Party decorations!

My sister coordinated a table decorating contest and dinner fundraiser for her church this past weekend. Since we were going and chances were the only children that would be in attendance would be my two and her two, I decided to help her out by decorating the kids table. The theme? How did you guess? Yes, Dr. Seuss...Cat in the Hat, to be exact!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 plates, complete with blue spiky napkin hair, fish in the fish bowl (complete with blue water!), shrink a dink fish, nose and whiskers courtesy of my kids, and a balancing act centerpiece. Simple, quick, and definitely loved by the kids! We had fun, kept the kids from breaking someone else's heirloom china, and helped raise funds for a great cause. We had to have a place for votes, too...so notice the cat in the hat hand!

Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss!

As you may have realized from our Seuss-inspired play room and our Cat in the Hat themed bake sale treats, we have a deep love for the master of imagination and his literary works. I hope to someday own the entire collection. Until then, thank you Dr. Seuss for the inspiration in so many ways!
We celebrated the day with brinner (breakfast at dinner) of Seuss type biscuits ( a Cat, a sock, a truffula tree, a fish and a foot...see the corresponding books minus the Lorax reference). "Ham" which was really a sausage at the request of the kids, and of course green scrambled eggs! We drank milk in cat in the hat cups (clear cups and red electrical tape) and had barbaloot fruit salad. We read Dr. Seuss books throughout the day-a favorite is "Oh Say Can You Say" a book of tongue twisters sure to get us laughing!
Thank you, Dr. Seuss for your literary contributions to the world!

Getting ready for snow

Inspired by how much my boy loved his hat and cheek/neckwarmer combo last year, I just hat to make more before winter sets in! Children's hats are my new favorite. This hat/neck warmer combo is a favorite at our house. We love the book/movie that inspired this adorable orange creature, and was a starting point for many other hats and combos (pictures of those to come soon). I welcome custom requests and ideas for your little person!

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!