Crafty Auntie...

My new craft!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:25:00 +0000

Through the last 6 or 7 years I have developed a severe case of crafter's ADD! I love learning new things and always finding a creative outlet to express myself through. Well, I've done it again! When I was in Florida for two weeks in June, I found a small store in downtown Cocoa called the "Knit & Stitch." As I entered the store, I fell in love with the colorful skeins of yarn and beautiful varying hues of embroidery thread. I got to talking with one of the store workers who was teaching knitting at the time, and she started to show me some needle felt projects of hers. Later that week I was back at the "Knit & Stitch" for a needle felting lesson. I am loving the endless possibilities that needle felting provides. For those of you who don't know what it is, needle felting involves poking wool (very often hand dyed) into wool fabric. I have experimented with needle felting on wool pieces and also on pieces of felted wool sweater/kilts. Here are some of my first pieces that I've listed and/or sold in my Etsy shop.

www.auntieemswicked.etsy.com

T-shirt recon in honor of Season 3 of True Blood!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:43:00 +0000

Woot! Woot! True Blood!!!

Infant and toddler shirts and onesies ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:39:00 +0000

Last year I started customizing infant onesies and toddler shirts... These have made great gifts for birthdays and baby showers! I take custom orders if you want some great gifts for the little ones in your life!!!

With matching burp clothes!

Thai Sticky Rice with Mango....Amazing!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:14:00 +0000

LindaLu made this rice last night and we had leftovers today....Three words for you: Fan-tas-tic!!!
RECIPE

Thai Sweet Sticky Rice With Mango (Khao Neeo Mamuang)

Rated:

Submitted By: Michelle

Photo By: maimai

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Servings: 4

"Sweetened coconut milk flavors sticky rice, which is then served with fresh mango in this deliciously refreshing take on the traditional Thai treat."

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups uncooked short-grain white

rice

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon tapioca starch

3 mangos, peeled and sliced

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1.	Combine the rice and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.
2.	While the rice cooks, mix together 1 1/2 cups coconut milk, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil; remove from heat and set aside. Stir the cooked rice into the coconut milk mixture; cover. Allow to cool for 1 hour.
3.	Make a sauce by mixing together 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the tapioca starch in a saucepan; bring to a boil.
4.	Place the sticky rice on a serving dish. Arrange the mangos on top of the rice. Pour the sauce over the mangos and rice. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

More crafty hats!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:33:00 +0000

I've totally fallen in love with loom knitting in the winter! All my hats are double or triple stranded with soft yarn...

My gorgeous models are SIL, Linda Lu, and nephew, Lucas Garrison...

Still crafting for the lil ones...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:50:00 +0000

It's been a long time but the craft show goes on! A recap of some of my projects over the last 10 months:

Crocheted hats...

Spidey Hat!

The three hats above were made from adapting a pattern from http://missybug.typepad.com/ The model in the green above is Griffin!

The hat that LucasBear is wearing below, is a pattern from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/adrienneengar

Personal designs that were knit from the loom....

Sock girl and Sock boy Monkey hats!

More hats coming up!

Twins & Charm Bracelets...oh my!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:51:00 +0000

This last weekend I visited a whole bunch of my favorite people in San Diego; the Zimlich clan...(and yes Veronica, I really am a part of the family! They told me so when I was in the family Christmas photo at Nana's a few years back ;-P )...
Anyhoo, my good friend, Rhonda, her hubby, Dave, and their 4 year old twins, Veronica and Gabriella, were visiting the rest of the "National Lampoon's extended family" for the girls' 4th birthday last week. So, I headed to San Diego with 2 very special gifts on hand...special charm bracelets for little wrists!
Veronica's bracelet:
They are actually Scrabble and Travel Scrabble tiles! Perfect for initials!
I'm thinking that I'll do custom orders on Etsy! These were a hit!

A twins moment...Here they are in onesies I made them when they were tiny (oh wait...they weren't tiny at 8 pounds each when born!), but were still adorable as hell!
And here they are now!
www.auntieemswicked.etsy.com

Way too long...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:16:00 +0000

A lot has happened in my life and craft world in the last 4 months or so...
I became an auntie again at the end of April to Ameenah Jane Huntoon:
She is a beautiful girl and I look forward to spending more time with her in the future!

As for crafting, my friend Missybug, taught me to make domino and scrabble tile pendants and charms! It's a new obsession and I'm off and running... (pics to come soon!) I'm also making jewelry out of old 80s charms like cowboy boots and guns...I've got a great pair of guns dangling from my ears as we speak!!! Anyhoo...I'm looking to set up an etsy site real soon to sell multiple jewelry types and custom orders, earring frames, and possibly the ring pincushions that I posted previously. I'm toying with the name, Auntie Em's Wicked Designs... My friend, Pete, suggested the name following in the whole Auntie Em Wizard of Oz theme. So, I've got some rough ideas of business cards, website banners and such using this vintage photo of my grandma and a fairly new shot of myself...Remember it's still REALLY rough...Keep ya all posted on an etsy site and my newest creations!!!
Auntie Em

Cape for pete...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:58:00 +0000

My friend Pete finished college last week so I sewed her her very own UCI alumni cape!

It's double sided so she can switch from anteater alumni to Pete the superhero very easily...

Here she is pre-graduation party last night! She looked so cute!

Post From My iPhone

My new craft space!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:39:00 +0000

About a month ago I moved from Newport Beach to Placentia... I'm in a nice house on the border of Brea with my dad's girlfriend, Sharon. I live in a furnished room but was able to bring ALL of my crafts...To accommodate all my favorite things, I bought a craft table on clearance at JoAnn's. It took a lot to put it together but it's all set up and I have had a blast filling it! Here it is:

And today, I spent a little bit of time finally making pincushions on the tops of the jars that I wanted to use for a cute little storage and decoration fix. I think they turned out great! And, they were so easy... There is a great tutorial that is similiar at Craft Pudding.

I also made a cute little ring pincushion last week...I just used the same process as the baby jar pincushions and the bottle cap pincushions and attached the stuffed fabric to a plastic kid's ring! So cute!

My Valentine Sweethearts...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Last Saturday, (Valentine's Day), I got to spend time babysitting all 4 of my nieces and nephews with their Yaya! What a day! I can't even tell you how much I love these 4...These kids are the light of my life. Maya, 5, and Lucas, 10 months, are a product of my brother, Schon and sister-n-law, Linda. Sidney, 11, and Zurhi, 17 months, are a product of my brother, Greg and sister-n-law, Folake. We had a blast!

We watched Sid play guitar hero and I swear we were witnessing a rock star in the making. He's got the looks and the spunk to be a huge star...

I got a kick out of Maya watching and singing all the songs in Camp Rock 2 at the early age of 5. She is very dramatic and loves to act out the songs while singing along. It's as if she's putting together an interpretive dance to go along with the drama in the teeny bopper flick. She's a crack up.

Zurhi is our super tall, super active, curly haired beauty. She is so sweet and we enjoyed hearing all the words she can say and repeat. She quickly went up to her baby cousin, Lucas, and said "baby." Later in the day she was repeating "cousin Lucas." She gave all of us kisses including Lucas and Maya, which was so sweet to see. She follows her big brother around and adores the ground he walks on....

And then there is Mr. Lucas. This guy is growing up so quickly with his natural rock star mohawk and huge brown eyes! He started walking around the furniture while I was there last weekend and he "scoots" all over the place. I had the pleasure of rocking him to sleep several times over the weekend. That has always been a favorite activity when I'm with the littlest ones. Anyhoo, I just wanted to post an update on my favorite kids on earth!

Gifts from Christmas last...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:05:00 +0000

Since I hadn't entered the blog world by last Christmas, I thought I'd take a couple minutes to share some of the handmade gifts I made this last year...I try to put a lot of effort in my gift decisions and these were the gifts that made the most sense to make last year:

The "She's Crafty" apron for sister-n-law, LindaLu...also embellished with Urban Threads' "Craft Ninja:"

The Zombie sock monkey emerging from the wrapping, for roommate, JJ. Equipped with stump and chewing on brains:

The Punk Rock sock monkey for my friend, Pete . Punk Rock sock monkey was made with a felt mohawk, star butt, and pipe cleaner tail for bendy action!
The Camp Fire USA wall hanging for my boss, Michelle, using Sublime Stitching camp patterns:

The pillowcase for my mom and her new husband, also made with Sublime Stitching patterns:

Here's the t-shirt tote bag that I made when I got back from the Swap-o-rama-rama in LA in November. It says "Let's Hug it Out Bitch." I gave it to my friend, Suzanne, for Christmas (Thanks for the sexy modeling SuzieQ!!!):

And, last but not least...my roommate, JJ, works for Blizzard and had to come up with a hand crafted Christmas decoration with a Blizzard theme. So, with his help, I made a Blizzard stocking made out of a Diablo shirt. I hand embroidered Blizzard in the most God forsaken metallic craft thread ever made!!! That stuff was awful to work with...but alas...we won the contest:

This year's Christmas crafting is already simmering in my brain...so more to come in the future!

Love conquers all!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:33:00 +0000

The latest project with the students in my sewing club is making Monsters and Ninjas... My friend (and instructor), Jessica, had her sister and mom come volunteer in our program last week and we started our felt softies... So I shrunk my Mon Softie pattern down and Jessica's sister, Nichole, brought her Ninja pattern and the kids went to town... So that the kids could watch the project in action while they made their own, I made a Ninja with them... Here is the result: the Love Ninja!!!
The love ninja fights with love cuz love conquers all!!!! CHEESY...

A Great Weekend....

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 01:40:00 +0000

I had a really productive weekend and that always makes this girl feel good!

First I did some relaxing Saturday morning and a little bit of laundry before heading to meet up with some crafty chicas also from Orange County...I hung with about 5 girls at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana...(amazing food btw)...We talked craft geekiness for a couple of hours and had a blast. Knit With Love put the group meeting together and also attending was Craft Pig and Wet Paint. It was good to connect to some women with similar interests!

Next was movie night with the boyfriend...always quality time!!! I worked on and finished this cupcake hat on the knifty knitter...It was based on a picture of the Strawberry Sundae Delight that I saw on Ravelry.com ... I also added the heart shaped pom-pom; idea compliments of Zakka Life.

Then, this morning I called up my friend Pete and invited her over to bake and watch 27 dresses...We've had an awesome day cooking and baking since we decided to make 6 different things! That's right...a little overboard but fun nonetheless!

We made:
1. Cream cheese pinwheels to snack on whilest baking/cooking...
an appetizer my mom taught me to make:
mix one 16 oz. cream cheese with
one small can chopped olives (which we forgot) and
one small can chopped green onions
spread on tortillas
add a couple slices of ham
roll tortillas up (we used sun dried tomato tortillas) and
cut into small "pinwheels"
serve with salsa (we used mango peach salsa)
2. Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs in the slow cooker...
3. Brownies but in a silicone Lego shaped baking form

4. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies (which were really the reason for the baking festivities in the first place)
5. Oreo Truffles in heart shaped ice cube trays!
(these are better when dipped in regular melted chocolate - not the baker's chocolate!...and easy to dip when rolled in balls and refrigerated for 30-60min. before dipping...fyi)
6. and Mimi's Buttermilk Spice Muffins again!

Success all around...made new friends, quality time with bf, finished a hat, had a girlie day, cooked/baked 6 things and watched a movie!!!

Introducing....Mon Cheri!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:26:00 +0000

In an effort to create a sewing project that encompasses learning a little sewing, embroidery, applique, and adding buttons, Mon Cheri was created! (Tutorial to come soon...) I thought up Mon Cheri this week while contemplating beginner sewing projects for the children that I work with. Right now I'm helping with an enrichment sewing club for 3rd-5th graders in the after school program that I coordinate for at an elementary school in Tustin, CA. Out of my 100 students, 20 of them are participating in the "Stitch it Up" club with myself and one of my instructors. It's a lot to handle teaching 20 children to sew with only one other body, but we're having a blast! My instructor is catching the craft fever and my brain is constantly working overtime for this club.

...Anyways, back to Mon Cheri...the first of my Mon Softies (AKA Monster Softies)!
Name: Mon Cheri
AKA: Monster Cherry
AKA: My Sweetheart (in French ;-) )
Quote: Life is just a bowl of cherries...
Interests: Trying to scare at least a fly, but unsuccessful due to the nature of being totally cute!
Hopes and Dreams: That my maker will create my offspring from real wool felt since this crappy craft felt sucks!
Friends: Mon Laddie (introductions soon)

Mimi's amazing Buttermilk Spice muffins...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:24:00 +0000

I made my favorite restaurant muffins from Mimi's cafe last night! For those of you who don't know what Mimi's cafe is or that their Buttermilk Spice muffins are amazing, check out their website at http://www.mimiscafe.com/ . Their muffins are posted under the "Chef's Corner" tab on the website. I'm proud of this accomplishment since I'm a mix-in-a-box muffin maker generally...

My latest kick...

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 06:52:00 +0000

I bought myself my first knifty knitter about a week and a half ago...I started with the purple rectangular KK and made the mini scarflet from Purling Sprite Designs http://isela.typepad.com/looming_crafts/free-patterns.html ...It was so easy and turned out beautiful! It was made with Lion Brand Homespun "Florida Keys Green." I have never knitted, but always loved the elegance of hand knitted items...I picked crocheting initially for the instant gratification factor and now I'm even more instantly gratified with the Knifty Knitter!

So, on my trip to Tahoe, my best friend, Suzanne, gave me a beanie she made on the KK round looms...Intrigued again! When we made it to the city, I bought the round looms set...I've been making beanies like crazy since. I've made 4 beanies so far, and am gifting and taking orders from friends already! Here are some basic KK beanies...

New Years Tahoe!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:49:00 +0000

I've been hanging with some of my favorite people over the past 2 days...I'm staying at my best friend Suzanne's house where she lives with her fiance, Ryan. Ryan's sister, Rhonda, also flew in yesterday and happens to be another one of my best friends. Rhonda and Ryan's sister, Kim, and her son, Cory, are here and I love to see them a couple times a year too. Then, in flew their dad and stepmom, and our friends Daniela and Eddy drove up too. It's a full house to say the least! We're having a great time just hanging out, trying to teach some of our friends to snowboard, and sucking in the beautiful scenery. Just checking in for the first post of the new year...

Leaving...on a jet plane!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:20:00 +0000

Heading to Tahoe in a few hours!!! I can't wait to see 2 of my best friends from Tahoe and Eugene, OR, and other old friends to boot...We'll be hitting the slopes for some fresh pow pow at Northstar resort and heading into Reno to visit with friends over the weekend...I'm so excited! More posts to come later with pix, trip info, and blogs about the nieces and nephews...Happy New Year to all!

All about Auntie Em!

noreply@blogger.com (Auntie Em) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:07:00 +0000

So...you ask why does this 29yo young woman wish to be called Auntie Em with such enthusiasm?! Here's the story...On October 20th, 2003, this baby girl entered the world and transformed Emily J Huntoon's life forever. She became "Auntie Em." (Travel back 25 years...) Auntie Em grew up as the youngest and only girl in a family of 4 children. So, naturally she was born a "princess" and was naturally spoiled, (but not rotten). She loved having 3 older brothers to follow around, learn sports from, and play Star Wars with; but at times, longed for a younger sibling to care for. A set of twin Cabbage Patch kids and a baby CP doll would have to suffice. There were never many babies in EJH's life until her brother, Schon, and sister-n-law, Linda, brought Maya Yvonne Garrison into the world that Monday night in 2003. Since that day, Auntie Em has prided herself in being an "auntie." Three more nieces and nephews, one adopted nephew, and one niece on the way, later, Auntie Em is always in heaven to see those smiling faces. To recieve the hugs and kisses of little ones that she always longed for is nothing compared to that of canvas dolls with unusually large cheeks...