Diaper Cake

I hosted a baby shower last week for a Mom having TWINS a Boy & a Girl!!!  How fun is that going to be?  I am way excited.... I'll be getting 3 Grand-babies in the next few weeks!!  FUN-  I wanted to make a diaper cake for the center piece at the shower & after looking at them on line- I decided the ones I looked at were really complicated.  So here's what I came up with- it was easy and worked up in less that an hour. I bought 2 pkg. of the newborn diapers and didn't use all of them on the cake- I should of counted how many I had left, but I didn't I just tied them up with some bakers twine & put them in with her gift!  So if you buy 2 bags you'll have enough to make this cake & have extra!!

First lay the diaper down like the first photo- then starting from the bottom roll it upward as it shows in the 2nd photo

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when you have 3 diapers rolled, bundle them together with an elastic. 

Continue to roll them into bundles of three until you have as many as you want for your bottom layer.  I used a glass cake plate to put them on. Set all the bundles on top of the plate and then with some string wrap all of them together. Tie them secure and then take the elastics off- it will look like this.  I had around 40 rolled diapers on the bottom layer. Once they are tied together, if you need a few more just roll them and stuff them in with the others to fill out the circle. 

Do the same thing for the next layer.. making it a little smaller to stack it on top of the bottom one.

And again for the top layer- I used 6 diapers on top.  Now it's time to put the ribbon on.....

Wrap your ribbon around each layer- I attached it with a couple of straight pins, just poke them right into the diaper.  It worked so much better that gluing or taping them.

Then you're ready to decorate with some cute fun baby "stuff" rattles, ducks, toys, booties, medium size bottles of lotion, shampoo, wash, oil, and powder. I tied all the bottles & the ducks with ribbon and just sat them on the diaper ledge and on top of the cake. The rattles and other things I also tied with ribbon and bakers twine then I attached them the same way I did the ribbon around the cake... with small straight pins.

And that's it... it took less than an hour to make and turned out darling!!! So if you have ever wondered how hard it would be to make one- try it, I promise you will be surprised how fun and easy they are!! 

Crochet Fleece Blanket

I'm back to show you a new take on the fleece blanket!

 

 

Get your fabric of choice. I made this for my newest nephew who's dad is a HUGE 49ers fan.

 

 

Cut of the white printed piece. Do it, it makes the blanket look tons better if you do!

 

 

 

On each corner of the blanket cut a 3"x3" square off.

 

Next fold over each side 2"

 

 

Sew each 2" side with a zigzag stitch. After each side is sewn, cut strips all away around the blanket about 1/4"-1/2" thick. Also cut them 1/4" away from the zigzag stitch. 

 

Once you have them all cut you can start crocheting the blanket. I used a size K hook. I started from one corner and worked my way around the blanket. It went pretty fast! Once you get to your starting stitch take it back to the sewing machine and stitch it down!

 

There you have it a new take on the fleece blanket! Much nicer than the tie method!

 

 

 

Countdown to Valentines Day

So my kids LOVE countdown calendars! I also like them as well because I don't have to keep telling them how many days there are until something! I didn't have a good one for Valentines Day until now so I thought that I'd share with you what I made!



First the supplies! You are going to need Cellophane, ribbon, scissors, our free topper and candy of choice

 

Cut a strip of cellophane wide enough to cover your candy. I cut mine about 4 inches wide. Cut some strips of ribbon

 

Next lay your candy out on the cellophane.

 

 

Fold over the cellophane and start tying the ribbon on in between the candy. I started from the middle and worked my way to the ends.

 

Once you have it complete add the free topper to the top and wallah! There you go!

 

(Topper was made with the kit who loves you by gg digital designs)

 

To get the free topper, click on the image, right click, save as... save to desk top. Print it out as a 3.5x5 on heavy white paper!

Making Spaghetti Sauce

I've been making Spaghetti Sauce- so I thought I would show you how it's done.  I called my friend Anita and she gave me her recipe-- I made a couple of adjustments to it & found the PERFECT taste for us!!  First get all your produce- I was excited we had everthing I needed in the garden this year except the onions.   Here's what you'll need to get started.....

Tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, anaheim peppers, garlic, basil, oregano & parsley

Pick a 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes- wash & core them.  I don't peel them, just remove the core and any bad spots that may be on the skin.

then blend them up in your blender, and pour into a lrg. stock pot

next blend up 3 T. fresh oregano, 4 T. fresh basil, 3 anaheim peppers, 3 bell peppers, 5 yellow onions & 3 whole cloves of garlic. Add that mixture to the tomatoes in the stock pot.

then add 1 1/2 C. sugar- 1 C. olive oil, 1/4 C. salt and I added 1 more Tablespoon each of dried basil & dried oregano- stir everything together well.

then cook it down for 3 1/2 hrs.  stirring it every now and again so it doesn't burn.

when the sauce has cooked for 3 1/2 hrs. add 4 large or 8 small cans of tomatoes paste and about 1 C. fresh chopped parsley and blend well. Make sure you stir the paste in really good, this will thicken it up a little bit more.

pour the sauce into your jars, wipe the tops with a cloth-



 boil the lids in a small amoount of water and put one lid & one ring on each jar.  Process them for 20 minutes.  Each batch makes 12 quarts.  Oh YUM this makes the best Spaghetti Sauce, I know you will LOVE it.  



Re-finished Outside Light Fixtures

Our outside light fixtures were starting to look really bad- they were brass, and  the weather had started to rust & dull them.  

  I didn't get a picture of the light fixture before we took it apart- but you can see how bad they looked....

First we took off the bottoms & pulled out the glass panels

Then we painted them with Rust-oleum hammered spray paint.  I don't have a picture of the can of paint, but it's the same paint I used on the jars I made a few months ago.  If you want to see what the can looks like go to the post on Jars, and there is a picture of it there.  I LOVE this paint. If you use a primer before using the paint, it will provide added protection.

And this is what they looked like after we were done.  Not too bad for a Saturdays work!!!

Cupcake Bathbombs

I have wanted to try to make these darling Cupcake Bathbombs for MONTHS!! I had seen them all over in little shops & in spa's...then I saw a tutorial over at www.littlebirdiesecrets.com and thought I can do that!--  So me and one of my FAVORITE friends (Lisa) got together and between all the laughing, talking, rootbeer floating, and more chatting--- we managed to make the cutest little things you've ever seen.

To make the bottom of the cupcake you will need:

2 C. baking soda

1 C. citric acid

1T. olive oil

5 drops essential oil

3-5 drops coloring

1T. Sodium lauryl sulfate (to make them fizz)

Witch hazel- poured into a spray bottle

Cupcake liners

We bought the sulfate & colorants here www.brambleberry.com

I need to tell you - we were so busy having fun that we didn't take very many pictures of each step (sorry)
First combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.   Mix it well.
Then add together the essential oil, olive oil & coloring and add to the dry ingredients.
Next spray a little bit of the witch hazel into the bowl and mix with your hands, continue with the spritzing of witch hazel & mixing until it feels like wet sand.

then we didn't use silicone cupcakeliners like the tutorial said- we just put cupcake liners into our regular cupcake pans, and it worked perfect!  Press the mixture into each liner.  We got 12 regular size cupcakes out of a batch.  Let them dry 15 minutes.

We also decided to make mini cupcakes, for kids.  After you  press them into the liners- make a hole in the middle and fill with confetti-- for a fun surprise!   

Then frost them..... To make the frosting you will need to mix in a GLASS bowl:
3 T. meringue powder (wilton brand) And 5 T warm water together
add 1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1 Lb. powdered sugar
a few drops coloring
Blend together for about 7 minutes on high until stiff peaks form.
(Yes it's just like REAL frosting)
It won't hurt you, it's just like using a sugar scrub.

Frost the regular size cupcakes the same way!  We added sprinkles too!

Oh they look yummy enough to eat -- don't they?

Package them up in clear bags, add some ribbon and you've got a DARLING gift!!  Or keep them for yourself. :)   The only thing missing is a cute tag--- we ran out of daylight!  Such a FUN day-- with one of my DEAREST friends... Thanks Lisa!! Lets play again soon. :)
Added Note:  To use them, just remove the cupcake liner & toss the rest into your bath water.... and ENJOY!!!!

Dried Apricots

I am still swimming in Apricots.... so the other night one of my sons friends was here, and I asked him how his Mom dried Apricots- She is famous for her amazing apricots, she dips them into jell-o.  Here's what Max told me to do....

 first wash & split open the apricots, remove the seed



then turn them inside out like this



dip them into any flavor of Jell-o



and layer them on the dehydrator racks. He didn't know exactly how long they took before they were done, so I'm on my own there.  I figure at least 10 hrs. rotate the racks as they start to dry. 

I found it was easier to half & pit a few apricots all at once & then it went faster to flip them inside out & dip them into the Jell-o.  I used cherry, but I really want to try Orange.  :) YUM!

Water Sponge Balls

I made these water sponge balls for our play day yesterday- and said I would post how to do them, so here we go:

You will need some sponges, the ones I had were a couple of different lengths.  I think the longer ones work better, but they turned out okay with both sizes- so take your sponge and cut it in half like this

 then cut each half into thirds and you will have six pieces of sponge- it's more fun if you use different colors. I used 9-10 pieces of sponge strips per ball
  

after you have all your sponges cut, grab a handful together and squeeze them tight in the middle --

take a pice of dental floss and wrap it around them as tight as you can and tie it in a knot- clip the excess floss

 fluff them up by twisting them around...I made a couple of them with less sponges for the little guys to be able to hold onto better.  You can make them as big as you want.  Then soak them in water and throw them--- you'll have a water fight on your hands.