"Cup"cakes

The ladies at my church are one step ahead of cool! The week before my youngest son's birthday, we attended a conference together.  We were discussing food and dessert (imagine that) and they couldn't believe I had never tried microwave cupcakes with the boys.  I felt a little behind and realized I needed to  get my groove on and try these.  

Can you imagine how cool I felt when later that week I saw it pinned on Pinterest?  Yes, I was one step ahead of pinterest.  My church ladies are about 10 steps ahead.  Have I mentioned they are totally cool ladies?!?!?!

We decided to make "cup"cakes for my son's birthday party.  It was just going to be the 4 of us and I thought the boys would love to get hands on and help make the cake!  

The birthday boy sure enjoyed the mixing!  Mixing is very important to "cup"cakes!

Here's the scoop for your "cup"cakes!

~Mix together 1 box of dry angel food cake mix and one box of dry regular cake mix (we used chocolate). Mix very well. 


~Take your favorite coffee cup (I love my fiesta ware!) and add 1/3 cup of the mix to coffee cup and stir in 2-3 tbsp of water.  I only need about 2.  Mix very well!


~Stick your cupcake in the microwave for about 1 minute.  (I do 1 min 30 seconds, my micro is dying a very slow death- you can experiment with the water ratio and the cooking time).


~Let you cake rest for at least 1 minute


~Flip over on a plate and eat.  

The boys just loved doing this.  I keep the dry mix in a tupperware container and we enjoy dessert a couple times a week.  For the birthday party I did drizzle a little homemade frosting over the top, but you don't need it.  The little spongy "cup"cake hits the spot at our house!  Enjoy!

Linking up with Sarahndipities

Linking up with Petal to Picots

Valentine's for the birds

Our Highlights High Five magazine came this week.  Some months the boys are into it and some months they aren't.  This month was a winner.  We read all the stories and then we had to do the craft!  We made some Valentine's for the birds.  My oldest son if very into feeding the birds (but not actually touching them or being around them).  He loves to paint or color on those $1 wooden birder feeds you can get.  So, it was no surprise he wanted to make a bird feeder.  Thankfully, my hubby was going to the store that day and bought us some bird seed!

Here we go!

I cut hearts out of cardboard we had laying around.  We used a paper punch to cut a hole in the top of the heart.  Then, the boys took a try at covering both sides in shortening.  

Then, the youngest thought it would be fun to pat the bird seed all over the kitchen.  The joy of art projects with young kids.  Anyway, stick your bird seed in a pie plate.  

Then, press your shortening covered cardboard heart into the birdseed and cover both sides.  We added a little piece of yarn and we were finished.

It was super cold when we made these (think below zero + a windchill).  So I bundled up while the boys watched from the window and hung our hearts on my little tree.  

I think the birds will really enjoy these when it's not super windy and below zero out!  We will have to wait and see.  Thankfully we have plenty of birdseed so we can make lots more.

Linking up with Sarahndipities

Linkin' up here too!

Check out RIGHT HERE for a giveaway

Jewelry Holder...

I finally finished it!  My jewelry holder.  A while ago I posted some ideas I had found to use with my old frame from the antique section of a craft fair this fall.  Here is what I came up with!

I couldn't find a screen that would have big enough holes for an "S" hook, but a small section of fence did the trick.  Total I think I spent less than $10 at the local home improvement store.  

I need to tweak a few things, like paint the insides of the little round boxes that hold a few earrings and rings that I wear a lot.  

I love the "S" hooks! I also like the little knobs.  I had to make do with what I could find at home.  I ended up finding extra bobbins from my sewing machines and little flowers from my magnetic notepad projects.  I'm so thankful to have finished this and it certainly cleaned up the bathroom.

Linkin' up with Sarahndipities

MSM- The Vest!

My 4 year old changed his mind!  This probably does not surprise anyone.  Last week, I was prepared to buy him a cowboy costume for Halloween.  My son loves to dress up so I knew if we bought it we would use it!  Just before I hit "buy" I asked him again what he wanted to be for Halloween.  I should have known better!  At the time we were watching Fireman Sam on TV.  He was sure he wanted to be a firefighter.  This was great news, we have a fireman costume!

Then yesterday it happened.  We were telling him about the Halloween party we were going to and he melted down.  He wanted to be Moe (from Veggie Tales).  He wanted to be a cowboy.  He was sobbing and telling me we could order it on the internet.  Poor kid!

Now, my mom says I should have just told him "You're a fireman and that's it", but I couldn't!  It was mostly because I wanted to be crafty!  I have been crocheting a lot for the women's expo this weekend and I'm feeling pretty done!  I wanted a different project.  So I did some research and during nap time came up with this...

Now, I must thank Dana-Made-It for the pattern!  This blog saved me!  

I can not really sew.  Every time I get the machine out, I have to read the directions about how to thread the thing...The pattern was easy and can you believe I just happened to have brown flannel at home?  I didn't buy a single thing for this project.  (I live in the middle of no where...I didn't have a choice!)

I even zig zag stitched the edges.  

I hand embroidered the "badge" onto the vest with some felt.

The belt was an after thought, but makes the whole costume!  I used glue, felt, and velcro for that.  I even embroidered a "m" on the belt.

He's wearing his costume right now at 8:49am.  I don't think he will take that vest off all day!  

I can't resist a picture of both my monkeys!

I'm linking up with Sarahndipities today!

I was featured this week.  Thanks everybody!  That makes my whole week.

MSM- Kitchen Scrubbie!

Welcome to my new blog!  I decided to have a seperate space for my creative adventures and keep my writing over at my other blog!  I haven't linked up with Make Something Monday in a while.  I've been busy planning for a fall expo and church bazaar which means making the same couple items over and over...Here is something new!

A lady from church suggested the scurbbies!  I found some inexpensive tulle at my craft store and away I went.  I found 2 inch stripes was just the right size with my H hook!  This first one is a pattern from Lion Brand.  I did find that with tulle, it's best to double up.  I actually had the best luck crocheting two identical circles and then crocheting them together with the cotton yarn as I worked on the rest of the pattern. 

This is my own pattern!  I crocheted two circles out of the red tulle and then turned it into a square!

This pattern is found on ravelry here!  In the bright colored one below, I did use the orange tulle!  The other one is just a simple circle.  I've been enjoying this project a lot.  Now, it's off to buy more tulle and finish a few more projects!

Linkin up with Sarahndipities for MSM (Make Something Mondays!)

Prayer Journal!

We've started what we hope will be a tradition at our MOPS summer retreat.  The leadership team gets together for a whole day during the summer and we plan our attack on the year!  Crafting up some prayer journals have become our tradition.  We pray at every leadership team meeting during the year for each other and all of the moms, kids, and families in our group.  So here is this years journal.  I got the inspiration from this blog, but I needed to work within my budget and a few time constraints (such as I put this off a little bit and was worried about ordering things online and getting them shipped in time!).

You will need...

• Scrapbooking paper
• ornate plates and brads along with something to poke the brads in with.
• plain 4x6 inch index cards
• hole punch
• 6x9 foam where one side is a sticker
• ribbon
• pencil or pen

First- cut the foam in half so that it's 4 1/2 x 6.

Second- remove the sticker and attach the paper.  I found it was easier to trim the paper after I attached it. I left a small edge of paper which looked nice and hid the foam well.

Third- Mark where you holes will be punched.  I did this on the inside of the foam with a pen.  I then used that as a template for the rest of the punches including the index cards.

Next- Work on the cover!

Finally- I printed a bible verse on coordinating paper and glued it to the inside cover.  It hid the back of the brads well.  Then, I sandwiched it all together and tied my ribbon.  To make sure I left enough space for the notebook to open and close, I tied the ribbon around a pencil and then slide the pencil out.  It worked out well and I can lay the notebook flat to write. 

This was the aftermath!  I had to craft with a preschooler.  He did a lot of cutting!

Linkin' up with Sarahndipities.

Make it Monday- Little Vases

Better late than never...We had a wonderful day as a family!


I finally used the book Uncommon Crochet to try a few new projects.  My aunt got if for me a few years ago and I was scared to try it.  The book uses a lot of different fibers and it made me overwhelmed.  Now that I can crochet a little better I was able to use good old yarn from my stash to work on a few projects.  Most of the patterns call for interesting things like, leather cord, hemp, sisal, kitchen twine.  The author does do a good job of giving you alternatives to the "uncommon" materials you might not have.

I ended up frogging a cool project out of the book after I realized my sewing skills (to line the bag) were lacking!  So, while I had a little time to myself I worked on these cute vases instead.  It was a stash buster and I used up 3 tiny balls of yarn I had left over from other projects.  That felt good since my hubby and I deep cleaned our "magic closet" this weekend and I found more yarn!

The vase holding my extra crochet hooks is from acrylic yarn and required some fabric stiffener.  I'm not sure it worked really well, but the vase is cute and is holding up!  The other two vases are made from 100% cotton yarn.  I did a little blocking on the bottom of the small one with water and some pins.  The two-tone vase is actually part of the sake set, but I thought the pitcher was cuter as a vase!

Happy Monday (or Tuesday)!

(The flower pattern is from Sarahndipities and I'm linking up with her today.  The pattern is my go-to flower!)

Miscellany Monday- End o' vacation!

It's the end of our vacation!  Off we go north.  I did hear they had to mow our grass while we were gone.  Does this mean spring has sprung in Minnesota?  Here's the crazy we've been up too!

I'm joining in with Sarahndipities and her Make Something Monday!  I finish it and not a moment to soon.  The is my sister and her new husband holding my labor of love for their wedding gift.  

35 granny squares in shades of purple.  The pattern can be found here!I enjoyed this project.  I used to find granny squares boring.  I just didn't enjoy joining them and dreaded that moment so I stayed away from them.  This and my square a day in May project have changed my mind!  I've found a few new ways to join them and decided that it actually doesn't take that long!

These aren't all of my favorites, but I needed to start some where!  It has been a very miscellany two weeks for us being away from home.  First seminary and visiting friends followed by my sister's wedding!  My oldest owned the dance floor.  He was ready to dance from the day my sister explained the wedding to him!  Poor baby boy couldn't make it past the food.  It was his favorite part.  He just kept eating.  He finally passed out (probably from too many sweet potato chips) and managed to miss the cake eating.  Thank goodness for my inlaws.  They came as our personal baby sitters (and part of the extended family).  They happily kept my kids under control and took them home early so we could dance the night away!

The wedding was an interfaith ceremony!  My brother-in-law is Jewish.  We had both a Rabbi and Pastor (my husband) present to marry them.  It was very interesting.  One thing I found very moving was the Chuppah (pronounced Hoopah).  You can kind of see it in the picture above of my family.  It symbolizes the home the couple will make.  It has open sides to show the importance of community and participation in each other's lives.  It also had 4 friends and family standing at the wall and corners of their symbolic home; they are the foundation upon which the structure of their lives rest.  Friends and family fill the home.  The roof symbolizes the importance of what is beyond ourselves and the presence, in our hearts, of those whom we love who cannot rejoice with us today.  (The description of the chuppah is taken from their marriage ceremony)  

The other very moving part was the blessing from Numbers 6:24-26.  The Rabbi and my husband read it in both Hebrew and English. And yes, my brother-in-law did stomp on the glass after the blessing and kiss. It was a beautiful way to end the ceremony. 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Linin' up with Carissa too!

Make it Monday- Cleaning up!

I've had a long list of projects and just needed to clean them up and get them finished!  I gifted my sister and her fiance (they will be married on Saturday) some neck pillows for traveling this Christmas.  They are traveling with The 25th Anniversary tour of Les Miserables and catch planes and/or buses almost every week.  It took me until this week to finish up their neck pillows.  I'm not talented at sewing, but found a great pattern earlier in the year and made some neck pillows for our annual church bazaar.  I had the pillows cut and pinned for my sister but it took me until 7am the morning we were leaving to actually sew them together.  I stuck them, a needle and thread, and my batting in the car and finished them up at my parents house!

I used fleece from the local fabric place and found the pattern on Etsy.  It's from Urban Sparrow and it looks like the shop is closed now.  I'm sure you could search and find another pattern.  Or, if you are even a remotely experienced sewer you could probably figure this out all by yourself!  It doesn't take much fabric.  I bought less than a yard and could make a few more with scraps I have laying around.  I can't sew either, so this is a pretty easy pattern.  I do try to use my rotary cutter to cut the fleece out, but I think next time I will just pull out the old scissors.  I might have better luck getting it all matched up.  

So, if you a large group of people heading through the airport and one has a NY Yankees neck pillow, you have just found the cast of Les Mis.  I'm linking up with Sarahndipities again and Little Rays of Sunshine!  

    

Flowers for Breakfast

I always say I won't do it and then some how I end up helping with some high school youth group fundraiser!  This year I decided to give my hubby a break and help plan the Easter Breakfast at church.  It ended up going so well and everybody worked really hard.

We have table decorations at church we could use, but I wanted to make something special for Easter.  Thankfully, I knew if I didn't get it done there was something to fall back on!  (Think fake flowers in tiny little coffee cups...)  I had a plan for balloons and gerber daisies.  Sadly, I didn't have my list together in time for my trip to town.  I got home Tuesday night and was bummed.  No special decorations until I came up with this!

Let's call them recycled flowers.  My lovely friend, H, let me borrow her cricut.  (Which my son thought was an actual "animal" and was wondering if H brought the cage and if we were keeping it outside!)  I used left over scrapbooking paper and jars I had for another event at church.  I wanted to do that fake "grass" stuff, but no more trips to town were planned.  So, I just shredded the scraps and some other paper I knew I wouldn't use and stuck it in the jars.  I thought they looked pretty good!  I was amazed that I could actually finish the whole project without a trip to the craft store.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter.  Join up with Sarahndipities and let's see what we can make this week...

A button!

Oh, the button just finishes this little hat!  I made one for my tiny goddaughter in yellow!  It's here, if you want to see it.  Anyway, I stopped at a very cute yarn shop on my date with my hubby a few Fridays ago.  Normally, I'm a big box yarn store buyer and I stick with Lion Brand yarn.  At the yarn store I fell in love with a pretty pink wool/cotton blend.  I have never used anything like it.  I picked up a green for myself!  So, this hat has been redone multiple times.  I couldn't get the size right for my 8 year old god daughter (luckily I had a model from our church, who now wants one of her own!) and I sure hope this fits!  Anyway, I'm proud of my skills as a crocheter because it took everything I had to finish it with this yarn and not give up!

The hat pattern is from McKinley's Closet and I found the pattern on Ravelry!  I used Sarahndipities flower pattern and just added a few more rounds to the large flower and one more round to the middle.  I love the button.  I can't wait to give it to my Hannah girl!  My son asked about Hannah at the store and I told him she was my first baby love until I had my own children.




Linkin' up with Sarahndipities.