making: the most amazing thrift find ever!

I just wanted to stop in and wish the world a happy weekend. I am in very high spirits today, being the proud finder of the most fantastical thrift store pot-of-gold EVER! At least in my illustrious and long history of thrifting, this without question is the most amazing thing that I have found. It was as if the thrift gods were looking down from above and decided to place this treasure right at my feet.

I'm sorry, does that say Burberry? Why yes it does! That is right, I found a Burberry trench coat, in pristine condition (minus two minor smudges which can easily be removed with a simple trip to the dry cleaners). As it was a small town thrift store and there was no tag in the coat (all coats $10 unless otherwise marked) I thought, wow, perhaps they just don't know what they have here and I can really score this for such a steal. I tried not to jump up and down and squeal as I tried it on, found that not only did it fit perfectly, but the plaid silk scarf wall balled up in the left pocket! I held my breath as I brought it up to the front, and watched in horror as the ladies there started to tell me that it must be more than just $10 and something about it being marked with sharpie somewhere on the lining showing a different price. I almost gasped at this, because what a shame that would be, to disrespect such a beautiful piece with permanent marker. However, after a fair amount of scrabbling one woman said to the other, "oh well it's not London Fog, so it must be $10..." and proceeded to sell me the coat for a mere tenner.

I have not been able to part with my new coat yet (I am too much in love with it right now) so I have not brought it to a dry cleaner yet but I did spare a moment to look up some similar Burberry pieces online and my jaw dropped a bit at what a RIDICULOUS deal I found. One person on hearing of my thrift victory suggested I sell it for a profit on EBay, however the way I see it, this was a boon granted to me by the thrift store gods and the last thing I should do if I ever want my thrift karma to continue, is sell such a fantastic find. So I am keeping it, and loving it, and hope everyone has a happy weekend, and may you find treasures too!

baking: cinnamon rolls

I have been wanting to try my hand at the elusive cinnamon roll for a while now. However as they are so reliant on such perfectly risen flaky dough I have always held back, rather than sully their glorious reputation. I made these for a delicious family brunch, and though they didn't rise and spread as much as traditional cinnamon rolls, however they did have layers with the cinnamon sugar rolled in them, which one could peel away in the most delightful fashion. I would like to try making a glaze next time and perhaps playing around a bit to see if I could make them rise more but all in all I would say that they were delicious. And I feel sort of triumphant to have managed them at all.

making: zipper necklace

First I would just like to say that I am aware I have absent from this space in the new year. This is not of my own doing however, but rather the blame can be laid at the feet of my delightful computer. It decided to kick the bucket as it were right before the holiday and had to be sent to the computer hospital for repair, rest and recovery. So all I can do is attempt to sneak onto friends computers when they aren't looking to squeak out a quick post. Like this one.
I made brooches out of zippers earlier and they were very fun and I kept receiving compliments on them so I decided to try to use the same technique in another way.

This time I made three different sizes of circles and then attached them to a chain. I backed them with some vinyl I had left over from past projects.

It is a bit heavy but I really like the pattern of spirals. And it is the sort of jewelery that makes a basic t-shirt interesting.

I think I might try next to make bib style peice with many smaller spirals.

making: a zoo

I was just playing around with some toy animals (which in my defense I got for a project I'll show soon) and ended up taking some pictures. I found it amusing to stage some scenes with them interacting with nature and each other. I hope these amuse you as much as it amused me to take them.

baking: peanut toffee chocolate bark

My forays into candy confectionery continue, with this project I decided to create last minute on Friday. I looked at the ingredients that I had leftover from all my baking/candy projects from before Christmas and thought 'I must be able to come up with something that uses all these' and lo and behold I did achieve just that. However, seeing as this was so incredibly simple to do that I made it up as I made it up as I went along, I believe I will just let the photos do most of the talking:






So in case you have any questions, I melted dark chocolate and spread it across a baking sheet. Then while it was still soft I sprinkled it with chopped peanuts. Next I melted down store bought caramels (I know and yes I am ashamed but if you will remember last time I made my own caramel I was severely burned and this was spur of the moment so please forgive this egregious mistake...) and poured them over the chocolate layer. This had to be done in steps as the caramel started to hardened the minute it hit the cool chocolate. Then more chopped nuts, more melted chocolate and more chopped nuts. And finally, after it had sat in the refrigerator for a few hours, I chopped it into pieces. And here is one more photo just to show how lovely it was. Needless to say, I am rather proud of myself. Now go make some or yourself.

making: a prediction

This seemed like a good fortune cookie fortune to hold onto and I figured I would pass all the good vibes and luck and opportunity on to everyone I could.

So here's wishing your 2012 is bright and inspiring and delicious and packed chock full of delight and sunshine and fluffy kittens and all of that happiness is covered with sprinkles!
Or something like that....!