Little Monsters

 Around Christmas time, I suddenly got the hankerin' to fiddle with a sewing machine.

I had only touched one before in my entire life, so I had no idea how this was going to roll. I started with a simple pillow using material from when we reupholstered our dining room chairs, and a pretty white damask print for the back. The pillow turned out pretty nicely, so I was convinced I could sew ALL of the Christmas gifts for family.

 Okay-  That was the DUMBEST thing I've ever done! I started with only two weeks until Christmas and I had only used a sewing machine twice. I made three car organizers ( I didn't get any pictures of those but here's the tutorial), then I made a nom-nom-nom pillow for my oldest nephew. I got the idea here.

My camera was about to run out of batteries, so the picture is blurry.

Then, I found a nifty tutorial for a pillow for my niece.

 Finally, I decided  to make little monsters for my son and nephews.

I think it's kind of funny how they each look like their monster. It was a complete accident!

 You can also see my Mama on the far left with her peace sign pillow. (Yes, she's a hippie and not ashamed of it.) This is the only picture That I have of it.

 So, all in all, everything turned out well and the kids loved their presents and I will never take on so much sewing in such a short time again! =0)

Happy sewing,
Heather

Kids Birthday Cupcakes/Cakes

                                                       MUNO CUPCAKES
For Sawyer's 3rd Birthday he was REALLY into Yo Gabba Gabba. So, I decided to make him Muno cupcakes.
I just used the regular white cake mix recipe and whipped icing recipe. Then, I took a pizza cutter and cut out "muno-shaped" pieces of fruit roll ups. I used tiny pieces of black licorice for the mouth. I put two dabs of frosting on the upper part of the body then  I used chocolate mini m&ms for the pupil. I broke red mini m&ms in half and stuck them on the edge of the body. Tada! It's MUNO!

                                                          SOFT SERVE CUPCAKES
 For one of my niece's birthdays I decide to do "soft-serve" cupcakes. I totally used the wrong muffin tin. It was supposed to be deeper. You can find the proper one here. I took an icing bag and skipped using a tip. I just cut the bottom off of the bag and iced in a clock-wise direction finishing off with the "Dairy Queen swirl at the top). I sprinkled some sprinkles on, stuck a candy stick in for the straw, and topped it off with a hot ball on top for the "cherry".

                                                               




                                                           DIEGO CAKE
Okay, The Diego Cake, oh the Diego Cake. I made a backpack cake (you know, the annoying one from Diego? Yeah, him) for my nephew. The cake split down the middle so I had to stuff it with the remnants of the part of the cake I cut off. So, it didn't look too bad after I had iced it and made the eyes and mouth. I turned around for a second to grab the foam piece I used as the straps, and as soon as I turned around, I was in tears. My son had dug a big ol' finger full of cake out by the middle of the cake. Long story-short, he was banned from the kitchen and I managed to kind of repair it. SO, the point of all of this was to explain why it doesn't look as good as you could make it.

                                                              GUITAR CAKE

SO, this one doesn't look as awesome as Bekka and I had planned, but it was hard work, so I'm still proud. There was a lot of icing, and a lot of carving.

                                                         SPONGEBOB CUPCAKES

I just decorated these with Spongebob horn blowers and red sprinkles. Easy enough!

                            
                                                            DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

This is just your regular ol chocolate cake with chocolate icing. However, I added cookies and creme kisses on the top and peanut butter cups on the bottom. This was SO good!

                                                     
                                                                   Music Cake

 This is yet ANOTHER cake that cracked. But hey, the sides are pretty! This has crushed oreos on top and chocolate chips make up the musical notes.

 Well, there you have it. I know they aren't perfect cakes, but I worked hard on them. Hopefully you can execute some of these ideas a little better. =0)

Happy Eating,
Heather

Rainbow Brite Cake

So, when my sister's birthday rolls around, I like to do "throwback" cakes for her. This last year, I decided to do a Rainbow Brite cake with Twink on it.

First, I found this recipe. I followed it straight through. I rolled out pre-made colored fondant and cut out stars. I twisted the rest of the leftover  fondant into a long string and used it as a bottom border.

Next, I took Rice Krispies Treats and rolled a big ball. I stuck a smaller ball on top of that and put a dowel through both of them. then I made the arms and legs, covered them in the fondant and stuck them to the cake using long toothpicks. I found some star candles at Wal-Mart and used those as his headpiece. Finally, I "starred" the icing all over him, and then I stuck the larger dowel deep in the cake to ensure he stayed put.

It was a fun cake to make. I'm thinking of doing a Strawberry Shortcake cake for my daughter's first birthday in May.

 Happy Eating!

Heather

Strawberry Planter Kitchen Organizer

So, I'm going to be doing some crafty blogs for a lil' bit seeing as how that's where all of my extra time has been spent as of late.

I figured I would start with a project I did a couple of years ago. My utensil drawer was WAY too full but I was out of any extra space to store them anywhere else. I suddenly remember one of those old strawberry planters with the multi-level holes to plant in.

Here's what they look like.

I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh! That would be perfect for all of the different utensils that I have!"

I scrubbed it up and applied some red Rustoleum spray paint. After a couple of hours, this was the result.
  
                                                

Perfect for all different sizes, shapes, and kinds of utensils.

 

 So, there you have it. A super easy, organizers dream.

Enjoy,
Heather

Catch Up

So, it' been awhile since I've posted. I didn't exactly leave on a good note. However, although it's been a hard climb, it's in the right direction. It's only up, up, up from here.

In January we had my son's 4th birthday party. It was superhero themed. I sewed capes for all the kiddos and we played some games. I had decided to go old-school comic style with the decorations and the cupcakes.

Our Super Hero Punch

He Really like them

Us in front of the picture backdrop my sister-in-law Bekka and I made.

For Valentine's Day, Josh and I had a kid-free weekend at home. It was quiet and sweet. In the past, we've gone all-out and by the time the preparations were finished, we were too tired to actually enjoy the time together. So, this was such a nice change of pace.

A few weeks ago, there was a terrible tornado outbreak all through the area. We were so blessed to not be affected in our town, but one of our neighboring cities was hit with an E-f 2 twister. I think three people lost their lives from this one tornado. It had something like a seventy mile path. The pictures of the destruction brought me to tears. It's scary to think of how everything you once held dear could be gone in seconds.

In much needed positive news, my sister-in-law Bekka and her boyfriend Sam got engaged! I can't think of a single person I would rather her marry than Sam. They've been friends for years and we all saw this day coming before they did. Her wedding will be in October. I can't wait to help with the crafting and planning. My first task was to go to the site where he proposed and get some pictures. The look-out was a good choice, Sam!

My next task will be to make an appointment with my cousin Tracy to get engagement photos done. Rachel, my other sister-in-law who lives in Nashville, will be blowing up Pinterest helping me plan Bekka's engagement luncheon/ tea. I'll definitely be doing more posts on this. I'm so excited!

We finally got our taxes back and we've been able to pay off some debts including Josh's car. We've been able to get some projects done around the house that we've been wanting to get done like painting the front porch, my swing from my Grandad's house, and making a coffee table out of an old wooden coffee table frame and an old  almost rotting door. I know, it sounds gross, but here's the finished products....

My Grandad's swing. My sister has the other one that also used to hang on the porch at our Grandparents house. I have so many great memories swinging with my Grandad, coloring pictures with my sister, and finding Easter eggs. This swing just makes me happy.

 

 

 

The coffee table for our patio. We had a shell of an old coffee table, so we just screwed the old door down on top of the shell, sanded, clear coated, and decorated with solar lamps and petunias. I'm pretty proud of this thing!

                                 

We finally got a new front door and storm door!

Our welcome rug that Josh's family got it a few Christmases ago. I love it!

This was the first "big" purchase we got as a couple after Josh came home from Iraq. It was bamboo colored, but our walls are gingerbread colored, so it blended in. I finally got to paint it black, so now it pops!

An old chair that we found in a friend's barn. Bekka and Sam repaired it for us last weekend while we were out camping.

We've dug up those nasty bushes in the front of our house. I've order dwarf burning bushes, dwarf butterfly bushes, and Snow in Summer to replace the bushes. We also have many other plants ordered. There will be another post for that.

 This last weekend was seriously one of the best I've had in a very long time. We got up on Saturday and took the kids to Lost Valley hiking trail by the Buffalo River. It was Sofia's first time there. She sat on Josh's shoulder and Sawyer was able to navigate this time without us having to hold his hand the whole time. We saw the water fall ( I was too distracted with safety to remember to take a picture. Ugh!) When we left there, we stopped at an old homestead half a mile down the road.  It was built in the 1880's and I showed Sawyer how different the homes back then were. There were huge gaps in between the boards and it looked more like a barn rather than a house.

We came home and I made meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato icing and cheese sprinkles. I found the recipe here.

This isn't the best picture since it was taken with my phone, but here's the finished product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

I also took the time to finish up the perfumes that my niece and I mad out of dried herbs and vodka. I started a new batch and I've hung some Lilac up to dry to make some perfume out of it as well. I infused some olive oils for cooking and labeled everything. (Label ALL the things!)

My Lilac Drying

Our finished perfumes. And yes, I agree that I need to make them prettier.

My infused olive oils

New batch of perfume

 Sunday morning we woke up and went straight into planting our garden. I'll admit it, I kill everything I plant. But I figured with Josh's help, the plants might not die so quickly. We mowed, hung up a clothes line (we have a dryer but clothes always just smell so awesome when they've been outside!), then Josh grilled some awesome burgers while I made potato wedges and Provencal aioli for dipping. We finished up with the family sitting around the fire-pit, visiting, and asking Isaiah (Josh's little brother who lives with us) what his plans were for college and such. It has been absolutely amazing!

And yep, I just realized I spelled Lavender wrong. I've fixed it in real life, but the picture stays.

Our Lilac bush

So, Now you've caught up with me! I'm so glad to be back, y'all! Back here and back to my old self. Life is super. 
Laters, 
Heather