Couch pillows

The lighting isn't great on these pillows, but think rich cappuccino brown and lovely blue with a high sheen, combined with a beautiful flower ruffle on the front! Matches the custom piano bench seat!

Princess party costume jewelry

Wow! I forgot about this project. While looking for another project in my pictures, I came across these and realized that I never posted them. They are too fun to post, even if it is closer to her next birthday than her last! These were made for a fabulous little girl who is best friends with G and whose mom is my bestie, too--convenient, huh?!

These are all embroidered, and the jewelry sets consist of a necklace, bracelet and ring with elastic to make them easy to put on and easy to keep on! Metallic thread, too!

Boppy cover

More custom nursery/baby items!

This one is another boppy cover. Love the ribbon pull on the zipper!

Dragon cake

Another cake for the cake walk.

I obviously am on a Dr. Seuss kick right now. So when I asked Little Man what kind of cake he wanted for the cake walk, and he responded "dragon", I was a little disappointed.

And I made a Cat in the Hat cake.

Then I felt guilty. So with the leftover 9" round cake I had from the cupcakes I made, I decided to make a quick dragon.

First, I cut off the "sides" (I know, a circle doesn't have sides, but didn't know the right term!) off of 3 sides. I left the front round for the nose/mouth area.

Then I cut the tips off the two cut off sides and place them on the nose for the dragon nostrils.

Added 2 cupcakes for the eyes.



Frosted the whole thing green, minus the whites of the eyes. I typically like the Wilton Buttercream Icing, but was in a hurry and used storebought. Then made the eyes white.

After I made the eyes white, I lined the eyelids and the top and inner edges of the nostrils with a bead of icing to make it stand out more. Added a few spikes at the top of the head for fun.

I love being able to utilize candy or whatever I have on hand for decorating. For this cake, I used Tootsie Roll midgees and put them, unwrapped, in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, then rolled them and smooshed them to make the pupil of the eyes.

Grab some cherry orange wildfire fruit roll ups, cut into flame shapes, and place under the mouth. Kind of ripple for 3-D effect. I actually used two layers of fruit roll ups here. *Sidenote: I don't like that all of the fruit roll ups have tatoos or a design on them! Just make it plain!*
Ta-Da!

Not sure if this is what Little Man had in mind, but he was really excited when he saw it! Though he chose a different cake when he won the cake walk...hmmmm. Oh well, mommy guilt was gone!

Enjoy!

Cat in the Hat cake!

WARNING: This post has nothing to do with sewing.

When I am not sewing in my spare time, I am in the kitchen. Which could explain some things, but that is another story :)

I love being in the kitchen because my kids love being in the kitchen. They love to mix and pour and stir and measure and dump. Little man knows how to correctly level flour with the back of a knife. Baby girl loves to make a huge mess. We turn up the CD player and sing and dance and bake.

So this is a short tutorial on how to make some fun, EASY cakes. These were made for a cake walk for a fundraiser family fun night for Little man's school.

First up: Cat in the hat cake.
I bought a package of aluminum foil 7" pans at Dollar Tree. They came in a package of 4...perfect!

I then made a delicious quick buttermilk chocolate cake, which filled those 4 pans perfectly!
I cut the tops off after these baked to make them nice and flat, then when they cooled I frosted and stacked these four layers together (sorry, it was 11 PM and didn't get out my camera to document these steps!) I used the Wilton Buttercream frosting recipe. This is a little stiffer than storebought, so much better for decorating.

I then frosted the outside and smoothed it. A knife dipped in warm water is great for this...unless you have colored frosting, then the water can kind of bring out the dye and make funny spots!
The stripes were super easy...fruit by the foot!

These were also used on the top of the hat, just right next to each other for a solid red look. Add these when the frosting is fresh so it sticks. Or, dip your (clean) finger in water and run it along the back of the fruit strip to stick it to the frosting.

Next, I baked the same cake recipe and made cupcakes. Then I frosted them white, then added some spiky blue "hair". Wrapped with a cardstock ring (my local Hobby Lobby was out of red cupcake papers! and couldn't find them anywhere else...I even tried to dye my own, to no avail), and they became Thing 1 and Thing 2!

And a Swedish Fish poked into the top of a cupcake became the fish in the fishbowl!

I think it turned out well! It was one of the first cakes to be chosen at the cake walk, so guess someone else thought so, too!

Can't wait for April showers...

Rain gear.

You seldom need rain gear in Kansas.

And when it is raining, it is usually accompanied by such high winds that the rain comes in sideways, rendering umbrellas and other rain gear useless.

However, rain gear is totally hot right now! Just look at any store, and see the rain boots and coats.

So I jumped on the bandwagon. I ordered some lovely laminated cotton from my fave website fabric.com Pretty wild fabric, but I figure I need to brighten up a dark rainy day!

Found a pattern for a lined coat. I hope to use this again next fall to make a luscious wool coat for myself. And bought a similar pattern for baby girl...hope to make her a coordinating coat. Won't we be cute?! ha!

Very happy with the results! Now just to wait for the rain to come...

Sleeve tabs and patch pockets

This "project runway" pattern allowed me to personalize the sleeves, collar, front, and length of the coat.

I added a hood...pattern didn't allow for one, but with two kiddos I can't manage an umbrella so decided a hood would be best.



Wouldn't this coat look lovely with these boots? I am on the lookout...