What's for Dinner: Week 11

(Enchiladas Suizas one of my favorite dishes at the Red Iguana)

Okay so last weeks plan was only partially followed. I got tired of turkey and leftovery-y stuff and just made a couple dishes of Shepard's pie (mashed potatoes), turkey enchiladas and threw them in the freezer. I do have to say I made up some stuffing stuffed mushrooms and they were yummy. Oh and the blue cauliflower soup and turkey mash croquettes were super yummy. But the last half of the week fell off.

Sunday: Red Iguana (i.e. our cheap eating out deliciousness, I confirmed with the waitress that they are opening another location around the street so there shouldn't be the normal 45 minute waits)
Monday: Ate munchies at Heidi's (so we were running late, it was good)
Tuesday: Balsamic Chicken and Wine Sausage with Roasted Potatoes
Wednesday: Turkey Enchiladas (prepped on Saturday)
Thursday: Coconut Lentil Curry Soup and Naan or the Pie after sewing class
Friday: Fancy Ramen
Saturday: Campanelli

Advent Giveaway Extravaganza Day 5: Guest Giveaway Night Light (closed)

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Welcome to Cyber Monday! Today is the last day of my sale and it's been going great (thanks guys!). I still have a bunch of goodies left in my Ready to Ship section that are 20% off and my entire store is eligible for free shipping if you enter the code "black friday" into the notes to sellers section and I'll refund you the shipping through paypal after you pay. (Think about it that's a ton off for my tutus since they're more awkward to ship).

Anyways lets keep the giveaways going. Today we have a lovely guest giveaway from Bloomin' Lumen. She's a former Commerical Interior Designer, Parsons-educated, married mother of two (6 and 10 yrs old), living in Atlanta. She currently creates night lights, table lamps, chandeliers, pillows, and tack- and magnetic boards for Bloomin' Lumen. She loves crisp graphic colors and patterns, as well as more nuanced, textural pieces. She's not married to any particular style, but she enjoys injecting a sense of whimsy into my designs. She often recycles parts and pieces in her lamps and chandeliers. Most items are either one of a kind, or limited edition. She also does custom orders so keep that in mind when you look through her shop.

She is giving away her Atomic Dots night light pictured above. How adorable is that. I think this would be adorable in a kids room or even for a college girl. Anyways I know ton of people who this would make a great Christmas gift for.

To Enter:
Only 1 Step this time: Comment here tell me what your favorite item from her shop is and where you posted this (give me a link if it's not connected to your comment id). Make sure I have A WAY TO CONTACT YOU (in past giveaways I've drawn person over person but since their blogs and/or profiles are private I couldn't tell them they won so they didn't. So please make sure you leave your email in the comment OR that your profile/blog is PUBLIC )

Get an extra entry when you: Blog, facebook, twitter or post to some other internet thingy (ex. forums) a link to this post. Feel free to use the picture too if you want. If you use blogger you can click here to create a link. Otherwise just make a link how you normally would. Make sure to leave an additional comment with your link to where you posted this.

Last Day to Enter: 12/14/2009 If it's your first time entering one of my giveaways or for more info on these giveaways and to see a list of past winners see this post. Earn an additional entry by becoming a first time follower of my blog or a facebook fan. (see the widgets on the left

Winner: Awaiting reply

Sale Sale Sale

This weekend I'm having a sale (starts at midnight).

I don't have sales often.

All the ready to ship items will have been marked down 20% off.

Free world wide shipping, just type "Black Friday" into the notes to sellers section when you check out and I'll refund your shipping through paypal.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Yeah I understand you may be thrown by the Julie and Julia poster as the picture for my Thanksgiving post but hopefully it'll make sense. So I saw the movie last night at the dollar theater and I adored it. I remember one point about 3/4s the way through I heard some people outside talking and I remembered thinking 'oh I'm in a movie theater' I was that sucked into it. And while this may not make a ton of sense to those of you who haven't seen it yet (seriously why not, go watch it now) it really spoke to me.

This year has been weird, good, frustrating, stressful, really stressful, fun. It's been a lot, we've lost family members, we've gained family members, I've had wonderful costumers, I've had costumers that made me just want to quit, I've grown tired of my home, I've realized how wonderful my home really has been, and plenty more. It's just been a lot.

Anyways, the movie made me realize that while I may whine and want more, everything that is important in life I have and for that I am truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.



(sales start at midnight main shop and fabric shop)

What's For Dinner: Week 10 AKA What to do with Thanksgiving Leftovers

We had Thanksgiving early plus my sister, the naughties' mom wants to cook up another meal herself (even though she was here and cooked on Sunday). So we have and will have lots of Thanksgiving-y stuff to eat up and remember the whole no left overs things yeah that only gets slightly bent for Thanksgiving but really only for like one meal and more like for lunches (I do a potato, gravy turkey, green bean mix on toast with cheese and avocado yum). So I'll tell you how I'm using the left overs and maybe that may help some of you out since I had a head start. For other ways to use up the Thanksgiving leftovers check out my post from last year.

Sunday: Early Thanksgiving, turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cauliflower au gratin, stuffing, pumpkin pie, peanut butter balls, rolls
Monday: Turkey Alfredo (Used turkey)
Tuesday: Blue Cheese and Cauliflower Soup and Potato and Turkey Croquettes (used mashed potatoes, broth made from the turkey bones, and turkey)
Wednesday: Turkey Empanadas (Will use turkey)
Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner take two (I'll take left over green beans)
Friday: Turkey Enchilandas (Will use the turkey)
Saturday: Pizza (Will use turkey and some soft cheese we had on a cheese platter)

Advent Giveaway Extravaganza Day 4: Tutu (closed)

Today's I'm giving away a tutu. These will make terrific gifts for all those little girls out there. Seriously the first thing the naughties do when they come to my house lately is point to their tutus and then we have a dance party. It is awesome. Anyways I'm the kind of aunty that thinks it's stinking cute to take them into public in their tutus too, but these are great for play, birthday outfits, dancing and if you're like me regular old clothing.

I'll be giving away one of my ready to ship Pixie style tutus. They are big poofy tutus with large bows which can be worn towards the front or back. They come in two sizes (ages 1-6) and the winner will be able to chose from whatever pixie tutus I have left when the giveaway ends and if I'm fortunate enough to sell out the winner will get to pick custom colors.

I'll be marking my entire ready to ship stock (which includes A LOT of tutus including a few of the ribbon style tutus -see right) down for Thanksgiving weekend (20% off ) and offering free shipping if you write "black friday" into the notes to sellers section when you check out. So if you for sure want something from me this weekend is the time to purchase to get a deal. You may want to let the grandmas and aunties know about my sale too. Otherwise I'll still be taking custom orders and made to ship orders and I'll be giving one tutu from what remains of the ready to ship stock when the giveaway ends to the lucky winner. I'll be posting many individual listings later today and I haven't gotten many of the larger sizes listed but I wanted to get the giveaway going.

To Enter:

Step 1. Blog, facebook, twitter or post to some other internet thingy (ex. forums) a link to this post. Feel free to use the picture too if you want. If you use blogger you can click here to create a link. Otherwise just make a link how you normally would.

Step 2. Comment here tell me where you posted this (give me a link if it's not connected to your comment id). Make sure I have A WAY TO CONTACT YOU (in past giveaways I've drawn person over person but since their blogs and/or profiles are private I couldn't tell them they won so they didn't. So please make sure you leave your email in the comment OR that your profile/blog is PUBLIC )

Last Day to Enter: 11/27/2009 If it's your first time entering one of my giveaways or for more info on these giveaways and to see a list of past winners see this post. Earn an additional entry by becoming a first time follower of my blog or a facebook fan. (see the widgets on the left

And don't forget the other giveaways (see the right hand column) a few of them are closing soon (the candy cane diaper covers today) so enter them all now.

Winner: Booharts, awaiting reply

Turkey Crowns Tutorial

So we had a our Thanksgiving early because my husband's uncle passed away after a few months of fast health decline so the music maker's mom and dad are off to help the family get things in order and do funeral things. We had both sides of the family over to our little condo and it was really nice. For the naughties I made up some turkey crowns (that went along with a bizarre turkey dance, that had no resemblance to turkey's in real life at all). They turned out so cute and the whole fam loved them so I thought that I would post a little tutorial since they are actually done in time for you to use it for your own Thanksgiving festivities. And seriously they are so easy.



Note that my thing is sewing so while I think it would work totally fine just to glue all of this I'm way more comfortable with a sewing machine than glue. So you could totally do this if you don't sew or if you only hand sew.

You'll Need
-sheets of different colored felt, for feathers, brown for the body and band, and red for the gobbler thing which can double as a tail feather
-black marker
-sewing stuff or glue
1. This is what you're shooting for, or something better
2. Cut out feathers, I did 7 but more or less would work just fine
3. I cut the sheet in thirds lengthwise (so I needed 2 sheets for the 2 naughties, you need 2 strips for each hat/crown) then sew/glue the ends of two of the brown straps
4. Cut a body it's basically a rectangle that's rounded on the top, sorry the pic got cropped in the collage. I arranged the tails and then just freehanded the body to the size I thought would look cute.
5. Put the feathers over the long strap with the seam centered, then put the body on top of that. Sew around the body this will tack the feathers down. If you're using glue you'll have the glue the feathers and then the body. Cut a little orange or yellow triangle for a beak and a squiggle out of red and arrange the face. Sew or glue onto the body.
6. Wrestle your little one into letting you use his or her head to figure out the size and the sew or glue the band so it's like a crown. Finally use a black marker and draw on some eyes (I thought about using googly eyes but I ran out of time to wait for glue to dry)

Have fun let me know if you make any. Also I've just started a Rae Gun flickr group, so I'd love you all to join if you're already on flickr. Feel free to post any of your creations to the flickr group as well as any customer/winner appreciation pics, or other rae gun inspired things or just to see what everyone else has made. Let me see some turkey crows!

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

I don't really do sales so if you like my goodies and you like a deal now's the time to pay attention. Next week I'll be doing a Black Friday through Cyber Monday Sale.

In my main shop all my Ready to Ship items will be marked down 20% and I'm offering world wide free shipping if you just enter the code "black friday" to the notes to sellers section when you check out. (I will refund the shipping price through paypal). I'll also be offering free US and Canada shipping in my fabric shop. (sale starts 11/27/09 12:00 am PST and ends 11/30/09 11:59 pm PST)

I'll have tons of RTS tutu's reduced and free shipping on princess dresses which are perfect for your little ladies to play dress up in. Also even if you may not be giving baby clothes for the Holidays keep in mind that this is a great time to get a deal on goodies for all those baby showers you'll be going to this coming Spring (I think I know 5-6 babies that are on their way in myself).

So, avoid the mall lines (or ahem do both as I will), buy handmade and stock up since the shipping is on me for the weekend and they'll be tons of Ready to Ship goodies at 20% off (I'll be adding more before the sale). Here's a forum thread of Etsy folk who have stated that they'll be doing Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales, have fun the list is long.

Naughty Time: Princess Tea Party

(click on the photo for a larger view, I LOVE the bottom left pic)

So last week's outing with the Naughties took us to a princess tea party. It was amazing seeing a room full of dolled up little princesses. I have to admit I thought for my 15$ a kid payment we'd get more than one princess and that the princesses would have been fancied up. Come on peasant Belle, why not have Cinderella in her mopping outfit while we're at it. I could go on, but despite some details that I think annoyed the grown ups more than the kiddos I think Tira and Lanna had fun.

p.s. I'm not sure why picassa decided to upload my pictures to this small size and of course it distorts it when I try to manually increase the size. Does anyone know how I can fix that.

p.s.s. there are tons of giveaways open, please enter and spread the word (see the the right column for details)

Advent Giveaway Extravaganza Day 3: Guest Giveaway Noggins (closed)

The lovely Jessica over at Noggins Beanines (shop and blog) has so graciously supplied us with a super awesome giveaway: any one beanie in her shop. Ummm yeah I was so totally tempted to try and finagle the giveaway so I could just pick one of her many awesome options for myself. If it were up to me I'd pick the hat so cutely called "the one with buttons" in espresso. But if you're not a hat person she's got adorable options for the little ones too. She does the one for little heads but I absolutely adore the Jack and Jill as well, hello, ear flaps, does it get cuter? But it's not up to me and she's got way more choices so check them out and enter.

To Enter

Step 1. Blog, facebook, twitter or post to some other internet thingy (ex. forums) a link to this post. Feel free to use the picture too if you want. If you use blogger you can click here to create a link. Otherwise just make a link how you normally would.

Step 2. Comment here tell me which item you want and where you linked this giveaway (give me a link if it's not connected to your comment id). Make sure I have A WAY TO CONTACT YOU (in past giveaways I've drawn person over person but since their blogs and/or profiles are private I couldn't tell them they won so they didn't. So please make sure you leave your email in the comment OR that your profile/blog is PUBLIC )

Last Day to Enter: 12/4/2009 If it's your first time entering one of my giveaways or for more info on these giveaways and to see a list of past winners see this post. Earn an additional entry by becoming a first time follower of my blog or a facebook fan. (see the widgets on the left)

winner: reader from eZmoos Chiropractic Center

Lots of Goodies In Stock

So the show this weekend was kinda a bust, I sold 1 thing (it snowed a lot and there wasn't much traffic through the whole show). So I've got a lot of ready to ship items. I'll be getting all of them listed through out the day. I've got tons of Christmas skirts in most designs and sizes, lots of tutus, bottoms, and more. See the ready to ship section.

What's For Dinner: Week 9 AKA selling the house vs. the kitchen

(clockwise: tomato bisque, cannelloni, stuffed shells (for another week), extra stuffed shells, carrots and zuccs chopped for fancy ramen, zuccs diced for campanelli, shepard's pie)

It's been a while since I posted a "What's for dinner" mostly because our condo is listed and at any moment the realtor may call telling us to leave and the house must be spic and span. The problem is that I'm not a tidy cook. I make a mess and I'm really bad at cleaning. It's not just that I don't like cleaning it, I'm not good at it. The mere thought of having to constantly clean has sent us to restaurants for weeks now. But it's more than we can afford and now that the holiday season is upon us I'm worried the condo will be sitting for a bit and my waist and wallet just can't keep this up. So, I need to figure out how to feed us without the mess or expense. Really there's no way I'm doing the freaking dishes and whiping everything down every night, I know some of you can do that but it's just not in me. So I prepped a week's worth of food that I can either make ahead and refrigerate or freeze or stuff that can be prepped and cooked in one dish. We'll see how this goes. If you guys have good tips or recipes that would help my situation I would absolutely love any help. We're so tired of quesadillas (I just shove the skillet in the oven haha) so hopefully this will help.

Saturday: Tomato Basil Soup (Cooking Day)
Sunday: Campanelli or Fancy Ramen (I prepped the stuff for both)

Monday: Tomato Basil Soup and Grilled Cheese (we're not usually leftovers people (they just go bad in the fridge) but both of us could eat this soup every day)

Tuesday: Shepard's Pie
Wednesday: Balsamic Chicken and Sausage Bake
Thursday: Eat Out
Friday: Italian Cannelloni (I sub sausage for the beef)
Saturday: Coconut Lentil Chicken Soup and Naan (previously frozen)

Sunday: Thanksgiving Dinner Part I at our place -turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, sweet potato souffle, cranberry sauce and relish, stuffing pumpkin pie, tollhouse pie, something sweet from Beth

Advent Giveaway Extravaganza Day 2: Gingerbread Skirt (closed)

Here's my second giveaway in the extravaganza. Another one of my Cake Shop Skirts that I adore. I made up a bunch of Christmas ones (and even some new everyday ones). I've taken a bunch over to Happy Halen which if you're in Salt Lake you really should stop by (tons of cute stuff). And I'll be adding them to my etsy shop as soon as I get the chance (feel free to email me if you see one you want and I'll make it happen). The one I'm giving away is the gingerbread man one (the first one). It's my personal favorite and unfortunately I don't think the photo does justice but trust me it's cute. Also special for Christmas this time I'm letting you pick the size (0-9mo, 9mo-2T, 2-4, or 5-7)

*UPDATE* I've finally got the skirts listed since I had a couple people ask me about them. So if you want to purchase one click here. I've got most sizes ready to ship.

To Enter:

Step 1. Blog, facebook, twitter or post to some other internet thingy (ex. forums) a link to this post. Feel free to use the picture too if you want. If you use blogger you can click here to create a link. Otherwise just make a link how you normally would.

Step 2. Comment here tell me what size you want and where you posted this (give me a link if it's not connected to your comment id). Make sure I have A WAY TO CONTACT YOU (in past giveaways I've drawn person over person but since their blogs and/or profiles are private I couldn't tell them they won so they didn't. So please make sure you leave your email in the comment OR that your profile/blog is PUBLIC )

Last Day to Enter: 11/27/2009 If it's your first time entering one of my giveaways or for more info on these giveaways and to see a list of past winners see this post. Earn an additional entry by becoming a first time follower of my blog or a facebook fan. (see the widgets on the left)


winner: chelsey from http://paperladyinvites.blogspot.com/

Naughty Time: Loy Krathong

Contrary to no one by my on belief I cannot update two blogs on a regular basis. What that means is that I'm putting my personal blog to rest so you all will just have to get to know me a little better which mostly just means you'll have to see more pics of the naughties and maybe tolerate a bit of ranting if someone rubs me the wrong way :) .

Last week we celebrated Loy Krathong . In Thailand during Loy Krathong, the water ways and skies are filled with lights. Floating flower creations are topped with candles and beautiful lanterns are rigged with flames and released into the night sky believed to take the bad things away. While some do celebrate it religiously we just did it as an excuse to do some Thai cultural stuff and dress up the naughties.

My mom made the krathongs which for having no car and just pillaging her apartment complex I believe turned out excellent. Yes we handed Tira and Lanna the flamming floats and yes when we told Tira to put it in the water, she chucked it (must remember to explain more to the two year old) and yes both of them tried to blow the candles out like on birthday cakes. But they looked cute, we had yummy Thai food and it was fun.

to the right: my sister with her babes (Tira complete with her so very Thai, tacky plastic red high heels)

Advent Giveaway Extravaganza Day 1: Christmas Diaper Covers (closed)

So I know it's not even Thanksgiving but if I want to run some giveaways and get things to the winners in time for Christmas celebrating I've got to start now. That being said I'm doing an Advent Giveaway Extravaganza. I'll be giving away many many things. I'm even considering some guest giveaways (email me -see my profile- if you're interested in sponsoring one).

To start off I've got something mamas with both boys and girls can enjoy I'm giving away a pair of my brand new Candy Cane diaper covers with ruffles or without (your choice). Chose from the following sizes 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months, 2T or 3T. They'd be super cute over some tights or with baby legs.

To Enter:

Step 1. Blog, facebook, twitter or post to some other internet thingy (ex. forums) a link to this post. Feel free to use the picture too if you want. If you use blogger you can click here to create a link. Otherwise just make a link how you normally would.

Step 2. Comment here tell me what size and style you want and where you posted this (give me a link if it's not connected to your comment id). Make sure I have A WAY TO CONTACT YOU (in past giveaways I've drawn person over person but since their blogs and/or profiles are private I couldn't tell them they won so they didn't. So please make sure you leave your email in the comment OR that your profile/blog is PUBLIC )

Last Day to Enter: 11/24/2009 If it's your first time entering one of my giveaways or for more info on these giveaways and to see a list of past winners see this post. Earn an additional entry by becoming a first time follower of my blog or a facebook fan. (see the widgets on the left)

winner: Meghan Rickard

Guess What I'm Doing...

Tomorrow is the last day to sign up. It sounds super fun to me.

Be There: Happy Halen

I know I've been neglecting the blog but I've got fun things coming up. Yes I plan to share some of the 'adventures' of house hunting/selling. But mostly I've been getting ready for Christmas. More specifically for the Happy Halen Show. It will be the first of possibly a few shows I'll do this season.

If you're in Salt Lake please stop by and then give me some honest feedback on my set up. I've got tons of adorable Christmas skirts that I'll be taking over as well as many of my bloomers, diaper covers, jumpers and dresses. Also I will be taking local princess dress orders perfect for Christmas gifts. If you've never gotten to see my goodies in person here is your chance. Plus there will be daily giveaways (including something from me) and lots of great artists' goods.

Naughty Time: Halloween 2009

I survived. Here are some of my favorite shots of our Halloween. The naughties', the music maker's and my costumes were pushed back until the night before/day of Halloween since there were so many RaeGun orders and house selling items that demanded all my time before that but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

(move your cursor over the pictures to see captions)

Lanna was supposed to wear her birthday gift, that Luchadore costume I made for her but even with making the mask larger the stinker would not let us put the mask on her at all. Hmmph so I made her a 5 minute dwarf costume that looks more like a gnome since I was totally against making her a disney-ish dwarf. Whatever she looks cute and it's probably the only Halloween we can make her be a dwarf while Tira gets to be princess Snow White. She got a lot of "he's so cute" 's .

I'm the Wicked Witch of the East and Daniel was the house that crushed me. Yup. I seriously think the best part was sneaking those two candy all weekend I gave Lanna a whole fun size bar just to gnaw on hahaha. Hope you all had a fun Halloween. I didn't get to go skank watching at the clubs like I normally like to on Halloween, I was just too exhausted after a friend's wonderful party so I didn't see too many costumes did any of you guys see some good ones?