While making Happy Valentine’s Day boxes for my college kiddos, I decided to use Mini Tootsie Pops as edible filler.  As I tossed them in, for just a moment, it looked as though one was looking back at me.  With a little embellishment from my trusty pen, he really was looking back at me.  (He didn’t wink, though.  That would have been weird.)  But, Ding!  Idea for a Valentine’s Day treat.  I decided to make a whole batch of Tootsie Pop People for Margaret’s Advisory Snack Day.  As I began, I realized that they needed a way to stand, since they had no legs, so I decided to give them big sweet cupcake chairs.  When I finished the project, I thought they looked a little bit like they were all seated in the movie theatre just waiting for the romantic movie to begin.

To begin, I needed a recipe for a great cupcake.  Margaret suggested that I use Funfetti cake mix from the grocery store, but I had just finished a tight deadline, and I was in the mood to make them from scratch.  I chose a recipe from the Magnolia Bakery in New York City because when I searched the web, it was mentioned all over the place.  (I did not choose it just because it was the favorite cupcakery for the Sex in the City ladies … I promise, I learned about that later!)  You can see the recipe here. And, if you click here, you can see a nifty how-to apply-frosting video from the cupcake pros at Magnolia Bakery.  This recipe did indeed yield some tasty cupcakes that blended with the buttercream frosting for a melt-in-your mouth happiness, but just so you know, I suspect I would have recieved the same appreciation for Funfetti cupcakes from my teen.  So depending on your mood and time, I would suggest this for Step One:  Either prepare your favorite cupcake recipe OR purchase Funfetti cake mix from the grocery store, which is perfectly acceptable, and possibly preferred, if the age range of your audience is anywhere from 6 to 16.

For directions to make EASY Tootsie Pop People Sitting On Cupcake Chairs, click here.

I found this purple aquatint test strip in an old hard-to-open drawer under a film of copper filings and rosin dust.  Thought it was beautiful.  Took it home.

We received a gentle correction from one of our readers pertaining to the previous post honoring Groundhog Day:
Email Subject:  There’s a Groundhog Day in Australia? Who knew?
He also relabeled my artwork:  Punxsutawney Phil visits his Aussie cousin Adelaide Adelaide.
Okay, very funny.
But, alas, he was correct.  Although artist’s prerogative does allow all of my critters to live in an eternal springtime, I do agree that perhaps Punxsutawney Phil probably was looking for his shadow from a more wintry backdrop, which I have provided above for our more literal readers.  I did have to hold myself back from adding earmuffs and mittens to my little fellas, who have always lived in Springtimeville and might be a little chilly in their new home.
Thank you Doug for watching over our truth in blogvertising.  :-)

No matter whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, all of the critters at Cathy Heck Studio hope you are having a very nice Groundhog Day!

On 4th street, not far from some excellent and eclectic shopping, past a few pothole-ridden intersections and a warehouse or two, shines this little beauty of a storefront: Color and Loom.  A persistent ten-foot rainbow in the concrete jungle, this family-owned Berkeley find is fun to pass when driving through some dreary neighborhoods and has a lot to offer if you are interested in customizing your home textiles.

Inside, ladders line the walls with samples of hand woven and embroidered fabrics – designed by the couple who own the shop, Laura and Kiran Singh, and manufactured in India.  Both partners have backgrounds in textile design and weaving and the sample fabrics are pleasingly displayed.

Though there is not much to buy if you are not interested in getting new drapes or a duvet, it’s still fun to look around thinking, “If I had an amazingly cool house with which I could do anything, which of these…”

I’ve been wanting to take the Jelly Belly factory tour ever since we passed it the first time on I80 between Berkeley and Davis.  This past weekend, we finally made it.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos on the tour, which disappointed me, as I had been looking forward to capturing vast vats of shining cinnamon beans, but I can definitely say that we learned a few things we hadn’t known before.  For example, when you walk in, it is hard to determine if the mascot of the candy company is a big red bean, or President Ronald Reagan.  Eventually, one finds out that the former president is pretty much single-handedly responsible for the popularity of Jelly Belly jellybeans in the United States, having made them the candy of choice in both the California governor’s mansion, and later, in the White House.  They must have had at least five different jellybean mosaic portraits of him displayed prominently next to Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, and Monroe (Marilyn, not James in this case).

Here are two of them, and one I was particularly drawn to of young Queen Elizabeth:

Throughout the tour, at different stopping points, they give each member of the group a single bean. This is a particularly effective way to make everyone salivate for a bag by the end, and as I nursed my second bean, a bubblegum-flavored uncured morsel of sugar and cornstarch, I remembered learning about fasting at church in Connecticut.  Our Sunday-school teacher told us that while amateurs will rush for a hamburger after a several-day fast, her brother, who had apparently become quite good at it, would spend his first post-fast hours cherishing a single raisin.

I must admit that I was far more in tune to the subtleties of the three beans they gave us on the tour than the many we ate (way too fast) after we were released and able to purchase a two pound bag of Belly Flops, which are the beans that are rejected from the conveyor belt for being either too big, too small, deformed, or discolored.  (I have compiled a little collection of the more extreme examples from our bag above.)

And that, my friends, is a sweet way to spend a rainy weekend in California.

Just in case you were wondering how the ceramic piece from the previous post looks when it is filled with foliage, here’s a glimpse.  I ran into a few planting issues.  For example, planting the little succulents in the opening on the side of the vase was a little tricky, plus I had to cut away about half of the root base of the orchid because I mis-remembered the size of the vase opening.  So, I think this orchid might last about 24 hours, but isn’t she gorgeous now.  I refer to her as she, because I think she looks like she is singing in an opera!  Okay, so I added the eyes, but the singing mouth is totally real!  Can’t you just hear her?  “O sole mio-ooooo!”
Thank you Jules for my new Opera Stage Vase.  I plan to use it as a venue for many visiting orchid stars.  Bravo!

Now that it’s not a secret anymore, here’s how Jules’s flower pot turned out after glazing.  (This is Mom posing with it on Christmas day.)  I don’t know if there is anything gorgeous pouring out of the peep-hole yet or not, but it’s only a matter of time!  I feel like we need to find a yellow orchid with black stripes to put in this beehive-motif pot…

We are FINALLY taking down our Christmas tree.  Is there anyone else out there as late as we are?  Anyway, I was sort of intrigued with the groups of ornaments which were waiting in Ornament Purgatory … somewhere between hanging on the tree and returning to their off-season homes, so I snapped this picture.  And it’s a good thing I did, because it turned out to be Exhibit A!

When we did finally begin to place them into their proper ornament boxes, I noticed that the Bunny Groom was missing.  I noticed, because I always put him in the same ziploc bag as the Bunny Bride.  My helpers suggested that maybe he had not made it onto the tree this year, but I was positive that I had taken him down with his bride.  And, in fact, I had taken a photo of him … See?!  There he is … upper right … our handsome groom bunny. Proof positive.
So we searched hither and yon and the dapper groom was nowhere to be found.  Hmmmm … we  turned to Neville (our carol-singing dog of whom we were so proud at Christmastime) … “Neville, you didn’t steal the bunny groom did you?”
“He couldn’t have,” I said, trying to defend my obedient fella.  “I have been here all along, and all the other ornaments are still here … he would have had to pluck it out of the pile like a pick-up stick game!”  Then, suddenly, and I kid you not, Neville raced out the back door to the back gate, where he immediately turned himself in as the culprit and pointed to the mutilated groom … okay, well he did seem to be proud rather than remorseful, but still, he did fess up!  See his handiwork below.
We think our husband-to-be now looks like a groom who was mugged on the way to the wedding, but his adoring bride loves him anyway. It’s a rough start for this little bunny fella in the new year, but things can only look up from here.  Happy 2010 everyone.

(And, just so you know, Neville has been placed in Maximum Security (the backyard) until all ornaments are boxed and stored safely.  We are hoping that he will only have to endure two or three hours before being released for good behavior.  However, now that he has had a little taste of bunny ornament, our question is, will he try it again next year … and perhaps, right off the tree?  We may have to hire a rehabilitation officer to work with Nev to help him with his new problem. We’ll keep you posted on his progress.)

We have planted and replanted these pots for years.  And this year, we filled them with succulents, which to our delight, have been thriving, except for one small snaffoo … rain! Often, after a big rain, the water coming off of our roof forms deep rivulets forcing hunks of soil and roots out of the pots. Although we are grateful for the rain, we are not happy to have to buy replacement plants and start anew.  So this year, and I’m not sure why it took me so long to think of this idea, I bought three umbrellas at the grocery store for the pots under the heaviest downpour areas, and guess what?  IT WORKED!  All of our shallow-rooted succulents are in perfect condition.  Plus, everyone who has come by has remarked on the fashionable attire of our potted plants during inclement weather … no rainy day blues here!