Mischief Managed

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Until recently, I had never read Harry Potter. I somehow convinced myself I must have read the first one, it was such a big deal in middle school. But when I finally sat down and started reading it in August, it was clear to me I had never read it. I thought I was a Harry Potter fan. I’d seen most of the movies, could recite some of the random spells used, and was told endlessly that I reminded people of Hermione. When my husband found out he couldn’t believe it. He owns all seven books and kept trying to convince me to read them. I wasn’t opposed to it, but I am 30 years old and there are so many things I could be reading.

It wasn’t until this summer that I was finally convinced. I was listening to Two Dope Queens and one of the hosts, Jessica Williams, is a huge Harry Potter fan. She told this story about sharing a birthday with the author J.K. Rowling and with the character Harry Potter. The joy with which she spoke about the books and being able to meet J.K. Rowling really left me wondering, why had I never read these books? I spent so much time looking up to Lisa Simpson (who I still believe is amazing), but what would it have been like to look up to Hermione too? So at the beginning of September when my school year started I began reading the books. Earlier today I finished Half-Blood Prince, so Deathly Hollows here I come!

I am definitely hooked, and regret not having read these books earlier. They really are amazing! So here are some of my Harry Potter inspired crafts, with more on the way!

HP Onesie - Snuggle this Muggle White & Gray
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
— J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Blogging Take... Onesie

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Clearly I didn't do this whole website and blog thing very well. So here we go again! Once more with feeling. Did I mention I am also a big Buffy fan?

There will be many blog posts to come to chronicle some of the awesome things I've done since last November, but first and foremost let's talk crafts! My sweet sweet husband bought me a Cricut this last year and it has really opened me up to so many new and fun crafts. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is basically a cutting and drawing machine. You can cut a lot of different types of materials and it's very accurate. So you make a design, it cuts it out, and voila!

This past year so many of my friends have had babies, and I wanted to make them special gifts for their little ones. A friend asked if I could make her a "woke baby" onesie, and I was up for the challenge. After getting some ideas and working on the design I was able to get started with my cutting machine. It was a lot of fun to use after the initial setup. You create your design online, you let the machine cut it out, then you weed out the extra material and in this case iron it on. Below is my final product.

It has been a lot of fun to start playing with some other designs too. There is the Born to Model onesie, since all babies are photographed a million times a day now.

Since I am an avid coffee drinker I figured a coffee themed onesie was in order. Thus "Freshly Brewed" was created.

And I've even done a few other custom requests, including a dinosaur themed 1st birthday shirt. A soccer themed "Born to Kick" shirt. And The Nightmare Before Christmas themed ones. It's been a lot of fun, and I'm currently working on some more designs coming soon.

Hello!

Hello all! My name is Courtney and this is Mercury Made.

I am a high school Math teacher by day, and crafter by night. Though the two worlds often collide. I've always had a love for crafting. But in a tiny NYC apartment there wasn't much room for it. So one day I thought of a perfect way to make my hobby and lack of space work, by selling the things I make. My husband encouraged me to pursue my passions, and for that I am truly grateful. My blog and shop name come from a cute idea we had long ago of combining our last names. We ended up using the initials H and G, and after awhile realized Hg was the chemical symbol for Mercury. And as we are both STEM teachers, nothing seemed more perfect. Thus Mercury Made was born.

I want to devote more time to doing the things I love, so here it goes with my first blog post to chronicle my journey. Now I have spent the last few years really getting comfortable with crafting and trying new crafty things. My sister has been a big inspiration. She likes to send me things she likes and I always respond with "I can make that!" Recently someone saw my mugs and asked if I would be willing to sell at their pop-up holiday craft fair. YES PLEASE! I can't even begin to count the number of hours I spend at craft fairs and holiday markets each year. But to actually sell at one was something I never really thought I'd be able to do. This feels like the first page of a new chapter in my crafting career. So the last few weeks I have been working to create some good inventory and simple but elegant packaging. If you are in the NJ area it would be great to see some familiar faces!

Seton Hall Holiday Pop-Up-Shops Hosted by the Fashion Club
Saturday, December 3rd, 2016
11:00am to 5:00pm
400 S Orange Ave
South Orange, NJ

If you can't make it, please check out my Etsy site! I hope you enjoy my work.

Courtney