Made by Nicole

Package It Pretty

2012-01-26T15:57:00.000-08:00

Earlier I shared what arrived in my Brown Paper Packaging Kit and today I wanted to show you a few of the things I've made with it so far. Let me just start by saying that using a kit the day I get it is pretty unheard of. But I was making some food for some neighbors in a very sad, scary, tough situation and I wanted my concern to come through loud and clear.

To start, I printed all the info related to the gifts on tags. To do this, print your text on regular printer paper, affix tags to paper over the printing and run it through again. The only hard part is remembering what side of the paper to feed into your printer. To help with this, I put a little x in the top left corner.

Then I decorated the tags with the torn fabric and flowers. Run a line of dry adhesive (like your ATG) across where you want your fabric to go and ruffle the strip as you place it down. Then sew over top for contrast and to tack it down.

For this one, I did two strips of ruffles and tucked the rose in the top.

Need the cinnamon syrup recipe? Here you go.

For the bread, fold waxed paper into thirds (long-wise) and wrap around your bread like a belly band, top with paper lace and tape together on the back side.. Add fabric of baker's twine.

Add your tag:

Nah... too cluttered. So I untied the tag and stapled it to the bag I slipped the bread into.

Repeat:

And keep repeating:

Until your gift is ready to be given:

(you can see the tag stapled to the brown bag in this pic)

I hope this post inspires you to take a few extra minutes next time you give a gift.

It sends a message of loving care.

P.S. If you're interested, Bonita Rose posted about how I used her kit. Check it out and say hello from me.

Linked Up With:

Whipperberry

Brown Paper Packages: Bonita Rose

2012-01-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

My mom-in-law and Dad-in-law sent Chris and I birthday-birthday-anniversary money and I decided to use a portion of it to buy things from artists I admire and am inspired by.

One of those artists is Bonita Rose, she makes the most gorgeous stuff. She recently started a monthly club called Brown Paper Packages. Look:

Cool, eh?

I had no idea what to expect when my package arrived. First I opened up this:

And then I discovered ALL of this. WOW. What a deal.

This is totally up my alley. Here's a few gifts I wrapped at Christmas - do you see how the kit contents (which are very similar to what I had in December) can be used so easily and so well?

Glassine bag, tag, ribbon

Doily stencil (sit stencil on lunch bag, spray with mist), bag and large accent

Glassine bag, trim, tag

Here's some art by Bonita Rose, be sure to stop by and let her know how beautiful her work is:

She has a creative newsletter too.

P.S. I bought this kit with my own money and no prompting from anyone. I just wanted to share a great thing I found online in case you've missed it.

Photo Challenge Favorites

2012-01-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

I've been participating in a photo challenge since December and I wanted to share a few of my favorite shots from the past few weeks.

Industrial park N. Salt Lake on a drizzly January morning.

Terrible Nutella filled crescent rolls. So bland and uninspired... but gorgeous! What a waste of all that homemade nutella!

We've been getting lots of snow. It makes our bushes so pretty.

I took oodles of pictures of our breakfasts all month and they were all boring. Oh look! A macro shot of oatmeal! I wanted something that told a story a bit more. This one is from today. I was baking muffins at 6:00 AM, coffee was brewing. I hope this photo captures the mood and industry.

This was the sunrise over our mountains. We were taking the boys to a swim meet very early in the morning and we had to pull over and attempt to capture the glory above us.

I've been making this Honey Whole Wheat Multi-grain Bread every day. Our freezer is finally full again and I love feeding my family all that 10 grain cereal and fresh ground wheat.

When I pulled out the bulk Valentine mix from Winco each of my boys, when they saw it, exclaimed, "That's my favorite!" We look forward to this the way most people look forward to Girl Scout Cookies or Starbucks Peppermint Mochas. It's so good.

This is about a two minute walk from our front porch. While I can't for the life of me capture how incredible it is to live in the mountains, I think this picture will give you an idea of what it's like.

It all starts with proofing the yeast...

Yeah... went a little nuts on the photo editing but it's pretty cool, right? Our house is the one at about ten o'clock.

There was a huge snow storm this weekend. We were very fortunate to follow a plow up the mountain. It made driving so much safer and less scary.

~~~

Thank you for the good wishes regarding my TOSH appointment. It was interesting. (Skip to the next paragraph if you're squeamish.) I had standing x-rays done and the two doctors we consulted both saw a serious structural, anatomical problem with my foot. My options are to have PT to repair the torn muscles and ligaments but to keep getting injured frequently and to not run or I can have my left foot restructured by cutting a wedge of bone out of my arch to lower it and then cutting my heel apart and putting it back in a slightly different position. After the recovery, I should be better than new and able to run again.

Scary!

So I'm going to do Bikram Yoga (my new obsession) and PT and see what sort of progress I can make on my own and take a good long time making my decision. This does explain why I've been 'falling off my feet' for as long as I can remember and why I wear out the sides of my shoes, not the bottoms.

Project Life Pages 1/9 -1/15

2012-01-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun week to record. I realized that I branched out a bit with journalling cards and stitching and I added a bunch of hand cut hearts from some painty tags I've been playing around with.

I also figured out that you don't need to put a 4x6 picture in a 4x6 space. You can put two 4x3 items in the pocket just the same. For some reason, this made the project a lot more fun.

Gotta run, I have an appointment at The Orthopedic Specialist Hospital (TOSH) today. How exciting! Maybe they can fix my eternally broken foot.

Mixed-Media Clutch

2012-01-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is the next project I made for my mixed-media sewing class. I kind of love it.

Instead of stressing about design, I copied Julie's 'alphabetica' pattern because I didn't want to get caught up in the creative side of things and lose my focus on the sewing.

Being so casual with the paint and markers was actually relaxing. So glad I didn't make it harder then it needed to be.

For the lining, I used some gorgeous glittered (!!!) Day of the Dead fabric my mom-inlaw sent me. Love!!!

Pretty neat, no?

And it fits a Kindle plus wallet and keys perfectly. What more could a girl ask for?

Have a great weekend :-)

Strip Pieced Pillow

2012-01-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is my second project I've been working on for my mixed-media sewing class. I got carried away making stamped fabric and then I didn't want to cut it up so I ended up with a wide center panel - which I love!

One of the hardest parts of making this pillow is that I like to recycle my pillows into pillow forms so they end up a little bit short of standard-sized and can be lumpy. But they're free and environmentally friendly. Plus my pillows take a serious beating - brand new or old.

To recycle a pillow into a pillow form, find a gross old pillow (we have a lot of flat, stained, drooled on pillows that I keep in a bin in the basement. Shake the stuffing down into the pillow until it's more-or-less square. Then sew along the edge of where your pillow is now stuffed and unstuffed. I use a zig-zag stitch because it's going to be squished and pummeled a lot.

Then I look at my pillow and using a ruler check to see how straight I sewed - usually not very straight at all. Since the stuffing is corralled in one side it's a lot easier to make a second row of straighter stitches to really secure it. Then cut off the excess pillow fabric and you should have a pillow form. Mine was really lumpy but it will settle with use.

For a simpler, flatter pillow you can simply shake your pillow as flat as possible and draw a line down the center (short side). Sew about 1/4 - 1/2 inch on either side of your line and you should have two rectangular pillow forms. I did that for this one last year:

Here's a few more shots of my new pillow:

The back is an envelope fold - which is pretty cool. I've never tried one before.

And here it is in non-staged reality; getting some hard use from our Bubby.

Again, I can't say enough great things about Julie Balzer's workshops. If you have crafty education in your budget this year she's incredible.

Easy Turkey Dinner Meatloaf

2012-01-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Turkey Dinner Meatloaf is basically turkey and stuffing combined (YUM!!!) and it's one of my go-to meals - it's delicious, freezes well, takes advantage of modern conveniences and my family loves it. It's also a great recipe to try if you're interested in freezer meals but don't want to spend a whole day in the kitchen.

My recipe makes two meatloaves so you can enjoy one for dinner and then have a second dinner waiting in the freezer.

Ingredients:

About 3 pounds of ground turkey. The packages I buy are around 1.3lbs and I use two of them. This is a ballpark figure, don't stress about it.

1 box of chicken flavored stuffing mix. Stove-top or generic are fine. You don't need to bust out home made bakery-fresh bread cubes.

1 roll of sage sausage

3-4 ribs of celery

1 medium onion, chopped fairly small

(optional) a dash of poultry seasoning or sage

That's it.

In a frying pan, brown your sage sausage. When sausage is about half-cooked, add your chopped celery and onion. I like to add the celery leaves too, minced. Add a sprinkle of spices if you're using them. It's very optional and tastes great without them.

Continue cooking until onions and celery are tender and sausage is fully cooked and lightly browned. Remove from heat.

Put the turkey in a big bowl.

Add the slightly cooled sausage and vegetables.

Combine well.

Prepare two 9x13 pans. Spray one with cooking spray and line the other with foil. Then spray the foil with cooking spray.

Form your loaves, one in each pan.

Fold the foil up from the pan around the loaf. Try not to change the shape of the loaf because right now, as formed, it fits perfectly in your pan. You'll thank me later.

Add a second layer of foil and write the name of the food and the date. This doesn't seem important now but I've gone to unwrap a frozen meatloaf and found a calzone instead... which isn't near as good with mashed potatoes.

When you're ready to cook the frozen one just thaw and place it in your prepared 9x13 pan.

Brush top with a little olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Use a thermometer to test for doneness. I usually cover mine for the first 30 minutes or so.

Serving suggestions:

Cut up potatoes in cubes, toss with olive oil, salt and spices and cook them alongside the meatloaf. This is great! So delicious. Serve with gravy.

Slice meatloaf onto soft bread for an open-face sandwich. Top with gravy and serve with fries and coleslaw.

Have a proper Sunday Dinner and serve with biscuits, mashed potatoes corn or green beans and cranberry sauce.

Chop leftovers into cubes and make hash.

Cook meatloaf in muffin tins for portion control and 'fun factor'; remember to cut the cooking time down to 25-30 minutes. Saves time and calories.

I hope you try this recipe. It's delicious and a favorite of ours.

Linked up with:

Whipperberry

Wire Love Stitched Wall Art

2012-01-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a project I made back in December. I was goofing around with wire trying to get the hang of bending it fluidly.

This was a lot of fun in a very strange way.

The wire I'm using can be found in the rebar section of Home Depot, I think it's called tie wire - but don't hold me on this. A large roll is about four dollars. Be careful though, it's lubricated so you need to wipe it off as you uncoil it. It looks like this:

I followed Jen Swift's tutorial to bend the word 'Love' and then went off and did my own thing with it.

It's a little bit on the cutesy side of things for my taste but I kind of love it. Wire+fabric has really captured my heart.

Project Life Pages for SPARK

2012-01-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

SPARK was such a special time for me that I decided to make two pages of my album about on it. That's one of the things I like best about this project, you can really do it however you like.

I shamelessly downloaded photos people posted on Twitter and Instagram because I was having too much fun getting painty and hanging out with my dear, dear friend Mary to whip out my camera. Plus those gals with the big fancy DSLRs can do justice to the decor far better then me and my little point and shoot. That said, the right side (grid) is all me.

We had the greatest name tags at SPARK, now it's a wonderful page embellishment.

Thanks so much for popping by :-)

Canvas and Aged Metal Bird's Nest Cuff

2012-01-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Pin It

I'm so excited to share this project with you! The other day I was cleaning up my spot at the table and I saw some painted canvas, a handful of beads, two colors of tulle, wire and a ziploc of rusted nails we'd rescued from a road side piece of furniture. The contrast between the soft, frayed canvas and the scratchy old nails was so inspiring that I had to make something that instant. When inspiration comes that easily I think you owe it to yourself to accommodate it.

Cuff bracelets are such a fun addition to your wardrobe - I like wearing mine over top my cardigan sleeves - adds a little color. Now that I've made one, I think you'll be seeing a lot of these on my blog in the future.

Since the muse was strong I didn't pause to take photos of the steps - I just had fun.

The basic idea is to tear canvas into strips. To do this, snip in a little bit at the edge and then tear your canvas. It's easy and very satisfying. Canvas strips are really useful for everything from wreaths to garlands to tags so I usually tear a whole bunch at once. Then paint the strips, rather haphazardly, with watered down acrylic. You could use watercolor spray, ink or whatever colorant you want, but since I never know what I'll be using it for I prefer watered down acrylic because I know it won't react with water later. For example, I don't want this cuff to turn my wrist green if I sweat. Ew.

Cut the canvas a little longer then you'll need for your cuff. It's better to trim it down then not have enough. Cut a piece of batting the same size and cut a second piece of canvas for the inside of your bracelet. Set this piece of canvas aside.

Next, decorate the front. On the canvas itself I added pan pastel, paint splatters and stitching (hand and machine). This is the step where you sew your canvas and batting together. It gives the cuff a little heft and is wonderfully soft peeking out of the edges. The machine quilting and embroidery hold it all together. For embellishments I sewed on a twisted tulle flower, beads and wire bird's nest attached it to rusty nail 'branches'. Just keep adding stuff until you're satisfied with how it looks.

For the closure, make a loop with tulle and sew on a button. Easy as can be.

The second piece of canvas covers all the stitching and the ends of the loop. You can hand sew the embellished front piece to the backing or fit it in your machine - if you dare - I dared and broke a needle as I wasn't quite as savvy at not hitting anything hard as I thought I was. Next time I'll probably blanket stitch the edges together.

I've worn this one several times before taking the photos and it's holding up great. The only change I'd make is that next time I'll use a hair elastic for the loop closure as the tulle is stretching out a little with use.

I also don't recommend protruding rusty nails on the wrists of mom's with small children.

Tulle and beads from: Gauche Alchemy

Linked up with:
Whipperberry
Your Whims Wednesday

Rook No. 17

Over-Printing Fabric

2012-01-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

This time of year a lot of us take a renewed interest in using what we have, but sometimes what we have isn't exactly our taste. When it comes to fabric, over-printing is a great way of taking something manufactured and making it uniquely your own.

Here's the fabric I didn't like:

And here it is now after a little bit of altering:

(please click to see this up close)

I started out with stamps and Staz-On and then did a little stenciling with spray ink. I don't intend to wash this fabric panel so I used water reactive ink, if you plan to wash it (like an apron, for example) use fabric paint. Next I added some outlining with my Permaball pen and then I stenciled on the flames and added dots with acrylic paint through two different sized of Gauche Alchemy punchinella. Next I adhered a few snippets of meaningful text with Mod Podge and once it's dry, added an outline with black ink (pen). This really helps anchor and integrate the text into the piece.

Whenever I Mod Podge paper onto fabric I brush it on the fabric and the paper and make sure it's stuck down and evenly coated. Once it's dry, I added a little more with my finger just to make sure all the edges are well sealed.

From left to right:

And a close up:

I can't wait to make this panel into something!

Project Life Pages (Oct24-Oct30)

2012-01-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

(click)

Here is my Project Life pages from October 24-30th.

The boys and I had a great time making finger pens, eating McRib and my washi tape order from Etsy arrived. I was thrilled - great stuff!

I had the absolute WORST pictures ever of the kids carving pumpkins so I went to Picnik (it's free) made a three picture collage and then under the "effects" menu chose "Duo-tone" and used orange and blackish gray. Then I added a frame ("frames" menu) and some text ("Text", "Steak Font")

Now it's a fun page accent.

Hot Dog Flowers

2012-01-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

When I saw this recipe for Hot Dog Flowers (rolls) on Jo Cooks I had to try it. Our weekends get pretty busy and having some grab and go no plates or cutlery needed recipes on hand is a must.

One way I make our weekends less crazy is to cook up a bunch of hearty snacks, muffins and a big pot of soup on Friday. Then as people come in hungry from work outs, swim team, shopping etc. they can be eating in moments.

These were delicious and absolutely teenage-boy approved. While I'm not all that excited about them nutritionally, when paired with a bowl of homemade tomato or black bean soup it's pretty great.

Hot Dog Flowers

Recipe from Jo Cooks

Dough

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 stick butter, melted

1 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp yeast

1 egg

2/3 cup water

Hot dogs

6 large hot dogs (we doubled and made sixteen (instead of twelve), I don't like things too doughy)

2 green onions (I used just used parsley as we didn't have any green onions on hand)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (We used a nice aged white cheddar. YUMMY!)

1 egg, for egg wash

Instructions

In a small bowl mix the water, yeast and sugar together and let it sit for about 10 minutes until it starts bubbling.

In another larger bowl, mix the flour with the salt.

In a small bowl melt the butter and add the egg and whisk it well.

Add the wet ingredients to the flour, including the yeast mixture and mix. You can use your mixer here, but I just kneaded the dough by hand. Add more flour as needed, I used 2 cups of flour, but if you need more, just add some more. Place the dough in an oiled bowl.

Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rest until it doubles in size.

Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.

Cut the dough into 6 (we made 8) equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Roll out each piece into a small rectangle and place a hot dog in the middle of the dough, then just wrap the dough around the hot dog, covering it well.

Cut each covered hot dog, into 1/2 inch pieces, cut the hot dog all the way through, but stop as you reach the dough. Take each piece and roll it out and shape it into a flower as in the picture below.

Place rolls on a baking lined with parchment paper or a silpat.

Brush each roll with egg wash and top with cheddar cheese, parsley and green onions.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Don't they look good!

We liked them dipped in ketchup or ranch dressing. And they are GREAT with soup.

To reheat, just pop in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.

Project Life Pages

2012-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the feedback on Project Life.

Please excuse the horrible pictures, it's really hard to photograph through page protectors and with my mangled body I'm not terribly bendy right now.

December 26 - January 1st

click to see this full-sized

We didn't do anything but lay on the couch moaning and watching TV so I thought I'd include pics of the shows we watched. Brayden made a bunch of origami throwing stars so I slipped one in the pocket.

On the other side, is a very simple scrapbook page to show the pictures I took for a photo challenge I'm participating in. All the pictures had fun text and frames so I wanted to keep it very clean and focused on the photos.

To make a collage like this I use a tool called Comic Life. I just drop the photos onto an 8.5x11 space and move them around until they fit well. Then I print them and cut the pictures apart and rearrange them in a pleasing way.

And here's another one:

11/28 - 12/4

You can see another way I use Comic Life at the top left of this page. Here's a close up:

I wanted to include Trenton's NaNoWriMo finisher certificate and his volunteer log for November so I inserted a letter sized page protector between the two pages.

Here's a closer look at the advent collage:

Mixed Media Hearts

2012-01-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I got incredibly sick and am only recovering now. We were all so ill that the ingredients for Christmas dinner rotted in the fridge - that's sick! My DH took eleven days off for us to finally have a vacation and we spent the whole thing in bed or on the couch. To top it off, I took a truly impressive crash yesterday (where is one of those helmet cams when I need one - it would have got a bazillion hits on YouTube. LOL) and re-injured my broken/sprained/torn ligament left foot (it's HUGE), bruised my palm (it's brown/black), injured my shoulder and skinned the heck out of my knee.

And I spilled my Izze... grapefruit... I was REALLY looking forward to it so hopefully my sweetheart will hook me up with one tonight. *grin*

Anyhow... unlike last injury I'm trying to stay active and creative even though I hurt like Hades. So I started back at working my way through Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's wonderful It's Sew Easy Mixed Media Sewing Class. Please don't judge her class based on the quality of my projects... I'm really not-so-hot at sewing and need to take several cracks at the simplest things. Fortunately, I make up for it with fearlessness and color.

Wouldn't these be great for One Little Word? Any of you doing OLW this year? Leave me a comment telling me what word you picked. I love hearing everyone's choices.

Speaking of bandwagons *grin* I've been doing Project Life for a few months but haven't posted any of it because I read daily backlash about how everyone is sick as hell of seeing everyone else's pages. Am I right to keep these off the blog or would you like to see them?

IMHO, I'm tired of everyone using the exact same configuration (Becky Higgins "Design A") so I use the We R Memory Keepers mixed divider packs. It keeps it interesting and challenging. They look like this:

Then I just add ~~random crap~~ supplies from my stash like painted paper and wash tape. It's fun and not too daunting. So please, weigh in on if I should post these or keep them to myself. My feelings won't be hurt.

Wow! I've missed you and I've missed this. More to follow and love to everyone.

Signs of Christmas Picture Post

2011-12-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

Cake #42: Eggnog Cake Donuts and a Mug Rug

2011-12-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid in British Columbia my favorite treat was a drink called PDQ which was powdered eggnog crystals. You stirred it into a glass of milk, like you would Nesquick chocolate milk, and you were good to go. It was from the makers of Ovaltine and like so many of their more interesting flavors, it has been discontinued... for a decade or two... but every Christmas I look for it in hope of a renaissance. That stuff rocked!

I love eggnog. Well, I love 3/4 cup of skim milk with 1/4 of eggnog - otherwise it's WAY too rich. But the flavor makes me swoon. Where oh where is my PDQ?

Anyhow... when I saw Eggnog Cake Donuts on Shugary Sweets (great blog, Aimee does an amazing job at everything she sets her hands to) I had to try them. I know the perfect eggnog flavored foods are out there, somewhere, but so many are nothing more then vanilla with a pinch of nutmeg. Which is *NOT* eggnog.

But these my dear blog friends are EGGNOGTASTIC!!!

Now I feel like Veronica in Better Off Ted and her, "Wonderflous" compliments :-)

Yes, I'm making up words. But WOW.

I added a bit more applesauce (we're high altitude) and adjusted the glaze to be thicker but otherwise I kept to her recipe exactly and the results were incredible.

Eggnog Donut Recipe:

Doughnuts:

2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar (I might cut this back next time)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup eggnog
1/4 cup applesauce (as I said above, I added a bit more as my dough was very stiff)

Glaze:

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (I used closer to 2 1/2 cups)
3 Tbsp eggnog
1 tsp rum flavoring (mine was ultra-concentrated so I used 2 drops)
pinch of nutmeg (we stirred ours in instead of sprinkling it on, so I used about 1/2 tsp)

In large mixing bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Beat in egg, applesauce and eggnog.

Grease and flour donut pan. Pour batter in large ziploc. Snip the corner (big snip) and squeeze batter into the donut pan evenly. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 10-12 minutes ( for us it was 17 minutes, but again, we're high altitude) until donut springs back when lightly pressed.

Remove from pan immediately and allow to cool.

To make glaze, stir glaze ingredients together until smooth. Adjust sugar and eggnog to desired thickness. I like it thick. Dip tops of each donut into glaze. ~~Immediately sprinkle with a TINY pinch of nutmeg.~~

I also made a new mug rug that I'm extremely happy with. You can see it doing back up for the donut throughout this post.

Writing a tutorial for how I make mug rugs is darn near impossible because my method, and I use the term extremely loosely, is that when I get to the dregs of a charm pack I gather up all the little bits and pieces and sew them together until I have a nice 5x7(ish) rectangle. Then I make a top-batting-back sandwich, sew all over the place to hold it together and zig zag the edges.

Snip snip around the border with my pinking sheers and into the wash it goes to get all frayed and lovely. That's it. If a scrap is too small to attach, I appliqué it on top as a decoration. When I run out of coordinating scraps, I quit.

See... not exactly a tutorial. But it works great for me.

Linked Up With:

Whipperberry
Tatertots and Jello

Cake 41: Fruitcake, not what you think.

2011-12-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

At the start of this project I made a pact with myself that come December (or earlier if I was really on the ball) I'd bake fruit cake. Canadian "white" fruitcake, also known as "Wedding Cake" where I'm from and "Groom's Cake" in other circles. William and Kate had at their wedding. Good enough for the future queen of England, good enough for me.

What's nice about this cake is that it's not gross... like most fruitcake. American fruitcake in particular is wretched. This is a neat blend of sweet, rich flavors and crunchy texture with a nice contrasting kick from the liquors.

When researching fruitcake I found out a lot of interesting things. For example, some folks butter each side of a slice and pop it in a pan or on the griddle and serve it warm at Christmas breakfast. Another popular modern application for fruitcake is making it into cake balls. I bet they would be AWESOME if you used the hard sauce to glue the crumbs together. And more classically, you can send home your holiday gifts with a nicely wrapped slice of fruitcake - keeping tradition alive.

I got this recipe from CHOW and I have to say, it's the most ingredient intense, expensive recipe ever. But is is dead-easy to throw together. It's certainly a special occasion cake, for the cost alone, but it's perfect for christmas and weddings.

White Groom's Fruit Cake

INGREDIENTS

For the fruit:

3 cups raw pecans, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups dried cherries, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 cups currants I used Dates

1 1/2 cups dried pineapple, finely chopped

3/4 cup bourbon I had to look up what this was and ended up mixing Southern Comfort and Jack Daniels

1/4 cup Cointreau or other high-quality orange-flavored liqueur I used Grand Mariner, it's what we had

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

6 large eggs, at room temperature

Bourbon, for aging (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

For the fruit:

Combine all ingredients in a large container and stir to mix. Cover tightly and let macerate at room temperature for 24 hours.

The fruit and nuts don't chop themselves, I used a food processor.

If you now a trick for pulsing dried fruit and having it not become mush, please let me know.

I wish you could smell this - it's CRAZY intense in a you-know-this-is-going-to-be-good way.

For the cake:

Heat the oven to 300°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with butter; set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.

pictures taken during snowstorm, sorry

Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix at medium-high speed until pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and continue mixing until fluffy, about another 3 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, letting each mix in fully before adding the next. Stop the mixer a few times to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl.

Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

Fold in the macerated fruit until just incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake until the cakes are golden, set throughout, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours.

Let cool 30 minutes in the pans on a wire rack. Run a knife around the outside of each cake, turn them onto the rack, and let cool completely before slicing and eating, or aging.

To age the fruitcakes, store each at room temperature in an 11-by-7-by-3-inch plastic container with a tightfitting lid and brush with 1/4 cup bourbon every 10 days for up to 3 1/2 months. I brushed one with bourbon and wrapped it in plastic wrap. The other we're eating fresh with hard sauce.

Hard Sauce

You know, I always thought hard sauce was called that because it was 'hard' as in solid, not liquid. But I'm pretty sure it's hard due to all the liquor - like hard cider.

Ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter

1-1/2 cup icing sugar

2 TBL whiskey, or to taste

Beat butter powdered sugar until fluffy. Add whiskey and beat again, scrape the bowl to make sure everything gets mixed together. You can do this in a mixer but I'm a spoon and bowl kind of girl.

Spoon into a bowl and serve, or keep in the fridge (it will last for days covered in plastic wrap) until you need it. NOTE: The hard sauce will harden in the fridge, so be sure to remove it at least a couple of hours before you want to serve. Hard sauce should be smooth and easily spooned onto desserts.

I will report back on the fruitcake we are aging until Christmas. So far, it smells boozy and delicious.

Cardamon Cocoa with Orange Whipped Cream

2011-12-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

What kind of girl promises you a cocoa recipe and then doesn't come through.

Sorry! Life really got in the way.

Orange Spice Cocoa

Sift 1 cup of confectioners sugar, 1/4 tsp of cardamon and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder together into a bowl.

Bring six cups of milk to a simmer over medium heat.

Whisk in cocoa mixture.

Fold 1/2 tsp of orange zest into 1 cup of whipped cream.

Divide hot cocoa into six mugs. Tp with generous dollops of whipped cream.

Note: I make my whipped cream in a blender. It's super fast and comes out perfect every time. All you need is heavy whipping cream, a small spoon full of confectioners sugar and flavoring - I prefer 1 tsp of vanilla. Mix on high speed until it stops moving. My blender usually makes a "clunk" sound. Don't mix anymore or you'll get butter.

It's especially yummy with these:

Brayden and I tried the whole 'flooding' royal icing thing. I think people fuss a little too easily - it's not near as scary as I've heard. This one is mine, minus the cinnamon nose that Brayden added

It was fun showing him the snowman cookie is a reindeer if you flip it upside down trick - blew his mind. I guess he thought I've baked "both" all these years. LOL.

Things to Make with Cream: Panna Cotta

2011-12-08T10:20:00.001-08:00

There's a marvelous cocoa recipe we've been indulging in way too often lately (I'll post about it tomorrow) and so when I saw little boxes of heavy cream on sale for five for a dollar - that's TWENTY CENTS EACH, people!!! I overbought. Because, you know, you can never have too much heavy cream... (I think that's the slogan of cardiologists the world over)

It was on sale because the best before date was fast approaching and while I hear you can freeze heavy cream, cooking with it is so much better. But I needed to make something easy as the meds-pain-health woes are at an all time high and babying pots of cream in their water bath is WAY beyond my skill set right now.

Last time we were at a favorite tapas restaurant of ours we had Five Spice Panna Cotta and I thought it would be fun to recreate the dish at home. What was nice about the dessert we enjoyed was that it was subtly flavored and silky smooth. So many flavored panna cottas are over-flavored. They don't let the rich ingredients shine. When eating panna cotta the last thing I want is a mouth full of cinnamon. Ew.

So I borrowed a little from this recipe, a little from that, consulted my cookbooks, made educated guesses and worried myself sick that I'd end up with a rubbery horror. I mean let's face it, we're making cream jello. That isn't a pretty thought.

But nope, it was positively perfect. Most recipes serve this with a coulis, puree or sauce of some sort but we just ate them straight up and I think they were the better for it.

Panna cotta is a simple, fast to make, crowd pleasure. I'll be adding it to the rotation for entertaining or special celebrations.

Spice Panna cotta

4 cups heavy cream or half-and-half. I used 3 (shy) cups of heavy cream, 1/2 cup of fat free half and half and about a 1/2 cup non-fat milk to equal 4 cups - it was what we had on hand

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise mine are so dried out and old I used 3 beans

1/4 tsp of Five Spice Powder - more to taste. I use 1/4 tsp, most recipes I saw called for 1 1/2 tsps - which I think is an insanely large amount. And I like five spice powder. So taste it and see if you have enough, if not, add more.

You could also replace the five spice powder with nutmeg or cardamon. Yum!

2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)

6 tablespoons cold water

1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

(If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod. Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes. Remove the bean then rewarm the mixture before continuing.)

If you are adding spices, add them here.

2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil. *

4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. How does a person know if the gelatin is completely dissolved? Please leave me a comment as I have no idea. I just stirred, a lot.

5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, chill until firm. At least 2 hours, 4 is better. Overnight is great too.

* Or, if you want to serve your panna cotta without inverting them (and subsequently avoiding unfolding disasters) skip this step and pour the cream mixture directly into custard cups, dessert dishes, shot glasses or wine goblets.

6. Run a sharp knife around the edge of each Panna Cotta and unmold each onto a serving plate, and garnish as desired.

We didn't do advent last night *gasp* we're normal people, with busy schedules and every single one of us wanted to watch Work of Art more then we wanted to play a game. So we did. Slavish adherence to things make them not fun.

Christmas Card Set & Advent

2011-12-07T09:03:00.001-08:00

This is another card set I made using my CupCards {to go) Holiday Kit. When you know you'll be hand delivering a christmas card it's fun to make the envelope extra-special too.

And for advent last night we unwrapped our well-loved Yahtzee game and played a few rounds. I always feel like opening up our Yahtzee case is a lot like an archaeological dig. We never throw out the papers if there are unfilled columns left so you'll see notations like, 'Nana, Christmas '05' and such wonderful little reminders of people we love. It's neat to sift through them and find one of your own that has been used on and off for years. Brayden and I always decorate the borders or write notes on the backs.

Cake #40: Gingerbread Cake and St.Nicholas Day

2011-12-06T09:06:00.001-08:00

Can you believe I've been too banged up to bake a cake since Halloween - shameful! It also means that 52 Cakes is going to likely extend into the new year a bit. I'm fine with that.

This cake was made entirely by my youngest son, Brayden. He knows this project is important to me and didn't want me to get behind. What a sweetheart.

He also knows I LOVE gingerbread. It's awesome in it's harsh, dominant, unapologetic flavor. All that molasses and spice just thrills me! I remember a lot of kids would pick the candy and frosting off their gingerbread cookies and toss the cookie - not me. I adore gingerbread and think it should be a year round flavor. Sadly, most of the year I have to make do with it's milder, more accommodating cousin, spice cake.

But today we bake good old fashioned gingerbread in all it's glory!

Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

3/4 cup hot water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Butterscotch Sauce, if desired

Directions:

Heat oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour bottom and sides of square pan, 9x9x2 inches.

Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pan.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or cool.

Butterscotch Sauce (found at Kitchen Confidante, thank you!)

Makes about 3/4 cup.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed dark or light brown sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, plus more to taste

Melt the butter in a heavy gauge small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, evaporated milk and salt, whisking well. Bring the sauce to a boil, and let it bubble for about 5 minutes whisking periodically. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Taking care not to burn yourself, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and vanilla to your preference. This sauce thickens as it cools and can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I like to reheat it in the microwave before use.

FWIW: We could have used twice as much sauce... but we like our sauces.

Sorry I don't have a pic of the kid with the cake but as I said, I've been feeling rather unwell and he took this on himself. He's such a good boy.

~~~

Did you know it's St. Nicholas Day today? We've always celebrated by the boys putting their shoes by the fire on the night of the 5th and they wake up to a shoe full of treasures (usually lego back in the day). I used to put out carrots and then scatter oatmeal mixed with glitter as St. Nicholas's horse, "made a terrible mess" but last night was a very rough night for me so we just filled their shoes with treats and coupons. The kids loved it. I'm posting my printable in case you can use it next year.

Here's the boys with their shoes... I took this at close to 11:00 PM trying out the whole shutter speed thing for the first time. Turns out you can actually see them and if I had a tripod it would have been a decent pic. This is exciting as I feel like my camera just got a lot more useful.

But if you're not steady you get this:

(which is pretty neat too)

And here's what they woke up to:

Yesterday's ADVENT GAME, Blokus, is an absolute favorite of ours. We were all relieved to have it unwrapped so we can play as often as we like again.

Trenton gleefully won all four games.

Mixed Media Christmas and Picture Post

2011-12-05T08:35:00.001-08:00

This is a simple mixed-media piece I made a few weeks back and hadn't shared yet.

And for advent we played Triversity on Saturday - it's no one's favorite game, but with some family modifications we really enjoy it.

And Boggle on Sunday. I love Boggle and play the computer version frequently so we played to 20 points and I was given a 20 point handicap... I still won :-)

I don't think I've posted many picks of our dog lately. If you're new here, this is Chocolate and he answers to his nickname 'Bubby'.

He's my very best friend.

And he looks pretty fierce when need be. Which is nice too.

Have you seen a cuter face? I don't think so.

Well, maybe this one. Brayden was an adorable youngster. Hard to believe my giant boys were that little just a few years ago.

And not to be one of those people, but when you are thinking about presents this year, consider this:

Hope you don't mind this potpourri post, I just had a little bit of a lot of things to share this morning.

Reindeer Tag a la Tim Holtz and Advent

2011-12-03T09:56:00.001-08:00

Here's my variation on Tim's 2nd Tag. Since I didn't have any of the supplies mine turned out a little different but I'm really happy with it.

I was a little stumped on how to recreate his wreath; what I came up with was so simple - I painted a piece of twine with acrylic paint. Told you it was simple :-)

and here's Tim's original:

For our 2nd Advent game the boys unwrapped Zombie Fluxx. We were all laughing ourselves silly when my eldest played the rule that makes you groan loudly every time you draw a zombie "creeper" card. It was hilarious and that game is a fave of ours.

but we could only play through one round because we went to the opening night of Annie.

Waiting for close to an hour in freezing rain for our tickets made the warmth inside the theater so welcoming and festive.

Thanks for the wonderful response to my tulle and spool garland. You're all so incredibly sweet.

Spool and Tulle Garland

2011-12-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

On Kelli Nina Perkins blog I saw the most gorgeous spool "beads" garland. She used bright pretty colors, vintage spools and sewed on little tiny treasures. It was love at first sight. So much so, that I decided to make a similar one that same day. I highly recommend you read her awesome post as mine is a little less fabulous, more homespun and made by three boys and a husband. Which for me makes it the absolutely most special thing in the whole world, but if you're looking for perfect and artsy her's is the one.

First decorate your plain wood spools (20/2.99 at Hobby Lobby) by inking up a text stamp and then pushing each end of the spool into the text. Next roll the edges across your ink pad.

It really dresses up the plain spools.

Cover the spool with tacky glue. Wrap half with one type of fiber. Glue down end. Repeat with second type of fiber.

Next we added wire. Kelli sewed her beads on and it looks SO GORGEOUS but I wanted to make this as boy and husband friendly as possible so we used wire. What worked best was to make a loop on the end of a six inch piece and hook it under the fiber. I'm showing you this on a relatively flat ribbon so you can see how it hooks on.

Then we threaded completely random beads on the wire and dropped them down against the spool as we wrapped it around. To finish the ends we repeated the hook and loop step and then squeezed the wire tightly in our fists to map sure it was on good and tight.

I emptied out all my Gauche Alchemy color kits and let them have at it

This was how my cute family looked for about an hour.

When you're done you should have this:

I let ours dry overnight at this point just to make sure the glue was good and set.

Next you'll need a six foot piece of tulle and a skewer.

Tie a knot in the tulle about six inches in from the end, slide on a spool, using the skewer to push the material through and then knot off the other side. We tried not knotting both sides of the spool and they slid around a lot when wrapping around the tree.

And then hang them from your windows, wrap them around a tree - doowhatchalike!

If you're looking for my version of Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas CLICK HERE

Linked Up With:

Whipperberry
Once Upon a Weekend

Tag One: Tim's Twelve Tags of Christmas

2011-12-02T07:27:00.001-08:00

Yeah... I couldn't help myself. Tim Holtz is just so darn irresistible I had to take a crack at making his December 1st tag.

Since I didn't have any of the supplies used, I think I did a passable job.

(click on the picture)

The two techniques I added to this tag (different than Tim's) is that I dabbed the letters with Mod Podge unevenly and then sprinkled on glitter. After I tapped the glitter off, I boiled the glue with my heat tool which made gorgeous lumps and layers of "snow"

Since I didn't have any greenery punches I cut a leaf shape and feathered the edges with my scissors, added Distress Ink and scrunched up the edges.

And here's Tim's

We celebrated our first advent last night. Avery unwrapped our Yahtzee card game. It was nice stopping everything for 20 minutes and playing together. If you want to read more about this year's advent plans, click HERE.

I Made a Mug Rug

2011-11-29T10:48:00.001-08:00

Mug Rug... not the nicest phrase, it conjures up images of toupees and mug shots. But I didn't name them, I only made one.

At first, like so many others, I questioned the need for a quilted textile larger then a coaster but smaller then a placemat... don't we have something like that already? They're called pot holders! But it turns out the difference is that pot holders have a loop for hanging; mug rugs do not.

So now you know.

Here it is all frayed and fluffy after a trip through the wash.

Every since I watched a quilt show and an internationally acclaimed quilter left her batting showing (unbound) I've had a strict "good enough for her, good enough for me" policy on not binding a darn thing. I love the softness peeking out around the edges.

Thanks so much for all the enthusiasm you had towards my Advent for Older Kids idea. I'm thrilled that so many of you are trying something similar. Have fun.

P.S. Huge thanks to my friend Karen for the gorgeous fabric I used in this project.

Advent for Older Kids

2011-11-28T08:51:00.001-08:00

I wanted to do something different with the boys for Advent this year. We usually fill a pocket calendar with little scrolls of activities to do each night. But that gets very tiring and expensive. It was great when I could put in a mini candy cane and they'd be thrilled but at 15, 14 and 13.7 their idea of special fun is a little more complex - paintball anyone?

The desire to use what we have instead of always buying

more, more, MORE

has been on my heart more than ever so I came up with this idea.

For advent this year, I've wrapped up the boys 24 most favorite games - this includes several wrapped decks of cards for whist, poker, speed, etc.

Each day of December one boy will pick a game and we'll all play it. This way we're spending time together which is much better then spending money and chasing entertainment.

Speaking of, this is a great video on the topic of giving of yourself and your time instead of just spending more and more $$$

Advent Conspiracy from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

We're all a lot more excited about this year's advent then we've been in many years and as a bonus, the wrapped games are a nice festive decoration too.

A similar idea for families with younger kids is to wrap up all their favorite story books and to read one each night.

Acorn Treats: Food Craft for Kids

2011-11-23T09:02:00.001-08:00

Every year we make some sort of acorn treat this time of year. Mostly we've made these:

You take a donut hole, frost the top third, roll it in toffee bits and then stick a piece of pretzel in the top. They're delicious.

But I was a little tired of them and thought we'd make something different this year. I saw Hershey's Kiss acorns floating around the internet and we gave them a try.

You need melted chocolate chips, Nutter Butter Bites, Hershey's kisses, butterscotch chips ( or PB chips) and a couple of toothpicks.

Pick up some chocolate with the wide end of a toothpick and glue together like this:

If you find the cookie is moving around too much let them sit a minute, cookie side down, before 'gluing' on the butterscotch chip. They set up really fast.

My kids loved making these and my husband LOVED eating them.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating tomorrow :-)

Easy Step-By-Step Christmas Card

2011-11-21T13:34:00.001-08:00

This card features many gorgeous goodies that came in the CupCards {to go} Holiday Kit. I broke it down step by step so you can see how it's made. Ornaments are a great way to use up brads, buttons and jewels from your stash.

Step One: Affix two different patterns as shown.

Step Two: Tie a Bow and attach ribbon over seam.

Step Three: Add green brad and ornament sticker. Attach jewels to sticker for added sparkle and dimension.

Step Four: Stick button onto a dimensional dot. Layer "love u" tag over top of tiny tag and affix to card with button. Be sure to line all this up directly above the bow so it looks like the bow is on the ornament.

Step Five: Adhere card front to red card base.

Decorate Envelope to match if you'll be hand delivering your card.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-11-18T08:28:00.001-08:00

You know that recipe that you can whip up at a moments notice, is utterly stress-free and everyone in your family can make it. In our house it's these muffins.

My eldest who is stove-phobic will surprise us with a batch regularly, which really is saying something.

They're so common-place around here that I don't think I've ever blogged about them. Sorry!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 C all-purpose flour
1/3 C light-brown sugar
1/3 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2/3 C milk
½ C butter -- melted and cooled
2 eggs - beaten
1 tsp vanilla
¾ C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 and grease muffin pan.

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.

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

Automatic Drawing: Portrait

2011-11-16T21:06:00.001-08:00

I've been working in my sketchbook lately (love the 11x14 size) and tried out automatic drawing to create a self-portrait. I guess I should probably stop calling all these art experiments 'self-portraits' but I don't know another way to describe a piece that exposes who I really am inside. With crafts it's so easy to not share your self - you enter a challenge, do an assignment, complete a card for someone else. For me, with art, I strongly believe that the only unique thing I can bring to the table is me and how I see and filter the world around me. So the art needs to be an extension of who I am and the thoughts I have.

For this project I tried the draw and veil technique. You draw for a minute or two - just a short bit of time - and then you cover some of it up with paint, then you draw again and then you veil. It's mesmerizing watching the piece blossom and then be ruined only to blossom again. And the layers each hold a part of what was speaking to me when I made them. This is definitely a technique I plan to explore further.

Have you missed my baking? I've been baking up a storm but haven't posted because it's all been family requests for recipes I made earlier in the year. I couldn't really say, "nope. I'm only baking new recipes this year"so I've made very little progress on 52 cakes the past few weeks even thought my kitchen has been over run with pastries and goodies.

Avery asked for the Coconut Lime Cake for his birthday:

Great day. Great kid. Great Cake.

Pizza Rolls

2011-11-16T08:59:00.001-08:00

I saw a recipe for Pizza 'cinnamon buns' at Savory Notes and I knew I had to take a crack at them, immediately. But, since I have a lot of favorite ways of doing things, I copied the idea but not the recipe.

These were a major hit at our house and the twelve Cinnabon-sized rolls fed my family for a whole weekend. My bottomless-pit of a fifteen year old could only eat one. Crazy!

Basically this is what you do:

Need a bit more? Thought so.

First I made bread dough. I think bread was prefect as it's a lot fluffier then pizza dough. This recipe makes three large loaves so if you don't have a need for a massive amount of pizza rolls, mix this up and bake a loaf or two of bread alongside the pizza. Then you can have fresh french toast in the morning too. Yum!

Nicole's Best Bread in the Whole World

(nobody said I was humble)

2 pkgs of yeast (1TBL = 1 packet)

¼ C warm water

2 C warm milk

¾ C sugar

½ C softened butter

1 ½ tsp salt

2 eggs

7-8 C flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, butter, salt, cardamom, eggs, and 3 C of flour.

Beat until smooth

Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough

Knead 6-8 minutes

Place in greased bowl. Cover. Allow to rise until doubled (one hour)

Punch down. Divide into three and form loaves.

Cover and rise until doubled (about 45 minutes

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brush top with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven for a nice buttery soft top.

Note: for Finn Bread or cinnamon rolls, add 3/4 tsp of cardamon when you add the salt. This recipe makes great rolls, sandwich bread and braids beautifully.

For pizza rolls

After kneading allow bread to rise until doubled, about one hour.

Spray your counter with cooking spray (Pam) so the dough doesn't stick when rolling it out.

Punch down and roll out the amount of dough you would like to use (all of it, 1/3 or 2/3s) onto your counter in a rectangle. It doesn't have to be perfect. I do this by squishing it out with my hand but use a roller if that's your thing.

Rub butter or margarine over the dough and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Spread a thin, even layer of spaghetti sauce (or homemade marinara) on top of the garlic butter layer.

Now you can top it with whatever you like. This is what we did:

Fresh grated parmesan, pepperoni, sage sausage, crumbled bacon, red pepper flakes, pizza seasoning.

Sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella over toppings. Remember, you're rolling this up like a cinnamon bun so don't go crazy.

Everything I know about rolling cinnamon buns came from watching Amish women from Pennsylvania do it. They're masters! The trick isn't to just roll it up like a towel; you need to roll and tuck, roll and tuck. Your fingers should be doing a little dance all the way up and down the roll turning and tucking as you go. It takes a bit longer but it works great.

Now you should have a giant weird looking roll. Tuck the ends under if you're so inclined and cut it in half (short distance, not long) so it's easier to manage. Wrap each roll in Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least a half hour. This will help it all stick together and make cutting easier. When mine came out of the fridge a few hours later (I made this early afternoon and baked it for dinner) the Saran Wrap was TIGHT because it had risen so much. Don't be alarmed.

Unwrap and cut into slices. I made ours about two to three inches thick which produced HUGE pizza rolls. Cut them smaller if you want to make them more reasonably-sized. Use a sharp knife. Forget about the dental floss cutting trick because you're going through pepperoni. It just won't work.

Now you should have these.

Put them in a greased (cooking spray) 9x13 pan(s), cover and allow to rise for about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes. Sprinkle the top with some cheese for the last five minutes, broil if needed to melt the cheese.

I served them with bowls of marinara for dipping but two of my guys ate them 'dry', one loved the sauce and one dipped his in Ranch - all seemed like good options.

These are delicious and microwave like a dream. I hope you try them.

Making Art: Self Portrait

2011-11-13T10:29:00.001-08:00

(click to see this full-sized)

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Full of Smiles: Tube Fun

2011-11-10T07:20:00.001-08:00

When I saw the SRM mini tubes in the CupCards {to go} holiday kit, I let out a little squeal. They brought out the mad scientist in me, causing B. and I to debate which would be better, filling it with blood or poison... then we remembered that we're crafting Christmas so I headed a different direction.

Are visions of sugar plums dancing in your head now?

They are in mine!

And see how cute the sticker on top is. Love!

Making the tube holder was way easier then it looks. I followed this tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers and got it right the first time.

Don't feel like clicking through... here you go:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hard Day - Art Journal Sketch

2011-11-09T09:49:00.000-08:00

I'm having a pretty significant flare-up right now and I thought I'd try to combine my current personal challenge of drawing faces with expressing how I'm feeling. This is not a self-portrait but a mood portrait, if that makes any sense.

I hope that unkempt, sad, a little scared and not on her A game came through in her expression and pose.

B. suggested I tinker with her as my mood and pain level changed to have a "living, ongoing expression of my physical state" (LOVE THAT KID! Who says stuff like that?) So I did and here are the results:

This was my first attempt using Pan Pastels and charcoal - neat stuff, very messy though.

I snapped these before journalling on the left hand side because it's personal and before I'm done probably won't be fit for sharing.

Sorry that this week has been all drawings, I have a lot to share (cards, DT assignments, bedroom remodel) but the pictures are in our main computer and walking across the room to it is too big a task right now. Please don't think I'm not going to be blogging all the stuff I normally do. I'm just banged up a bit and if it's not at arm's reach it's out of the question.

Would you all like a peek into B's sketch book? He's been surrounded by anatomy texts and working on skulls and torsos.

alien

chimpanzee

this one is trying to do an abstract face like I did for yesterday's post - it's also his first time using charcoal and he's totally hooked on the medium.

his own character

caucasian human

Stop Being Perfect - Art Journal Page

2011-11-08T08:05:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much for all your supportive comments yesterday. It was very scary for me to put out my own art for the world to see. This project is really energizing my creativity and helping me use my supplies in new ways.

click on the picture to see it up close

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One thing I'm absolutely crazy about right now is the 11x14 sketchbooks from Utrecht. B and I both bought one over the weekend and I can't say enough good things about the quality of the paper and it's such a charming size to work in - I'm better with big than itty-bitty. Plus at $12.99 you really can't go wrong.

Some of you might recognize these wise words from Tyler Durden. I wonder if I'm not going to end up with a whole series of Fight Club related art journal pages. LOL. Remember this one?

There's a lot of fun texture and techniques on this page, not surprisingly, I used coarse modeling paste. I just can't get enough of the stuff. This time though, I didn't color it.

And here's my girl. I'm working towards a more abstract look and feel this is moving in the right direction.

Tip: When I'm finished an art journal page and I've added a lot to it like this one, I Mod Podge it to the next page. It really improves the stability of the book.

Doing My Own Thing: Faces

2011-11-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

Until this weekend, to the best of my knowledge, I've never tried to draw a face other then happy faces like this :-) or smiles on stick people. I'm pretty solidly in the 'can't draw' camp and decided that it wasn't a boundary I planned to push.

But then I started feeling really antsy that so much of my mixed media work is incredibly derivative of other artists and crafters. I don't want to be that girl who makes great She Art "Christy Tomlinson style"... I want to be the girl who makes great art, Nicole Maki style.

I adore Christy, Cathy, Alisa, Pam, Dina... and I learn best by mimicking others; but after a time of learning you (or in this case, I) need to take those new skills and apply them to your own work. Otherwise, what's the point?

Volumes have been written on the difference between art and craft and I think, for me, with crafts we're thrilled if our project comes out looking *exactly* like Donna Downey's, Teesha Moore's or Julie Balzer's (oh my gosh, I wish!!!). But with art, I don't think it's a success until your sources of inspiration are so buried that all the viewer can see in it is you.

And so, it's time to step outside my comfort-zone, push the envelope a bit ~~and apparently throw around a lot of cliches~~ and start making my own art, not someone else's.

I hope that won't drive you all away in droves, but if it does, I'll have to accept that too.

Here are some pages from my sketchbook this weekend. I'm trying to find a starting place en route to my own style, and figuring out the proportions of a face seemed like a good place to begin.

I know, it's pretty damn primitive and my kid can draw better... but I'm trying.

I really wanted to lean on my favorite materials like punchinella and book paper but I thought I should keep it simple and add in the fun stuff that I love as I get my bearings.

And here are some "characters" I was working on. Very rough and crazy looking but I see the faintest hint of a style merging

And I've been at this long enough to know that whatever art I end up calling my own, it'll be brightly colored, a little edgy, with a lot of text, some Mexican folk art and pin-ups.

CupCards {to go} Holiday Kit

2011-11-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Cupcards {to go} Holiday Kit, Sugar Plum, is for sale and you're going to love the awesome range of papers and goodies in it. I had such a blast playing with it all.

One of the things I liked most was the red card bases and envelopes. They feel so festive.

If you want to get a jump on your holiday card making this kit is just what you need :-)

You can check out the design team gallery HERE.

Handmade Mixed-Media Apron

2011-11-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

I needed an apron for SPARK and I wanted to make one that expressed my creative side as well as it kept my clothes clean. The internet is awash with apron tutorials so I went with the simplest concept - cut a rectangle, fold in half, cut out curve at top for arm holes, add ties and hem. Easy peasy. If you want me to step out how I did it, just ask. I can always use another apron.

(don't mind the weird bend at my right hip under my hand, it was squished in the closet and the canvas really holds strange shapes)

This was so fun and the apron came together quickly. My favorite part is that I always fold my aprons up under my bust and tie them in an A-line style. So I did that with this one, pinned the heck out of it and then sewed it with darts (ish) so I don't have to fold it all the time. Love!

Then I brushed the front with gesso and as I added more gesso I spritzed in color mists starting with teal at the top and transitioning to yellow at the bottom.

Once dry, I stamped flowers along the bottom and script all over the top and then sewed on all sorts of spare bits of ribbon and flowers from my stash.

Then I added two layers of ruffles, the white (bottom) layer was colored rainbow with mists and the yellow ruffle was embellished a bit with script stamping.

And here it is in action:

She Decided to Leap

2011-10-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

As you can well imagine, one of my favorite classes at SPARK was the She Art class by Christy Tomlinson. Since I've taken a lot of classes from her already, I didn't exactly follow along. I just made my own girl with the supplies provided.

My eldest is a very literal person and he commented that the sentiment was a poor choice because girls don't usually do a lot of leaping in a fancy dress and boots. As the discussion went on we decided that literal "she" statements just wouldn't work. For example,

" She was missing her face"

ROFLMBO

It was great having a nice deep canvas to work on. I'm too cheap so I usually collage on MDF, but then you don't get the gorgeous sides.

Butterfies and Friendship Card

2011-10-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

This is a card I made with the Fall CupCards {to go} kit.

The butterflies were especially fun, you just make a roll out of a strip of fabric, placing the ends at the very back, and then tie it tightly in the center with ribbon. Then fluff out each wing and secure with glue dots. The ribbon provides both the body and the antennae when you cut the ends on a thin diagonal.

Reverse Applique Amy Tan Style

2011-10-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

Here's another project from my creative get away weekend.

I decided to attend SPARK the event when I heard Amy Tan was teaching. She's the coolest. I first heard of her way back when in Glamour (?) magazine when Cindy Crawford was seen leaving a gym wearing one of her hand embroidered tank tops.

Ever since, I've always noticed her work and have been a huge fan of hers. So imagine my excitement when she came out with a line for American Crafts, Amy Tangerine.

Now I can be cool too *grin*

This is what I made in her class. I decided my girls didn't need a big image across them so I added my star to the hip. I really like the placement.

Ever try to take a picture of your own hip? It's odd to say the least. My boys were all otherwise engaged so I winged it. You can get the gist, right?

Reverse applique is a really relaxing craft. I will definitely be doing it more in the future.

Anyhow... I love Amy Tan! I totally dorked out with excitement when I stood near her on the first day and I did more then a little gushing when we actually spoke. It certainly was a highlight.

Love Stump: My 1st Hand Carved Stamp

2011-10-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was at Spark the event and our first class was with April Meeker and we learned how to carve stamps. I was really nervous about this class as I was imagining an unintended trip to the emergency room for stitches as I'm a huge klutz. Turns out I was worried for nothing and it was my very favorite class simply because this is a technique I can see using at least weekly in my crafting.

Here's the stamp I carved:

I couldn't wait to get it inky this morning and see how it looks on different materials. So I made

Note Cards:

Ornaments (Denim!)

Be Thankful For Every Moment

2011-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Mary and I are off to Spark the Event for the next few days making art and spending time together. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this time with her, nurturing our creativity and I am thankful to my awesome husband and kids for letting me slip away like this.

I made this for Mary

She just sparkles with beauty and life so I added lots and lots of jewels

And here's how I wrapped it. I think pattern paper is my favorite wrapping right now. All I added was some lace, a doily and a flower and it came together really nicely.

I won't be on my computer for the next few days so I hope you all have a wonderful weekend -

make something :)

Cake #39: Halloween Cakes, Candy and More

2011-10-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

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I thought I'd share with you some old and some new ideas for Halloween Goodies.
Every year the boys and I make Haunted Hershey Bar Houses. Two years ago I made a video tutorial that takes you through the incredibly easy process:

And last year our favorite scary dessert was Skull Cake with (jello) Blood Worms

This year my energy level is very low - and it's still a week before Halloween - so I opted for one of my favorite kid-friendly baking tricks...

Brownie Topped Cupcakes.

Now we all know how cute this can look with hearts and stencils:

But brownies also carve really well, for coffins and such, and make terrific dirt.

I let my youngest at it, giving him some 24 cupcakes, a pan of brownies, candy, frosting, candy melts and a "bones" molding tray and he had a blast. I think these are pretty self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, please ask.

Tip: To make skull shaped cupcakes roll up two balls of tin foil or use marbles

Who needs the cupcakes, this one is all brownie!

This one is rather literal, there is a skeleton inside the brownie coffin

Barbie Hand!

Um... yeah... I had to make quite a few of these too. It was so fun just goofing around and making memories.

Linked up with:
Idea Room
Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday
Sew Woodsy
Blue Cricket Design

Scrabble Tile Wall Art

2011-10-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has seen this project done dozens of times but I still think it's cute so I made one for my sewing space. Huge thanks to my talented friend Rachael who's gorgeous framed scrabble art inspired this piece.

This project was made on a canvas board and I intended to frame it, but our old clipboard, well worn and covered in crayon and pencil scribbles has been with us for so long that it seemed like the perfect setting.

The various punchinella I used with modeling paste to create the raised patterns and the music sheets are from Gauche Alchemy

Homemade Two-Step Stamps from Stencil or Free-Hand

2011-10-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

I 'm thrilled to be able to share with you a second tutorial for Two-Step Stamps that I made for Balzer Designs. This one shows you how you can use stencils for your image as well as free-hand drawings. Click here for the first two-step stamp post, the original tutorial has different images and ideas.

The idea to make simple foam stamps with matching acrylic style doodle outlines came to me while I was drooling over Claudine Hellmuth’s Creative Layers stamps ( gorgeous!) and shortly afterwards I saw a great tutorial on the Craftzine blog for ‘no carve acrylic style stamps’ made with plexiglass and silicone.

I combined the two ideas and came up with my own DIY Two-Step Stamps.

What you’ll need is plexiglass, silicone caulking, basic craft tools and a stencil (optional)

Take your plexiglass, decide on the size of base you want to cut and then score it several times with an craft blade. Next, hold the scored-line against the edge of your table and WHACK IT really hard. For my second batch I bought thinner plexiglass then suggested and it snapped with ease while still being rigid enough to stamp with.

You'll need two plexiglass bases for each layered stamp set; one for the foam stamp, one for the silicone.

To Make a Stamp Set Using a Stencil:

Choose a stencil with an image that fits your base. I got this set at the Dollar Store as it has great stamp-style images

Trace the stencil onto your sticky back foam and cut out. Trim as close to the image as you like, I prefer to leave a little space around the edges. “5: Trace and Cut Out:”

Attach foam to base. If using sticky-backed foam, peel the paper backing off and stick it on the plexiglass. If you’re using the thicker foam, glue it to the plexiglass with Aleene’s Tacky Glue and let it dry overnight.

For the silicone step, trace your stenciled image onto scrap paper and place the matching-size base over top. Trace the pattern in silicone. Let dry over night. The type of silicone I use says, “shower ready in three hours” but I let it dry longer.

Tip: If you’ve tested your foam stamp on paper, don't lay your plexiglass over your stamped image for the silicone step as it'll come out backwards because your outlining the mirror image. I did... not good.

Now have fun stamping. Brush paint on the foam stamps and then once it's dry use paint or ink on the outline stamp. I love using Staz-On ink with the silicone stamps.

To Make a Stamp Set Using Your Own Hand Drawn Image:

The method for hand-drawn layered stamps is basically the same but instead of copying the stencil you draw your own image and transfer it to the paper side of your sticky-backed foam.

And here is how it all comes together in my ‘Out of the Journal’ finished piece:

And here is another project I made with the banner stamp:

(click HERE for more pics of this project)

Tips and Trouble Shooting:

* Ink goes on to the silicone better if you rub fine sand paper over it very gently.

* Wash these carefully - they aren’t as durable as manufactured stamps.

* I’ve had a few silicone pieces come loose when rinsing. It seems to occur where my line of silicone was too narrow. But, when I’ve let them air dry they reattached.

* Repairs or additions to your image can be made at any time, just add more silicone.

* To make three-step stamps create your foam background layer and silicone outline. Then make a third layer of designs to fill the outline. For example, with the banner I could make a layer to add stripes or polka dots to each pennant.

* Choose versatile shapes and make multiple silicone toppers. A rectangle could have a matching high rise layer but also serve as a text block (remember to mirror your writing so it’ll be oriented correctly when stamped), bricks, a border design, presents etc.

Hope you try making these, they're a lot of fun and the possibilities really are endless.

Warmly, Nicole

Linked Up With:

Making the World Cuter

C.R.A.F.T. Making Monday Marvelous
Today's Creative Blog: Get Your Craft on Tuesday

Handmade Canvas Art Journal: Dina Wakley Style

2011-10-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

This is the second project in my self-styled "Dina Camp" (that I talked about extensively on my first project here) where I am working through all four of her projects from Somerset Workshop. I was very intrigued by this one as I've never attempted making my own art journal and I knew Dina Wakley would make sure it was both awesome and useable.

What surprised me most was how straight forward and simply it all came together. I made this late at night and had nothing short of pure fun. Gotta love that!

I haven't decided if I'm going to art journal in it or make a "brag book" style photo album. Either way, I know it'll be called into action soon.

Poe and all the punchinella are from Gauche Alchemy and the wonderful wings are Bombshell Stamps.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Can I have a proud mama moment? My youngest son is very creative and he is either doing crafts, baking or assembling miniature explosives (don't ask) with the bulk of his free time.

The last two days have been occupied with him making more wands then Olivander's, and what is all the cooler - they're made from a sheet of typing paper and a glue gun. Crazy!

Aren't they AWESOME?

The tutorial can be found at Instructables and come from the wonderful website Dad Can Do.

Linked With:

Tatertots and Jello

Whipperberry

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Someday Crafts: Categorically Crafting

Let It Snow: Sketchy Thursday Layout

2011-10-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last week we got oodles of glorious snow. It was magical, marvelous and a teensy bit maddening as it had been near eighty degrees the day before. Utah weather can give a girl whiplash!

Here's the Sketchy Thursdays sketch:

I went more for texture on this LO then gobs of stuff. It came out nice and thin, my album thanks me :-)

And I included the Scrapfit Challenge: Workout #53 'The Journaling Goes Round & Round' - my journalling went all around the page.

Love Birds: Art Journal Page

2011-10-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

I love art journalling and I spend a lot of stolen moments adding paper and backgrounds to my journal so it's ready to go when I have a little spare time.

This page though... wow... I somehow thought it would be a good idea to Mod Podge down pattern paper and then paint the whole thing red. Not artful scrapes and smudges, not stenciling... ALL RED!

It was a horror. So I'd just flip past it and pretend it wasn't a giant hive in my book.

This morning I decided to tackle it one way or another and it is no longer the artistic equivalent of a rash.

(click to see it full sized, please)

The birds are my DH and I

and the music is our boys.

Yeah, I'm mushy like that :)

The birds and tissue tape "wings" on the heart were inspired by the current "Things with Wings" challenge at the Simon Says Stamp and Show Blog.

Cake #38 Pumpkin Cake with Cider Caramel Sauce

2011-10-07T08:44:00.000-07:00

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I want to extend a huge thank you to each and every one of you who has popped by my blog and said hello. As of last night, Made By Nicole has had over 100,000 page views (not counting mine).

100, 000 is twenty times the people in my hometown! That's a really big number (for me).

When I imagine you trying the recipes I post or going off and taking a crack at the projects I share it really feels great and your comments are the best part of my day.

Thanks so much for all the warmth these past few years. I LOVE blogging for you.

Now on to the cake...

Pumpkin Cake with Cider Caramel Sauce
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. oil or, you can take my approach of scooping apple sauce into the measuring cup and then topping it off with oil. This is especially helpful if you live above 5000ft, it gives your baked goods structure and keeps the calories at bay.

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla my addition
Combine the first 6 ingredients.

Add oil, pumpkin and eggs.

Whisk until blended.

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

(I dropped it on it's way out of the oven creating a little sink hole... oops)

Cool and top with the sauce before serving.

Cider Caramel Sauce:
Note: we doubled the sauce, this recipe is the single sized batch, it just didn't sound like enough to pour generously over slices of a 9x13 cake

1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2/3 c. apple cider (I used apple juice)
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1 Tbsp. butter
salt to taste
In a saucepan, whisk brown sugar and cornstarch. Add cider and stir in the cream, butter and salt.

Cook over med-hi heat, whisking constantly, until large bubbles form around the edge of the saucepan, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and allow to thicken, about 2 minutes.

Top with vanilla ice cream if you want and drizzle sauce over it.

Opinion and Assessment: This cake is as easy to make as a from-scratch batch of pancakes so I think it has a place in the casual cake rotation. I used a little less sugar then suggested and added 1 tsp of vanilla. It tasted great. I found the apple flavor in the Cider Caramel Sauce really overwhelmed the more delicate pumpkin and caramel, which was a bit sad as I love caramel and pumpkin. It was also quite tart, not a sugar-bomb in the least. Next time I'll probably make a caramel sauce and skip the cider altogether.

It was "healthy" as far as cake goes, but a big part of that was the reduction of oil and sugar.

My family gobbled it down (no surprise there) and asked to put some of the caramel cider sauce on pumpkin pancakes this morning. But, no one had to re-think their top five cakes or insisted that this was the one they wanted for their birthday. I'd give it a solid 7/10. Very good, a little shy of great. It's a perfect week night cake.

EDIT:

Next time I think I'll make the cake as written but top it with this sauce instead, it's one of our family favorites.

Maple-Caramel Sauce

½ C Brown sugar
1 TBL Cornstarch
1/3 C Half n half
¼ C Water
2 TBL Maple Syrup
1 TBL Butter
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in saucepan.
Add all remaining ingredients except vanilla.
Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly.
Cook and stir an additional two minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Serve warm.

Warm leftover sauce in the microwave.

Found via Pinterest from Mandy's Recipe Box who found it from a magazine (uncredited)

To see the rest of my cakes, visit 52 Cakes Project.

Linked Up With:
Tatertots and Jello
Whipperberry

Photo Banner, Dina Wakley Style

2011-10-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

(Click to see these upclose, there's lots of detail.)

I love Dina Wakley's style. She is very near the top of my Top Five Favorite artists list... often in position number one. She rocks the casbah!

When I saw her work on the cover of the newest Somerset Workshop, I decided to host "Dina Camp" for myself. My plan is to work through the four projects in the magazine and hopefully some of her magic will rub off on me.

It has been ridiculously fun. Those expensive stepped-out magazines are such a great value if you treat them like a workshop instead of just flipping through enjoying all the eye candy.

This banner is the first thing I completed, it's wonderful seeing my beautiful family whenever I walk up the stairs.

Speaking of Somerset Publications, I was ever so overjoyed

when I flipped through the latest Stamper's Sampler

and saw one of my cards featuring a favorite Stampotique character, Twinkie

I guess I get to update my "Where's Nicole" page. *grin*

Linked up with:

Tatertots and Jello

Dress form Pin Cushion

2011-10-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

DIY Dish starts each new season with a wonderfully creative pin cushion. This dress form was way out of my league sewing-wise but I decided to give it a try anyways because one of my goals for 2011 was to make a 3D sewing project.Kim and Kris's tutorials are always very well explained and do-able so I took a crack at it.

I had to cut the sides twice but otherwise it went together pretty well. It's no work of art but I'm super proud of it.

Be sure to check out DIY Dish, I'm a huge fan of their charming, creative projects and Season Four looks like it'll be their best one yet.

My Camera has Fish Eye, Sweet!

2011-10-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

" Mom just licked frosting off her camera so I guess we're keeping it"

This sounds like that start of one of those, 'You know you're a blogger when..." jokes.

Last weekend my camera's sweet life came to a sad end. It had been gummed up with baked goods and gesso for years, many months had passed since the last button went missing and it had acquired some startling habits in the error department. But it took great pictures and we were pals.

Sadly, it didn't like being lobbed across the driveway. Ouch.

So we got the new version of my old camera and it feels very posh and swanky but still familiar.

And it has FISHEYE. So I had to fisheye everything (I'm mature like that)...

especially my long-suffering children.

This LO is based on this weeks Sketchy Thursday design:

And I made it exclusively using scrap paper and bits within reach of my spot at the table. I had been using a large sheet of heavy paper as a mask and it was too lovely to throw away.

I even got to use some awesome Ouchless Cardboard from Gauche Alchemy.

I don't usually take pictures and blog them late at night but tonight it just felt like the thing to do.

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Cupcake Throne

2011-10-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Now that you've baked my very favorite plain old cake from yesterday's post, you should create this adorable cupcake throne to give someone one of your scrumptious treats.

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Jan Think posted an amazing tutorial for making a Cupcake Throne and it couldn't have been easier. I'm not the greatest with following diagrams for 3D projects and I found it very straight forward and surprisingly quick to put together.

Then I decorated the base with paper and goodies from the fall CupCards {to go} kit.

I love it when a few simple steps takes a gift from nice to extraordinary.

Linked up with:

Whipperberry

Cake #37 (Vegan) Basic Vanilla Cake

2011-10-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

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My absolutely favorite, never-fails-me plain old cake recipe is one I picked up during my vegan days. So if you are looking for an egg-free or dairy-free cake recipe this is the one.

It is amazing filled, you simply cut out a cone shape from the cake and fill the hole with mousse, lemon curd, frosting, jam, ganache... endless options.

You can also really mix up the flavor with extracts (almond is wonderful), just use vanilla too. I noticed that flavors are so much clearer without the eggs in a recipe. I think that is why the flavor is so terrific.

Basic Vegan White Cake

Makes:12 cupcakes

1 cup soymilk (regular milk works well too)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk the (soy) milk and the vinegar together and let sit a few minutes until curdled.

Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla, and other extracts, if using, in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix until no large lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and bake for 20 to 22 minutes till done. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.

So easy. So delicious!

Be sure to check out the other 36 cakes in my 52 Cakes Project

CupCards To Go Fall Kit: Briar Rose

2011-09-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

The fall CupCards {to go} kit, Briar Rose, is available for purchase!

It has a gorgeous mix of contemporary and elegant papers and embellishments that are perfect for fall. I had more fun crafting with this kit then I have in a long time.

I can't wait to share with you all the cards and the project I made. If you want a preview, check out the gallery. The CC2G DT did an amazing job!

Have any of you made feathers before with patterned paper? It's easy and such an effective technique. I followed this tutorial by Karen and the results were stunning.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Pretty Little Girl with a Red Dress

2011-09-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

I was going though my awesome Acme Kit from Gauche Alchemy and I spied a gorgeous page of sheet music titled, 'Pretty Little Girl with a Red Dress'. Within moments I Mod Podged it down on my page and was on my way.

(click to see it up close)

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Did you see that I used my homemade two-step stamp? There is something so incredibly satisfying about using stamps that I made from scratch.

This hand made book has a huge crease in the center... it's interesting to work around.

Thanks for popping by :-)

Cake #36 Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

2011-09-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

This cake was floating around Pinterest and I had to take a crack at it. I LOVE upside down cakes. They're like a little bit of magic in your oven. Think about it, you make a very boring, sad looking cake, then.... ABRACADABRA... you flip it over and it's a thing of beauty.

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One word of warning about this cake:

The glaze/syrup/topping is so delicious you'll want to drink it, serve it on pancakes, pour it over ice cream - it's insane. It tastes like autumn, apples, caramel, fairs... it's a thing of beauty

And the cake soaks it up, transforming it into a crazy-delicious concoction.

And please excuse my pictures, the light was terrible and I didn't do the cake justice at all.

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

King Arthur Flour

TOPPING

2 medium apples
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate (we used apple juice concentrate)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup light corn syrup or golden syrup (we used Roger's Golden Syrup)

CAKE

3/4 cup vegetable oil (normally I'd use 1/2cup oil and 1/4 cup applesauce but I was out of applesauce)
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons boiled cider or thawed apple juice concentrate (we used the juice concentrate)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional (we used pecans)

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" round cake pan at least 2" deep. Line the bottom with parchment, and grease the parchment. (I only had a 10" deep enough so my cake is a bit shorter)
2) Slice the top, including the stem, off one of the apples and set it aside before peeling and slicing the rest of the apples into 1/4" thick wedges.
3) Place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around it.

4) Prepare the topping by heating the butter, sugar, boiled cider, cinnamon, and corn syrup together over low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

5) Pour 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture into the prepared pan, and set the rest aside.
6) To make the cake: Beat the oil, brown sugar, boiled cider, eggs, spices, and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed

7) Mix the flour with the baking soda, and stir it into the batter.

8) Add the chopped apple and nuts, and mix until just blended.

9) Drop scoops of the batter atop the apples in the pan, gently spreading to cover.

10) Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean.
11) Remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin spatula around the edge to loosen.

12) Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a serving plate, bottom side up. Scrape out any sauce that remains in the pan, and spread it over the cake.

13) Reheat the reserved topping. If butter starts to separate as you reheat, add water by the teaspoon and stir until the butter rejoins the rest of the sauce.

14) Pour the sauce over the cake.

This took quite a bit of scooping to get it to stick to the cake. I think I warmed mine up too hot and subsequently too thin. It REALLY thickens as it cools and the cake absorbs massive amounts of the apple-caramel sauce. It's crazy good.

Serve cake warm or at room temperature, with whipped cream if desired.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

If you're looking for another fall cake but this one doesn't strike your fancy, check out my Cinnamon Chip Applesauce Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. It's fall-tastic!

P.S. Sorry about all the cake this week. I've been crafting assignments that I can't share yet and we're quickly burning weeks if I'm going to get all 52 Cakes baked in 2011. But have no fear, there are rumblings that we'll be doing 52 MORE Cakes in 2012.

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