Long Term Review of Brooksbot75 Skull Purse

I got an awesomely wicked handmade metal skull purse from Brooksbot75 a while ago. I was lucky enough to interview him for my other blog, fell head-over-heals in love with this purse... which I then saved up all my precious pennies to buy to replace my busted and thread bare 'crocheted' purse monstrosity I bought at Target for 10 bucks about a year before to fill the need for a purse. I figured a freaking metal purse would last longer! I got it a little after the first of the year.

It took a little bit of time to get my purse because I ordered it right during the x-mas rush... but I was in no hurry. Pursey (that's what I named him) came with the custom length chain so I could put the purse over my shoulder. I dont know why most purses these days have short straps so that you cannot use both your hands while shopping or have to stuff it in your armpit... again impeding use of your arms. I am one of those crazy people who want a purse securely slung across my body, but I still want to use both arms and hands without having to worry about my purse falling either to my elbow or onto the floor... go figure.

Pursey is lined, which is nice. It saves my keys, pocket book and cellphone from unnecessary wear and lessens the amount of sounds coming from my purse. My purse does squeak on occasion (from the movement of the chain... think school yard swings) but that is easily stopped by resting hand on top of his very touchable cranium. I know that I am constantly fingering his smooth metal surface and tracing his copper grommets! This 'chrome dome' makes a great drum to pass the time, too!

Pursey is heavy, but it almost all comes from the chain. The chain is steel, while the purse itself is lightweight aluminum. I plan on some day replacing the chain with a leather equivalent to lighten the load. This purse, as a bonus, could definitely be used as a self defense weapon if needed. (I need to level up so I can get WP Chain.... gamer geek humor there) Given that it is a metal skull, I would imagine that that would also be a theft deterrent.

Pursey is a bit small inside. I can only fit my small pocket book, basic cellphone and my keys in him. That is okay with me, I have always been drawn to small purses. The opening mechanism is simple, but I believed it has been redesigned a bit (I have the first version of this purse, and I believe Brooksbot75 is onto a second version) I still like it. It can open unexpectedly if you bump it just right, so be warned.

Random people comment about him all the time. I frequently get "Is that a purse?", "Cool skull!" and "Did you make that?" from all kinds of people. I have even had people ask to take pictures of my purse with their cellphones!

Overall Impression:
Pros: Awesome design, small, graphic, can be a weapon, eye-catching, decent price, handmade.
Cons: Can be a bit heavy with the steel chain, can open unexpectedly, small, watch out when around things that can scratch... like the paint jobs on cars.

Winners in the Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Giveaway!

Congratulations is order for the two winners! Congrats Christa and Aik! You will be contacted soon and I hope you enjoy your free sauce!

Product Review: Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

Not too long ago I was contacted by the good folks at Country Bob, Inc to do not only a product review of their All Purpose Sauce, but to run a great blog give away (see my previous thread). For this I have decided to try a few applications. I have tried it straight from the bottle, sausage gravy, on and in turkey burgers and in a stew.

First off: Straight out of the Bottle:


The sauce is thick and a dark reddish brown. The taste is pretty strong, and very sweet. It reminds me of a steak sauce. It would probably make a great steak sauce, because it tastes like a mix between ketchup and A-1. I actually like it better than A-1 because instead of the vinegar-wine bite (which I think can be a bit strong) the Country Bob All Purpose Sauce is nice and sweet. The only down side that I can see is that the product contains high fructose corn syrup, which I am trying to cut out of my families diet.

Breakfast: The Best Sausage Gravy & Biscuits


I have made basically this same recipe before, but without the sauce. I also used the sausage drippings in addition to the butter for the base. I used the same sausage (Bob Evan's Brand) and biscuits (Bisquick). The sauce looks a little darker, but that makes sense because of the darker color of the sauce. The sauce has some nice molasses undertones and I feel it rounds out the sage from the sausage nicely. It transforms the gravy into a more hearty flavor than spicy flavor normal Bob Evan's style gravy tastes like. If you use a less flavorful sausage, I think you would taste the sauce more. It is a nice addition to this breakfast treat!

Lunch: Turkey Burgers (sorry, no picture)

This recipe was an original by my husband. He used a little sauce in the ground turkey burger (along with a few spices, bread and milk). We also put some on the burger once it was done cooking. It wasnt too bad, but I found I actually could taste the sauce in the meat when I ate a few patties cold the next day. Warm, the there was just a little sweetness of the meat. My husband did notice that the burgers had a tentancy to burn in the pan... but that could either be because of all the sugars in the sauce (HFCS, mollases, sugar) or that he had the pan was too hot. We didnt put any other condements or extras on the burgers... so that may also change the interplay of flavors.

Dinner: Slow Cooker Stew


I followed the recipe for this one pretty much dead on, but I used lamb instead of beef. You marinade the meat the night before, which emparts a sweetness to the meat. The stew itself was tomatoe based, which we dont normally do. It actually reminded me of my mom's version of goulash (which isnt a bad thing). There was a lot of liquid in the slow cooker. The stew meat kept some of the sweet flavor, but I think the gamyness of the lamb overpowered the some times delicate flavor but the meat was very tender. We couldnt really taste any of the sauce in the drippings.

Overview: I would definitly use this as a steak sauce. I prefer it to other, more common, steak sauces. I will probably continue to experiment with it in other recipes. It is pretty flavorful when it is by itself but you may need to tweek the amount of the sauce in recipes if you want to make sure you taste it. I recommend trying it, especially if you find normal sauces too strong in the bite department.

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce Interview and Giveaway!

I have some exciting news! I have been contacted by Mr. Al Malekovic from Country Bob Inc to review on of their products, Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce, on my blog. Mr Malekovic also was gracious enough to answer some questions for me for an interview. What makes this even better is he is putting up two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce for a blog give away! I cant fit all of these wonderful things into one blog post (who would want to read through ALL of that anyway!?) so I am splitting it into two blog posts, one that contains the interview and blog giveaway, and another that will detail the culinary creations my husband and I make and try using Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. First off… the interview and giveaway!



Mr. Al Malekovic answered the following questions for me.


What’s the story behind Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce? What was the inspiration? Country Bob was a carnival barker and a Don Rickles all wrapped into one. He owned a gas station and would BBQ for the cronies that came and gossiped. He came up up with the sauce in 1968. In 1982 Country Bob, his son Terry, (He is my son-law), Reed my son and I stared a Corp and put it on the market. We had to learn the hard way. Trail and Error. He died in 2001 of cancer. You can also look at our web site under story.

How large is the Country Bob’s company? We are a very small company, 14 employees, but we are fully automated and have a fine crew. We use food brokers, who help get Country Bobs in the stores.


How many different products does Country Bob’s make? Do you have any new products waiting in the wings? We have four products, Country Bobs, Country Bobs Spicy, Seasoning Salt and a BBQ sauce. Because of the cost of developing a product we are not coming out with anything new. We use to have a Sloppy Bob sauce but we were having it made somewhere else and that company went under and we could not find another to make small batches for us. It was a great product.



Where can you find Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce? You can find Country Bobs at Kroger, Wal Mart Super Center and about every store in *Cincy! (*Cincinnati, Ohio... for those of you who are not familiar with the area)


What makes Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce unique? What makes Country Bobs so unique, it truly is a All Purpose Sauce. Use it on steaks, a great dipping sauce, bbq sauce and to flavor up soups, stews, casseroles etc.


What’s the most common recipe Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce gets used in? Most people use it as a dipping sauce and with appetizers with little smokies and meat balls.


What’s the most unexpected recipe Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce can be used for? The most unique use is in fudge recipe in our cookbook.

What is the best complement or comment you have had about your products? The best compliment we have had is from the kids. "Gimmie more Bobs Mommy"




Here comes the fun part! The giveaway! It is really simple. First, go to the recipe page at the Country Bob Inc website, pick out a recipe that looks interesting. Next come back to this blog entry. In the comment section, leave a comment with you email address and the recipe you found! That is all you have to do! Incomplete entries will not be entered. This contest will last until the Sunday before Labor Day. September 6th, 2009 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Two winners will be picked at random and each winner will receive a FREE bottle of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. Winner will be contacted via email to gather the needed information to send you a bottle.



So what are you waiting for? Go over to the recipe page and find something yummy! If you try anything and write about it, let me know. I will link it on my blog!


Images used with permission from the Country Bob Inc website.

Joe's Gizzarad City, Potterville, MI: Food Review

About two years ago my husband and I took a trip to a great little place that I just want to share with the world! This tasty deep fried treat is called Joe's Gizzard City in Potterville, Michigan. First off, I love chicken gizzards and getting to go a place that specializes in them is a rare treat around here. Another added bonus is that half the things on the menu are deep fried. This isnt a place if you have a history of heart problems! The town is tiny, and the place has the look of a classic old dark 'townie' hang-out where they serve their beers in mason jars (seriously!). It is actually a somewhat well known place for bikers spot! Our server, Matt (with two T's), was a great and extremely friendly.

And now on to the important part... the FOOD!!

Here is everything that we ordered.

Appetizer: Sweet Corn Nuggets
Meals: Gizzard Dinner (me) and Bacon Cheese Burger (my husband)
Dessert: Deep Fried Dessert Platter (I dont remember the actual name, but that will give you a good idea of what to expect!)


Appetizer: We decided to try the deep fried sweet corn nuggets because years ago at some random Big Boy my husband and I stopped for breakfast. I am not a big corn fan, but they had some deep fried creamed corn that was absolutely wonderful. I had never seen them since or anything similar until I went to Joe's. The nuggets are served with ranch, which goes well with the crunchy shell. These nuggets seemed to be a mix of creamed corn and chunky corn, but they still tasted good. They didnt seem to burst all over, which some times is an issue with deep fried creamy stuff like jalapeno poppers (I always seem to have those explode all over me, covering me with hot cheese!). I thought it was the perfect food to start off a deep fried meal... it is a veggie so it has to be healthy right?


Meals - My Husband: My husband 'chickened' out and got one of the more normal items on the menu... a Bacon Cheese Burger. I do have to say, the last time we went, he got the deep fried burger, so I suppose he paid his dues :) The burger came with fries and my husband got the 'Everything Deluxe' version. We have a saying in my house, the more messy a burger it is, the better it tastes. Well, this burger wasnt as messy as my husband would have liked, but the taste was good. It was a solid burger, nothing to be ashamed of, but nothing to write home about either. My husband especially liked the bun. The ketchup they had was Red Gold brand, which definitely tastes different than the standard brands. I like it, but I dont think my husband did as much. That was okay, he ended up dipping his fries in my ranch!


Meals - Mine: I got the gizzard dinner, with a dozen gizzards, half Traditional Beer Battered Deep Fried and half 'Naked'. It came with coleslaw, bread and a potato. I got mashed potatoes with chicken gravy.


The coleslaw came out first with a side of bread. The slaw was good, but had a bit of a bite to it... and by a bit, I mean you could definitely taste a lot of what my husband identified as horseradish. If you dont like horseradish, dont get the coleslaw. The bread was like a mix between toast and croutons. Very tasty!

The mashed potatoes were good, but the real interesting point about them were the gravy. I have never seen such yellow gravy in my life! It was literally the color of mustard! It didnt taste like mustard though... it tasted like a gravy version of Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup. Interesting combo. Oh, and it looked as if the skins on the potatoes were left on for the mashing, wish means they were made at the establishment!


Now, on to the good part, the gizzards! Just so you know, not only do the gizzards come with marinara sauce, but ranch (not pictured) as well. Both are good. There are pros and cons to both kinds, Traditional and Naked.

The first kind, traditional is beer battered and deep fried. The breading keeps the gizzards EXTREMELY moist and tender. They just melt in your mouth and some of the best meat I have ever had. The slight issue of the breaded traditional is the breading adds a lot of bulk and you cant eat a lot of them without getting full to quickly... and tearing all the breading off to get to the wonderful morsels seems a bit wasteful.

The naked gizzards have no batter and because of that, when they are fried, they get a little tough on the outside. They are still tasty, but they are not really as moist and tender as their battered counterpart... but you can eat a lot more of these. I like these better for cold leftovers.

Dessert: Deep Fried Platter: Deep Fried Strips of Elephant Ears, Deep Fried Oreos, Two Deep Fried Nutter Butters, Joe's Nuts, Deep Fried Cheesecake, and Deep Fried Cookie Dough. Oh, and there are three dipping sauces: Chocolate, Caramel and Strawberry.


Let me tell you, this is one HUGE dessert platter. You can, of course, order these items individually, but variety is the spice of life right!? (and the destruction of your waistline) Our platter actually came in three 'courses' because first, the cheesecake didnt turn out, then they forgot the Joe's Nuts... so we got a free third doughnut once those came out of the deep fryer!

First we ate the deep fried elephant ears (the two thin strips of dough on the left hand side of the image). Yep, they taste like elephant ears! Given that elephant ears are normally deep fried, they had to be the least exciting item on the plate.

Next we moved onto the deep fried Oreos (in the top of the picture, behind the caramel sauce!) OMG those were heavenly! It was like the cookie liquefied and was just a wonderful gushy mess. This was my second favorite dessert on the plate! See the insides in the image? That is pure yummy!


Third we turned into next item on the first plate and dug into the Deep Fried Nutter-Butters. The peanut butter cookies also seemed to liquefy, but not the extent as the Oreos. They were really good with the chocolate sauce.

The last item on the only came with a single 'dose', and that was the Deep Fried Cookie Dough. I am going to admit, I am biased. I LOVE anything cookie dough, just about as much as I love bacon. Basically it is a huge lump (probably 2-3 cookies worth) deep fried. The second time we went to Joe's we got a whole plate of these suckers, 3 huge balls! Anyway, this puppy is warm, chocolaty and gooey! It is like a mix between raw cookie dough and a cooked one... I dont know exactly how to describe it. I think this something you either will love or hate, and I love it! Here is a candid shot of the nom-a-riffic insides!


Our Deep Fried Cheesecakes (second image, the wedges) I think had gram crackers mixed into the deep fried shell. These actually had a tendency to burst when you bit into them, and they were hot... so if you decide to go this route, just be careful. The strawberry sauce went perfectly with these little wedges. They were also high on my list of things that taste wonderful deep fried.

Lastly, we got Joe's Nuts. These are deep fried mini doughnuts. They were pretty good, but to really enjoy them, I found that you need to eat them cold! We couldnt quite finish our third doughnut so we brought it home with the leftovers. I love cold leftovers, and the cold nut has like caramelized sugar layer under the deep fried batter. Nom nom!


Overall Impression: I am moving, so I am going to miss this little gem of a grease spot. I would never eat here everyday, but for a special heart clogging treat, it cant be beat. If you are planning a trip of back roads and little town hot spots in Mid-Michigan, give Joe's Gizzards City a try!

Product Review: Glilttersniffer Eyeshadows

I didnt think I would have time to blog this month, but lo and behold... I have a few spare moments! Since I am going to be starting a new (and more grown up) job soon, I decided I needed to replace my ancient cosmetics I have had for years and years and years. I wanted to invest in some nice stuff, but also some more natural stuff. I had been skulking around glittersniffer's shop for a while, just waiting for an excuse to go hog wild. Well, one day she was having a huge sale, so I jumped on it! Glittersniffer is not only really well known on etsy, but she is also a member of DIYscene which I am a member of as well.

I went crazy and bought 15 new eyeshadows to experiment with. My list included the following:
Boss
Shwag
Money
Redrum
Nova
Liar
Fusion
Universe
Kristin
Raw cocoa
Playboy
Silk sheets
Roxie
24k
Blow
Kush
I tried to get a variety of colors so I could mix and match stuff to go with all my work outfits, and still have some fun if I ever decided to get dressed up or go out. Each pot (except for Boss) contains 5 grams of loose powder. This stuff is extremely potent and a little bit goes a LONG way. I have only had them for 2 days, but I just love them so far! They stay on great, and the depth of the color is wonderful. All I need to do now is invest in some good makeup brushes and eyeshadow base. Since I am not used to wearing makeup, I tend to forget and accidentally rub my eye... the base should help with that. I wish I could have bought every color! There are even some shades named after other etsy sellers!

Here is the very simple look I put together this morning. Nothing special, just some Boss blended with some Universe!



Overall Impression: I love this eyeshadow and I would recommend Glittersniffer to anyone. Her shadow is 100% pure minerals, plus she has some eyecreams that I need to get my hands on! They might seem a little pricy (at least to me... wet'n'wild used to be my thing) with 5 bucks for 5 grams, but it is worth every penny!!!

Product Review: Custom Thank You Stamp from Owlbaby

One fine day while twittering, I happened across a glowing recommendation from one of my followers beaming about her wonderful handmade stamp from a fellow etsyian. I saw the example she linked and saw the price... and I figured a handmade "thank you" stamp would look great on my recipes! After look at Owlbaby's shop, I was sold by the quality!

I contacted Owlbaby, and she was more than happy to do a custom stamp for me. Communication was quick and clear... which is a great thing when collaborating on custom items (and one of the key components in my opinion). She showed me to a page full of every kind of font you could imagine and I picked out one called "Burton's Nightmare" which is modeled after The Nightmare Before Christmas font. I also included in my stamp my cat face logo. Once I figured out how to send a rough sketch of the layout (I forgot that etsy will only allow you to send certain formats), it only took about a week to get my brand new, totally handmade stamp in the mail! The only thing I forgot to ask about was price (stupid me, totally my fault) but her stamps are very affordable!



Overall Impression: Wonderful work for a wonderful price. My roughly (I havent measured it) 2x2 inch handmade stamp was only about 10 bucks, with my pick of logo and font! Owlbaby was a joy to work with, and very quick! If you need any stamps made, I would definitly recommend Owlbaby!

(Photos used with permission from Owlbaby)

Product Review: Custom Silver 8 gauge Earrings with Coral Drops from Lisa's Lovlies

I saved up all my etsy money to buy myself something really special, and I decided to go with a pair of custom earrings from Lisa's Lovlies! While I make jewelry myself, I dont made large gauge earrings. I have 8 gauge main holes and there arent many sellers on etsy who cater to those with stretched lobes. Lisa's Lovlies is one beautiful shop where you can get larger gauge earrings, along with normal sized jewelry.

I contacted Lisa and we quickly worked out exaclty what I wanted, which was a pair of sterling silver 1 inch diameter hoops with beautiful coral drops. She made them in a few days, and I had them at my door with in a week of finalizing the design. I was so giddy when I got them, I just had to get them in as soon as I got them! They are extremely solidly made and they have a great weight to them. I am so happy to have dangly earrings again! I wear them 24 hours a day, and they have been a dream!



Overall Impression: Lisa has excellent customer service and is very attentive. She is great to work with and works extremely fast. These earrings are well made and will last a long time. They are worth every penny for the wonderful quality!

Product Review: Custom Quilt from YankeeCrow

New Quilt!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Looking down the barrel at up to 5 different Christmas celebrations this year, my husband and I decided to shave one off by having ours on Thanksgiving. I was so excited when he opened his gift. It had been waiting for months to be unveiled! But I get ahead of myself...

I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what the heck to get my husband. I am a terrible gift giver... I feel I come up with terrible idea or get into a rut of the same thing for years and years. My husband is wonderful at giving me ideas, but I undoubtedly forget them as soon as something shiny comes across my field of view.

One fine day I happened to be in a chat room on etsy and YankeeCrow was in there. I saw her beautiful work and that got me to thinking. My grandmother gave us a wonderful quilt for our wedding and I know he really liked to sleep under it. Unfortunately, it got a little tear in it and we havent been able to get it fix yet (there is a local quilt place that just moved... so we have to take it there). I thought it would be great to give my something beautiful that we could pass down for years. I asked about the possibly of Yankeecrow creating a custom quilt... and the adventure began!

The first hurdle was the colors. My husband loves dark purple and dark green. Picking out the right shades of purple and green were paramount because he is a little bit picky about colors. This had to be the most tricky part of the whole process (for me anyway). Yankeecrow and I chatted about colors and patters. I was worried that it might be a little hard to convey my ideas over the internet... because all the quilts I normally see are very, how shall we say, foo foo girly cutesy things. Neither me, nor my husband, like foo foo girly cutesy things. I have to day, Yankeecrow listened to my every word and worked so hard to get everything perfect. She right away saw my vision of a masculine and simple but bold quilt. She has a great head for colors and concepts! We talked for days, and she continually updated me along the whole time. I am so happy to work with her, and I am glad to say I also gained a friend along the way. There were a few bumps in the road (like finding one of the fabrics was discontinued...) but everything progressed wonderfully.

When my quilt came in the mail, it was just beautiful! As you can see, I also got some matching pillow cases. I wanted to give it to my husband right then, but I knew I couldnt. I dropped a large chunk of change on this beauty and I just couldnt afford to get anything more.

I am so glad that we had Christmas early, so I could share it with everyone out there! I had to wait to write this review because I coudnt risk my husband finding out about it! I am so glad he loves it. He loves the colors and is sleeping under it right now!

Overall Impression: Yankeecrow did a wonderful job. She is a breeze to work with and has great ideas, along with working with input. She tries extremely hard to bring your dreams to fruition. I would definitely use her again if I ever need another gift to wow!

Product Review: oh the horror... BRAIN bowl from Foldedpigs

I was so so so excited when my husband called me during work today. He told me that a box was waiting for me... a wonderful box from a wonderful seller named foldedpigs. This seller is one of the first sellers I ever hearted when I first started this crazy thing called Etsy. I have saved up my paypal pennies to finally... finally get a Brain Bowl. It is hard to snag one, because they go so quickly, but I did it! This will go perfect with my skull cookie jar and eyeball salt and pepper shakers!


Well, when I got home there was this wonderful box with a great graphic of an anatomic heart on it... well that gets extra brownie points in my book! I am a total science nerd and anatomy lover. The bowl was wrapped up really securely, and I bet you could just about dropkick it and it would still be fine. I am going to keep all the bubble wrap for when I move in the future (when ever that will be...)!


The bowl itself is just perfect. According to the listing, it is microwave and dishwasher safe, which is good because I plan on eatting all my soup out of this bowl from now on! The red color is extremely vibrant and it is much larger in person that it looks in the listing too! I am going to treasure this bowl for a very long long time!

Overall Impression: I have to say, I was biased from the beginning, but I really love this bowl! I love the design, the concept and the execution! I love my brain bowl!

Product Review: William Blake Red Dragon Business Card Holder from Sweetheart Sinner

The environment in my book bag and/or purse can be very dangerous for small paper items like business cards. My pocket book is also so crammed with cards and IDs that I can only put maybe 3-5 business cards at a time, which can leave me without any easy to grab information about my business quick! In steps Sweetheart Sinners and her great metal business card holders! She has over 1000 to choose from, and that is about the only hard thing about picking out a holder. Picking out just one that would be me but still business appropriate was a bit hard. I decided on the one featuring William Blake's Red Dragon because I love anything Hannibal Lector related. The case itself is metal, which I hope will stand up well in the black hole which is my backpack. Both sides can be used for cards etc. which means I can fit about 15-20 cards on each side. I haven't tried it, but the listings also say you can fit an iPod Nano and earbuds in the case instead. The opening mechanism is easy to use and the tabs that keep the cars etc. in place are spring loaded. The image is nice and clear, but I have only been using it for the past couple of days, so I have no idea how it will hold up in the long term... but so far so good!

Overall Impression: I like the price and room in this holder, but I have yet to really put it through it's paces.

Product Review (long term): French Butter Dish from K H Phillips

I have been meaning to write a review on this for a long time... so this is actually my very first long term product review. About a year ago my husband and I decided to try and slowly cut out some man made chemicals from our diets, and we started by switching from margarine to butter. The issue with butter is that if you keep it in the fridge, it is too hard to spread, but keeping it at room temperature means it will go bad more quickly. I found French butter pots or dishes on etsy and decided to give them a try. I found a beautiful blue French butter Dish from K. H. Phillips and have been using it for the past 11 months, and in that time I have fallen in love! The thought behind the design of any French butter dish is that you fill the "bell" (or lid) with butter and put a small amount of water in the dish. When you put the lid on the dish, the water creates a seal that is so good that you can keep your butter on your counter at room temperature for up to a month! Well, I can attest that our butter has never gone rancid at any point in time while we have used the French butter dish! I tell everyone I can about it, and I think I have converted my mom and a few others. Our particular dish holds just under two sticks. That is really the only issue I have with it-- since we let the stick butter soften to room temp before we put it in the dish, we always have a little bit left over that just doesnt fit in the bell. The dish is also dishwasher safe, the color is as beautiful today as it was went we bought it and the construction is very sturdy. There are a lot of little details like the spiral design on the lid and the details on of the handles that really add to the overall enjoyment of the dish. Occasionally if there is an air bubble or something, the butter will fall out of the bell at inopportune moments, but that has only happened once or twice.

Overall Impression: I love my French butter dish and recommend it to anyone who has a hard time with hard butter. I really appreciate the large capacity, but would love a little more extra room for the last 1/8 or so for the last part of the second stick.

Product Review: Peppermint Eucalyptus Foot Scrub Bar from Shine Your Hiney Soap

That has to be the longest title for a blog I have ever had! Anyway, this review involves some peppermint eucalyptus foot scrub. Shine Your Hiney Soap offers a wide variety of soaps (including pumpkin scented stuff... mmm!) She is a frequent in the chat rooms on etsy as well, where I have chatted with her on many occasions. Well, not to long ago she solicited some chatter to try her new foot scrub at a reduced price, so I decided to give it a try. She had been using it on herself for a while, but wanted to get other people's opinions on the bar before she started selling it main stream. Her spartanly packaged soap arrived quickly and I couldn't wait to till I took a shower next to try it out!
The scent is very spicy and strong. I love the way, after my shower, I could still smell it lingering in the air. I like spicy scents because some times floral scents are just to sweet and "girly" to me. This particular soap is two sided, one full of exfoliants and the other just soap. I love that this soap is duel purpose. I used to scrubber side not only on my feet, but a few other places that needed some scrubbing. I would not suggest scrubbing sensitive areas like your face etc with the scrubber side. It did take a few passes to work down to the actual scrubbers in the soap since it was so new, but that is to be expected. It is a good job exfoliating my skin, and the other side worked great cleaning all the other places! The shape of the soap also made it easy to hold on to while scrubbing.

Overall Impression: Great duel purpose product with a great lingering scent!

Product Review: Two Pairs of Wrist Warmers from Ariadne's Island

I have a weakness for hand warmers... and I finally indulged myself in two light pairs for the summer from a great and affordable shop on etsy called Ariadne's Island. Her wrist warmers are so cute and come in lots of colors. I stuck with my two favorites, red and black. Ariadne is also open to custom orders. I had been watching the shop even since I had saved up a few extra bucks to see if she had any colors I liked and inquired on a custom order of red and black... but to my luck she was planning on listing those same colors so all I had to do was to wait and pick them up in a few days! I have to say, they came very quickly and in great shape. They are made of t-shirt like material (I am no fabric expert, but I am sure if you really wanted to know you could just ask her!) and are perfect for summer. When I got them, I wore them for about 2 weeks just about every day. I absolutely love them! I have to say, I also love the price too, great deal for an awesome look!

Overall Impression: Great customer service, comfortable and affordable product. I look forward to ordering more items in the future!

The images are used with permission from Ariadne's Island. Mine are full of cat hair... since I have two cats and I wear them so often!

Product Review: Car Sticker from ceejay77

Look at my new car sticker!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I just have to show off my newest advertisement adventure! This wonderful decal provided by ceejay77, who can be found on etsy! I ordered a two lined vinyl decal with my etsy website and "Unique Accessories". The dimensions for the piece are 24 inches long and 5 inches high. ceejay77 has a wide range of fonts to choose from, but I chose the one I thought would be the easiest to read, which was "Elephant". I absolutely love the way it turned out. ceejay77 includes instructions for applying the decal in the listing, which makes it easy to find and print out. The decal also came really quickly and packaged securely.

Overall Impression: I love my decal and if I ever need another one, I will defiantly use ceejay77 again! Great value, great customer service!

Product Review: 10 Random Themed Gothic 1 Inch Pinback Buttons from Button Empire

I have been meaning to review these wonderful buttons for ever... I got them back in February... but I have just been so busy. This is actually my second purchase from this seller and I am extremely happy with the quality of these stylish buttons. This wonderful seller is Button Empire on Etsy. The first time I discovered Button Empire, I got a gift for my husband and I. It was a cute pair of his and her buttons that says "I'd rather be smooching my nerdy husband" and "I'd rather be smooching my crafty wife". The are just adorable! I mentioned quality earlier... and let me tell you, these buttons are tough little buggers! I have a jean jacket that I love to stick buttons and patches on, so my buttons go on that. My husband has no such button displaying device, so he put it on one of his button down shirts. This shirt went through 2 complete wash and dry cycles and it was no worse for wear. No rusting, bleeding or fading. I was just amazed! Because of this, when I saw that Button Empire offered a random bunch of 10 gothic themed buttons I jumped on it! I have a weakness for randomized things and grab bags. When my package came speedily in the mail I couldnt wait to rip into it and see what I got. I got quite the pick, from skeletons, anatomical diagrams to comic book vampires. Button Empire also included 3 freebie buttons... pink and flowery.... but I found a place for them.

Overall impression: Great value and awesome (laundry defying) quality. Once I find some more room on my jacket, I hope to get some more!

Product Review: Ad Campaign Designed by Fauxtograph

I have come to the terrible realization that I have 0 talent or patience when it comes to creating graphics. When I needed help in redesigning my banner, Fauxtograph was kind enough to help me out with a fair trade. Now you can see that beautiful piece of work all over all my various websites. I recently discovered Project Wonderful (as you can see from the new ad spots on my blog!). I tried again to make some small ads to start advertising all over the web, and I got the same horrible results I normally get. I caught Fauxtograph in the Red Chat room on etsy and asked if she could help me out. Fauxtograph then created the beautiful ads that you see before you! That isnt all of them, but you get the idea of the great quality. I love them, and I hope that you see them around the web!

Overall Impression: Fast, beautiful and affordable ads with wonderful customer service. I would recommend Faux's services to anyone looking for some design work!

Product Review: Matte PVC Surgical Mask from Black Orchid Designs

I have been wanting a simple black surgical style mask for years, but all the searching I have done on the internet has yielded me either very intricate and massive mask (like this one) or very expensive ones (like this). I didnt want a big investment in my first mask if I didnt like them. Thankfully, I found Black Orchid Designs on etsy! I had hearted her shop a while ago because of some of the wonderful and affordable items she has in her shop. When I first decided to look into her shop to fulfill my mask needs, no plain black masks were listed so I convoed her to see if I could get a custom mask done. Black Orchid told me that she was actually listing exactly what I wanted in a few days, so I could just order that. I was so excited! Two things to keep in mind when ordering from Black Orchid is that:
1. She is in Canada, so it may take a little longer if you are ordering from the US etc.
2. Her default shipping method is air mail, which is fairly expensive. To get ground mail, which is more affordable (but takes longer) just contact her and she can arrange that.
All that being said, it took my mask about 2 weeks to get to me (using ground mail and I am in the US). The package was plain and only contained my mask wrapped in some tissue paper, but everything arrived just fine and in one piece. I am very happy with Black Orchids customer service, price and product. It is hard to find affordable gothic style clothing and accessories and Black Orchid Designs is a great shop for those of us who love style but dont have a lot of money to spend creating it. All in all, my mask with ground shipping cost me under 7 dollars!
Overall impression: I love Black Orchid and would recommend her to anyone!

Product Review: Small Notepad Holder from Beetlelady

I have been meaning to review this item for a long time. I actually bought this little beauty back at the end of the summer from Beetlelady at a local artisan's market. While I bought it in person, you can find lots of Beetlelady's handmade books etc at her Etsy shop and get to know her on her blog.
Anyway, like many people, I make lots of lists when shopping so I tend to collect little pads of paper to take these notes down on. I normally keep them in the kitchen so they are close at hand when I need to make a grocery list. I find that normally, these list taking devices get left out on accident and end up getting bent or shoved under my microwave. Then, the next time I need to make a list... I have a hard time doing so. Well, luckily for me, Beetlelady came along! Sitting on her over flowing table of bound journals and other wonderful items sat a basket full of little notepad holders. I picked out the one with goldfish on them. I dont know why exactly... she had other ones that were black and red... which is what I normally gravitate towards. I think may have just needed some whimsy in my life! Irregardless, I absolutely love the one I picked out! It has lived in my kitchen for the past 6 months or so with hardly a scratch! It is incredibly durable and it NEVER slips under my microwave now! I even got a few refills to go with it. I dont know why I havent done this product review before now, because Beetlelady's books are worth every penny!

Overall Impression: Wonderful quality and a great selection of styles and colors. Beetlelady has great customer service and a great love for her art.

Product Review: Bacon Lip Balm from The Plaid Mushroom

For those of you know dont know... I have a slight obsession with a certain kind of food. Well, I have obsessions with a few kinds of food, but the focus of my latest splurge was bacon (see use my Google search bar to search my site for "chocolate" and "bacon"...). I happened to be in the red chat room on Etsy when The Plaid Mushroom (TPM) was also chatting. She started to talk about how she was thinking of making up some bacon lip balm but that she thought no one would buy it. I told her right on the spot that I would... even if the receipt was not refined yet. After a little convincing, she got of chat and listed it... which I promptly bought. I then, in my excitement, spread the word about Etsy... increasing interest as I went. TPM soon ran out of her first batch of Bacon Lip Balm and had to make another... in like 24 hours!
Patiently I waited, and yesterday my anticipation paid off when TPM's envelope arrived in my mail box! The envelope itself looks hand crafted from some very heavy card stock. Upon opening the very securely sealed envelope My Bacon Lip Balm packaged with a business card and two "trail size" samples of Peppermint and Pina Colada Lip Balm. The packaging of the trials was really interesting and reminded me of what coin collectors keep their coins in. They are very slim, but hold a decent amount of balm. The only issue I had is, once opened, you have to fashion something to keep them closed. I just use paper clips, no biggie. The Peppermint Lip Balm was minty smelling, and warms and tingles on the tongue when tasted. The Pina Colada aroma is very strong, smelling perfectly sweet and buttery. The Pina Colada tasted spot on as well, with delicious hints of coconut.
Now on to the big pay off, the Bacon Lip Balm! The smell was not as strong as the Pina Colada, but you can defiantly smell the bacon-y goodness trapped in this little tube, salty and meaty. TPM uses real bacon oil (refined from real bacon!). The other ingredients include avocado oil, beeswax, vitamin E oil and shea butter. I love that all these ingredients are all natural! The balm also tastes slightly of bacon, a lighter flavor but still noticeable. The only real slight negative I can give to this product is that it is not as solid or viscous as most other lip products are. I found that applying the Bacon Lip Balm in a "lip stick" manner messy. I much prefer and recommend using your finger to apply it. It left my lips feeling very silky and moisturized.

Overall Impression: I am unsure if I can give a fair assessment as I love bacon so much, but this lip balm is so unique I just had to have it. The price is great too, under $4 with shipping. Other than the application, I cant think of any faults unless you either dont like the smell or taste of bacon. Even my kitty loves it. I had to hide it once she got a taste of it!
Also, it should be stated that (according to TPM herself) "all handmade lip balm can 'expire'. it's a part of not having chemical preservatives in them...but that's also one of the benefits and by the time that happens (about a year), the balm will probably be used and gone anyway." If you happen to get a chance to try this unique and fanciful product it is well worth the step outside the box!