Party pooper

By Emma Sun
WHEN Connie Bates conceived the idea to sell reindeer poop chocolates for Christmas, she never expected them to fly off the shelves.
The crafty Narre Warren resident designed her own little bag of reindeer-shaped chocolate covered sultanas, but it’s the clever little tag that would attract most people’s attention.
“It says ‘I hear you have been naughty, so here’s the inside scoop, all you get for Christmas is this bag of reindeer poop’,” Connie said.
“I thought I’d do something very different for Christmas and this was an original design of mine and they are just flying off the tables – I just cannot make enough.”
Connie, who runs Beyond The Picket Fence on Facebook, has been making arts and crafts for more than 25 years and sells them at the many markets she attends.
She enjoys painting, sewing and woodwork and especially loves making Christmas crafts.
She has been very festive this season, making not only the chocolates, but personalised snowman baubles as well.
“If I could have a Christmas store all year round I would,” Connie said.
“Families really like the baubles, especially with so many unusual spellings of names now, people find it hard to find something personalised.
“I’m surprised how many different ways there are to spell Rebecca.”
While making everything might be time consuming, with baubles taking up to three hours each to decorate, Connie said that was what she loved doing the most.
It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to see her painting and decorating a production line of 12 baubles.
Her house is filled with craft items, and she also said people weren’t going too far by calling it littered.
“Littered is a very complimentary word,” she laughed.
“My house is chock-a-block full and it’s not just in the craft room, it’s in the lounge room, out in the kitchen and in the back patio.”
She said she didn’t mind spending all her time on arts and crafts and would often choose it over other activities.
“It’s funny, a lot of people say I work so hard but I just love it so much that I don’t see it as work,” she said.
“This is my relaxation. Even though I’m flat out with it, I just enjoy it so much, especially the Christmas range.
“I can’t just sit down and watch television, it bores me. I get a kick out of making things especially when someone wants to buy something I’ve had a lot of pleasure making.”
She said it was something she intended to keep up for many years to come.
“I’ve been doing it for over 25 years now, on the serious side of things and I can see myself doing this all the time, forever, because I’m not the type to sit at home and do nothing.”