Cacti Cupcakes & Cake Boss #MichaelsMakers

Hey friends!  I don't know about you, but it's been oppressively hot here in Pittsburgh lately. Yesterday when I got in my car after work, it told me it was 99 degrees outside.  I live in Pennsylvania... it is NOT supposed to be that hot here!

When Michaels offered the chance to try out some Cake Boss products, I knew exactly what I'd do... Cacti!  Because right now, I feel like I live in the desert.  Only worse.  Because... humidity. Anyway, I decided to fashion my own little desert scene using Cake Boss fondant.

I've never used fondant before, in fact, I was slightly terrified of it.  But, once I started working with it, I realized how much FUN it is!  Seriously, it's like edible playdough.  I got my niece, Lena, in on the action, too.  She's five and had an absolute blast.  If you want to avoid the sloppy mess of traditional frosting while baking with your kids... throw them a lump of fondant and let them sculpt something fabulous.

Michaels offers an amazing variety of Cake Boss products including the actual cake mix!  I was able to get everything I needed to create these little delicious treats in one trip.  (well, aside from the eggs and oil.)  My favorite purchase of all this was the Fondant Decorating Tool Kit.  I mean, you can use this for countless other things... So, don't be surprised if you see those popping up in a few other posts that have nothing to do with baking!

After baking the cupcakes and allowing them to cool, we frosted them with chocolate icing so the fondant had something to stick to.  Next, we used this neat vintage cookie cutter I found hidden in the back of my mom's cabinet.  It was the perfect size and shape!  After they were cut, we pressed them lightly onto the frosting.

Next, we molded our little cacti.  This was kind of a "wing it" sort of thing.  The neon green decorating icing in a bag was perfect for adding texture to our cacti, and also perfect for using as the "glue" to keep the cacti in place.  We also used it as a sort of "paint" to coat the white fondant.

Then we made little flowers to stick on top of our cacti...

And TA-DA!  I looooooooooooooove the final result.  Aren't these colors fantastic?  They're so bright and saturated.  I love that you can buy tiny packets of the bright colors so you can use it just for accents.  Definitely smart packaging, Cake Boss!

The best part of these products is how great they are to use when working with kids.  Clean up was quick and there was little frustration in the process because everything is prepared so well.

I absolutely adored getting to share some creative time with this little bug.  I love watching her mind work and her artistic side growing as she gets older.

DIY Entertainment Shelf

For the longest time, our TV in the bedroom lived on top of a cheap, ugly, Ikea dresser.  The Blu-ray player and cable box were stacked on top of each other and it was just... unpleasant.  The before is at left... it's wretched, I know!  I couldn't stand the empty space above the tv, the harsh lines of the dresser completely clashed with the rest of the room.  I just hated it.  So, we made a change.  It started with mounting the TV and concealing the cables.  We found a strip to hide the cables in that you can paint so it blends in with your wall.  But, then I had to solve the problem of where to put the Blu-ray player and cable box.  I had found these rustic brackets at an estate sale for $10 for the pair.  I had been hanging onto them, kind of unsure what to do with them when I realized they would be a perfect solution for this project.  I bought some wood at the local hardware store, stained all the pieces and screwed them together to make a shelf.  To allow the cords to be concealed within the strip, I fixed the shelf to the brackets leaving a one inch gap between the shelf and the wall.  It worked beautifully!  

Then I was frustrated with the empty space below the shelf, between the brackets.  Simple.  I got some screw in hooks and some baskets with handles... and instant storage!  I didn't even need to drill holes for the hooks, they screwed right into the wood by hand.  

Just a note... make sure your hooks are both facing the same direction so you can lift the basket and slide off the hooks.  Removing the baskets could get tricky if your hooks are both facing inward toward each other.  You can see how I did it below.

Of course, Skilo always has to get in on the photo shoots. That's okay, though.  He only makes them cuter!  I could not be more pleased with that corner, now.  I added a sweet little wicker chair from Ikea, a Nate Berkus blanket from Target, some storage boxes from Target for random documents and a basket for all the magazines I still need to read.  The drawings on the wall were done by my mom when she was a teenager.  I adore them. 

I think this corner looks infinitely better than it did before.  It doesn't make me want to close the door and never look in my bedroom again anymore.  

EAT: Summer Yogurt Salad

Who doesn't love something sweet and healthy?  Never ever can you have too much sweetness if it's actually doing your body good.  I was not born with an inherently natural sweet tooth like my mother. She can honestly eat an entire bag of Dove chocolates and call it "dinner" with no remorse.  It's astonishing, actually.  I very rarely get a craving for sweetness, but when I do, I tend to opt for something less... guilt ridden.  Typically, I spoonful of peanut butter is enough to satiate my craving, but sometimes, I need fruit.  And chocolate.  And brown sugar.

I came up with this salad based on my love for yogurt parfait... and quite honestly, it's to die for.  The best part is that you can customize it with whatever fruit/toppings you like.  

Ingredients:

Chobani Greek Yogurt

Brown Sugar

Strawberries

Nectarine

Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips

I added in the brown sugar first to make sure it mixed with the yogurt.  I didn't want it getting stuck to the fruit and clumping.

Next, I added the fruit and just mixed it all together.

Along with some mini caprese's and tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa, we had the perfect snack table for a movie night with Jen and Pat.  I cannot wait to whip up some more tasty summer snacks and share them with you!  This is also the PERFECT Memorial Day picnic salad.  Pack it up in the cooler and take it to the park or the pool and dig in!

Faux Button Placket (No Buttonholes Involved!)

With an ever-growing to-do list, I'm always looking for short cuts. Which leads me to a confession....

I hate buttonholes.

Phew, glad I got that off my chest! For the longest time, I refused to sew buttonholes. I think my fear stems mostly from the fact that I've been sewing for the last 5 1/2 years on a basic sewing machine, and my sewing machine hates buttonholes. What I mean is, my machine knows how to make buttonholes, it just flat out refuses to make them. And when it does, it usually takes me 2-3 times of unpicking stitches before I have semi-presentable results.

And who wants to spend an hour on buttonholes? Ain't nobody got time for that. That's how I came up with an idea to make a faux button placket!

Now, I'm not going to promise you that this method cuts your buttonhole making time in half or anything like that (and actually it may take a little bit longer), but if you're like me and have a machine that just doesn't like to make buttonholes, or if you're not ready to make the plunge into making buttonholes, this tutorial will give you a finished button placket that people will never guess is a fake. Plus, since we're using velcro, a faux placket makes it much easier for little ones to dress themselves.

Ready to add a faux placket to everything??

SUPPLIES: finished top, velcro, disappearing ink marker, buttons at least 1 inch in diameter or more, sewing machine, needle and thread.

First, you'll need a finished top that needs a button placket. This particular top above is a peplum top I made as part of The Sewing Rabbit's fall 2013 collection, minus the piping. (Come visit me on The Sewing Rabbit to learn how to make a peplum top next week!)

ONE: first, measure your shirt from neckline to the bottom and subtract an inch.
TWO: next, separate your velcro so that the "hook" part, or the scratchy part, is separate from the soft "loop" part of the velcro. Cut a length of the loop portion of the velcro only,  as long as the measurement you wrote down above.
THREE: pin your loop tape to your shirt, leaving a 1/2 inch margin on both the top and bottom.
FOUR: sew around all sides of your tape to attach it to your shirt.

FIVE: now you'll need to cut squares of the "hook" portion of the velcro to attach to the other side of your button placket. You'll want each square of hook tape to be slightly smaller that your button (so people won't be able to see your stitch lines), so trim if needed.
SIX: cut out as many squares of hook tape as you have buttons. See how my hook tape is slightly smaller than my button?
SEVEN: now use your disappearing ink marker to make marks where you want your buttons to go on the underside of your button placket.
EIGHT: pin each square of hook tape on the marks you just made and sew to secure.

Here is what the other side of your button placket will look like as soon as you've sewn your hook squares down! Now all that's left is to sew your buttons on right on top of your squares to hide your stitches.

And now you have a beautiful faux button placket with no buttonholes involved! I'll be no one will even notice it's a fake :)

Mother's Day Card with Detachable Flower Brooch

Mother's Day is coming up, and you know what that means - breakfast in bed, massages, no dishes to clean, and an afternoon of sewing all to myself without someone whining for a snack! At least, that's what I want for Mother's Day. That and a cover stitch machine. A girl can dream, right?

This month's Michael's Makers post is all about celebrations, and I chose to celebrate Mothers. Mother's Day is a wonderful time to give special recognition to the women in our lives with love and appreciation for all that they do, and traditionally that involves giving Mother's Day cards, so I wanted to come up with a card that is more than it seems.

I'm actually not at all a card person at all. I never buy them. I appreciate the gesture, but I personally don't like to buy something that I know will get thrown away almost immediately. This card is different though - it has a detachable brooch that Mom can wear! I love that I am able to give a card that says all the wonderful things I want to say to my Mom, but has the bonus of something she can wear to show my love too.

SUPPLIES: cardstock in 2 colors (one for the card and one for the rose), vellum paper, jewelry pin, foam adhesive craft circles, paper trimmer, scissors, hot glue, craft glue.

Making The Rose:

ONE: first, use a bowl or something else circular to trace and cut out a circle from your pink card stock.
TWO: you can draw a swirl on your circle or just freehand it like I did. Start on the outer edge and cut a swirl until you reach the middle.
THREE: leave a little circle in the middle of your rose (we will use this to apply glue to hold your rose in place later.)
FOUR: here's what your rose should look like so far!

FIVE: starting at the outside edge, begin to tightly roll your rose.
SIX: keep rolling...
SEVEN: when you reach the center of your rose, it should look like this.
EIGHT: poke your pin through the center of your rose as shown.
NINE: cut a small circle from your card stock and apply it over the base of your pin. Secure with hot glue over the flat part of your pin.
TEN: allow your rose to uncoil slightly. Put a generous amount of hot glue at the center of your rose to secure in place.

Assembling the Card:

ONE: cut a piece of vellum to size. I made mine as long as my card, but left a couple of inches at the top and bottom.
TWO: secure the vellum to your card using crafting glue (don't go crazy with the glue or you will get lots of wrinkles! Trust me on that one ;) Allow your card to dry.

THREE: poke a hole through the top layer of your card using another pin (or something similar) where your rose will go. 
FOUR: insert your rose through your card and secure on the inside with the back of your pin.



FIVE: cut out your M's (I used my Silhouette Cameo for this, but you can buy or cut your letters by hand.) Place your foam adhesive dots on the back of your letter.
SIX: peel off the backing and attach your M's on either side of your rose.

SEVEN: finally, I tied a piece of ribbon in a bow and hot glued it to the front to complete the card.

Now fill your card with lots of love about Mom...

...and on top of your sweet words in your handmade card, Mom will have a detachable brooch that she can wear with pride on Mother's Day! That's my kind of card.

I hope you enjoy! The rose is so easy to make, you could even get the kids into it and make a card for Grandma. Happy Mother's Day!

An InLinkz Link-up

Easy Tassel Necklace

I love simple necklaces - the danglier the better! It really doesn't take much to add a pop of color to an outfit, and it doesn't have to be complicated. You can keep your chunky statement necklaces, I'll take a simple suede tassel necklace like this one any day (especially when they're this easy to make!)
 
I love the look of leather tassel necklaces like this one at Anthropologie, but I don't love the price tag. I had a bunch of suede leftover from my knotted suede bracelet project, so I decided to whip up a tassel necklace with some of the leftover. These are easier than most leather necklaces I've seen (since you're basically just stuffing a bunch of suede in a cap end) so you have no excuse not to make one. And, if you're looking for a gift for Mom on Mother's Day, this would be perfect!

 

SUPPLIES: I found most of my supplies at Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby, but Etsy is also a great resource for craft supplies. You will also need chain, a small jump ring, scissors, wire cutters and round nose pliers for this project.

ONE: cut 5 strands of suede cord (or more depending on the size of end cap you have) 5 inches long and bunch together as shown in the picture above.

TWO: fill your end cap with E-600 glue and insert the folded parts of your cording into the cap securely. Let dry according to the instructions on the tube.

THREE: insert 1 seed bead on your eye pin, then add a decorative bead followed by a second seed bead.

FOUR: Loop the end of your eye pin over the nose of your pliers close to your seed bead, then wrap the wire around a couple of times and snip off any extra. (Not shown) open the other side of your eyepin some and thread on your end cap. Use a jump ring to attach the other end to your chain.

And that's it. Classy, and SO easy to make. I just love mine and can't wait to make more in different colors.