UP cake!

I recently made this cake for my sons second birthday. His birthday party theme was the new movie Up. It is chocolate and white cake with a cream cheese filling and covered in fondant.

Wood Pumpkins

I saw these pumpkins on www.itsadaisyday.blogspot.com and knew I wanted to make them. They would not only make great decorations for Halloween but for Thanksgiving as well. It is also very cheap, easy to make and a great family craft. I ended up spending a total of $1.27 and that was for the orange paint.
What you need:
orange paint
wood blocks
sandpaper
sticks
ribbon
raffia

Start out by finding some scraps of wood. My husband found a 2x4 for me and cut it into three blocks. The kids and I then painted them. Once the paint dries use the sand paper and sand the pumpkins however you like to give it a rustic look. Next, hot glue medium size sticks (we found these laying in the back yard) about an inch and half tall to the top of each pumpkin. I then found some old ribbon and raffia and tied it around each stem. You could also use wire or fake leaves if you have some on hand. That's it, a simple, easy and cheap pumpkins!

I will post the kids Halloween costumes soon!

Food Storage Analyzer

For the past year my family has been doing our best to try and build up our food storage. We started stocking up on items from different sales in our local grocery stores and buying from our local cannery. However, there were some items that we could not find, such as egg powder. So, I was told about this website www.beprepared.com. They have a variety of different food and emergency supplies that are important for all families to have. Recently they sent me an e-mail to try there Food Storage Analyzer and review it and in return they would send out a $10 gift card. So, of course I did it. I found the analyzer easy to use and understand. I enjoyed looking through and calculating the items I have and what I need. There were a lot of items that I have stocked up on that were not included in the list but I figured that the items they chose were the basic things that all families need in order to make a decent, healthy meal. It was nice seeing how many days we could survive on the food we have in our food storage and the nutrition we would recieve. I highly recommend using this. Even if you are not interested in obtaining the gift card, it would be worth using in order to review your storage and calculate how much you have in supply, what items you are in need of and how much it would cost in order to buy the items that you need.

Grapevine pumpkin

I recently found this on a blog and fell in love. Usually I am not drawn to things that look messy but I love the simplicity of it and thought it would look great on a front porch (I still need to put it outside). I plan on giving this one to my mother in-law. Sp, when I make my next one I plan on making a longer stem so it stands out more and I might wrap a thin green ribbon around the stem.













Here is a link to the tutorial: http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/09/grapevine-pumpkin.html

Swagbucks

My friend Sarah recently introduced me to the website swagbucks.com. It is a search engine that allows you to earn points while searching the web! With these points you can use them towards different prizes (examples: giftcards to restaurants and amazon, Dvd's, books, ect.) So, if you search the web, this might be something worth looking into. If you are interested go to swagbucks.com or click on the link on the side of the page or down below!

Snack-O'-Lantern

Snack-o'-Lantern













I just received this e-mail from the disney family fun website and I thought it would be adorable treat for kids.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Navel orange
Canned or fresh fruit salad
1. To make one lantern, use a small knife to slice the top off a navel orange and cut around its interior to hollow it out. Scoop out the orange segments, chop them, and mix them with canned or fresh fruit salad.

2. Carve small facial features in one side of the orange, then cut a slit in the lid to accommodate the handle of a green plastic spoon. Fill the lantern with fruit salad. Insert the spoon and set the lid in place.

Halloween food

I made these cupcakes last year for a birthday. They are time consuming to make but would be perfect for a Halloween party. I got the idea for the cupcakes from wilton.com.
























I made these for my kids last year and plan on making them again this year. They didn't turn out as well as I would have liked (next time I need more pudding and a better cup) but I thought they were really cute.














1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 cups cold milk
6 drops green food coloring
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
8 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, crushed Make It

MELT chocolate in microwave as directed on package. Use a clean small paint brush to paint a monster face on the inside of each of four clear 5-oz. plastic cups with the melted chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

ADD milk and food coloring to dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Immediately pour into prepared cups.

TOP with the cookie crumbs. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Store any leftover desserts in refrigerator.


Don't forget to check out the crafts I made last year for halloween in the post below!

Cheap Halloween decorations

I love decorating for Halloween. I have a few decorations that came from the store (my mother in-law has spoiled me by buying me a few over the years and even loaning me some of her favorites) but some of my decorations are homemade. These homemade decorations are easy to make and very inexpensive:) These pictures are from last year since I haven't gotten around to decorating yet but I will soon. All of these ideas came from Marthastewart.com. Here are a few of the decorations I chose to make last year:

Paper Bats! Here is the link: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/decorating-with-paper-silhouettes?
I didn't get around to doing the large bats but I might next year.














Paper mice and cobwebs! Sorry the mice are a little hard to see in this picture. I thought that they were adorable (in a scary way of course) and I loved putting them all over the house. As much as I liked them the kids liked them more than I did:) Here is the link for the mice silhouettes:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/paper-mice?

Also, if you didn't notice I have a lot of cobwebs hung up around the fireplace. I know they can come off a little tacky but I really like the cobwebs and I think it adds a nice touch to the decorations.













I LOVE these flyaway giveaways. They are easy to make and are a great way to give someone some cookies or candy as a Halloween gift.

Hoedown themed cake

Well I decided to finally post a picture of a cake on my craft blog. I meant to post some of my other cakes on this blog but just never got around to it. Recently I have been looking for an excuse to make a cake and I found one. It was for a party that had a cake contest. The theme was hoedown and with the help of my husband we thought of a design. We decided on doing a windmill, sunflowers, a barn, watermelon and corn on the cob. The cake is butter cake with butter cream/raspberry filling and the corn and watermelon are rice krispies wrapped in fondant. I loved making this cake and thought it turned out well:)

Apron and Chef's Hat

I stumbled upon this blog http://secretstitchclub.blogspot.com/ one day and fell in love with their adorable creations, especially the apron and chefs hat tutorial that they got from this blog http://makingitfun.blogspot.com. I knew it would make the perfect birthday gift for my daughter and eventually my son (who must have everything his sister has). It is very easy to make. I made the hat and apron in one night! I didn't put in the D-rings on the neck strap because I didn't have any at the time but I might go back and do it later on because it is a little too big around the neck for her. I also did not put a piece of cloth on the back. I didn't really see a need to do it but it does look nicer if you do. One other thing that I did differently is that I did a zigzag stitch (sorry if I am not using the correct terms, I am new at sewing) to attach all of the straps and did it back and forth a few times to make sure that it was secure.
Tutorial for the apron http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/Blog/Classic_Apron.pdf
Tutorial for the Chef's hat http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/Blog/Chef_Hat.pdf

No sew tutu

Recently I saw some tutorials for a no-sew tutu and knew I had to make one for my daughter. There are a variety of tutorials out there but I really liked this one from http://littlewindowshoppe.com/create-a-princess-tutu, mainly because it showed how to tie the knot that I decided to do. In the other tutorials they do a square knot. Another great tutorial is from http://plumtickled.typepad.com/plumtickled/2007/08/tutu-tutorial-t.html. This one goes into a little more detail with the instructions, measurements and what to buy. This is very easy to make and makes a great gift.

This first one I made for my daughter's friend who just had a birthday













This next one I made for my daughters birthday. It is sort of hard to tell but it is brown and pink. It looks a little more messy than the other one because I have had the fabric for a long time and it became a little wrinkled.

Placemat purse

Another great idea came from Shannon. I went to her house and saw some adorable purses that she made out of a placemat and decided to go home and make one for Adrianne! It is very easy to do and Adrianne loves taking it to church with all of her books and coloring items.

















Purchase:
Ribbon
placemat
needle
thread
large flower if you choose

Directions: (this will be hard to explain so hopefully I can do it)
-buy a simple placemat, I bought mine from Bed Bath and Beyond for $1.99.
-fold the placemat in half, with the tag on the outside.
-measure a half an inch in on the top and three inches on the bottom and sew a diagonal line connecting the two. Do this on both sides. If you want you can sew a straight down instead of a diagonal line.
-To form the bottom of the purse, open the purse (it is still inside out) and lay the corners flat, forming a triangle. With the seam opened flat, sew across from the corner (it will be about two inches from the point). Do this on the corner too.
-Turn the purse right side out. There are a variety of ways to do the handles but I chose to do ribbon. Measure the length of the top of your purse and create two points where you would like your ribbon to be and do the same on the other side. I wanted mine close together, so I measure about 4-5 inches in. I did a zigzag pattern when sewing the ribbon on. Next attach a flower on one side or create a bow out of the extra ribbon and sew it onto the purse.

There are a lot of different things you can do with this purse. Shannon added a large flower onto hers and ribbon going all the way around. I have also found some with a variety of different handles.

Memory Board

I saw the memory board that Shannon made forever ago and have wanted to make one ever since I saw it! I tried to do it once on just a cardboard (hers is made with a wood frame and cardboard in the middle as backing), without the wood frame and it just didn't work. So, just recently I went to Joanns and bought a canvas with a wood frame and made one! I thought it turned out great and matches my house perfectly!

Purchase:
Batting
canvas with a wood frame or plywood
fabric (enough to cover the board and a few extra inches
ribbon

Directions:
-Take a canvas with a wood frame or plywood that is any shape you like
-Cut the batting and fabric to the size of your board or frame and leave an extra two inches all around so you can stable it to the back.
-place the batting (I used three pieces to make it padded) on a clean surface and staple it to the back. I know you can use a staple gun but I used a regular stapler which made it a little more tricky but it worked great!
-take the fabric and cover the front and staple it on the back, making sure the fabric is pulled tight as you go.
-Add the ribbon to whatever design you want. I did the typical criss-cross pattern. Start with an X that runs from one to corner to another. Staple the ribbon to the back. Then, measure your half way marks on the board and staple the ribbon from one half way point to the other. The ribbon should now be parallel to the orignial X. Make sure the ribbon is pulled right
-If you use piece of plywood, staple the ribbon down everywhere the ribbon creates an X and hot glue a button on each section. If you are using a canvas sew the buttons onto each X and then you are done and can hang it in your house! I just used nails to hang the canvas but with a plywood I am unsure of how to hang it (which is why I didn't do it).

Stencil with Freezer paper

A friend of mine is having a shower but I wasn't quite sure what to get for her. I wanted to make something but my sewing skills are not quite where I want them to be. Another friend of mine did this on some onsies awhile ago and I loved it! So, I decided to try it out and do it as a gift to my friend. I did a rocket, sail boat and a tractor (obviously she is having a boy). The rocket has a window but the paint is still wet, so I have not peeled it off quite yet.

Directions:
-Print out whatever design(s) you want on freezer paper. The designs could be from an image you found on the computer or your own creation.
-Carefully cut the image out with an exacto knife.
-Iron (until it sticks) a piece of freezer paper, waxy side down (so the paint wont leak through), to the inside of the shirt/onsie and then iron the stencil on the outside.
-Using fabric paint, paint on your stencil. Brush inward to get cleaner edges.
-Then peel off the paper. You are supposed to wait until it dries but I was too excited and took it off when it was still wet.