food, crochet, merriment
“We all enjoy giving and receiving presents. But there is a difference between presents and gifts. The true gifts may be part of ourselves—giving of the riches of the heart and mind—and therefore more enduring and of far greater worth than presents bought at the store.
“Of course, among the greatest of gifts is the gift of love….
~James E. Faust
Happy Birthday April!
Ahhh yes…the rumors are true. I am in love.
April and I spent the evening with Dave at Sweet Tooth Fairy in Provo, to make the final arrangements for the Harry Potter Premiere party next week. Look what he gave us.
No, no. Sharing is not an option…sorry.
This Dave fellow is one smart cookie…or should I say cupcake? Perhaps guys don’t actually like being called cupcakes so sufficeth it to say, he knows his stuff. He’s working on some amazing wizard cupcakes for our party and took us in the back to show us how they are made.
We are in soooo much trouble.
Dude.
I’ll tell you, if I wasn’t already committed to finding a cute little farmer man with a Scottish accent, well, I’m quite certain that I could really fall for a guy who is up to his elbows in chocolate all day and has the Top Secret recipe for a Key Lime frosting that could bring world peace ALL. BY. ITSELF.
Alas, I’ll have to be satisfied with being madly in love with…
the cupcakes.
Somehow—it’s enough.
PS— Gracious Rain is being featured this week on Casual Blogger Community–please, please, check it out and leave a comment. Thank my dah-lings!
At first glance, this might look like a big jumble of clutter to you. But if you look more closely…
you’d realize that these are actually the dozens, and dozens, AND dozens of prizes…
we are collecting from local vendors, handmade shops and artisans from all over the United States…
and from as far away as Canada, England, Hong Kong, and Europe. And that’s not to mention some pretty fabulous involvement from some of our local favorites like Hale Center Theater and Sweet Tooth Fairy. It’s all to celebrate the premiere of Harry Potter 7, The Deathly Hallows–on November 18-19.
People have been so good to us donating lovely gifts for our audience.
Check out this amazing “Butterbeer Gift Basket” from Chica And Jo…
and these fabulous T-shirts and Hoodies from Quantum Leaper X…
and this incredible wood burned treasure box, sent all the way from Hungary and Bacon Factory. And the best part is–there are more prizes coming in every day. {Insert squeal of delight here}
So, as much as I’d love to stay and chat–I need to run…
I’ve got to check the mail. hee hee.
P.S…
1} If you will be anywhere near Orem, Utah on November 18-19 and would like to come to our Magical Pre-Show Bash and Harry Potter midnight movie premiere, please, please let us know ASAP–as there are just a few seats left, and we’d LOVE to fill them with you–our friends.
2}If you know of any person, shop or business that would like to be part of our event giveaway promo, there is still time to join the fun.
Either way–contact me at LauniKAnderson@gmail.com for the easy info.
Hope you’ll join us–we can hardly wait!
Have anyone at your place that loves a challenge? Here’s a fun little puzzle–called a Soma Cube that’s SIMPLE to make and not all that easy to solve. Luckily there are over 200 ways to form these blocks into a square cube, so it just may not ever go together the same way twice!
I’m thinking–perfect gift for all the wise guys in your world…think Christmas.
First step: Grab some unpainted wooden blocks–any size, you’ll need 27 of them. I used 1 inch, but you could go even smaller…or bigger.
Using wood glue– or regular white glue–start sticking your blocks together. I’ll show you the combinations below.
Be sure to wipe off any glue that squishes out–and work really hard to keep the squares even with each other.
There are seven groups of blocks that make up the puzzle. Are you ready?
You are positively welcome to leave your blocks their lovely natural wood color. It makes putting the puzzle together a bit more challenging, but if that’s your goal–then by all means leave them.
Otherwise, paint each set a different color and allow to dry completely.
Cover each set of blocks with a coat of Mod Podge and again, let them dry completely.
Check back tomorrow and I’ll show you how to solve the puzzle…
one of the ways.
For my 11th birthday–a million years ago–my dad took all my birthday guests out into his bake shop, into the “sugar room” and made everyone a true, live cinnamon candy apple. Even though this was a long, long time ago, I remember this party very well. I had a pink party dress and got a Newborn Thumbelina Doll. When I opened it, the gal in the blue dress, Donna, gasped and said, “You got…a doll?” like someone had poked her in the eye or something.
I was quite confident in my right to love dolls even at such a mature age so I said, “Yeah, would you like to hold her?” She was caught completely off guard and said, “Ahhh…ok.” Everyone took turns pulling the string in the doll’s back and holding her while she moved like a “real, live baby,” and to their surprise, they loved it.
Believe it or not, I can still name every single soul in this shot. The funniest part about this picture? My mom, the cameraman, got everyone in it…but me…
the birthday girl.
That’s my arm, there on the far left.
Thanks mom.
heh, heh
