"Marvelous Minis" by Country Quilts

Here are the ornaments I made last weekend.

All eight ornaments completed.

They had a fall-ish theme to them: cat, jack-o-lantern, glove, pineapple (???), sheep w/crow, pear w/crow, watermelon w/crow, and pig.

I used some really cute plaid fabric my mom gave me and cut 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles from it. There were only 7 different plaids, so for one I used tea-stained muslin.

I cut out each shape from plain old cheap felt based on the pattern, and used a little bit of basting glue to hold the different parts onto the fabric instead of pinning them (I hate pins). Then I hand stitched each piece using a running stitch in a matching color of DMC floss.

Once the design was stitched onto the fabric, I took the two pieces and with a running stitch around the edges, sealed 3 sides. I popped some stuffing in there (not too much, didn't want them to look TOO much like pillows), and closed it up.

So I'm pretty proud of these since I've never done anything like this before. I'm definitely going to do some for each season. I'm planning on putting them on my wreath I keep hung in the living room throughout the year. I haven't decorated it since last Christmas, so I think this is a cute way to keep it up-to-date. I'm planning on finding some Christmas ones (and maybe putting those on the tree!), and then make some (drawing out my own patterns instead of buying them!) for Valentines (hearts), St Patty's (shamrocks, pots of gold, and rainbows -- which would just be a cream colored arch with rainbow colored stitching, i'm thinking), Easter eggs, for summer I'll have up some red, white, and blue stars for all the many patriotic holidays that season.

That's it. I'm going to start on Art's dad's cake now (french vanilla!). I hope he likes it!

Eventually pictures, but now, more "blah"

Art left for Santa Clara for 9 days yesterday morning. I was fine until evening came around... about the time I normally make dinner. But then we talked on the phone and everything was cool.

This weekend I will be making some little applique ornaments (fall-themed) with mom (who is crafting with me all weekend), I'll be sure to take pics and put them up on here. I also found a cool beach bag idea in my new Martha Stewart Living magazine. If I make that, I'll put it in here (or save it for another post).

I've decided to do a lot of crafting for the holidays because I know money will be tight after the wedding. We decided on a budget for each other for presents, and I know what I'm going to be making for people. I won't write it in here because someone might be reading :D:D:D

I'm also going to work some more on my large Christmas-scene cross stitch project this week. I did a little bit last night, but my eyes were getting tired because there wasn't enough light. I think I'm going to bring a small lamp to the side table in the living room so I have enough light to stay motivated to work on it this week.

That's all. I'm at my boss' desk this week because she's on vacation, and although I have a little pile of work to be done, I get super bored because it's so quiet in here!!!!

Wilton Cake Decorating, Class 4

Tonight was our last cake decorating class for Course 1. We're probably not taking Course 2 unless we can find one that is on a Friday or Saturday night.

We did the Wilton Rose (tips 12 and 104) and learned leaves, a bow, and the sweet pea too.

Cake Details:
Spice Cake
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (3/4 tsp vanilla, 1/4 butter)
The middle layer had a thin layer of frosting, and some Pampered Chef Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle
Shell border on bottom w/tip 21; dots with tip 3.

We finished the class finally! It was worth the practicing.... but the classes definitely moved too slow for us.Me and mom posing with our proof-of-skill :)

Wilton Cake Decorating, Class 3

For Class 3 we had to make a cake with yellow on the sides and white on top. We also learned step 2 of the Wilton rose (even though mom and I went on to practice the rest of it because we got bored of waiting for the lady to move on), shell borders, and dots.

I never follow color-related instructions. Why would I? So I made mine with blue on the sides and green on top. I had clowns that were teal. I wasn't going to do the clowns because I just thought they were stupid. BUT I did it anyways. Here is how it turned out:

(p.s. it took about 10 tries to get this stupid picture uploaded on here since I'm an internet pirate and steal wireless from my neighbors! lol)

CAKE DETAILS:
Strawberry Cake
Vanilla Buttercream Icing (3/4 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp butter flavoring)

I used Royal Blue coloring for the sides, and Kelly Green for the top (doesn't look too Kelly though, oh well).
The borders are teal, done with the leftover from the clowns.
Pink dots are same as the details on the clown.
The Clowns were done with tip 21, dots with tip 3.

I don't know how likely it is that I will use those clown head again, they're kind of creepy, but I'll hold on to them just in case someone wants a creepy clown cake again.

Mom's cake turned out cute... she put balloons on hers, with cute little clowns that reminded me of Julian and Gabi. One was green, the other Yellow.

I don't know if I will miss taking the class... I think mom and I are going to get together to learn Course 2 things so we can do it without having to pay or go on their schedule.

First Cake

I finished my first cake last night. We made a rainbow cake, which was blue with a star patterned rainbow on top. It had a star border and ugly clouds.

We got to the class and used the demo table because the room was packed. So next week we're getting there early so we can claim that table again, it was perfect. I picked up the practice techniques quickly, which was great because I was worried that I wouldn't do so well on the writing and the stars (which is what we practiced).
We did a piping gel transfer of the rainbow pattern on the cake that we brought with us, pre-iced with thin consistency blue buttercream icing (nice and crusty). All we got around to was drawing out the lines of the rainbow with our tip #3. I was disappointed because I thought we'd have more time, but I think our instructor just moves slowly so that EVERYONE understands what they're doing. That's great, except that my mom and I are quick learners and want to get down to business!

I brought it home and finished it right away, which only took about 10 minutes. I accidentally made my star border too small, but that's ok because it still looks nice.

So, here's my first cake!So that is the cake. But then, I remembered that Art wanted the cake to be for him... so I went and used my thin icing which had some piping gel mixed in, and wrote a little message on the cake for him. I filled in the heart with leftover red from the rainbow.
I'm really proud of my happy little cake. It's actually not little at all:

CAKE DETAILS:
*yellow cake mix baked in a 3" deep, 8" pan. Baked it with some homemade even-bake strips around it so it came all the way to the top. Leveled it, then torted it. Filled with Almond cake filling (found a can of it at Albertsons, it was weird though because the flavors available were kind of grody).
*Buttercream icing was made with 1/2 tsp of almond flavoring, 1/4 tsp butter flavoring, 1/4 tsp vanilla flavoring. It was REALLY almondy. Mom hated the smell of it in class. Next time I think I'm going to make it more buttery flavored with a little vanilla.

Cutting into it tonight, hopefully it tastes great!

Wilton Cake Decorating, Class 2

Tonight is my second cake decorating class at Michael's with my mom. We're making a rainbow cake, and I feel really limited creatively. I would rather not make a rainbow, but that's what the "teacher" says we have to make. We probably have to write something on there too, but I'm not sure what I want to write. I might just write "Eat Me" or "R2" or something on it.

Tonight I will take a picture of the final product so I can put it on here.