What have I been doing?

I know I always say I have things to post and I never do. I need to get myself organized. I am working on a lot of new things as is everyone else that does homemade holidays. You may have noticed when I got a new blog design I lost all my links on my side bar. I will be working on getting those back, but you may also noticed that I started a new "Things I want to make" list. I think it is better that I start this over because I had so many things on my list that I never made any of them. This new list I am really going to make these things. I have all the supplies and everything. Two of them our Christmas presents for my daughter and the other is also for my daughter but part of a Christmas costume for some funky Christmas pictures. I also ordered some awesome jewelry supplies from Etsy and Artfire that I am so excited for and can't wait for them to arrive. Have you hear of Artfire? It is a lot like Etsy, but not as popular yet. The best part is that if you are only posting a few things they don't charge you for posting things to sell, not that I sell things, but sometimes I find things cheaper on Artfire than on Etsy. Well I am off to work on a family quilt and I am starting to wonder what I got my self into. I have a a machine quilting appointment on Thursday and I still need to finish a couple of squares and then sew he hole thing together. At least I am not hand quilting this one since it took me a whole year to finish the last quilt I did.

The Last Minute Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!! (with free bonus pattern in post)

This is another great giveaway from Grosgrain and the best part is she has also posted a link so you can download the pattern so even if you don't win you can make this cute dress yourself. Check it out.
The Last Minute Frock GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!! (with free bonus pattern in post)

New design

So you may have noticed my blog has been boring lately. Plain background not many post well I hope all that will change. Thanks to Megan at Simplicity Design I now have 3 new backgrounds to choose from. So while I mess around with my new backgrounds and headers please forgive the mess as I figure it all out. My links will all be back up soon and to go with the new look many new post.
I want to hear from any faithful blog readers out there. What are your favorite things to see or what is your favorite thing I have done so far. I know I am no Martha Stewart or near as good of blogger as other crafty bloggers out there, but I enjoy posting the things I do and hearing all the lovely comments from my readers.

Cake stands

I know I am so behind on blogging. I have many things waiting to be blogged yet I just haven't gotten around to them. This Idea I just have to blog. I can not take credit for this genius idea it came from my mother. She showed me these beutiful cake stands she made over the web cam today and I immediately asked her to take pictures and send to me and then I went and found some things in my house to make my own mini cake stand to show off my mini cupcakes.

I have one cake stand that I received from my great grandma as a wedding present and I love it, but I feel like I use it to much and sometimes I want to use something different. Well you may say just go buy another cake stand. Well my husband doesn't see the need to spend money on another one. Well here is a perfect solution. These cake stands are made with candle stick holders and a plate. You can make the cake stand just how you want. You can have different ones for each holiday.

It is a great way to use antique items you have such as a grandmothers china or just those great finds at the thrift store.

You can use them for other things other than cake. They can be used as decoration or other type of food.
It would be cute to have lots of different size ones lining the table at thanksgiving with all your yummy food.
So do you have an old candle holder and a plate laying around? All you need to do is take a little metal glue or super glue of some kind and glue the candle holder to the bottom of the plate.
How easy is that. I am not sure it will be dishwasher safe, but how hard is it really to wipe of a cake stand.

Apple Treats

We went to a local apple orchard last weekend and came home with 10 pounds of apples and some raspberries. I thought it would be a fun family outing, and while it was I then had 10 pounds of apples to deal with (good thing I didn't get the 20 pound bag). So All week I was making different apple and raspberry treats and I am going to share them with all of you my faithful readers.
First I made apple crisp.

I prefer apple crisp to apple pie and it is so much easier. I don't measure things when I bake I just throw things together and apple crisp is a great one to throw together because it doesn't really matter, but for those of you that need a recipe this one from Betty Crocker is similar (pictured above).

4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cream or Ice cream, if desired

1.Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
2.Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
3.Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

Next I made Apple, raspberry, mango crumble. The crumble part was the same as the apple crisp recipe, but I coated the fruit (apples, raspberries, and mango) in a little it of sprite. I had noticed that many people put some sugar and lime or lemon juice on their fruit well I didn't have any lime or lemon juice, but I did have lemon-lime soda and really all it is is sugar and lemon and lime flavoring plus the carbonation maybe added a little. Sorry no picture I don't know what I was thinking,probably more about eating it than taking pictures.

Then This past weekend with still at least half our apples left we made carmel apples.
These are such a fun fall treat and not that hard to make. All you need is
5 Apples
1 pkg carmels (the individual wrapped candies)
2 tbsp Water
1 tsp Vanilla
Popsicle sticks

Melt the carmels over the stove with the water and then stir in the vanilla. Take your apple and stick a stick in the stem area and dip the apple in the carmel. I then scrapped off the bottom of the apple on the side of the pot and placed them on greased tin foil. It worked really great for getting them off later.
If all you wanted was a plain Carmel apple then you are done, but you can fancy them up how ever you want. Drizzle melted chocolate over then, roll them in your favor candy or cookie crumb whatever you can come up with have fun. Now I did remember to take pictures of these.

And with the left over Carmel and chocolate we make Carmel chocolate popcorn.

Cheap Halloween Decorations

Halloween decorations (or any decorations for that matter) are a want and not a need around our house. I have a few decorations I have picked up at the dollar store or thrift stores, but not much. I have always wanted to go all out and decorate for a holiday, but have never had the money. Well with a few dollars and a little creativity I was able to decorate my house for Halloween.

I made these pumpkins using this tutorial with a few changes. I used card stock instead of construction paper, because I didn't have construction paper and two because I think it looks nicer. I also liked that I could use different patterned paper instead of just plain colors. The other change I made is that I didn't glue the strips to the toilet paper roll I just glued the ends of the strips to each other (my strips were 1 in by 8 1/2 ins). The card stock wouldn't stick to the toilet paper roll very well but it glues to itself pretty good and then it made a nice little place to stick the stem in and the strips just held it there with no glue.
I think they are pretty cute and your kids can help you although my 18 month old lost interest after putting glue on 2 strips and she just wanted to put glue all over everything.
I am also in the process of making one of these ghosts and some of these bats.
Anther great and cheap thing to use for Halloween decoration is spider webs I bought a bag of spider web for a dollar and just hung them everywhere.
They go a long way I didn't even use half the bag. So with a little bit of spider web and using bits of fabric and paper I had on hand I was able to decorate for Halloween for only a few bucks. What are some of your strategys for easy cheap holiday decorating?

Card, Cards, and more Cards

Today is national card making day so I decided to post a bunch of cards I have made in the last year. Last year I was in Stamp Club with Stampin it up so most of these cards were made in those workshop and all of them were made with Stampin it up stamps. Hope they give you all a little inspiration for making your cards and don't worry there are still plenty of cards to post later on.

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!
I love these little backpack made by Rae and all the other things she makes. Made by Rae is one of my side links along with Grosgrain who is offering a guest give away on her blog of one of Made by Rae's backpack plus pattern I hope I win.

Soldered Jewelry

Tomorrow is my sister Baylee's 13th birthday. I have been wanting to get back into my crafting (if you noticed all the things I have posted lately are recipes or old projects) so this was the perfect opportunity. Awhile ago I got the stuff to try out soldered jewelry. The pieces they sell in stores was so expensive and I thought I could make them for cheaper. I know why they are expensive they aren't that easy at least at first. My first piece was a little 1x1 in square with an S in it for my mom. It turned out ok, but not how I thought and it took a lot longer then I expected and my neck was killing me by the end so I put the stuff away and with all the packing and moving haven't been able to try it since. This time went much smoother and turned out much better.
It isn't perfect yet, but I think the imperfections add to the character of the piece, or at least that is what I am telling myself.
My sister is into drama and loves to be in the plays at school. I think she can be a bit of a Drama Queen at times so the back has a little bit of a double meaning. I love how the back part turned out and I hope she will love it too. I decided to add a little more charm by actually adding a charm. I liked this zebra bead it reminded me of my sister for some reason. At first I didn't think it really matched, but then decided that I liked that it doesn't match it adds more flare and fashion.This one is a little bigger than the first one I tried it is 1x1.5 inches. I made it by cutting a 1x3 inch microscope slide in half sticking my paper piece in the middle. Wrapping the glass in copper tape and then soldering it closed. Happy Birthday Sister hope you like it and I hope you don't check this blog until you get the necklace in the mail.

The best banana cake ever

I am not a big Banana fan, but I love this bread/cake. I got this recipe from a co-worker in Iowa Carla who is amazing at quilting and I think she she should have her own crafty blog. I use to have her make it all the time especially when I was pregnant and the pregnant lady always gets what she wants.

It is also made in a bundt pan so if you are like me and went out and bought a bundt pan just so you could make the chocoholic cake then here is a way to get even more use out of it.
I made it into a little more of a dessert cake by adding a basic powder sugar glaze and added some bananas for a little decoration and to show that it is banana incase those at the party can't eat bananas for some strange reasons.

2 bananas, mashed
4 eggs
1/2 C oil
1 t. vanilla
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 yellow cake mix
Mix all together. Pour 1/2 into a greased bundt pan.
mix up:
1/3 C brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
Add to bundt pan and add remaining batter. Use knife to swirl.
Bake @ 325 for 1 hr

Soft Blocks

Here is one of my projects I made last christmas for my daughter and never posted, so since Christmas Season is just around the corner (if you are making all your gifts, christmas is just around the corner) here is an idea for a young child.

I 1/8 of a yard (4 in) of 4 in foam. 4in foam is like $50/yard which at first turned me off, but when you only buy 1/8 of a yard and use a 40% off coupon it only cost about $5 and I was able to get 6 4in cubes. It doesn't take much fabric to cover them so to save a little money I raided my mother-in-law's fabric scraps for some brightly colored textured fabric. I tried to get lots of different textures so the blocks could be used as a learning tool for my then 9 month old. To cut down on the sewing I cut a 4.25 in by 12.5in piece of fabric and 2-4.25in pieces of the same fabric then I sewed the pieces together in a cube shape leaving on seam undone stuffed my 4 in cube inside and hand sewed up the final seam.

How to dress up a cupcake

Sometimes I like to dress up a boring cupcake made from a boxed cake mix (check out the Cake Doctor for ideas) but sometimes I don't have time and I just wip up the cake mix and dump it into the cupcake tin. Well since I like to wow people with the stuff I make just a little I can't just throw some frosting on top and go where's the fun in that. So here is an easy way to dress up your cupcakes without spending to much time. If you don't have a cake decorating kit, but like to decorate you can get a basic kit from walmart for $10 (that is the it that I have). My favorite cake decrating tip is the star tip. I just covered the cupcake with stars added some sprinkles and people think you spent a lot of time and that you are supermom.
This are some cupcakes I made for a 4th of July BBQ. I tinted the frosting blue and added a little bit of red sprinkles and I got instant firecracker cupcakes.

THe fancy frosting job doesn't really make the cupcake taste better, but people seem to think they are the best cupcakes ever.

Formula Can Makeover

I like a good makeover. In fact I am watching what not to wear as I am writing this. Those of you that have babies may also have a lot of those empty formula cans laying around. When my daughter swithched over to just formula I was going through a can every few days. I felt bad throwing them out because they are really good cans and I thought they would be good for holding random things. But who wants the boring blue similac logo staring you in the face so I decided they needed a little makeover.
So I used a little decopauge and some scrapbooking paper and dressed it up. Here I made it a birthday can to fill it with candy or little toys for a cute little birthday gift.
At christmas time I decorated it with christmas paper filled it with christmas candy and used them for neighbor gifts (don't have a picture sorry, but you can use your imagination).
The posibilities are endless. They can be gifts or you can decorate them to match your childs room and use them for nic nacs. Now to go work on a makeover for those diaper boxes.

Yummy Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

I made these sugar cookies for my daughters birthday party. The cookie recipe is from a girl at my church and the royal icing recipe is a modified form of Martha Stewart's recipe.


Sugar Cookies
2/3 c. butter
2 lg eggs
3 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. milk

Cream butter and sugar, add beaten eggs and vanilla, sift dry ingredients, add together. Chill overnight (or at least 2 hours) Roll out 1/4 inch thick. place on lightly greased pan.
350 degrees, 7-8 minutes, cool on pan

Royal Icing
2.5 tablespoons meringue powder
1/4 cup water
1/2 pound powder sugar
1 tsp vanilla

I liked using the royal icing it gave the cookies a more finished glossy look. I put the icing into a squeeze bottle to make it easier to decorate (thats what they always do on Martha Stewart). I found the meringue powder at walmart for not very much and it is easier to use than egg whites and makes it so that ids and pregnant ladies can eat the icing. I added the vanilla to make it taste a little better. Sometimes I think frosting/icing made with powder sugar can have a weird taste sometimes.

Delicious Chocolate Cake

If you are a chocoholic then you should check out this recipe from little birdies secrets I made it last night and it was delicious. It wasn't to hard either. I made it with a devils food cake mix instead of with a chocolate cake mix and I added a little bit more water to the glaze because it was kind of thick. The batter for the cake is much thicker than normal cake batter so it is a good idea to stick with a bunt pan unless you want gooey center. I liked it so much I am making it again for my daughters birthday party on Saturday.


Chocoholic Cake
1 chocolate cake mix
1 small package (3.4 oz) chocolate pudding
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except nuts and chips on low until well blended. Beat 2 minutes on high. Add nuts and chips. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 55-65 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes then turn out onto platter. Glaze with the following recipe.

Glaze:
1 bar (2 oz) semi-sweet baking chocolate
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 T. butter
2 T. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Melt chocolate and butter in microwave 30 seconds at a time until smooth and melted. Cool. Add powdered sugar alternately with water. Add vanilla. Pour over cake.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Of course I had to dress my baby up to celebrate. I made the tutu and the baby leg warmers. The Tutu was so easy and I will post a tutorial soon, but if you can't wait I am sure there are others out there.

Cowgirl birthday invitations

She is cute, she is sweet, she is so much fun
Our little cowgirl is turning One!
So grab your hat and your boots and join us for some country hoots!


I can't believe my baby is almost one. Some may think it is stupid to go through so much trouble for a first birthday party, but I am having fun so back off. Besides how many birthday parties can I have complete control over. It won't be long until she starts askng for a princess party or whatever else she is into. Since papa Keep bought her a rocking horse for her birthday and I got some great suede material on sell we are havng a cowgirl party and most of her friends are boys and I didn't want to make them dress up like princesses. Stay tune for her cute little cowgirl outfit, custom made treat bags and whatever other unnecasary thing I decide to do for this party.

Ugly Dolls

I bought stuff to make these ugly dolls with my BBBS little sister long before they became famous because the Obama girls had them. They are really easy to make. I originally bought a simplicity pattern on sale that had 5 different patterns in it, but we didn't use it. We each drew what we wanted our doll to look like and then cut out 2 peices of fleece in that shape. We used buttons for the eyes and embroidered the mouth. This was a great way to teach Dede, my little sister, some basic sewing skills.

Cameo pin

So I found this awesome new site called artfire. It is similar to etsy but it is free for a limit number of stuff. I haven't sold anything on there yet, but I found an awesome store that sells loose cameos and setings and I love them. I bought a whole bunch of stuff. One thing I bought was a hibicus loose cameo and it reminded me of my grandma so I put it together and made her a pin. The setting was for a necklace, but I wanted it to be a pin so I turned the setting upsidedown and used the neclase hole to connect a pearl. What do you think? I thought it was a pretty ingenius idea myself. I hope you like it grandma Happy Birthday!