Maternity to Toddler Dress

 I had a maternity dress that I hadn't worn since I was pregnant with Aaron and even then it wasn't my favorite. But the fabric was really cute. I've seen so many repurposing projects the past couple of years and have been trying my hand at some recently. I used the maternity dress to make this darling little dress for Kaylee!

The best part of using the older dress was being able to reuse the zipper & ties! I just placed my pattern pieces across the zipper section and shortened the ties to go around the back of the dress.

I didn't create this on my own, I used a Project Runway pattern. It is one of my favorite dresses on her.

I made a little felt rose for the front and another attached to a clip to tie it all together. Now I have a stack of items in my closet that will repurposed instead of donated to a thrift store. It should be fun!

Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet Cake!

 Derrick is the Cub Master at our church and asked me to make a cake for the Blue & Gold Banquet.

 I used this photo as my guide and pretty much copied it. It was a great resource. Everything is edible except for the blue and white cub scout badge.

 It most definitely isn't perfect  (the fondant and I had a little battle...it won), but I love how it turned out in the end, and think the boys will like it tomorrow night too!

The "Get Your Brag On" Link Party is open until Saturday night, so join in!!

Dry Erase I-Spy Bag Tutorial

I thought it would be fun to take a different spin on the traditional I-Spy bags for my boys. Aaron is in preschool and can't read, so I came up with a dry-erase version. He can just mark off the pictures as he finds each object, then erase it all to use another day!

Tutorial:

Supplies Needed:

Pinking Shears (optional)

Fleece piece ( 8.5" x 16" )
Fleece piece (8.5"x6" ) for pocket

Rice

Odds and ends (buttons, erasers, etc.)

Dry Erase Marker

Plastic Vinyl ( 5"x6" ). I used some vinyl from a bag that a shower curtain came in.

Piece of paper cut down to 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" (this will be your window opening pattern)

 I arranged all of the objects on a sheet of white paper and snapped a photo. I had it printed to a 4x6 photo and then laminated it so that it would be wipe able.

 Mark the center of your fleece with a pin. Take your window pattern piece (4 1/2" x 5 1/2") and place it in the center of the bottom half of the fleece.

 Trace around it with a marker, then cut out the center square.

 Lay your vinyl on top, then flip it over and pin it. I know it would be easier to pin it while it is on top, but it is much easier to sew with the vinyl on the bottom and easier to take the pins out when they are on top while you are sewing.

(vinyl underneath)

 Line up the foot of your sewing machine with the edge of the window (3/8") and stitch around window (making sure that the vinyl is facing down. It sews smoothly this way).

 Fold your pocket piece over 1/2" and stitch across to hem the top.

 Place the pocket piece to the fleece on the opposite end of the vinyl window.

 Sew the pocket for your dry erase marker by measuring 1 1/2" in and stitching from the top of the pocket to the bottom.

 Then fold your fleece in half (right sides inside) and stitch all the way around, leaving a small section open for turning right side out. I used a 3/8" seam.

 Clip corners and trim seam. Then turn right side out and fill with your I-Spy objects and 1/2 way full with rice.

Turn under the opening and pin closed. Top stitch around the entire bag, catching the opening as you stitch. Be careful to shake all of the rice to the bottom of the bag so that it doesn't end up in your seams. It WILL break your sewing machine needle if it is sewn over (I know this from experience).

Turn over and add your dry erase photo and marker in their designated pockets and you are DONE!

The boys have had a great time finding the objects and swapping bags with eachother!

Cherry Blossom Cake & a Couple of Features!

I was asked to make a small cake for a wedding open house that a friend of mine was doing for a couple at our church. It's always nice to have an occasion to make a cake for. Iit keeps me practicing, and boy do I need it! My fondant came out beautifully when I made it and rolled it on. Then I noticed some areas with a crackled effect going on....which means that it was a little dry and that I can work on fixing that next time!!

I thought that since it was February, that I would do a cherry blossom cake in a pink, brown, and white scheme. I made fondant blossoms, and used concentrated food coloring paste, mixed with a little clear vanilla extract, to paint the branches and monogram onto the cake. I made homemade vanilla and rich chocolate buttercream frosting for the inside of the cake. The cake was a french vanilla mix.

I thought that I would feature a couple of cakes that were posted in this week's "Get Your Brag On" link party. They were fantastic! More features to come on Thursday when the next party starts!

Heidi's Recipes: Buzz Lightyear Birthday Cake

We've done a Buzz Lightyear party over here too! So much fun!

The Blackberry Vine: Fresh Strawberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

So pretty!

Freezer Paper Mania!

So I've joined the freezer paper stenciling throng. It is SO MUCH FUN! I started with this pile of shirts and when I finished, Aaron said that he wanted to make another one. I guess he wasn't happy that he only ended up with one cutom shirt. So we went through his dresser and found another shirt to customize. I know what I'll be giving out for bday gifts and baby showers! I can't wait to make some cute onesies!

 Right now my favorite cricut cartridge is the "Create a Critter" one that I purchased a couple of months ago. The images are just darling and each comes with accessories and fun phrases. I used that cartridge to come up with some fun tops for Kaylee. Each is designed just for her with her interests in mind, so they may not make sense, but she "gets it".

                            

 

                                                                  

I used the "Robotz" cartridge and the font that comes with that one to create these for the boys.

 The shirt below is the one that Aaron wanted as a "bonus" shirt. He painted it and chose the image!

 But I think that this one that I made for Dallin is my favorite....it's just fun and I love the little igloo.

 Freezer paper stenciling is very simple. I bought a roll of it at Krogers for a few bucks and it will last me a long time. Using a cricut, silhouette, or craft knife, cut your images onto the flat side of the freezer paper (waxy/smooth side down). Iron paper onto your shirt and fill in with acrylic craft paint. Light coats (letting it dry a bit in between) will prevent cracking when you wash it. Once the paint has dried (or is almost dry), peel away the paper. I used fabric puff paints to add some more details onto the shirts. Acrylic paint is permanent, so once it's on there...it's on there. I usually iron (on low) the shirt inside out before washing it the first time to help set it in even more.

The "Get Your Brag On" Link Party is open until Saturday night. Click here to link up!!

It SOUNDED Like A Good Idea...

The kids have a tote with black beans that they like to play with. Sometimes we hide things in it like buttons, etc. Kaylee likes scooping the beans and making messes. Minimal messes. The kind that take about 5 minutes to clean up. We just scoop the beans with our hands and put them back in the bucket.

I've been helping out a family from Aaron's preschool this week. The father is in the hospital and I've been watching Aaron's little friend and his little sister. They've had a lot of fun. While I made dinner Kaylee and Brylie played upstairs in the beans. It's funny how messes are multiplied by 300 when friends are involved. The boys were soon up on the second floor landing too, and I began to hear beans raining down onto the first floor foyer...I knew they were making a mess, but put off going up there because they were screaming, laughing, and having a great time.

After I finished cooking, I went towards the stairs and saw this...

                                                                              Then this...

                                                                           and this...

I wasn't sure what to do, it was hilarious and horrifying all at the same time. They were having SO MUCH FUN. The boys were pretending that the beans were lava and trying to not touch them as they ran around. Most of the mess was from the girls, actually. Even though I said to try to keep the beans off of the stairs, one thing lead to another.

It took me over a half an hour to clean them up with a shop vac. But the floors were clean. Actually, they were clean before the bean incident as I had already vaccumed once today! Oh well.

I'm not sure if the 30 minutes of peace that I had while cooking downstairs was worth the 30 minutes of bean mania, but one thing is for certain. Kids have fun when they come to our house ::sigh::

On a side note, I took Kaylee's diaper off  when she had a bath and there were beans in it. I'm sure I'll keep finding them as the weeks go on.

Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn

 We have some huge popcorn fans in our family.  We eat it almost every night!

 

Brown bag popcorn is a fun, healthy way to enjoy this snack. Simply place 1/4 c. popcorn kernels into a brown lunch sack, fold down a couple of times to close, and microwave on high for 2 minutes**.

 

 

 Pour into a bowl and spray with butter flavored spray (Pam works well) and sprinkle with salt or seasonings.

That's it! Cheaper and much less greasy than the store bought stuff!

**Obviously all microwaves cook differently. Ours cooks a perfect bag in 2 minutes. Experiment to see what works best for you.

Double Chip Cookies

Go ahead and toss any other chocolate chip cookie recipe you've used before. These are absolutely perfect. Crisp on the edges, soft in the center. Perfectly shaped. This recipe fits our tastes perfectly.  I make these in double batches and they still don't last long enough!

I like lots of chocolate chips, Derrick likes white chocolate.

So I use both, and mini chips distributes the flavor perfectly!

Double Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup mini white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter. Stir in flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. I use a medium cookie scoop. Bake for about 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on pan for 1 minute, then transfer to wire cooling rack.

We're So Lucky! Fortune Cookie Valentine's Day Gifts

 Homemade fortune cookies are just too fun! This is the second year that we've passed them out for Valentine's Day (recipe here).

 The best part about making them from scratch (besides the FLAVOR) is that the kids can create cute custom "fortunes" for their teachers and friends. I used my cricut to create the little panda cards to go along with them (from the "Create a Critter" cartridge).

I tied them up with chopsticks (I grabbed a couple of sets each time we went to our favorite Chinese place in town) and now they're ready to hand out to our favorite people :) We also made some mini cartons (they each hold 1 cookie) for primary teachers. We're so lucky to have such wonderful teachers (and our super awesome bus driver, Jan)  in our lives!