Mickey Rourke and Etsy.

The Oscars last Sunday were pretty epic. My friends and I had a little party with too many sweets (see the Oscar Cupcake post) and silly costumes (High School Musical 3 anyone?) But all fun aside I became very upset when Mickey Rourke lost Best Actor to Sean Penn. Now I loved the movie 'Milk' and I also thought that Sean Penn was amazing but not AS AMAZING as Rourke. I also thought that 'The Wrestler' was one of the best movies I saw this past year and was sad that it was not nominated for best picture.

Maybe it was latent anxiety over the awards show but I had this pretty crazy dream last night about zombies taking over the world so all the humans left were evacuating the major cities. As I went to get on one of the buses that were supposed to take us somewhere safe I see Mickey Rourke walking towards the same van. It was weird because it seemed like me and Mr. Rourke were good pals just about to embark on a road trip. Everyone was scared but it was sort of comforting to have him on our side. When I woke up I pondered this feeling and concluded that at the time it may have been comforting but in real life I don't know how much help he would be in an actual zombie situation.

To get to my actual point of all this though is the awesomeness that is Etsy and the fact that Mr. Rourke's sad but sweet necklace with his dog Loki on it was made by an etsy seller. You can read the article here for yourself. I just really feel like that proves how awesome both Mickey Rourke and Etsy are!

A Sweet Deal

Bake It Pretty is having a $25 giveaway on Fresh Vintage! All you have to do is leave a comment on the Fresh Vintage blog and in a few days she will announce the winner! Baking, candy, vintage, fun, gift cards....does it get any better?

And the award for best Cupcake goes to....

Oscar Sunday is my favorite day of the year. The glitz, the glam, the stars, the awards- I love it all. This year my friend had an Oscar party and so I was trying to come up with the perfect treat to bring. Originally I was planning on trying to come up with a treat to go with each of the nominees for best picture- but it was getting really complicated so I decided to just make cupcakes- that looked like the awards. They turned out fairly well- but if I had more practice they would have been even cuter. There is always next year....

Some of the little statuettes look a bit unfortunate- but they all tasted amazing.


The awards show itself was pretty sweet. Hugh Jackman was a great host but they really didn't have him on screen enough. But the big upset was Best Actor. Mickey Rourke was robbed. Yes Sean Penn is great, talented, etc, but this was Rourke's year and his movie 'The Wrestler' should have been nominated for more awards (including Best Picture.)

Thrifting 2.16

So yesterday (President's Day 09) I decided to head over to my local Savers to get my thrift store fix. For one scary moment I thought that it might be closed because of the holiday, but my fears melted as I saw a full parking lot. And I mean FULL and I was there at 9am when the store OPENS! Mondays are usually a good day to go because their oldest merch (with a certain color tag) is $.99! Today was even better - ALL used merchandise was 50% off- and the place was already a madhouse!

I don't ever use a cart but I did grab a shopping basket because I was ready to go a little wild. Soon my little basket was almost too heavy for me to drag around so I headed for the check out. On this trip I got

1 button down shirt
2 skirts
1 pair of pants
suspenders
1 wooden tray (perfect for a craft project I have in mind)
1 punch bowl (with ladle, 8 cups and the little plastic things to hang them on)
and........ A SNACK SET!!! 3 plates, 3 cups, total awesome-ness

grand total= $22.93.

All in all a really good day.

Hello punchbowl. My sister said I would never use you, but she is wrong, oh how she is wrong.



My new perfect snack set! Well, I am still drooling over some over at etsy but for $2 for 6 pieces I couldn't be happier!

New Dolls- works in progress

So I finally took some pictures of the new dolls I am working on. The Octopus Girl is an idea that has been swimming around my head. The poor thing has no arms but more than enough legs to make up for it. Most of her body is felt but half of each tentacle is thrift-ed fabric in a similar color.


This other doll is a rough draft of a pattern. One arm is chubby and the other rather skinny- all kinks that will be worked out...hopefully...

Her head, hands and feet are felt and her body, arms, legs are up-cycled from an old t-shirt. I really like her jointed, floppy, soft, old fashioned feeling. I always get nervous about putting the face and hair on- I quite like her as is- but I will post more pictures once I finish her up.

Etsy Gift Guides - Carnivalesque

So my favorite thing on etsy is the gift guides. I just love the little groupings of objects and I always find something that must be added to my favorites list. Today there were new gift guides and it was amazing! I am especially in love with the "Carnivalesque" guide under 'The Hot List'. They describe it as "Circus Chic" and I am inclined to agree!


HaveANiceTripSeeYouNextFall Archival Giclee Print By LealandEve (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19822861)



CiRKUS KUFF - cute goth punk cloth bracelet by SugarPickle (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15877424)


Bespoke Alphabet Circus Cushion from Hoolala (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20336064)

All of these things are super cute. Also if you are into circus history I highly recommend checking out "American Sideshow" by Marc Hartzman. Although it is written like an encyclopedia it is a fascinating look at sideshow performers throughout history.

















And if you are really into the carnival/circus thing I would check out the movie "Freaks" (1932 Tod Browning) which features many of the performers from the book. It is a really interesting little movie and you should check out the 'alternate endings' which in this case shows the different ways in which the movie was released (and there were several) because the public was so shocked by it.

Vintage Snack Sets

I have not been very good about getting pictures up on the blog yet- but I will be getting on that shortly.

Recently through my Etsy searching I have come across these vintage snack sets (or luncheon sets, or hostess sets, etc.) that are just so adorable! I am trying to figure out which set I want....and dreaming about how cute they will look with little treats on them for when friends come over for movie night!


This set is from chookchookchook (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6255089)

Doesn't this set from 'a touch of vintage' just make you wish for spring? (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19685604)


So cute! From rosecottageemporium. (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19408410)

These are just a few of my favorites!

Oscar treats- brainstorming

So I am trying to find a treat/snack to go with each of the 5 nominees for Best picture. I am still in idea stage but here is what I am thinking so far:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Has to be candies made from the adorable Vintage Button Candy mold that I just got in the mail from Bake It Pretty! (http://www.bakeitpretty.com/)

Frost/Nixon: I am thinking Frosting/Nixon- cupcakes with tons of yummy frosting with Nixon's pic on toothpicks like Emily from 'inside a black apple' http://theblackapple.typepad.com/inside_a_black_apple/food_and_drink/page/2/

Milk: This one might be too obvious. I am going to try to think of something more creative than a glass of milk. Maybe cookies frosted like Harvey Milk's campaign signs? Hmm....

Slumdog Millionaire: Maybe mini hot dogs to get away from the sweets theme. (My little sis suggested using relish to draw dollar signs on them)

The Reader: No idea. Havent seen it yet either. (should be going this week).

First Post?

So I am new to this blogging thing. Frankly I am much more of a old fashioned journal girl-but I have been wanting to have a spot to organize projects and post pictures of things I am working on/thinking about.

I have an etsy shop (www.spes.etsy.com) where I am hoping to work more on my current obsession of doll making (more on that later). I tend to do more buying than selling on etsy but I am hoping that will change as I continue to find my way through the craft world. I have a bad habit of starting too many projects at once and becoming too spread out.

I am also obsessed with movies so my first project is finding a appetizer/treat to correspond with each of the nominees for Best Picture of an Oscar party I am attending!