Author: Ulla - GermanDolls

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Entries for the Great Breadman Bake Off

Well, the good news is we had some. Who has time for baking when you have a family to take care of, run an etsy shop, blog, and attend team meetings?
I counted 5 entries in all. Please let me know if I forgot someone! I have been going slightly crazy with my doll orders lately…So let me know if I forgot you!
1)Mike from the Netherlands. She has a lovely etsy shop called starrysheep. http://www.starrysheep.etsy.com/. I don’t think she is a member of our group yet – but looks like she should be here! I love her blog! =)
2) Our famed leader FaerieRebecca! I am so glad she found the time to participate! I would have loved to try her family’s version of breadman with fresh lemons. How cool is that!
3) www.birchleafdesigns.etsy.com sent some very cute pictures too! I really loved the different ghosts and shapes the kids came up with.
4) www.PupaPupa.etsy.com sent a cute entry too! If she wins will have to make a trip to the Post Office to ship the price to our lovely neighbor in Canada! Which is true for Mike too! I love the diversity here!
5)Cat from www.MaDaucreations.etsy.com sent a link to a whole bunch of sweet pictures. The kids were working so hard! You can see that in the pictures! Also looks like they tried a new variation with green pistacchios.
I really really wish I could send a price to all the kids who helped bake! But I just cannot afford it. But I promise we will have more bake off competitions with other fun recipes. I have a lot of good ones! =)
Like last time the drawing will be in the afternoon. I think my son will do the honor this time. The winner will be announced later today! Drawing for what?
A custommade Wee Pocketdoll. The winner can choose from these colors:

See you later…
Ulla
www.germandolls.etsy.com

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BreadMan BakeOFF!!!

It was a tough weekend for me. The hubby went to the moutains with some buddies. I had to cart the kiddos to so many activities. Between getting the yard ready for winter, basketball games, Nutcracker practices, church, preparing every single meal, and trying to sew some dollies – I pretty much felt like going insane…

How do single parents do it? Seriously! I was exhausted after three days…

One of the activities that helped me entertain the children and keep my sanity was baking the breadmen! I had never ever tried to make these from scratch. In Germany they were handed out to me as a kid. The local bakery makes them and hands them out for free!
So we made breadmen according to the recipe I posted here last week (SEE my post from last Wednesday!). Here are some pictures of how they turned out. The children loved making them. Enjoy!

Now you must try it! So much fun! We substituted the raisins with chocolate M&Ms in places. The color ran and made for some gruesome color on the mouths of our breadpeople. The kids also complained how the raisins popped up and burned to a crisp in the oven.
How in the world do German bakers do it? I really should have become an apprentice to a baker after finishing highschool in Germany. It would have been so much more useful here in America.
I miss German baked goodies so much!

So please join in the big BREADMAN BAKEOFF this week! Send me pictures and a little report about how your attempt to make them went, and I will enter you in a drawing for one of my Wee Pocketdolls!
Please send by next Tuesday – so I can post them here and enter your name in the drawing!
Happy Baking!
Ulla
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Recipe for the Stutenmann or Weckmann (breadman)

It’s been an exciting day yesterday. Unfortunately as a permanent resident/greencard holder – I don’t get to vote! I found it very hard this time to be a bystander. Living between two countries- being in a nowhereland – not able to vote in either country – is very frustrating! But what an amazing time to be here and witness this historic moment…

I promised you a recipe for the little breadman, I believe. Remember my article about Saint Martin form last Wednesday? If you have time you should try and make them with the kids!

Ingredients for 6 little Guys:
600 grams of flour
40 grams of fresh yeast ( if not available use about 2.25 teaspoons of dry yeast)
1 cup of lukewarm milk
2 eggs
60 grams of sugar
100 grams of butter ( a little less than one stick)
a pinch of salt,
grated lemon zest from one whole lemon
a touch of vanilla
Raisins and almonds to make mouth,eyes, buttons

Sift flour into a bowl and make a hole in the center. Mix the warmish milk with the yeast and pour it into the hole. Gently mix it in with some of the flour scooped from the sides of the hole. Germans call that the Vorteig=Predough.

Cover the bowl with a towel and let rest in a warm place for 15 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, salt, sugar, lemon zest to the mixture and blend it all together. Knead the dough until nice and smooth. Let it rest again for 15 minutes.
Roll out the dough about 1/2 inch thick and cut out or shape into breadman. Decorate as shown in the pictures. Children love to help with this! Rub on some beaten egg yolks to give a nice brown shiny tint! Let them rest another 15 minutes before baking.
In Germany the breadman usually come with a pipe made of clay. I prefer the non-smoking kind =).
Bake at about 380 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
Hope you have time to make them with the kids!
Enjoy!
Peace, Ulla
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Sankt Martin

If you should ever get the chance to visit the area in Germany where I grew up, you will notice one thing upon entering one of these small communities. As you drive into a small town you will notice a distinct feature on the horizon: two church steeples, one belonging to the Catholic church – the other to a Protestant church. Animosities and downright hostilities between the followers of either religious denomination have lasted for centuries. May God forbid that a Catholic girl should ever wed a Protestant man ( or vice versa), as my mother did, for she might become an outcast in her family…Despite the fact that most Protestants do not recognize saints and may even ridicule the Catholic practice of saint worship, there is one celebration in November they will not shun! On the evening of November 11, you will find Protestant and Catholic children alike going on lantern walks at night to celebrate the life of Sankt Martinus.
According to legend, St. Martin started out as a Roman soldier, was baptized as an adult, and became a monk. “It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away. Martin heard Jesus say to the angels: “Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised he has clothed me.” (quoted form Wikipedia)

Most of the lanterns the children carry they craft lovingly at home or in art class at school. The lanterns are usually made of paper with beautiful cut-out designs that look like the lead glass windows of a church. The lanterns are attached with wire to the end of a dowel. Little tea-lights are used to make them glow in the dark. The children walk from their houses and meet at the market place, or the school building. From there they follow a rider on a white horse, dressed like a Roman soldier, marching towards the outskirts of town. While walking the children sing songs about St. Martin and songs about their lanterns. The destination of their march is a huge bonfire. The children gather around the bonfire. After a dramatic reenactment of the most famous scene from St. Martin’s life, cutting his coat in half and sharing it with the beggar, all children receive a sweet treat. Each child gets handed a figure made of a yeasty bread dough with raisins for eyes.

I so loved this tradition as a child. There was always such a wonderful sense of community in this celebration. What better way to celebrate simple acts of human kindness?

Wishing you lots of light, human warmth and kindness for this season!
Ulla
http://www.germandolls.etsy.com/

 

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Ode to all the hard working Moms!

What inspires you to make art? Who are the people in your life that have been important when it comes to your craft? That is one of the questions we ask artists from our group in our Friday feature interview.
Back when I was interviewed I said my mother. But there was not enough room to count the many ways in which she inspired me and made me become the person that I am now. I think of her every day. She passed away from cancer 4 years ago. But every time I pick up a needle and sew, I think of her. I know she would be so proud of me, and what I do.

Trees by www.unwaveringfaith.etsy.com

My mom did not make a living as a seamstress. She always told me that she wanted to learn the trade. But she grew up in a household with 10 children. There was never any money. Often not enough food to go around the table. Especially during the war. They slept 5 children to a bed. Can you imagine that? Being the oldest girl, she was 13 years old, when her father sent her to live with another family. She became their maid. Cleaned, cooked, washed their clothes. On weekends she’d be home to help with chores. Hard times. She was not allowed to become an apprentice to a seamstress. The trade she would have chosen if she had had a choice. All she knew about needlework and sewing came to her through her grandmother, from her father’s side.
With my post today I want to honor all the hard working mothers with children. Like my mom who raised 5 daughters, and the members from the naturalKids team who are mothers and struggling to raise a family on a small income. These are hard economic times. So please, consider in your Christmas shopping to support a small family business like http://www.unwaveringfaith.etsy.com/ and many others on this team!

Take Care,

Ulla, the German Dollmaker
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Life as a Waldorf “Short Order” Cook

The other day my daughter was asking me:”Mom, what are all those little sticky notes on the window behind your sewing machine?” I responded:”Oh, those are the custom orders I received and need to finish for Christmas.”

If you are an artist/crafter and offer custom work in your etsy shop, life in the months before Christmas can get pretty complicated and hectic.

You may find yourself worrying and asking the following questions:
How many custom items should I offer?

Do I have all the materials to make them?

Do I have enough shipping materials, and will I be able to ship it on time?

How do I keep my store stocked at the same time?

How do I balance the custom work with my desire to create new items?Should I just skip sleep and work 24 hours? Now is the time, right?

I have been struggling with these questions since August. I would really like some input from other crafters who offer custom work. How do you stay organized and make it through this busy season?

Sometimes I get so tired of the balance act I am performing that I want to stop taking customs orders altogether! But then I get some wonderful Feedback or a really sweet message from someone who received their doll, and I forget all about the stress.
I find, that the challenges of custom orders bring out the best in me. Often customers come to me with ideas I never would have come up with myself! Or they point out how one of my items sold previously was so great because of a certain feature and why don’t I combine it with this other feature…I think my customers make me a better artist. Even when I find myself grumbling at times about a difficult request…

My favorite kind of dolls are ethnic dolls. I made the Asian dolls you see in the pictures for children adopted from China. There is a great need for such items because it is hard to find dolls with Asian and other ethnic features on a regular store shelf. I feel that my work is important and appreciated by the children and parents alike!

But I am only one woman. I wish I had some elves to help. Maybe some day my daughter will be old enough to help. But for now it is just me.

Later I might post a picture of all my little sticky notes in the window of my “studio”. I feel like a short order cook at times. Which is a funny way to put it since my orders take hours to complete. =)

Hope to hear some opinions from all of you who do customs!

Love, Ulla

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Life as a Waldorf "Short Order" Cook

The other day my daughter was asking me:”Mom, what are all those little sticky notes on the window behind your sewing machine?” I responded:”Oh, those are the custom orders I received and need to finish for Christmas.”

If you are an artist/crafter and offer custom work in your etsy shop, life in the months before Christmas can get pretty complicated and hectic.

You may find yourself worrying and asking the following questions:
How many custom items should I offer?

Do I have all the materials to make them?

Do I have enough shipping materials, and will I be able to ship it on time?

How do I keep my store stocked at the same time?

How do I balance the custom work with my desire to create new items?Should I just skip sleep and work 24 hours? Now is the time, right?

I have been struggling with these questions since August. I would really like some input from other crafters who offer custom work. How do you stay organized and make it through this busy season?

Sometimes I get so tired of the balance act I am performing that I want to stop taking customs orders altogether! But then I get some wonderful Feedback or a really sweet message from someone who received their doll, and I forget all about the stress.
I find, that the challenges of custom orders bring out the best in me. Often customers come to me with ideas I never would have come up with myself! Or they point out how one of my items sold previously was so great because of a certain feature and why don’t I combine it with this other feature…I think my customers make me a better artist. Even when I find myself grumbling at times about a difficult request…

My favorite kind of dolls are ethnic dolls. I made the Asian dolls you see in the pictures for children adopted from China. There is a great need for such items because it is hard to find dolls with Asian and other ethnic features on a regular store shelf. I feel that my work is important and appreciated by the children and parents alike!

But I am only one woman. I wish I had some elves to help. Maybe some day my daughter will be old enough to help. But for now it is just me.

Later I might post a picture of all my little sticky notes in the window of my “studio”. I feel like a short order cook at times. Which is a funny way to put it since my orders take hours to complete. =)

Hope to hear some opinions from all of you who do customs!

Love, Ulla

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Trip Down Memory Lane…

October is a hard month for me. I love the fall season so much because it reminds me of Germany. Finally – a spell of cold – after a long hot summer. The falling leaves of the oak trees in front of my house serve as a reminder of the changing season.
Who would have thought I’d ever miss the rain and cold, the overcast days, and the ever shorter dark days in Germany?

October is a special time in the little communities where I grew up. I was raised in the Rhineland-Palatinate or Rheinland-Pfalz, if you would like to try to pronounce that. It is a famous wine growing region in the West of Germany.

This time of year , as a child, I would be helping with the grape harvest. Even young children would participate. Once you were old enough to hold the clippers for cutting grapes, you’d go out and help. I remember my infant sister being carried in around the vineyard in her bassinet. Every helper would receive a bucket and a pair of clippers You’d be assigned a partner and a row of grape vines to harvest from together. It was hard work. Often we would work in pouring rain. Filling our buckets with grapes, over and over again. Once your bucket was full, you would call out for the “Legelträger,” a person carrying a special bigger bucket strapped to his back, and empty your grapes into the receptacle as he would kneel down in front of you. He then would empty his bucket into a giant green vat. And when that was full, we would all be called on to jump into the vat and mash down the grapes to make space for more grapes.

My husband always jokes about it. He says the only reason I survived was because of my long legs.
It was a pretty sticky business. By the end of the day, you’d be tired and covered in grape juice and have grape leaves stuck in your hair. The smell of the harvest would penetrate deeply into your skin. But the hard labor would be rewarded with a small sum of money – which seemed huge for me as a child.
Now that I am older I fondly remember those days spent outdoors, working and playing in the vineyards.
Some people say that children in the modern world have lost touch with nature. They spend most of their time in front of TV and computer screens. I recently read an article which claimed that the average American child spends between 4-6 hours in front of a screen of one sort or another (Nintendo, other handheld games, Wii) . The article also stated that many children are losing touch with nature because of it.
Why care about the environment if you never spent time outdoors?
I wonder if things have changed in Germany and my memories are just that. Memories. Maybe the modern German child does not participate in the grape harvest. My sisters don’t live that region any more. Maybe machines do all the work now…
I guess what I am trying to say here is: It is important to teach children a connection to nature!” It is so important to play and to work with them outdoors! I am convinced that I would be a very different person if I had not spent so much time surrounded by the soft rolling hills of the German country side where I grew up.
Have a wonderful week! And remember to turn that computer or TV off, and send the kids outside to rake some leaves with you!
=)
Love, Ulla
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Taking Breaks….

And the winner is….sorry, the drawing will be this afternoon when my daughter returns from school. She insisted to be the one to draw the name out of the hat. So stay tuned! I will contact the winner later today! The answer was of course: BTRT also known as http://www.BeneathTheRowanTree.etsy.com/

One has to simply love the bright colors she uses on her felted toys!

OMG. I cannot believe it is October 1. The Christmas madness has started. So many projects on my workbench. Anyone know where to find some elves? Can’t keep up with custom orders. Got to send those pictures to FaerieRebecca for the advertising campaign. Finish the bio. Order more business cards. Order more boxes and shipping supplies. Write the Wednesday Blog entry…Make more doll clothes and stock up the store. 100 items. The magic number, they say. What? I have only one Christmas item in my store so far? What is wrong with you? All big stores have their Christmas displays going already. In the US the Christmas season starts in July, right?

I am so00000000 stressed! I don’t want to yell at the kids but find myself doing it anyways.

So to all you hard working etsy shop owners and mamas I want to say: Don’t forget to relax!

It is important to take breaks! You feel like you should be making items 24 hours a day. Now is the time when people want it. But don’t forget the family! And don’t forget to take good care of yourself! Hence, I put the picture above. Take a relaxing shower and put some of that cream on those aching, hard working muscles. Please, http://www.truevineherbs.com/ WE NEED MORE listings for THESE!

Have a cup of tea! Take your kid for a walk to the park instead of making another little doll dress. Spend an evening with a good book instead of sewing…

I know it’s hard, when you feel there is so much to do and not enough time to do it. But last night I started in on this amazing, wonderful book by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake. If you are looking for a good read: Go for that one! It explains a lot about the immigrant experience. OMG, was that me talking in that book?

Take Care and have Great Week!

Hugs, Ulla

http://www.germandolls.etsy.com/