Burford Designs

For Delicate Male Sensibilities

Here at our Ugly Christmas Sweater headquarters, the staff (consisting of Mommy and me) got into making some really over-the-top sweaters and simply could not leave off making ones for men, specifically men who enjoy more juvenile, 13-year-old boy humor. We, however, enjoyed making them just as much as any of the others.

The first two sweaters are inspired by the Duck Dynasty guys. The first sweater came about because we had a bunch of vintage faux fur laying around and four snowmen sitting on the table just begging to be made into the Robertson’s likenesses.

(The Beards Are Snowmen – my image)

The second one is decorated front and back and actually has a musical farting mooning Santa. (I know, I know.) These characters are handmade by Mommy using soft sculpture methods (something she used to do in the eighties!).

(Hairy Christmas – my image) 

An additional sweater with a mooning Santa (or elf) on it also has an older weight lifting stuffie and an angry talking golfer. (He has three phrases.)

A quick aside - I just asked Mommy if she remembered what the phrases were and she said, “I don’t know, I think it’s something like ‘hit my ass’ and ‘make me feel good.’” If I didn’t know better, I would think that she’s been reading too many romance novels, of the 50 Shades variety. Even thought she has never read it, yet.

(It’s a Man’s World – my image)

Seriously, I can’t believe the amount of empty booze bottles (even if they are miniatures) we have used… and none of us drink!

(Go Elf Yourself – my image)

Another aside – while reading this post to Mommy she asked what sweaters I was writing about and I mentioned the title for the sweater above “Go Elf Yourself” and Mommy gave me a scrunched up face look to which I replied, “whoa, you just said that the golfer phrases were ‘hit my ass’ and ‘make me feel good’ and you don’t like ‘Go Elf Yourself?’”

Too funny!

This final sweater, for today’s post, came about because of all of the dog shaming/ dog confessions we’ve seen on social media sites like Facebook… so we couldn’t resist.

(Dog Shame – my image) 

Of course, if you would like to see any of our other eBay offerings you can click the following link, search by username “libbynell” or click on one of the other links in this post and search “see other items.”

‘Tis the Season for Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Seriously, the house looks like Christmas exploded all over it. Even though the floors get swept and or vacuumed every night there is still tinsel everywhere and somehow Chewie and Spanky always seem to find that one stray piece of the teeniest tiniest bit of it. But that is not my reason for writing today.

Today it’s all about why the house looks like that… Ugly Christmas Sweaters!

Boy did Mommy and I have fun creating these this year. I wasn’t sure we would top the creativity of last year but I’m so pleased (actually down right giddy) with what we’ve created this year. There have been several sweaters that, once created, one of us (or the other) have stated “I don’t know if I want to sell it, I really like this one!”

This is just a smattering of some of our eBay listings.

(Deck the Halls – my image)

This sweater is from the Eighties with a vintage cloth storybook page... the colors matched so well.

(An American Original – my image)

This is one sweater that Mommy really wants to keep.  Somehow the photos just don't do it justice.  It is body hugging yet slimming and oh so cute in person.

(Grandma Got Run Over – my image) 

A little insider's secret... Rudolph was made out of an unfinished sock monkey!  I wasn't sure what I wanted to name this sweater, so many ideas, then I thought that "this must be how grandma got run over."

Of course, if you want to see more you can check us out on eBay – username Libbynell. 

Also, thanks for passing this along and sharing with anyone you know who may be in the market for an Ugly Christmas Sweater.

And as a post script – some people have been asking (and others didn’t need to ask) the live model for our pics is none other than Mommy herself. We love to joke that she’s not your typical 63-year-old grandma! You’ll know why if you take a look at our listings or wait for one of my follow-up posts.

Impressive Thanksgiving Desserts

This was originally posted in November 2009.  Since it's that time of year again I thought I'd bring it back for another go.

While not all of these will necessarily be super impressive desserts they really don’t need to be as long as they are yummy.  In addition to, or instead of, traditional fares such as pumpkin pie and apple pie here are some other holiday inspired desserts.

 

First up is Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

(photo courtesy of Food Network)

I love multi layered desserts and have found trifles to be simply beautiful.  This one is S-I-M-P-L-E!  If you can follow directions on a box and make things like packaged pudding, then you can easily whip up this tasty little treat.

 

Another play on a layered trifle dessert is Country Living’s Pumpkin Mousse.  There is a bit more measuring and mixing in this recipe but you are making the mousse from scratch.  Of course to cut down on time and energy you could always use whipped topping, however, if I am going to the trouble of making all of this from scratch, then I would probably make the whipped cream myself because most things don’t taste as good as homemade.

(photo courtesy of Country Living)

I am smitten with Smitten Kitchen.  Other than the clever name, they have fabulous recipes and amazing photos of the dishes along with some of the step by step pics along the way.  From that site I wanted to share this delectable Cranberry, Caramel and Almond Tart.

(photo courtesy of Smitten Kitchen)

While reading the comments I noticed that several people had trouble with the crust of the tart.  One commenter suggested using páte brisée (that I wrote about the other day when I linked the various desserts from the Martha Stewart special).  As I wrote there, páte brisée is my go to recipe, it is what I used for the fruit tartlets I made for Hannah's Tea Party.

What Do Jay Leno and Craig Ferguson Have To Do With Ugly Christmas Sweaters?

Is it Leno worthy?  It’s something you might see on a typical Monday night during Headlines on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

 

It’s definitely Craig Ferguson worthy… he and Geoff Peterson would get a tremendous kick out of it on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson... because it’s puerile.  And that makes it perfect fodder for both Craig and Geoff Peterson because they both love things that are childish and seem naughty and in poor taste.  At least it would give Craig something to torment Beth with throughout the show (or a few shows since dragging it out makes things funnier… right?).

 

What is this ubiquitous IT I am referring to?

 

Well, I’ll tell you… it’s a close up photo of one of the ugly Christmas sweaters Mommy posted to sell on eBay.  While scrolling through the photos posted (most of these pictures were taken by Daddy), I noticed one that make me do a double take.  As I looked at the photo I couldn’t help but notice an, let’s say, unusual shadow being cast upon the sweater. 

 

I think it would more than likely get an “oh-la-la” and a censor blip or pixilation if it were to be shown on the tellie, especially if you didn’t know that it was simply a shadow of Daddy’s finger... at least I hope that’s all it was!  LOL! 

 

Although the picture of that sweater would make for great late night television… but anyone who watches The Late Late Show would know that Geoff Peterson would prefer either the Manly Man sweater or the Trio sweater because they have balls oops, I mean BELLS!

 

There are still a couple of days left to grab one of these lovely ugly Christmas sweaters for your very own or maybe as a Christmas gift.  GP looks pretty cold in that studio sometimes…

Ugly Christmas Sweaters For Sale

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here... well, that's if Christmas was all about horribly terrific, gaudy and ugly Christmas sweaters and vests... and around here that's exactly what we mean.

(Ugly Christmas Sweater - my image)

Mommy has finally decided to part with some of her collection of vintage and not-so-vintage Christmas and winter scene sweaters...  some are decked out and hand-decorated a bit more to make them even more over-the-top... and trust me, that is possible.

(Musical Ugly Christmas Sweater - my image)

I've included some links to the auctions and a few photos so you can see what I'm talking about.  If you want to see more picures for yourself and possibly buy one, just follow one of the links or look up eBay seller: libbynell. 

Fun little bit of trivia - there are two listings that have snow in the background of some of pictures and they were taken last week and the other photos (no snow) were taken this morning.

Look...  it's got big brass bells!

(Manly Man's Ugly Christmas Sweater - my image)

Feel free to share with anyone who may need or want one for there very own this holiday season.  Thanks a million!!  I'm sure Mommy will appreciate it as well!

NaNoWriMo 2012 - Day 1

Today, November 1st is the beginning of National Novel Writing Month also known as NaNoWriMo.  What is NaNoWriMo you ask?  Well, according to Wikipedia NaNoWriMo "is an annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel between November 1 and 30."  Basically it's a way for some of us to get off our duff and actually write something.  Breaking down the 50,000 word goal means writing approximately 1,667 words a day and that may seem daunting to a lot of people but it really is doable. 

I signed up with the official site years ago and every year I’ve had good intentions to actually write during the month of November, but I never really wrote during the month.  This year, however, is a very different story (no pun intended).  You might be asking me, “How so?”  I’ll tell you how so… this year I've actually already written and exceeded my first day’s writing goal and it’s only a few hours into the day.  I was good and didn’t write anything until the clock turned over, actually it was a about an hour or so into the day and I couldn’t sleep so I figured that I would at least open up a word document and see what came out. 

Just a bit of trivia for you, while looking at the Wikipedia site, I realized that two novels that I really enjoyed were written during previous NaNoWriMo runs.  The first is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and the second is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  As much as I love books and the written word I would highly recommend listening to The Night Circus as an audio book.  It's narrated by the wonderful Jim Dale (who apparently also narrated the Harry Potter books).  Although I remember Jim Dale from his part in the 1977 Disney film Pete's Dragon I know him best as the narrator of the television show Pushing Daisies (a beloved and much missed television show – IMHO).

So, what about you?  Will you be joining me for NaNoWriMo? 

I hope you do and I'll keep you undated on my progress throughout the month.

Cheers!

Fall 2011 TV Schedule

I'm a little late getting this list out since we are already in the middle of premiere week, yet there is still a lot of goodness to be had and many more premieres to watch.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, Sept. 13
90210 (CW) 8 PM
Ringer (CW, series premiere) 9 PM
Parenthood (NBC) 10 PM

Wednesday, Sept. 14
Survivor: South Pacific (CBS) 8 PM
H8R (CW, series premiere) 8 PM
America's Next Top Model (CW) 9 PM
Up All Night (NBC, series premiere) 9 PM
Free Agents (NBC, series premiere) 9:30 PM

Thursday, Sept. 15
The Vampire Diaries (CW) 8 PM
The Secret Circle (CW, series premiere) 9 PM
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX) 10 PM
Archer (FX) 10:30 PM

Monday, Sept. 19
How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 8 PM
Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 8 PM
The Sing-Off (NBC) 8 PM
Two and a Half Men (CBS) 9:00 PM
2 Broke Girls (CBS, series premiere)  9:30 PM
Hawaii Five-0 (CBS) 10 PM
Castle (ABC) 10 PM
The Playboy Club (NBC, series premiere) 10 PM

Tuesday, Sept. 20
Glee (Fox) 8 PM
NCIS (CBS) 8 PM
The Biggest Loser (ABC) 8 PM
New Girl (Fox, series premiere) 9 PM
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS) 9 PM
Raising Hope (Fox) 9:30 PM
Body of Proof (ABC) 10 PM
Unforgettable (CBS, series premiere) 10 PM 

Wednesday, Sept. 21
The Middle (ABC) 8 PM
The X-Factor (Fox, series premiere) 8 PM
Criminal Minds (CBS) 9 PM
Modern Family (ABC) 9 PM
Harry's Law (NBC) 9 PM
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS) 10 PM
Revenge (ABC, series premiere) 10 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) 10 PM

Thursday, Sept. 22
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 8 PM
Community (NBC) 8 PM
Charlie's Angels (ABC) 8 PM
The X Factor (Fox, series premiere) 8 PM
Parks and Recreation (NBC) 8:30 PM
The Office (NBC) 9 PM
Person of Interest (CBS, series premiere) 9 PM
Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 9 PM
Whitney (NBC, series premiere) 9:30 PM
The Mentalist (CBS) 10 PM
Prime Suspect (NBC, series premiere) 10 PM

Friday, Sept. 23
A Gifted Man (CBS, series premiere) 8 PM
Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) 8 PM
Nikita (CW) 8 PM
CSI: New York (CBS) 9 PM
Fringe (Fox) 9 PM
Supernatural (CW) 9 PM
Blue Bloods (CBS) 10 PM

Saturday, Sept. 24
Rules of Engagement (CBS) 8 PM
48 Hours Mystery (CBS) 10 PM

Sunday, Sept. 25
60 Minutes (CBS) 7 PM
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC) 7 PM
The Simpsons (Fox) 8 PM
The Amazing Race (CBS) 8 PM
The Cleveland Show (Fox) 8:30 PM
Family Guy (Fox) 9 PM
The Good Wife (CBS) 9 PM
Desperate Housewives (ABC) 9 PM
Boardwalk Empire (HBO) 9 PM
American Dad (Fox) 9:30 PM
CSI: Miami (CBS) 10 PM
Pan Am (ABC, series premiere) 10 PM

Monday, Sept. 26
Terra Nova (Fox, series premiere) 8 PM
Gossip Girl (CW) 8 PM
Hart of Dixie (CW, series premiere) 9 PM
Mike & Molly (CBS) 9:30 PM

Wednesday, Sept. 28
Suburgatory (ABC, series premiere) 8:30 PM
Happy Endings (ABC) 9 PM

Thursday, Sept. 29
How to Be a Gentleman (CBS, series premiere) 8:30 PM
Private Practice (ABC) 10 PM

Sunday, Oct. 2
Dexter (Showtime) 9 PM
Homeland (Showtime, series premiere) 10 PM
Hung (HBO) 10 PM
How to Make it in America (HBO) 10:30 PM

Monday, Oct. 3
House (Fox) 9 PM

Wednesday, Oct. 5
American Horror Story (FX, series premiere) 10 PM

Thursday, Oct. 6
The League (FX) 10:30 PM

Monday, Oct. 10
Bored to Death (HBO) 9 PM
Enlightened (HBO, series premiere) 9:30 PM

Tuesday, Oct. 11
Last Man Standing (ABC, series premiere) 8 PM

Wednesday, Oct. 12
Psych (USA) 10 p.m

Sunday, Oct. 16
The Walking Dead (AMC) 9 PM

Tuesday, Oct. 18
Man Up!  (ABC, series premiere) 8:30 PM

Friday, Oct. 21
Chuck (NBC) 8 PM
Grimm (NBC, series premiere) 9:30 PM
Dateline NBC (NBC) 10 PM

Sunday, Oct. 23
Once Upon a Time (ABC, series premiere) 8 PM

Sunday, Oct. 30
Allen Gregory (Fox, series premiere) 8:30 PM

Thursday, Nov.3
Bones (Fox) 9 PM

Sunday, Nov. 6
Hell on Wheels (AMC, series premiere) 10 PM

Wednesday, Nov. 23
I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox, series premiere) 9:30 PM

The Creative Connection: There's Still a Chance for You to Win

The ladies over at The Creative Connection are having an extra special giveaway, and you need to act fast.

I have wanted to go to this event since before it happened last year.  One of the biggest reasons I want to go is because I know it will be a great opportunity to meet creative like minded business women.  Since I moved away, I have had a difficult time surrounding myself with (let alone finding) like minded people (that’s what happens when you move to the boondocks).  That is also why I have turned to the Internet and have found so many wonderful people through this blog, Facebook, and the like, but I still want to be around people face-to-face and this is a great opportunity for that. 

The event begins the day after my birthday so it would make a great present, too.

Now on to the giveaway info

GIVEAWAY

2 FREE PASSES + HOTEL

The Nitty Gritty

RULES OF ENTRY:

To enter you must do the following: 

• Leave a comment on THE CREATIVE CONNECTION BLOG that includes the following information: Why you want to attend BlogHer Handmade and The Creative Connection Event and who you would pick to take with you and why.

Additional entries:

• Tweet the following “Win a full pass and hotel for you and a friend to BlogHer Handmade & The Creative Connection Event!” http://ht.ly/5Ped4 #tccevent11. 
• *Blog about this giveaway and tell your readers why you would love to attend BlogHer Handmade and The Creative Connection Event- 5 additional entries-leave the link on each comment
• Have THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT button or link on the sidebar of your blog (2 Entries–leave a link to your page on each comment)

• “Like” us on Facebook-1 Entry (if you previously shared a post on FB, this is your entry. We must follow their rules of promotion-Thank you)

*Remember, you may have up to 10 entries, but you MUST POST SEPARATELY for each additional entry. This contest ends at 11:59 on Thursday, August 4th!  Winner announced Friday, August 5th! Good luck

 

Learn To Teach Your Own Online Class with Crissy Herron

There has been so much going on these past couple of weeks (since work ended) and in the past few months that I have been neglecting keeping in touch with you.  I am going to try to do better, I promise. 

Things are changing and I have been having to look long and hard at myself and what I want to do.  One of the things I have on my dream to-do list is to teach classes, especially online classes and workshops, so I was super excited to see that Crissy Herron, from Indie Biz Chicks, teaches a workshop on How to Teach an Online Class.  How perfect is that?

Although I have a lot of different classes that I would like to teach, one that is currently in the forefront of my mind is an online class dealing with Social Media.  So many people ask me about it on a regular basis that I have already started making tip sheets and mini lessons for them so I could really hit the ground running with that idea.

There are some really cool products and information available over at the Indie Biz Chicks site, I have taken and been a part of a ton of things associated with Crissy and her business.  I am signing up to try and win a spot, and you can try to win a spot for yourself (or just sign up for the class itself), by following the instructions of Crissy's post over at Indie Biz Chicks.  Hurry though, she will be drawing a winner on July 5, 2011 at 10 AM Eastern.

Happy Fourth of July!

Who Wants to Win a Trip to Paris?

I know that I surely do.  Of course visiting Paris is on my "dream list" but I really want to visit and have someone along that "knows" the place, at least for part of the trip and that just happens to be part of this prize package (check out the link below where you can enter and get all of the details).

Jordan is a party planner and letterpress printer from San Francisco who currently lives abroad with her husband and children.  This is what she had to write about why she decided to give this fabulous prize away, "As a thank you I am doing a giveaway for a 7 DAY TRIP FOR TWO TO PARIS, FRANCE! It’s true. I’ve put together a major giveaway that includes 7 night stay at Mama Shelter, the hippest boutique hotel in Paris. Roundtrip Airfare from the continental United States to Paris, France. And on top of that I will personally host* the winner for two days and take them around to my favorite spots in Paris."

If you want a chance to win as well (and there are four different methods of entry which means four different chances to win) all you need to do is head on over to Oh Happy Days.

Bonne chance everyone!

(Although I am already off to plan what I'm going to take with me.)