Happy May Day!

Does anyone else feel the time flying so quickly by? Where did April go? For us, March and April included (kind of working somewhat backwards here): Birthdays for the two kiddos Easter with my parents and siblings, including birthday celebrations for the two aforementioned kiddos Birthday celebration for mother-in-law Kindergarten Open House....gasp! Can Little Man really be old enough for kindergarten??? Lots of time and discussion about kindergarten and schools and applications, enrollment forms, etc. etc. etc. Ripping up grass and planting a garden Enclosing said garden in chicken wire fence so the naughty bunnies won't nibble my plants! Tearing out bushes in front of the house Painting the house A quick RAINY spring break trip that included the awesome Strategic Air and Space Museum and the Omaha Children's Museum. I would definitely recommend both of these! And of course the wonderful hospitality of my brother and sis-in-law. Tea party celebrating my grandma's 85th birthday party, complete with trying on (and stories of) hats she has worn throughout the years. A beautiful party for a beautiful woman! And of course the everyday that is my life of running after kiddos, playing lots of baseball and soccer, grocery shopping, etc. LOVED April, love this life...but certainly neglected this blog! So here goes. To start with, some pictures of St. Patrick's Day and the kids homemade shirts. (We can't have a holiday without a special shirt!)

"Sham ROCK" featuring a guitar with a shamrock shaped body! Little Man's is a baseball style shirt that I made from cutting apart two other shirts. Found this great tutorial at a new favorite site Make It and Love It. Embroidered letters in some awesome rocker font I digitized. Baby girl's was a too-large shirt that I sized down, ruffled the sleeve and bottom hems and appliqued the shamrock guitar embroidery. The coordinating skirt was also made from an old t-shirt. And look at that handsome man in uniform. That is my dear hubby in his Honor Guard suit. Love my man in uniform! Lots of rainy days during spring break

One of my favorite photos in the last few weeks! A few projects, including this boxy backpack (3-in-1 backpack, shoulder bag and stroller bag) combo of bag, diaper clutch and changing pad. Love the color combo!

Window seat and matching pillows, all with self-piping

Pizza birthday cake...what else would a 5-year old boy request? Crust is chocolate chip cookie. Sauce is melted white chocolate combined with a few chocolate chips and red food coloring. The authentic burnt areas are because I attempted to broil the pizza in an effort to melt the shaved almond bark "cheese". Sugar fruit slices for the tomatoes and green peppers, and tootsie rolls heated, flattened and poked through the middle with a straw for the olives!

Custom birthday shirts. Another baseball style with appliqued 5 (love this style of shirt!--and so easy)

Appliqued ribbon cupcake with two candles!

Have several more projects sitting around, plus I have started up sewing lessons again with my two favorite students, so will try to post more soon!

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...