Red Rose Wedding Cake

I know I said never again . . . but here's a wedding cake I made for a friend this past weekend.

For this cake, the bride requested Red Velvet cake with a cream cheese filling and White cake with a Strawberry filling.  No chocolate!!  I know!!  

I was a bit apprehensive going into the decorating, but it's what she wanted, she loved it and that's what matters!!  It does look pretty stunning!!

I figured out on this cake, I would probably do more wedding cakes if I just didn't have to deliver them!  That's where my stress come in.  When delivering this cake to the church, the road was closed for a control burn.  I mean, I could see the church about an eighth of a mile away, but they wouldn't let us through.  So we had to go the long way around up a STEEP and extremely BUMPY road!!  I about had a stroke!!

But I survived and all's well that ends well.

Congratulations, Bethany & Brad!!

January's First Birthday Party!

My youngest granddaughter, January turned one in . . . . you guessed it!! January!!

Here are a few pics of the little doll and her party table.

Her young cousins can't quite say her name, so she goes by Berry, Jerry and Janwary!!

I can't believe you're already a year old, January!!  Happy Birthday!

Tinkerbell Birthday Cake

I made this cake for a Tinkerbell themed birthday party.

Only, in this pic, Tinkerbell is missing!!  She was added after the cake was delivered.  So you'll just have to imagine a Tinkerbell figurine sitting up in the flower somewhere!

For this cake, I used whipped topping from Sam's Club with fondant addons.  I picked up the big flower on top at Michael's.

Hope you you had a wonderful birthday party, Nadia!!

More Words To Live By!

My daughter-in-law sent this to me.  It was so sweet I just had to post it!

I Am A Mother

I did a search and found the author:  Ameliosgirl.

More Words To Live By!

I saw this today on facebook and thought it was worth sharing.

Homemaking is surely in reality the most important work in the world.  What do ships, railways, mines, cars, government, etc., exist for except that people may be fed, warmed and safe in their homes? . . .  The homemaker's job is one for which all other's exist.
C. S. Lewis

My New Hobby: Scarves!

Like I need another hobby to keep me from what I should be doing!!  I know! But I love making these!

All the women in my family got a scarf as part of their Christmas gift this year.  Here's a sampling of a few I just made.

 This one was knitted using Ice Mambo yarn.  This yarn is so easy to work with!

Same yarn as above for this one, just different colors.  I love this one!

This one is crocheted from Mirabella yarn.  I think this would make a nice spring or summer scarf.

This is another that I think would make a nice summer scarf.  It's light and airy.  I bought this yarn at Michael's, I believe.  I think it's Ice yarn as well, but I'm not sure about that. I know the pattern is Flamenco.

This one is crocheted using Red Heart Sashay yarn.  I've seen a lot of these around town and on facebook.

I bought the yarn for this one at Joann's.  

Most of these yarn patterns come in a rainbow of different colors.  And most of them can be crochet or knit.  I just go with whatever I think looks best for that particular yarn.

More to come, I'm sure!!

More Words To Live By!

Back in October of 2011, I posted a quote I found on Facebook and titled it "Words To Live By."  Amazingly, that post gets a lot of hits!  Recently, I read the following quote somewhere and decided to post it as another "Words To Live By" selection.  This also happens to be my New Year's motto.

Do all the good you can,
In all the ways you can,
To all the people you can,
In every place you can,
At all the times you can,
For as long as ever you can!

Poinsettia Cookie Platter

I first saw this idea over at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.  I like the shape of her leaves better than mine, but I was trying to work with the cookie cutters I had on hand.

I think I ended up using about 25 or 26 cookies for this platter.  I forgot the green leaves, though!  I actually decorated these cookies while trying to play games with the family on Christmas Eve.  So it's definitely not my best work!!

I used the platter as a centerpiece on one of my dinner tables.  It was beautiful!!

Canning Jar Oil Lamps

I bought this lamp recently and have enjoyed it so much!  It burns paraffin oil and had a fiberglass wick, which never burns up, so it never needs to be replaced.  

I decided to make a few as gifts.  Here's my version:

 

I like the shape of the jar on the one I purchased better, but this was all I could find locally at this time of year.  I spray painted the ring on mine so it would match better.  I used Rust-oleum Textured Radiant Brass.  It matched pretty close.  For the lid, I bought a vase cap, which is used in the construction of lamps or light fixtures.  I had a prettier, vented one, but I gave that lamp away before taking pictures of it.

I prefer the lid on the lamp I purchased.  The fluted design is beautiful!

I purchased the wick, glass wick holder and vase cap online and bought the jars at Wal Mart.  I used Holiday Picks that I picked up at Michael's for 60% off to fill the jar, along with cinnamon sticks and bay leaves, then added the oil.  A deeper vase cap than the one shown here works better.  The wick holder has trouble staying straight because it's sticking down into the pine cones and pine needles.  If I do any more of these, I'll hunt for a taller one.  Over all, this was a simple gift to make and everyone loved them!

UPDATE:
After doing some research, I found that you can add a piece of bamboo in the center of the jar for the wick to hang down into.  This will prevent the glass wick holder from hitting the filler.  I'll try this next time I make these.

Decorated Letter

I saw this idea on Pinterest but didn't save it to my board!  So I did it by memory.

I'm sure the original was better.  Hopefully, I'll find it one of these days.

This is one of those cardboard letters you can pick up for a couple bucks at Hobby Lobby.  I drew the design with tacky glue, then let it dry overnight.  Next, I spray painted it silver, then used black shoe polish to glaze it (since I was too lazy to go to the store and buy black glaze!!)