OldeMoonlane Primitves by Wendy Young Blog!

Meet Prissy....

5/24/2020

Early this morning I received a phone call from my next door neighbor, it seems he found one of my chickens in his strawberry patch. (Prissy)

Apparently she has been sneaking strawberries in the early morning hours to make her famous strawberry goodies.

I ask Prissy where in the world did she ever get the idea it was OK to take strawberries from the neighbors strawberry patch. She told me some little naughty "Mingo" said it was OK. Hmmmm I should have known.

I decided to have a talk with that naughty little Mingo but before I could turn around she was fleeing the scene. I guarantee you when I find her she will be in time out again.

The neighbor has agreed he won't press charges if Prissy makes him one of her famous Strawberry pies. Prissy is currently hard at work in the kitchen and the flour is flying. I also told her she will be responsible for cleaning up this mess.

Here are a few of Prissy's strawberry delights!

Prissy wants you all to remember LIFE is short so EAT dessert first always!

I've been taking Prissy's advice and I made some Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. The Rhubarb came from my other neighbors yard hmmmmmm now I wonder did Prissy ask for permission for the Rhubarb. I am off to find that naughty little Mingo. I hope you all have a great day and be sure to enjoy some dessert today!

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Potato Sour Dough Starter

4/30/2020

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Look at all those wonderful bubbles!

* 1 Medium/Large potato peeled and grated

* 1Tablespoon Dry Yeast

* 1/2 Cup Sugar

* 1 Cup of Warm (not Hot) Water

* 1 Cup All Purpose Flour

Scald your grated potato in the microwave for 2 min ( or shorted you do not want to dry it out just steam it). Combine yeast and sugar in the warm water. Stir in potato and flour. Mix Well by hand. Place in a gallon jar with a coffee filter or a piece of cheese cloth on top with rubber band around the jar. You want it to breath. You should begin to see it bubble.

Note- Feed it each day with 1 Cup of flour and 1 Cup of warm water. Morning and evening. You can each day give away or dispose of half of the starter.
If you begin to get liquid on top that's called hooch (this is normal just means it hungry) I usually pour it off to keep your mix from becoming runny.

I waited for about a week to use the starter. I filled a cup with water put some starter in the cup and if it floats it's ready to use. You will smell a yeast sour dough smell this is normal and you want this that's why it's called sour dough. If it gets moldy throw it out and somehow you contaminated it.

Sour Dough Carmel Pecan Sticky Buns

1 cup of started in your mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup room temp milk (not cold) and mix. Add 1 Tablespoon yeast, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg room temp and beaten, 2 Tablespoon soft butter , 1 teaspoon sea slat and turn up mixer speed. Gradually add 3 1/4 cup All purpose flour.

Note- This is a soft stickier dough and I used thread to cut the sticky buns verses a knife to keep the shape when slicing to lay in the pan.

Follow directions on previous post for the rest of the sticky bun instructions.

Enjoy!

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April 28th, 2020

4/28/2020

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My Nannies "Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns"

4/28/2020

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My Nannie and her twin sister.

You all ask for my recipe so here it is. I hope you enjoy!

Dough:
* 1 package dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water (not hot)
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 2 Tablespoons soft butter
* 1 egg room temperature
* 3 1/2 cup flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water, stir in 1/4 cup sugar, add salt, butter and the egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix thoroughly. Add remaining 1 1/2 cup flour. (note- you can place in a greased covered bowl overnight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days). Roll out on a flour surface to 15" X 18" rectangle.

Filling:
* 3 Tablespoons melted butter
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Brush melted butter on the rolled out dough. Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon together and sprinkle on the melted butter. Roll up !

Caramel Sauce:
* 6 Tablespoons butter
* 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 3 Tablespoons heavy cream (can use whole milk)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* Chopped pecans (I used about 2 cups) it's a personal preference

Melt butter over medium heat, add 1 1/4 cup brown sugar, 3 Tablespoon heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir continuously until it just begins to bubble. Remove from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Pour into a pam spray 9 X 13" pan, Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the caramel sauce.

Slice into 12 pieces and lay in the pan over the nuts, cover with a towel and let rise till double in size. I left them sit 1 1/2 hour. Preheat over to 375 degrees and bake 25 minutes. Let sit 5 Minutes (and no longer or the caramel sauce will set to long and not come out of the pan) then flip out of pan onto parchment paper or a container. Enjoy!

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Faux Icing Tutorial.....

4/18/2020

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If I had a dollar for every time I was ask how do I make my Faux Icing I'd be a rich girl. LOL! It really is no big secret as you can find many recipes online. Most know how much I hate typing instructions as it's not my cup of tea. (In the past I have received unkind messages about my typing and grammer, one even said I would be taken more seriously as an artist if I proof read more. Well, I do but I am dyslexic and I try my best, I share openly from my heart .) My sharing is meant to bring joy to others who love to create.

I have found myself on a journey of just creating and doing what makes me happy. I haven't released any instructions or patterns in two years as many of you know the life altering event my hubby Kevin and I have faced, but that doesn't mean that I won't share things. I did have 2 patterns ready for release but with the quarantine everything was put on hold. So, here is my go to recipe for my faux icing for your personal use and I hope you enjoy. I hope the day brings you much joy and happiness.

Icing Tutorial
© Olde Moonlane Primitives by Wendy Young
Supplies:

20 Minute Quickset Lite Mortar Mix
Old Bowl for mixing
Old spoon for mixing
Cake decorating Piping bag and tip of your choice.
Paint of your choosing (If you decide to color icing)
Glass Glitter (optional)
Any doo dads or sprinkles of your choosing to add to icing
Sealer DecouPage DecoArt

Directions:

Add 1 cup of mortar mix to your bowl. Begin adding water a little at a time slowly and stirring thoroughly. DO NOT over add water or it will be to runny. You want it to be the consistency of icing to pipe in the icing bag.

Adding Color:

I usually add a few drops at a time until the color I want is achieved. If you add too much remember it can make your icing runny and then you may have to re-add more mortar mix.

Spoon your mix into a piping bag. I find it helpful to place the bag into a cup to fill. Let mix sit 2-3 minutes in the bag this allows to mix to settle and become a little more smooth when piping.

I begin piping on the outside working in and up no matter what I’m piping.

Now the fun part!! Begin adding your decorations whether it be glass glitter (I love!) or chocolate chips or Faux Candy sprinkles.

Enjoy and happy Creating! I hope you have as much fun as I do frosting up a storm! Blessings! Wendy
www.oldemoonlane.com

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DecoArt Paint Bottle Makeover Transformation

1/7/2020

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What do you do with all those empty paint bottles ???? I received a message from another artist friend asking if I ever recycled the plastic DecoArt paint bottles when sculpting. I have used the caps but never really used the bottles. Well you know me my mind was going a mile a minute with several designs using the empty bottles. I decided to whip up a cute bunny and I thought it fitting to call her "Lil Sandy" after my very talented painting friend Sandy McTier who suggested the idea. Thanks Sandy! You can be sure I will be making more in the future as I do use lots of DecoArt paint creating my cuties.

My favorite DecoArt Product to use is the Extender. I use it as a blending medium to smooth all edges. I have tried all different mediums and found this works best with quikwood blending.

Next I used DecoArt dimensional effects to add a texture to all of the exposed plastics sections of the paint bottle and any where I wanted to give a little dimension. This product adheres well to plastics and then you can use acrylic paints.

Every bunny needs a little glamor sparkle! I used the DecoArt Decou Page as a sealer and sprinkled a pinch here and there of the DecoArt Glamour Dust to give her some sparkle and shine.

She was painted using all DecoArt acrylic paints. You could call her a DecoArt kinda bunny!

I hope you enjoyed seeing "Lil Sandy" coming to life using many DecoArt products including the empty paint bottles. Ohh I'm seeing piggy's Santas, Pumpkins and ghost in the near future , oh my I better get busy emptying more paint bottles.

Blessings!
Wendy

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Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins It's that time of year again!

8/28/2019

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I can't believe that this is the first blog post for 2019. It's been a very long journey to this point. It actually feels good to hop on and share a little with you all!

So many of you have messaged or commented on FB when and will you begin teaching again. I'm starting this fall off with offering small afternoon classes of 8 in my downstairs personal working space. You get a closeup look of my work area lol.  It may not be perfect or the OldeMoonlane Studio but I hope to make many new memories with you all.

I rolled around many ideas and decided to use some supplies I had ready for classes last year, that had to be cancelled due to Kevin's illness and our life altering events.

This is always a popular question this time of year for me "How do you do those plastic pumpkins??" I have several blogs on the subject that you can scroll back on.

Check out these blogs:
Sept. 23rd, 2017 blog "Skinning The Pumpkin"
Oct. 9th, 2017 Mini Buckets

Last week Kevin helped me pour (He sat on a chair and mixed with a electric drill with a mixing attachment to help stir) . I find I'm not as strong as I use to be and this really helped with the mixing process.
I used an old plastic dog scoop to scoop the mix from the large bucket into the smaller openings of the small plastic pumpkins.
Make sure to tap the buckets on the ground a few times to eliminate any air pockets. I advise you lay a damp paper towel over the pumpkin when doing this to avoid it splattering up on you. I learned this from trial and error lol. Try getting concrete off your glasses and out of your hair!!

This is my favorite mix to use.

You want the mix to be pourable but not watery runny. It takes a few days for them to cure fully. Be sure and check out the "Skinning of the pumpkins" blog on how to remove the outer layer of the bucket.

How fun is this!! I can't wait for you all to join me in making this fun "Pumpkin & Spice" makeover/transformation concrete pumpkin spice. Notice some of the tiny little air pockets, I love how they made the pumpkin more aged looking when painting. If you have any very large holes you could filled them with quikwood.

I'm ready are you??

Pic above shows a few of the larger Pumpkins I have done with cans inserted for flowers or ?? whatever you decide. Maybe a craggy black tree??

This turkey was done using the small buckets and made into a battery operated candle piece.

Remember it's OK to think outside of the box. Who said a pumpkin has to be a pumpkin right!!

I have a few of the bigger pumpkins poured from before and if time allows I'll be sure and share my next concrete pumpkin creations. Our porch gets very windy in fall so these make a great porch decorations that won't blow away in the wind.

Be sure and like, comment or share as I love hearing your feedback and if you like me to continue on with blogs and sharing .

If you try your hand at concrete pumpkins be sure and send me a pic I would love to see yours!!!

Blessings!
Wendy

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"Chocolate Frosties" How To!

12/3/2018

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l love sculpting in so many mediums and chocolate has to be about one of the funniest. Who wouldn't love a chocolate snowman cupcake?? I began sculpting in chocolate many years ago (I wanted to be the next cake boss lol) and even made and sold cakes, cupcakes etc. I had so many request I even taught a class. So, many have ask that I teach a class again and maybe someday but right now I thought I would share how easy it is in case you would like to make a few holiday treats of your own. I also found out , I would rather do it for a hobby than for a living as sculpting edibles can be stressful, especially if it's for a special occasion like a wedding. It's also tricky, as room temps have to be right or it will melt. I once sculpted an entire baby shower cake with chocolate that took a week to sculpt and the heater in my shop malfunction and ran on high all night, which melted all the sculpted chocolate pieces. I recommend when you plan on sculpting make sure the room your are working in is cool.

You will need:

* Vanilla chocolate melting wafers 16 oz.
* Candies of your choosing. I found some cute black candies and carrots noses ( You can make these with chocolate if you cannot find to purchase. I also found some cute snowflake candies.
* 1/3 C light corn syrup
* Cupcake liners
* Rubber gloves
* Toothpicks
* Gel candy colorings, blue, black, pink, orange

Measure ingredients carefully, this is important when working with chocolate. You will need for one batch of sculpting chocolate 16 oz. of vanilla wafers and 1/3 C corn syrup. You can melt the chocolates in a double boiler or in the microwave. Make sure to watch chocolate carefully as it is very tempermental and you do not want to over cook and seize the chocolate. It only takes me 1 1/2-2 min in the microwave for this process. I then warm the corn syrup in the microwave maybe 20-30 seconds before pouring it into the chocolate. Never pour cold or cool ingredients into chocolate it will harden (seize). Quickly stir corn syrup into the chocolate and mix till it form a ball. (Special note- never use a utensil you just washed that is still wet, it will seize the chocolate. Make sure your bowls and utensils are dry!!) Quickly turn the chocolate out onto a clean cool surface ( I have a marble cutting board I like to use, remember it's chocolate and it will melt!) using rubber gloves begin kneading the chocolate until smooth. Place in a bag or air tight container and store in refrigerator. I like making all my chocolate the day before I sculpt so it has time to set up. You can color your chocolate using candy coloring gels or colored wafers. The amount of corn syrup can vary with chocolates . I think I use 1/2 c. corn syrup when using chocolate.

You can make your chocolates up to a month in advance and store in an airtight container in a cool room. I do not recommend a refrigerator as it will produce condensation on your pieces.

Sculpting- Lay your chocolate out of the refrigerator about an hour or two before you want to begin sculpting. Knead the chocolate to soften. If at any point it becomes to soft, place the chocolate into freezer for a minute. I am constantly sculpting pieces and placing them in freezer for a minute or two while I sculpt. It's up to you how big you want to make your snowmen but remember not to make them to tall and top heavy if you are placing them on cupcakes. Body- I used about a 1" ball of chocolate and shaped into a pear inserting the toothpick into the top. Insert two candie beads in his belly. (Remember you can make these by coloring a tiny bit of chocolate with black candy gel.) Head, I used about 1/2 of chocolate and shaped into a slightly oblong shape and placed onto the toothpick. You can give him some personality by angle his head if you wish. Insert two candy beads for the eyes. I scored two eye crinkles on the outside of each eye using a paring knife. I never mix tools I use with clay with food!!! Insert a candy carrot for his nose or make one using the chocolate. Mouth- you can use a tooth pick or a paper clip. I did a variety. I like them all to have their own look. Place them in the freezer on a paper plate or wax paper while you prep your other colors and to just make them sturdy!!

Cheeks- I used a pink food gel to give his cheeks a little color and used a dot of white food coloring on each cheek this is optional as you may not have these supplies on hand.

Mixing colors-

It is really hard to make black using the vanilla wafers, you can get a darker look by coloring chocolate to black or just buy black wafers if you can find them. I always wear gloves for this process!!! Using a toothpick I placed a large amount of the black candy gel on the chocolate and knead till and even consistency. . You will want to do this process for the blue as well.

Hat- Flatten and tiny ball of black for the brim and place on top of the snowman's head. Make a slightly smaller blue ball and flatten slightly, place on the top center of the hat brim. Top of hat you will make a upside down pear shape placing the smaller end on the top of hat and press slightly. I placed a candy snowflake on each hat.

Scarf- Roll a piece of the blue chocolate long enough to wrap around the neck and join where you you want to add the scarf tails. Make two scarf tails one slightly longer than the other and using a paring knife cut fringes on the ends.

Icing- This is my favorite go to Buttercream recipe!

1/3 C Crisco
1/3C Butter (room temp)
3C 10X (powdered sugar) sifted
1/2 t pure clear vanilla
3T whole milk

Cream the crisco and softened butter together, gradually add the 10X sugar 1 cup at a time. add the milk and the vanilla nd whip till smooth and creamy. You can store in a air tight container if you want to make ahead.
I piped the icing on the cup cakes and sprinkled them with clear cupcake sprinkles but the sprinkles are optional if you do not like. I love sparkly sprinkles.

I made my favorite chocolate cupcakes but you can make whatever flavor you wish. (secret family recipe lol)

Royal Icing- You can look up any recipe for this or just buy the already made cookie icing. I pipes it on the top of the hats to look like snow.

I knew I was making the cupcakes to take and give to Kevin's staff at physical therapy, so I didn't want them to have to worry with returning a container. I took a shipping box and cut it down . I then covered it with some pretty snowman christmas paper, lining the bottom with foil. Presto instant container. I then used the clear food wrap I found at the dollar store with snow flakes to wrap up around the box add some curly ribbon and a tag.

Be sure and store in a cool room!!!

All wrapped and ready!

I hope you enjoy making some frosty chocolate snowman cupcakes for friends and family and maybe just as a random act of kindness. They will be sure and bring a smile to those you love, and their tasty too!!! Just be sure and warn everyone there is a toothpick inside!!

Blessings !
Wendy

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Meet Me Under The Lemon Tree

6/13/2018

5 Comments

A few days ago I posted "Pinky" making Lemonade from Lemons. I love sending random acts of kindness and decided to try and pay it forward to others the only way I know how. I plan on as time goes by creating and sending special pieces to those who may need a smile and are having struggles. I knew the moment my friend whom I have never met in person but became friends through FB and our love of creating commented how much she loved Pinky and her Lemonade, that I was going to create a special piece for her. My friend Cheryl has been facing her own battles this year and posting about her journey with much grace. I know what people don't often see is the bad days and challenges many face with an illness. I have held many hands of those over the years who need comfort and love. Cheryl has blessed me a few times with her scrumptious cookies in the mail and brought a smile to my face and my stomach as I do love a good cookie. You can find her on FB under "Under The Lemon Tree" business. So, Cheryl this is for you my friend and I hope when you receive this creation you will know I thought of you every minute I worked on it and offer my many prayers for you on your journey. Hugs to you!!!

This is how it all began.

Yes it was all sculpted using quikwood.

I think I would love a Lemonade under the lemon trees!

Once again thank you to everyone who has blessed and continues to bless our family in troubled times this year! Go out and share some compassion and kindness today !

Wendy

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Pinky Says "When Life Gives You Lemons Make Lemonade".

5/30/2018

11 Comments

Ever wonder why life throws you so many lemons ?? This has been a hard week this week and I had a really good cry. A FB friend recently said to me she knows how I am making Lemonade from so many lemons and she would be right. I decided to turn our sadness and challenges we are facing into something fun, whimsical and positive. Don't get me wrong we have many days that this is a great challenge for us but in life we can either choose to stay stuck in the negative or try and swim our way above it.

I like creating little stories with the pieces I create, as they really do come to life as I am creating them.. I think it gives them a personality, either that or I have a really crazy imagination. Hmmm you guess!!

A few months ago I introduced "Pinky" the flamingo who wanted to become a famous mermaid act in Florida and was excited to be traveling with me to Florida this year. Well, those plans fell thru and she was adopted by a very lovely lady in Florida. I recently learned Pinky's plan haven't been working out quite as she had hoped and she is just working in the lemonade stand making "Lemonade from Lemons". If you get to Florida and see Pinky be sure and tell her not to give up on her dreams and try one of her famous Pink Lemonades.