Nebraska Junk Jaunt Finds

Just wanted to show you all my fun finds. I'll come back and add some details later!

Finding Myself

It's been a while since I've posted anything here at Flying Time.

Wondering what I've been up to?

Well… I've been on a quest to find myself, to figure out who I am and what I'm all about. After some really deep thinking, here are the results of my quest:

If I were a TV Mom I would be just like Lois from Malcolm in the Middle (TV Mom Quiz) and the Super Hero I most resemble is Spiderman. My Austen Heroine is Elinor Dashwood and my Grey's Anatomy character is Isobel Stevens.

Vincent Van Gogh is my Dead Celebrity Soul Mate and my Classic Rock Song is Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones.

I'm probably quite psychic and the common dog breed I most resemble is the Doberman.

My personality type is either INFJ or INFP depending on the day and the questions, and I scored highest in the Visual/Spatial category on the multiple intelligence test.














So there you have it. That's who I am. Who are you?

Whirlwind Week

Why is it that a weekend away is always followed by a week of insanity? It's been a whole week since my trip to the Walnut, Iowa Antique Show and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. (Honestly, I should be doing a million other things but, it's early and I've gotta drink my coffee before I start working)
So, the Walnut Antique Show – really nice primitives, collectibles, etc.– fairly priced…
Not for me. It was an "antique" show and many of the booths carried things that really were 100 years old or older. The vendors knew the value of their items and they were priced fairly. I'm more of a flee market type of girl. I like finding mid-century junk, at dirt cheap prices. None of us bought very much.
While the antique show was kind of a let-down, the trip itself was not. I went with four good friends and we had so much fun just getting out of town and leaving our responsibilities behind for a while. We had reservations at a hotel in Red Oak, Iowa and when we got to Red Oak after our day of antiquing, we were starving. We drove around Red Oak and after seeing all the gorgeous houses in town decided they must have some really great local restaurant somewhere. So we drove and drove with out finding anything. Finally, we found Johnny's Bar and Grill. The place looked kinda run down and frankly, I was a little afraid to go in. It was the best meal ever! The service was fast, the waitress was friendly and the food was a heart attack waiting to happen but delicious.
The route we took back home, took us through some flooded areas. My gosh, it was awful to see all that water, and we weren't anywhere near the areas that were said to be hit the hardest. I can't imagine how awful it must be to deal with that.


As soon as I got home, it was off to the park for a Father's Day picnic and the first s'mores of the season. Yumm!

So, here I am a week later still trying to get caught up. But it was so worth it!

Tornado!

Our town was hit by multiple tornadoes late Thursday afternoon. Thankfully my family and home are completely unscathed and no serious injuries were reported by anyone in town. However, there was extensive damage throughout our community. You can see photos and get all the statistics from our TV station and newspaper sites.
I'm afraid any commentary I could offer about the storm would sound either overly dramatic or less concerned about the damage than I should be so I'll just tell you what we were doing during all of this.
4:00 p.m. - I get off work, aware that severe weather is approaching. My husband gets home just before me and decides he better get the yard mowed before it starts to rain.
-I check the radar on the computer to see where the storms are and which way they are going. Looks like the worst of the storm might miss us and be north of us before it gets this far east.
-I turn on the TV to see what they are saying– Tornado warning for Buffalo County, the city of Kearney is in the path of this storm–sounds like we've got a good fifteen to twenty minutes until it gets here.
-The doorbell rings. It's the Fed Ex guy, delivering the Guitar Hero game that my husband bought on ebay
-The phone rings. It's my mom calling to make sure we know about the tornado warning.
-I have the kids put on their shoes and get ready to go to the basement, find my cell phone and a flashlight and put them in my pocket and put my purse and a few photos and things at the top of the basement steps to grab on my way down.
-I continue to monitor the situation on the TV, totally absorbed and unaware that my son and our Boston Terrier puppy have been playing a little too rough, and my son has been injured. He has quite a scratch on his face and is crying! (No, it wasn't a viscous dog attack, just one of those things).
-I break from the TV to care for my son and then the siren blows. I send the kids downstairs with the dogs then go outside and try to get my husband's attention. (He's still mowing). Finally he sees me making a twirly motion with my finger and gives me a nod. So, I go in and join my kids in the basement. I make them go in our office where we have a sturdy desk and table that they can get under if need be. I even gather blankets to cover them in case of shattering glass.
-I should note here that the sirens blow a few times every year and we always go to the basement when the sirens blow. But, we don't always make sure we have shoes on, we don't always make sure we have our cell phones, we don't always grab photos and things and we don't always go in the office with blankets, ready to dive under the desk. But this storm felt more threatening than others we've had.
–So, we've been in the basement for a couple of minutes, my husband still hasn't come down and my son is starting to get very concerned about him. I run up the steps to yell at my husband and I can't help but take a really quick peek out the window looking to the southwest. I don't think I actually saw a funnel cloud, but I did see the darkest, scariest looking cloud I've ever seen. I quickly go back downstairs and my husband follows shortly after.
-The lights flicker and then go off for a few minutes and we lose our TV reception.
-The storm seems to be right overhead and the house isn't falling in. We relax a little and let the kids hang out in the family room (in the basement). They play the new guitar hero game until the storm is over.
-We're able to get TV reception again and hear reports that multiple tornadoes have touched down in the city of Kearney. There are reports of damage in an area where a couple of my friends live. Then there are reports of damage kinda close to my parents' and grandparents' houses.
-I try to call my mom on her home phone. No answer. I try her cell. No answer. I try my dad's cell. No answer. I try my grandparents. No answer. The TV continues to report touchdowns and damage in Kearney. This is the scariest part of the whole thing. Knowing that we really have been hit and not knowing if my family and friends are ok.
-I go outside and see if there's been any damage in our neighborhood. We're fine but a low spot on our road is completely under water andthe neighbor's trampoline is in pieces in the middle of a nearby field.
-While I'm outside I finally get a hold of my mom and dad on my cell phone. They're fine, Grandma and Grandpa are fine, their houses fine except for some dings in the siding.
-We stay home, walk around the neighborhood, watch TV… I can't take it. Both land and cell phone service is spotty, it's hard to get through. I want to discuss what just happened with someone. I want to know how bad it was. We head for my mom and dad's house.We live just outside of town and they live on the edge of town, so we can get there without driving through town and getting in the way.
- Some houses about half way between here and there have major damage. A garage is leveled. The side of another garage is missing and several trees are uprooted.
-My parents and grandparents aren't home. My mom and grandpa are leaving for a special vets' trip to Washington D.C. on Friday morning and they're having a "send-off" party for the vets at the legion. It it going on as scheduled to so that's where they are.
So we go back home and listen to the news accounts of the tornado some more then go to bed.
Friday 5:00 a.m- I haven't heard anything about or from the place that I work. I have an adjusted schedule so my work day begins at 7:00 a.m. Almost everyone else, including my supervisor and the head of human resources, starts at 8:00. I don't want to bother them. I check the TV station's website for closings. Nothing there. One nearby factory is closed but another looks like they plan to open later in the morning. About 6:40 I decide I better head out. It's very, very foggy. I try taking my usual route but the road is blocked and I can just barely see that there are power lines laying across the road. My alternate route takes me by the fairgrounds, where the Expo building has been destroyed. I see lots of downed trees and power lines and other (fairly minor) damage. The fog makes it seem so ominous. Finally I turn into Morris Press and just then they come on the radio and announce that we're closed for the day.
The rest of day is spent calling friends (they're all ok) and hauling food from my parents and grandparent's house to my house to put in our fridge/freezer since they still don't have electricity and we do. We have grandma over for supper and later my aunt comes over and we spend a nice evening visiting around the kitchen table.

Power was restored at about 10:00 last night. We're going to spend today shopping and going to a concert in Omaha, and feeling very lucky.

M.O.Y.S.

Superhero Hideout, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

As a blogger, I typically discuss, crafts, decorating, baking, junking and other domestic issues. I feel it is time for Flying Time Designs to address a more serious topic and to perform a public service. That's why I'm introducing M.O.Y.S. (Mothers of Young Super Heros).

Raising a "super" child can be quite challenging and there are very few resources out there for moms. We want to help our children harness their power and use it only for good. In the words of Ben Parker (Spiderman's Uncle), "With great power, comes great responsibility." We as mother's must ban together to raise responsible children and fight the forces of evil! Join M.O.Y.S now! (just leave a comment)

Our first M.O.Y.S topic…

Creating the Perfect Secret Hideout

Every superhero needs a top secret hideout/headquarters. Here is the hideout my son and I created this weekend*. Some sturdy boxes from my work provided the building material. To make the structure look more solid and intimidating, we used a sponge to stamp on some bricks and we painted a fake door on the front to fool the bad guys. The real door is on the side! We used packing foam, aluminum pie tins, cut up pieces of expired credit cards and even an old cell phone to create the interior controls. See more photos here.

You might also want to check out this previous post. It was written prior to the creation of M.O.Y.S but still offers some helpful ideas. You might also want to check out my Comic Book Wallet tutorail.

Coming soon…
•links to some great superhero sites
•what every M.O.Y.S should know about comic books
•recommended reading
•recommended tunes
•costume making, art projects and more!

*Warning do not disclose the location of your hide-out. Posting photos may be considered dangerous. Pertinent details of the this hideout will be modified to maintain its secrecy.

Happy Mother's Day!

mothersday, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Yep! That's me with my feet up, wearing the brand new, hand knit slippers that my daughter made for me. I had a great weekend and there's lots to talk about but for now… I think I'll just sit here with my slippers and take it easy. Hope other moms had a chance to relax today too!

The Friendly Book & Focus

The Friendly Book was one of my favorite books when I was a kid . Basically it's just a nice little rhyming story about someone who likes pretty much everything. Here's a snippet:

I LIKE DOGS
Big dogs
Little dogs
Fat dogs
Doggy dogs
Old dogs
Puppy dogs
I like dogs
A dog that is barking over the hill
A dog this is dreaming very still
A dog that is running wherever he will
I like dogs.

So the book just goes on and on like this about different things the narrator likes.

I've come to the conclusion that this book may be to blame for all of my adult woes! This narrator and I seem to share some sort of strange disorder. We like pretty much everything and can't seem focus on anything in paticular. If I were feeling a bit more sharp witted tonight I'd write some clever rhyme… I LIKE CRAFTS, every kind of craft, needle crafts, kitchen crafts, crafts on a raft… oh brother!

My focus lately has been on baking and vintage kitchen things. I'm having so much fun sharing this over at Sugar and Meringue. I sort of feel like that might be my "thing". But I still love to craft and decorate. The ideas for projects just keep piling up in my head and I've had absolutely no time to get to them. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever craft again!

Oh well, it's silly to complain about all the things that I like doing. I may not write as many posts here, as I spend more of my time at Sugar and Meringue and focusing on the 3 things I like most…

Flying Time…

You know those extra vacation days I talked about last time? Well, they're over! I had a five day weekend and I have no idea where all the time went. Today, at work, everyone asked how my long weekend was and my response was that it wasn't long at all. I had so many things I wanted to accomplish that I didn't get to!

Really when I think about it, I did do a lot:

A trip to the copy shop, 2 trips to the post office, 2 trips to Hobby Lobby, a trip to Target for a last minute kid's birthday party present, a trip to the Holiday Inn for the birthday party, several trips to the school for district music contest, a trip to the grocery store to buy breakfast for the three girls my daughter invited over after contest, another trip to the grocery store for all the stuff I forgot to get the first time, supper out with my mom and… a trip to the gas station. OUCH!

I baked and decorated, photographed, packaged and blogged (at Sugar and Meringue) 3 dozen cookies. Made about 80 cupcake toppers. Read the whole third Spiderwick book to my son. Listed a couple new things at my Sugar and Meringue Etsy Shop. Started gutting Regi (our '64 Avion Camper). Swept the dead mice out of Regi. GROSSSS! Washed some clothes, mopped the floor, vacuumed, emptied the dishwasher several times, took out the trash, made some appointments, checked some favorite blogs, looked at pretty pictures on flickr, drank way too much coffee…

I know everyone is busy these days, so thanks for taking the time to stop by and read about all my silliness. I really appreciate it!

My Happy Day!

My Happy Day!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Actually it's been my happy week!
-Mom picked up a really fun '50s end table and some cute old children's books at the junk store (including this one) for me.
-It was my employment anniversary and I found out I had 3 unused vacation days! I thought I was out. I have 2 weeks to use them or lose them so, I'm taking tomorrow, Friday and next Friday off! Yeah!!!!!!!!
-Some friends and I made plans to go to the Walnut Antique Show together in June. It will be such a fun girls' weekend. I can't wait!
-My daughter played her flute solo perfectly at her performance last night.
-The weather has been nice.
-I found $10 in my pocket this morning!

Life is good, for now…

Trying to get organized

Trying to get organized, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Organization is an issue for me. Getting organized is one of those things I dread doing but once I start the organization process, I actually kind of enjoy it. It feels so good to be organized. You would think I could get organized and then stay that way, but time gets away from me, I get a little lazy and things end up in chaos all over again. Ugh! One thing I have learned is that I'm more willing to work on organizing if I can find a way to make it more fun and pretty. This binder and dividers I found at Target did the trick this time. Love them! I have sections with:

• contact sheets with photos of everything I have listed, need to list, or sold at Sugar and Meringue.
•master copies and CDs for my recipe cards and cupcake toppers.
•labels for packaging
•a catalog of my vintage illustration scans that I can refer to as I design new recipe cards and cupcake toppers.
•Invoices and print-outs of e-mails that I need to refer to.
•receipts
•a SPREADSHEET! I'm so not the spreadsheet type so this is really good for me. It lists all of my income and expenses for each item I have listed at etsy. Now I just have to keep it up-to-date. We'll see how that goes.

I'm still posting lots of new things at Sugar and Meringue. I made some May Basket cupcakes and I'm just about to post them. So, if you're bored with the whole organizing thing come visit me over there. That's where the fun stuff is at the moment!

And the winner is…

Well I flipped a coin and…Sarah (from Vintage Lily) is the winner of the "Baby Dwight" contest!
But, I have to say, I really liked Catherine's (from She's Sew Slye) tragic comment!

I also want to thank Absolutely Delish for featuring my vintage fabric covered buttons on her site. I'm very flattered!!

By the way, if you missed this giveaway, I have another giveaway going at Sugar and Meringue right now, so go check that one out!

Thanks!
Emily

May Baskets

may basket, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I've been working on some ideas for May baskets. My plan was to make a bunch of different ones and write a post about them early in April in so that if anyone wanted to use any of my ideas, they would have plenty of time to get them ready. Well…so far this is the only one I've made. It is a cake mix box that has been cut in half and covered with a copy of a vintage illustration.

I bought this basket (as part of a set) on clearance at Target a while back. It's just a Pixie cup covered with gathered crepe paper so it would be fun and easy to make.


And here is the May Basket Pattern I posted last year which came from a 1940s Activities for Children magazine. If you click on the image it should take you to flickr where you can get it in a larger size (click "all sizes" then large).

Do people exchange May Baskets where you live? A flickr friend said they don't very much where she lives. Not everyone hands them out here but quite a few people do. Last year, my teenage daughter even made some to put in her friends' lockers and a friend of mine at work left a beautiful May Basket made from a vintage fruit crate in my cubicle.

I'm working on some May Basket cupcakes and will be posting those to Sugar & Meringue soon.

Oh yeah, don't forget to leave a comment on the previous post so you can take part in the give-away! So far, it's between Catherine and Sarah! Please read the comments. They're funny!

A Mystery and a Give-away!

Long, long ago in the land of cubicles, I was listening to a podcast interview with Alison Houtte, owner of Hootie Couture, a vintage clothing shop in Brooklyn. It's been so long since I listened to this podcast that I hope I've got my story straight, but I remember them talking about how they make up a little story about the each items' history and put it on the tag. Like a leather jacket that said, "I tried heroine. It wasn't worth it." (something like that) I LOVE that idea. Whenever, I aquire some vintage item, I always wonder what its history might be.

So, I'd like to borrow the "story" idea for my very first blog give-away. I found this baby card in my collection of ephemera announcing the birth of baby Dwight. Leave me a comment with a couple lines about what you think happened to Dwight. For example:

Dwight grew up to be a lawyer, and sued Flying Time Designs for slander.

In one week, I'll put the names in a hat and draw a winner! The winner will get Dwight's vintage birth announcement along with the other fun little baby things shown in the photo. Good luck and have fun!

Disclaimer: All comments regarding Dwight are fictional. Any resemblance to the real Dwight are purely coincidental. I do not know this Dwight.

Analise's Button Challenge

I was invited to take part in Analise's Button Challenge, so…here's some of my favorite buttons! I like bright, happy vintage buttons. They look like candy!

I have to admit I'm beginning to question my sanity. I spent way too much time sorting and "posing" my buttons for this challenge. But, it's so much fun! How could I resist.

The Farm House

Imagine going to your great-grandparents home, abandoned in the early '40s, but (almost) just as it was when they left… full of furniture and household items and with food still in the cupboards! My mom got to do just that in the early '70s.

My great-great grandparents (Clother Allen and Mary Susan C00k) moved into this house in Lowell, Nebraska in 1894 and 4 of their 5 children were born here including my great-grandfather (Allen Cook).

Old age made it difficult for Clother and Mary Susan to live in the farmhouse during the winter and summer months so they stayed with family, often my great-grandparents. When my great-grandparents moved to California in 1939, Clother and Mary Susan came to stay with them. Mary Susan died and Clother was advised not to travel due to poor health. Consequently he spent the remainder of his life with my great-grandparents in California, never returning to the farmhouse in Nebraska.

A tenant farmer living in a neighboring house kept an eye on the house and it was never broken into or vandalized. Great-grandfather always intended to move back to his boyhood home one day so he left it as it was. Finally, in the early '70s after the death of my great-grandmother, Great-grandfather re-married. He took his new bride to the farmhouse and suggested that they live there. By then the place was pretty ramshackle and very primitive so of course she wasn't crazy about the idea. At that point my great-grandfather asked my grandpa to clean it out and tear it down. My parents were just married and helped with the clean up.

I grew up with many items from the farmhouse decorating our home. My parents still talk about all the fun things they have from there and regret all the things they chose to get rid of either because they didn't know any better or because they didn't have room in their tiny apartment.

On Easter, my grandpa gave me my own memento from the farmhouse. It's a croquet box that my grandpa built little shelves into. On the front is the original shipping label from Montgomery Ward. It bears my great-great grandfather's name and the date, 1914. The quilt in the picture below is also from the farmhouse. It was passed down to me by my mom a few years ago.

I've always enjoyed the idea of being able to walk into an old house, full of great stuff and being able to take almost anything I wanted. Wouldn't that be fun? But after talking about the farmhouse with my grandparents, I see everything that came from the farmhouse as more than just cool old stuff. It's a way of connecting to the stories from my family's history. I will treasure the things that I have that came from this house and the stories that go with them.

Faux Bois Fun

Faux Bois Fun, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I'm loving the Faux Bois trend. I saw some really cool vintage yellow plates with a brown faux bois pattern at the antique store the other day. Kind of regret not getting them but they were a little expensive. Maybe I'll go back and look at them again after payday. Hopefully they are still there! They inspired the "faux bois" cookies I made last weekend. Check them out at Sugar & Meringue.

Also, check out the cool old building this light fixture came from in Aorta's flickr photos. I'm always curious about what is in the upper levels of old downtown buildings. Maybe I should become a building inspector or something so I can do some snooping!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Happy St. Patricks Day!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Just some fun green things I found on flickr.

I have a couple of projects almost ready to show you. Hopefully I'll get them posted in the next couple of days.

Grandpa's Birthday

Grandpa in the Navy, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Yesterday was my Grandpa's 82nd birthday. He joined the Navy towards the end of WWII and served as a medic in Guam. Considering it's been about 60 years since this picture was taken, I have to say, he hasn't changed that much!

Grandpa took us all out for dinner last night. Then, we went to my mom's house and visited about the "good old days".

Otherwise, I spent most of the weekend baking and decorating cookies. I've detailed all of my baking adventures at Sugar and Meringue. Most of my creative energy has been devoted to cookie design lately, so I've been doing a lot more posting there.

Mid-century Momma, BFFs & the Undead David Copperfield

Emalee,
To a terrific friend that I've had since preschool and I know for many years more. Good luck with cruise directing, Tim and all your years at NHS. Let's party and have a great time!
Your twin friend,
Aimee ('86)

Em,
To my "best buddy" remember when we used to call each other that? –I'll never forget the song. We've been through some really wild and crazy and sometimes really stupid times together! But I've loved every minute of it! We'll have to go "camping" again sometime but we'll have to watch out for the coyotes HA!
Best of luck always,
Love,
Amy

My friend, Amy celebrated her birthday on the 27th so to honor her, I dug out our old school pictures. The photo is of us in preschool and the quotes are what she wrote to me on the back of her 7th grade and senior pictures. In seventh grade we decided to spell our names differently. We also had our own secret codes so that we could pass notes in class and if anyone read them they would have no idea what/who we were talking about. We sort of looked alike and tended to dress the same. After a week of summer camp we found out that people thought we were twins. They were surprised to find out that we're not even related! Ohhhh… how funny to think of what weirdos we were in junior high, but really… who wasn't wierd back then? I hope Amy doesn't kill me when she reads this!

Friday, we had four couples over for "game night". This was the third time we've gotten together for games and it was so much fun (as always). When we played the TV trivia game, one of the guys made up a question about what killed David Copperfield and even though none of us could remember hearing anything about David Copperfield dying, we totally fell for it!

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.

–Mark Twain

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. She is now officially a "senior citizen" . Wow! "Senior citizens" seem pretty young to me these days. That must mean I'm getting old or something! My mom and my grandparents laugh at my love of mid-century modern decor. Guess it is funny that I love stuff that was "in" when my parents were born.
We had mom and dad and my grandpa and grandma over for supper last night to celebrate mom's birthday. It was a gorgeous day so we grilled some steaks. Mom requested pudding poke cake for dessert. YUM! (shhhh…don't tell my kids I had a leftover piece for breakfast this morning!)

Ready for a New Home

Maryelle and Martin, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I promise– I'm not turning into a weather blogger, …but, the weather this weekend was so gorgeous I have to mention it. 60º with a gentle breeze. We threw open the windows, lit the grill, walked some dogs, and even did some spring cleaning. It felt sooooo good.

Martin and Maryelle, the birds in the picture are now in my etsy store and looking for a new home. So is Antonio, the dog in the picture below. He's one of the dogs from the Humane Society that we walked this weekend. My daughter is required to do 20 hours of community service for her political science class, so she's been volunteering for the Humane Society and she's gotten the rest of us involved too. What a great way to get some exercise!

I feel like I've got a new home since I recently painted my living room and kitchen. Last weekend I found the "Fall" posters, that are hanging above the couch, at my favorite junk store and I got them framed and hung yesterday. I'm really happy with the way they look . They seem to pull everything together. After 8 years of struggling to figure out what to do with my living room, I finally feel like it looks "right".

Making My Own Spring

My creation, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

The current temperature– 14º F, with a windchill of 0º F. I'm thinking of moving south! I'm so sick of winter! But, since moving isn't very practical and whining does no good, I'll just have to make my own spring!
Over the weekend I went to my favorite junk store and found a few fun "springy" things, then I decided to try my hand at making some gumpaste flowers. It was a fun project and something I will definitely try again.

Kids' braided purse project

braidedpurse, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I found this project in a 1946 issue of Children's Activities. I think it's a great project for kids but I have to say,I had fun making it myself. I'm not a knitter but I love all the great yarn that's out there and this gave me a chance to use some of it. I'm going to hang it up in my cubicle and use it as a wall pocket. Here's the directions.

A few more things in my esty shop

etsy additions, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

New Stuff in my Etsy Store!

New Stuff in my Etsy Store!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I listed these guys in my Etsy store today. This is the first time I've listed anything on Esty so I'm a little nervous. Oh well…guess we'll see what happens. I had fun coming up with names for all of them. All of the names are from a list of popular names from the '40s.

I LOVE snowdays!!!!!

sneekpeek, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Woooohooooo! It's a snow day. The kids are home from school, I don't have to work, can't go anywhere, nothing to do but craft!!!! I'm getting quite a bit done and should be ready to list some things on etsy within the next couple of weeks.

I love the letter Cc

Big C little c, what begins with c?
Cupcakes, concerts, cards and company!

A slightly weird observation I had was that nearly everything we did over the weekend started with the letter "C" . Too many years of watching Sesame Street I suppose…

I cleaned and worked at the speech team concession stand on Friday.

Saturday I cleaned some more, baked cupcakes with white chocolate peppermint cream cheese frosting, and cooked a casserole to prepare for company. Then I went to see my daughter play her cello in an honor orchestra concert.

Later that night I went to another concert. The St. Olaf College orchestra performed here and we hosted 4 of the students for the night (company).

Sunday after I had my morning coffee, I went to the flee market and bought cards, a colorful toy top and a couple of baby booties. I finished the day by reading comic books to my son and carving a camper for a linocut.

Sorry this is such a corny post!

I Love Slippers!

I Love Slippers!, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Ok… I've given myself a March 1 deadline to start selling things on etsy. I'm also considering doing a local craft show in April. That means I've got to focus, and make the things that I plan to sell. The problem is I keep finding things I want to make for myself! I absolutely love slippers and I've wanted to make myself a pair ever since I found this pattern in an old book I bought (The Complete Guide to Sewing ©1943). Then I found these patterns from Sew Green & Stardust Shoes (as mentioned in my New Year's post) and today, I bought the February/March issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion and found this slipper pattern!

Valentines Day Cookies

valentines day cookies, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

1/4 C. Butter
1/4 C. Margarine
3/4 C. Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt

Cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Chill until firm. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness. Bake at 325º for 5-7 minutes.

Royal Icing (for pink dots)

6 C. powdered sugar
2/3 C. water
4 1/2 T. meringue powder

Mix powdered sugar and meringue. Add water slowly until the icing is the consistency of thick frosting for outlining and thin with more water for flooding.

Chocolate Royal Icing

1 lb. powdered sugar
1/3 C.cocoa
7 T. water
3 T. meringue powder

Mix powdered sugar, cocoa and meringue. Add water slowly until the icing is the consistency of thick frosting for outlining and thin with more water for flooding.

Note: Thinned icing should be the consistency of a thick batter. Thin enough so that it will smooth itself out, but not too watery.

How to Decorate:

Using a pastry bag outfitted with a #3 or 4 tip, outline cookies with the thick chocolate icing. Fill another pastry bag outfitted with a # 4 or 5 tip with thinned chocolate icing and flood the inside of the cookie. (I use a glass to hold the bag while I'm filling it with thinned icing)

Add pink paste coloring to the plain royal icing and thin with water. Put thinned icing in a pastry bag with a #3 or 4 tip. While the chocolate icing is still wet, make dots with the thinned pink icing.

See more photos here.

A Cure for the After Christmas Slump

Inspriring Junk Collection, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

A trip to the "junk store" was just what I needed to get past that "January Christmas is Over" slump. I found lots of bright inspiring things to decorate with and to use in upcoming projects.