'm off to make some fragrant coconut sachet bags!

Love,
Layla

I'm having a HUGE sale!

I'm having a huge buy 2, get 1 free sale in my Etsy shop at the moment - it's a great time to stock up!

I'm a Celebrity!

I am so excited to be the latest recipient of the following award!


Special thanks to LizzieJane for nominating me for this - quite an honor coming from someone with such a great blog! Here's my list of nominees that I'd like to receive this award as well:

KitchenMage
The Blue Between
Pepito
Etsy for Animals
The Anti 9-to-5 Guide
It's Meow or Never (which will be great when it gets going)
Posie Gets Cosy

Here are the rules for this award:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking every body's mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!

A Perfect Day ...

I had the most wonderful day in Seattle with my beautiful Aunt Christie. I don't get to see her nearly enough and she invited me to have lunch with her today - how exciting!

We decided to eat here:


There was a huge Norwegian Cruise Lines ship docked and it made for very interesting conversation. The food and service was great - Christie enjoyed the fish tacos and I had the Hawaiian Cobb salad (less shrimp and bacon).

Our waiter overheard that it was my birthday recently and brought out a complimentary Sundae:


I'll have to figure out how to calculate those Weight Watcher points later. It was *delicious*.

The weather was so beautiful and the sun was out in all it's glory. Even Mt. Rainier graced us with it's presence:


All in all, it was a perfect day and the fresh air and great company was just what I needed.


All my love to you, Christie, for spending the day with me and for the lovely birthday gifts .. you and David are *beyond* thoughtful and I was really touched by you both today. I love you.

An Unexpected Guest

I came home from work tonight and was delighted to find a strange and unusual inhabitant in my garden:



Discovered by JE Smith in 1797, the Small Eyed Sphinx or Paonis myops is hanging quite delicately from a single daisy stem on a hanging basket. A rare treat - I've never seen anything like it - he's quite handsome in a strange, mothy kind of way.

*****************************

Starting Weight: 154.2 pounds
1st Goal: 15 pounds
Weekly Points Remaining: 13
Daily Points Remaining: 6

Breakfast
- None

Lunch
- Zero Point Tortilla Soup: 0
- Piece of bread: 3
- 24 oz water

Dinner
- 1 Quorn Unchicken breast: 1
- brown rice: 2
- 1 cup brussels sprouts: 0
- 2 tbps teriyaki sauce: 2
- coke: 3

Snacks
- 1 cup baby carrots: 1
- 1 kiwi: 1
- Reeses peanut butter crunch (small): 2

Choices

This evening, I had a special treat - dinner with my Dad. I met him at California Pizza Kitchen and ate an entire Margherita Pizza. It was delicious but costly in terms of points. The important part was that I "budgeted" for it earlier in the day. That's the beauty of Weight Watchers - planning, awareness and choices.



*****************************

Starting Weight: 154.2 pounds
1st Goal: 15 pounds
Weekly Points Remaining: 13
Daily Points Remaining: 0

Breakfast
- None

Lunch
- 1 cup quinoa: 4
- broccoli: 0
- asparagus: 0
- cabbage: 0
- red pepper: 0
- yellow squash: 0
- zucchini: 0
- teriyaki sauce: 0
- 16 oz ice tea

Dinner
- 32 oz iced tea: 0
- 1 Margarita Pizza (California Pizza Kitchen): 21

Snacks
- None

Tortilla Soup - No Points!

I found a recipe for Tortilla Soup that has NO Weight Watchers points. I tried it and it is SO good. Here's a pic:



Instead of using salsa, I used Pico De Gallo and I also added some "Franks Red Hot" hot sauce. I like things spicy. Mmm....

I took a 25 minute brisk walk at lunch today. The weather was perfect here .. I felt like I could have kept going!

******************************

Starting Weight: 154.2 pounds
1st Goal: 15 pounds
Weekly Points Remaining: 17
Daily Points Remaining: 3

Breakfast
- 1 kiwi: 1

Lunch
- 1 cup quinoa: 4
- broccoli: 0
- asparagus: 0
- cabbage: 0
- red pepper: 0
- yellow squash: 0
- zucchini: 0
- teriyaki sauce: 0
- 16 oz ice tea

Dinner
- Bowl of Tortilla Soup: 0 (post a comment if you want this zero point recipe!)
- 7 tortilla chips: 3
- Can of coke: 3

Snacks
- 1 pita: 4
- 2 tbsp hummus: 3
- 1 cup baby carrots: 1

I love my house.

o-m-g. Two for one sale at the garden center so I added more plants. I am tired.



******************************

Starting Weight: 154.2 pounds
1st Goal: 15 pounds
Weekly Points Remaining: 17
Daily Points Remaining: 3

Breakfast
- 16 oz iced tea: 0
- 1/2 lrg onion bagel & crm cheese: 4
- 1/2 banana: 1

Lunch
- Taco time salad (no meat): 4

Dinner
- Veggie sandwich: 5
- 16 oz. ice tea: 0

Snacks
- 94% FF popcorn: 4
- 16 oz water: 0

Bleh. Binged.

I binged today on a bunch of crappy food. I also bought more plants. I think I'm addicted to both at the moment.. Weight Watchers doesn't seem to be as easy as it was the last time I did it and I'm dead set at having something in the way of a pretty garden, if it kills me (and it might - oh my back!).

Here's a photo of my newly planted flower bed .. I'll add more to it tomorrow. I was so excited .. I had a bird take a bath in my birdbath .. he had an absolute blast.



Now I've decided that I need to rearrange my office so that my desk faces the window so I can look out at my feathered friends while I work. Jotting that down on the list of things to do tomorrow.

******************************

Starting Weight: 154.2 pounds
1st Goal: 15 pounds
Weekly Points Remaining: 17
Daily Points Remaining: 0

Breakfast
- Cereal and milk: 5

Lunch
- 1 cup quinoa: 4
- broccoli: 0
- asparagus: 0
- cabbage: 0
- red pepper: 0
- yellow squash: 0
- zucchini: 0
- teriyaki sauce: 0
- 16 oz Water

Dinner
- Veggie sandwich: 4
- 16 oz Water

Snacks
- 16 oz unsweetened ice tea: 0
- 20 oz Coke: 5
- Jack in the Box Onion Rings: 11
- Ranch dressing: 4
- Trader Joes chocolate: 3
- Trader Joes chocolate meranges: 2

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I went shopping at Flower World today and bought some new plants for the garden. Going for that cottage look - will get them all planted tomorrow morning.







******************************

Starting Weight: 154.2 pounds
1st Goal: 15 pounds
Weekly Points Remaining: 34
Daily Points Remaining: 0

Breakfast
- Fresh fruit: 4

Lunch
- Subway Veggie Delight - 6": 4
- Green Tea Ginger Ale: 3

Dinner
- 1 cup quinoa: 4
- broccoli: 0
- asparagus: 0
- cabbage: 0
- red pepper: 0
- yellow squash: 0
- zucchini: 0
- teriyaki sauce: 0
- 16 oz Water

Snacks
- 13 chocolate merange cookies: 2
- Trader Joes 100 calorie chocolate: 3
- Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream: 2