10th Annual Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar

It's that time of year again - Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar time! This year is even more special because it is their 10 year anniversary show. Head down to the Marchesa Hall & Theatre (6226 Middle Fiskville Rd) between Dec 1st-24th to do some of the best handmade shopping in all of Austin. Might I suggest The Perkins Family booth with jewelry by Naughty Secretary Club, art by Hope Perkins and robots, stockings, wreaths and more by Fredda Perkins!


To make this year's Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar extra special they are having lot's of fun events. Mark these dates on your calendars, you are gonna want to hit the show more than once because not only is there tons of fun stuff in store but most of the artists put out brand spanking new stock daily!

Opening Day:
December 1, 10 am - 10 pm - Hit the booths with one of a kind goodies like Sweet Tooth Bags, Naughty Secretary Club & Ornamental Things early to make sure you get first dibs.

Opening Party:
December 2, 6 pm - Midnight - I wish I could say I would be there staying up late and hitting the bar, but alas this 7 month pregnant girl will be home in bed. whoop it up for me!


Santa Claus:
December 4, 10 am - Noon - I already have Tallulah's Christmas outfit all planned out for Saturday.

Trivia Night:
December 8, 7 pm - 10 pm - Calling all smarty-pantsers! Come gather round the digital fire place and match wits with friends and nemeses. This will be an all holiday themed trivia night at the bar. Prizes will be given and drinks will be had!


Holiday Movie Screenings:
December 7, 1 pm (kids movie matinee for parents who might need to sneak in a little shopping)
December 9, 7 pm  (offbeat PG or PG-13 holiday flick)
December 14, 1 pm (kids movie matinee for parents who might need to sneak in a little shopping)
December 21, 7 pm (offbeat PG or PG-13 holiday flick)
The movies are all free and will be shown in the Theater Room within the Marchesa.

Holiday Gala:
December 16 6 pm - Midnight - Sounds fancy. Do they make maternity ball gowns? There will be a band, snacks and drink specials.

Show Hours:
The show is open everyday. Sunday - Thursday 10 am - 10 pm Friday and Saturday 10 am - Midnight. Hope to see you there!

This Week on Craft Lab

4 episodes of Craft Lab in one week, whoo hoo! Start things off Tuesday morning by making some pet name plates, Rover needs a Christmas Present too. We will manipulate metal, etch images and make cute personalized nameplates for your furry friends!

Copy Machines make art and not just copies next on Craft Lab. Stephen Horn will be showing us a way to use our copy machine and mono-printing onto clay to make unique pieces of art.


Thursday is an awesome day in the Craft Lab. First up we have my mother Fredda Perkins showing how to make her version of vintage glass art Deco frames using water slide decals.

Kathy Cano Murillo & I explore the world of Mexican wrestling: "Lucha Libre." First, Kathy decorates a wrestling mask with paint, thread, and jewels to create a personalized look. Next, we create Lucha Libre Cascarones -hollowed egg shakers decorated and filled with confetti. Finally, we make Lucha Libre place card holders using simple materials and generic Mexican wrestling figures.

I Love to Create - Cute Quilted Kiddo Coat

I know, I know two weeks in a row of kid's clothing - but can you really have enough? I have spent the week with my mother who has recently visited The Houston International Quilt Show, so she was busting with ideas. One of those fabulous ideas I decided to share with you today for I Love to Create.


I love the look of patchwork crazy quilts so when my mom told me about this adorable jacket she had seen made at the quilt show I was totally on board. Grab some fabric scraps and let's get busy.


SUPPLIES
Fabric Scraps
Pinking Shears
Sewing Machine
Sweat Shirt
Scissors
Aleene's No-Sew Fabric Glue
Iron
Pins
Thread
Velcro


TAKE ME DOWN TO THE TRIANGLE CITY
Scalene, isosceles, right - whatever kind of triangle floats your boat. I used my pinking shears and vintage feed sack fabric to cut a pile of different triangles. If you don't have feed sack light-weight quilting fabric works like a charm.


SWEATSHIRT DECONSTRUCTION
Next you are going to cut your sweat shirt up. Cut up the side seams and continue up the sleeves. Cut the cuffs and if there is a ribbed bottom cut that off as well.


PATCHWORK PARTY
Using your Aleene's No-Sew Fabric Glue place your triangles in a random pattern all over the sweatshirt. It's ok if there is a little sweatshirt peeking between the triangles. The glue will wash out, but hold your triangles in place long enough to stitch them on.


ZIG-A-ZAG-DO-DA-ZIG-A-DEE-A
Using a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine and a contrasting thread sew all the edges of all your triangles down. Also stitch around all the edges.


LOOK MA, I'M QUILTING
Place your jacket on the sewing machine. Drop your feed dogs and using a straight stitch on your machine free quilt all over you jacket. The more random the better.


GRAB YOUR SCISSORS
Cut the ribbed neck out of your sweatshirt and cut your sweatshirt up the front.


PUT THE SWEATSHIRT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN
Pin your sweatshirt back together and using a straight stitch put it back together again. Using bias tape (we made our own) trim the edges of your jacket.


I have to give my mom the infamous Fredda Perkins most of the credit for this adorable jacket. Grandma comes to the crafty rescue yet again! I kinda want an adult size version of this jacket for me.

WIN IT! Paper Blossoms - A Book of Beautiful Bouquets for Your Table

Fresh flowers - sure they are pretty and smell nice, but they don't last near long enough and not to mention they are expensive. What if you had a bouquet that lasted forever, was easy to store and didn't need a drop of water or a single ray of sunshine? Let me introduce you to the book/bouquet called Paper Blossoms: A Book of Beautiful Bouquets for the Table by Ray Marshall.


I thought pop up books were just for my daughter, boy was I wrong. Paper Blossoms has 5 amazing pop-up bouquets in an array of styles, colors and themes. Serving sushi for dinner, why not open up to page Lotus Water Garden? Hosting a baby shower, open up to page Springtime Bouquet. Next Valentines day (and the one after that and the one after that and the one after that - remember these paper flowers don't die) open up to page Garland of Roses to show your sweetie how much you love them. A Tropical Arrangement is probably my favorite in the book and would look great sitting on the coffee table in my Florida Room. All of the arrangements are lovely and every bit as classy as real flowers.


If 3D oragami floral centerpieces sound up your table setting alley then this is your lucky day! Leave me a comment about your experiences with floral decorating and you could win a copy of Paper Blossoms by Ray Marshall. You may not have any flower experience and that is exactly why you need this book, but you might be like me and have won a contest as a child by making an arrangement in an apple called 'Teacher's Pet'. Either way lemme know sometime in the next week and this book could be yours!

Top 10 Thanksgiving Tutorials

I must confess seasonal decorating at my house typically skips right over Thanksgiving. When Halloween goes back up in the attic, Christmas comes down. I already have all my Christmas trees up in my house and I have not even had my turkey yet. However, I must confess that I am starting to feel the Thanksgiving decorating spirit. I'm planning ahead for next year and sharing a few of my favorite fall ideas.


The first thing that caught my eye about this adorable Toddler to Teen Thanksgiving Table by The Celebration Shoppe was the fall leaf fabric. I have some of this fabric in my stash so I am book marking this site for next years table.


Yum how about making a batch of homemade pumpkin ice cream and a matching customized ice cream carton!


I think Alisa Burke can do no crafty wrong, this paper leaves fall wreath pretty much further proves my point.


Nothing says fall like a Woody Woodlands Brooch.


Fiskars Thanksgiving Kids Table. The Mayflower cup is like the cutest thing ever.


Nothing says fall like a cute and cuddly yarn wrapped headband.


I just signed up for a cupcake decorating class, do you think they will teach me how to make some like this mashed potatoes & gravy or turkey cupcake by Annie Cakes? A girl can hope and dream.


I can't wait for Tallulah to show off her new snazzy cardigan on Thursday!


Those crazy kids at Family Fun are always coming up with clever ideas and these pilgrim napkin holders are pretty dang cute. Maybe next Thanksgiving when I have two whipper snappers at the dinner table I'll make some of these napkin rings.


I hosted a fall themed baby shower back in October. My heirloom pumpkins from Halloween made a lovely centerpiece and would sure look nice on a Thanksgiving table as well.


I la la la love this Give Thanks Banner from Parent's Magazine.

I Love to Create - Tallulah's Thanksgiving Turkey Top

Today for I Love to Create we have my spin on the obligatory hand print turkey Thanksgiving craft. Tallulah needed the perfect Thanksgiving outfit, so I decided to make it myself.


SUPPLIES
Pen
Tulip Fabric Marker (Fine Writers)
Cardigan
White Fabric
Steam a Seam
Fabric Fusion Glue
Iron
Scissors
Embroidery Floss
Felt
Embroidery Hoop


The hardest part of this project will be getting your toddler to hold still long enough to trace their hand onto a piece of white fabric. I find candy bribes help.


The easiest part of this project is letting your kiddlet go nuts with a pack of colorful Tulip Fabric Markers. Tallulah had never played with markers so this was quite the treat for her. I let her scribble all over the area where we had traced her hands.


Once Tallulah grew bored of coloring on the fabric I used a hot iron to adhere some steam a seam to the back of the fabric. This was primarily to stiffen the fabric and keep the edges from fraying.


I cut out Tallulah's colorful hands and used them as a template to cut out a red, orange and yellow felt hand. I used Fabric Fusion Glue to attach all the pieces together.


Using Fabric Fusion Glue I attached the turkey to a brown cardigan. After the glue dried I embroidered the edges for extra embellishment. I also added a beak and a French knot for an eye.


All that was left to do was slip Tallulah a lollipop so she would stand still and pose for this picture (I'm telling you it's so wrong, but those candy bribes work). I can rest easy now that Tallulah's turkey day outfit has been sorted out. Now I need to figure out what I'm wearing.

I'd love to know what some of your favorite Thanksgiving crafts are? Do you have something you and the fam make year after year? Seen something on a blog recently you want to try. This is my first time to dabble in Thanksgiving crafts so I'm curious what other options are out there.

WINT IT (and learn about it)! Freezer Storage & Party Leftovers

Oh CSN how I love thee and all your 200+ fabulous stores. Whether you are looking for cute kids back packs, the perfect dining room table or in my case BPA free freezer storage they are you one stop shop. You will heart them soon too because they are hooking you up with some luggage for left overs. Read on to find out more!


No matter how many hungry people you have at a party, there are bound to be left overs. In October I threw two parties and they were no exception. Sure we have been snacking on the hummus, having pumpkin bread for breakfast and took a ton of cheese balls to another party - but, there was still left overs. Fearing things would go bad before we could eat them I started a baking and deep freezing frenzy. If you have left overs at your next party, here are a few ideas about how to recycle them.



Veggie trays are yummy, but they always tend to leave left overs. After my baby shower I made a giant batch of broccoli cheese soup with the left overs. This year I had some of the same left overs so I tried my hand at baking and made a batch of broccoli cheese corn bread muffins.


One of my favorite parts of a baby shower is the sherbet punch! As much as I love the punch I don't want to drink it for days straight when there are buckets of it left over. What is a crafty girl to do? The first thing I did was marinate some pork chops, they were interesting to say the least. The better choice was making a batch of cupcakes. I substituted the water the pineapple supreme cake mix called for with punch and added some strawberries that were left over from one of the parties. Delish.


For some reason there was a mother load of carrots left over. I also had half a can of pumpkin pie mix left from my cream cheese gingersnap dip. I decided to join forces, throw in some raisins and make some Pumpkin, Carrot and Raisin Bread. Breads freeze so well we will be eating these loaves (and muffins) all fall long.


Once I made all these goodies I started pontificating about the best ways to store everything: wrapped in foil, bound in butcher paper, sealed tight in tupperware. So many choices. The one thing I have been doing since I had Tallulah was getting rid of my old food storage containers and replacing them with BPA free options. My current fave option are Frieling Clip and Close Rectangular Containers. The containers are glass and have a lid that seals nice and tight. With baby number two coming this spring I'm gonna get casserole crazy again this winter. Last time around we doubled most of our favorite recipes and ate one meal and filled the deep freeze with the other portion. That way when we were sleep deprived and hungry we did not have to order take out or eat Ramen Noodle.

So would you like to win your own set of 5 Frieling Clip and Close Rectangular Containers? Sure you would, everyone has leftovers at some point! You have a week to leave me a comment letting me know something about freezer storage. I'm on a quest to know everything. What is your favorite storage method? Do you have a casserole recipe that you love to make and freeze? Do you pour you left over wine into ice cube trays for later use in soups and sauces?

This Week on Craft Lab

Tune in to DIY Network Tuesday and Thursday morning for you double dose of Craft Lab. First up we are going to be making Plexiglas Lanterns with John Ahr followed by a little Polymer Pop with Anne Igou.


Thursday join me in the Craft Lab as we make Kaleidoscopes with Keri Plezia and Parasols with Lori Meeer (this is the project that inspired my Polka Dotted Parasol Project).

Check your local listings for times.

Austin Adventures - Aquarena Springs

Some people have kids and it kills their social life and they become home bodies. For me with Tallulah it has been almost the exact opposite. I find that every week is full of some new adventure: a trip to a festival or local tourist destination. I am always getting emails about what people should do when they visit Austin so I thought I would start writing about a few of our family escapades. Today we made a quick 30 minute trip South to San Marcos to visit Aquarena Springs.


Chris and I both graduated from college in San Marcos but that does not mean we ever truly appreciated this lush sleepy little river town. Sure we have both been tubing there several times, but neither of us had ever visited Aquarena Springs or rode on their infamous glass bottom boats. Today we remedied that situation with our friends Chris and Stacy in tow.



I really felt a day late and a dollar short when I realized the glass bottom boats had been running at Aquarena Springs for over 50 years. Tallulah is very into fish and bubbles right now and this 30 minute ride provided plenty of both. As an added bonus we also saw turtles, bubbling springs and native birds. Years ago you could see swimming pigs and aqua maids.



Another Aquarena Springs attraction that has now long since gone the way of the Dodo is the Swiss Sky Ride. Just look how amazing these round pods are. The pods are now gone, but the cables that suspended them over the water are still there as well as their groovy landing dock.




The grounds of the park also host several small museums. The highlights included the infamous Texas Blind Salamander in the aquarium, the small crawl through cave for kids in the renovated museum inside the hotel and the walking tour through the Texas Wetlands.



Tallulah enjoyed running around the park and playing on their slide, saying the word boat 700 times and taking in the sites. The adults enjoyed the trip as well. Definitely worth the quick trip South and price of admission.