• Heart-shaped baking tin
• Plastic bowl or container that is wider than your baking tin and about 2″ deep.
• One cup sand
• One-half cup water
• Candle wick
• Small metal washer
• Wax
• Candle dyes or crayons for color
• Candle scent (optional)
• Double boiler (Note: You can melt wax in the microwave or in a tin can in a shallow pan of water over low heat. Add color and scent after wax is melted.)
• Newspaper
• Scissors

Fill bowl with sand and water. Press bottom of heart tin into wet sand.  Pull out leaving a heart shape. If the sides fall in, press tin in again and add some more water to sand. Tie wick to washer and place in center of the sand-shaped heart. Tie other end of wick onto a pencil and set on top of container. Make sure wick is taut. Pour melted wax into the heart-shaped hole in the sand. Position wick so it is in the center. Let wax harden and cool, about 45 minutes. Carefully lift heart candle from container and place on newspapers. Trim wick with scissors.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups Nestle Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Place flour mixture in the bottom of a 1-quart jar. Layer remaining ingredients in order listed above. Seal lid, decorate jar with fabric and ribbon, if you like, and add the following instructions on the tag.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter, 1 large egg and 3/4 tsp. vanilla in a large mixing bowl until blended. Add cookie mix and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional); mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto un-greased baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on baking sheets for two minutes, remove to wire racks and cool completely.

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Materials:

• Construction paper or copy paper
• Markers, crayons or gel pens
• Optional: Stickers or other decorations

Take a regular-sized piece of paper and place it vertically flat in front of you. Turn one corner down to line up with the opposite side of the paper. Tear or cut off the excess.  You  now have a perfect square. Fold one corner to the opposite corner to form a triangle. Fold again to form an even smaller triangle. Open up the paper. Take each corner and fold it into the center point so that when you are finished all four corners folded make another square. Flip entire piece over and repeat the previous procedure. You should see eight small triangles. Number each of these. Flip up the flaps and write romantic messages underneath. When you flip it over you will have four squares that act as “pockets” for your thumb and index fingers.  Number these too. Place your fingers inside and start playing. Have your child hold the Cootie Catcher and ask her Valentine to pick a number. She then opens and closes the Cootie Catcher that many times.  The Valentine child then picks an inside number and when you lift up that flap you will find your special Valentine message.

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Materials:
Apple corer
Large Rome Beauty apples or small, round gourds
Candles
Waxed paper
Aluminum foil
Autumn leaves, pine cones, twigs

Using an apple corer, make a straight hole about halfway through the middle of the apple or gourd. Remove the core piece. The candle should fit snuggly inside. If it doesn’t, wrap the bottom of the candle with waxed paper. Repeat for as many apples and gourds as you would like. Place several candle holders on a plate or serving tray covered with aluminum foil. Decorate with leaves, pine cones etc.

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Since I planned to sell my wares at farmer’s markets and trade shows I had to search for pop up trade show displays and pop up booths, which I knew would make setting up my travelling store so much easier. It took me a while to find just the right trade show pop up because there are a lot of pop up displays to choose from. I finally found one with a frame that opened up like an EZ UP canopy. It was a life saver. But more importantly, it made the whole experience of selling my glassware with my young children less stressful and infinitely more enjoyable.

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Though an almost unheard of cult favorite, ‘Cleopatra 2525′ is my favorite science fiction show. It’s really more of a camp show, however, and its tongue-in-cheek approach to entertainment is what makes it superior to many programs that take themselves all too seriously. Basically, it tells the tale of four futuristic female warriors who live in an underground city and fight increasingly bizarre villains in a nearly all-female world. Garbed entirely in ‘punk’ and ‘Emo’ style clothing, the characters take on a feminine yet very feminist demeanor. The show’s allusions to punk and ‘rocker girl’ culture don’t end with the storylines and styling, however, as the symphonic style that’s common to most science fiction theme music is replaced in ‘Cleopatra 2525′ by a throbbing alternative rock beat. Indeed, the few males the characters encounter in the show tend to be unemployed ‘skater’ types, which makes the viewer wonder if this is purely a fun show or one aimed at poking fun of current trends in post-industrial employment.

Since it was syndicated at its inception and isn’t carried in syndication by local broadcasters, I watch ‘Cleopatra 2525′, my favorite science fiction show, on Expert Satellite TV. I definitely feel that anyone who is interested in a unique and charming program should look into this option, as the show is not available on DVD.

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Instead of using the store bought variety of Easter Egg dyes, which are usually just food coloring mixed with vinegar, here are some suggestions for all natural ingredients that work just as well.

• Brown–outer layers of an onion, coffee or tea
• Green– spinach or dandelion leaves
• Orange– ground turmeric, celery seed and or orange peels
• Blue– crushed blueberries
• Red– crushed cranberries or raspberries
• Pink– chopped rhubarb or beet juice

Place eggs in sauce pan with enough water to cover them, add your “dye” and 1 to 2 tablespoons of vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Cook your eggs and color them at the same time. How efficient!

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Bird nest #1

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• Jelly beans

Melt chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in the coconut. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed or parchment paper. Drop by large clumps, a heaping tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet and shape into nests. While the mixture is still warm, use your thumb or the back of a spoon to poke a small impression. Then fill it with jelly bean “eggs.”

Birds nest #2

Same as above, but instead of using coconut, mix in 1 cup of chow mein noodles.

Birds nest #3

Ingredients:

• 20 marshmallows
• 2 T of butter
• 1 T light brown sugar
• 1/2  tsp. of ground cinnamon
• 3 cups toasted oat and nut cluster cereal
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• Jelly beans, Peanut M & M’s, (in pastel colors) or Whoppers Robin Eggs

Melt the marshmallows and butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Fold in cereal and coconut. Drop by clumps onto waxed paper lined cookie sheets. Fashion into the shape of nests and add the “egg” of your choice. Another variation of this recipe is to add equal parts cereal and chow mein noodles for more crunch.

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