Cake Fail

My mother-in-law is a cake goddess.  I'm not kidding around here.  She makes delicious masterpieces and makes it seem simple enough to recreate.  I understand now how humble she is about her mad skills because I am, as it turns out, extraordinarily bad at cake decorating. 

Like, seriously bad.

This is a problem.  Margaret the Cake Goddess is going to be out of town this weekend.  That means that I am going to make the cake for my sister-in-law's baby shower on Saturday.  (Sorry in advance, Jayne!)  Armed with cake goddess supplies and a lot of great advice, I did a practice run with my icing.  It tasted fantastic.  Unfortunately it looked like...well, epic fail.  Oh my.  This is so much harder than it looks, folks.  Given that I need MUCH more practice than I have time for right now, I made the executive decision to serve cupcakes instead.

Until the Goddess of Cakes heard of my failure and offered to come over and do some coaching.  We'll see if tonight's Cake Boot Camp works miracles.  Stay tuned...

Quick Fix

Rory wanted to wear a cute hand-me-down dress with her leggings yesterday.  Once she had wrestled it on (read: dressed herself) we realized there was a hole near the bottom.  Boo!

With great effort and a lot of heavy sighing, she took it off so I could fix it.  It only took twenty or so minutes to come up with this!

The grapefruit stain from breakfast didn't magically disappear with the new version and I couldn't get her to pose for a picture without putting her arms up.  Hey, you can't win them all.

A Skirt for the Bean

Every time I have a big project to do, I do a lot of prep work. I think about it.  I sketch it out, in my head and on paper.  I do some measurements.  I think about it some more.  I get everything together, and get started.  On another project with zero pressure. 

Every time.

I'm currently working on nursery bedding for my brother and sister-in-law.  It's very exciting and I'm thrilled to have the chance to work on it.  It's a big deal.  So of course, right before I made the crib bumpers and adjustable crib skirt, I made Rory a fun skirt.

I haven't had the chance to get any real decent pictures of it yet.  A certain three-year-old helper was having too much fun popping into the shot and the overcast weather wasn't working with my red sparkly tulle.

I looked at a few like this one, from made.  Honestly, I didn't read too much on the instructions this time.  I just kind of grabbed some fabric and tulle and went to town.  It's kind of fun.  I'm thinking about making some more for some other girlies that I know.

After I finish the rest of the "real" sewing that I need to do.

Probably.

Christmas Round-Up, Part Two!

I finished 2 of the 3 stockings for Jack this year.  Not too bad, right?  I have eleven months to make one for our house.  Grandparent's houses are taken care of, which is where Santa visits anyway.  Somehow I didn't get a picture of the his jack-in-the-box stocking, but this is how the other turned out:

It fits in with the stockings at my parent's house.  Half were made by my grandmother and I've filled in the additions.  I still have a ways to go before reaching Mimi's level of Stocking Awesomeness, but I'm practicing. 

I made Rory a Black Apple Doll and I'm in love.  There are a lot of takes on this ragdoll, especially in the face, and I'm pleased with how this one turned out.  I embroidered instead of using paint.  I had fun making her outfit and her little accessories: a denim skirt, a pink frilly skirt and two scarves.  I'm sure we'll end up making more.  (I imagine I dinosaur dress is on the list.)  Her knee-highs are made from bits of an old t-shirt.  T-shirts.  Endless possibilities.  It's scary.  Rory says that her name is, "Rory, like me!"

I knew I wanted to make a name book for Jack but wanted a new spin on it.  I tried to think of fun alternatives to the usual alphabet picks (A is for apple, B is for ball, etc.)  I settled on bird species, partly because something that detailed is completely ridiculous for a baby's soft book.  Google and I found a Jay, an American Avocet, a Cardinal and a Kildeer.  Thousands of felt scraps later, plus some embroidery thread, cellophane for crinkle-goodness and some cool yellow corduroy and we have one of my favorites for this year. (Click the pic for a bigger view.) Ta-da!

Christmas Round-Up, Part One!

Christmas and handmade have always gone together for me.  Growing up most of my favorite decorations and ornaments were made by my Mimi.  She and my great-grandmother had made a felt Christmas tree advent calendar for us.  I remember being mesmerized by all the tiny stitches and details on each little ornament for it's tree.  When I got married I borrowed some of Mimi's patterns (and created some, too) to make my own.  Newlyweds Shannon and Josh got this year's version, which I have to admit, has some of my favorite ornaments to date.  Who can resist a tiny cowboy boot?

Stocking Stuffers! I found this snappy little tutorial for these adorable tissue holders.

My nephew lost his first tooth and a non-girly tooth fairy pillow was in order.  I liked how this one turned out.  I'm kind of kicking myself for not making an actual pattern for it.  I think I may have to make one for Jack someday.

I made the kids some travel art caddies.  Again, with the non-pattern.  You'd think I'd learn....  They have pockets to stash doodle books and crayons.  (A special thanks to Grandma, whose fabric stash gift has already seen a ton of usage!)

Black Apple Dolls for Rory and Kinsley!  More about these cuties next post.  I heart them.  Like, a lot. 

A sweet bird bow holder for the adorable Miss Landry.  (It's cuteness doesn't hold a candle to the kid.)

Ruffle pillow covers!  It's official, I can't get enough.  Jayne's were made from the wrap of the bridesmaid dresses at my wedding (thank you, Laine!) and a failed skirt attempt from my very early sewing years.  Kelli's is a mix of t-shirts.   

Poppies: A Tutorial

Vanessa asked me about these today.  I've had several inquiries, actually, and this seems like the best way to explain the poppy making process. 

A disclaimer up front: I'm hardly the first to make fabric poppies/flowers.  I'm sure I'm not the first to make a tutorial, either.  This is just my version.  Credit to Laine for explaining the process over the phone.  In her (paraphrased) words, "I'd make some for you, but really, they're too easy not to whip up yourself."  She was totally right.  The poppies are insanely easy, but I don't think they look it.  I made a bunch of these for Christmas.  They're a bit addicting.  I'll probably put some in my Etsy shop for anyone who doesn't feel like making them. Or anyone who doesn't have random scraps of chiffon and polyester lying around the house. 

Here we go.

You'll need:

Fabric: Chiffon, Polyester (the stuff that has a sheen to it), bits of old bridesmaid dresses, etc.

Scissors
Candle or some sort of flame
needle & thread
beads
hot glue gun (opt.)

optional for finishing: pin back or hair clip

 

Cut various sizes of circles (concentric) out of your fabric.  They does not have to look pretty.  Not even close.  Imperfection here makes it better.

Time to play with fire!  Grab each circle and (carefully!) hold it near your flame.  Go easy until you figure out how the fabric will react- each is a little different.  Basically, the edges will melt a bit and cause the fabric to have a slight curl. 



Got it?  Now put all of your pieces together and see how cool they look.

Take your needle and thread and make a few stitches right in the center to anchor it all together.

Add some beads with either a needle and thread or some hot glue and admire.

And that's it.  Seriously.  Easy, right?  You can finish it off by sewing on a pin back (or you could use hot glue here) or gluing to a hair clip.  Try adding some circles of tulle or mixing colors and beads.  Totally addicting.  And hey, now you can actually use that hot pink bridesmaid dress again!