Whew! I am glad last week is over. It was crazy busy and I worked late each night.  We didn’t have many recipes to talk bout because we had canned soup one night, pizza for 2 nights, and I had the Husband bake his own chicken another night. The only two things I actually made were a Milk Chocolate Cherry Pie and more of a method for the chicken. I did make new recipe last night and attempted to make something on Sunday after I came home from my trip, but the Husband convinced me to have rotisserie chicken, salad, and bread instead. It was probably a much better idea, I was so sleepy and loopy from driving.

I’ll start with the recipes first and then talk about the crafts.

1- Milk Chocolate Cherry Pie from Icebox Pies: 100 Scrumptious Recipes for No-Bake No-Fail Pies by Lauren Chattman. Section: Chocolate Dream Pies

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! We liked it, but it was very rich and we weren’t able to finish all of it ourselves. I think I would make it again for a party where there were more people to eat it.

2- Italian Marinated Chicken Drumsticks. Method by me: Throw chicken parts in a zip bag and add Italian Dressing, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. Zip the bag and roll the chicken legs round in it. Bake at 375 for about an hour, depending on how frozen the chicken still is. Serve with a salad and bread. No pictures, I wasn’t home until after it was eaten.

3- Crossword Cipher Chicken from The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene. Section: Picnic and Patio Get-Togethers

Modifications: I used butter instead of margarine. One, I didn’t have any, and Two, I don’t believe in margarine generally. I have one recipe that I use it in and that’s about it. We used garlic butter Ritz crackers for the breading and it was pretty good. The breading didn’t stick on very well in spots, until I started pushing the crumbs more firmly into the meat. We had garlic bread, raspberries, and roasted carrots with it. I don’t have a picture of the finished project, but did take a picture of the chicken before it was baked.

I was working on my vending items all week, but did squeeze in one more project from my list. I made some Kanzashi-Style Hair Clips from the book Button and Stitch by Kristen Rask. I made them into pins as I have misplaced my hair clips. I’ve made something similar before, but this time I decided to sew a back on and sew the whole thing instead of hot glue. I think it looks neater and It was a good project to do while out of power.  Eventually they will go into  my vending stash, once I have worked out the kinks. I like doing the little projects like this, as it’s lots of fun to pick out the perfect buttons for it. It also helps me use up my already cut squares. My 2 inch square bag is currently overflowing. I want to try them with my bigger squares too for a different look.

Vending is a funny thing for me. I always get anxious about it, even though I have a lot of product. I’ve been trying to branch put from my preferred colors and patterns into more things that might appeal to others. I vend at bellydance events, mostly local, as I bellydance myself. Since I also have my Etsy store, it can be a good way to get my Twinflower Fancies brand to be more well-known. It can be disappointing though, when my table gets passed over or I don’t seem to be in the right genre. This weekend inspired me to work more on my Etsy store and see if I can develop better style and pictures online. Hopefully my next events will be a little less discouraging. I definitely came home from this weekend not understanding what was wrong and struggling with the motivation to make more items to sell.

I might take a break from making Etsy or vending items for a few weeks and make a few things just for me. I am reading a bunch of sewing blogs that are inspiring me to work on my clothes goals, including working with my serger. Hopefully I’ll have more clothes pictures to show you next week.