The Good, the Bad and the cookies

This has been an unusual weekend to say the least.  I have been vacillating about opening a third booth in Queen of Hearts for some time now. I am fortunate to live in an area where I have access to designer and independent labels from local estate sales and have been selling via consignment for about 6 months now.   The GOOD...I have decided to open a third booth in the store's "Boutique Boulevard" which is all vintage, new and gently worn designer labels. So here is a shot of the booth I am going to rent.

 Lots of white and a filthy floor.  Old asbestos type tile that is stained beyond belief.  So I picked up some Martha Stewart's silver leaf metals paint and painted all of the pegboard, the exposed wall and the floor.  The color is smart and will enhance the minimalist look I want to achieve. 

So if I painted the floor, why is their a carpet on it?  Good question and now you have the BAD.  The silver repaint on the floor looked smashing.  I taped it off and put up wet paint signs...but that didn't stop a snot nosed kid (NJ euphemism for scamp) from smearing his hands all over the wet paint and them stepping over the tape and walking all over the floor leaving footprints and swishee circles in the paint.

Here is a shot of a small area that he destroyed.  I get the call from the store about 3 hours after I left that they caught the kid having a high ole time smearing the paint.  His mother was horrified and did offer to pay for the damage.  I decided to just bring in a vintage carpet and cover the whole mess because I needed to get merchandise into the booth.  I'll fix the floor another day. Sigh.

Hung the pair of shoe prints in the massive frames on the pegboard. They look marvelous on the walls and compliment the merchandise.

Since prom season is upon us, I am only displaying beaded and sequined gowns, cocktails dresses, blouses and jackets.  I love the way everything looks so far.

I adore beaded clothing, especially vintage.  I get this from my mother who taught me to hand bead and embellish clothing at the early age of 7. She was an accomplished tailor for NY boutiques before the word "boutique" was trendy and adored After 5 garments.  I remember her sitting each night with trays of sparkling sequins, iridescent beads and silk thread as she embellished necklines and sleeve cuffs.  I was driven like a crow to the light and she put a bead needle in my hands and I was hooked.  Still one of my favorite things to do is hand bead my granddaughters princess dresses.

 Don't you just love the white linen tuxedo with the sequins on the lapels, pockets and cuffs.  Huge sequined cumber bun and satin trimmed trousers complete this ensemble. Made especially for Eddie Robinson, a gospel singer in the Atlanta area in 1986.  This vintage piece is perfect for an emcee or a singing lead.

Put together this matt black waterfall rack to hang a mix of pieces. Have lots more to bring in.  Everyone should have at least one beaded/sequined piece in their closet. It makes you feel like a star.  I'm hoping that this booth does well as I have never ventured into selling contemporary pieces.  Oh, did I forget to mention the name of this booth, silly sea witch.  I have to have a fun name, something you would enjoy telling someone when they ask you, "Hey, nice jacket, where did you get it?" and you can say, "Don't you just love it, I bought it at "Girdle Gals"!" 

Yup, I named this venture Girdle Gals.  For my mother and because saying "girdle" is just plain fun.

With all of the work getting the new booth together I didn't have time for my usual treasure hunt, but I did find a few pieces on Saturday.

Nice pair of hand hammered copper preserves or jam boilers.  For preparing those small batches of tasty goodness.

I love hand thrown pieces and this heavy stoneware in a matt glaze is marvelous.  I'm kinda hoping it doesn't sell as I really like it.

Who can resist this handsome rabbit with a chickee in one hand and a pink egg in the other.  Loving his blue plaid jacket.

And a pair of artisan created oil cloth rabbits in Victorian clothing. Too cute.

And now for the COOKIES.

I was given a bag of Cadbury DARK eggs as I adore dark chocolate. Sometimes translating a milk chocolate favorite with dark just doesn't mix and the candy was just too overpowering.  But...what if I smashed them up and added them to my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe?  OMG, these are so good you want to lay down on the floor and scream.  So here is my recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies with Cadbury DARK eggs.

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (do not eliminate)

2 eggs (large) or 3 eggs (small)

1 cup of softened butter  (must be butter)

1 bag of Cadbury DARK chocolate eggs (smash with a kitchen hammer...actually kind of fun)

PreHeat oven to 350 degrees

Mix sugars, vanilla, baking and butter until blended.  Add in eggs and salt until fluffy.  Add in flour and mix until fully blended. Now hand mix in Cadbury pieces.  Plop large spoonful of mix onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool for about a minute, grab a tall, cold glass of milk and enjoy.  These cookies will have a crisp edge and a chewy center.  This recipe produces about 3 dozen.

Oh wait, one more story for this interesting weekend.  Came across this cute little gold lame double wallet at a Goodwill store and thought it would be great for traveling.  It has two separate wallet compartments that would be perfect when dealing with multiple currencies.  So I paid $2.00 for it and when I got home, I looked through it and found a 5 Euros note and a 10 pound Egyptian note in it.  I was right, someone did use if for traveling.

Opened up the other compartment and found this:

Yup, ole Benjamin Franklin was looking at me.  $100.00 inside.  Never have found a big bill like this in anything so I was really surprised.  Gonna save that for my next diving trip.  It has to be lucky. 

Looking forward to my new venture and wishing success to you and those you love.  Sea Witch