picture wall

I have a new addiction...it's called Pinterest.  So many interesting and fun projects, I have spent countless hours compiling a long list of future projects.  I have wanted to post photographs on canvas and display them on a wall and when I saw this idea, I knew I had to give it a try.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk161/katmari71/david/movies/The_Joneses/family-pic-wall.jpg

I decided to try this with my kids.  

I had them write down a list of different emotions which we put in a hat.  Then they took turns posing for pictures while the other one pulled an emotion out of a hat.  The kids really had a great time with this.  Once the pictures were taken, I converted them to black and white and played with the exposure a little in Photoshop.  After that, it was off to get canvases, which I bought at Michael's at a great deal.  The edges were painted black and the pictures were glued and sealed onto the canvas with Mod Podge.  

The results were great and perfect wall art for a blank wall.

a closeup:

Cake

Ever since I made my first fondant cake for my son, my kids have asked for, no insisted on, a homemade cake covered in fondant.  Lately, I have been asked to make cakes for other people.  Today, I put the finishing touches on two fondant cakes for a children's birthday party.  The boy's cake was a Mario cake and the girl's cake was a Bubble Guppies cake.

The Bubble Guppies characters are completely edible.  I added some Tylose powder to the fondant to stiffen the fondant a little so that the characters won't fall apart.  I used a Popsicle stick to stabilize the characters while they dried which also made it easy to stick it into the cake...no more decorations falling off the cake during transport.

in the kitchen...

I love Food Network, especially the cake challenge shows.  So, when a few years ago, my son wanted an Army themed Birthday party, I decided to make a Tank cake.  After reading the chemical content of store bought fondant, I did a web search and found a wonderful marshmallow fondant. 

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm 

This fondant is so easy to make and tastes yummy and my kids love it.  It can be messy to make, but the possibilities of what you can make are endless.

How swiftly time flies...

It certainly does.  Between house construction and driving the kids back and forth to school, Boy Scouts and gymnastics, time can really move by quickly.  With all that, I have put my creativity on hold.  So, when my friend needed a fun and sexy accessory to wear to an event, I did not hesitate to offer to make her something.  She said she wanted a choker and lucky for her, I had a yard of black velvet just sitting around. 

So this is the first one I made:

Then I thought this one might be too plain so I made this one which she ended up wearing:

I had so much fun making them and came across this great spider that I just had to make one for myself and I came up with this one:

I still have more black velvet left over and some great ideas floating around in my head

so stay tuned...I plan on posting more in the upcoming week.

Rebecca's Beret

A while ago, I decided I wanted to make a beret. I searched the web for some great ideas and patterns and I came across this great site that had the perfect beret.  Easy to follow instructions and I have already made a few but this is the last one I was able to finish.  For this beret, I used Red Heart Heart &Sole yarn in the Spring Stripe http://www.redheart.com/files/E745_3931-3965_product_0.png Yes, I know it's a sock yarn, but I was looking for a super fine yarn and this one was so soft, I just had to use it.

Rebecca was excited about it and I was happy to have finally finished it.

Big thank you to Lauren Nell Roy http://laurennell.com/knit/?p=16 for her fantastic "Gwen" beret pattern.

The quiet

I am not a morning person...not in the least.  If I could, I would stay up late and sleep until the sun greets me in the morning.  Getting up before the sun is just total anarchy and those that do so should be locked away in a room of constant light exposure.  I am actually waiting for my snooze button to take me to court for battery. 

However, after a sleepless night, I decided to get up with Robert and stay up, instead of snuggling back under the covers before getting the kiddos up for school.  So here I am, with a tall cup of coffee...enjoying the quiet.  I feel relaxed and have plenty of time to mentally prepare myself for the day. 

These early risers have a good thing going here.  Wonder how long I can keep this up.  I know my snooze button would be happy with me...