Hello there friends. I heard that it was National Hot Cocoa Day (did ya’ll know that there’s a food holiday everyday? I didn’t. but now I’m thinking that a year long celebration is in order!) and by some chance Garth and I were working on our mexican hot cocoa recipe last night (it was a lot of measuring and taste testing). Our love for Abuelita has grown and we wanted to make something similar (since we’re all about making things ourselves). Our masterpiece of a recipe and the way that we made little indivdual servings to send out to our family follows.

First, the recipe. We like it kinda spicy, but sweet, with a touch of cinnamon. It is highly recommended that this cocoa be served with marshmallows or (even better) whipped cream.

elle & gee’s mexican hot cocoa

4 Tablespoons unsweetened baking cocoa
1 Tablespoon Kaffree Roma
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch chipotle chili pepper
dash ground cloves (whole or ground)
smidge nutmeg
3 cups milk

Bring milk to a boil over medium-high heat on the stovetop. Whisk in hot cocoa mix until frothy. MMMMMMmmmmm enjoy!

We made a huge batch last night and wanted to make them into little individual packages to send to our families on the cold half of the country. We filled little treat baggies with 3Tb of the hot cocoa mix, folded them over a few times, and then stapled a folded piece of cardstock over the top (the die-cut floral stuff is from a roll of paper ribbon that I found in the wedding aisle at JoAnn). Then we wrapped a ribbon around to cover the staples and slapped a sticker on the front and back to keep it in place. The front stickers were printed on sticker paper and cut out using a paper punch. The back stickers we printed the same, but cut by hand.

And then we thought that it might be nice (for those so inclined- like Garth and my Mom) to include a little extra kick. So we made little packets of chipotle chili pepper and labled them “for the BRAVE”. We used bits of ribbon left over and the text is handwritten since our printer ink ran out mid-way through the project.

YUUUUUMMMMMmY! This hot cocoa will make you make faces like this:

Happy National Hot Cocoa Day!

yours in all things warm and snuggly,
elle

I know that Halloween is long gone and it’s time for Christmas-ie things, but the accident really screwed up my to-do’s and I am just now getting around to finally doing a proper costume post. So, without further excuses, I present to you the fabulous gnome family costumes.

We chose these costumes because we thought that they would be fairly easy to assemble (we chose them less than a week before Halloween) and comfortable enough for the parents as well as the kids- and we were right. We liked wearing them so much that we wore them almost non-stop from Friday afternoon right on through Sunday evening.

Now let’s start with the Papa gnome and make our way down to the baby gnome, shall we?

For Papa gnome we bought some blue corduroy and Garth used one of his long sleeve PT shirts to make a pattern. The sweater tights were purchased at Target. The hat I made using a felted wool sweater. The beard is a piece of fleece in the shape of a beard with lines of wool roving sewn into place by machine and tiny elastic loops for the ears. Garth wore a leather belt and leather shoes that were already in his closet. If we had more time we would have fashioned some sort of boot for him and (ahem…) hemmed his tunic.

For Mama gnome I tweaked a Simplicity pattern slightly to have a sweet peter pan collar. I used a yellow linen/rayon blend (that I dyed a peachier color since when I got it home I didn’t really like the yellow) and a polka dotted quilting cotton for the lining and collar. The hat was fashioned that same as Papa’s out of a red wool sweater. The thigh-high socks I purchased as a ren fair several years ago and that apron is vintage. I braided my hair into two braids at my ears and wore clogs. I really wanted to wear some red chunky mary janes, bust couldn’t find any on the short notice. My dress was (and still is) unhemmed as well and I wanted to make an apron that matched Ginger’s but the little things didn’t quite get done.

Jack gnome was my favorite one I think. He had an orange felted hat, fashioned the same as Mama and Papa’s. His beard, made just like Papa’s but smaller, wasn’t even worn long enough for a photo. I sewed the jacket out of a lovely brown linen from a little boy’s trenchcoat pattern. The leggings we purchased at Target and the shoes were thrifted. We purchased two belts from the thrift store and put the best parts together for his belt. I had a pair of snow boots that I had purchased at the thrift store meaning to spray paint them- but I’m sort of glad that I didn’t- those little suede velcro shoes were great. Jack loved wearing this and kept his hat on most of the time. He looked so so so adorable.

I made Ginger gnome’s dress out of a lovely plum linen/rayon blend. I used mustard wool felt for the peter pan collar and scalloped strips of it to also add to the hem. The apron was a little too small for her- I made it from some vintage flocked polka dot fabric, patterning it after my favorite vintage apron. Her leggings were from Target- I purchased them last Christmas from the dollar bin before we even knew we were having a girl. The hat is the same as the rest of the family’s in pink. We knew that we were going to be driving her around in the stroller so I draped a green knit fabric over it and safety pinned wool felt flowers (remnants from the hats!) to it to create her own little flower bed! She was so dreamy floating down the street in her garden carriage.

SO FUN.

For more fun check out past years costumes, Popeye and Olive Oyl, and Peter Pan, Wendy, and Captain Hook.

Can’t wait till next year when we have two toddlers!

lots o’ love
mama gnome

4 costumes to make and just about 24 hours remaining. This is my little pile of completed pieces. I wanted to photograph the pile of things that I still need to complete, but they are spread out all over my making room- one is on my lap at this very moment. Can you tell what we’re going to be?

And, speaking of the making room, it’s featured on The Indie-Pendent today- looking rather clean and costume/clutter free (and you can even see Ginger hainging out with me by my computer!) Check it out here.

Did you know that you can make caramel apples from scratch just using honey, cream, and salt? (and apples, ha!) The recipe is here and we’re going to be checking it out as soon as we restock our honey supply. (we tried making some last night using brown sugar, cream, butter, and vanilla and they were grainy and not very gooey caramely….)

Did you also know that Pandora is awesome (you probably did, I am a little slow). Yesterday I typed in Regina Spektor and was amazed that I loved just about every song that came on. Today I typed in Monster Mash and have been listening to awesome kitschy spooky pop all afternoon.

Ok, back to the costumes. I am hemming next. I hate hemming- which is probably why I took this little break to pop into my blog and say not very much. Press, press, press.

xo
elle

Just a little sample of the custom orders I’ve been working on this last month or so- all wedding except for the bow tie/cummerbund set, which was a prom set for a preppy football player.

Lots more bow ties being added to the shop this week, and dozens more in progress. So, back to work for me!

xo!
elle!

I hate to announce that the summer is here in Florida. That means that I am hiding inside my house, blinds closed, fans on high power, wishing that I was somewhere else. I just keep saying to myself, “this is your last summer here Laura, enjoy it”, and I am trying to do just that. At least between the hours of 5 and 7am- since that seems to be the only time that it’s not miserable outside. I popped out to take some photos on the front porch for this post this morning, and was instantly sticky. ick. icky sticky. And without further whining- a show-and-tell of what I’ve recently made and thrifted.

I’ve been wanting a clipboard for the market and was having the hardest time finding a small one that was awesome and less than $15. This is so simple it’s ridiculous- just an old book cover cut down with an extra large clip. It’ll be used when someone needs to sign a credit card slip at the market. Garth tells me everytime he sees this that he used to have this book when he was a kid.

new screenprinted journals! I have so many blank covers and have been wanting to print something on them. I love this tiny phrase and love how these turned out. I am less thrilled about the hello my name is journals that I also printed.

The sisters in my relief society wanted to make sock monkeys, so I made one to see how it was done. He’s cute, but does not compare to Oliver, the real sock monkey.

And, tags for my bow ties! I’ve been waiting to make these until I purchased an embroidery machine, but that keeps getting pushed back because of clutches and other almost-emergencies, so I made do. As always, making do is so much more interesting than my first idea. These are screenprinted and just the first version, but I love the idea. They are preppy, colorful, and fun- all things I want to have associated with my brand.

And now the thrifted!

The ladies at the thrift store where I grabbed this dress were fawning over it when I brought it to the checkout. They were quick to point out that of the three of us standing there, I was the only one it would fit, so it should go home with me. I then moved Jack to my other hip to show off my 6 month baby belly and explain that it’d be at least a year until I fit a vintage size 8. Maybe longer. But oh lovely hawaiian thing, we’ll show ‘em all.

I am always on the lookout for ties- but rarely (have I ever?!) do I purchase a tie to keep as a tie. This one was too wonderful to turn into a bow tie (plus, I don’t think that the pattern would convert well). It’s a clip-on, which my husband won’t wear, but it came home with me and is now hanging out by my sewing desk, just to make me smile.

a quick trip inside a small thrift store on a rainy saturday (with sleeping Jack and sweet Garth waiting in the car) yielded the best find in months! This vintage board puzzle is missing one piece, but is otherwise looking awesome. I had to get it since it’s a boy named Jack. LOVE this. Plans to replace the missing piece are already in the works (probably just in time for Jack to lose a few more!)

Gazillions of bow ties are being produced in this little room and will be making their way into the shop this week and next. I want to have 100 listed before I take a break!

Until next time, stay sweet,
elle

The last few weeks before Halloween were crazy for me! I made 7 Moishe costumes- skipping meals, showers, and sleep to send each one out on time. Each one takes about 20 hours to complete. I made my first adult-sized Moishe and I made a set for 4 month-old twin boys. I took some photos before I sent them out and I just wanted to share these. One day I’d like to do more of the monsters from Where the Wild Things Are.

I had so much fun photographing myself wearing it- and it was one of those days where everything just works and the lighting is magical.

I finished the smallest ones for the twins in our nola hotel room and Mr Jack tried it on for me and coooperated for eactly three pictures before losing control. Luckily I got this shot.

So there you have it- the largest and smallest Moishe costumes that I created this season. I want now to start thinking about things to make for winter, but I know that I am already behind the game. I must plan better next year so that my Halloween making doesn’t overtake my Christmas making.

until I have something more interesting to say,
Laura. =)

It’s Moishe! I just recently learned that Maurice Sendak, during the adaptation of his book to opera, named the characters Tzippy, Moishe, Bruno, Emile, and Bernard- after relatives. I made my first Moishe costume last year and made more mistakes than I care to remember. This year the process was a wee bit easier on me and I think that the costume benifited from my experience. It still took about 20 hours- but with all of those tiny scales to cut out and sew in and the head and tail hair to hand root- I don’t know how to make it go quicker…

I am also making Sally dresses like a mad woman. I really enjoy the process- it’s lots of hours in front of my sewing machine- but I think that it’s just the way that Sally would have done it! This past weekend I made a dress for a three month old- it is by far the most adorable Sally dress I have ever made.

And finally, Mr Garth and Mr Jack and I need your help picking out our Halloween costumes! Garth and I each wrote a list of our top ten ideas and we narrowed down both lists until we each had only one left. To be fair we thought that we would have our friends and family decide. Here are the two choices:
one. Jack in the box antena ball dude (garth), hamburger (laura), order of fries (jack)
two. Peter Pan (garth), wendy or tinkerbell (laura), and Captain Hook (jack).
Leave me a comment or e-mail or tweet or text or esp and let me know what ya’ll think. We’ll be tallying the votes tonight and deciding. And if anyone needs costume ideas feel free to hit me up- we’ve got a list that’ll last us at least the next 15 years.

xoxo
elle

This is the chaos in which I made my little film. I sat myself down one Saturday night and pressed my shutter button hundreds of times until I had every frame. I filmed the whole thing too- so later today I should be also posting a video of the making. =)

I’ve been on youtube this week more than I’d like to admit- out of the 20 finalists, I am 8th on overall views, so that’s good- just need to crank it up a little to get into one of those top stops- it’s be rad if I could move on to the finals! If you’ve got an extra 53 seconds- would you mind heading over there and giving me a thumbs up today?
I also created a playlist of all of the HP entries made by Hawkers (Joshua, Julie, and me) so you can enjoy them all in one place. =)

Laura’s semi-finalist video
All Hawker family entries

Merci everyone!
Hopefully you’ll be seeing some of us in the finals!

xoxo
elle

Hi friends and neighbors-
I made a little stop motion video. I’ve been talking about it here for quite some time- and now it’s time for it’s grand debut! I made it to enter the HP You on You contest and waited to post it here until I knew if I was moving to the next round- and I am! I am a semi-finalist which means my video will be posted on the contest site this week along with 19 other vidoes. Youtube users can vote for their favorite videos all week and the top four move on to the finals. Please take a moment to head over there, watch some videos, and give me a thumbs up. You can vote once per day today through Sunday! There are some pretty rad prizes to be had. =)

The contest site is here. Click on “View and Vote” in the upper right hand corner. You’ll see all 20 semi-finalist videos for this week. My little video has a doll (wearing a teeny tiny handmade dress!) in front of a map. You can also access my video straight from its youtube page here. If you think it’s super duper, please give it a thumbs up! It’ll make my day.

All ya’ll really are the best!
xo
elle

For my now completed stop motion teeny tiny film I had to make a whole host of teeny tiny props. It took just about the same amount of time to make everything as it did to photograph the stop motion! I was so inspired by the movie Coraline. Everything in that movie was handmade- the flowers, the clothing, the food- and it was all done on a tiny scale. The sweaters were knit with tiny needles by artist Althea Crome and the hands were molded in miniature molds. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s out on DVD now and it’s stupendous!

I made a dress from vintage fabric and liquid stitch. The sleeves were the hardest part! And, I heart pleats and darts.

I also made a banner with my name, which I later animated with paper bluebirds.

This tiny tv dropped from the sky and played a video that I’d previously made from photographs (mad thanks to garth for printing & cutting out all of those tiny pictures!)

Mr. Cockroach traveled all over this pull-down map of the US that I made, complete with knoted pull cord.

I needed a teeny tiny cake and used some bottle caps covered in marshmallow fondant. The dots are paper punched holes and the candles are wires and string with a piece of masking tape that was colored with a marker.

Tiny books and photographs.

And, a teeny tiny painting.

I spent a grand total of $.50 and the better part of three days making this film. It’ll be posted Monday along with the big-ultra-exciting-announcement.

Stay true, friends. =)

elle