Baked Fresh: Hellloooo Etsy!

I took the plunge. I have entered the world of Etsy. After months of considering it, I've decided to start posting some of my crafty adventures for sale online. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect anything more than to continue as a hobby, but it's also nice to cover the cost of supplies... maybe I'm just thrifty that way...

Anywho, I will be posting items all weekend (while the man of the house is in Salt Lake for a boy's ski weekend) and already have 12 LOVE BIRD glass pendant necklaces for sale for $10 over at the Pie Bird Shop. Local pick-up is free and shipping starts at $2.50. 

Upcoming listings: natural goat milk soaps, natural goat milk and honey lotions, lotion bars, lip balms, and Valentine's Day bath & body gift packs. 


I'm entering 2010 in a whole new way - hope you are, too. Look out world, I've got some folk crafts baked fresh... and they're HOT! 

Business Beautiful: Stamping

I'm not much of a stamper, but when I saw this 2" x 2" stamp on Etsy I knew that I just had to own it. I mean, look at it and tell me that it doesn't scream Pie Bird?!

Can't wait to incorporate it into the labeling for the Valentine's Day Farmer's Market- I think it will look great in black ink on my brown kraft labels! Look out Goat Milk & Honey lotion, you're about to be even more fabulous. 

Check out all the other great designs at Shalana's -  she has wonderful stamps for tags and crafty types like you!  

Crafty Satisfaction: Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Pumpkin addiction is a very serious and tasty affliction. I don't know what comes over me, but when I see canned pumpkin in the store I feel the need to immediately buy 3 cans and put them in the cupboard for safekeeping. I think it has something to do with all the NPR reports that there was going to be a pumpkin shortage this year due to some sort of crop failure in New England. Or I might be off my rocker. Either way, I've been doing lots of pumpkin baking lately!

This recipe was incredibly easy and remarkably delicious. It was one of those "scrounge around the pantry to see what I find" Sunday afternoons. I had a can of pumpkin in one hand and a box of white cake mix in the other and was on a mission. A quick ingredient search on Allrecipes (love this feature!) brought me to this recipe for Pumpkin Crumb Cake.

I made a few minor modifications (egg beaters instead of eggs, white cake mix instead of yellow, pecans for the nuts, and always, always more spice) and it turned out beautifully, even at 7,500 ft -- a badge of honor for any recipe in my opinion. The middle layer is a wonderfully rich pumpkin, so it's not cake-y through and through --- and it keeps for a while in the fridge. I cut it up and served it to the Board of Directors at business meeting about 5 days later... the plate was almost licked clean.

There's a pumpkin gingerbread recipe coming up next... you'd better run to the store now and stock up on canned pumpkin. It's endangered, you know.

Speaks for Itself

I'm sort of the unofficial tech guru in our office - troubleshooting, installing software and new equipment, helping with programs, etc. Lately, I've been working with my boss to figure out some problems she's been having on her laptop (an Acer, kinda says it all). That all ended yesterday when she called me into her office to discuss an error warning she had never seen before - the photo above is the actual screen shot taken with her iPhone. When my only reaction was to laugh hysterically, she called one of our tech people. 

The response? "Give up. Get a Mac."

Nifty Inspiration: Bulk Foods

 

I have a dream - a dream to own my own bulk food store one day. Yes, it's a little bit quirky, a little bit strange, but it also has been on my brain for the last 6 years. I'm pretty sure it stems from two things: 

(1) A love of buying in bulk - how I miss the Bulk Store (Canada only?), Tara Natural Foods in Kingston, ON and First Alternative in Corvallis, OR. It's so very practical, thrifty, and seems less wasteful (especially when you just need a cup or two of something - like flour - for a new recipe). 

(2) My experience packing food for my canoe trips from "The Commissary" at the Boy Scout base - pretty much a huge room of bins, buckets and shelves with pastas, rice, baking mixes, trail mixes, spices, dehydrated fruits & veggies, granolas, etc. How wonderfully simple!

And so it came to me that my love of both buying in bulk and the outdoors & outdoor cooking could be combined into a wonderfully earthy, wholesome, and satisfying retail experience! Even though this isn't the right time (both for me and the economy) to undertake such a venture, it is simmering on the back burner and smelling better and better as time goes on and the daydreams become more vivid. 

Check out my bulk store inspiration - gleaned off the net - below. I might be crazy, but I can picture rows of flours, baking mixes, cereals, sugars, dried eggs and dairy and meats (perfect for camping!), dressing & sauce mixes, nuts, spices, seasonings, drink mixes, syrups and honey and nut butters, and even pre-packaged meals for backpacking or other treks... I can almost taste it - and it tastes like a dream come true.

Taming the Jungle

Did I tell you? I got a haircut, a SHORT one. I know, it's not exactly thrilling news, but I just had to share. When you've got a jungle of red curly hair, it's important to (futilely) attempt to tame it every once and a while. Loving it - and the fun headbands I now get to wear to keep it all off my face!

Sweetie Pie Deal: FREE Sara Bareilles Album

If you loved (or merely savored) the tune below, you should get yourself over to Sara Bareilles' website for her FREE Web-Only Live Album.

From the website: "To download her new web-only EP Live From The Gravity Tour, stop by SaraBmusic.com and sign up for Sara's newsletter. It will only be available for a limited time and includes a new cover, new arrangements and a brand new song, so don't miss out!"

I'm not missing out, are you?

From a county with no stoplight, no fast-food restaurants, and no Wal-Marts or chain stores, to my little log cabin without TV or space to spare, I am not left wanting this holiday season... and hope that the same holds true for you and yours!

 

Sounds for Winter

A little snow, a little tune,

a little sleepy now, where are you?

Lofty Thoughts: L. M. Montgomery

A Winter Dawn

Above the marge of night a star still shines,
And on the frosty hills the sombre pines
Harbor an eerie wind that crooneth low
Over the glimmering wastes of virgin snow.

Through the pale arch of orient the morn
Comes in a milk-white splendor newly-born,
A sword of crimson cuts in twain the gray
Banners of shadow hosts, and lo, the day!

By: L. M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables

Business Beautiful: New Soap Packaging

With the transition to Pie Bird from The Feet That Feed You and to a more "professional" and signature look, I've been brainstorming new packaging. Although it's scary to think, Valentine's Day is quickly approaching... especially for those that are planning to crank out 95 bars of soap, 55 lotions and lotion bars, 40 lip balms, and 20 glass pendant necklaces in time for Valentine Shoppers! 

I'm proud to say that my supplies are all ordered and either on their way or waiting in the craft room --- and I'm now working on packaging ideas for the February Farmer's Market on 2/7/09. Using the tag-line for my soon-to-be-opened Pie Bird Etsy store, "Folk Crafts Baked Fresh," I've had a fun time coming up with bakery or food oriented packaging for the goat milk soaps and other products. Case in point -- I've decided to scrap the kraft cardboard soap boxes and will now use small tin-tie kraft coffee bags to hold a shrink-wrapped bar of soap (and a business card, for good measure). 

I originally looked at using the ones with windows but decided that they would be too limiting for my labeling options. The plain ones I decided on arrived yesterday with the special packaging for Valentine's Day gift packs (more on that later!) and I am thrilled. While they are a little tall, I can roll them down and use the tin tie and then place  2 x 4 inch labels on both sides -- the front label and back labels I've been working on are below, with an example of the Gardenia soap I'll be making for V-Day. 

So how does the cost compare? The change from the shrink wrap + box + one label + raffia + hang tag + printing is a 45% decrease in cost to the tin-tie bag + two labels + shrink wrap + printing! I'm thrilled -- not only for the change in cost, but also because I think that this change is a positive move towards figuring out Pie Bird's "style." What do you think?  I also toyed with stamping the front with a nice wooden bird stamp and black ink, but I'm not sure of the time on that just yet. Maybe it would be nice to only have one label on the back.... so many options!

]--- FRONT OF BAG ---[

]--- BACK OF BAG ---[

Compliments of the Season: Cookie Dough Tubes

I came across this idea from Design Dazzle last month and knew it would be perfect for holiday gifts for neighbors, the Board of Directors at the nonprofit I work at, and other last minute gifts. They would also be great for teachers, nurses, and those that give a lot of their time in special ways.

I made 2 different cookie doughs - peanut butter oatmeal and chocolate chip (exotic, I know) - and packaged one of each in a tube for a little variety. Luckily, the diameter of the tubes I purchased were 3.5 inches across, so there was still quite a bit of dough for each type. If you have a smaller tube, you might stick to just one variety so that your recipient has enough for a good-sized bath of cookies!

I ended up making 3 double batches of the peanut butter oatmeal and chocolate chip and this was enough to make the 12 tubes. The tricky part is wrapping the dough in such a way that it will fit easily in the tube - practice makes good enough! I wrapped the tubes in old wall paper samples from a friend's interior design store and printed out a simple paper label with instructions for baking each dough.

In addition to the instructions, my label also read: "Thank you! Because you give so much of your time, here's a tasty way to save some in the kitchen this holiday season."

When you're ready, put all of the dough in the freezer (to be honest, I stuck mine in a box and put it outside overnight since it's been -20 degrees here!) and take out as needed for gifting. At a cost of around $4/tube, it's a simple and well-appreciated gift!

Couldn't Be More Cheesy

From the depths of my fridge comes....

my next project! Yum! 

Compliments of the Season: Lotion Bars

In my quest to try out some new projects for holiday gifts, I remembered a request that popped up a couple of times at the craft fair last month: lotion bars! I hadn't heard of them at the time, but I was intrigued by the idea of something new. I didn't want to have to spend a lot on new supplies, so I found an easy solution... go all-natural! The nice thing about using all-natural (read: basic) ingredients is that they typically aren't too expensive and I'm not super worried about weird chemical reactions --- not that they aren't possible, I just feel better about it!

I went over to one of my favorite sites and scored a wonderfully simple recipe for body butter bars/lotion bars. I ordered both cocoa and shea butters, sweet almond oil (can also find at the grocery store), beeswax, and some new scents (green tea/aloe and coconut lime verbena). I also found a 4-ounce round mold that fits perfectly in a cute round tin. 

An important point in making bath and body supplies is to be careful with your flash points. While I don't have any problem heating melt and pour soaps in the microwave, I would steer away from the combination of waxes and microwaves. We don't have a proper double boiler, but I scrounged up a pot and pyrex-like dish for this project. 

I also searched the net to find an ounce to tsp/tbsp/cup conversion chart so that I added the right proportions for the bars. I was a little nervous with the first batch, but then I learned how forgiving these materials can be... a little more here, a little less there... it was OK!

I won't repeat the recipe word for word here, but I will tell you that I did 2 oz of shea and 2 oz of cocoa butter just to mix things up. The end result was a firm, yet forgiving, bar of lotion that holds scent well, pops out of the mold nicely after 10 minutes in the freezer, and doesn't need anything but a few seconds of body heat to do the job. Check out the photos below and don't forget to get the recipe on Homemade Bath Products.  

Photos from Top to Bottom: (1) Shea Butter - soft and pliable (2) Cocoa Butter - more of a solid, smells like chocolate of course! (3) Sweet Almond Oil (4) Melting the butters first in the double boiler setup (5) Lotion Bar Mold (6) Measuring out the beeswax (7) Melting the wax into the already melted butters (8) Adding the oil to the melted mix - don't worry if this happens when you add the oil, it will melt after a few seconds (9) Melted and ready for fragrance (10) In the molds (11) All done! (12) My gift packaging; bars are shrink-wrapped and fit perfectly inside!

I'm happy to answer questions! I had a lovely time making these, and, although I am by no means an expert, I did manage to crank out about 30 bars for Christmas gifts for family and friends. Looking for the next step? If you liked these, try lip balms! More soon :) 

Sweetie Pie Deal: FREE Kindle for your PC & Book!

I guess today is just full of Sweet Deals!

You can download Amazon’s Kindle for PC for free! There isn’t a Mac version yet, but everyone else can click here to download to software onto your computer.

Or here for your iPhone.

Yes, you will still have to buy the books to download (most starting at $9.99), but there are some offered for free on occasion. I found this one for FREE - Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining (which I actually already own in paper) – It’s great and most definitely weather-appropriate these days!

Sweetie Pie Deal: Muir Glen Tomato Gift Crate $7

I saw this deal and immediately wished I had someone to give it to! I ordered 2 just in case.... it would be a great raffle item for the Farmers Market... and I could really go for some bruschetta! In this neck of the woods, each of those cans runs more than $3!

Each 2009 Muir Glen Organic Reserve Gift Box Includes:

• One 14.5 oz can Reserve Yolo Red Diced Tomatoes
• One 14.5 oz can Reserve Brigade Whole Peeled Tomatoes
• One 14.5 oz can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
• One 14.5 oz can Adobo Seasoned Fire Roasted Petite Diced Tomatoes
• Recipe Cards from Award-Winning Chefs
• "Diary of a Tomato" booklet featuring more than 25 delicious tomato recipes
• Packed in an attractive reusable wooden crate
• Free Shipping!
  

http://muirglen.com/reserve/

"Because we want to create more Tomato Connoisseurs who love tomatoes as much as we do, the cost is just $7 per kit, and for each 2009 Reserve kit sold online, we’ll donate $2 to Chefs Collaborative, a national network of chefs dedicated to promoting sustainable food."

Awesome!

You need to be member of their Tomato connoisseurs club before ordering, membership is FREE, register here:http://muirglen.com/club/join.asp...fqt y%3d1

The "Fall/Winter Line"

After the craft fair a couple of weeks ago, I had a nice batch of follow-up orders. I found some cute flannels at the local fabric shop and got to work.

One thing I've learned about sales is that you always bring more than you need, package it up nice, and more than likely you will sell more than you expected. I picked up this box (with a magnetic closure) at a Big Lots in Twin Falls and subsequently found a matching set of 3 hat boxes in Idaho Falls. I was thrilled to find that the box perfectly holds 9 of my shoe boxes, or 6 boxes and quite a few pairs of shoes. I am my own traveling saleswoman!

All I have to do is grab the box and head out the door. I can leave it in my car or office and it's always ready for a drop-in or call... which happens often once word gets around. One day I got a call for a pair and ended up selling to all the women in a small office. You never know!

T

Crafty Satisfaction: Holiday Garland

As I posted earlier, I had a wonderful time making cinnamon applesauce (leaves and trees)  & dried orange slice ornaments for the decoration of our little tree. Feeling a little over-zealous, I made some extras and crafted a festive garland that is now draped in our cozy living room. With a little twine, a few pushpins, and not-so-much spare time, I am completely satisfied with the results-- and might not ever take it down!

Check out the project below --- and yes, we do have a slight cribbage board collection as you can see above the door frames :)