Marsbarn Designs...

sitting down, taking stock, looking forward, and a cute kitten photo

With the baking classes behind me,
and December knocking at my door,
I decided that it was time to take stock of the projects still on my To Do list.

The second grade auction project for Little e's class is so close to being done.
I have a full color, as it will be, proof to show the teacher,
and once she signs off on it, I have order forms made up
to send home with the students!
I'm so excited! The project has come together so well.
(I'll have a full post about the project later in the week.)

Book, check. Next on the list?  A felt ornament class.

Friday (a teacher planning/no school day), I'm holding
a felt ornament making class in the morning.
We'll be making ornaments similar to the ones our family made last year.

And then, the following Friday, I'm having an art open house.
I'm laying out all of my mixed media/collage stuff,
and people are going to come and go through the day
throughout the day making cards, garlands, gift notes, and whatever else floats their boats.
This will be like the Valentine's Day event I did.

In between, I'm filling orders for my little shop,
and working on a commission for friend,
all with the idea that by December 5th
I will be done with my sew for pay,
and I'll be ready for my own gift making.
And, looking at the length of this post already,
I will keep my gift ideas for another day.

If I think really hard, I can almost remember 
when I felt so slow and unproductive in the fall.
It seems like an awfully long time ago now.

And a cute kitten shot, just to make the post worthwhile.

Cooking with adults, part 2

Today was the second of my two adult cooking classes.  
This was the candy installment, and we made
three kinds of marshmallow, two kinds of toffee,
and a batch of carmel corn in a space of three hours.
Everyone went home with bundles of treats and recipes.

This is my last cooking class of the year,
but I'm planning a repeat of this candy class for January.
I'm really enjoying the baking/cooking classes,
both the adults and the kid versions.

There is an idea for a kid class (after the new year)
that is simmering in my brain.
It would cover planning a meal, as well as making it.
I want to introduce the ideas of ordering or organizing,
of figuring out what order you need to make the pieces that make up the meal.

I'm a wee bit late for Black Friday

In the theme of things that take longer than you think they will..

I have finally finished updating my Etsy shop with new gift items.

I have rolls for pencils, pens,  double pointed knitting needles, and crochet hooks.

There are a bunch of organizers.
The little holders are, again, sized for double pointed knitting needles, pens, pencils, or crochet hooks, and each one comes with a 5 by 8" pad of paper.

And, I've listed some squeeze purses.

The shop looks very fat and happy at the moment!

If you don't see something that you were looking for, shoot me a comment or an email.  I have children and adult crowns, as well as a few knitting bags still that haven't been listed.  They are available, but are harder to photograph well enough to list.

Baking Class for adults, a whole new world.

Today is my first baking class for adults.

We'll be making bagels and salad rolls.
I've got a big batch of dough in the fridge that's proofed over night, and a whole slew of salad rolls ingredients to choose from.
Beyond the necessary rice noodles and wrappers,
I have cucumber, avocado, mango, lettuce, carrot, cilantro, chives, as well as tofu and chicken for protein. 

It should be a fun class.

A sneak peak of this year's Auction Book for second grade

All of the student art and writing is done for the second grade book project, and I'm really thrilled with how hard the students worked.  

Now I just have to assemble the art, scan it, type up their "artist notes" and fill in the narrative.  I am on track for getting the book done by December 1st, but I nearly gave myself fits with the (misguided) idea that I could get a prototype done by November 22nd.

This was one of those moments of my saying, "wouldn't it be nice if...?" and then me realizing that I could see absolute madness waving at me joyfully.  

It was obviously time to put an end to good intentions and stick with The Plan.  

Have I mentioned how much I love how the art is coming together?

Things I learned from running my first Bake Sale

1. Bake Sales are fun, and people like to do them.

People want to bake goodies and buy them.
Heck, people even like to sell them.

2. Bake Sales need to be set up early.

As in, before the other vendors show up.

Trying to set up baked goods and instruct your workers while the vendor's set up their stalls will end with a crowd of coffee deprived, sugar starved vendors trying to shove money down your shirt as they grab the muffins out of your hands and pour coffee directly into their mouths.  (Exaggeration? Perhaps.)

I now know that the Bake Sale should be set up at least ten minutes before the vendors are allowed in the building.

3. Cater to the Vendors.

Students delivered goods to the vendors, which thrilled the vendors and added significantly to our sales.

4. Homemade candy sells.

The marshmallows I made were gone in the first hour, and if we'd had fudge?  We might have needed crowd control.

5. Bring out the savory.

We needed savory options.
If we'd had sandwiches, pizza, or salads, they would have disappeared in a trice.
As it was, some vendors subsisted only on cookies.

6. Have a safe place to put extra cash.

One of our parents came up with the idea of regularly emptying the cash box of twenties.  I think this was a brilliant move.

7. There will always be that customer.

The one who complains that the hot water is too cool and then too hot.  Don't forget to remind your volunteers that they are volunteers and that they don't have let a customer put them down.

8.  Remember to put a treat aside for yourself.

At the end of the day, 
when you sit down and know you've done your best,
you will deserve a tasty treat of your own.

Post Holiday Market Recap

It was a good market.

I didn't do as well as I have in past years,
but honestly I didn't put the work into my inventory
that I have in past years.  It's all relative, really.
I met my personal goal, so that's nice.

I would say that the low point of the Market 
was when an earwig dropped down my shirt.
(I swear the thing flew in, wings or no.)
I rushed to the adult bathroom, only to find
that it was occupied, and then
(in state of total desperation) I did a mad shimmy,
shake, flap the shirt dance in the copy room...
where I was walked in upon by one of our kindergarten teachers.
You work hard to build a reputation, 
and then you loose it in a moment of mad bra flapping.

On the up side, the Bake Sale was amazing.

Yes, it was hectic, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend organizing a bake sale in tandem with running a Holiday Market booth of your own,  but our families went over the top with baked goods, and people ate them up (literally).
We made almost $700 for the fifth grade science camp overnight.  Pretty darn good for a dollar a treat.

So, in recap:
sales = good,
earwig hokey pokey = bad,
Bake Sale = over the top fabulous.

Mr Fuzzypants tries to win over The Tank

It is an epic story.
The forces of light versus dark,
good versus evil,
grumpy versus cute.
Will the optimism of one young fuzzy mind
be enough to win over the stodgy ways of a grumpy, old cat?

 

I am still trying to decide whether Mr Fuzzypants' campaign is brave,
or merely misguided and fool hardy, but it is extremely entertaining.

(You will need to click on the image to see both cats, otherwise you only get half the story.)

Observations from the Second Grade Auction project

Let me just say that there is no better way to enter a room, than to have a classroom of second graders cheer your name.

I haven't been documenting this process quite like I should, but we have been working right along on Little e's class auction project.

The book is really taking shape.

During our first meeting, we brainstormed ideas for the book. At the end of twenty minutes, each child had an idea for their page in the book.  A parent volunteer wrote everything down for me.

In our second meeting, the students drew sketches for their illustrations based on their ideas.  The teacher is having them watercolor their pictures during their regular class art time.  This means that the students can really take their time and do their best work.

This week we made paper collage frames to go around their watercolors.

Most of the paper the children used was recycled from the scrap bin at school or from previous art projects.  This teacher does an Eric Carle inspired art project in the spring, and as part of that the students paint and add texture to paper which they then use to make scenes.  The leftover paper scrap is saved by the teacher and used in other projects.  She let me pull bright colors out of her stash to use in this project.  

If I were to do this project again, I would bring in an in-progress frame for them to see.  I explained that they should build up a background, and then add small details on top, and I showed them a sample I'd completed.  But, many of the students didn't grasp this idea.  They put their details down first, and then had to try and fill in around them.  I think if I'd shown them the process, instead of just talking about it... oh well.  You live and learn.

The frames all look amazing, and everyone finished during the time allowed.  I can't wait to see the finished watercolors and lay them into place.

Next week, we meet again and they work on their writing piece.  

Art, market, and bake sale. Just a week in the life.

This week is a busy one.

On Wednesday, I work with Little e's class on their book project.  (Speaking of which, I need to do a prototype today for that class.)
Oh, and I think I'll make a batch or two of marshmallow.

Thursday is all out sale prep time.  
There's pricing to be done and fine tuning to be handled,
and table set up to be determined. 

Friday there is setup, then sales, then bake sale set up.
(Have I mentioned the bake sale here?
Well there is a 5th grade bake sale at the market on Saturday,
which I happen to be organizing.)

Saturday, more sales and the bake sale.

Sunday, I sleep and eat left over bake sale goodies.

This has all the markings of a good week!
(Or a major train wreck.. I'll let you know how it turns out!)