Yummy Marshmallow Pops You Can Make at Home!

Looking for some sweet, family-friendly fun for Halloween? These ingenious marshmallow pops are the perfect "mommy and me" kitchen activity. Check out The Mama Dramalogues for the how-to!

Great Gift Idea: Sundae in a Bag!

Some particularly lovely friends of mine took me to brunch for my birthday recently. One such lovely friend gave me a particularly ingenious gift. I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for creative gifts for friends that don't require me to know the recipient's clothing size or which books she's already read.

This gift is quick to put together, relatively inexpensive and positively oozing with charm. A fun (but cheaper) take on the ever-popular gift basket concept, this clever gift is basically a sundae in a bag. Here's what you need:

1. Cute gift bag
2. Cute bowl(s) - one for each member of the family
3. Big bottle of chocolate syrup
4. Fancy sprinkles
5. Little jar of maraschino cherries

Voilà! In a pinch, you can grab everything at Target on the way to the party. If you're feeling crafty and have some time, use enamel paints to personalize the ice cream dish for an extra-special touch. Who wouldn't be delighted?

Altered Notebooks Rock

Those of you more crafty than myself probably don't wander around Etsy thinking, "How in the world do they DO that??" But I'm a relative newbie to this handmade life, and I'm forever finding paper projects that intrigue me, but that I just can't quite figure out. Altered notebooks have always been a bit of an obsession for me - I've got designs swimming around in my head (great gifts for girlfriends, you know), but haven't had the slightest idea how to approach the project.

That's why I was so excited to find this tutorial on the EtsyGreetings blog yesterday. Captured Time Books gives up the goods in a clear, concise, step-by-step that even I, the formerly craft-impaired and currently craft-limited, can follow.


Now that I finally have the info I need to create an altered book of my own, I've decided to share with you some of the Etsy faves that have so inspired me to try it out for myself. If you prefer to have someone else do your crafting, these altered notebooks are sure to please.

Bingo journal by suchandsort:


Retro games journal by TraceyAnns:


Mixed media blank book by juicychristians:



Inspired? Now go get your craft on! Or break out your credit card. Whatever. I won't tell.

Monday Madness

So, it's 7 AM and I've spent the last 2 hours (my precious child-free morning card-making time) fighting with my printer over borderless printing. While trying to crank out my weekend orders, I come to the horrible realization that, although my terribly old and slow Gateway laptop has been producing borderless notecards by way of my beloved fancy HP printer without any issues for the last year, apparently my brand new ultrafast Dell laptop cannot. WHAT THE?!? Although I tried every semi-techie trick in my arsenal to make Vista talk nicely to my pretty pretty printer, it simply IS NOT POSSIBLE.

Ummmmmmmmm.... yeah. Just a minor problem. It's only my best-sellers that rely on borderless printing... Hehehe... I'm sure it will be fine....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

And sooooooooo, since I can't, uh, make any cards this morning in support of my card-making business, I decided instead to make.....



stickers! When life hands you lemons, right? In an attempt to lighten the mood and give the day a little positive-energy kickstart, I stuck my happy little logo girl all over everything in sight, including the one outgoing order I was able to complete. Ah, well. I'd been meaning to pretty-up my packaging anyway...

Not My Kid...

Three things I'm not:

1. A native Texan
2. A country music fan
3. A person who thinks pageants for preschoolers are OK.

So, imagine my surprise when my daughter picked up a pink foam cowgirl hat at the craft store recently and proclaimed it, "the most beautiful craft I'll ever make!"

Ever the supportive mom, I bit my tongue (she WAS being quiet and keeping herself occupied, after all, while I endlessly browsed the pretty papers...) and shelled out the $1.99 to bring it home. I figured she'd show it to Daddy and her baby cousin, squish it in a fit of over-enthusiasm, and then forget about it within 24 hours.

Yeah, right. This hat turned into a MAJOR project around here. As soon as we got it home, she started going through all her most sparkly craft supplies and adding adornments til we ended up with this (yes, I tied the ribbon - albeit reluctantly):



The hat has now been worn proudly to Target, out to dinner, and to my parents house, although (thankfully) a bit of the bling has started to fall off. Amazing how much entertainment you can get out of a buck ninety-nine, isn't it?

Macaroni and Glue Corporate Headquarters (aka The Craft Closet)

I keep meaning to share these pics as I find them, for some unknown reason, endlessly amusing... About a month or so ago, I turned one of our pantries (yes, we have two - why??) into a little office for myself. I say "little" because it actually is VERY little - 4' x 3' inside. But I was going crazy trying to keep my supplies neat and tidy on the kitchen counters and my back was killing me from being hunched over my laptop on the couch all the time. Plus, my husband has an office at home, so why shouldn't I? He doesn't even work here! So, I re-organized a bit and... voila! Welcome to my new corporate headquarters.

Here's the view from the outside:


And the grand foyer... Oh no, wait, that's the whole office.


Supplies and lighting (note the laminated first aid posters on the wall - a nice touch, don't you think?):




More supplies. Are you getting a sense of scope?


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, that completes our tour. Luckily, I'm a fairly small person (5'0" on my tiptoes), and not too terribly claustrophobic. Can you imagine if I made something really big for a living rather than nice, compact notecards? Sheesh.

My friends and family think the arrangement is hysterical, particularly when I tell them that sometimes I actually close the door just to get a little peace and quiet (like now). My husband said I wouldn't last a week in here, but I'm proud to say I'm still toughing it out. I confess, though, that it does get a bit stuffy...

Pretty Little Paper Things

A custom order this week allowed me to briefly return to my cardmaking roots (no cracks about those other roots please) - pretty papers, glue, ribbon, brads... Although I adore digital design, it's soooooooo much fun now and then to break out all the old scrapbooking stuff and start punching holes in things, pounding on eyelets, stacking papers, rounding corners, and generally being crafty. Although the mess I made to create just one 5 x 7 card was truly astounding, I love the way these congrats cards turned out.


I liked them so much, I've added them to my Etsy shop.

In other news, you'll notice the updated banner and page layout to go along with the updated avatars and ads. Blame it on insomnia and OCD, but I just couldn't walk away from the computer til I'd pulled off a complete and total image makeover. Now I can move on and get to work on the new invitation line...

The Agony and the Ecstasy -- First Craft Show Set-up

This weekend marked an important milestone for Macaroni and Glue - my first attempt to showcase my product for a live, in-person audience. It wasn't any major thing - just a little bazaar-type sale with my local women's group. But I used it as an opportunity to evaluate my product line, create new designs/retire old ones, and to work on my overall branding in an effort to create a cohesive mini-shop that would be as closely aligned with my online shop as possible.

Despite the fact that the weather turned bad and sales were DISMAL (and, no, I don't want to talk about it...), I got great feedback on my product and on my "booth." And I was very proud of both! What do you think?

But for the DISMAL sales (oh, did I mention that already?), I'm really glad that I was able to muster the courage to put a display together. It gave me focus in the weeks leading up to the sale and provided a great incentive to spend time designing new items to help round out my Etsy shop.

The new designs, by the way, will be popping up in the shop over the course of the next week or so. Look for more variety in my greeting card offerings and a couple of great new boxed sets. In fact, I've updated my shop sections to accommodate some more diverse pieces. Here are a few of my faves from the new batch:

Even More Goodness for Mom

Whew! I may not have been blogging much lately, but I surely have been making things. The Mother's Day promotion has given me a great excuse to focus less on graphic design for a while and spend more time working with my hands. Here are my latest offerings for Mom:

On another note, business is great! I have several custom stationery orders in the works and two invitation projects. I feel good about my inventory, but I have a looooooong list of improvements I'd love to make to the shop and some of my older designs. Yeah, right... and exactly when do I think I'll find the time for that? I'll have to consult the system...