Am I too old to Squeeeeeeee!?

ohannabelle

Because I am! Also a little scared.

A very nice lady and her daughter came to buy some candle stands, and there was all the pretty wedding mess in the corner, and somehow I've been hired for the daughter's  wedding on November 1st. They 're renting my furniture and things, and I'm going in and setting up like an actual designer/decorator type person. Whoa! Really?

So exciting. And intimidating. But mostly fun. And money! Holy Cannoli, really?  

Wow. 

hellohkb

Yay!!! Congratulations!

missdelilah

Yay!  You get to do whatever you like.  And know that all of us here love your opinion!

blabla89

If you were in Atlanta I'd totally hire you.

photokitty

That's awesome! Are you renting out the moon too? I'm obsessed with the moon! ;-)

MobKaz

blabla89 said:

If you were in Atlanta I'd totally hire you.

I also know people who would be interested in your talents, @ohannabelle.  Any chance you are in the Chicago area?

Sugargirl1019

I TOLD you your things were awesome!

ohannabelle

Oh, thank you, all. So excited!

@MobKaz- I'm in Seattle. (Beautiful perfect weather today, sunny and high of 75. Storybook perfect September day.)

@Photokitty- she already rented a photobooth, but she had the oooooh, I want the moon look on her face. So the moon is definitely going to be a future rental. Why not? 

Also, I want to build a boat backdrop, of similar style, because I saw similar once and it cracked me up, badly. And beachy weddings happen a lot around here. But mostly, I want to build a funny boat to sit in.

Oh, I'm just flustered. I need to think businessy things like rental agreements and mileage charges and replacement costs. And seriously inventory and photograph things in the Room of Requirement. (That's my basement, full of weird vintage things and furniture. Can a bar sign be personalized, name painted over, painted again? I think so. 

But mostly, wow! I have another wedding to look forward to prettifying!

Senecaf

Oh so exciting!

ohannabelle

And to make this morning even better.....cookies!!!!! 

So madly crazy in love with these I had to AW them. Moosey isn't as happy, because I want to admire them all day, so his cookie eating quota is limited to one per hour.

Also, maple extract in the icing instead of my usual vanilla or almond. Not too intense, but a really good autumnal flavor.

I'm in looooove with cookies today. And autumn. 

And you guys. Who are not guys, but you know. Love you all muchly. If you were here, you could have two cookies per hour. 

duhitsd

You call your basement the Room of Requirement? That is so awesome.

afox007

I'm only in CA not too far from Seattle! Please come help me with the wedding...and bring cookies those are beautiful!

hellosweetie1015

SEND ME THOSE COOKIES OR THE RECIPE OR SOMETHING THOSE ARE SO PRETTY

ETA (such distracting cookie excitement....):

YAY! I wish Seattle were closer to Alabama - I would rent the moon thing and those lace globes in a SECOND. That lady is so lucky she decided to buy candlesticks from you!

smalfrie19

@ohannabelle are you free the 18th of October? I could use a positive person and soothing mom noises since my mom sucks at it. I am just getting married up in Edmonds!

ohannabelle

smalfrie19 said:

@ohannabelle are you free the 18th of October? I could use a positive person and soothing mom noises since my mom sucks at it. I am just getting married up in Edmonds!

If I can help in any way I'd be happy to. Soothing mom noises are free.

beethery

Those cookies are fucking BEAUTIFUL!

wandajune6

The cookies are amazing.

You'd have a second chicago customer here...

bwy

Wow that's so awesome, congrats! Are you going to make it a business? 

ohannabelle

bc+rw16 said:

Wow that's so awesome, congrats! Are you going to make it a business? 

Mixed feelings. Thought process:

Part of me thinks, Wow, that would be sooooo much fun!

The other part of me thinks, slow down there, Happypants. There are no dream jobs, just jobs you don't know the half of yet.

And I like my little business I have now. I buy battered and unloved furniture, I gussy it up, I sell it. I find incredible deals on vintage and antiques things, I resell them. The schedule is mine, the choice of what I make is mine. Day off? My choice. Don't like my weird stuff? No cares, don't buy it.

As much as I love weddings, I can't think of a business that invites more fussing and micromanaging. Definitely more than I'm used to. 

Potential income increase vs really hard work (and giant insecurity and fear.)

So thinking really hard about it. Self employment isn't new to me, so I know the many drawbacks.

On the other hand, why the hell not? If it goes nowhere, what have I lost? (Time. Time is very important to me. Life is made out of it.)

Maybe. I do not know.

I need my Mystical 8 Ball. And more cookies.

duhitsd

@ohannabelle See how this first gig goes in November and feel it out from there. If you don't like it at least you gave it a shot!

falsara

You can borrow my Magic 8 ball!!!

KytchynWitche

Okay, first - you are NEVER too old to squee. There is no such thing, it is not possible. Especially when it comes to news as cool as this.

Second, you are going to be awesome at this. Seriously. You got this.

And third, I love you. No, really. I've been admiring your posts for ages, and you (and your family) are totally amazing. Just so you know.

emcme22

That is so awesome, the stuff you had for your daughters wedding was beautiful and I would so want the moon too.

I second wanting/needing the cookie recipe. How did you get then looking like that? The closet I've come to something like that was making little hello kitty faces, they didn't even look close to that wonderful

ohannabelle

emcmac87 said:

That is so awesome, the stuff you had for your daughters wedding was beautiful and I would so want the moon too. I second wanting/needing the cookie recipe. How did you get then looking like that? The closet I've come to something like that was making little hello kitty faces, they didn't even look close to that wonderful

The cookies themselves are my favorite classic old school sugar cookies, 1956 Betty Crocker cookbook Ethel's sugar cookies. (Which makes me Lucy.) 

This one: http://marymac.pbworks.com/f/Ethels.doc

You can gussy it up by changing the extract, or adding finely ground walnuts or almonds or orange zest or whatever. It you wrap them air tight, they stay tasting great frozen up to four weeks. We test drove them. Actually, 3 and a half weeks, because a boy found them in the freezer, and killed the experiment testing conditions by eating them. Moose reports that they were great.

We went with a simple flood icing technique- this was my third attempt, so I'm happy. 

It's progressing nicely. This recipe and these instructions. 

 http://www.annies-eats.com/2008/12/23/sugar-cookies-with-royal-icing/

I substitute a tbs of extract for one of the water. If you want stark white, use a clear vanilla or almond. Or you end up with ivory, which is fine with me. The maple extract was very dark, and created a tan color, but leaves, okay.

They key is getting the outline smooth, so a nice flow, very soft frosting. If you can easily write in cursive with the icing, that's the consistency. If you can outline a cookie, you've got this. Let it dry, fill in per directions.

I filled in the flood using a squeezy plastic condiment bottle. The recipe says to start in the middle, but I had better luck going around the edges.

It's like self leveling floor compound. It just puddles in and gives you a perfect finish.

Outlined cookies (these were the wedding favor ones) waiting for puddles. Also called what am I doing, and why don't I have a bigger kitchen?

When the flood dries, you have a perfect shiny frosting surface. I learned the hard way to make the outline the same damned color as the fill, and take it right to the edge, which I didn't do below. Behold, flaws:

Still cute, but I learned things. Wonky edges showing on the hearts. But it's a pretty good shot of how smooth the fill is, under the fluffy stuff.

Let your cookies dry till the fill surface is hard- mine took a couple of hours, some people say overnight which is fine because you're sick of frosting. 

The secret to the leaves coloring is Vodka. Not joking. They are painted with a tiny amount of gel food color, just like water color paints, and a teaspoon of vodka. It evaporates and dries quickly without effing up the fill frosting. Use the vodka on your brush, like water, (a soft fluffy brush) and brush the color on in small amounts. Orange or green one side, yellow the other, then light quick strokes straight across till they meet and blend. Play with the amounts, eat the mistakes. Then paint raggedy brown leaf veins with a thin brush. (Okay, clean MAC eyeliner brush is perfect; don't tell my daughter, or she'll want it back.) 

It's actually a quicker process than it sounds. 

Whatever you do, do not look at this website of amazingness. These are the cookies of a cookie goddess, and she exists to make me feel stoopid and clumsy. She has some good free tutorials about icing, though. 

http://www.sweetambs.com/wedding/

emcme22

Thank you so much @ohannabelle  It feels daunting but I might attempt it soon.  Today I just made some run of the mill chocolate chip cookies because some women at my dad's work requested them.  Oddly enough they get requested a lot, but they are pretty typical nothing fancy

ohannabelle

emcmac87 said:

Thank you so much @ohannabelle  It feels daunting but I might attempt it soon.  Today I just made some run of the mill chocolate chip cookies because some women at my dad's work requested them.  Oddly enough they get requested a lot, but they are pretty typical nothing fancy

Because they're classic, and you can't eat a better cookie than old fashioned chocolate chip. 

(It sounds daunting, but really not- outline, fill, paint. I eat the mistakes. The worst thing that can happen is cookies.)  

slothiegal

What in the world CAN'T you do?!

Senecaf

slothiegal said:

What in the world CAN'T you do?!

Right?? Gah! You are AMAZING woman!

ohannabelle

Can not knit or crotchet to save my life. Can't dance, or pass a math class, or lose twenty pounds. 

Meh. I'd rather have cookies.