More on the boutique sale

Friends, I was in such a rush to get my post done before work this morning that I forgot to mention that we will be joined by my sister Cari who is going to sell her beautiful jewelry collection and my friend Jennifer who will be selling her cute little crayon rolls.

Hope to see you there this weekend!

Hi there

Hi all.  I'm sorry I have been away for a while.  I have several posts that I had planned to do this month and I cannot believe that this Saturday we will be in October already!!  I didn't even mention that September is National Sewing Month.  So I thought I would stop by and drop a line so that you won't forget about me.  That and also I am tired of seeing the same picture every time I come by.  Aren't you?  Well I have been sewing up a frenzy, which is part of the reason for my absence from my little blog.  My mom and I are getting ready for a boutique sale at our church (St. Bruno's) which is on October 8 & 9.  We have been sewing aprons, baby quilts, dresses, hair accessories, etc.  So if you are in the neighborhood, please come by and check us out.

I also have been wrapped up in a whirlwind of fund raising activities for Mateo's band trip to New York.

So anyway, please don't give up on me.  I will be back soon!

Hugs and kisses!

Un-Pop Tarts

Yesterday I baked pop tarts for my colleague.  I loved pop tarts as a kid...I still do.   So I decided to try to make them myself.  As you can see, they look nothing like the neat little rectangles you find inside little foil pouches.  I call these rustic pop tarts. 

But how do they taste, you ask?  Hm, mmm, mmm.

I was shocked to discover that the recipe I found here only yielded four tarts!  Of course, I had to try one.  I don't like giving away baked goods when I don't know what they taste like.  I left one for Mateo's breakfast and I packed the other two for my colleague.

Cake Pops for Alec

I made cake pops for Alec's birthday party this weekend.  They were so much fun but the various blogs and you tube videos I consulted weren't kidding, they can be tricky.  I decided to go with a cake mix instead of making the cake from scratch for my first try.  I wanted to give myself the best chance for a successful outcome. 

Here is what you need:

Baked cake (I used 2-9 oz. cake boxes) which I baked the day before & stored in the fridge
Frosting
Candy Melts or melted chocolate
Pop sticks
Something to put your pops in when you're done.  My dad made me these cute wooden stands that he drilled holes in.

Crumble the cake, add the frosting and mix.  Some blogs I visited called for up to two cups of frosting.  I decided to start with a smaller amount of frosting and work my way up.  I think I ended up with about 3/4 to 1 cup of frosting for the entire two cakes.  What you want is enough frosting in the cake mixture to be able to form balls with the palm of your hands but not too much frosting to where they won't hold there shape.

If you want your pops to be uniform in size, use a tablespoon measure.  I used two tablespoons of cake mixture for each pop.  This yielded 32 medium-sized cake balls.  Just scoop out the cake mixture one tablespoon at a time, roll it in your palms to form a ball.  You can use gloves or grease up your hands to prevent the mix from sticking to your hands.  I just washed my hands after a few cake balls to start with a clean slate.

Place the cake balls as you are forming them on a parchment lined cookie sheet and put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile melt your candy melts following the package instructions.  I used the whole bag of melts.

Take the cake balls out of the fridge, dip the sticks about 1/2 inch into the melted candy and stick it into the cake ball about half way.

Important step: Once you have put the pop sticks in each of the cake balls, put them in the freezer for about 45 minutes.  Do not skip this step or you will end up with cake pop drama like this:

Here are the cake pops, happily frozen and firm enough to withstand the dip in the hot tub of melted candy.

Ta-da!!!  Cake Pops!!!

So, they are not as smooth as the ones Bakerella makes.  I was having a lot of issues using the Candy Melts.  It just never got runny enough for me to be able to submerge the pops.  I even resorted to keeping the melted candy on a double boiler while I dipped.  The only thing I could manage was dipping them in about half way then coating the rest of each with a wooden spoon.   I think they worked out pretty well for my first try.  What do you think?

Alec was pretty pleased with them too!

Sources: Bakerella, and Bakerella's video,  The Kitchn,  Yoyomax12 video, Wilton

More on Alec's Yo Gaba Gaba party later.

Happy Birthday, Alec.  I love you!

XOX
SC

My first cross-stitch

You know it was only a matter of time before I tried my hand at cross-stitching.  I wasn't sure that I would like to do it and I LOVE IT!  It is absolutely fun fun fun.  It is not very hard.  So much easier than embroidery since you really cannot mess up the design.  Well you could of course, if you loose your count or your place but mistakes are relatively easy to fix.

For my first project, I made this chandelier (inspiration found here) for my cousin, Rebecca.

I'm sure there is a very proper and correct way to frame cross-stitch work, but I just threw it in a frame with a glass.  I love silhouettes, of course you knew that already, and chandeliers.  So this project was a joy for me.  Also, I love making things for the people I love.  One thing I started doing while I am making something for someone is that I try to be in constant prayer for that person.  It just gives me the satisfaction to know that not only have I poured my love into the project, I have also poured prayers.

One morning when I was working on this project, I noticed that I coordinated all of the things I was working with accidentally perfect.  I was actually drinking coffee from this candelabra mug.  It is not a prop, honest!  That's just how I roll.

The next thing I would like to learn is converting my own designs into a cross-stitch diagram or pattern.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

Blessings!