Things that make me happy

Inspired by Color me Katie, here are a few things that made me happy this past week:

Giant margaritas at Masa in celebration of Carrie's birthday

FINALLY framing our handmade paper from Thailand

FINALLY framing the embroidered 'lenco enamorado' I made for T for Christmas. Oh love!

Making MC Escher-inspired shapes out of picture framing hardware.

Celebrating Steph's med school graduation with a sock monkey, and thinking about how I could make a sock monkey that would have a womb and give birth. (Steph's an OBGYN.)

Watching the monkey frolic in the gardens, happy to finally be united with his new owner

Gazing deep into beautiful purple flowers

Daydreaming about building a doll house one day.. for myself!

Laughing at silly sock monkey products.

Wearing purple monkey socks with my purple laced sneakers!

:-)
.

From Sock to Bottom

Before, these were just socks:

Brand new, fuzzy socks. Just the kind you'd want to put on now that the weather is getting cooler. Put on... or cut up! And sew! And stuff!  do some more hand sewing!

After:

An adorable, huggable, oh so soft violet friend! She's ready to love you (she wears her heart on her chest). And she needs your love, because she's handmade. Her ears are a little far back on her head, and her arms aren't quite even, but that smile --- that smile is captivating .I'm sure baby Olivia is going to love her.
.

Best Dress EVER

This is the best little sock monkey dress for grown-ups EVER!!!

Make your own muppet!

You can now order your own custom muppet from FAO Shwartz. Of course, I prefer sock monkeys still, and they're just $40 instead of $90 for this here muppet.

Monkeys overcome paralysis - can you too?

With the help of single cell stimulation, these monkeys learned to overcome paralysis. Does that mean all those paralyzed people are just faking it?

Monkey Waiters in Japan

From Reuters: Oct 6 - Hard pressed to find good helping hands these days? Not bothered that these helping hands may not be human?

Then you may want to try hiring the same workers as used by the owners of the Japanese tavern Kayabukiya.

The local hangout just north of Tokyo employs a pair of Japanese monkeys called Yat-chan and Fuku-chan to serve their customers.

The younger of the two, Fuku-chan, usually begins the first shift and is quick to hand out customers a hot towel to help them clean their hands before they order their first drinks.

Fuku-chan, who is four, has only two years experience under his furry belt and his work load is limited to hot towels.

Both monkeys are well appreciated by customers who tip them with boiled soya-beans to enjoy during their down time.

Sock Monkeys now for sale online!

If you've seen the photos of my sock monkeys and always wanted one of your own, now's your chance. Check out my newly minted Etsy storefront - M is for Monkey!

   .

Sock Animals - New additions to the family

I uploaded quite a few photos of recent sock creations. My favorite is Cinnamon. No, it's Liberty. No, Rosie. Ahh too many sock animals!

In other monkey news, I may start stuffing the animales with "reclaimed wool." This guy out in Washington state takes thrift store sweaters and shreds them with this special machine to make stuffing!!!! How cool is that? So instead of using poly-fill (which is polyester) or fiberfill or really expensive bamboo stuffing, I can do the ultimate in green-ness - reusing. Plus, it's just about the same price as poly-fill. For slightly more, he can provide one color, which may be necessary for some of my sock animals made out of white socks.

I'll just have to see what kind of monkey this stuffing makes! You can email him at pldunster at centurytel dot net if you'd like to learn more. This dude needs a website.

Monkey Cupcakes by Casey

Yesterday was the bake-off at work... and you know I can't resist competition. Unfortunately, I became sidetracked by cuteness instead of going hardcore after the flavorhounds. I still think I should have won, as my dessert was hands down the best looking:

OMG! Why didn't I win?

The prep work AFTER baking the cupcakes

I cut out the centers and put in teaspoons of strawberry jam.
Next time I might bake the jam into them... but the jam was a nice addition.

After frosting with a very sloppy batter, I placed the cookies on and drew their little faces.

Not everyone got to be a monkey. Some got runts on top instead.

I used the delicious chocolate cupcake and icing recipes from Chockylit. I think I baked them slightly too long. Also, the frosting was a little sloppy to hold monkey faces on it. Once I refrigerated them, they firmed up but the icing lost some of its gooey goodness.

And yes, these cupcakes were for adults.

What, adults can't have fun??

Mistakes

We all make mistakes.

Mine happen to often occur around ears:

Help! My left ear is coming out of my neck!

Sigh. I seem to do this all the time.

Monkey Business

I learned how to make sock monkeys two and a half years ago. Quirky. Fun. Time consuming. If you get a monkey, you're special. Making sock monkeys is no way to make a business, that's for sure.

How many monkeys can you fit on the back of a couch?