toot.tuesdays

I've been royally obsessed with buntings for a while now, and after signing up to be a vendor at Treasure Island Flea, it became the perfect opportunity to finally make one for DYB♥!

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toot.tuesdays - how to make a bunting

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Tah-dah! You now have a cute and oh sooooOOooo adorable bunting to display! This was a very fun project and I'm sure many of you can either make plain ones to hang up, or even of names of your children for their room or your own for that matter!

I received many compliments at the flea as I'm sure you will too when you make yours!

happy crafting!

yum.mondays

I was a lucky duck on Sunday- my little sister and her friends came by to support me at the fair... which meant they were happy and willing to man the table while David and I perused the aisles and enjoyed the many booths at Treasure Island Flea.

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yum.mondays- Harvey's Gourmet Mini Donuts

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These little balls of deliciousness took over my thoughts throughout the day. Located just  kitty-corner from my own booth, the aroma wafted in the air and swirled about me... resulting in TWO orders of the chocolate glaze & powder.

num.num.num

An eavesdropped conversation revealed that he uses(owns) a rare machine to cook these donuts. Supposedly the machine is one of ten that was a prototype that never took off.  It is very fascinating to watch the donuts being made and it takes a lot of will power not to order the entire menu! Beside the usual toppings, Harvey offers DONUT SUNDAES:

• Donut Sprinkle on my parade
  
  Classic Sugar glaze, rainbow sprinkles, mini m&m’s, Fudge, whipped cream & a cherry
• The Chocolate Grail
  
  Chocolate glaze, oreo’s, mini chocolate chips, fudge, whipped cream & a Cherry
• O.M.G
  Classic Sugar Glaze, Oreo’s, Mini Chocolate chips, Fudge, Almonds, Rainbow Sprinkles, Whipped Cream & a cherry
  
  
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   Harvey's Gourmet Mini Donuts
   A Mobile Concession making mini “Donuts to Live For”©
   which means you can have him at your next event! 

treasure island flea Slide Show!

I thought a slideshow would be an easier way to share my first experience of being a vendor at a craft/flea market fair:

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Treasure Island Flea 5.29.2011

"Treasure Island Flea 5.29.11"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

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I had a really good time and as always, some self reflection about the event will only make future ones even better! yep... I think I will do it again... maybe in July?  It was good to interact with the people and see which which items were popular and which ones needed more marketing revamping.  I'm so happy with the turn out and met so many nice people.

One highlight was being recognized from YouTube: "hey, I know your clips! You're on that YouTube video with the little girl that does makeup tutorials!" That really got me excited!

The bucket of mustaches were a hit as well- at just 2 bucks a pop, many of them flew out of the bucket and now I know which ones (shapes) are popular and which ones to skip out on.  I am also going to work on my display a bit more... so stay tuned for more DIY "toots"

treasure island flea

whoa! Just got home from my very first craft/flea market show- I am so exhausted but all the hard work definitely paid off.

Photos and details will follow, but a nap is in order...

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pinky up

As you might know, Mollie at Wild Olive is hosting a Tea Party all week long! And I have submitted a guest post/giveaway for the occasion!

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So glad to join everyone at the tea party! I’m Annie from Olive Juice.  I am a preschool teacher by day and crafter/creator of Darling You Boutique (DYB♥)… um later in the day.  Living in foggy San Francisco, a tea party is just the perfect place to get cozy and warm up!

To celebrate this lovely tea party that Mollie is hosting, I am offering a giveaway from DYB♥.  Winner will receive the headband and five hair clips- all handmade and designed just for the occasion!

Wouldn’t you like to dress up for the tea party?

• Headband is made from cream cotton lace adorned with matching cream felt lace (brand new dyb design) cutout with a pink/lavender flower in the center

• Purple&Pink poppy flower hair clip is made from layers of hand cut purple and pink chiffon and white tulle- adorned with a grey pearl in the center.

• 4 Petite Treats- (inspired by the tea party with the mad hatter) features a mini blue cupcake with a splatter of purple frosting, a cute little donut with royal icing and pink sprinkles, a slice of “unbirthday” cake with yellow sprinkles, and a purple macaron with yellow outline stitching.

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To enter this delectable yet curious giveaway, please become a follower of my blog, and/or “like” my DYB Facebook page (also located on my blog side bar) then leave a comment on my post at Wild Olive (as the way for us to contact you).

I hope you’ve enjoyed tea thus far.  Please enter the giveaway and you might be the lucky winner of the Tea Party!  All of the hair accessories are of course, handmade with love.

Pinky up!

xoxo- annie
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****  If you leave a comment HERE on this post, it will also be submitted as an entry on the giveaway (since there are so many giveaways on the post at Wild Olive)

good luck!

toot.tuesdays

oh gee! another segment? maybe.

Here is a first (and perhaps last) of ...

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toot.tuesdays: how to spiffy up your hand mirrors!

In preparation for my first Craft Fair: Treasure Island Flea, I needed to make cutesy hand mirrors for people to check themselves out with my hair clips and headbands!

I purchased two inexpensive hand mirrors with the intention of just tying a bow on the handle but eureka struck and I started to get crafty.

It's quite simple really- as most of my "toots" will be, like that of my munchkin magnets.  In just 6 easy steps, you can add some charm to your mirror:

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tah-dah! you now have an adorable mirror to admire yourself in.

oh... and I just realized it's Wednesday. hahah!

yum.mondays

uh oh! an hour shy and it might turn into "tasty.tuesday".

This segment of goodies features handmade chocolates that my sister brought home from her visit to Boston.  She kindly set away some time strolling through Harvard campus looking for a future ivy.leaguer.boyfriend and carefully handpicked some cocoa delights:

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yum.mondays - Burdick Chocolate

Aren't they cute?!  

They're delicious too.  The catalog is quite extensive and you know they mean serious business when it comes to packaging.  Unwrapping the box of chocolates was almost like opening an anticipated box of jewelry.

The house favorite turned out to be...

Earl Grey Bonbon: 
Dark chocolate ganache with a round flavor of tea and bergamot.

The mice and the penguins were cute but not as unique in terms of flavor. I would probably skip the mice and penguins if I ever have the chance to step into a Burdick shop, and head straight for the bonbons and truffles:

• Lemon Pepper Truffle
  Dark chocolate, pepper, lemon, cream and rum, dusted in cocoa. 
• DARK Salted Caramel
  Cardamom - Enrobed with dark chocolate, topped with sea salt.
• Pavé
  Interior of dark chocolate, cocoa butter, cognac, saffron, coated in milk chocolate with a touch of candied orange.
•  Almond Chamomile
  Chamomile tea infused ganache topped with a half almond and coated in dark chocolate.

Burdick Chocolate Shop & Cafe

Cambridge Massachusettes

52 Brattle St. Harvard Sq.

617.491.4340

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Are you feeling a bit parched from all the chocolates? Then head over to Wild Olive for her week long Tea Party!  There you will find many guest posts and other goodies that are all tea-party/alice in wonderland themed.  Be ready for a give-away from yours truly as well!!!!

pre-k carnival

Let the  

wild rumpus 

start!

Yesterday was the annual pre-k carnival at my school.  The booths were created and managed by 5th graders at a local elementary school - talk about community involvement right?!

I LOVED IT!

It was so endearing to watch the older kids teach and play with the little ones- being very patient, kind and caring about making sure that they have fun.

To celebrate the festivities, the children also enjoyed hotdogs and nachos for lunch- topped with juice! Trust me, this is a treat for most of the kids- probably their first experience of a "carnival" and "carnival food".

One of the great things about being a preschool teacher is being able to provide new experiences for young children.  My goal is to help them grow into lifelong learners.

 

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"whack-a-animal" was HILARIOUS!

"please be gentle with the hammer- some of the animals have ouchies"

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Perry the Magician/Balloon Artist donated time and efforts for some balloon magic as well.  He was great as usual and pretty much ensured that every child received a balloon (150+)!  The teacher and children were so amazed and waited patiently for their turn for a special treat from Perry.  The carnival was a success and everyone had a wonderful time- after all, what's preschool if it's not fun?

monster bash in room 6

Yesterday for large group, I read "Go Away Big Green Monster" by Ed Emberley and "The Monster Princess" by D.J. MacHale. As an extension activity I had the kids create their own monster.  To work on fine motor skills, they selected different shapes to trace for the head/face and then used stickers for eyeballs. They had a lot of fun and of course- came up with more creative monsters than I would ever have imagined.

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Room 6 is gearing up for a Carnival this Friday!  Perry the Magician (from my previous post) decided to volunteer his time and make some balloon magic during the festivities.  I'm so excited and I know the little ones will have so much fun experiencing their first carnival/fair I'm sure.  A local neighboring elementary school is partnering up and creating booths and games for our carnival!

hooray for COMMUNITY involvement.

yum.mondays

Today's segment features another yummy treat made from my bff Laura at pastrypixels:

yum.mondays- Fresh Mango Sorbet with Panna Cotta base

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I've fallen in love with panna cotta and laura's is definitely delicious to the very last creamy spoonful. And when I said fresh mango sorbet? I really mean it! She brought out her ice-cream maker and I saw her pour in fresh mango puree into the machine.  The humming and churning of the ice-cream maker provided the ambient noise as we had our very first LAN.party. We were busy creating buttons & banners for our blogs and websites. Hold on to your seats- pastrypixels will soon open up shop and everyone can sample her homemade jams!

UPDATE- here is a BEAUTIFUL photo of the dessert:

didn't you know? Laura is a talented photographer as well!

site makeover

The official DYB♥ site received a makeover today!

from this:

to this:

 

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Actually... the first screenshot doesn't even show the ugly that was there before that mini-makeover. Once upon a time, dyb used to have too many pages and too much text. I was torn when I started this blog  because I felt that I had wasted money on my domain site and access to site building resources- but I'm happier now that I've focused my "official site" into a main landing page.  Now my readers/buyers can choose to either shop or read my blog immediately- instead of navigating the link menu as before.

As you may have noticed, I've also added new buttons on the top menu that will link to other pages (about, contact, shop, tutorials, etc.) and also on the right --------------> over yonder.
There you will find buttons to link you to other awesome blogs that I follow religiously.
Clickity click on those and share the love!

tutorial 1

*make munchkin magnets

- My aunt asked me for some ideas for favors and I suggested to make some quick&cute magnets:

Aren't they adorable? (yes- the baby too!) She is hosting a grande Red Egg & Ginger party and needed some favor ideas and I suggested these magnets.  You will need the following:

• pre-painted animals/figures (available at large chain craft stores)
• favorite photo of child
• cardstock for mat backing
• double sided tape (easy, convenient, and mess free)
• magnet tape (sticky adhesive on one side)

There isn't much explaining to do really. This project might take some prep work (cutting photos and card-stock to desired size) but it's really just assembling.  I think it took about 4 hours to make 200 of them. It really helps if there is an assembly line as well: for example- someone can trim photos/card stock, another can glue photo onto card, someone else can glue animals to card and finally, someone can adhere the magnet tape. And voila! Instant munchkin magnets.

 

trim photos and card stock

 

adhere photos and animals to the card stock

 

cut magnet tape to size

stick the magnet to the back of the animals, not the picture

 

tah-dah! Munchkin Magnet

 Look at all the variety!

teacher?

I'm pretty sad and irritated that blogger was down all of yesterday. I did so many changes to it too and everything is gOne.

This little blog usually features the lessons and fun activities and sometimes reflections of my teaching.  To all of my readers/followers- I apologize for the lack of preschool/classroom posts- I've been on vacation from room 6 for the past two weeks- and will return and reclaim my title as "ms. annie" on Monday.  The school year is winding down- albeit my preschool is year-round.  The official lay-off notice is coming in the mail soon... so I'm dreading that.  It's hard to feel motivated and charged to return to the classroom but I know it's all bureaucratic so I will pledge to leave room 6 with a bang!

I've been trying really really hard to keep focus and prepare for Treasure Island Flea.  I even had a moment where I just wanted to throw in the towel- I don't feel ready at all.  There is so much to think about and some of my closest friend will be out of town as well. But I'm hopeful- if I break even, I will plan to participate again and it would be really fun and special if my friends can help or at least stop by to support.

My head is up in the clouds most of the day as I dream about the upcoming craft fair- but mostly it is the day when I will actually have my very own classroom without having to worry about being laid off.

sew cool

Wild Olive is hosting a Tea Party for the month of May- and she is having a meet&greet at her blog tonight for readers to get to know one another and her sponsors (I'm one of them). There are many amazing and talented artists/bloggers there- so go check it out! There will also be many fun tea party related tutorials, giveaways and activities in the weeks to come- so check in often.
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I think I might have hit the mother-load & jack-pot in terms of fabrics and trims. I was pretty grumpy and mopey dopey after getting a root canal this morning, but I decided to roam the neighborhood and found a really amazing fabric store. 

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Look at all the wonderful colors!  The people there thought I was crazy and even asked if I owned/worked at a factory. hahaha. I would need a lot more than THAT if I worked in a factory.  They're mostly of delicious wool blend, and I'm pretty stoked to start using them.

oh and this is mochi. she snuck into my chair as I was checking emails:

Isn't she adorable! I guess it was a nice little hint for me to take a break from the craft-corner.  I've been feeling hard-pressed and pressed for time to get enough inventory for Treasure Island Flea at the end of the month. I typically work on one item/design idea at a time- so for example, I might work on a headband and them jump into a hair clip... but perhaps I should work on one design and make variations.  David suggested that I make "master models" of items and then keep those as inspiration- what a great idea hunny! Except then almost everything would be models and nothing would be available at my

yum.mondays

I am a fanatic, genuine gummy bear connoisseur .

really.

Today's yum.mondays will be of these: Gummy Pandas from Bissinger's

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I spotted packs of these gourmet gummy pandas at a gift shop in San Diego Zoo.  I vaguely remember hopping up and down and grabbing one of each flavor.  As tempted as I was, I held off gorging on them until I returned home to share with my family.

I bought a total of 5 flavors:

• pomegranate white tea
• apricot green tea
• goji guava w/camu camu
• lemon ginger yuzu
• pink grapefruit w/grapeseed

AMAZING! I really should have bought more because they're delicious- full of flavor and made with organic sweeteners. They have a good chewiness to them and you can definitely taste the exotic flavors in every panda morsel.  A house favorite turned out to be the lemon ginger yuzu.  I loved them all with the exception of the goji guava w/camu camu.  That was one a bit too hard in terms of texture and I have no idea what camu camu is. They're a bit pricey but you can get a better deal online I'm sure.

happy mother's day!

a funny conversation with my mom over morning coffee:

"what color purse did you pick out mom?"
"I wanted purple or pink, but all they had was black, *cà phê sữa đá, or cow."
"cow? what color is that?"
"you know, brown cow."
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*cà phê sữa đá is a traditional Vietnamese chilled drip coffee served with condensed milk instead of creamer. Give it a try- it's super delicious, creamy and refreshing.

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My mom is hilarious with her random thoughts and ideas... probably where I get it from. We tend to make up new words and conjure up things to say to make people stop, think about it and hopefully laugh.

Happy ♥ Mother's Day!

so dapper

With the new wool blend felt I purchased, I made some lovely bow headbands! I think they're so cute and pretty! The felt also looks and feels so soft and luxurious don't you think? I'm falling in love with the "taupey/mud" color- it's too bad I don't look good in headbands- well- maybe it's a good thing because then I wouldn't be able to part with the many headbands that I've been creating.

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They're currently listed at my Etsy Shop- along with other goodies- so take a look!

ribbon frenzy

I like to prep as much as I can when I'm creating new clips- so here is a "behind the scenes" method to my madness.  I line the alligator clips for almost all of my hair clips, so instead of wondering/wandering, and staring aimlessly at my ribbon collection, I like to hold the design and riffle through some pre-cut & measured ribbon in a designated box. Here is how I do it:

The tape on the table is measured to the exact length that I need the ribbon to be in order for me to line the clips.
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I went to the craft store this morning and brought home some new ribbon! Aren't they so bright and gorgeous? I love the geometric semi-circle design- reminds me of Japanese zen rock gardens. And the turquoise zebra print is just fun!

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Well there you have it, a sneak-peek of my ribbon collection. Thank you for all the comments and followers old and new- I really appreciate you.

my little star

As promised, I donated a spring pot full of goodies to the preschool I previously worked at.  It was such a joy to have some little ones run up to me and hug me! Mind you, I left that school about 10 months ago.

"Ms. Annie! Are you here to play with us again?"

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No matter how stressed and tired and burnt out I may be, kids can always brighten up my day and mood.

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The headband looks a bit funky but it's super cute on! I'm thinking of creating "set pots" for the Treasure Island flea and then selling them as such. What do you think? I think it can be a great idea for gifts- a bunch of cute bright goodies with a little bit of everything: a headband, a birdie, a cupcake, felt flowers, and posies.

hmmmm....

ideas ideas.