My Wonderful Group of Friends

Friday, September 24, 2010

Bittersweet Question

I suppose I should have asked this question before I made my purchase but I always do things backwards. Does anyone that buys Bittersweet know if this purchase was a good deal or not? Did I buy quality Bittersweet and did I get it at a good price?
Here's the Ebay link where I purchased it from. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=170541866812&Category=38232&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2. It is described very well and the seller has a good rating. I have never purchased Bittersweet before and now I'm worried that I didn't buy the right thing.



I would appreciate any comments or input anyone has.



Thanks in advance.

Blessings ~AMY~

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

~Wood Anyone~

Can anyone guess what my plans are for this weekend???????
My hubby finally found the time to get my boards cut so I can try out all my new stencils from http://www.folkartfromtheharbor.com/. BeCca has the best stencils around. She even does custom stencils if you can't find what you are looking for from her everyday stock. Be sure to check out her site and see if she has any stencils that might excite you.
I'm thinking once I get my signs and game boards done, I might just try my hand at selling some of them and better yet, I think it would be the perfect thing to offer up for a giveaway. It is definitely time for me to give back to the blogging friends I have been blessed by numerous times over.
Stay tuned for my progress....
Fall Blessings,
AMY

Monday, September 20, 2010

Caramel Apples Anyone!

Well I finally got my caramel apples all finished up and bagged. I need to do something with my tags yet but that can be done at anytime. I didn't come up with this idea originally myself. Several blogging friends are one step ahead of me. Char from The Pickled Pepper Patch was the first one I know of that did these and next was Donna at One Simple Country Girl (she has step by step instructions on her blog) and then Gina at Cat Nap Inn Primitives.


These were two of my favorite apples.

You might notice that these next apples could have used another coat of paint. They would have received one only I added my nuts before I noticed they were lacking paint and by then it was too late to add more. Hey, I never said I was a perfectionist.


This is my favorite picture.

See how even the most notable caramel apple eater could be fooled.


These apples are so realistic looking that I had to give my family and friends notice that they they were fake! All you need for this project is faux apples, crafters paint, Modge Podge Glue, sticks, cat litter and bags and ribbon to wrap them in. It seems to be that most crafters used Corn Cob Cat Litter for the nuts on their apples but I was unable to find any of this anywhere around where I lived. I knew I needed to use something that would not be mouse friendly when I packed them away so I came up with a nut idea of my own. We have tons of acorns in our yard so I popped the nuts out of the caps and crushed the caps up to use for my nuts. They took on more of a walnut appearance on my apples.

First you need to attach your sticks to the center of your apples. I used a sharp knife to make a hole in the top of my apples and I took sticks from the yard that I cut to the size I wanted and inserted them in the hole. Next you will mix your glue with enough paint to get the color you want for your apple. You know I bet you could use red paint if you wanted a candy apple look too. Never thought about that until just now. Once you have your glue and paint the color you want, just spoon it over the apple letting it run all the way down to the bottom of the apple. When you have enough paint on to resemble caramel, sprinkle on your make shift nuts. Let these dry overnight for best results. When dry you can bag them up and add ribbon and tags for a more realistic look.

I really love how they turned out. I made some look like caramel and some had a chocolate look to them. I used both green and red apples for mine.

I believe I prefer the green ones over the red ones. I think they just had a more realistic look to me.

This is a chocolate apple.

This is a caramel apple.
Set them out and your guests will be amazed that they aren't real. I enjoyed making these. Its great to think outside the box and be creative.

I hope everyone is having some nice fall like weather. I am actually enjoying the cooler evenings here in Ohio.

Blessings, ~AMY~