Turkey Trot! Trot! Trot!

I love the month of November. There's a chill in the air and much to be thankful for! I get to celebrate my Birthday, my Wedding Anniversary and Thanksgiving!  After all that celebrating it will be time for a diet, but I won't bore with those details! Even though I am up to my ears in fabric and holiday orders, I wanted to share some projects with you that you can create yourself!  Maybe I will inspire you to get the paints, glue and flour out!
First, I love turkeys.  So that will be our theme. I have this fond memory of by little brother's kindergarten Thanksgiving performance...he stood on stage with a turkey mask and sang: 
Turkey trot, trot, trot. 
Across the lot, lot, lot. 
Feeling fine, fine, fine 
Until Thanksgiving time!
We still sing this every year and laugh about it.  Chris is now an Olympian and world class ski cross racer, so the fact that we still get such a good belly laugh out of that one silly song, warms my heart! 


I sent my little one off to school today for her Thanksgiving Feast and have been DYING to have her wear this dress. I have a lovely woman who is kind enough to make all the custom things I dream up. I got smart this time around and had her make this dress reversible. Halloween witch boots on one side and yes, you guessed it, a turkey on the other! I could have sold a dozen of these today, which got me thinking about needing to take sewing lessons!
My Little Miss in her Turkey Trot! Trot! Trot! Dress
Here is what I am whipping up using the turkey as my theme:
CRAFT
  • Turkey Handprint Aprons
  • Gather your girlfriends and their kiddos for a Pre-Turkey-Day Play Date.  Ask everyone to bring the following items:
  • 1 bottle fabric paint
  • 1 bottle puffy paint
  • Aprons (light colored fabric works best>
(All the items can be purchased at your local craft store. I like to do an apron for me (the chef), one for Sophia (the sous chef) and our guests who will be joining us for Thanksgiving Dinner.  These also make fabulous hostess gifts if you heading out to give thanks.)




As you can see from the picture, you paint the hand and thumb brown and each finger a different color for the feathers and then place it on the apron. 
Next paint the legs, a beak and a wattle (aka the 'gobbler' in my house) onto the apron.  I am going one step further this year and hot-gluing a plastic eye on, but you can paint one on just as well. Be sure to paint names, the year and a fun saying.
Set everything aside to dry, let the kids play and enjoy the treats below!


TREATS
I have so many turkey treats to share, I had a hard time nailing down just two! 


Cookie Treats
These cookies are perfect to go along with your Turkey Apron Play Date. 




First, whip up your favorite sugar cookies (if you need a no fail, d-lish, A+ cookie recipe, send me a note and I will email you mine). Next, you will need chocolate icing for glue, candy corn (I have a ton leftover from Halloween), small candies for eyes and some tubes of colored icing. You can just follow the picture below and voila! Darling, yummy cookies!


Candy Treats
This idea came to me from one of my craftiest pals from college. Megsy, I love you and all your craftiness! These gobblers are super cute and you can eat them! I am using them as place cards this year since I have a table full of kiddos arriving for Thanksgiving dinner.


You will need:
  • cherry cordials or truffles for bodies
  • striped cookies for feathers
  • oreos for stands
  • candy corn for beaks
  • chocolate chips for legs
  • chocolate icing for glue




Just assemble them and giggle in delight like I did! So cute! So fun! So unexpected! 


TABLESCAPE
A friend came over last week and was floored that I had most of my table set for Thanksgiving. I find myself setting tables at odd hours when I have 10 minutes of silence and the whole house is still.  My entire dining room set has been passed down to me and belonged to my late grandparents. I like to spend time listening to my memories of great meals we shared together at that table.  I also like to imagine all the characters that have sat in those chairs.


Anyway, I think a lot of people are afraid to tackle a nice tablescape. Maybe your budget doesn't allow for extravagance.  Maybe you are pressed for time. Maybe you are not creative. I tried to come up with something using what I had instead of rushing out to buy more stuff. (insert happy husband here...he was thrilled to see this table knowing he didn't have to haul more boxes of new stuff (or crap) up to the attic come November 26)
I started with a vintage tablecloth from my grandmother.  I love her old things from Europe and try to use them all the time.  I added our HBDesigns Turkey Trot place mats.  I love these! One side mat (think charger for the toddler-aged), one side chalk board.  The kids can doodle while they wait for dinner to be served.  Heck, my husband will be doodling too! It's a win-win!


(shown fabric side up)
(shown chalk board side up)


You can see I tied a couple pieces of chalk up for each guest and I took time to write a little something on each mat to get the ideas flowing.
I added some pumpkins, candles and set everyone's place with china, silver, crystal and linen napkins. You're in a state of shock.  I know! I know! I am a little nuts! Yes, children will be sitting at this table! I use the 'good stuff' all the time.  Why should it sit in the china closet? Everything can be replaced and I feel like I am teaching my daughter how to respect and use nice things.  Finally, each guest gets a turkey gobbler which serves a tasty treat and a place card (with the addition of a Kit-Kat candy piece for the name). 




So there you have it.  I know we are all so busy, but some times you just have to take the time to sit and make things by hand.  If you can gather your friends and make things together, you'll be even more thankful you took the time.  I hope I inspired you to get creative!


Boys will be Boys! Write?

We design a ton of items for both ladies and little ladies around here at HBDesigns and when we get to work on more masculine projects we welcome the challenge with sharp sheers and sticky glue just as we would anything else.  
Remember, we're on a mission to bring back the art of handwritten notes, one fabulous set of fabrinery at a time...that includes creating items for all the men and boys in your life. 
This week we wanted to showcase some of our more manly creations to get you thinking about the men in your life.  They need to thank, write and invite people too! They have parties and clients and deserve to have creative items just as much as we do!  


Here is some wonderful fabrinery we created recently:
Left-charcoal gray linen, Right-Slate Gray Silk


Don't boys deserve to have super fun fabritations too?
Created with Camo Corduroy
Planning a terrific party for that special man in your life? 
Boxed Multi-Layered Fabritation
Open view

Do you want your son to write nice thank you notes? He will these fun fabrics! And his friends will want them too!  No more complaining about writing notes!
Collection of Cotton Fabrics
Maybe you need an over-the-top fabritation for a fabulous celebration!
Golden Birthday Fabritation in Crushed Velvet and Gold Lame


Lastly, our male customers are flipping over these little guys!
Front View
Back View
Our Wine Bottle Tags solve that problem that we all have...running out the door to a dinner party or special celebration, bottle in hand and DRAT!! no card, no bow and no bag...Your gift will standout with our tags.  Just grab one, write a note and hang it on the bottle. VOILA! Your gift looks perfect! We can customize them any way you want using the fabric you like best.






A Season to be Thankful

I have been doing a lot of thinking about how thankful I am.  I guess it is perfect timing as the warm summer air turns crisp and the smell of fall fills the house. 

My thankful list is pretty long. I try and refer to it often. It is so easy to get caught up in the rush of life and to forget about the core things that really matter.

Here are a few things I am thankful for today:


  • I don't consider my job 'work'...I get to do what I love to do every day and I love it. I love creating, designing and hunting down a fabric for a customer no matter how far I have to look!
  • I am thankful for my good health. I am working on getting back in shape after years of putting everyone else first. It feels great! If you're in the same boat, you can do it! 
  • After years of being afraid to jump in and take risks with my business in fear that people would not like my products, I am now on the verge of something BIG. I can feel it. We are growing leaps and bounds and are blessed to have the support of family and friends to push us along.
I guess it is fitting that I spend a lot of time thinking about thanks, it is a big part of what we do here at HBDesigns. Take a peek at the Fabrinery below. Each of these notes will be used to express thanks.  In fact, this customer has been using our notes to thank people for years.  Another, item for my thankful list: We are so lucky to have wonderful customers! Maybe you'll be next!

Luxe Silk Fabrinery Collection


So, in the spirit of the season, tell us what you are THANKFUL for.  Post your comment here and join our FaceBook and you'll be entered to win (1) set of fabrinery! After writing what you are thankful for, please leave your email address so we can contact you! Winner will be selected on 10/15/10. 

We've been busy creating!

Ok, so things have been a little crazy around the HBDesigns studio. Just when we think we are on top of it, we get another great idea and orders start pouring in!

Here is what we've been up to!

We added large kid's place mats to our fabrations (fabric + celebrations) line:


(shown w/ single initial)


(shown plain)

We took it one step further and created place mats that will keep the kiddos busy while your finishing dinner...one side mat, one side chalk board:



Fabrinery orders have been at an all time high:






We put together a few fabritations (fabric + invitations) along the way:




And we have been hard at work producing our wine tags:



Needless to say, we're growing, growing, growing and couldn't be happier about all our new clients. We hope to hear from you soon!  Don't you want fashionable notes and invitations too?

Contact me at hb@hbdesigns.net

I am off and running!

Well, folks after years of creating for my faithful clients (thank you!), I have taken the plunge into the world of wholesale stationery! I know, I know for those of you who know me, you are thinking "It is about darn time!"  Everything happens for a reason and happens when it happens, so here I am.  Working early mornings, late nights and every where in between while keeping my precious family clean, fed and clothed! 

I am working tirelessly on fabrinery (my signature line of note cards...fabric + stationery), fabritations (my line of handmade invitations...fabric + invitations), my website (yes, it will FINALLY be up and running...soon), my financial skills (ask my husband, I need a ton of help in this category!), the concept and design for my FINDS Dallas booth (I will be at 'market' June 25-28 on the 12th floor booth 12-3517) and of course many other things that have little importance here (i.e. room mom duties, my facebook addiction, etc.). Shoot, one more thing, I am currently trying to figure out to use this darn blog site! 

Somewhere along the way, I found my voice again.  My creative voice.  Many of you know the drill.  We spend so much time helping others and worrying about the small stuff, we lose sight of what really makes you happy. For me, happiness is gluing late at night. Hunting and hunting for the perfect fabric. Giggling like a school girl when a project comes together. Fancy paper turns me on. And I cannot tell a lie, I love.love.love my ATG 700 (a little inside tape humor).  I mean, let's face it, I am sucker for a crafty craft.

Which reminds me, before you ask...no I did not learn my craftiness from my mother.  She will tell you. "I don't do crafts, never have, never will. I just don't know where Heather gets it!" She doesn't knit, sew and more importantly, she does not glue!  I think I can thank my late sister Dana for most of my craftiness.  She was a wonder. She wrote beautiful poems, schemed up elaborate party ideas on cocktail napkins, sang like a lark, put on a darn good show and made people laugh.  She was also one tough cookie.  Oh, and she was quite an artist.  In a way, I named my company after her.  She called me "HB" (Heather Brooke is my given name). HB was a catchy nickname and people still call me that today.  I love it. It reminds me of Dana. People call it out and I always think of her.  I added the "D" for Del Bosco, my maiden name and HBDesigns was born!  

I have been busily creating fancy things all my life. As a child, I loved making fancy nameplates for my mom's dinner parties.  I would spend hours ironing napkins and making them into fans, or fun shapes. If the internet had been around back then, man, I would have been an ace.  I spent the first 18 years of my life in Vail, Colorado (I know, I know...you are asking yourself, "You are from Vail? No one is from Vail!") Well, folks, I am from Vail.  There was one small art store in town...I had to be very creative to get things done!  I look back and think I was a bit Martha Stewart, a tad Fancy Nancy and pinch Barbara Walters (I loved to tell stories and ask questions).

So here it begins, my journey as a real live business owner.  I mean, your stuff has to be in stores for it to be real, right?  I hope you will come along and watch me grow.  I hope I can create things you have to have! I hope I can make you laugh. My husband hopes I can make some money! So, hop on board the HBDesigns Express.  I won't let you down!
Ciao!


 
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