Aspiring Artistry

This Moment: Sweetness

Inspired by Amanda Soule of Soule Mama

Baby Shower Cupcakes

Did I ever show you these super-cute baby birdie cupcakes I made? 

 
I co-hosted a baby shower for a friend expecting twin boys, and I thoughts these Martha Stewart inspired cupcakes were the cutest ever! 

They were pretty easy to make, but I found that the buttercream frosting wasn't quite firm enough for making the round bird bodies .. they got saggy pretty quickly. 

Super fun peeps that tasted delicious!

Sea Glass Candy

What a hit! Literally - so much fun to whack at it with a rolling pin, hammer, or in my instance, a metal citrus press.

This was our make-it-as-a-family holiday food this year, although I found that I was in charge of the hot sugar melting on the stove and once it hardened, the kids were able to whack at it and brush the sparkle dust all over.

The recipe is found here, but I'm going to repeat it below for you, with some of my notes added in.

I found great glass-topped/magnetic-bottomed spice jars at Ikea, and they are a great size for this gift.

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup corn syrup

1/4 – 1 tsp. flavoring oil (I used cinnamon & peppermint, and found I had to use much, more more than the recipe called for)

Icing sugar (to coat cooled candy)

 

Step One

Grease a cookie sheet or cake pan with butter.

Step Two

Measure ingredients.

Step Three

Pour granulated sugar, corn syrup and water in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves.

Step Four
Without stirring, boil the mixture until a candy thermometer reads between 300 and 310 degrees. (This will take about 30 minutes.) Drop a small amount into ice water. If it separates into brittle strands its ready. 

Step Five

Remove from heat and let boiling subside.

Step Six

Measure flavoring oil and pour into candy mixture. Also add food coloring if desired. Blend with a wooden spoon. (You’ll notice that it will get really steamy for a few seconds.) Actually, mine spat and sputtered and really intensified the scent. Crazy!

Step Seven

Pour onto greased cookie sheet or cake pan. Let cool. (I put mine in the fridge) Must refrigerate - don't waste the time waiting for it to cool. You're going to want the satisfaction of cracking into it!

 

Step Eight

Cover hardened candy with parchment paper and tap with a mallet to shatter candy into small pieces. I skipped the paper, and found I had no flying particles! As I said above, I ended up using a heavy metal citrus press to break it up, not having a mallet on hand!

Step Nine

Use a basting brush and coat candy pieces with icing sugar. I brushed the large pieces, then broke them down a little smaller and coated both sides and the exposed edges. Very fun. 

 Step Ten

Place into favor tins. (I lined the inside with a cupcake liner.) Tie with ribbon and adhere labels. My size tin called for an extra large cupcake liner, and then I used a 3" circle punch to cut out some decorative paper, which I inserted inside the lid. I then printed out a holiday message on cardstock, punched it out with the 3" circle, and taped it to the bottom of the tin. 

This was such a fun project to do, and the kids were able to take ownership of it also. 

Thanks, Intimate Weddings Blog, for the great idea!

 

Fall Leaves Crafty

Check out Geninne's Art Blog for her beautiful embellishment of some of fall's treasures. This would be a fun project to do with the little ones.

It's Schooltime ... It's Dress Time

If it's back to school time, that means it's Miss Madeline time. 

I love this pattern, and have done enough of them that I can whip one up in just a few hours time. It sure makes me feel like a competent sewist, even though I'm really a beginner.

I purchased these fabrics at a little quilting store near my parents house this summer, knowing this would be my daughter's back to school dress. I just love it!

I Have Issues: House Issues, That Is. Part 1.

I love my home. It's a beautiful brick row house on the edge of a great city neighborhood, built at the beginning of the last century.

I certainly didn't love it when I first saw it: a run-down duplex that hadn't been treated well in years and years. But after enjoying the rent from our tenants for a few years, we fixed up some areas, ripped out and started over in others. It's unrecognizable from it's decrepit past, yet maintains the important historical moldings, and some of the room layouts.

This was our first home as a couple, and it's the house that my children came home to from the hospital. I know every nook and cranny, because I made it.

However, it is missing one thing: outside space. Grass. Room for a table for four. 

Yes, we have a garage (huge deal around here!) and a small backyard postage stamp, which we have made the best it can be. But it's still tiny. It's still paved.

This is not my house, but you can get the general feeling from it. 

Frankly, I never thought I needed more. The house is more than generous in size, but I'm getting more than a little tired of not having a backyard to send the kids out to, having to pack up a bag or car to get to an actual green space. I want to dig in the dirt and grow beautiful flowers, I want the children to climb a tree and maybe even fall! Thus, I've been looking at "house p*rn" for about 2 years now, and we've put an offer on one house...it was perfect. It obviously failed. And yes, I'm still bitter.

I'm okay with leaving this house, but I'm not so hip on leaving the city. Nothing wrong with life in the 'burbs, it's just not for me. 

Thus, my choices are limited.

I recently came across a great old farmhouse, a la Martha Stewart, that's still within the city limits, but not really a walking neighborhood. It's on a beautiful acre lot, hosts some magnificent old trees. The house has charm, very different from my big-moldings home now, but a quiet charm full of natural light. Oh, and some awful 1970s remodeling. 

Awful. Awful. Not livable. As in: must-renovate-before-moving-in-type-bad. But the price is right, and this house with renovation would equal out with the sale of our current home.

Nor is this the house I'm contemplating, but you get the idea. Imagine a similar house, in a city neighborhood, significantly more run-down, but with great potential.

There are kids on the street, great potential for a beautiful home and crazy-big yard (by city standards, that is!), and definite livability. But no place to walk. Wait, I already said that. Yea, that's because it's important to me.

Alrighty, that's where I'm cutting this one off. If you've read this far, I commend you. This is therapy of sorts for me, and I'm hoping after writing it all out, I'll come to a decision.

I'll continue later with Option #3. Hint: it's not moving to the 'burbs.

The Joys of Spring

 * A morning out running errands and returning home to put brushes to the paper. 

* The resounding chorus of "Mommy, look what I made!"

* A sweet voice asking "Mommy, come paint with me?"

* That same sweet girl painting flowers on my trees.

Strappy Sundress: Updated

What a simple pattern! I'm envisioning many of these for the hot, humid summer days ahead. 

I think perhaps I misread the instructions, because the skirt I had prepared to attach was so voluminous it barely moved and was ridiculously stiff. Thinking I might've accidentally doubled the measurement or such, I just cut it in half, and it seemed to work okay.

I love the concept of an elastic panel on the back of the bodice and the adjustable strap-thru-loop combo on the back. Both help make it a bit more forgiving on size.

Pattern: Strappy Sundress from Pretty Baby Boutique

UPDATED TO ADD:

Ahh, I finally got her to try it on, and one I did, it was a battle to get it off. She pranced around like a princess, and I was overjoyed that it fit as perfectly as it did.

I'm not much for the trying-on process with a squirmy almost-three-year-old, so I usually just cross my fingers and see how it goes... this was a lucky perfect fit. There are definetly more of these in the future, especially now knowing that I wasn't making it up about the pattern calling for way more skirt fabric than I could manage (see comments).

Another change I made: the technique called for in the very long straps is to sew them inside out and turn with a tool. I tried, but they were just too small for me to do, and frankly, I'm not that patient. So I just increased the width called for, folded/iron each side in to the center and topstitched. Much better, and a flatter, more ribbon-like finish, which I prefer.

Miss Madeline, Revisited

It was one of my first successful kid's sewing projects, one that is easy and clearly explained and produces a really great-looking, well-made garment. I've made a slew of them (check them out here and here).

Last night, I just had a hankering to make something cute and easy, something I could whip out in one sitting. My daughter, bless her heart, has lots of dresses, but not many cute tops. Which presents a problem when one wants to go out and play with out being more dressy.

I've had this fabric sitting around for ages, and have ruined a few projects with it, but have finally turned it into something I love! And with St. Patty's Day just around the corner, I suspect we'll be wearing it again soon!

Pattern: Miss Madeline by The Handmade Dress (shortened to shirt length and waistband not used)

Fabric: Stretch narrow wale corduroy, Marimekko (purchased at a local fabric shop)

Birthday Goodness

With the twins approaching age three, we're starting to hit the birthday party circuit. Two schoolmates, who have birthdays a week apart, are having a joint birthday party next weekend. Which, for us, means four presents!

The birthday boy is all boy ... into trucks, loud things, being loud, etc. So I'm not pushing this one, and we picked out two small toys he is sure to love. The girl, however, is a bit more gentle, and seems like a real sweetie. 

Thus, I thought we'd go the girly route: a cupcake kit. We picked out some of the silicone cupcake cups with feet, a fun mixing spoon, a bowl to put it in, and some cupcake mix and sprinkles. That will be from one of the kids, and the other will give her a sweet little apron. 

I cut it out last night, and whipped it up today during naptime. It's one of my favorite fabrics, and perfect for spring!

Pattern: Based on MakingitFun's tutorial

Fabrics: Joel Dewberry's Aviary