Featured on A World of Creativity

The last time I'll be featured this year: A World of Creativity has a post about lots of end-of-the-year sales on Etsy, and I'm one of them. Check it out!

Sale Time!

Through January 1st, I am having a sale in my Huggermugger store. I'm getting rid of some older items to make way for new designs and ideas.



If you're like me and looking for Christmas stuff this week because you know they'll probably be on sale, my Christmas items are no exception. They're all 50% off this week!


Also, I've marked all my winter hats, scarves, and mittens down by 25%-50%. All of them -- the baby hats, the child hats, and the adult/teen attire. So if you want to keep your family warm with handmade items, here's the perfect opportunity!

Hot Wings Pizza

If you like hot wings and you like pizza, you need to try this simple recipe. It'd make a great addition to a Christmas or New Year's party, or just a quiet evening at home relaxing with a movie.


Hot Wings Pizza

Ingredients:

1 tube refrigerated pizza crust -- prebaked
2 cups chicken pieces
2 tbsp. butter - melted
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 Tbsp. steak sauce
2 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce
1/3 cup blue cheese dressing
3 green onions -- chopped
1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese

Directions:

In a medium skillet, mix butter, tomato sauce, steak sauce, and Tabasco sauce. Add chicken pieces and heat through. Meanwhile, spread dressing on pizza crust. Top with chicken mix. Sprinkle with onions and cheese. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Christmas, Tradaholics Style

Time for my third -- and final -- selection of five Christmasy items, this time from the Tradeaholics team.

This adorable tutu comes from TheGirlyPlace, where you'll find lots of other tutus, hairbows, and more.

I love this ceramic Cowboy Santa pendant! And it's two-sided, with a moose on the other side. It's from ArtrageousClay, which has lots of other holiday jewelry too.

These holly blossom hairpins from TattooAnnie are one of a big variety of Christmasy accessories you can find in her shop.

These six mini thank-you cards are only one set out of many you'll find at PeculiarParchment, where you can also get Christmas cards and gift tags.

And these felted whatnot bowls from MissyAndMe would be great for holding all those little doodads that seem to multiply this time of year. They have some cute felted ornaments too.

This concludes my last-minute team gift guide. I hope it gave you an idea or two for that hard-to-shop-for person on your list, or maybe you've found something you'd like to give yourself for Christmas :-) Happy browsing!

Christmas, BusyMoms Style

Tonight, I continue my last-minute Christmas shopping gift guide by bringing you five festive items from members of the Busy Moms team.

First off, here are some lovely red lampwork and silver earrings from NewHopeBeading, where you can find lots of other Christmasy jewelry as well.

Next up are a pair of microwave mitts that will lend some joy to your kitchen. They're from BijouxDesignsForYou, which is advertising $5 stocking stuffers right now!

This Christmas berry candle comes from OzarkScentsCandleCo, a shop replete with Christmasy candles and soaps in all sorts of scents, shapes, and containers.

This half-apron with attached hand towel is from SlingabyeBaby, a relatively new shop that also has some holiday hats for little ones.

And lastly, this peppermint patty soap is just one of many Christmasy gift ideas available from Cassia'sKitchen.

That's all for tonight -- stay tuned for one last set of gift ideas tomorrow!

Christmas, CAST Style

I belong to three "teams" on Etsy, the Christian Artists Street Team (CAST), the Busy Moms Team, and the Trade-a-holics Team. This week, I'm going to highlight a few of my favorite Christmas items from each team.

Tonight, I bring you five items from the CAST team that have caught my eye.

This cute little ornament comes from BlackBrookShop, which has lots of Christmas ornaments, jewelry, and more.

This Snowflake Sparkle wreath or centerpiece comes from Ivyndell, which has a variety of lovely Christmas-themed wreaths and centerpieces, some of which can pull double duty like this one.

This set of five cross-stitched gift tags comes from BountifulBlessings, where you'll find Christmasy quilts, baskets, and more.


This hand-painted First Christmas Together ornament is one of many in the DoodlePadDesigns shop, where they offer free personalization of ornaments.

Finally, this unique Christmas card comes from LemonadeSun, where you can also get a variety of Christmasy handcarved stamps.

Remember, there's still a little more than a week before Christmas, but you need to order soon to ensure timely shipping!

Featured with a Giveaway

I'm being featured here on the Alterity blog this week -- and as part of the feature, I'm giving away these three eco-friendly spiral scrubbies. Made from 100% cotton yarn, they are great for scrubbing dishes or even using in the shower for a little exfoliation, and you can toss them in the washer when they're dirty. Read Alterity's blog post for details on how to enter to win these scrubbies!

Many thanks to Lisa of Alterity for featuring me on her highly cool blog :-)

My7Kids

No, I don't have seven kids suddenly -- number two won't arrive for another couple months yet. Actually, My7Kids is the name of one of my favorite Etsy shops. This shop specializes in yarn, so you can see the appeal for someone like me who loves to crochet (and is still trying to conquer that whole knitting thing). But the yarn from My7Kids is especially cool because it's recycled!

This yarn starts out as a sweater, usually a commercially made one bought from a thrift shop. It gets unraveled, washed, and then redyed. Though the photographs mostly show artful hanks and twists of yarn, it actually arrives on your doorstep in a convenient center-pull ball, which I personally prefer to those artful twists (because those tend to turn into a big tangled mess when I try to use them). I've bought four different yarns from this shop, and they are awesome! I haven't had a chance to use the two balls I bought most recently, but I'm planning to make things for Huggermugger from them once I finish a couple projects I have going.

The other cool thing about My7Kids' yarn is the way the different colors are named. Three of the skeins I've bought were called Boromir, Inigo Montoya, and The Shadow -- I happen to love Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, and the old radio show The Shadow (the movie was pretty good too), so you can see why I might be attracted to those particular yarns.

Right now, My7Kids has lots of yarn named after/inspired by the movie The Christmas Story, so if you're a fan of that movie, of recycling, or just of yarn in general, definitely check My7Kids out! The prices are incredibly reasonable -- all the yarns in the shop at the moment are under $20 and many are under $10. I may have to pick up a couple more myself, as a matter of fact.

My7Kids is run by Nikki, a Christian stay-at-home mom who homeschools her kids -- in other words, she's a lot like my mom and me, just with more kids. You can learn more about Nikki by reading her blog, My Thoughts on Life, Yarn, Kids, and Other Stuff.

Broccoli and Squash Medley

This recipe from BettyCrocker.com combines four of my son's favorite foods: broccoli, squash, dried cranberries, and nuts. And yes, I have an absurdly healthy boy. If I ate the way he does, I'd be a lot better off. Working on that. Anyway, this is fairly quick to make -- the hardest part is peeling the squash. It makes enough to feed 3-4 people as a main course, or you can use it as a side dish for a bigger gathering.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. Frozen broccoli
2 cups Butternut squash -- peeled and chopped
1/2 cup Orange juice
1/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup Pecans - chopped
1 tbsp. Grated orange peel
1 tsp. Salt

Directions:

Steam broccoli; set aside. In a large skillet, cook squash in orange juice 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Add butter and stir until melted. Add all ingredients and toss to coat.

This also tastes good cold, so you can make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge if you want a cold veggie side dish.

And the Winner is...

...Tesoro Jewelry and Art! You've won the handmade purse giveaway! Congratulations :-D I'll be emailing you this morning to get your mailing address so I can send you the purse right away.

Thanks to everyone who participated! I'll try to do another giveaway here after the first of the year. Meanwhile, keep an eye out here for a link to a giveaway of some of my items on someone else's blog next week! Details later.

(I chose this winner using random.org)

Giveaway: "Denim" Purse

To celebrate Thanksgiving Day this week (and the kickoff of the Christmas season), I'm holding my second giveaway! This time around, I'm giving away this groovy purse:


You have one week to win it -- this giveaway ends on November 30th.

I've crocheted the outside of this bag from fuzzy denim-colored yarn that's a mix of acrylic/mohair/polyester. It has a nice ribbed pattern, and I've lined the bag with actual denim. The top flap fastens with a loop around a bright red- and pink-striped plastic button that says "Be happy" in purple letters.

This bag is 9" tall, 9" wide, and 2" thick. The strap is 2" wide and 39" long. That gives you plenty of room to carry around your stuff, but isn't so big and bulky it'll get in your way all the time.

How can you win this bag, worth $30? There are three ways:

+ 1. Leave a comment here listing your favorite item from my store, www.huggermugger.etsy.com , and either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

+ 2. Follow my blog. Leave a comment here letting me know you're a follower, plus either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

+ 3. Post about this on your own blog. Leave a comment here with a link to your blog post, plus either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

This means you can be entered up to three times!

Enter by midnight on November 30th! I'll draw the winner on December 1st, announce who it is here, and contact them to get their mailing address.

Sound good? I hope so. Be Happy!

Santa Hat Pattern

I just added my original pattern for baby/child Santa hats to my store! It's in my Crochet Patterns section (obviously). This pattern is really easy, perfect for beginning crocheters. If you can chain and work a double crochet stitch, you can make this hat! This pattern has instructions for five sizes: 0-3mo, 3-6mo, 6-12mo, 12-24mo, and Child. I also include the directions to make the pom-pom.

I've been selling my crochet patterns quite a bit lately. I love the idea of someone taking my pattern and making something of their very own with it -- it's like getting to be a teacher, in a way. And since I also love making up my own crochet patterns when I can't find one for what I want to make, I'm sure I'll be adding more patterns to my store in the future.

If you order this pattern now, you'll have plenty of time to make one or two of these before Christmas, even have your kids' portraits taken in them if you want. I also sell the already-made hats in my store if you don't feel like making them yourself, and if you don't see the size you need, contact me because I love making custom orders.

Up next week -- a giveaway!

"101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen" by Patrice Hannon

I picked this up on the bookstore's bargain shelves a couple months ago, thinking it would be basically a list of 101 random facts about Jane Austen, one to a page or something. I flipped through it a bit, saw it was more substantial than that, and figured for less than $10, I couldn't go wrong.

Turns out, this book is a little bit biography, a little bit literary analysis of Austen's works. The only purpose the 101 facts seem to serve is to break up the book into readable chunks, and they're not even presented as "facts," but more as topic headings. Here's a sampling:

5. A family member meets the guillotine
25. Arrested for shoplifting!
59. Why are there so many clergymen in Jane's Austen's novels?

As you can see, this book covers a wide variety of material, and in only 230 pages. For the casual fan of Austen, like me, it's a great way to learn more about the author and her books. Those who are avid Austenites would probably also enjoy it, particularly if they want to know more about the author herself, but don't have time for a lengthy biography. I enjoyed the bits of literary analysis the most, undoubtedly because I minored in English and still love delving deeper into books than what an initial reading gives you.

101 Things You Didn't Know About Jane Austen: The Truth About the World's Most Intriguing Literary Heroine is a fairly easy read, and enjoyable even if you haven't read all her novels yet (like I haven't). It's not engrossing, however, and it took me over a month to read it because I kept getting sidetracked by other books. But because it's broken up into 101 little chunks, it's perfect for picking up whenever you have a few minutes.

Turkey Treasury

I got a treasury today! I call it Turkey Tots, and it's full of turkey-themed wearables for kids. Hope you like it! Remember, it'll only be available for viewing for a couple days, so check it out while there's still time.

Also, my Free Shipping offer will end tonight, so if you've been putting off taking advantage of that, don't wait much longer.

FREE Worldwide Shipping!!!

I'm offering FREE shipping to anywhere in the world this weekend! Today through Sunday, you pay no shipping, no handling, just the list price for each item. If you were thinking of getting something from my shop, but hadn't gotten around to it yet, now would be a good time ;-)

I'm doing this as part of a team promo put on by the Busy Moms of Etsy team. Click here for a list of all the shops participating and the deals they're offering.

Cranberry Orange Tea Bread

This is a great recipe for the holidays, when cranberries are readily available in the stores. I've had this recipe for several years -- I have no idea where I got it, maybe in an advertisement or something. It's also found here at motts.com. It says to make it as a loaf, and I've done that, but this time around I made 24 mini-muffins and 6 regular muffins. This doesn't rise a lot, so fill your muffin cups almost to the top if you make those instead of bread.


Ingredients:

2 cups flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries OR 1 cup whole fresh berries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup cinnamon apple sauce
1/4 cup butter or margarine -- melted
1 egg
2 tsp grated orange peel

Directions:

Combine flour, cranberries, sugar, and baking powder in large mixing bowl. In separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Blend applesauce mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Spoon batter into greased loaf pan or muffin tin lined with paper baking cups. Bake at 350F 45-50 minutes for loaf, 16-20 minutes for regular muffins, 12-16 minutes for mini muffins, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan before removing loaf to cool completely on wire rack. Loaf makes 12 servings.

I use whole cranberries because I like things that are tart and tangy. If you prefer sweeter bread/muffins, you'll probably want to use sweetened dried cranberries (like Craisins) instead.

I made the 24 mini-muffins to send to a friend of ours who is serving in Afghanistan right now. Happy Veterans Day! I can never say 'thank you' enough to those brave soldiers who have put their lives on the line to defend ours, both in the past and today. You are my heroes.

The Spice of Life?

At a craft show I did a couple weeks ago, a fellow vendor stood inside my booth and said that she prefers to focus on one kind of craft when she does shows so that her booth "doesn't end up looking like Wal-Mart." I can only assume this was a not-so-subtle hint that my booth looked like Wal-mart because I do not focus on one kind of craft. Just like in my Etsy shop, when I'm at a craft show I sell crocheted hats for the whole family, journals, scrunchies, wash cloths and dish scrubbies, instant canteens, sachets, and Christmas items.

I have two reasons for not focusing on one specific kind of craft:

1. I like making different things! I enjoy crocheting, collaging, sewing, and painting. Why limit myself to only one kind of craft? Why miss out on the pleasure I could get by plying all my trades?
2. I want my shop to have a little something for everyone. Maybe you don't need a new winter hat, but you do want a new journal. Maybe you don't need a journal, but you do need something to carry your water bottle in. Or maybe you want a hat for your grandson and a journal for yourself. And so on.

But I'm beginning to wonder... am I wrong? Would it be better, business-wise, to restrict my store (and craft show booths) to just crocheted items or just journals? Maybe just baby/child-oriented things?

I put it to you, Gentle Readers. Do you think it's a better idea to sell only related items, say things made of yarn, or jewelry, or artwork, etc? Or is it better to have a variety? Is variety no longer the spice of life?

And if you shop at craft shows or on sites like Etsy, are you more likely to buy from a person who sells a whole lot of variations on a single theme, or from someone who makes many different kinds of things? Or is it a silly question, and you don't care one way or another?

Leave me a comment with your opinions -- I'm really interested to know.

Still See a Pattern?

Remember the snowman hat I talked about in my last post? I've made another one and listed it in my shop in my brand new Child Hats section. I'm planning to add some more hats there soon -- after all, why should babies have all the fun? I've also added the pattern to my shop, so now I have five of my original patterns for sale! I've expanded my pumpkin hat pattern to include a child size too.

The North Wind Doth Blow

It's snowing! It's not sticking, of course, but still, it's snowing! In honor of our first snow for the season, I thought I'd highlight some of the new winter hats I've been adding to my shop lately.

For adults, I just added this groovy hat. I call it the Purple Waves hat, not just because the yarn is purple and the pattern is wavy, but as a reference to one of my favorite books ever, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. I crocheted this hat from a wool/acrylic blend that has a handspun texture, which means it has "slubs," or thicker parts in the yarn. That gives this hat a nobbly aspect that I think is extra fun.

Another adult hat I added recently is this black and burgundy cloche. A cloche is a close-fitting women's hat that's sort of shaped like a bell. They were really popular back in the Roaring Twenties. I made this one from satin-finish acrylic yarn, so it's extra soft. And it matches a pair of mittens that I made a couple months ago. Both mittens and hat are done in single crochet for maximum warmth.

And I'm adding some children's sizes to my shop! My first is this Jack-o'-lantern hat that's actually a larger size of the baby ones I already offer. This is big enough for a toddler up to about a ten-year-old. (I offer the pattern for the baby sizes here.) I'm going to be adding a snowman hat soon -- I made one as a custom order and it turned out so cute, I'm going to make more for my shop. In fact, I've got one started already. More about that when I list it!

Quick Feature

The Busy Moms Team did another publicity blitz these last few weeks, and today is my day, so BijouxDesignsForYou has a little feature about me on her blog, including a short interview...

"Death du Jour" by Kathy Reichs

I read Death du Jour so quickly, I didn't even get around to putting it in my sidebar here before I'd finished it. I'd say it was even more absorbing that Reichs' first book, Deja Dead. The characters are more fully realized this time around, and the dialog in most places was much more natural.

Once again, the story crept inside my head and stayed there until I'd finished the book, which is the main reason I read it in just a couple days despite it being nearly 400 pages long. That's pretty rare for me these days, with Daniel demanding so much of my attention, though it was normal for me back in my pre-parenting days. It was possibly even more creepy than Deja Dead, as it dealt with things like cults and some decidedly unnatural deaths. So if you're not a fan of creepy books or all those forensic crime shows on TV, you might not dig this.

Death du Jour focuses on a series of seemingly unrelated murders in Canada and South Carolina that Dr. Tempe Brennan ends up investigating more than her jobs as forensic anthropologist and professor would ordinarily necessitate. It involves more personal relationships than its predecessor, and we not only meet up with Brennan's daughter and ex, but also her sister and nephew. And her professional relationship with Montreal detective Andrew Ryan takes a more personal turn as well, much to my delight.

Reichs' descriptions are the most powerful aspect of her writing, something I admire since I often struggle when describing things in my own writing. Here's my favorite passage from this book: "The new flakes lay white atop the underlying gray, like newborn innocence on last year's sins." Good stuff!

Last Saturday

I've finally uploaded my pictures from the craft show I did last Saturday. We had gorgeous weather, sunny and in the 60s, with a breeze to keep it from getting too hot. And considering it was a smallish show (only 50 booths I think), we had fairly nice crowds.

However, everyone was looking at things, and few people were buying. The show ran from 10am-4pm, and I made less than $50. Considering my booth fee was $75, I was not pleased. But most of the other vendors I talked to had similar complaints -- people just weren't in a buying mood. Whatcha gonna do?

At least I got these nice pics taken of my booth, so if I decide to apply for a booth at more juried shows (next spring, maybe?), I'll have good photos to send. I have another show in a couple weeks, and one in November as well, so I'm hoping I'll be able to make up what I lost at this one between those two.

You Win! You Win!

Congratulations to Shore Debris, who won the set of three Halloween votive holders!

(I let my almost-2-year-old draw the winner out of a hat, which I figured was as fair as a random number generator, since he can't read yet.)

And thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway :-) That was lots of fun, and I expect I'll do another sometime, maybe something Christmas-y in a few months....

No Trick, Just a Giveaway Treat

This hereby kicks off this blog's first giveaway!

What am I giving away? These three spooky glass candle holders! They're perfect for tea lights or small votives. Each one is 2 1/2 inches tall, 2 1/2 inches across, and 9 inches around at the top. One is decorated with spiderwebs and a tiny spider; one with a black cat, a black witch's hat, the word "Boo!," and a ghost; one with the line from Macbeth's three sisters: "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble."

The cool thing about these, as you can see from some of the pictures, is that when they're lit, they cast shadows of their decorations on whatever surface you set them on. These make a great decoration for a table, counter, desk, etc. Add them to a centerpiece or set them up alone, whatever suits your fancy. I sold these for $5 each at a craft fair last fall, so this set is worth $15, and it can be yours for free! I'm even throwing in three free Halloween-y tealights, the ones you see in the top picture.

You see, I'm going on vacation until the 23rd, so you have until midnight that night to enter. On the 24th, I will draw the winner.

How can you be that winner? There are three ways:

+ 1. Leave a comment here listing your favorite item from my store, www.huggermugger.etsy.com , and either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

+ 2. Follow my blog. Leave a comment here letting me know you're a follower, plus either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

+ 3. Post about this on your own blog. Leave a comment here with a link to your blog post, plus either your email address or your blog so I can contact you if you win.

This means you can be entered up to three times!

Enter by midnight on the 23rd! I'll draw the winner on September 24, announce who it is here, and contact them to get their mailing address. Then I'll ship these three candle holders to the lucky winner, and that will be that! Good luck :-)

Montreal

We spent Labor Day Weekend up in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My brother and his wife came along too, so it was a really fun trip, despite the longish drives up and back. We got there late Saturday afternoon, and left Monday morning after breakfast. So all we really did Saturday was find the historic district and have supper there at a French/Alsatian restaurant, then go back to our hotel and crash.

On Sunday, we walked around the historic district again and did some shopping. We bought really yummy hot apple cider laced with maple -- the morning was a bit nippy, and of course we all forgot our jackets at the hotel, so the warm drink was welcome. Less welcome were the yellow jackets that started following us around, attracted by the sweet aroma. So we drank up kind of quickly and tossed our cups before anyone got stung.

We had lunch there in the historic district, then drove back to the hotel so Daniel could get his nap. Larry decided to snooze as well, but the rest of us went to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. We didn't get to see everything, as we only had a couple of hours there before the museum closed, but what we did see was awesome. A Rembrandt, a couple Monets, a couple Picassos, a Degas, a Salvador Dali... and a lot more that I'm forgetting. We also got to see a whole bunch of paintings and artifacts from the Napoleonic age, including some busts and portraits of Napoleon, and also his actual hair in a locket, one of his famous hats, a boot, a pair of his gloves, and one of his shirts. Too cool.

We ate supper Sunday night at a restaurant near our hotel, in the newer section of the city, then took a dip in the hotel pool before bedtime. Daniel's starting to really enjoy playing in the pool, and he's getting very good at kicking his feet. He's even starting to trying "swim" by floating on his stomach with his face up out of the water while Larry or I supports him. Won't be long!

Anyway, that's all my news for now. We'll be going on a big vacation on Saturday to visit Larry's family -- we'll be gone for almost two weeks, so if you don't hear much from me for a bit, you know why :-)

Givaway from Grace Hester Designs

GraceHesterDesigns is offering a great giveaway on her blog: 500 free business cards! I've recently been looking into getting some business cards of my own, to include with orders and to hand out at the craft festivals I'm hoping to do this fall. So I know that depending on where you get them printed, 500 business cards are worth $50-75 or more! So you definitely want to go here and enter her giveaway right now.

"O Jerusalem" by Laurie R. King

I've read O Jerusalem before, but I think I enjoyed it more this second time through, possibly because I got to relish the storytelling this time through instead of breathlessly wondering what would happen next. It's one of Ms. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books, and it's actually the fifth book in the series, although it takes place during the events of the first book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Someone recommended that I read O Jerusalem after Apprentice and before the second book, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, and I've done that on both my trips through the Russell/Holmes books. I've yet to read all of this series, but I was inspired to start the series afresh when I met Ms. King a few months ago at a book reading. I'm not sure it's best to read the books out of published order like this, but that's how I've done it, so oh well.

O Jerusalem follows Mary Russell and her mentor Sherlock Holmes to Palestine, where they seek refuge from a deadly enemy back in Britain while helping solve a mystery in the Holy Land. Since this is a mystery, I won't say much more, so as to not spoil things for anyone coming newly to this marvelous series. If you want to know more, you can read an excerpt and reviews here on Ms. King's site. I will only say that this book continues the exceptional relationship between Russell and Holmes and is an adventure worthy of them both. If you are a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I highly recommend this series, as it is the best non-Doyle portrayal of the master sleuth I have ever read.