Sunday, November 6, 2011

"But that's just pillow talk talkin'..."

So I haven't posted in awhile and for this I apologize... even though I don't think I have quite the following and not many people read this. But anywho, while most people spent their Daylight Savings Time Night sleeping I decided to make a pillow... ironic huh? But, when I came across this I knew I had to make it! So here we go, a picture guide to what I did to achieve a pillow of cuteness!

I used an old pillow of my Dad's... don't know where he got this thing but as it was turning shades of yellow I decided it need a makeover...


Thankfully, as I was gathering fabric I realized that you could still see the checkered flag pattern through the design and it needed to be covered prior to creating the designed case. So I did a basic pillow case and enclosed the bottom with a rough stitch. The fabric I used for this was so old that I believe my mother created my Princess Barbie costume with it when I was 4... haha!


As I continued with the step by step I had to stop and snap a picture of the bow! I'm super excited to use this technique again as I prepare to help a friend throw a Tiffany themed Bridal Shower at the beginning of next year! This will definitely come in handy!


And now for the final product. The design is very colorful so I really have no idea where I'm going to put this thing, but it was too simple and cute to pass up. And I successfully completed my first envelope back pillow for easy washing :o) Win!



I'll be finishing up my simple remodel of our bathroom this week and I'm super excited to show off the curtain (and purse that I made with the extra fabric)! Hopefully everyone is well rested and enjoying their extra hour! Have a great day!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

My Supplies List

I haven't posted anything about the last few cakes I did. So I think sharing the supply list for one order will help bring understanding as to why this is happening:

-32 boxes of Cake Mix
-5 lbs. of Butter.
-3 - 3lb. tubs of Shortening
-14lbs. of Powdered Sugar
-Half a Quart of Heavy Whipping Cream
-8 Dozen Eggs
-3-48 oz. Bottles of Oil

That is all. Have a great day. 

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Head Gear, Sprinkles, and My Biggest Fear...

Alright, so maybe it's not my biggest fear but I HATE when a cake doesn't turn out the way I planned it. I always tell my mother that I never know how a cake will turn out before it's done. But, I always have some idea. But for this one I created a hole and then had to find a way to jump out of it I guess... I drew out a very gorgeous design that I was super excited about, but then of course it didn't work out. So I ended up with a very basic design. I can't wait until I get to Chicago and have some of these glitch's worked out of myself!



One fun thing that has been continuing to happen is my new found love of DIY projects. So last night I made sprinkles! How fun is that! Nothing can really describe happiness like being able to walk into your kitchen and creating colorful specs of sugary goodness! I found the recipe on this blog. So special thanks to that author. I also managed to snap this super cool picture of my new KitchenAid mixer in action!





And then there was tonight's fun project. A collaboration of culinary and fashion... two of my favorites. I saw someone online create a headband from a t-shirt. They cut it into five strips and braided it. But, for my brain they made it far too complicated. I wasn't gonna be able to comprehend this at 2:30 in the morning, so I added some culinary flare and braided it as though it were a loaf of Challah Bread.. I definitely had that braid pattern down 1 over 3, 2 over 3, 5 over 2. So after a little bit of hand sewing, braiding, and more sewing. It was complete. I'm hoping to use the top part of the shirt to make a dress (once we get a new needle for our sewing machine) which could be interesting.

 I have another cake to do tomorrow along with 2 special cakes and 4 basic full sheet cakes for a fundraiser this week. So be prepared for meltdown major (yep, I said 'major' since I'm currently watching Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

DIY...

I've decided to begin doing more arts & crafts style projects. Currently I'm in the process of basic remodeling in a bathroom of my house, while continuing to decorate my own apartment in the basement. This isn't all that relevant to this blog post but I guarantee it will come up later (That's what he said).

Now today I was searching one of my new favorite websites (www.craftgawker.com) trying to find something fun to do in these rooms and I while I found one thing to do this project wasn't in there. So I had to share what I created, since I'm uber proud of it!

My button clock was pretty easy to create. I just found a cheap clock. We actually had one just lying around our house and some miscellaneous buttons. After taking apart the clock (which was kind of fun) I was able to take the plastic face out and flip it over and just sewed the buttons on where the numbers are supposed to go. Then I just simply put the clock back together with the new button face :) I'm thinking I might spray paint the frame at some point to match whatever room I put it in. Perhaps I'll put it in the newly decorated bathroom because it might be getting a few button details as well. 

Now for the embarrassing part of the story. Up until today I had absolutely NO idea what the letters DIY stood for. Of course I had heard it countless times before, but always wondered. So every single time I saw a commercial for the DIY network, or heard someone say this is a DIY project, I had no idea what they were talking about. So today on one of the posts I was looking at someone actually put that DIY stands for "Do It Yourself." I know I am a shameful face in the land of crafters. Hopefully some of you can forgive me... le sigh.


This is my life.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

And so it begins... with the Power Rangers.

Growing up as a child in the 90's I had many run ins with these so called "Might Morphin Power Rangers." As some (or most) of you may recall the Power Rangers used to be a group of 5 teenage super heroes who would battle some type of crazy robot villain, whose mouth never seemed to match up with the words they were speaking. But, they would appear on the weekly Saturday morning line up... usually late morning when people and children had actually started their day and could care less of that they were on television at this point. I never really watched them myself. I remember two things about the first generation of rangers 1. That they could somehow morph into this large Optimus Prime type creature and 2. The almost scandalous introduction of the Black Ranger. But, I did have many a run-in with the super fan. Most boys worshiped these characters and I can  remember boys pretending that they were this special team, trying to coax the girls around them to be they yellow or pink ranger. Hmmmmm... I wonder if they are still trying to use that tactic today *sultry voice* "You wanna be my pink ranger?" What a tag line on a dating site that would be.

Anyway, I got a phone call from a customer who I had been expecting to order a Super Mario cake. However, like most 4 year olds her son had changed his mind. He wanted Power Rangers. I have to admit I was somewhat intrigued as to how this cake was going to turn out. (I even thought of creating Power Ranger Optimus Prime) But, as I got online to do my normal research on characters I was shocked. Did anyone else know that there have been like 5 generations of these guys. While I couldn't tell you what some of them are I can tell you that they are currently known as Power Rangers Samurai... seriously? Each one has their own new unique weapons to their character and their outfits bare a slight resemblance to the ensemble of a ninja (that was kinda cool)

So how do I turn this into a cake? My first idea was to just have the helmets on their. This could be cool ... but then my mother so lovingly pointed out that she couldn't tell they were the Power Rangers. It honestly didn't help matters that the helmets had become strange. They used to just be black where the eyes went. Now each color has their own unique design. So then I decided to do just the blue ranger in the middle (the young boy's favorite) surrounded by his fellow Ranger's helmets. Turned out okay. As always the cake ends up looking a little different then what I expected but I guess it worked. It was my first time attempting a coconut cake and while I despise coconut my mother said it was delicious!

So here's to the first of many. A way to share my stories in Cake Heaven or Hell.. which ever one seems to occur those certain evenings when I find myself elbow deep in buttercream. Well, tonight it's neither way so I guess I'm in Cake Limbo... or maybe Earth. Who knows....