I am always amazed at the amount of talent on Etsy! So many incredible artists and ideas! Today's post is dedicated to a few of my favorite items. Should I ever create an Etsy wishlist- that should totally be a sight feature. I would include these items post haste! At wove I spied this incredible willow playhouse that I would have lived in as a kid. Who am I kidding, I would live in it now. I would want it exactly where it is in the pic. What with the mists of Avalon blowing the flags and all. Meaning that I would have to negotiate a land rental agreement with the owner. Which opens up questions regarding whether they will let me hold Medieval reenactments there. So, it may just be easier to swoon from afar.

Maybe I will just see if I can squeeze into this spectacular metal dollhouse from fluffyflowersvintage. How awesome would this be to have on display. Ohh for another girl in the house so I have an excuse for a dollhouse. Do I need an excuse? Hmmm

And lastly some art from Morrisetsy to decorate my dream castle or dollhouse. I am entranced by the colors and , well, everything about this piece. I may need to base the rest of my life on it. Peruse my shop favorites and see if you can find your next life altering piece of vintage or art.

OPEN LETTER TO MY BLOG:

Dear Blog,

It has been dog's years since I have blogged you with all of the daily drama that are the goings-on in my head. I am sorry for not being a more attentive blogger! I have been busy crafting, raising kids, getting tattooed and holding it all together. You'll have to forgive me. Here are some pics of what I did with my month. You can give me the silent treatment for a week if it makes you feel better Blog, I won't blame you :) The following is a thoroughly uninspiring bit of page filler- still trying to get back into the hang of things...

The stars on my left foot were done years ago and sadly(because it hurts like a MOFO) they need to be redone. I had been wanting my boy's initials for some time. The old tax return helped make that a dream come true!

I have been in a haze of crafting Etsy requests lately so, I have been busy. I love that I am busy but, I sometimes struggle to keep balanced with my kids and house-stuff. I am happy to do anything that keeps me home with my boys. I love being able to take my oldest to school everyday and I love the time I get with the baby. Finances being what they are, unless I get a major order or am featured in O magazine (Ha!) I will be throwing newspapers in the wee hours to make sure I can stay home. Then I get to figure out how to not be a Zombie- if it's not one thing it's another. Oh well. I am trying to get enthused and inspired to create more items and give you all something to give a crap about in this here blog. I was completely enthralled by this blog- ahhh to have the time and energy to do these!

Note to self: see if there are any foot fetish sites that like large, tattooed feet- CHAching!

So, the Kid crafty craft of the week was Homemade Crayons. We had a ton of crayons just calling out to be stripped nudie and boiled alive! This is a very kid friendly craft. It involves ripping paper and breaking things. Any person even slightly affiliated with the kid community will tell you that those two things are way up on the list of good fun.

Gather the following:

Crayons
any colors-different brands may melt at different rates-some not at all
Candy or muffin mold
you may want to use this only for this so buy a cheapy one at Target in the dollar section- that's where I got mine.
Baking sheet
you will place the mold on this- it will keep the mold stable because, hot wax+skin=Yeeouch!
Small children
preferrably your own, bribe them with the delights of crafting.

Do the following:

1) set oven to 350 degrees
2) strip all of the paper off of crayons- you can also leave it on and fish it out once the wax has melted but, not my favorite method.
3) break crayons into small chunks- kids LOVE this part, by far the most fun step
4) place bits of crayons in mold. Any more than 3 colors in each little cup and you may end up with muddy colored crayons
5) place mold on baking sheet and put in oven for 15 minutes or so. Different crayons melt at different times and sometimes not at all(usually the metallic colors or certain cheap brands seem to have trouble).
6) once crayons are liquid you can take the mold out of the oven- leave them in the mold and let cool for approximately 45 minutes on the counter. Or pop those suckers in the freezer and have crayons 10 minutes later- you can guess which way we went with this;)

COMMON SENSE:

Do NOT let children handle hot wax! A responsible adult should take care of the oven part.

I am back in the land of the living. After a week of sick kids and all of the laundry, sanitizing and sleeplessness that comes with that. I am back in action and have a veritable fount of ideas for the blog. I am sure it is the same with you that when it rains it pours. Two weeks ago I nearly had to set fire to myself to get anyone to check out my etsy shops. This week we are on the front page twice and had some items featured in a Storque article! What the Hell!? I am thrilled. But, as it goes too, I think we have officially shot our wad- that was our 15 minutes! We will probably be dusting the cobwebs away this time next week :) Thanks to http://www.littlepapoose.etsy.com/ for featuring both hubby and myself in her treasury! You doll!

As I type, the most ridiculously wonderful scent is wafting through my house. A perfect sunday scent. Fresh baking banana bread that makes me check it's progress much too soon in hopes that it may have warp baked so that I can slather it in butter and have my way with it..um, I mean eat it. Why all of the recipes and what's with the cooking and such..? Well, with the economic downturn we are trying (makes it sound like we have a choice huh) to be REALLY careful with our income. Because we are down to one.

Yep, that's right. I gave Starbucks the boot. After 12 years I had had enough. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the people that were in my store and had some incredible fun but, when a company is going tits up it becomes sinking ship scenario with upper management. They will claw and drown anyone else to save themselves. So, I left before I become completely embittered.

If you have ever had to leave a job that, good or bad was always your safety net, you know that even if you have good reason to go, it is still a huge decision and carries a lot of baggage with it. I am thrilled to be home with our boys and am trying to prepare for the challenges that present themselves to us now. Anyhoo, back to what I was originally rambling about. We are watching every penny so, I am cooking EVERYTHING at home. I am trying to keep as organic, low sugar, all around healthy as I can. The recipe I am gonna lay on you now is none of those things :) That is why it is ridiculously good!

SUNSHINE'S BANANA BREAD (yeah, that's my mom's name)

2 & 1/2 cup flour

1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 & 2/3 cup sugar
1 & 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

mix above ingredients together then add:

2/3 Cup butter or margerine

1/3 cup milk

3-5 mashed bananas (recipe is very forgiving so however many is up to you, I used three for this batch)

beat two minutes then add:

3 eggs
1/3 cup milk

beat again 2 minutes then pour into two greased loaf pans or greased/ lined muffin pan. Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes for loaf and 23-28 minutes for muffins. May take a bit longer depending on how many bananas you've used. VOILA! You are now eating my mom's banana bread just like I have since I can remember.

Extra Tips:

• Don't throw away those black bananas!! They are full of sweet sugary banana goodness. As long as there is no mold on them they are perfect for making bread. You can use fresh ripe bananas but, in my opinion this always tastes better with overripe ones.
• The more bananas you use the denser the bread will be and it will take a bit longer to bake- up to hour. The bread should be a nice deep brown color when it is done. Make sure that a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the loaf. With muffins, when they spring bake under your touch they are ready (usually dark golden).
• You can add nuts to the batter or anything else for that matter- try adding chocolate chips!
• Enjoy with ungodly amounts of butter! Or au naturale, it is great either way. Great for breakfast or warmed up with some ice cream for dessert (read as: anytime).

I feel all.. funky/ low/ uninspired today. Ever had one of these days? I hate this feeling. It seems like I have to make myself do all of the normal things like a robot. "Okay now I need to make breakfast..now I should get the boys dressed". With remove, not like I can actually enjoy the minutiae that I usually relish in now that I can be home with my boys full time. Maybe I am just having an off day. It takes some getting used to, no longer to be slaving away for corporate america's caffiene needs. Yep. That's right I was a Starbucks drone for 12 years. Yikes, I am old enough to have had a job that spans nearly a third of my life?!

That was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to flame out before I reached 20. I could not fathom at that time being any older than 19. Youth is wasted on the young! So, what started as a summer job became long term. Really, really long term. When I commit, I really commit! Here is hoping that tomorrow I will wake magically in a better frame of mind. Not worrying about finances and that ominous looking spot on the ceiling. Keep a good thought for me :)

Also I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do with my etsy shop when the CPSIA law goes into effect. I can't really change the slant of the store. Well, I guess I could cut holes in the back of all of the onesies and sell them for dogs ;) No? Was worth a shot. With sales being slow it adds to the frustration of it all. Oh the Drama!

SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION GIVEAWAY!!!

That's right, you read correctly. I am in a generous mood and thought "what the hell, I will give away some of the Sweet Orange Brown Sugar body polish that I just whipped up! I would also like to build my following so, how 'bout this... the person to become my 15th "follower" -(sounds so cultish! Bwwahahahahaha) will win a jar of the body polish. I will award it as soon as we have a winner. As an added bonus, I will do a link to your shop and what the heck- let's do an interview too!

If you are already a "follower" of the Fiend and would like to have a featured spot on the blog send me a comment on this post and we'll see what we can do. Hard hitting journalism at it's best with questions like: knit, or purl? *microphone in your face, intense Frost-like stare*