Tea Time

Community is sometimes hard to find, so I know how lucky I am to have friends in the crafty community here in Portland, whom I see pretty regularly. I'm hosting a PDX Etsy team Tea Time at our house next Wednesday, May 12th, from 11am-3pm, so we can all catch up now that the big Crafty Wonderland Spring Sale is over.

If you're a member of the PDX Etsy team, check the Tea Time thread in our message board to get directions to my new address. If you're not a member of the team, then why not host your own tea time to gather some friends for an afternoon of gossip and bonding? Taking time out of our busy schedules is absolutely necessary for making those personal connections that often spur on a bout of inspiration!

The photo above was taken at the last PDX Etsy Tea Time, at Mary Kelly's house. Check out the little yellow cream pitcher that Sean and I made her as a housewarming present! Her Robo-Dino artwork looks great on all our products, and I knew we had to make give her something special with that little guy on it.

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A Real Mustache Mug

Can you believe this?? I scored this mug while shopping for other reclaimed mugs at the Goodwill today. It's a classic mustache mug (made in Japan), with a protective bar for keeping your mustache dry while you drink your beverage. I've heard rumors about these, but hadn't seen one until today.

Oh, and speaking of mustache mugs, I just listed a couple coffee cups and espresso demitasse cup and saucer sets in our Etsy shop, and I'm working on adding more soon. We're not taking any new wholesale orders anymore, so that should give us some time to work on filling the shop for early holiday shopping.

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Stovetop Espresso Maker

Ever since we went camping last month, we've been searching thrift stores for one of those Moka espresso pots. We're too cheap to drop the $50 or whatever it is for a new one, and I just knew we'd find one eventually, secondhand. (Okay, I just looked it up, and you can find one for $19.95.)

A few weeks ago, we were in luck! It's not quite a Moka, but it's a little stovetop espresso pot that set us back about 8 bucks. How cute is it??

It'll be perfect to bring on our next camping trip. We can also take our battery-operated $2 milk frother from Ikea, and make some rustic lattes out in the wild. Plus, it's pretty heavy, so it could do as a coffee bean grinder if we were in a pinch.

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Skeletal Dropkick Mugs

Remember when we went to Renegade Craft in San Fransisco all those weekends ago? I know, I haven't talked about it much. Well, one of my favorite things from the event was picking up some handmade pottery mugs from Skeletal Dropkick!

The first time I discovered these awesome skull creations was when SD were the featured sellers on Etsy. It's so great to finally meet an artist in person and be able to touch and hold their wares for the first time, especially if you've been secretly admiring them online for a really long time. I loved hearing the story behind how this mug shape came into being, and learning a bit about the firing and glazing process.

I love that these mugs are like the big and little brother of caffeinated pleasures. I had a tough time choosing between these and all the other monster jars, bowls, and teapots that were available. I guess I'll just have to add to my collection over time.

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No Soap, Radio #19

You guys seemed to enjoy the comic, so I thought I'd skip ahead and find one that's more appropriate for this heat wave we're having. I'm ashamed to be missing Dunkin' Donuts right now.

April 8, 2005
True story. The cream almost killed me. I passed the test though, and there was much celebrating when it was over. I'd also like to point out that I truly and deeply love coffee, but there's just something about drinking from a plastic cup the size of your head which is halfway filled with dairy products that is unappealling to me. Maybe I should switch back to espresso...

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Print Giveaway Winner and New Mugs

The winner of the drawing for an autographed Chilly Robot print is Jess!! Thanks to everyone who entered. There will be new drawings in the future, so subscribe to our blog so you don't miss the next one.

If you still really want a Chilly Robot print, there are two more for me to give away. They're going out to the first customers to spend $70 or more on our website or Etsy shop until the end of March (one has already found its new home!). Congratulate yourself for finishing your taxes early, or console yourself with a little something special. I feel your pain.

If you're looking for something brand-spankin' new, check out our new ceramics line! I've been scouring thrift stores for fun coffee mugs and teacups, and we're finally got some of them up in our Etsy shop. Some have been carved through the glaze, so the bold natural ceramic shows through, while others are just frosted on the surface.

Mustaches are by far the most popular design for these, but we're happy to do whatever design you like (although we're limited by the colors/styles of cups we're able to find). New mugs are being added as fast as we can make them! I came down with a cold last week, and have been drinking enormous amounts of herbal tea, making me wonder why I didn't release these ceramics earlier.

You can see more photos of them here, and check out what's for sale here. My favorite one is the little brown one in this photo, since I'm left-handed. I'm going to make more lefty mugs for the shop, because I know we left-handers need options.

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DIY Coffeesicles

Here's an awesome recipe for Vietnamese-style coffee popsicles! I found it via the Craft: Magazine Twitter page.

If you don't have a fancy popsicle mold, you can make a granita out of the coffee mixture by pouring it into a shallow tray or baking dish, and letting it freeze for 2 hours so that ice crystals have started to form on the surface. Scrape the ice crystals around with a fork, and return to the freezer for another 30 minutes. Repeat the scraping and freezing 3 or 4 more times, until it's all fluffy and frozen. Serve immediately!

You could also serve it before it's completely frozen and have a drinkable slushie icy coffee concoction. I can't wait to try this!

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