It Pays To Be Nice

Sorry this isn’t puppet-related or crafts-related or even Beatles-related, but heck, I think it’s worth sharing.

While out shopping (as part of my sister’s birthday treat), we noticed something very odd in the parking lot of the small local mall. See if you can spot the problem.

Do you see it yet?

The average parking lot is marked for rows of two cars between each little path of pavement. There’s a white SUV, a blue mini-truck and a peeling 2-door sedan all scrunched up together where only two cars should fit.

I’ll admit that when we got there, we laughed because that’s really messed up. It wasn’t so funny when our shopping trip ended the same time the guy in the truck had ended his shift at the restaurant in the mall. He couldn’t leave!

Sis and I decided we couldn’t let the poor guy stay stuck. He had arrived that morning at 7:30, snow still everywhere, so he was lucky he could even see where to park. Whoever boxed him in was really at fault because the back end of that sedan was stuck out in traffic.

We went to the mall office and just happened to catch a security guard at the exact right time. I told him what had happened, that the poor guy was boxed in and we weren’t sure what to do. The guard went with us to see if three cars in spaces made for only two was possible. It took him a couple of minutes to get his jaw off the ground. He’d never seen anything like it.

The game plan was that the guard would make an announcement over the mall PA system and if there was no response, he’d call a tow truck to move the sedan.

We didn’t stay to see how things turned out. We were freezing, so we went to a nearby craft store to warm up before going back home. Before we left, though, the boxed-in guy thanked us for intervening. I told him that everybody deserved to go home after a long shift at work.

Later, as we were leaving the craft store, we swung back by the mall to see if things had finally been resolved. The sedan was in another parking space and the boxed-in guy was gone, so all’s well that ends well.

Karma-cly speaking, Sis and I should both be in good shape. Honestly, if you saw someone stuck like that, wouldn’t you try to do something? I think we surprised the poor guy by taking some initiative. I guess he didn’t know who to ask for help?

Take note, folks. If you trap someone like that, chances are very good that Smits here will snitch on you and your car will be in a very different place later.

Holidazed and Confused

After about a month’s worth of errant filming, I finally have something to show for it. Well, sort of. My biggest gripe is that my audio software was being VERY difficult during the recording process, so the sound isn’t all that stellar. If I can get improved software, I’m definitely re-doing the audio.

All that aside, here is our very first kinda-of-sort-of-almost-semi-official video, just in time for the holidays.

Come for the video, stay for the blooper reel!

Merry Christmas, Happy Krimble, Gary Rudolph, Merry Migglemoose and a Very New Year.

Sweet Cuppin’ Cakes!

There is a fabulous book called Hello Cupcake! with which I was gifted by my friend Carol. (THANK YOU AGAIN!) It’s a fabulous book, full of great ideas for clever cupcake decorating. There’s really a lot more you can do to one of those little things besides throw a dollop of frosting on it.

After studying a lot of the adorable cupcakes in the book, I decided to give the cute decor a go myself. Our church Christmas pageant is coming up and we’re having a party right after it’s over. Time for cupcakes, right?

I had the bright idea to try making two types–Snowmen and reindeer.

Check out the step-by-step cupcake chronicles after the jump.

Shameless Self-Promotion!

Finally, I think I have everything straightened out so that my online shops can now happily do their thing.

Smits’ Stuff on Etsy //~*♥*~\\ Smits’ Stuff on Cafepress

I hope to add more stock to Etsy after New Year’s. For Cafepress, I plan to rotate available items about the same time.

Thanks everyone!

A Very Puppety Christmas

Be warned: This is a photo-heavy post. If you’re on dial-up, you may need to go get some cocoa, refresh the page, go get a brownie, refresh again, lather, rinse, repeat.

Since this is Fifo and Lifo’s first Christmas, I’ve been taking them here and there to enjoy some of the holiday sights. The biggest one so far has been Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.

Lifo and Fifo amid the lights at Opryland Hotel

Join us, won’t you? More beyond the jump.

Finally, Etsy!

I’ve spent nearly a year talking about getting started on this, now at last, I have launched my Etsy shop!

Etsy Buy Handmade SmitStuff

I’m still working on more items to sell, it just takes a lot of time to get these things done. I mean, hey–You want it done fast or you want it done right?

The main thing is that I FINALLY got the shop started. Now as I finish things, I can post them and they’ll be there, happily accumulating “hearts” and hopefully finding new homes.

I worked on making things nonstop over my holiday weekend. How about the rest of you?

We’re ready to believe you!

This past weekend, I ended up participating in a Ghostbusters Troop with my friends Liz and Steve, along with the Central Georgia Ghostbusters. It’s kinda funny how it happened–I was scheduled to go down and visit them anyway and Liz asked if I wanted to go.

Naturally, my response was “Please say you need a Janine!”

In an amazing feat of “guerilla costuming”, I was able to put together the most perfect little 80’s-style outfit ever, got out my red bob wig and I was set. The outfit came together in less than a day. Every bit of it just fell right into my lap!

The CGGB crew met up at the Eagles Landing Blood Drive and Health Fair, bright and early. I think we beat the second Bloodmobile there. XD

We’re ready to believe you!

L – R: Chace, Mitchell, Ronald, Jaime (me!), Derek, Steve and Liz with Vapor

Lots more after the jump!

Bat-Smits!

I was going to keep this over in my personal journal, but honestly, how often do you get to put on bat wings and swoosh around like a maniac?

My sister and I went Afterween shopping yesterday. Ah, you know Afterween–It’s the day after Halloween, when everything goes on sale for half price! (I will forever thank Heidi for that holiday’s name. It’s been a staple in my household for a few years now!) Sis and I stopped at Halloween Express and I remembered that both my friend Glenda and I had been interested in these really neat looking mobile bat wings.

Now, I adore bats and the wings were great, but to me, they weren’t $77.00 worth of great, not even at half that. But since there was a pair of them open when we returned, I had to get a really good look at them.

This is more for reference than anything else. Now I’m determined I have to make a pair of these by next year.

I drew a quick sketch of how they’re put together–Semi-glove-like, sewn to a furry shrug. Each wing has some heavy-duty wires inside the “membrane”. Wish I’d had this kind of inspiration years ago when I was dressed as a bat for Halloween.

This sort of construction could be applied to dragon wings or bird wings, too. If I wasn’t going to be busy with a puppet at the next Ren Fest, I’d be a harpy! XD

Monster Punkin!

It’s Halloween Eve! Thought I might share my Monster Punkin, featuring Fifo and Lifo!

(Sorry the pics are a bit grainy. Poor lighting in my house coupled with a cell phone camera.)

Happy Halloween!

Beatleween!

As you know, this year I’ve become enamored with carvable foam pumpkins. I like that after you’ve put in all that hard work, they don’t rot and stink.

My favorite type of foam pumpkins to use come from Michael’s craft store. They’re still pretty sturdy, but the foam is forgiving enough to really get some detail work going. (Sadly, the same can’t be said for the Funkins. Way too rigid.)

Armed with my Dremel and a nice, standard sized fake gourd, I decided that I wanted to make a Beatles pumpkin–A Beat-O-Lantern!

I started with this template…

Step-by-step beyond the jump. Trust me, it’s worth it.