Friends of the Toy Story Cake

The Toy Story cakes keep coming!  Kim made this great version with planets and stars on the bedspread.  There is a peek at some adorable looking alien cupcakes on the side too.

Here is a cake from Anna.  The little star cutouts are great and I love the idea of using the building blocks.

Keep it up everyone!  I love to see everyone's creations.  My boys are getting Toy Story 3 for Christmas.  I think I'm more excited than they are to see it again.

Teacher Christmas Gifts

(photos taken with my cell phone due to me accidentally destroying my camera)

Here are our teacher/tutor/speech therapist/supervisor/behaviorist Christmas gifts.  They are finished and ready to be delivered.  For those of you who don't know, I have a child with speech delays (speech therapist).  My middle son has autism and has a team of 14 (yes, 14) different people that work with him on a weekly basis, and my oldest....who has a first grade teacher.

I made 16 of these goodie bags for everyone.  First, the adorable bag bought at Walmart.  Very impressed with their selection this year.  A small chocolate treat, everyone needs chocolate, right? 

I found this great gift idea HERE and decided to go with it.  I bought airtight glass jars and filled them with popcorn kernals.  I made sticker labels for the front, recipe for cinnamon sugar popcorn on the back, and a label for the cinnamon sugar mix off of my computer.

And....of course.  The famous glazed poppy seed bread.  I have already received requests for the recipe.  Sorry, it's top secret.

The best part:  I spent approximately $5 on each goodie bag.  It pays to find the deals, use coupons, and buy in bulk.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Santa Hat Garland

This is my DIY Christmas project for the year.  My kids love it.

Santa hats bought at the Dollar Tree, sewn together, and hung like a pennant garland.  The longest part was ironing the hats so there weren't any creases.  

Back view.  You can sew them together or a glue gun would work fabulous as well.

Get some hats (little mini ones would be cute too), sew/glue them together, and hang it up.

I must apologize for my pictures.  I was trying to get a good shot with the natural light, experimenting with different settings.  My camera was on...I stepped over some toys.....lost my balance...and dropped my camera.....SMASHING the lens!  I think I killed it.  Actually, I know I killed it.  Santa, a little help please?

So, literally these are the only pictures I have.  Sorry.

Christmas 2010

Our tree is up and looking fabulous.  So far, many more ornaments are staying on the tree and no one has tried to climb under or on it yet...but we do have a long month ahead of us.  With my boys, anything is possible.

Pack Meeting

These pictures were taken VERY quickly as we frantically frosted for a Cub Scout Pack Meeting.  They were a big hit and hopefully I learned my lesson about making cupcakes last minute:  BE PREPARED!

Throwback to Halloween

 Check out these pumpkins my mom carved for Halloween.  She's a big Twilight fan if you can't tell.

This one says, "Team JakeWard...too hard to choose."

This one: "Vampires Suck- cept for Edward"

This is the letters JACOB in the shape of a wolf.  My mom was helping a teenage girl make some of these for a pumpkin carving contest.  I think they did a great job!

And the "pièce de résistance", this fabulous quilt.  She has two choices:  show me how to make one or make one for me.  Let me know, Mom.

Christmas Gifts

Here's some fun links to a few Christmas gift ideas I may attempt this year.  I'm posting them here for my benefit so I don't forget, but feel free to look and create yourself as well!

DIY Monogram Mugs from Design Mom

Monogrammed Hand Soap Bottles from Infarrantly Creative 

via The Idea Room

(I am on a monogram kick right now I guess)

I may edit this post and add some more later, just FYI.

Book Club: the beginning

Some friends and I started a local book club this week.  I was shocked when I moved out here that there were so many new friends that were readers, but no book club!  A few of us decided it was about time and we spread the word.  We had our first meeting at my house and my wonderful hubby painstakingly hung twinkle lights up for me while I made some bite sized snacks.  I kept the table as uncluttered as possible, knowing people would be bringing books to share.  We had a wonderful first meeting and have the next few months assigned and ready to go!  Maybe I'll post what we read and a general feeling of what everyone thought of the book.

Our first selection:  The Giver by Lois Lowry

Jewelry Organizer

I have a little jewelry box that my dad gave me many years ago.  It's sentimental, and therefore I don't want to get rid of it, despite not having much room for necklaces or larger earrings.

I made this in 10 minutes.  I took an old picture frame that no longer had glass (the only casualty of our move), wrapped the back of the frame in batting and some fun fabric, taped batting and fabric down, and DONE!

I used picture frame hooks for the bracelets and necklaces.

The earrings hook in all on their own.

This is now hanging in my bathroom and I can actually see what is in my jewelry box without having to take out a couple of layers of jewelry first, and the rest is easily displayed.

Candy Corn Wreath

A friend of mine invited me over to make a candy corn wreath the other day.  These wreaths are super easy to make and can create a big impact.

This wreath was made following the instructions from the Woman's Day magazine.  Perhaps you've seen the cover of their magazine at the grocery store with this wreath on it?  Anyway, click HERE for all of the supplies and instructions.  I was lucky in that my friend went and picked up all the supplies and all I had to do was tape and glue away.

The trick is figuring out how to keep the bugs away from the candy for long term display and storage.  I don't know about the storage part yet, but you can read about different ways to preserve your wreath HERE.  I couldn't find the preservative spray that the website talked about, so I tried to find something similar.  I picked up this can at my local Walmart.

I laid my wreath on an old piece of carpet and sprayed at least 4 coats on, allowing each coat to dry before spraying again.  I liked the spray, it coated well and didn't make the wreath shiny, which I didn't want.  Only time will tell how it holds up though.

I may change my ribbon out, but this is what I had at my house.  I chose to hang my wreath inside because my front door gets a lot of direct sunlight and we have some pretty warm weather here still.  Don't want my candy corn to melt!  Have fun with this project, I sure did!

Baby Boy Gift Idea

After three adorable little girls, my cousin just had her fourth child....a boy!  We were all so excited for their family and decided that we needed to get some "manly" toys in that tutu and pink infested house as fast as possible.

My mom had the brilliant idea to get a dump truck toy and fill the bed with toy cars.  I wrapped the cars up in clear cellophane, added a ribbon, tag, and his first set of car keys.  Now there is at least a little male representation amongst the toys in their house.  Great idea, Mom....I think I'm going to use this idea again sometime.

Fans of the Toy Story Cake

Remember my Toy Story Cake I made last year for a friend?  Well, I posted it on a cake decorating site and it has received a lot of feedback, especially once Toy Story 3 came out in the theaters.  I have received dozens of emails from other fellow cake decorators, asking for tips and wanting to see more pictures.

Every once and a while, I will get a picture sent back to me from someone who made their own version of my Toy Story Cake.  Aren't they great?  Keep decorating out there everyone!  It has been so much fun to share tips and tricks and read of your success making this fun cake.  To infinity and beyond!

Improv Dog Leash

My 6 year old came home from school the other day raving about a kid at show and tell who brought a stuffed dog and a leash.  He had to have a leash for his new puppy that he got because he let me pull one of his teeth out. (It was traumatic, and thus required some serious bribery).  

We dug through the fabrics, chose a polka dot print, and we got to work.  Everyone is happy and this new puppy will no longer run away.

Mini Wedding Cake

My son's ABA tutor got married last weekend.  She was planning on doing tiered stands with cupcakes for the guests, but needed a little cake for the bride and groom to cut at the reception.  I offered to make the "cutting cake" as her wedding gift and here it is!

The finished cake is two tiers, the bottom tier only being six inches in diameter.  The cake is a sour cream pound with a homemade strawberry filling.  The bride didn't want fondant, so I did a cream cheese frosting and colored a little for the purple border.  She had a cute monogram cake topper, but we didn't put it on until the cake arrived at the reception.  I didn't go to the wedding, so I'm hoping some of the other guests got some pictures for me with the topper and all of the cupcakes.

Luau Party

Our church had a luau dinner party last week.  I signed up to bring cupcakes.

I wanted to get a little more elaborate and do some kind of tropical flower along with the "sand", but alas, time caught up with me once again.

The "Aloha" signs and graham cracker sand idea is from Bakerella, click HERE.

The "Luau Party" signs are from Paper Glitter, click HERE.

Penance

I usually leave a couple of small things at my parents' home whenever we go to visit.  A sock, a DVD left in a player, a book, etc.  This last trip was my worst ever for leaving things though.  Last week, I received a full load of laundry in the mail from my mom.  Yep, I did a load of wash while visiting, put it in the dryer the night before we headed home, and promptly forgot about it while packing up to go home.

Hello, my name is Brittney.  I am 28 years old and my mom mailed clean laundry to me.  So sad.  I guess it just goes to show that we never truly grow up and still need our mamas every once and a while.

My dad's birthday is this week and needed to get his card and gift in the mail.  I decided I needed to put a a little thank you in for my mom as well....ya know....for mailing me my laundry.  I didn't have time to shop for anything, so I turned to my trusty blogs that I love to visit for help.

Some cards for her to use for friends and family.  I also made some cupcake toppers for her to use when she makes treats for friends' birthdays or her visiting teaching ladies.

oh hello card

Apple thank you card

flower cupcake topper

Yummy! cupcake topper

Dad cupcake topper

handkerchief card (not pictured)

Thanks again, Mom.

Fairy Princess Skirt Tutorial

Jen, our giveaway winner, wanted a Fairy Princess skirt for her little girl.  She requested a light purple skirt.....and unfortunately, this is the best I can do.  I spent two weeks looking for light purple ribbon that would work and finally gave up.  Sorry Jen!  There must have been a wedding or two with light purple as their color because there was none to be found.  I did make you a cute skirt though, and if it doesn't work for you, here are the instructions on how to make it (in case you are able to find light purple ribbon that you like).

You need:

*Ribbon:  I used 7/8 inch NON WIRED ribbon of purple and pink.  The white shimmery ribbon was 5/8 inch I believe.  I used 24 feet of pink and purple and 12 feet of the white. (2 spools of purple and pink, 1 of white)

*Elastic headband: bought at Walmart

*Circle jewels: bought at Michaels

Cut all of your ribbon (at an angle) into 24 inch strips.  Tie ribbon in the middle (or close to it) around the headband.  I like some variety in length for the skirt, so I don't tie every ribbon exactly even.

Tie all ribbon in whatever pattern you want until your headband is covered.

Now, you can leave it like this.  Very cute.

Or you can glue some "bling" on the bottom of each ribbon end.  I used a glue gun to glue two gems together with the tip of the ribbon in between.

Super easy, right?  This one is for you, Jen.  I'll get it in the mail this week!