More Black Friday Crafting Projects

I know I recently posted about her-infused olive oils and vinegars....we did it again for this years Douglass Black Friday Craft Day.  We added a few new ingredients, peppercorns, lemon peel and dried red peppers...I'm sure they'll be wonderful, but they are just so pretty to look at.  I added tags w/hand stamping, glittered chipboard w/my own handmade glass glitter.

The herbs we used were, rosemary, thyme, dill, tarragon, and added some garlic, peppercorns, lemon peel & dried red peppers in a variety of combinations.  There are a lot more options too :)

Black Friday Crafting Day

Well, as usual, my 3 sister's and myself had Black Friday crafting day after Thanksgiving.....we did several projects, and they were all fun, and I love all the finished projects!  The first we did was making wreaths...I made three, a square one for the front door, a gilded and glittered manzanita circle wreath, as well as a gilded and glittered juniper and manzanita circle that added some of Seth's shed hunting finds to (which I love, I know the small ones like this are hard for him to find, and part with, so these are SPECIAL :).  All the greens were gathered by my sister's in their own backyards!  Here's my little antler wreath:

I took the pic at night, will try to get a better one tomorrow in the daylight along with the other two.
Hope your Thanksgiving was great!

My Grandmother and Her Famous Pillsbury Bake-Off Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie

This is my grandmother, Frances Naontah Douglass, whom my daughter, Ashley Naontah was named after....she was a very inspiring, crafy, chef, visionary woman.   She won Honoray Mention (I was always under the impression that she won it)  at the first ever Pillsbury Bake-Off for her Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie.

She won a trip to NY and stay at the Waldorf Astoria and was interviewed by Art Linkletter, and a full set of new kitchen appliances.  I find it very amusing and making sense to me why all my 3 sisters and myself are 'craft and do-it yourself, cooks, canners, decorators, gardeners, etc., when I see this photo of her kitchen walls decorated w/covers of Gourmet magazine....It all makes total sense to me now, why I find the need when I see something seemingly useless..that I want to save and make something out of, or how I can read a recipe, but just HAVE to add that one ingredient I think it needs....funny how your heritage all starts to make sense of how you became the person you are :)
You can find her recipe for Pecan Parline Pumpkin Pie here:  www.apresfete.blogspot.com, my neices blog.

Making Spray Mists With Glitter

I have been messing around with making my own spray mists.  It's really very easy...1 part fine glitter, 1 part dye ink to 8 parts water, mix in a small Ranger 'Mini Mister,' and shake well.  You can adjust the amount of ink and glitter per desired color and glitter effect, way fun, possibilities are endless!  I sprayed the background of these tags (on the vintage dictionary paper) with a mix of black, red and gold glitter.  I didn't use much red reinker....so it came out at times a bit pink, which worked perfectly with the pink border, love how it turned out.  Tree is a Silhouette die-cut, stickles on the tree Prima poinsettias and topped with tulle...what more can you ask for....tulle, glitter doily border.....???? :)

Happy spraying!!!

Getting My Christmas Groove On...

Stared ordering Christmas gifts (I HAVE to be on top of it, with a Jan. wedding to do also)....I keep getting side-tracked with doing Christmas(y) projects...they're my favorite kind of paper arts to make, because I KNOW I will use them if they don't sell in my Etsy shop...I made these last night

love the idea of a little note tucked in a tiny embellished kraft bag...and my fav.....teeny, tiny jingle bells!

Making Shepherd's Pie tonight with venison, it's hearty and delish, and I happen to have all the ingredients in my freezer and fridge :)

Life With Hunters

Stan decided he'd take the Trail with him and the boys all week-end....so it was just Fritz and me....he loved sleeping on the bed all night long and going anywhere I went in the car with me (he even enjoys a good work-out at the gym for 1.5 hours, just being in the car...he's a people watcher :)

He went on treasure hunt with me to the local antique stores....we found this:

after Fritz decided it was a good spot to lounge in front of, I thought it made a pretty good prop....too bad I'm not a better photographer or planner...

because he looks pretty darn handsome!!

I'm itching to get at this frame, sanding, and repainting..going back and forth if I want it black or a a patinaed silver/gold......the backgrounds will be a collage of photos and....whatever I'm feeling at the moment :)