Bookstore Shopping With Mom - What Can be Better Than That

I Just Love To Go Bookstore Shopping!  For me there is nothing more relaxing than going bookstore shopping at my local bookstores.  It was especially enjoyable when I would share this experience with my Mom.  She loved to bookstore shop, too.

Not only was the time spent with my Mom thoroughly enjoyable, but we both loved books. We could spend hours upon hours just walking up and down the aisles looking at the best sellers, the discount books, the magazine section, etc. My mother always went to the "cooking" section first while I always went to the "dolls and crafts" section.

Now I wonder why that is? Couldn't be because I love "dolls and crafts?" Nah!

Why am I telling you this? Because I was fortunate enough while my Mom was still alive  to go bookstore shopping with her many, many times and for that I am so grateful. They were always delightful trips and usually I came home with some new best sellers from some of my favorite "romance" authors.

The last few trips I came home with a few "doll and craft" books to add to my collection.  If you believe I just bought a "few" craft books you don't know me very well.  My Mom used to look at my shopping cart and say, "Really, Linda!" LOL LOL

Over the years, however, I started to get a little disappointed browsing through the local bookstores for "doll and craft" books. You might wonder "why" that would be as I've just told you that I love shopping at my local bookstores.

Well, I've found that in browsing through my local bookstores several years ago that they just didn't seem to be carrying a lot of "doll and craft" books in their stores anymore. As a result I found when I'm looking for "doll and craft" books that I'd much rather shop online. I discovered Amazon a long time ago and found that I loved being able to search and sort for books to my hearts content. I could easily find the categories I wanted, the authors, best sellers, etc.

At Amazon I can browse by category, look at the new releases, scan the future releases, check out the magazines, etc. I don't have to get down on my knees (which at my age is no longer fun) and crane my neck to look for the "doll and craft" books on the bottom shelf. It's so much more enjoyable to sit in my chair and let my fingers do the walking.

I could spend hours and hours doing this as well. However, the one big drawback was that in sitting at my computer browsing through my online bookstore's is that I was missing two of the ingredients that made my local bookstore shopping experience so enjoyable - my Mom and flipping through all the pages of the books. I often thought about buying another computer and another computer set-up so my Mom could sit right next to me.

However, I know what she would have said to that and it would have been a big resounding "ABSOLUTELY NOT!" She'll give me that look that only Mother's can that makes you feel like your 3 years old even though you're a grandmother yourself. Then she'd say," Linda, it's not the same and a little fresh air never hurt anyone. Besides you need the exercise!" And, more importantly, she loved getting out of the house and loved going to the local bookstores to shop. So, we would.

So, we continued to spend some lazy afternoons at the local bookstores. I'd still check out the "dolls and crafts" section first, but I wasn't going to be disappointed anymore because I knew I'd be coming home and letting my fingers do the walking. I like to think my Mom never knew I was doing online book shopping but I'd be foolish to think so.  She always knew.  They always do.  you just can't beat a mother's natural instinct.

I learned to love books not only from my Mom but my Dad and Grandma as well.  They all loved books and instilled a love of books in me.  So, none of them would be surprised that I designed a book related collection of graphics for my "We Love Books" custom products gallery.  Bookstore shopping and custom products displaying a love of books - what could be better than that!

There's Nothing Quite Like These Cakes - Especially The Doll Cakes!

Some of my earliest memories of birthday parties had me sitting in a chair propped up on pillows so I could reach the table, like the picture shown above.

It's too bad the picture above is a black and white photo.  What you can't tell from the picture is my cheeks were bright red and I had a fever.  I was sick but there was no way I was going to miss my birthday party.  I'm sure you all have memories of such times.  There is no way you can go through childhood and not remember a time when you were sick and should have been in bed, but wanted to attend the birthday party.

I can remember family birthday parties as well as birthday parties filled with some of my childhood friends.  There would be birthday cakes with candles to blow out, ice cream, party hats, those old fashioned party horns that you would blow into, and presents.

My older brother and I were "Irish Twins" because we were born 10 months apart.  So, when I was very young for the family birthday party when one of us had a birthday the other one would get presents, too.  I guess it was just easier for my folks and grandparents to give both of us presents at each others birthday then to deal with the fallout of one of us not getting presents that day.  That way neither one of us was jealous of the other getting presents when we didn't and we ended up having two family birthday parties. Sounds like a win-win.

In the early years my mother always made the birthday cakes.  As I got older I always wanted to make the birthday cakes. A lot of the time I didn't get to as my Dad and brothers inevitably wanted a white cake with white frosting loaded with coconut.  I hated coconut and never had a piece of their cakes.

I never had a piece of this cake.  I couldn't stand the smell of it. The reason is I had made the mistake of eating a whole package of coconut snow-balls on a dare from my older brother and ended up upchucking the whole bunch. As a result and to this day, I can't stand the smell of coconut. If someone asks me what kind of dessert I want for my birthday I always say lemon meringue pie. So, when it came to birthday cakes I let my mother make them.

Like most young girls from the "baby boomer" generation I learned how to cook from my mother. We'd bake cookies, cupcakes and cakes. I loved cookies and cupcakes, but really wasn't a big fan of cakes. 

I loved baking small things like cupcakes because you can easily decorate them. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when the Easy-Bake Ovens for girls came out. I could make all the little cakes and cupcakes I wanted. Unfortunately, my first attempt at a cake in the Easy-Bake oven didn't turn out so well. It was hard as a rock and inedible.  Subsequent attempts, however, were a hit.

Nowadays I'd have to really step up my game as cakes have become an art  form.  I suppose it was always an art form for bakeries and the very talented bakers who made them, but nowadays there are all sorts of video's and tutorials out there to teach you how to make some of the most amazing art cakes you'd ever want to see.

They even have beautiful doll cakes.  Now for the doll maker and lifelong doll lover, for that, I'd actually like cake.  Then there's the dog and animal cakes. All I can say is "Wow!"  I'd love to create a cairn terrier cake based on a picture of my "beloved" Bud. 

I've always wanted to learn how to make those fancy decorated cakes, just for learning how to make the floral decorations, but have never had the time. However, it's on my craft bucket list which I have to alter to add making a doll cake.

In the meantime I set-up a Cake Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating Cakes Pinterest board and have been adding all sorts of delicious looking cakes to it.  Enjoy!

Cake Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating Cakes

I would love to learn how to create beautiful cakes. If you would love to learn this, too, perhaps these tutorials, video's and how-to's will be helpful.

If you love my Cake Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating Cakes board please follow my board by clicking on the link above.

Have fun making your cakes - especially your doll cakes.

My Cupcake and Cupcake Making Recipe Pinterest Board

I have loved flowers, floral design and floral crafts since I was a little girl.  My love of flowers was fostered by my next door neighbor's beautiful English Garden. I was mesmerized by the colors and textures of the various flowers.  I can remember just standing there admiring all the beautiful flowers and thinking of creating a beautiful bouquet with them.

While I loved all the flowers my favorite was always the dahlia.  It never mattered to me whether it was a spider dahlia, anemone dahlia, cactus dahlia, waterlily dahlia - it didn't matter.   I loved all of them.  Every time I planned a garden I planted dahlia bulbs.

When I was 8 I decided I wanted to have my own garden and wrote about this experience in my "Wonder What The Birthday Flowers Will Be Next Year?" post.  It was definitely a learning experience and one I never forgot.

I think being mesmerized by my neighbor's beautiful garden at and early age fostered  my love of all things floral, including floral crafts.  While I absolutely love fresh flowers and can be mesmerized for hours at their shear beauty, unfortunately, they just don't last.

That's what drew me to naturally dried floral and then silk floral in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  The silk floral last for decades and if they get a little banged up, you just re-do the floral arrangement.  It's hard to do that with fresh flowers.

I've always admired the beautiful floral creations that bakers created for their beautiful cakes and often wondered how they did that.  I even thought about trying that but just never had the time.  Plus, given I really don't like cake and, when crafting, tend to prefer smaller creations, when the cupcake craze became a mania in the early 2000's I thought floral cupcakes might actually be easier to create than a large cake.

However, with a lot of crazes I have they never come to fruition.  They're still on my bucket list and I still hope to learn how to create them.  In the meantime I set-up a Cupcake and Cupcake Making Recipe Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating and Making Cupcakes Pinterest board filled with all the amazing cupcakes I have found. 

Aside from lack of time, with the amount of free YouTube video's, blog tutorials, and how-to's out there I have no excuse for not learning how to do this.  They even have e-classes showing you how to create these amazing little works of art.

Cupcake and Cupcake Making Recipe Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating and Making Cupcakes

If you love my Cupcake and Cupcake Making Recipe Tutorials, Video's and How-To's for Decorating and Making Cupcakes Pinterest board please follow my board by clicking on the link above.

Have fun making your cupcakes - especially your floral cupcakes.

The Sneaks Family

It's always a wild and crazy scene at the "Sneaks Family" house with four young boys running around so you can imagine how excited they are by the release of their e-patterns and birthday party products. They can't sit down.

"Stealin Base Devin Sneaks"is a master at stealin base. You might think he's just on 1st base and then the next thing you know he's on 2ND and then 3RD. He's there in a split second and slammin into the base before the opposing team knows it. They don't get much faster at stealin base than "Stealing Base Devin Sneaks!"

"Stealin Base Devin Sneaks" is an 8" cloth and sneaker boy doll from The Sneaker Series.  He has a cloth head with an embroidered face. His face is outline embroidered and he has huge brown, black and white satin stitched embroidered eyes. His eyelids are satin stitched with cream embroidery floss. His nose is back stitched embroidered as are his mouth, eyelashes and eyebrows.   His cheeks are blushed pink.   He has thick, straight brown yarn hair under his red cap.

He likes to wear his sneakers facing forward and his head facing forward so he can get a jump start on stealin the base. And, of course, he always carried his favorite bat with him.

"Slammin Ryan Sneaks" just loves to hit it out of the park. He's trying for MVP of his little league team and practices batting constantly. He's so into slammin the ball out of the park that he's often heard saying "It's a home run! Way to go Slammin Ryan!" in his sleep.

"Slammin Ryan Sneaks" is a 9" cloth and sneaker boy doll from The Sneaker Series. He has a cloth head with an embroidered face. His face is outline embroidered and he has huge brown, black and white satin stitched embroidered eyes. His eyelids are satin stitched with cream embroidery floss. His nose is back stitched embroidered as are his mouth, eyelashes and eyebrows.   His cheeks are blushed pink.   He has thick, straight brown yarn hair under his red cap.

He likes to wear his sneakers facing forward so he can slamm the ball whenever he gets a chance. And, of course, he always carried his favorite bat with him.

"Nicholas Fast Ball Sneaks" just loves to hit it out of the park, too. Only he specializes in slammin the fast balls. He's always practicing at the batting cages with the machine on the fastest setting and has such a good eye for timing the hit that he can look away and still hit the fastest ball thrown at him. They don't get any faster than Nicholas. He's slammin fast!

"Nicholas Fast Ball Sneaks" is a 9" cloth and sneaker boy doll from The Sneaker Series. He has a cloth head with an embroidered face. His face is outline embroidered and he has huge blue, black and white satin stitched embroidered eyes. His eyelids are satin stitched with cream embroidery floss. His nose is back stitched embroidered as are his eyelashes and eyebrows. His cheeks are blushed pink.
His smiling mouth is outline embroidered and is stain stitched with pink embroidery floss. He has thick, straight brown yarn hair under is blue cap.

He likes to wear his sneakers facing forward and his head facing forward in order to see that fast ball coming straight at him. And, of course, he always carried his favorite bat with him.

"Home Run Brian Sneaks" only wants to get a home run. And, he doesn't really care how he goes about doing that. Stealing base, bunting, hitting it out of the park. It doesn't matter if it's him or his teammate who gets him to home base just as long as he gets there. He just loves the thrill of running over home plate.

"Home Run Brian Sneaks" is an 8" cloth and sneaker boy doll from The Sneaker Series.  He has a cloth head with an embroidered face. His face is outline embroidered and he has huge blue, black and white satin stitched embroidered eyes. His eyelids are satin stitched with cream embroidery floss. His nose is back stitched embroidered as are his mouth, eyelashes and eyebrows.   His cheeks are blushed pink. He has curly blond yarn hair under his blue cap.

He likes to wear his sneakers facing forward and his head facing forward in order to hit that ball out of the park for a "home run." And, of course, he always carried his favorite bat with him.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

Meet "Egg Muffs" Series Of Dolls

The "Egg Muff's" are a fun loving group of dolls that love to sneak around and maybe, every once in awhile, drop in unexpectedly. Toni E. Hawk and her brother, Tom A. Hawk, are the most fun loving of the group. You might find them peeking around a corner, peeking over the windowsill, peeking through a keyhole in a door, or sneaking into your room. You just never know. Sometimes you might just catch a glimpse of their eyes and hair as they try to sneak a peek. If you listen carefully, you might even hear them laughing, even chuckling away. Sometimes you might even catch them doing a little jig. You just never know what they may do. They love to laugh. They love to have fun. But, most of all they love to play hide and peek! No, not hide and seek! Hide and peek!

Toni E. Hawk and Tom A. Hawk are twins. She might seem shy and well-mannered, but she is anything but. She is highly intelligent and loves a good joke. She isn't afraid of taking on her twin brother, Tom A. Hawk, or his best friend, Spike A Peek. In fact, Toni E. Hawk actually comes up with the best thought out practical jokes around which makes her just a little bit intimidating to the other member's of the Egg Muff Series. However, when everyone gets to laughing at Toni E. Hawk's latest gag everyone soon forgets how intimidated they are by her intelligence.

Tom A. Hawk is anything but shy and well-mannered. He, too, is highly intelligent and loves a good joke and isn't afraid of taking on his twin sister, Toni E. Hawk, or his best friend, Spike A Peek. Unlike his sister, however, his intelligence isn't intimidating at all. In fact, Tom A Hawk does an exceptional job of hiding his intelligence while showcasing his wit, his charm, and his good looks. The girls just can't resist a charming, good looking, bit of a devil in him type of guy with a tomahawk hairdo.

Spike A Peek is actually the most rambunctious of the Egg Muffs and, generally, the least level headed. He always lets the fun get the better of him and finds that, more often then not, he's in the "Muff House" (the Egg Muff Series version of a doghouse) being "muffed!" This is also known as a "time-out!" Spike A Peek doesn't use his "time-out" and being "muffed" wisely. He uses it as an opportunity to think up his next prank. The one he's going to play on Tom A. Hawk.

Nancy Dew Drop is actually the most well behaved of the Egg Muffs and, generally, the most level headed. Sometimes, even Nancy lets the fun get the better of her and you might just hear her giggling in the background. Just listen for a sweet "tee-hee-hee" and that will be Nancy Dew Drop.

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