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Sunday, September 16, 2018

Beaded hair piece and Boutannier




My daughter Starr and myself got together today to make a hair piece and boutannier for my youngest daughter to use for homecoming next weekend.


Her dress is sort of a peachy pink.


So we gathered my bead boxes that had those color sin it and some turquoise and some gold.

This is a side hair piece while it was under construction. The little flowers in the left photo are actually parts of the boutannier. This is the hair piece while it was under construction.
 
 

This image below is the piece all done with the silk leaves added we use twist pins to hold these items in the hairstyles  my children do.







This is the flower that is in the hair piece while it was under construction.


The boutannier



 
 all finished

 Below you can see the boutannier holder we mounted the boutannier into.  also more bits and pieces under construction in this photo.

 Some of the little pieces in the boutannier.
 Petals while under construction encase people like to see how the parts look.
 Once again the boutannier holder up close.

Monday, September 03, 2018

candy apples

Because fall is here this is a common treat to eat and make.

Supplies
  •  2 quart sauce pan
  • cookie sheet
  • shortening
  • granulated sugar 3 cups
  • flavoring cinnamon or cherry optional ( my family is allergic to cinnamon  as of 3 years ago so we avoid that flavor which is sad as we all love it)
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • water 1.5  cups 
  • 1/2 tbp red food coloring liquid or 1 tsp paste Wilton brand which i like  but use what you like best
  • clean dry room temperature apples with steams removed about 8 to 10 depends on size tart apples work and taste best
  • wood candy apple sticks the same number as apples
  1. grease cookie sheet set aside
  2.  prep apple by sticking  sticks into top of apples where the steam had been set aside
  3. combine water sugar coloring in sauce pan stir well
  4. bring water sugar coloring to a good boil  (300 to 310  degrees f ) do not stir while cooking
  5. then turn heat to medium high and cook till hard crack state  you will know this state when candy liquid drizzled in a cup of cold water turns to candy strings
  6. add flavoring stir in
  7. tilt pan be careful very hot syrup and roll apples in liquid let drip above pan to get rid of excess place on cookie sheet repeat till all  are coated let cool  ( can coat cookie sheet with large granulated sugar to make a sort of crystal effect on bottom of apples I didn't do that but some people like it that way
  8. share eat and enjoy
about 30 mins total time cooking not counting cool time another 30 mins
best to eat in the first 24 hours as the candy wicks moisture from the apple and gets sticky over time do not store in fridge makes sticky faster  dry area best

tips:
  •  if mixture starts to harden while dipping just set back on heat to soften it back up and continue dipping again.
  • also if you mix in 1/8 tsp solid shortening before you dip you won't get as many bubbles on your apples I didn't do that as I don't mind the bubbles but if you do  give that a go.





Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Internship leather sewing Yellow/green and yellow/black knights


This is the horse chest piece it was hand cut by Alex sewn by me.  This piece is for a horse rode by a male knight.





 This is one of the female knight outfits while it was under construction.




 This is the hose that has the dear head chest piece rode by the male knight.





The horse rode by the female knight
 
 
 
 
Contact McGrew Studios if you need some made

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Internship leather sewing Blue/white knight

 I did not get many photos of this one as we made it.  These are from the horses fitting

 

Contact McGrew Studios if you need some made

Monday, August 27, 2018

Internship leather sewing 2 purple knights

In the course of making the horse and knight outfits we had few that wore the same colors teams so to speak.  I wish I had take photos each day but I didn't so I can't show everything we worked on but you can get a hint of it.
This above and below is for the horse to wear this horse is ridden by a male knight.
This is the matching horse rode by a female knight.
This is for the female knight to wear this was during the construction process.  I love the stain glass effect by layering the leathers in the openings.


This is one of the female knights and Alex who did a lot of the mask work for the horses he is also the glueing-up king.  He has tons of talent he drawers characters for his usual living.
Jen during fitting saying what would and wouldn't work .
Beautiful horses all of them.

Fitting the muslin mask for use to use as the template to make the leather masks.
This is the other horse one has triangle diamond shapes and one is sort of like a carousel horse look.
Had to make bum straps sort of like garters or suspenders to hold this piece up so it would not interfere with the horses legs figuring out the length of the straps.



Contact McGrew Studios if you need some made