The Crafty Cupcake

Moving

2009-06-10T09:31:00.002-05:00

I've been silent. And I am not positive that anyone noticed. But as a place marker, I just wanted to say that we are moving and I have not had time to update or craft. As I was packing up the things in our living room this week, I put my needlework supplies in a box. I would MUCH rather be embroidering than packing, but such is life.

So soon I will be using my crafty abilities (or lack thereof) to decorate and organize our new home. We are moving from a two bedroom loft apartment to a five bedroom home with a yard. Believe it or not, the new house does not have as much storage as our current apartment. I'm going to be buying armoires, pantries and shelves for months. And I will see you all after the great move of '09 is over!

Friday Favorites!

2009-04-17T10:38:00.006-05:00

This week has gone by pretty quickly. I'm very excited about this weekend, even though we're going to get more rain! But for the time being, the sun is shining and I'm feeling good. On to my favorites.

1. My favorite surprise: Pedicure! Corey picked me up from work yesterday afternoon and drove me to the mall. We looked around at video games and watched everyone in line for the Tennessee Titans meet-n-greet. Then he said that I should go pamper myself. Of course I'm not going to disagree! I sat down and got pampered for an hour or so while Corey shopped for sports stuff. My toes are a great shade of red and my feet are silky smooth. Corey said, "Now your toe nails won't scratch me when we cuddle." His true intentions revealed!

2. My favorite song to get stuck in my head: Pinball Wizard by The Who. My boss uses it on our radio show for intros, and I get it in my head all the time. It's a great song and it energizes me first thing in the morning!

3. My favorite purchase: We did a lot of shopping this week. I am going to go ahead and say I'm most excited about my recent purchase from Victoria's Secret. I got some dresses and a tank top for the summer season. My goal is to wear a dress or skirt every day this summer!

4. My favorite bonding time: Last weekend my mom rented a cabin for us to spend the weekend in. The weather leading up to the weekend was terrible and some vacation homes near the park where we stayed were destroyed by a tornado. We were spared, however. I spent Easter with my family and had a great time catching up with my cousins. Sunday morning, instead of going to church, Mom and I sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and scenery. It was a great getaway and I want to do it again this summer.

5. My favorite "get out of a funk" movie: Again, I have several. This week it was Clerks 2. I had a long, bad day earlier in the week and Corey and I just sat on the couch and laughed. My favorite one of all time is probably Empire Records. It always reminds me of my friends and I watching it in high school and memorizing the best Lucas quotes.

Mother's Day Contest

2009-04-16T15:11:00.003-05:00

I entered my mom to win the Best Mom contest from Victoria's Secret. Will you please click the "vote" link below so I can take my mom to NYC? We've been talking about going for a while so we can see Spring Awakening (squeeeeee) on Broadway. This would just get us there faster and cheaper! Thanks in advance, guys!

"Love You Mom!"

Sponsored by Victoria's Secret

Non-traditional Easter Basket

2009-04-13T10:25:00.002-05:00

Instead of an Easter basket, I received a pink toile bag with a needlework reference book. This gift reminded me of how much I love toile. When I worked at a fancy pants cafe in high school, the tablecloths and chair fabric were covered in blue toile. That is when I fell in love with the pattern. It represents sophistication to me. I can understand why a lot of people would hate it, but I love it so intensely. If I have a little girl, I'm going to decorate her room in pink toile.

The needlework book is very old and grandmother probably got it from an antique store. It's a great gift and I was surprised to find some great notes in the margins and some bookmarks in pages that I found very useful. I'll be trying out some new stitches soon. I have a lot of projects on my plate, but I've gotten lazy. I'm fired up about stitching again after reading the book, so I think I'll get to crafting again soon.

Alice Giveaway: Win a Roomba!

2009-04-08T10:04:00.005-05:00

Alice is at it again. They're giving readers a chance to win a Roomba. I've been lusting over these little robots for a few years now but haven't talked Corey into spending a large amount of money on such a small appliance. I'm not extremely lucky most of the time, but I thought I'd try it out anyway. Try your hand at it, too! Just tell them your best vacuuming story. Here's mine.

This isn't really a hilarious vacuum story, but it's my most memorable. We had a fire in our laundry room this year and it freaked me out more than anything could have. Since I was little, I've had nightmares about my house catching on fire. Luckily we were all safe, but everything in our laundry room was ruined. After it was all cleaned up a few days later, my roommate and I set out to replace our vacuum among other appliances. We picked out something that had attachments to clean the fans and blinds since soot landed on every surface in our apartment. When we got home, we cleaned the whole apartment with the neat attachments and sang while we worked. After everything was sparkling, we sighed with relief and smiled to ourselves. Such an insignificant purchase had lifted my spirits so much, it was unbelievable.

Monster by Mail

2009-03-30T10:17:00.004-05:00

I love birthdays! Even if they aren't mine. Will, my roommate had a birthday Saturday and we celebrated with cake and a party. I wanted to share this present Corey and I got Will because it is way cool and crafty, too!

Will shared a link to MonsterbyMail.com a few weeks back and I decided that I would name a monster in his honor and give him the art work for his birthday. This website is very addicting. I watched almost every video on his Youtube channel. I highly recommend getting this as a gift for anyone you know who loves zombies, ogres, or any other monsters.

Without further ado, I present Billy the Broken!

You can also get a video link to your drawing in progress. Here's Billy's.

Friday Favorites!

2009-03-20T14:52:00.003-05:00

I haven't done one of these in nearly a month! I've been so busy with various projects. Not to mention that Fridays are my busiest work days, so even on my lunch break I'm not doing any personal Internet stuff. But I just figured out that you can write a post and then choose when you want it published. Yeah, who's the smart one, now? Ok, on to my favorite things.

1. My favorite time consumer this week: March Madness! I have never followed basketball and I especially never filled out a bracket for the NCAA Men's basketball tournament. That all changed this year. I look forward to going out to watch some games and eat some chicken wings. Mmm... wings.

2. My favorite ring tone: I know this is a little sad, but I just realized my blackberry plays mp3's so there's no need for me to buy ringtones anymore. I downloaded several, but my current favorite is "It's Business Time" from The Flight of the Conchords.

3. My favorite stuffed animal. Again, I have lots of good ones. I love my Chubbles that Lonnie bought me for my birthday and a few older ones I've had since I was a kid. But the most fun was making a build a bear in Chicago last year. We were waiting on our friend to meet us at Navy Pier and we decided a good time (and money) waster would be making a stuffed animal. I made a bunny dressed as a fairy (naturally) and Lonnie made a turtle dressed as a pirate. We took a picture to commemorate the event.

4. My favorite job I've had besides my current job: When I was a reporter at APR. I loved meeting people and conducting interviews. Being on the radio is fun because it feels like you're only talking to yourself but in reality you're talking to a pretty large audience. I've always liked radio more than TV anyway, so it was a lot of fun doing the news for the station.

5. My favorite April Fool's joke: It's a little early for April Fool's, but it's on my mind, so why not? One year I tied a white rubber band around the sprayer on our sink. It blended in with the white plastic, so it wasn't noticeable. When someone turned on the sink, they would get sprayed because the handle was already pressed on the sprayer. Very simple, yet effective.

St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes

2009-03-19T16:24:00.004-05:00

Two days later... I know, I know. Tuesday night I made corned beef and cabbage for the St. Pat's celebration. And then I decided that we needed something sweet, too. I made some chocolate cupcakes with a buttercream frosting for dessert. This was a new chocolate cupcake recipe and boy was I pleased with it. The cakes were so moist and delicious, I thought I would melt eating them. Instead, I just gained a few pounds. No big, right? Anyway, here is the recipe.

1/2 cup (50 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water
1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing.

And here are my friends Lonnie and Reggie enjoying their cupcakes.

Ipod Shuffle giveaway

2009-03-18T11:29:00.001-05:00

Alice is having a contest and the prize is an Ipod Shuffle!

Here is how you can enter the contest:

Option 1 - counts as one (1) entry

1. Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter. Follow us on Twitter (if you aren’t already).

AND

2. Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite song to clean to. Include the link to your tweet with your comment.

Option 2 - counts as two (2) entries

1. Write a blog post about the giveaway and link to us in your post.

AND

2. Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite song to clean to. Include the link to your blog post with your comment.

An Irish Blessing

2009-03-17T11:35:00.005-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! For years I've found John O'Donohue's words to have a calming and inspiring effect. I was stunned to find out that he passed away suddenly in January of 2008. He was a guest on our show nearly every St. Patrick's Day and we miss his wisdom. I wanted to share with you one of his blessings that I like a lot.

May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path.
May the flame of anger free you from falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame and may anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
May you be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.

Wreck This Journal update

2009-03-16T21:12:00.005-05:00

It's difficult to carry my journal with me everywhere, but I've been trying. It's become a fun project that I like to work on whenever I get a chance. I've finished a hand full of pages and here are three I chose to share with you.

This one is my favorite. "Write one word over and over." Lonnie and I used to write notes like this to each other in high school. It actually took several hours to complete, but it was satisfying in the end.

I covered this page with office supplies from my desk. I'll probably add some more later on.

Lonnie did this page for me. I think she had fun messing up a page of my journal.

I also threw it, kicked it, and broke the spine. That was the most difficult task I've completed so far. I might burn a page tonight. I have a lighter nearby.

First Friday cupcake sale

2009-03-11T11:15:00.004-05:00

So First Friday came and went and I'm kind of glad that it was so fast. I got a pretty good response from people who stopped by the booth and I sold roughly half of what I made. I ended up giving A LOT of boxes away, but I didn't mind. Mainly I hope to get people to commission me to make cupcakes for parties, etc. I don't know if I'll be doing this again, but I have to get rid of the 14 pounds of butter I have in the fridge and the 70 cupcake boxes I have left over.

Let me also say that the icing tool I bought from Pampered Chef really helped. It's the Easy Accent Decorator I got from Dayna. If you bake or decorate at all, I highly recommend this tool. I normally use pastry bags, and by the time I ice the last cupcake, my wrists are aching. This thing has a trigger that is easy to press down, making icing come out smooth and even. I'm going to another Pampered Chef party this weekend and I plan on buying some more stuff. Too bad they don't offer something that automatically cleans your kitchen after an all-week baking binge.

Cooling off

2009-03-03T22:09:00.002-06:00

In preparation for First Friday, I made 300 cupcakes tonight. Dayna and Will helped out with the baking and recipe alterations. I will be icing these on Thursday and Friday before the event. We only made vanilla and chocolate and I'll be using vanilla and chocolate icing. I'll take more pictures when we decorate them.

Overwhelmed with a new project

2009-02-26T13:06:00.003-06:00

I'm starting a new cupcake project. A few events have led my roommate Will and I to think about opening a cupcake shop. To test the waters, we got a booth at our town's First Fridays where we will tempt people into consuming tasty baked morsels. We're going to bake about 25 dozen cupcakes and hope that people buy enough to at least cover our costs. That means I have to sell each 1/2 dozen for about $4. I just don't know if people will do it.

I'm already really overwhelmed at how many baking supplies we will have to buy and how long it will take us to make 300 cupcakes. I'm starting out small so I don't waste a lot of time and money on a project that might just fizzle out. I'm buying the boxes tomorrow and starting baking on Sunday. I'm only going to make chocolate and vanilla cupcakes to start with to keep the cost low.

Last weekend I bought a new mini cupcake tin and an icing tool at Dana's Pampered Chef Party. Click that link to buy some stuff of your own. It's fantastic stuff if you cook or bake at all! Dana is also going to bring over a few things to help me out. I really think I can do this and I know it will be fun to meet a lot of people in the festival-like atmosphere. Most of all, I get to lick the bowl at least 25 times! What calories?! I'll let you all know how it goes if I'm still sane enough to form sentences when it's all over.

Friday Favorites!

2009-02-20T13:33:00.004-06:00

This week has been an unusually long one and I'm ready for it to end! This weekend is going to be busy, but I get to spend it with a lot of fun and lovely people, including my mom. We're also looking at a house that maybe we could move into. I hate the prospect of moving, but we need a bigger place. Enough of the whining, onto my favorite things.

1. My favorite lip gloss: I like that stuff from Bath and Body Works, CO Bigelow's lip shine. It's not too sticky and it give my lips a nice, refreshing minty shine. I have at least four tubes floating around because I don't ever want to be without.

2. My favorite office supplies: I use paperclips the most, probably. But I LOVE sticky notes. Today while I was going through my office supplies for a page in my Wreck This Journal, I found a plethora of sticky notes I forgot I had. Some are flower shapes and some have sayings on them. I even have a cute little daisy covered sticky note dispenser. Yeah, it's extremely girly, but hey, what else did you expect from me? I really do love office supplies and it thrills me that I'm in charge of ordering and shopping for new ones at work.

3. My favorite mythical creature: Hands down, fairies. I've been obsessed with them for as long as I can remember. I have fairy books, note cards, post cards, jewelry, journals, lighters, you name it. In recent years my obsession with cupcakes has overshadowed my love for fairies, but it's still there. I even got a Tinkerbell (yeah, I know she's a pixie, but it's similar!) Valentine from my boss' grand son.

4. My favorite reality Television: American Idol. I used to hate it. It started when I watched the auditions just to make fun of the fanatics crying over their dismissal. But then I got invested in the series and now I watch it every week. Now I'm not a freaky fan who buys all things AI. I don't even like the music the winners put out, with the exception of one song I won't admit to here. I just watch it and sometimes I vote. My contestant always loses, though.

5. My favorite classic book: I have three that are my favorites for different reasons. The Great Gatsby, The Bell Jar and Catcher In the Rye. The Great Gatsby is my absolute favorite, though.

Wreck This Journal

2009-02-19T16:31:00.004-06:00

Valentine's Day was so fantastic this year, I can't even begin to describe it. Basically Corey and I just got to chill and relax without interruption. We only left the apartment to browse the bookstore hand in hand, eat and grocery shop. We also exchanged gifts, something that we previously said we wouldn't do. I bought him a man-bag on Etsy since he previously carried his work folders and notebooks in his hands. He bought me Wreck This Journal, a journal/art project I've been coveting for a while. I started it today, only completing three pages so far.

It reminds me of The Writer's Block some of my literary inclined friends used to have. When you can't think of anything to write about, consult the block (a small, block shaped book with 365 pages) and find an assignment. It's so much fun and forces you to be creative.

If you like to write in paper journals, but can't think of anything to write about, this is a great book to buy. If you are an artist with a creative block, get this book. If you just like to burn, rip, or generally destroy things, buy this book. I can't wait to spill coffee on some pages, rip up some pieces of the journal and rip off the cover. It will be somewhat scary for me since I like my books in pristine condition, but it will also be somewhat liberating.

Friday Favorites!

2009-02-13T10:41:00.004-06:00

I am a week older... and wiser, hopefully! My dad came to visit us Thursday night and we wasted two hours at the worst restaurant in town with the worst wait staff. At least we got to watch the World Cup qualifying game between Mexico and USA. USA! USA! USA! We won, so off to more games we go. We also had a craft night, and that actually turned into a lazy TV night. We're still not feeling crafty, but we have some new projects in the works that we'll get started on soon enough. Now on to my 5 favorites list.

1. My favorite lotion: Currently I use Victoria's Secret Super Model lotion. It smells divine and contains glitter! I'm a sucker for all things sparkly. When I get out of the tanning bed, however, I like to use Total Immersion for extra hydration. It doesn't smell as lovely, though.

2. My favorite breakfast food: Recently I ate Nutella crepes for the first time. This is, by far, the best breakfast food I've ever eaten. Anything that contains Nutella is OK in my book. The addition of bananas and strawberries with whipped cream only makes it more delicious. I'm going to try to recreate this meal soon.

3. My favorite post card: I get quite a few post cards from various family and friends. I think Girl Kris, who recently moved away, sends me the best ones, though. She'll send me cute cards just for the fun of it sometimes, too. But the best one she sent me was from Hungary.

4. My favorite time-waster: When I'm sitting still for too long or am waiting on my car to get fixed, I like to play Kaglom on my blackberry. It's kind of like Tetris, only a little more difficult. I run my battery down every other day because I play this game way too much. My friends actually make fun of me for it.

5. My favorite vacation spot: Sadly, I haven't vacationed anywhere exotic or even outside of the US. But my two favorite places to vacation are St. Augustine, FL and Colorado Springs. The beaches in and around St. Augustine are clean and pretty and they have a lot of fun bars and restaurants to go to. In Colorado, I love the weather ans shops and the outdoor activities.

Friday Favorites!

2009-02-06T11:22:00.003-06:00

I haven't been updating and I feel like I should do that more frequently. I came up with the idea of posting every Friday and talking about a few of my favorite things. We'll call this Friday Favorites! Very original and crafty, huh? Since I haven't been crafting as much, this is a good way for you to get to know me better. Assuming you want to, that is. So, without further ado, here is a list for you.

1. My favorite cuddle position: Spooning. I like to be the little spoon. It's a very comfortable way to sleep, too.

2. My favorite snack: Cheetos! I always forget how much I love them until I have a bag in the house. They don't last long. My favorite healthy snack is probably cucumbers or pineapple.

3. My favorite video game: I think it will always be Tetris. I never get tired of it and I even play it in my head sometimes. Right now I'm partial to Animal Crossing, though.

4. My favorite book series: This one is a little difficult because I like three a lot. Harry Potter, Twilight (I know, I know), and the Sookie Stackhouse series. Twilight is my least favorite because I know it sucks. The writing is terrible and it's a dumb story with a stupid protagonist. Harry Potter will always be completely awesome, no matter what anyone says. And there's vampire sex in the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I really like the way they're written, too. Charlaine Harris makes up words that I know a few Southerners actually use.

5. My favorite comedian: is probably.... Eddie Izzard. I could watch his stand-up over and over again. I also really enjoy Mitch Hedberg, even though his posthumous album was a little less than fulfilling. I got to see him live a few months before he died and I'm really thankful for that.

Bookmark for Mom

2009-01-18T20:36:00.005-06:00

My mom's birthday is next month, so I thought I would make her something little for it. She loves traditional and religious things, making it very easy to find patterns to make for her. I picked out a bookmark with a Bible verse on it. She will absolutely love it and she can use it in her Bible. The best thing is, it only took me a few hours to make it. I like the satisfaction of finishing a piece, something I haven't felt lately. I need to pick some more simple things for a while. I feel like I will never finish Lonnie's wine trivet. when I do, it'll be awesome, though.

I also tried some new recipes using my wok I got for Christmas. The sesame chicken turned out so tasty and the lo mein was pretty good. I need to perfect that a bit. The Chinese market across the street has some fresh vegetables that go great in the veggie lo mein. I can't wait to try it again.

I also bought an Irish blessing to make for Corey's mom. Here's to hoping she likes crafty things. It's got a beautiful green and purple border that is a little daunting. I'll start that one at craft night probably. Tonight Lonnie came over to eat some pasta that I made and we're going to watch Tropic Thunder. Back to work tomorrow!

We made pupcakes!

2009-01-12T10:11:00.003-06:00

I finally tried one of the things I found in the book "Hello Cupcake" I got for my birthday. Dayna picked out some dachshund cupcakes for me to make on her birthday and I tried it out. They are simply vanilla cupcakes made to look like puppies. Lonnie helped me and kept me sane. She is the best baking assistant ever! I used chocolate and caramel frosting, mini M&M's, Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers, white frosting and chocolate covered peanuts. If I practiced more, I'm sure I would get better. But they did actually taste pretty good, too!

New Year, more crafting

2009-01-01T19:22:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! I am very optimistic about the new year, even if it is filled with uncertainty. It will undoubtedly be filled with challenges, but I'm prepared to meet them head-on.

The only resolution I'm going to make is to stitch more. I really want to work on my projects more than once a week. Craft nights were such a wonderful idea because some weeks I just don't have any extra time to sit down and stitch. My girls are so motivating, too. They are so talented and fun. They are the perfect company, really. Our last craft night was at Dayna's house so she wouldn't have to be away from her new PS3 for too long. Admittedly, I am spending a large amount of time with my new video games. I got three... two for the Wii and one for my DS. Anyway, back to craft night. I actually finished the wine bottle on the wine trivet I'm making. I still have the border of grapes, wine glasses, apples and table cloth to complete. No pressure, right? I took a photo of what it looked like at the beginning of craft night.

Here's Dayna working on her cherry blossom bag. She is so creative and her projects are adorable. You should check out her esty store.

We're going to get together this weekend and again at the beginning of next week. Should be good motivation to get me through this project.

Chocolate chip muffins

2008-12-29T14:25:00.004-06:00

Sunday morning I woke up earlier than normal for a weekend and I decided to try to make muffins. I was craving chocolate chip muffins, so I dug around in the cabinets and pulled out all of the ingredients I had on hand. I wasn't in the mood to get out so early. Then this recipe from Mr. Breakfast popped out and me and it was settled! Chocolate chip muffins were a go! They turned out way better than I expected and taste better today than they did yesterday. I think being in a container over-night moistened them up a bit. Anyway, I'll post the recipe here and then below it add my comments/suggestions.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

(12 servings)

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup light-brown sugar
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup milk
* 1/2 cup butter -- melted and cooled
* 2 eggs - beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips
* 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans -- chopped

Preheat oven to 400 F. and grease up twelve muffin cups.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Spoon batter into muffin cups; bake 15-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean. Remove muffin tin to wire rack; cool 5 minutes and remove from tins to finish cooling.

Serve warm.
////////////////////////////

I found that the batter wasn't sweet enough for me, so I added about another half cup of sugar. Also, it was thicker than I wanted, so I added half a stick more of melted butter and about a half cup more milk. I baked them for about 17 minutes. They turned a nice brown color. I also used walnuts because that's what I had, and I think that was rather fortunate. I love the chocolate & walnut combination.

This settles it, no more packaged muffin mix for me! This was simple and so much tastier than the muffins from pre-packaged mix. I will be trying blueberry soon because those are Corey's favorite. Unfortunately, Corey isn't a huge fan of chocolate in breakfast items, so I think I enjoyed them much more than he did! I brought the rest to work today, so hopefully the bosses will polish those off this week. They liked the ones they had this morning!

Christmas spirit

2008-12-17T21:22:00.002-06:00

I left my craft bag at my grandmother's house after my trip there last weekend. I have a habit of leaving at least one important item at the places I visit. Maybe it's insurance that I have to go back? Since I haven't been able to craft, I wrapped all of the Christmas presents and decorated the tree. It's pretty late in the season for it, but I have been busy with other things... traveling mainly.

We're having a Christmas party this weekend, so I've been decorating and cleaning a little bit every day to prepare. I'm ready to have a night where we just chill and don't do anything. Do those kinds of nights actually exist? Friday night we're going to a wine tasting and then shopping to prepare for the baking extravaganza Saturday morning. I'm getting all Christmasy and excited! Here's some holiday cheer straight from my living room!

Icing is my foe

2008-12-09T08:49:00.003-06:00

Apparently I can't ice cupcakes to save my life. Also, I suck at making butter cream frosting. I kind of hate butter cream frosting in the first place, so I likely won't try again. Cream cheese frosting is where it's at. The cupcakes tasted good, though. I really enjoy the flavor of almond extract in cakes. I made this little cupcake for Lonnie, who is an Alabama fan.

Carson, my boyfriend's son who is 9, helped me with the process. He plays Cooking Mama on the Nintendo DS, so he loves to make things in real life that he's learned to do on the game. First we started with meatballs, but throwing them back in forth in the game is easier than doing it in real life. We ended up with a few dropped meat balls.

Carson separated the egg yolks for me. I was really nervous about letting him do it because I didn't get good at it until college. But I pulled out a practice bowl for him and he did each egg perfectly. No kidding, this 9 year old separated egg yolk for the very first time and didn't get any shell or yolk into the cake batter! I am super impressed with him.

At first I thought he was helping so he could lick the bowls and beaters (this is a trick I always pulled when I was his age), but he just wanted to bake. He measured the ingredients for me and used the hand mixer, too. I was really just supervising. He also wanted to read the recipe to me. It was a great learning experience for him because he learned about measurements and conversions. How many nine year old boys know the difference between the abbreviations of tablespoon and teaspoon?

Now that I'm done bragging on the boy... We had craft night last night and I found my groove on the wine trivet I'm cross stitching. Lonnie and I had headaches all night, but I still had a really fun time with the ladies. Lonnie's snowman looks great so far. The colors in the pattern are very nice and will look great on her mom's wall. Dayna is making a robot bag and it is the cutest thing I've ever seen. If I wasn't on handbag restriction (Corey's orders), I would buy it when she's finished. She cuts out felt into shapes and stitches them onto the bag to form a robot. She attaches gears and buttons for eyes, etc. Really cute idea. She made an owl bag previously and it turned out really cute, too.

I brought my cross stitch to work today so I can work on it at lunch. It's a nice little break from typing all day.

Snowman Christmas Ornament

2008-12-04T10:01:00.003-06:00

In order to learn how to cross stitch, I bought an entire kit at Hobby Lobby. Well, two actually. This is the only one I've finished so far. Lonnie's mom loves snow men, so I made her this cute little ornament. I really love how it turned out! Believe it or not, the most difficult thing for me was affixing the piece to the frame. Hot glue works wonders! I am especially proud of the little black french knots for eyes. I'm getting better and better at them. I find them easier to accomplish on cross stitch pieces compared to embroidery. I am now working on the blanket stitch, which is totally evading me. I just need to sit down and get it done.

This weekend is the Alabama vs. Florida game and we're having a gathering at the house. I'm going to bake cupcakes with crimson frosting for Lonnie. I hope this turns out better than the blue frosting I was trying to make for the Notre Dame cupcakes! I've read up a little bit on how to color white frosting, so hopefully that will prove to be useful. I'm going to bake the funfetti cupcakes again because they were like crack to Lonnie. She loved them more than chocolate. Which is a big deal! I'm hoping some other friends come over to eat them so I won't be tempted to eat six in a row.

I'll also be making a butter cream frosting from scratch for the first time. I usually make cream cheese frosting, but I want to work with my new piping bags some more. I hear butter cream is easier to make fluffy and pretty. I'll be posting pictures of my confectionery delights. It will also be practice for my Christmas cupcakes I'm making for our party in December. I have some Christmas tree sprinkles (jimmies) that I can't wait to use. They'll look lovely on some red and white icing.

Completed Apron

2008-12-02T09:18:00.007-06:00

I finished two projects, but I just haven't been here to talk about them. The holidays are hectic times, as I'm sure you know. Since I finished these last two projects, I've started one and hit a wall. I don't know what it is, but by the time I get to crafting, I'm exhausted and lethargic. Even at craft night I just look at the projects in my craft bag and wish that they were already finished. This isn't good when Christmas is coming up and I still have three presents to finish.

I'll quit my whining now and post pictures of the apron I made for my Best Pal. I put little gnomes on them because she loves them. I really like how the vines on the bottom turned out. The satin stitch took a while, but it looks nice if you ask me.

Yeah, I'm going to iron it before I give it as a gift! I have one more apron to work on, but I think I'm going to wait and make it for myself. I really love aprons and I don't have one of my own currently.

As far as Christmas presents go, I'm nearly finished with gift shopping. I've had a lot of fun with it so far. I love Black Friday and I made my way out to a nice mall with my cousin early that morning. I did get some good deals on stuff I needed and a purse that I didn't need. I have an unhealthy obsession with designer bags.

I'm getting back to work now. Happy crafting!

Cupcakes were a hit and Pilobolus

2008-11-19T15:44:00.006-06:00

First of all, my cupcakes did not arrive in Chicago in great condition. The video below of this week's Subway Alumni Show illustrates the messiness and apparent deliciousness of my cupcakes. Thanks for the huge shout out Sprout and Eric!

Last night Corey and I went to the theater at the University of North Alabama to see Pilobolus perform. It was extraordinary to say the least. Look them up on Youtube if you have time. Their movements are so controlled and the choreography was just so different. My mind was totally blown by the final piece. The dancers wore only dancers belts in a few of the performances, and many people got up to leave. I don't understand because even the tickets and posters featured half-naked people in various formations. It's not a big surprise to see a few ass cheeks. But apparently some people found that offensive and left. I wouldn't care, except every time the doors in the back of the theater opened, it distracted everyone in the dark theater. I just found it rude. We even stayed for the Q&A session afterward. I feel so fortunate to have been able to listen to such talented performers discuss their art. The most amazing part is that the majority of the group began dancing in their early to mid twenties and haven't trained all their life for this.

I've started on my first cross stitch project and it's coming along quite nicely. I'll talk about it more later. Tonight the ladies are coming over so hopefully I'll be motivated to get a little more completed. It's chilly here, so I think I'll cook up some soup and snuggle up in my pj's tonight while I craft. I really do enjoy winter.

Inspiration strikes again

2008-11-18T16:40:00.004-06:00

I am completely finished embroidering Telisha's apron now! It looks great. I will be posting pictures later when they're uploaded. Lonnie and I got a wild hair this morning and we're finally learning to cross stitch. It started because I thought I would make my friend Jeff a Simpsons themed piece for Christmas. I actually found a pattern that kicks so much ass that I had to get it. It looks pretty involved, so I thought I should get some practice in before the pattern gets here. That's when Lonnie and I headed to Hobby Lobby on our lunch break. I'm going to make a wine trivet for Lonnie. Luckily I don't have to hide it from her. And hopefully it will turn out nicely, even though it'll be my first cross stitch.

In other crafting news, I figured out how to make my own cross stitch patterns in Photoshop. I've made two so far today. One of a mudkip (joke for my roommate) and a Jack Skellington for Lonnie. Lonnie is actually cross stitching a bear right now and it seems to be going well.

And if you were wondering what ever came of my cupcakes, wonder no more. The Subway Alumni received them and ate some. Proof is in the video below!

Epic Cupcake Fail?

2008-11-13T08:59:00.003-06:00

I made the cupcakes last night using a new recipe I found online. The guys at The Subway Alumni Show like confetti cupcakes, and I've never made them before. After Corey and I got the ingredients I didn't already have and got started on my experiment. These didn't turn out exactly how I imagined for several reasons. 1. I couldn't get the blue icing dark enough. 2. The cake wasn't as moist as I'm used to. 3. I've never used a piping bag to ice cupcakes. 4. I should have used buttercream frosting instead of cream cheese. But the end result is delicious, no matter how unattractive they may be. I know this because I ate one for breakfast. Diet, what?

I hope they make it to Chicago in one piece. I've packed them quite well using a new air bladder I recycled from an Office Depot shipment. I'll just go ahead now and post the recipe.

Funfetti Cupcakes
1/2 cup milk
3 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp butter, soft
2 tbsp rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, egg whites and extracts. Set aside
In the bowl of an electric mixer (or a large bowl if you prefer to work by hand), combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir to combine. Cut in butter with the paddle attachment at low speed (or cut in by hand), until mixture is coarse and sandy. Add milk mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl and continue beating for 20-30 seconds. Stir in sprinkles.
Divide batter evenly into prepared tin. Bake for for 15 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
Makes 12.

Trying New Things

2008-11-10T15:40:00.003-06:00

This weekend I worked a lot on the apron I'm making for my best pal, Telisha. I am using the same gnome pattern that I used on Kris' purse earlier. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out some new floss and a floss roller. It was only 99 cents, and thank goodness because it doesn't work at all. It looks a lot like a fishing reel and it rolls the floss onto the bobbin very loosely. I don't like it at all. I think I actually left it at my parents' house, too.

Tonight is craft night at my place, and we'll be watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall while we get crafty. I will hopefully finish up most of the apron.

I ordered a few things on the Internet last week, too. First, I'm addicted to the TV series True Blood, so I ordered the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead Until Dark. It was only $3 and I couldn't help myself. Next, I'm making some cupcakes on Wednesday for the guys at the Subway Alumni Show. I bought some icing tools that I've never tried before. Why not get fancy, ya know? The tools were actually very cheap on ebay, too. As a bonus, they're not used, either. Heh... Using used utensils freaks me out. Anyway, I'll get to try those out, along with a new recipe I found for funfetti cupcakes. It looks delicious.

You Don't Gnome Me! Completed Project

2008-11-06T08:23:00.009-06:00

It took me a few days longer than I thought it would, but I finished the bag I was working on. With the elections (I am a rabid media watcher) and me being sick, it was a little overwhelming. But as Corey and I watched Gone Baby Gone last night, I stitched the final touches on my cute little gnome.

This weekend I am going to start on Telisha's Christmas present, an apron with gnomes on it. She was my gnome inspiration, actually. She has cute little gnomes on her front porch and even has shirts with the little dudes on em. Hers will be a little more elaborate than this bag, so it will take a little longer. I'm going to my parents' house this weekend, so I will have a lot of down time at night when they go to bed and on Saturday when Mom works. And of course Monday is craft night, so I'll have several hours to work on it then.

Again, I need a new camera. Mine is actually on the fritz right now and only works when I gently coax it. Some of the pictures aren't too bad, but the one of the little cottage is just way too blurry.

Coming To The End Of A Project

2008-11-03T12:51:00.004-06:00

This weekend was a good one filled with candy, hockey, and family. Corey and I visited his son, Carson, for Halloween and took him to his football team's party at the hockey game. His coach did lose him, but he was found and we never have to deal with those parents again! Other than all that hectic stuff, I did get some stitching done. I am nearly finished with the purse I'm working on now. I put some cute little gnomes on it for my BFF Kris. Tonight is craft night, so I'm sure I'll complete what I have left of this project. Then it's on to the next Christmas gift!

I have a good feeling about this. If it only takes me one week to complete a project, I'll have all of my Christmas gifts finished way before the deadline. And since I was sick last week, I didn't get to stitch as much as I normally would, so perhaps I'll finish two projects a week. I really don't have that many to make, either. We're going light on the present giving this year.

I found this pincushion on Etsy.com earlier and I loved it! I keep losing needles in the couch, and I think this would stop that. Not to mention it is completely adorable. I might just have to break down and buy it for myself after Christmas. I've been a good girl and kept the shopping to a minimum, which is a huge deal for me. We went clothes shopping this weekend and I actually didn't buy anything for myself. Granted, I was having a fat day, but there were still shoes I really liked!

Progress

2008-10-29T16:10:00.002-05:00

Monday night we had craft night and I got started on a new project. I am stitching some cute patterns onto something useful for my friend, Kris. I didn't get terribly far because I started to come down with something about halfway through "Knocked Up". I have since been down with a mystery illness.

Our cable has been out for three days, too. Comcast lied to us repeatedly about the problem, thus prolonging the outage. Finally a technician came out this afternoon and informed me that our cable is connected to the next door neighbor's cable. That neighbor recently moved out, so when the cable was cut off, ours was, too. This has happened four times this year, and I'm sure it'll happen again every time we get a new neighbor. The technician gave me his phone number, however, so I don't have to deal with call centers and rude customer service representatives any longer.

I say all that because as a result of losing cable, I concentrated extra hard on my new project while I was home sick. There are three parts to it and I finished part one at lunch today while waiting on the cable guy. It took me forever because I was using a French knot and I've never done one before. Katie demonstrated one to me a few weeks ago, but my feeble mind lost that information. I looked up "how to french knot" on youtube and voila! I copied the motions and I got it down! My first few knots were a little untidy. But by the fifth one, I think it looked great. I'm really thrilled that I can continually learn new things with needle crafts.

I'm still a sickie today, but Lonnie and I wandered over to our local ice cream parlor/cafe for hot soup and cold milk shakes. They did wonders for my congestion and sore throat! I think I might pick up some ice cream to accompany the Mexican chicken soup I will probably eat for dinner. I also plan on working on Kris' Christmas present some more. If I continue on this schedule, I should finish it by the end of the weekend.

I ordered the Winterland pattern from Sublime Stitching and it should be here soon. I'm thinking of embroidering some cute ornaments and elves on tea towels for the women in my family. I know for sure my mother and grandmother would love them. My Aunt Linda seems like the type to love crafty things, too. I will just stitch as many as I possibly can before the Holidays and give them out to as many people as will take them! I have a feeling my friends and family will get tired of receiving an embroidered something or other after a while. I'll be like that crazy aunt who always give the children knitted scarves and hats every single year. After 20 years or so, there's just not room for any more!

Jack-O-Lanterns

2008-10-27T08:29:00.005-05:00

For the past two years I've gotten my pumpkin carving stencils from Zombie Pumpkins. They turn out great (I think so, anyway) every time! Last year I carved a Wario and a funny face named Horton. Carson, my boyfriend's nine year old son, and I share a love of video games. So this year we carved Boo, Bowser and Princess Peach!

We took a trip to McGee Farms on Saturday Morning and picked out three perfect pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. Gutting the pumpkins is always a chore because Carson doesn't like getting his hands dirty. I gutted two and Carson gutted one. It was nice having some help. He was very enthusiastic about the patterns we picked out this year.

I had forgotten how tedious tracing and then carving can be. It took about five hours total to carve all three pumpkins. Next year we're only doing two! The end results were totally worth all the eye strain, back pain and sore hands. This really is a fun activity for the entire family. Even if the kids are too young to handle the sharp stuff, pulling out the guts is something they can do. Even Corey got involved and roasted the seeds. YUMMY!

A Delicious Surprise

2008-10-24T08:43:00.004-05:00

My best friend, Girl Kris, came to visit me from Arkansas last night. Our other friend Christopher came over, too. I made baked ziti with garlic bread and a salad. It was pretty delicious. After dinner, Kris gave me my birthday presents... Yes, a month late, but in person is better than through the mail if you have a choice! The first thing I got was a fairy umbrella. It has a huge fairy on it and fairy wings on the sides. I was actually able to use it this morning on my way to work since the storm clouds have gathered over our region.

In addition to my awesome umbrella, Kris gave me a cupcake decorating book! It is amazing and the instructions are so clear. I have no doubt that after a few tries, I will perfect my decorating skills. I've never done anything so elaborate with baking. The book is called Hello Cupcake and there is a website to go along with it. Go check out some of the designs.

And I almost forgot! Christopher took a look at my camera and he fixed it! I will be testing it out this weekend when we go to McGee Farm to pick out pumpkins to carve. If it isn't obvious, I have the best friends in the world!

Calories, What Calories?

2008-10-23T15:58:00.005-05:00

My day job is as the producer of a radio show about small business. Recently we had a co-founder of Fairytale Brownies on our show. She caught my eye because, first of all, they make brownies. But their company also has an interesting story and contributes to their community. A portion of every purchase goes to an organization that makes sure kids have a safe playground on which to play.

The best part about this is that they sent us a dozen brownies! You'll be surprised to know that I've only tried one so far. It was a cream cheese brownie and boy was it delicious. The texture is not too cake-like and not too moist... the perfect balance. I'll let Eileen Spitalny, the co-founder of Fairytale Brownies, tell you about it in her interview.

Click here to listen.Small Business Advocate

First Project

2008-10-22T20:48:00.008-05:00

I finally finished my first embroidery project! I am so excited that it turned out as well as it did. It's funny how you can see the improvement from one part to the other. I started the satin stitch on the star to the very right. You can tell that I got better as I practiced on each star.

It's very exciting to have this new craft. I look forward to the progress I make on future projects, too. I have so many ideas and I can't wait to start. I'll be starting on Christmas presents at our next craft night.

Clearly it's not perfect, but I am very proud that you can even tell what it is! Well that's all I wanted to share right now. I'm craft-free for the evening and watching Six Feet Under with Corey. It's good to relax.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2008-10-22T09:09:00.004-05:00

In my family, a cake isn't a cake unless it is made from scratch. No box cake mixes for us, no ma'am. Cooking has always been a big part of my life and baking an even more so. At family gatherings there would be a huge spread of Southern comfort food and a table devoted to only desserts. That was my favorite table. My Aunt Jane made a killer red velvet cake and I always got an extra large piece to split with my cousin Ashley. Since I haven't gone to family gatherings as frequently as I used to, I kind of forgot my love for red velvet cake. That is until I saw Paula Deen make some delicious looking cupcakes on TV one day. They were red velvet cupcakes and I just had to get the recipe and try them! At the time, my cousin Ashley was about to get married and I was planning her bachelorette party (I was the maid of honor). Since red velvet is her favorite, I chose to try this recipe out on her.

Everyone at the party couldn't get enough of the cupcakes. They were so moist and delicious, they couldn't believe I had actually gone to so much trouble just to make cupcakes. Little did they know that baking is kind of theraputic for me. Not only that, but the satisfaction of everyone complimenting me feels wonderful. Yeah, I'm selfish!

Since the bachelorette party, I have made these cupcakes for birthdays, fund raisers and other occasions. Every single time they turn out perfectly and I always eat more than I should. I like to dress them up with blueberries on Independence Day and sprinkles when kids will be enjoying them. My favorite topping is the suggested strawberry. It adds a wonderful sweetness.

Here is the link to the cupcake recipe on Food Network. I've played around with it, but I haven't written any of my own recipes down. Just try your own and top them however you want to! And if you're running low on time, use some pre-made cream cheese icing. It isn't as good as home made, but if the cake part is perfect, then people rarely notice the store-bought topping.

This is one of the cupcakes I made on Sunday for an event at the local university. I heard they were a big hit! And I realize it's blurry. My beautiful, lovely, amazing Nikon is currently not working so I'm using my little point and shoot Kodak. Hopefully I'll be remedying that soon.

I love cupcakes and crafting

2008-10-21T14:09:00.002-05:00

I've had a personal blog for about five years now. It's mainly private and I get my feelings and emotions out in it as well as update on my day-to-day. After meeting my friend, Katie, I found her blog and a community of bloggers who write specifically about their crafts. I find this to be exciting, because I love talking about embroidery, baking, cooking, etc. Not many people in my real life get as excited about these things as I do. I've been silently following Katie's and other blogs and now I've decided to start one of my own. Even if no one reads this, it will be a place to catalog my projects, recipes and ideas.

Sometimes when I start something new, I dive right into it and then after about a month I lose interest. With a little inspiration and motivation from my friends, I have started a new hobby and hope to continue it. Lonnie, Dayna, Katie and I meet usually about once a week and we call ourselves "The Crafty Cupcakes". It's a lot easier to be excited about a project when someone tells you how cool it is!

Currently I am working on my first embroidery project. It's a pillowcase (the first piece of cloth I picked up) with a light house scene on it. I'm having fun trying out different stitches and finding new ways to add texture and color. Katie has helped a lot with that. I have books and diagrams, but it's so much easier to have someone demonstrate a stitch to you! I have a few rocks to stitch on there, and I should finish the piece tonight.

I have also decided to make a few things for Christmas presents this year. I found some free patterns online for a tote I will make for my best friend, Girl Kris. I will be using a gnome and fairy pattern my boyfriend, Corey, bought me for my birthday from SublimeStitching.com to make an apron for my best pal, Telisha. I also have a few patterns picked out from that website to use on some tea towels for my aunts and mother. As soon as I get paid on the first, I'm heading to HobbyLobby to pick out some materials! I'm pretty thrilled about it.

Hopefully I'll have a picture of my completed pillow case for my next post. Until then, I'm going to work on making this blog look snazzy!