Beads and Belly

http://www.etsy.com/listing/86901287/blueberry-candy-cane-bracelet?ref=v1_other_2

I LOVE THANKSGIVING.  I really do - despite how my pictures make it seem as though I am one who glosses right over Thanksgiving and start celebrating Christmas!  I saw videos of how some people make little tiny clay pumpkin pie beads, or little tiny pumpkins, but ... really?  By the time I experiment enough with clay and make something that looks like a  pie, Thanksgiving would have been long gone.

I got those little glass candy canes from FireMountainGems.com and they are the cutest things!  I have learned (the hard way?) that shopping online for jewelry supplies can be a hit or a miss though.  Sometimes things comes just as you would imagine but sometimes quite disappointing...  For instance, my spool of half-hard 20 gauge sterling silver wire: I bought it because after reading reviews and blogs, I have come to the conclusion that this would be the perfect type of wire to twist into wire words (which look really cute as a pendant for a necklace).  But then the wire arrived in the mail, and 20 gauge looks way too thin, I don't think it pops enough for what I was originally planning to do with it.  But hey, I am sure I will find a use for it =)

But today is about beads AND food because I have been lagging in the cooking department lately and my boyfriend who cooks gourmet meals daily made fun of me for my lack of effort.  Thus, I took up his challenge to make a better pork belly (because it has become our latest favorite dish) than he does because I/we are competitive like that.

Yup, I made that.  And taking pictures of it has somehow gotten my camera greasy.  It is as delicious as it looks.  I was thinking about allowing the picture to be larger but I figure people who click into my blog to look at crafts and beads may be put off by a big hunk of pork belly.  Anyway, you can read about how I made it on my boyfriend's blog: http://saltpepperandthyme.blogspot.com/2011/11/pork-belly.html