IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS

Shhhhhh... everyone's asleep... except me, but this is when I do some of my best work. I'm almost ready to show you what I've been creating for the upcoming Christmas season. Here's a hint... Très Jolie.

S.W.A.K.

RASPBERRY BERET

No school today. Went to Target. Came home with two things. Teacup Fur Real puppy - cute. Raspberry Beret - cuter still.

S.W.A.K.

RED VELVET

Over the last couple of weeks, I feel as if I have been doing nothing but baking red velvet cupcakes. Between all the recent school functions - Brownies, tag sale, Halloween party, Halloween dance and finally ending with the annual Election Day bake sale, it's been nothing but, bake, bake, bake around here! Okay, I do this every year, but this year was different - somehow (and I don't even know how it happened) I was elected co-chair (with another mother) to be in charge of the Election Day bake sale at school. It was a lot of work, but worth it. All of the money goes to the children for special events. We did very well. Frannie was a real trooper - she made all the table tents and worked the bake sale just as long as I did (it ran from 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM) - we did have a break in the afternoon - but Frannie is a great sales person! All the baked goods were pre-wrapped because we wanted everything to look appetizing and sanitary. I even placed each cupcake into a clear plastic tumbler and covered the top with plastic wrap - this not only keeps the food safe from germs, but it also makes it easier to transport the cupcakes home. I did bake other items for the sale as well (some chocolate chip muffins and also fresh banana muffins with a cream cheese filling and a drizzle of chocolate ganache on top), but for some reason, people keep coming back for those RV's! One gentleman came over to us about 6:30 in the evening. He said that his wife had sent him back to purchase some more red velvet cupcakes - she purchased some earlier in the day - and she wanted more - but he was too late - they were all gone (I think I had baked about 60 of them for this event). And, yes, they did have cream cheese frosting. :)~

S.W.A.K.

THE ELUSIVE BUTTERFLY

Frannie stuck in her thumb and pulled out a plum and said, "it's Sharon - Sharon won!" Good guesses from all and thank you for entering.

This book, "Barbie Mariposa", was the inspiration.

How did we do?

Very Poofy!

Layers and layers of pink tulle in two different colors - 9 yards total.

Very Sparkly!

Oodles and oodles of glitter - 3 different shades of pink. Not to mention all the pink sequins that outlined the wings on both sides.

Getting Ready To Take Flight!

The wings were made out of black foam core - they actually had movement. I made hinges out of paper and tape. Frannie has worn them four times and they are still in one piece. I also made shoulder straps out of very wide black elastic and attached them to the foam core with long pearlized pins.

Here's a close-up of the headpiece modeled by Mr. Pumpkin.

Frannie said Mariposa needed a wand, so I made one to match her headpiece.

I started with a styrofoam ball and a dowel painted green. Hot glued on some of my crepe paper roses along with other floral petals and leaves, attached some butterflies and then tied on some pink glittered ribbon streamers. Voila!

S.W.A.K.

SPOOKY

Long time, no blog.

We're back with our 2nd Annual Halloween Contest. This time, anyone who enters gets a chance to win a fabulous prize :) (U.S. and Canadian residents only). So here's what Frannie has been in the past:

SNOW WHITE - 2005

CINDERELLA - 2006

SLEEPING BEAUTY - 2007

GLINDA - 2008

Now, I didn't take a photo of the supplies I used to make this year's costume, but what I will tell you is that I did not have a pattern - I had to "wing" it. Frannie showed me the cover of one of her books and said, "this is what I want to be". It involved oodles and oodles of pink tulle, globs of glitter, another one of my headpieces and a matching wand (the wand was Frannie's idea).

Here's what you could win:

A "Giant" sized Hershey Bar specially wrapped by me. The ghost placement under the "Treat" is not included. How to enter: Just leave a comment telling us what you think Frannie's costume is for 2009. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you. Everyone who enters gets a chance to win. If you guess correctly, you get a second entry. If you need another clue, take a peek at Miss Punkie Pie. I'll say no more. We'll probably announce the winner late Saturday or Sunday. You can enter up until then. If you'd like to spread the word about the giveaway, I would appreciate that. Feel free to use my "2nd Annual Halloween Contest" icon.

S.W.A.K.