I want an Elf on my Shelf!

For a while now I've been hearing about the Elf on the shelf. I had no clue what it was and really didn't care much. I assumed it was a children's thing and since I didn't have a kid, it didn't apply to me. Then I started seeing pictures on Pinterest. This funny little Elf was doing cute things and ending up in the oddest places. So finally I Wikipedia'd it to get the full story. For those of you who don't know, the Elf on the Shelf is an Elf from the North Pole who comes down a few weeks before Christmas to check on the children in the family and make sure they are being good. Each night he flys back to the Pole and reports to Santa and then quickly flys back. The trick is to find him each morning and see what he's up to. You can't touch him though. If you do, he looses his magic and won't be able to fly back to the North Pole.

Several of my students have one and I started asking them where they found him that morning.

And I want one. I'm holding out to see if someone will surprise me with one for Christmas but if that is not the case, I've got some gift cards and I will treat myself. I understand that it's a kid thing and that since I have no kids, this could be construed as "Creepy" but I think there is just too much fun going in with this Elf thing and I want in on that fun!

Anyway, here's wishing you a safe and happy holiday. I hope your elf only reported the good things you did this year.


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Handmade Holidays

I've decided to do handmade gifts again this year. Though I'm having a hard time finding time to craft, I'm trying to craft all but four of my gifts this year. So I've started "Beta testing" my handmade gifts. Here's a look at what I've been working on.


In other news, I attempted to make AppleButter in the crock pot. I'm a little intimidated by the crockpot. And by little, I mean a lot. That's a for now.

Loving Fall

I spent the Columbus weekend in the Berkshires and basically Od'd on New England fall. In short, I went pumpkin crazy. The pumpkin total is now up to 8. Here are some pictures from my exploits...














While on the Berks we hit up a craft fair at the Berkshire botanical gardens and I found this really great Wishing Tree. People from all over put wishing on it and it looks wonderful. There wasn't any paper left so no wishing for me.





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The summer that was...

I overslept this morning. I'd ment to get up, walk Ruby, make some phone calls and blog all before having to run out the door. The good news is that Ruby got walked. But here I am blogging on the train on the way to work. For those of you who don't know I am en rout to work at my new job as an assistant teacher at a small preschool here in the city. It's week two and so far I'm having a blast. The teachers are nice and the children are adorable and I feel at ease in a class room setting. Most of my summer was spent working at the pottery shop which I'll continue with on weekends and evenings. Sometimes I fear I'll end up like that guy in "Office Space" who keeps showing up to work even though they fired him years ago. I love that job too much. Despite a summer of work I did managed to get a fare amount of projects done and find time to garden. I always find time to garden. One of my bigger projects this summer was the revamp of one of the mirrors I picked up last summer at a flea market. I didn't really know what I was doing but it turned out pretty great. I cheated and ended up spray painting it this great vintage green and then using Valspar antiquing glase over it. I'm very proud of it.


I also spent a fare amount of time trying to master the art of terrariums. I made four after getting some large glass jars from the pottery shop. They looked beautiful... And then they all died. I don't know why but I'm determined to try again.

To be quite honest, this blogging on the train thing is a pretty good idea.

Anyway, the summer flew by. Atleast I got to the beach, that's more then I can say about last summer.


I also got in a mini vacation with the boyfriend down to Washington DC.


It happened to be during a heat wave but we still had fun and We got to so all the fun touristy things. I got to visit a glass shop down there and get some fused glass supplies.

Now fall is here and it is without a doubt my favorite time of year. I'm so glad to see the hot weather leave and the crisper days to start rolling in. I love the changing of the leaves and the apple picking and of course my favorite holiday, Halloween. I already have my costume. I've even gone as far as to start thinking about the thanksgiving menu. I love fall. I've been on a lifestyle change mission over the summer but I totally caved and bought a box of pumpkin donuts which I devoured in less than a week. Totally worth it.

Besides that I've been trying to eat better and keep a food journal which is really hard for me to do. I never have time or energy to cook so I grab food on the go. Luckily I'm not a fast food eater but I have the worst of sweet tooths. It's a work in progress. Especially with all the amazing fall treats on Pinterest.

So I guess that's my life so far. I also had a birthday. The big 29. Celebrated with friends and fam. Got a fancy new apron.


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Summer...

I've been busy. Here are some pictures...

My friend Flo...

Is super talented and paints me little gifts. They make me smile.











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Learning to sew. Slowly but surely.

So I am learning to sew. Fun Mollie Fact: Machines make me nervous. Anything with buttons and plugs into a wall. I'm afraid I will break it. I never have but I'm afraid I will. I bought a sewing machine for my 20th birthday (Yikes, I just realized how old I am and how old that machine is). I took it out of the box, fiddled with it, gave up and didn't touch it again. I'm ADD so if I can't figure it out in under 10 minuets, I get bored and wonder off. I've recently decided to tackle sewing again and I think this time I'm making progress. I started with a very easy tutorial for headbands. The first one did not fly but the second, third and fourth are AWESOME! I think I'm going to like sewing. I also made an eye pillow and used a teddy bear to model it.

Spring has Sprung!

Well, kinda of. Last week was beautiful in NYC, warm and sunny. We hit the 80's! Which would have been awesome except my job didn't have working AC. Other then that, I was excited. I had such a crummy winter so I'm hoping for a great Spring. This week though it's been freezing with temps in the 30's and 49's and yesterday I woke up with a cold. So I'm in a bit of a miserable slump this week. I'm in the process of being moved back to my original location at work and there was a miscommunication in scheduling so I'm not working this week. I guess my immune system figured now was the time to melt down. I spent most of yesterday afternoon catching up on The Walking Dead since I saw the season two finale but missed everything before that.
   This segways (how do you spell this word?) into pictures of my new Zombie Hippo. As you all know, last month I made my much beloved Zombie Penguin. I decided to follow it up with one of my favorite animals, a Hippo! I did him pretty much the same way I did the penguin. I did the basic skin color, added some green to give the illusion of decay. I added a tiny bit of yellow this time too. This time around I went overboard with the ceramic puffy paint and it backfired. Some of it chipped off or cracked so I will have to go back and repaint it. Over all though I am pretty please and a little less scared of zombies now. I mean, how cute is he?




   This week while laid up with my cold I made a little fabric flower.
It was my first attempt and I followed a tutorial off my favorite Pinterest.com.







So for now, that's what's up in my world. In another week or so I will start my seedlings for my garden this year. Super excited for that!!!

Midnight photo shoot with The Ruby

I have a cold and took a four hour mid day nap so I'm not tired. What do I do when I'm not tired? I take pictures...











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Zombie Penguin!

Hello World!!!

I've been a mess lately. Work has not been stellar and life in general is chaotic. Most of the time I feel like I'm running full speed just to keep up and barely achieving that. It leaves my blog neglected and that makes me sad. It also leaves me little time to create which leaves me feeling somewhat lost all the time. I'm hoping that with Spring coming, it will bring a change in my life as well and give me space and time to breath again. Hopefully.

The upside is that my job at the arts and crafts shop surrounds me with creativity, even if I'm not the one creating it. Most of the time I'm just providing the paint and the brushes for others to create. But yesterday I had a chance to indulge! I had given my boyfriends 15 year old cousin a trip to the shop for a day of creativity and finally was able to act on a concept I have been playing with for months. Back in December (I cannot believe I didn't share this) my shop had these adorable Gingerbread man ornaments to paint.
 A shear stroke of genius struck me and I created this: The Zombie Gingerbread man. He was awesome. I used a puffy paint to give the appearance of brains hanging out of his head. We have a speckle paint called "Princess Party" that I used on top of the puffy to add more detail. And since he had a hole for the loop, I just went ahead and made it a bullet hole.
My zombie was a hit and I love him. I was saddened when Christmas was over because it will be a year before I can use him again.

There are several cute things to paint in the shop and although I would love to paint all of them, it's hard to justify. I loved the little penguin but didn't really need a conventional penguin hanging around the house. I loved my zombie ornament but the holiday season is over. BAM! One day it hit me. Zombie penguin! It's cute, it's fuzzy, it eats brains. So yesterday was my day. I spent two and half hours painting him. I tend to seriously over thing things. The Gingerbread zombie took me almost as long and was only 3 inches tall. With my penguin it was about making him look believable and still adorable while somewhat horrifying. I kept him black but gave his white parts a green hue. I again used puffy paint with the "Princess party" overlay to give the appearance of bulging brains and a gaping neck wound. I messed up his eyes so he looks bloodshot and read and gave him some blood splatter. On the left side which is not pictured, I used puffy paint to make it look like he had bones sticking out from his hand but I failed to check the Google for Penguin anatomy beforehand. Penguins don't have individual hand bones. Never the less, he looks amazing. I have even had offers from friends who want to buy him! But he's mine. I am toying with the idea of making two more for a three set. So without further ado, I present to you The (Unfired) Zombie Penguin!!!!! 

 

Side View

P.S. Fun Fact: I'm absolutely terrified of zombies.    

 

Happy New Year!!!

A totally busy holiday season kept me from blogging in December but I wanted to say Happy New year to everyone, hopefully you had a fun one. For me, 2012 started with a splash because this year I took part in the Coney Island Polar Bear plunge! Yes, I ran into ice cold Atlantic ocean by choice. It was awesome. Easily hundreds of people were there. My mother came with me for support. I totally plan on going again next year and I'm trying to convince my brother and boyfriend to come with me.


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