Being around this many sweets is having an effect on me.
I realize there shouldn't be a correlation between these kinds of cupcakes
These cupcakes shouldn't be capable of spoiling your appetite
Nevertheless...
Tell that to my bathroom scale.
This has been a very good week. Why, you ask? This week three rock star lady bloggers featured my work on their blogs. Seriously. I know. I was as shocked as you are. You could have knocked me over with a proverbial feather.
on Finding Fabulous! I'm sure most of you read this blog on a daily basis. It's one of my favorites. I especially love the Frugalicious Friday Posts, however, each one of Jane's DIY and craft posts are worth serious contemplation. I'm learning a lot. For example, here's a post from this week that I loved. Makes me want to hit all the Goodwill stores in the area and stock up on chairs!
Different Act Normal" highlighted your cupcake totes?" My jaw dropped. To the floor. Then I squealed. Loudly. I love this blog. Check out this pinata that is featured today. It's gorgeous. It was inspired by a camellia. (The "creative pinata wagon" obviously passed me by because the pinatas I've made over the years have been inspired by pigs, Santa, and mice.) I bookmarked this post because I want to create a pillow with this flowery feel. This blog is pure inspiration. Love it!
It's been awhile since I've done a "Thankful Thursday" posts. Need to get back on the bandwagon...
...a half dozen cupcakes in assorted delicious flavors -- lime, cherry, strawberry, and sherbert! These little cupcake totes look good enough to eat!
With Easter just around the corner, I thought I'd better bake up a couple of batches of my Lil' Girl Cupcake Totes.
Last year they became very popular during Easter time because the Easter bunny used them as Easter baskets for many a little girl!
They make a cute basket! Just put a little "grass" in the bottom and then fill with plastic eggs, jelly beans and a chocolate bunny or two!
Then when the jelly beans & chocolate bunnies are a distant memory, your lil' girl will still have a purse for all her valuables...
It doesn't matter what your age, we women need a special place for a little change and some lip gloss!
I've baked my share of bread in my life, but I've never found such a simple and simply delicious bread recipe. Seriously, you've got to try this crusty on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside loaf! This bread has a unique rustic taste and texture. I made three small loaves yesterday and put the rest of the dough in the refrigerator to bake later in the week. We used one loaf today with a little butter and homemade jam for breakfast and paired it with cheese for grilled sandwiches for lunch. The other two loaves I used as bread bowls for dinner tonight.
It's easy to have fresh bread whenever you want it with this recipe. To start, just mix the dough and let it sit for two hours. No kneading required. Then shape and bake a loaf, and refrigerate the rest to use over the next couple weeks. You heard me right -- weeks! When you want fresh-baked crusty bread, take some dough, shape it into a loaf, let it rest and rise for about 40 minutes, then bake. Your house will smell like a bakery, and your family and friends will love you for it. Seriously, it's the easiest bread recipe in the world! Here's the recipe...
These photos are from the bread I made with this recipe.
Again, this is the inspiration child of a post at Jesse Kate Designs. This time I was a dutiful student and I followed the instructions and dimensions exactly. I love how it turned out. Such an easy pillow to make, but so beautiful...
I'm in love with these flowers. They make anything look spectacular. I'm thinking of hot gluing one onto my face.
Again a little ruffley goodness on the back of the pillow.
The ruffle hides the opening where one can slip in a pillow form...
This pillow fits the chair I'm putting it on perfectly. This chair is one of the "well-loved" items in our home. ("Well-loved" is a nice way of saying it looks like heck, but it's got sentimental value so it stays.) It was bought about 32 years ago when my husband and I were expecting our first child. We've rocked many a screaming and contented baby in that chair. You should hear it creak when it rocks. It's a miracle any child can fall asleep while being rocked with all that racket! Lots of good memories in that chair...
This pillow resides close to the pillow I made yesterday. This is the room I've been painting the last couple of days. I used the same paint that I used in the basement on the accent wall and put it beneath the chair rail in this room. I was really surprised how different the "aqua" paint looked in this room -- it turned a soft, baby blue here. I finally figured out that the creamy paint above it brought out the blue in the paint. In the basement bedroom this paint is next to a stark white, which brought out the aqua color in it. Again I bought these bed linens at Marshall's. Comforter: $39; Shams: $12. I'm in love with that store.
Back to the business at hand. Yes indeed, I'm going to make one of these and plant it right on my forehead. (Go to my sidebar to find the tutorial on how to make these delicious flowers!)
I'm in the painting mode these days. It seems like whenever I get a paintbrush in my hand, it doesn't come out until all the rooms in my house have had a make-over. (That's a slight exaggeration.) My husband tells our friends that we have lost square footage in our home since we moved in because I have painted the walls so many times. He may be right. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing like a freshly painted room. And, as I keep reminding my husband, paint is cheap! A bucket of paint and you can change the whole look of a room.
I've made flowers like this for my wristlets, but this time I used a chiffon fabric. The transparency of the petals remind me of poppies. Love them.
The floral fabric on the left {in the photo above} and the "art deco" fabric in the middle I bought a few weeks ago for a wristlet, but I decided to use them for this pillow instead. In fact I just ordered about 5 more yards, from Fresh Squeezed Fabrics, of the floral to make some draperies for the bedroom I started repainting today. This pillow will be in that room as well.
Instead of using burlap, like the pillow that inspired me, I used a natural colored muslin. I love the look of burlap, but the scratchy, fiberish feel of it drives me nutty. I think I'm allergic to the stuff. I love the look of this natural muslin. I used it on the front and back of the pillow.
Did you notice the little ruffle on the back of the pillow? It's strange when you like the back of the pillow as much as the front, but the back of this one has a lot of appeal for me. I love ruffles, but, as you might know, I often use a ruffle to hide something and this is no exception.
This ruffle hides the opening on the back of the pillow. I always try to incorporate an opening to my pillows so the cover can be laundered. Then I make a pillow and insert it in the cover. I use velcro for the closure.
Deco Fans in blue, Dolce, by Tanya Whelan
We're still trying to figure out those blond extensions
Cutest little tiger cub I've ever seen...
