BESTeam Promo: Africa theme

For this week's Boosting Etsy Shops Team promo, I found items that make me think of Africa!
No, I have never been to Africa, but I would like to visit some day! My grandfather has been there several times in the past decade, so I have various African treasures in my house :)

Elephant herd listing

Redemption Art

This precious elephant herd set really caught my attention - Elephants are my favorite!!!

Connie runs Redemption Art from Hawaii! She offers a variety of vintage goods found in Hawaii, many with island flair. Her items are perfect for any interior designer or homeowner.

Also see: Blog, Facebook page, Twitter

Tiger pendant listing

Absolutely Kismet

Doesn't this tiger-striped pendent make you think of the animals roaming the African wilds? This choker is made of braided hemp.

This South Dakotan shop sells wine glass charms, stitch markers, and hemp and beaded jewelry. She loves making items with practicality - whether in a family member's favorite color, or a wine charm that a friend will use often.

Also see: Blog, Facebook page

Shell bracelet/necklace listing

GMaEllen Crochet Gifts

Ellen makes so many lovely crocheted items, but I was drawn to her jewelry too! This shell necklace can be wrapped into a wrist or ankle bracelet - and it picks up the African theme. I would totally wear this on a day that I thought of Africa.

If it can be crocheted, Gma Ellen has it! Bookmarks, wine totes, baskets, earrings, ornaments, dish clothes, rugs . . . whew! A lot!

An interesting fact: Ellen's crochet work pays tribute to her Native Alaskan Heritage - what a legacy! :)

Also see: Blog, Facebook page, Twitter

Card listing

Empty on the Inside

This hand-painted card would be perfect for a thank you letter to a supporter of an African mission trip, don't ya think?

Annie is a artist from Oklahoma. She hand-paints the outside of each of her cards (available for any occasion!), but leaves the inside of each card empty (hence, her shop name). What a good idea!

Also see: Blog, Facebook page, Twitter

BESTeam Promo: Red

I'm happy to be the newest member of the Boosting Etsy Shops Team on Etsy. We are a group of shop owners who promote each other, mostly through blog posts. Expect a weekly promotion from me :)

This week I want to show what I would buy from 3 specific shops to create a red birthday gift for my sister (her birthday was Friday). Here are my decisions:

headband listing

Veronica of Knitful Dezings makes lovely knitted headbands, hats, scrubbies, & loofahs, and cute felted bows!

My sister has beautiful wavy hair, and I know this headband would look great!

(If you like her work, keep checking her shop -- she is working on a plush doll collection that should be adorable!!!)

Also see: Knitful Dezigns blog

Card listing

Sandy and Sue (who are sisters) of Creativity Bugs make lovely cards, cube picture holders (you know, the pretty bases with curvy wire to hold a photo?), block calendars, party favors, and bath salts!

My sister loves butterflies!! This card would be a perfect addition to her gift!

Also see: Creativity Bugs blog

earrings listing

Lastly, what birthday gift is complete without jewelry? And these are gorgeous!

Jewelry by Jaynemarie has a large selection of jewelry: earrings, necklaces, and bridal specials. All of them are lovely!

The Swarovski crystals in these earrings are so eye-catching! Actually, I might just keep these for myself, instead of sharing them with my sister!

Also see: Jaynemarie's blog


Thanks for joining me on a virtual shopping trip!

Why is it so hard to stay organized?

Seriously.

I love organization.

When people ask me for three things to describe myself, "organized" is always there.

Yet, my craft supplies are sooooooooooooo unorganized.

Figure that one out :P

About 6 months ago, I get married and moved into our current, tiny, one-bedroom apartment. It's the second story of a small house--an old, small house.

The apartment isn't as bad as it could be, and we've tried to make the best of it: installing more shelves in the closet, vacuuming the shag carpet frequently, getting creative with furniture placement.

The bedroom is the biggest of the two rooms (vs. living room), so it's also my craft/sewing room.

Either I have too much fabric, lace, and such,

or I don't have enough storage containers,

or I'm not creative enough with the current organization.

So, Tuesday, I worked a lot on organizing.

I pulled boxes out of our little recycling bin and turned them into easy-open storage containers!

Then I sorted my non-fabric things: laces, trims, ribbons, elastic, velcro, thread, etc.

There were some little plastic drawers in a stack, so I pulled them out and put them next to my sewing machine. They are now filled with things I need while sewing (above mentioned non-fabric items), in-progress projects, and to-do projects (complete with notes!).

I'm so proud of myself!

But, the bedroom isn't any less messy.

Sigh.

Fast forward to Tuesday evening: we looked at a little 2-bedroom house . . . and we loved it!

Second bedroom = sewing room!!!!!!!!

The landlord is the theater prof at our college (we both just graduated), and, on the spot, he hooked me up with a job as a costume assistant for the winter musical at the local theater!

Let me say that again, I have a job!!!

It's only for 3 weeks or so, but it pays about $300 a week. Awesome.

This job will totally make up the difference in rent (for the winter months, at least) between our current apartment and this house.

I am so excited!!!!

This means, 

I can finally get organized!

As long as everything works for us to move, we'll stay in this house for a year and a half--until my husband goes to grad school. 

So I can settle in, mostly.

Whenever I doubt God's goodness and provision, remind me of this!!!!!

Amazing Stuffing

Oh. my. goodness.

I LOVE stuffing.

Seriously, it's the best part about Thanksgiving dinner.

And my favorite leftover . . . ever!

With everyone talking about November and the upcoming fattening holiday, I have been craving stuffing.

I recently purchased a Depression Era cookbook at a consignment shop, and I love it! So many recipes I want to try.

I actually read through the entire cookbook and marked recipes I want to try. Guess which recipe was at the top of my to-do list?

STUFFING.

The cookbook called it "Wild Rice Dressing", or something like that.

Rice in stuffing? Never thought of that, but it sounded good.

And it was good!!!

I read this recipe about 20 times over 3 days, and perused my Betty Crocker cookbook's version of stuffing, as well.

I came up with my own version of the most amazing stuffing ever!!!

FAITH'S AMAZING STUFFING (as usual, measurements are approximate)

2 cups cooked rice (I used brown)

1/2 to 1 loaf bread, cubed and dried (oven toasted works, too!)

4 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 large or 1 small/medium onion, chopped

1 apple, sliced or chopped (optional, but tasty!)

1/2 cup butter (or more, if you want it really moist--but 1 cup was too much!)

1.5 to 2 cups chicken stock (or water and bouillon cubes)

1-2 Tbsp parsley

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

1-2 tsp salt (to taste)

few dashes pepper (to taste)

handful of cranberries (optional)

1) While cooking rice and toasting bread, saute celery, apples, and onion in butter (in a medium-large saucepan).

2) When soft, add chicken stock, spices, and cranberries. Cook until bubbly. 

3) Remove from heat (or turn off heat) and add everything else. Mix carefully and thoroughly.

4) Transfer to casserole dish (at least 2 quart), cover, and bake until warm or longer. I did about 2 hours at 200 degrees. 20-30 minutes at 350 would probably do the trick.

Please, enjoy this as much as I did/am!!!