Cakes and other assorted goodies. (Catching up)

Pancakes. Cupcakes. Cakes are always a good thing. I tried to make Saturday morning pancakes fancy and played with a star-shaped cookie cutter last week. A week later I fell in love with an icing gun. (For the record, I didn't make these tasty cupcakes or the icing- Nancy Jo did. I iced and added sprinkles.)

More little flower hats went to mommies expecting little girls. I hope Katie and Emmy Lou like them! I'm working on more. Eventually, I'll have put a knitted hat on every baby head I see. I'm working on a cherry hat for little Miss Ginger and have a collection going for Landry, whose mommy is responsible for the hat craze. She bought me Itty Bitty Hats for a gift once. Bless her.

I've been eyeing this baby kimono pattern for a while and finally found the time to make one for Rory. She was far too busy "cooking" to pose for a picture, but I think it turned out quite cute. I'm sure there are more kimono tops in her future.

My mom gifted me Family Fun magazine and I found this fun little carton wallet in the latest issue. I have absolutely no clue what I'll use it for, but I love it. I also love that it gave me an excuse to turn the colorful baby oatmeal carton (that I've been hanging onto for months, hoping to do something with it) into something functional!

Weekend Project

We bought our table when we bought our first house. We love it. We didn't think about how the cool grooves would be so hard to keep clean. We'd kind of given the poor table a little bit of an unintentional beating. No worries, though. A power sander, cherry stain and several coats of polyurethane later and the table is back in business.

Who knew power sanding was such fun?

(Oops) I did it again.

I knew I was going to be in trouble.

The felt food obsession continues with six new Etsy listings:

Kiki's Best Fresh Cookies
Daddy's Cold Cut Classics
Uncle B's Sensible Salad
Mamaw's Italian Dinner
Breakfast at Papa's House
E&J's Garden Fresh Produce

I have a feeling this could go on for quite a while.

Felt Food. Quite possibly as addictive as many illegal substances.

I can't say I wasn't warned. I knew this would be addicting. I couldn't help myself. Not one bit. My poor husband came into the kitchen where I was working and surveyed the extent of the damage. I was camped around my sewing machine with piles and piles of felt, thread, scissors and polyfil stuffing. It was...glorious. I don't shy away from complicated or intricate projects, but there is something to be said for this felt food business. It's almost instantly gratifying and ridiculously easy. Seriously.

I made Rory a bunch of felt food to use with her play kitchen. I even whipped up a felt store bag to keep everything together. It says "Felt-Mart" on the front. At midnight on December 22nd, I felt so clever.

I have a feeling there is much more felt food in my future, but for now Rory's grocery list includes:
two slices of bread, a slice of toast, farfalle pasta, multi-grain ravioli, two carrots, an apple, a slice of lunch meat, lettuce, a slice of cheese, a hot dog, an onion slice, three green beans, a tomato, a pair of pickles, slices of lemon, lime, orange and apple, two pieces of bacon, two buttered pancakes and an egg.

The probable cause for my holiday weight gain.

There are certain foods that go perfectly with a season, like Thanksgiving and pumpkin pie. I would like to officially say that I'm all for breaking the rules. I'm considering having a pumpkin pie for my birthday in June. It's that good. Extra thick Cool-Whip doesn't hurt.

When I think of the holidays, my brain starts getting ready for baking with the Duncan girls, wrapping tamales and making a million bizcocho cookies. So far I'm only 2 for 3, but since I'm tossing out the seasonally-appropriate rules, I might be 3 for 3 before next Christmas. Who wants bizcochos in March? Anyone?

An abbreviated group of the Duncan girls got together for a biscotti making party. We made it last year and it got rave reviews and special requests. This year's batches were craisin almond and brownie biscotti.
Andrew, Margaret and I have made it a tradition to make a giant annual batch of tamales just before Christmas. This year's project has yet to be scheduled, but will still take place. I made two rounds of tamales before Christmas- one for a family party before Christmas and one at my parent's house on Christmas Eve. My aunt Susie and I supervised and we had a good time getting everyone involved. I tried new recipes this time around: Chicken Cilantro Pesto (and Pork, in another batch) and Chipotle Beef. I compiled some pictures to show the basic process (click for a bigger view):

Handmade Christmas

I love handmade things. I guess that probably goes without saying, but I do. Especially for the holidays. The only thing not great about an (almost) exclusively handmade Christmas is starting in late October. Next year, I'll try to get the ball rolling sooner. (Insert eye roll along with under-the-breath sigh here.)

I was up-to-the-minute on some of these, and still finishing up a few others, but here some of the highlights:

I made several fused plastic goodies in new looks- a messenger bag and a little purse with a pleat. I tried new projects like knitting with wire and beads and making resin pendants. I created a game for my almost 4-year-old nephew:
Made but not pictured: several scarves, more knitted wire jewelry and resin pendants, a felt advent calendar with ornaments, a baby doll and bunny set, a toddler apron and a few more things that remain unfinished. I'm almost there. Oh, and felt food, which deserves a post all to itself.