Thursday, June 4, 2015

Local Tornado Relief Bake Sale


 My sister, Jessica Woody with Eco-Friendly Freckles, and I (Andrea Scott with Storybook Artifact) held a local bake sale this last weekend to help raise funds for two families who lost their homes due to an EF2 tornado that recently struck my neighborhood.  It was amazing to see who all came out to support us: such a caring community of people.  We also collected other donations: children's clothing and supplies.  My children even helped us out too; with my son dressed as our little mascot in firefighter costume, and my daughter sampling the cookies.




FOX23 News Coverage of Bake Sale:

Bake sale held for Broken Arrow tornado relief

TulsaWorld Article on Supported Families:

Residents clean up following tornados, severe storms 


  From the home baked treats contributed by caring locals to the generous donations made from those within our community, it has been such a miraculous thing to see so many people who care.  We may not all personally know these families, but their stories do touch us in a way that hits home. ... A goal was really never made, but we did break $1000! To be exact: $1092, which gives $546 to each of the two families whom we were raising funds for. ... Thank you all for the support and we'd like to specially thank: FOX23 NewsTulsa's Channel 8BA Homeschoolers, members of Destiny ChurchGavco PlasticsRed's PizzeriaOneta Wine & Spirits, and Broken Arrow Firefighters.

This blog article was contributed by the Etsy Natural Healers Guild Team Captain Andrea Scott of Storybook Artifact





Thursday, June 26, 2014

How to Create a Photo Prop Rocket


  REVAMPED ROCKET FOR JULY 2015!!!  Added a silver barrel, which is made from a large oatmeal container in silver wrapping paper coated with a waterproof sealant.  I stuffed it with packing paper that went down through the original barrel, and some around the portion that covered the original barrel to make a snug fit.  I then hot-glued the new silver barrel to the original barrel as well as hot-glueing the top of the rocket back on.



  Make your fourth of July one to remember with having pictures that go off with a BANG!  Create your very own Independence Day party photo booth / station with a faux rocket as a prop.  After the celebration, be patriotic the rest of the month with this fireworks creation in your front yard or flower bed as lawn decor: be wary of waterproofing.  With the American flag as inspiration in creating this missile-of-an-art-piece, your family and friends will think you were a true patriot of this spectacular summer holiday.



Materials Needed:

A Large Hardy Cardboard Tube

Plain White Card Stock Paper

Blue Acrylic Paint

Red Acrylic Paint

Mod Podge

Sponge Brush

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun

Packing Paper

Coffee Filters

Duck Tape

Scotch Tape

Stake / Rod / Pole

Twine



How to Construct Your Faux Rocket:

  Dampen your sponge brush with water and gently dry with a paper towel to prime your bush so that it won't soak up too much paint or Mod Podge.  

  Paint large cardboard tube with blue acrylic paint, and let dry.

  Stretch stars image below to fit on a single paged document and print twice.



  Cut out all of the stars from both printed papers.

  With your sponge brush, coat the stars with Mod Podge to attach them to painted cardboard tube for the rocket's barrel.  Be sure to put the ink side down so that just white stars are seen.  Space the stars a few inches apart in a straight row around the tube with bottom row having stars centered between the above stars; let dry.

  Mod Podge the entire rocket's barrel.

  To create your faux rocket's top, get two pieces of plain card stock paper and form a cone using a bit of scotch tape; trim to make a smooth bottom edge.

  With sponge brush, paint a spiral up the cone with red acrylic paint; let dry.

  Mod Podge the cone top; let dry.

  For the rocket's wick, tie on a long piece of twine to the top end of your chosen rod, and then attach this rod to the inside of the faux rocket's barrel tube with duck tape: having the twine run all the way down and out of the tube.

  Stuff the the tube with packing paper, and seal bottom with a few coffee filters having a hole poked through the center for twine wick to go through.  You may simply cup this coffee filters bottom against the interior packing paper mass and push downward to the bottom of the tube barrel; tape from the inside if preferred, but not needed.  

  Attach cone top to barrel by using a hot glue gun.

  Mission Complete!



  Interested in the fabulous patriotic pump heels showcased here?  Please visit my sister shop: LaOohLaLa Boutique.

Revamped Rocket for July 2015!!!  Added a silver barrel, which is made from a large oatmeal container in silver wrapping paper coated with a waterproof sealant.  I stuffed it with packing paper that went down through the original barrel, and some around the portion that covered the original barrel to make a snug fit.  I then hot-glued the new silver barrel to the original barrel as well as hot-glueing the top of the rocket back on.



Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Growing Girls Gobble Garden Greens



  This tongue-twister is true!  My daughter is seen above using her sign language to say that she would like some more tasty home-concocted green smoothie, which not only enhances her brain power, but also her charming green mustache. ;o)~ ... Pick some kale or your preferred garden greens and blend with your favorite ingredients.


Ingredient Ideas:

plain or frozen yogurt, frozen berries, orange juice, banana, raw farm-fresh egg (whisked seperately with a teaspoon of preferred liquor to sterilize), tablespoon fulls of seeds and grains such as: flax, chia, pumpkin, dried goji berries, purple corn, millet, wheat germ, spirulina, sweeten to taste with pure maple syrup or honey, spice it up with some cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg ... throw in some carrots, a splash of olive, hemp, or avocado oil, a pinch of himalayan pink salt, ... a whole food multi-vitamin (in tablet form) will blend up well too.  ...  Last but not least, THE KALE!  Cram in as much as you can pick, and share with the family!  ... Can you tell that we have a Vitamix? ;-)




  My son in the garden helping me pick some swiss chard.  The garden greens are so wonderful; we have rainbow swiss chards, red and green leaf lettuce, mustard greens, arugula, (spinach didn't do well this year), radish, beet, endive, broccoli, and my favorite, kale!  We planted the seeds in early spring, and here they are in early summer!  So many benefits for a growing family: growing greens is simply the best!



Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Hot Air Balloon or Jack and the Beanstalk Cake


UPDATE APRIL 2015:  The latest hot air balloon cake creation using this method is seen in this picture above, which was made for my daughter's second birthday: a bit of a commemoration for the hot air balloon cake that I made for her older brother's second birthday.  The inspiration for this cake was to do a spin-off from the original Wizard of Oz movie.  I had the bright idea that Glinda (the good witch) ought to transform the wizard's getaway hot air balloon into one of her bubbles.  I managed to do this with all natural food colorings: cream cheese frosting tinted with turmeric for yellow brick road, bordered with chopped pistachios, basket made of gingerbread with icing glaze for adhesive, tornado made of ice-cream cone covered in chunky peanut butter and chocolate, and the top balloon portion covered in cream cheese frosting tinted with strong hibiscus tea.  It was also a carrot cake.



Cake design found in vintage 1960's cookbook titled Wilton's Wonderland of Cake Decorating by McKinley and Norman Wilton, this is the ultimate child's birthday cake that requires both mother's baking as much as father's handy work.  A delight to see and quite easy to work with, this do it yourself cake stand is versatile in what it can be; let your imagination go free!



The hot air balloon cake uses ribbon (wrapped over and strung through cocktail picks to be pressed into cake) to take one's eye off of the cake stand's center supporting rod, and really gives the illusion that this portion of the cake is floating!

The cake seen above was decorated with circus themed porcelain figurines, in which were inspired by my son's world's fair themed birthday party last year.  Would be a perfect cake for any carnival or festival themed party!

Balloon's basket is made of a ramekin sized miniature cake with plain toasted wheat (Chex) cereal placed in icing.  All cake pieces here were homemade carrot cakes.  I love how carrot cake is dense and therefore great in keeping its height, and not sinking or falling like other cakes or soufflés are known to do.  Carrot cake is also my most preferred cake for Barbie doll cakes too: when striving to reach doll's waist.

Icing is a mixture of whipped softened butter and powdered sugar to taste.  For carrot cake, cream cheese frosting goes best; two sticks of butter per package of cream cheese.  A dash of turmeric spice for natural yellow coloring.



With the Jack and the Beanstalk cake, COTTON CANDY DISSOLVES OR DEFLATES QUICKLY! ... As regrettably seen in this picture; large marshmallows stuck in with toothpicks would be a more dependable approach for the cloud.

Hand cut paper dolls were made by printing images on card stock and being sure to leave bottom portions blank to help in providing enough area for pressing paper pieces into cake for support.  Curving the paper adds dimension.

Beanstalk was achieved by winding 9-10 green pipe cleaners around center supporting rod.  Winding end parts of each pipe cleaner around pencil gives off curly vines for Jack to climb on.

This cake was prepared by following a light fluffy white cake recipe that required three layers with lemon zest curd filling, and topped with chopped pistachios.  Yummy Fun!



From the vintage Wilton cookbook, the actual instruction for making this cake is seen above here with the cake being given the name Around the World in Eighty Days.



My husband, however, built it like this (seen above).  Running a screw rod up through half of a styrofoam sphere attached to a circular cut wood piece with spray adhesive glue, and bolted with washer at top.



Wooden skewer sticks were pressed into styrofoam ball piece to support cotton candy in the Jack and the Beanstalk cake; however, since this part failed (cotton candy dissolved quickly after being placed onto cake) pressing in toothpicks instead with large marshmallows attached may be a safer alternative.

Also something important to note, styrofoam flakes if ran under hot water (to say, rinse off icing).  To help keep this part of the cake stand like new, wrap it in aluminum foil before placing cake on stand and decorating with icing to prevent it from disintegrating.

Cake for top stand needs to be baked in an oven safe tall-ish bowl that doesn't have to exactly match the diameter of the stand, but certainly needs to be close; once icing is applied, it helps to even everything out to make a perfect sphere shape.



Best wishes on this DIY hot air balloon or Jack and the Beanstalk birthday cake stand and cake!  I won't make any promises, but if interested in having this cake stand made for you, contact me via Etsy convo through my Etsy store Storybook Artifact, and I'll ask my husband if he is willing to take on this construction project once again ... but like I mentioned, "no promises"; he is one busy dad.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Donate Just 8 Inches of Hair!

Before

After

You would love to donate your hair, but don't want the commitment of a super short hairdo.  Pantene's Beautiful Lengths is the answer!  With a minimum donation of eight inches of hair (in comparison to the average ten), ladies (and men too) are able to get the haircut of their dreams just in time for summer!

Modeling a vintage cottage chic faux pearl necklace soon to be found in Storybook Artifact's Garments and Jewelry section.




Friday, May 17, 2013

Favorite Season: Is it Springtime?



Being able to gather a bouquet of blossoming flowers from the backyard and create such a lovely arrangement really warms my heart.  It brings elegance to a cozy home, and the floral scent truly fills the house!

The vase I am borrowing from my sister.  It is one of her decoupage art creations featuring images with resemblance to Lichtenstein pop art, and I still have it from after a recent photo shoot of it.  The vase will soon be available for purchase in her Etsy shop's Upcycled Decoupage Art section.


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Embracing the Misconceptions of Online Doll Shoppers May Help Sales

From far and wide, it has come to my attention that there are interestingly notable similarities among many vintage plastic dolls to the point where categorizing them or distinguishing them from one another has become somewhat of a loose term when tagging dolls for online shopping.


From a doll collector's standpoint, it may seem arbitrary to have a doll pop up in a search that it may or may not belong in.  However, the idea of potential customers distinguishing dolls themselves incorrectly leads reason to believe that providing this gateway to your doll for sale is in fact logical.


Dolls' Similar Features:

_Wig glued to head
_ Movable arms and head
_ Measuring 7.5 inches tall


Doll Groups:


Don't get me wrong, how dolls are valued does vary, especially in consideration of their condition: i.e. "still in original box" vs. "has slight wear".


To conclude, it is more than coincidence that these dolls resemble one another; they did all originate from companies that started producing dolls around the 40's and 50's.  The use of plastic in doll making was right at the beginning.  In hindsight, this set the foundation for dolls made today.

Dolls in blog article are found here: