MariaSaracino's Blog

This evening I attended the annual Christmas Party for the Ottawa Doll and Collector Guild in my hometown. At our November meeting I handed out naked elves to dress and bring back to the December Christmas party. I was excited to see what the members would come up with and I wasn’t disappointed. The first one to catch my eye was this little green velvet elf. His jacket and hat are trimmed in a brocade ribbon. A lot of thought went into his little accessories and his story. He’s sitting in Santa’s chair which Santa watches from behind.

These next two elves use very interesting techniques. The purple and green elf on the left was dressed with sticky-back felt sheets from the craft store.  No sewing was involved what-so-ever. The felt has a peel-back paper and sticks to itself.  The embellishments are glued on to finish the jester elf.  The little elf on the right is also a no-sew elf.  His costume was painted onto his body. Ribbon defines his waist and little bells accent his collar and sleeves. These delightful elves were a huge hit.

Below on the left is “Elv’is”. He comes with a gilded instrument, sheet music and an attitude. Next up is the snowflake elf on the right. He’s wearing a red felt tunic with snowflake cutouts.

But . . . I think the one that boggled my mind was this next piece . . . the lady who put this together collects everything “COKE”.  The boy elf’s hat is a bottle cap. Check out the elf sandals.  The Coke refrigerator holds Coke and snowballs. An amazing vignette.

Here are just a few more creations to check out.  Don’t forget if you are interested in a naked elf just send me an email and I’ll ship you a naked elf.  They’re only $10 and include the patterns. You can email me at elves@saracino.ca

Collector, Giulia, put the elves to work in her new home. Here’s how she displayed them in her front entrance on a shelving unit.  Check out the before and after shots. A nice way to welcome guests when they arrive.  Thanks for sharing Giulia!

Our trip has come to an end. We celebrated American Thanksgiving in Bristol, Tennessee and my granddaughter’s second birthday in Sterling, Virginia. We’re back in Canada now and I’m back to work finishing more elves and packaging and shipping another batch of orders. Just a reminder that the last mailing date for guaranteed delivery before Christmas is December 12th.

I have some bad news – we’ve sold out of the new 2011 Elves. However I still have some Elves from last year’s collection available – Albert, Jacob, Rowen and Oliver, but I only have few “Gwendolyns” left.

Naked Elves are still available as well.

Stay tuned, some pictures of creatively dressed elves are on their way in the next couple of days.

Here’s a photograph of my granddaughter Cameron – I’m reading her the story of the Elves and as you can see a group of them are eavesdropping.

Below is a platter of sweets I made for her 2nd birthday party.  You’ll recognize the mice from a previous post. If you liked those, you’re going to love the peanut butter pretzel cookies in the middle of the platter. They are sooooo easy to make and both adults and kids loved them.

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of icing sugar

2 tablespoons of softened butter

mix together and place a dollop between two pretzels.  Refrigerate or better yet, freeze for 15 minutes. Melt some semi-sweet chocolate chips and dip half the cookie in the chocolate and place on parchment lined cookie sheet to harden.  Refrigerate. Warning – you may have to make a double batch.

We left for Virginia at 7:00 am – a great day for travelling.
I prepared a little bag of supplies and a naked elf who was ready for his transformation.
The first thing I did was loosen some stitches on the sweater ornament around the neck, slipped it over his head and arms and stitched it back up again.  If you read the previous post, the sweater is an ornament that I found that looked like it would fit an elf . . . it does . . . a perfect fit!

I sewed on some buttons and slipped on his knickers.

Then I removed his feet.  The reason I did this is because I found some great skates that were hollow inside. So the challenge was to create an extension to his leg that would fit into the skate. I tied a 3 inch dowel to each leg and then taped it in place with athletic tape. I taped it all the way down the dowel so that the glue would have something to stick to. I filled the cavity of the skate with glue and inserted the wooden legs into the skate and let it dry for a couple of hours.

After the legs dried.  I gathered the bottom of the knickers and sewed on a little white fur around where the knickers meet the top of the skates.

Here he is all finished on the dash board.

As a matter of fact, I think that will be his name . . .  “DASH”.

I was shopping at Home Sense (Canadian version of Home Goods) and came across a little sweater ornament – the perfect size to dress a naked elf. Only $3. The neck is a little tight, but I can loosen a few stitches to get it over the elf’s head. I’m going to dress a naked elf on the drive to Virginia tomorrow. It’s a 10 hour drive so it will keep me busy for part of the drive while my husband listens to sports recaps on the radio. I’ll take pictures of him as I create his new costume and post them in the next day or two.

These little sweaters are referred to as miniature versions of the Ugly Holiday Sweater – but I think they’re cute. It’s going to work out very well for a naked elf. . . . stay tuned . . .

A few weeks ago I offered my customers “Naked Elves” for a chance to custom dress their own elf. They are only $10. each and I send along some pattern ideas to help the process. I’m asking people to send me photographs of their creations so I can share them with everyone.

Well, Dorothy Bullis from North Carolina has submitted the first photograph of a custom Elf and she’s adorable.  Dorothy knitted this little sweater for a teddy bear, but it works well on an elf too.  Dark hair with little red bows replace the usual white hair, a little extra makeup and a scarf and some gingerbread buttons finish her creation.  Great job Dorothy!

Thanksgiving is only 10 days away and I am looking forward to celebrating it with my son-in-law’s family in Bristol, Tennessee. American Thanksgiving is not much different than Canadian Thanksgiving, really the only difference is the date. I think Canadian Thanksgiving is earlier because the harvest is earlier in our climate. By this time of year we often have snow already. What I like about American Thanksgiving is that one day later it’s all about Christmas! And you all know, Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

That brings me to a reminder that the next shipping date for Elves is November 22nd. So please make sure to get your order in if you haven’t already.

This weekend I am participating in a Holiday marketplace. I have a dear friend who has opened her beautiful home to showcase the work of a few artists and artisans. The house is a late Victorian house that has been renovated in a modern version of the style of the era.  Beautiful classic details right down to an ornate tin ceiling in the kitchen. The setting is perfect to showcase my Christmas Elves and my one-of-a-kind sculptures.

The Santa and elf above is called “A Magical Sleigh Ride”. The next photograph on the left is “Giacomo” an whimsical Jack-in-the-box.

On the right are examples of some of my jewelry. These are made with Italian red coral and Hawaiian Turquoise and fresh water pearls.

One last photograph is of one of my larger pieces. Below is a 4′ Victorian Father Christmas. His velvet underdress is decorated with sparkles and sequins that makes him seem magical in the soft evening light.

Of course the elves are everywhere. In the Christmas tree, playfully frolicking on the staircase, hanging from the chandelier and welcoming guests on the wreath hanging on the door. They are spilling out of baskets on the floor throughout the house. I wish all my customers could visit, but Ottawa is a long way for most of you. But just in case you’re in the area,  you’re invited.

Before I sign off, I want to share a delicious fun project. These confections look impressive and are so easy to make, you can even get your kids to help. I’m bringing a batch to Tennessee for Thanksgiving.

Chocolate Mice!

The ingredients and directions can be found at

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/chocolate-cherry-mice-800468/

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I have had several requests to show all the elves I’ve made since I started in 2000. Including the 2011 elves there are 31 elves in total. They didn’t all have names, some had pet names that I used to help me tell them apart, later I actually named them.  I’ll try my best to remember . . . here are the elves and the time line.

I actually started making original elves in 1999. I made 75 little characters and sold out in two days at a local Christmas show. That’s when I decided to try my hand at reproducing the elves in resin and offering them as a limited edition series. The first series was made available for Christmas 2000, but in a very limited quantity. I created five elves dressed in velvet knickers and sweaters. I can’t find the photographs, but here’s an article that appeared in DOLLS magazine that shows three of the characters from the very first year. Their names were Samuel, Gabriel, Sebastian, Bartholemew and Simon.  I made a very limited quantity of these elves, since I was still testing the market.  I sold out that season.

The following year, 2001, I introduced three new characters and increased the quantity I was making.  However, I did not give them names because most people were associating them with people they knew and renaming them. The 2001 Elves were dressed in the same knickers, but were wearing striped shirts instead of the sweaters.

In 2002 we introduced a new costume and three new characters, including a grumpy character. The costume consisted of the same velvet knickers, but this time they were wearing checkered shirts with buttons and suspenders and instead of striped socks, they wore the solid coloured socks. Again, I didn’t name them, but I did have pet names that I used when I worked on them.  The laughing elf on the left reminded me of “Simon” from the first series, in the middle is “Bart” and the grumpy one on the right is “Malcom”.

By this time a circle of collectors were asking for the original elves so they could have the complete set, so three of the original series were re-introduced. They were wearing the original sweaters and had the striped socks.  Here are Samuel, Sebastian and Gabriel.

In 2004 we took a break and focused on selling our current stock. But in 2005 we introduced three younger characters in a more complex outfit. They were wearing the same velvet knickers but with little belted jackets with a ruffled peblum . We added a little fur trim to the collar and used checkered bows instead of the solid ones.We used the solid coloured socks as well. That season we found out my son and his wife were expecting twins, so if you met us at a show I definitley had twins on my mind and often posed two of the elf you see on the left as a twin set. I wish my memory was what it used to be, but the only name I remember in this collection was Franklin.

In 2006 along came my twin grandchildren – Leo and Eva as well as three new elves, including a bearded older elf called Frederick. These little guys were dressed in similar costumes to the 2001 collection, but we added a felt vest with a braided trim. We added the trim to the hats as well.  I wish I would have doubled the number of elves I made that year, especially the little old guy with the beard – he was a very popular elf with a very kind and gently face.

The 2007 collection featured three elves with no pants. They wore striped leggings and little jackets with tails that curled at the ends. The jackets were trimmed with a fuzzy piping and we added fur trim to the hats and the jacket collars. The elf in the middle was a little chubby elf. I still have a few sets available from this collection. We were at a show at the end of November when we found out our daughter was engaged. My son-in-law said the wedding plans started 5 minutes after their engagement. It’s true . . . 2008 was all about planning a wedding. I took a break to focus on my family and as it turns out on my health – an appendix attack landed me in surgery and forced me to slow down a little. I planned on getting back to making elves, but 2009 was about a new grandchild – Cameron was born on November 29th and I spent two months in Virginia helping out with the new family addition.

My customers were getting anxious – it was time to get back to making elves. I decided to make my comeback with something I had been promising my collectors for a while – a Santa scaled to complement the elves – and . . . to make up for lost time, instead of three, I introduced 5 elves with the Santa, including the first ever “girl” elf “Gwendolyn”. This time they were wearing felt overalls and we used the braided trim on the hats again. Gwendolyn proved to be very popular. I had resisted making a girl elf because tradition says that elves are only boys – the girls are fairies and pixies – but everyone loved her.  That’s why I made two girl elves this year. I still have a few complete sets of the 5 elves and the Santa available.

So here we are in 2011 and I’ve made the last collection in the elf series. I’ve pulled from what I know has been very popular in the past with Jacque, another bearded elf and two twin girl elves, Amanda and Emily. Elements from previous costumes have come forward such as the sweater, the felt vest and the fur trimmed hats. The girl elves are a little more involved to make with their checkered skirts and long braids, but they are perfect cheerleaders to end the series.

So if you have 31 elves you have the whole collection.

I have a little treat for my loyal customers – a chance to make your own elf.  I have a box of naked elves that are waiting for new outfits.  If you would like to create your own custom elf let me know and I’ll send you an elf and the patterns to make knickers, leotards, socks, t-shirts and overalls and skirts. They are $10. each but they are not available through my website – they are only available to my existing customers through this blog.  If you are interested you can email me at elves@saracino.ca

One more thing . . . .

I tried this new recipe by Giada deLaurentis for Nutella Cookies and they are delicious. Try these, you are going to want to add these to your Christmas Cookie collection.

Chocolate Nutella Cookies 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of Nutella
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter in an electric mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and Nutella and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each. Add the vanilla and mix for 10 seconds.

3 Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda (do not skip this step as sifting eliminates clumps of cocoa). Mix into the butter mixture on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides at least once to ensure even mixing. Fold in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts and refrigerate the dough for ten minutes.

4 Spoon tablespoon-sized drops of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield: Makes 6 dozen.

This year was the year my husband and I took another step towards semi-retirement.  We sold our house and purchased a two bedroom adult lifestyle bungalow. Finding a new house was a bit of a challenge – even though we were determined to downsize, I still wanted a studio space and of course lots of storage. I was feeling a little discouraged . . . but then . . . when we least expected it . . . we found exactly what we were looking for. We moved at the end of June.

I have to say this move was probably the most difficult move I’ve ever experienced. I’m not sure if it’s just because it’s harder when you get a little older, or the fact I had to decide what was coming with me, and what we were getting rid of. Downsizing years of stuff is not easy, even though I haven’t used most of it in almost a decade, I was still unexplainably attached to them. Finally moving day came and I haven’t look back. It’s been good.

One of the first things I did when we moved in was to set up my studio. I organized all my fabrics, made a couple of trips to IKEA for a new table and desk and sanded and cleaned my sculpting and assembling table – the studio looked fabulous . . . for about 5 minutes. Since then I’m running on overdrive. Things are chaotic in my workshop. Elves have completely taken over my workspace. Sculpted heads, fabrics, polymer clay, all sorts of little bits and pieces are scattered all over my new studio. During the summer I also took a silversmithing workshop and learned how to create hammered silver jewelry – I’m in love with this. I’m actually going to be taking a class on using my sculpting skills to create sculpted silver pieces. Stay tune for that. In the meantime a new corner in my studio has been taken over with jewelry supplies.

Right now my time is devoted to finishing off little details on this year’s new and final edition in the elf series.  I’ve also completed some commissioned-one-of-a-kind pieces. You’ll see them all on my updated website.

As I mentioned, this year will be the final edition in the elf series.  It’s been 10 years since I made the first set of elves. I can’t tell you how much joy it’s brought me to know these little characters have become part of your Christmas tradition and that my customers look forward to new characters every year. I love how some of you move them around at night to surprise your children every morning.  I love one story of how one of my elves has accompanied one family on all their travels. The elves have even accompanied some of your children to college and to war as a soothing reminder of home.  Thank you and I hope you enjoy this year’s line-up.

By the way, in my next post I’m going to have photos of all the elves I’ve ever made and their names, as best as I can remember. Stay tuned . .  .

My workshop has been invaded by Leprechauns!

We sold out of Seamus the Leprechaun before Christmas, but I’ve been working hard, and Seamus the Leprechaun is back and ready to spread some Irish luck.

Dressed in green striped stockings and a green velvet jacket, each elf comes with a gold coin, a bottle of Irish Cheer (not the real stuff) and an Irish blessing. These ‘wee folk’ will add a little fun to your St. Paddy’s Day celebration. Just like the rest of my elves, Seamus can be posed to sit, stand, hang from the chandelier and generally cause mischief. We’re shipping Leprechauns on February 10th, so if you’re interested place your order soon. www.saracino.ca

Leprechauns are Irish faeries and each one guards a pot of gold. If you find and catch a Leprechaun, he has to give you his pot of gold. Leprechauns are hard to find though, and once you find them, they are very tricky. Don’t take your eyes off of him.

Check out Seamus the Leprechaun on my website at www.saracino.ca  – you’ll find him on the Elf page.

Here’s an Irish toast . . .

May you have love that never ends, lots of money, and lots of friends. Health be yours, whatever you do, and may God send many blessings to you.

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe – CHOCOLATE-PEPPERMINT Shortbread Cookies

Servings: Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Cookie Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks/6 oz/170g) butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick/1 oz/28g) butter, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 drop green food color

Drizzle Ingredients:
1/2 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C. Combine all cookie ingredients except flour and 1 cup mini chocolate chips in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy (1 to 2 minutes).

Reduce speed to low. Add flour; beat until mixture forms a dough (1 to 2 minutes). Stir in 1 cup mini chocolate chips by hand.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten to 1 1/2-inch circle with bottom of glass dipped in flour (See Tip Below). Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until set. (DO NOT OVER BAKE.) Let stand 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely on wire rack.

Combine all frosting ingredients in small mixer bowl. Beat at low speed, adding milk, 1 teaspoonful at a time, if necessary until frosting is smooth. Frost cooled cookies. Place on waxed paper.

Place 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth (60 to 90 seconds). Drizzle thin lines of chocolate over frosting with teaspoon. Let stand until chocolate is set (at least 30 minutes).

If desired, place melted chocolate in small resealable plastic food bag. Cut tiny tip off one corner of bag to drizzle chocolate.

Makes: 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Tips:
To measure flour, lightly spoon flour into metal or plastic dry measuring cup. Level off excess with table knife. (Do not dip cup into flour or pack flour into cup.)

If the cookie dough is a bit sticky, chill for a few minutes in the refrigerator before rolling out.

Add a teaspoon of cocoa to the flour when flattening cookies with bottom of glass.

www.saracino.ca