Our "Black Friday" Traditions...

do not consist of getting up before the chickens and waiting in long lines to shop. For as many years as I can remember, we have gone to downtown Seattle to see the Christmas decorations. The Fairmont Olympic hotel ( which used to be the Four Seasons Olympic) is a very special place for us. It's where we got engaged; where we spent our wedding night; where we've celebrated birthdays, Mother's day, or just gone for a weekend getaway. Every year, the hotel is host to a huge gala fundraiser (which we don't attend!) auctioning off gorgeous, professionally decorated Christmas trees. The proceeds from the auction benefit Seattle Children's Hospital.  They're only on display the weekend after Thanksgiving before they're whisked away to their new homes.

 

I'm very into the red and lime green color combo right now so this one caught my eye. Each one of these trees is so detailed , words don't do them justice. Of course this one with a chocolate dipped strawberry was one of my faves!

Even once the trees are gone, the hotel remains a magical wonderland: 

 

One of the traditions we love the most is visiting the "Teddy Bear Suite". The hotel decorates one of their junior suites with, as you can guess...teddy bears, and its open to the public to view:

 

Here are some of the bear friends all comfy on a beautiful bed, surrounded by the spirit of Christmas. After the Fairmont, we usually head over to the Seattle Sheraton which hosts the annual gingerbread house village...giant gingerbread houses decorated by their pastry chefs with amazing themes. The line this year was waaay long and we decided not to wait but maybe another day during the season.  From downtown, we headed over to another area we love, University Village, near the University of Washington, which is an outdoor shopping center that's beautifully decorated. Seattle weather being what it is, I didn't take a lot of pics here because of the rain but guess who we found? Not Santa but his helpers!

Waiting for the boss man to kick things off. A few years ago, our own hometown started its own holiday celebration called "Snowflake Lane" ( well it's called that until 12/26 and then the week between Christmas and New Year's it's called "Celebration Lane") where every night live toy soldier drummers appear to perform to a music and light show complete with "snow"...the fake kind...we've had enough of the real stuff! Giant drum shaped stands line the road on both sides in front of the mall with lighted snowflakes on top.

Remember I'm short! So this pic was an "up shot"

Every night there are other toy soldiers walking around on stilts handing out candy, as well as Sugar Plum Fairies and other Winter Wonderland guests. Isn't this a lovely couple?

Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and a giant polar bear and Christmas Mouse also made an appearance. It was a great day, just focused on soaking in all the seasonal fun.

From Our Home To Yours..

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I have so many blessings to be grateful for and included among them are the wonderful bloggers and friends I've met. Hope you each spend time with those you love. And yikes...Christmas is one month from Turkey Day exactly!

Hanukkah's Next Week!

You know how you plan waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy in advance to do something and then BAM, where'd the time go? Uh huh. And Mother Nature is NOT helping since I need to mail these and she brought snow during Thanksgiving week. Dear Mother: It is not supposed to snow in Seattle in November! Did you perhaps confuse us with Minnesota? Good thing Hanukkah is eight days so if these are a little late...

 I started with 5x5 wood plaques, painted them black, then dry brushed with white, then blue, then gold. Created a "Subway Art" thingy on my computer, printed out on regular copy paper and then the fun began! I have this giant jar of JudiKins Mica Gloss I bought at a stamp show.  It's magical stuff to play with and it's wonderful for making background papers. I wasn't sure about printing on the glossed paper so I printed first, and then went over the printout with the Mica Gloss. It's transparent enough to see through. You don't need a lot of each color so I put drops of it on a plastic sheet protector, brayered it ( lightly...so things don't get muddy) and then went over my printouts. This pic doesn't capture how the gold really gleams.  Once dry, Mod Podged that onto my prepared plaque.

Made the background paper for the cards using the same materials and technique. Computer generated dreidel which I mounted on navy blue velvet paper, then on Stardreams gold scrap leftover from the card. Embellished with "Diamond" Stickles and blue adhesive rhinestones. Computer generated sentiment.

Had some scraps left from my background papers and card so of course made tags! Finished with fibers and ribbon on hand. And after all of that, I have pretty "trash" leftover because here's the paper that was underneath the papers I brayered:

You can see the gold glisten a bit better here.  

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Playing With Printables

OK I'm one of those people who when I get on a kick...you know the rest! I feel like such a dork because while I have played around with graphic design: A.) My brain just won't work with Photoshop so B.) I keep going back to the program I know which is Broderbund's Printshop but didn't know how to share anything like a printable. I've been able to share some PDF files but I wanted to play just like others who have printables you can click on from directly within a blog post. Did I mention I'm stubborn and I want what I want? Did I also mention I'm one of those people who hate manuals because I think I can intuit my way through? Uh-huh. So I finally broke down and consulted "the manual" and figured it out!!! Sssshhhh...don't tell anyone.

I love the "Keep..........and ............On" variations so here are a few I came up with to share:

 

Linking Up At:

 

Open House Features !

Thanks all who linked up to my November Open House Link Party! It's always an impossible task for me to choose things to highlight because I treasure evertyhing that everyone links up, but since I'm in high Christmas mode right now, I am going to highlight a few that just "jingled my bells":

How could you not be in the Christmas spirit seeing this welcoming porch display from Linda at Itsy Bits and Pieces?

 Looks straight out of a magazine doesn't it? And what little girl wouldn't have dreams of Sugar Plums dancing in her head wearing this adorable festive tutu from Caroline at Atelier Caroline:

 I'd be too afraid to use these festive dishtowels from Bev at Flamingo Toes but wouldn't they make your kitchen ready for Christmas:

 

Of course you know I have to feature something chocolate! Jocelyn at Inside BruCrewLife is going to get me to the gym because she keeps coming up with this stuff and I'm gonna eat it!:

Ultimate Reeses Cheesecake Brownie Bars

I think I just gained a couple of pounds looking at them! Again thanks. I didn't have a giveaway with this party but I have tried my hand at the printables craze and happily share this with anyone who would like it:

Beginner's Luck!

I survived doing my first craft fair yesterday and it was a LOT of fun ( a LOT of work, but a LOT of fun!) . I really hadn't set any goals or expectations since I had no point of reference. I thought it would be great to at least recoup the entry fee ( which was a fundraiser so I was happy to pay ) but was blown away when I exceeded that! I estimate I sold about 1/2 to a little more of what I brought which I think is pretty OK for the first time out. I don't know that my one experience qualifies me to give advice to anyone else but here are some things that I found and will pass along.

• Variety: I think it helped to have an assortment of things to choose from so you have broader appeal. Some people had very definite things they were on the hunt for like ornaments, cards etc. Others were just intrigued by what they found which seemed like a good way to engage and start up a conversation
• As creators, they're all "our babies" but not everyone thinks your baby is the cutest baby ( I mean what do they know?! lol) so you can't take it personally if someone doesn't "get" your item.
• I'm never going to hear the end of this one, but appreciated Mr. Chocolate's advice on going with a lower price for higher sell thru. He helped me price, and challenged me on a few things that I can't say he was wrong about ( I am SO going to hear about this!) because they sold. He took the emotion out of it. Thanks sweetie!
• Greet everyone! I saw a few vendors who didn't engage shoppers and the shoppers just kept walking. If no one stops to look, they certainly won't stop to buy!
• Organizers of other shows are also shoppers and scout out vendors to invite to future shows. I got invited to two more shows which I need to decide about :)
• Have fun and talk to other vendors. It's like blogging in person! I met some lovely people and it was so much fun to talk to them about the creative high we get from creating, and laugh and commiserate about how some of our friends and family give us that "look" when we go on too long about paper, glue, 40% off Michaels coupons etc.

The organizers of this fair did a nice job of advertising and getting the word out which is a key success factor. They were also very good to us, providing lunch for us since we were there from about 8-5.  Here's my stuff all packed up and ready to go:

Two 15 gallon bins an 6 shopping bags full. Here's the table all set up:

Sold completely out of birthday and Hanukkah cards so of course I wish I'd made more of each, and the Christmas Garland Kits were a hit. Sold 80% of those, and half of the altered candles I took to the show.

I was nervous and now I'm humbled and relieved :) Off to make turkey brine and see Harry, Hermione, and Ron later.

November Open House Link Party

 

Hi all! Welcome to the Monthly Open House here at the Answer Is Chocolate. There's hot spiced cider and pumpkin scones. Let's see what everyone's been working on to get ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc! Feel free to link up anything: decor, DIY, decorations, ornaments, jewelry, papercrafts, recipes ( especially chocolate!). Just please no advertising or etsy stores etc. Now let's get our gobble on!