Happy Birthday My Boy!!!

Yesterday was Eli’s birthday so I just had to bring him some treats at school.  You see, my birthday falls over Christmas Break and as such, I never in my whole life was able to bring birthday treats to school :0)  Do ya feel sorry for me?  I will give you my mother’s phone number and you can tell her just how bad you feel :0)

I know that these Ice Cream Cone CupCakes are nothing new.  I remember having them as a kid.  However, when the kids in Eli’s school class saw them they were simply amazed :0)  They thought I invented the idea.  When I told Scott about the kid's reactions to the cupcakes he said, “What, are they so old that they are new?”  I guess that is the case.  Anyway, I heard an idea for making these a little easier and thought I would share.  

It involves foil:0)

I used over-sized roasting pans to bake my cones in.  I wanted a big pan because I am lazy and only wanted to have to bake 2 batches.  Anyway, run foil across the top of the empty pan-I used 2 pieces-just like you would if it were half-full of leftover lasagna :0)  

Use as sharp knife and make an X where you plan to put a cone.  I was able to get 15 cones in the over-sized pan.  When loading the cones I filled the X's all the way around the outside edge first, then moved to the middle spots.  I thought it made the foil stay in place better than squishing them down in the middle.  

I had technical difficulties when loading up the middle row.  I pushed the cone in and broke the foil.  For future reference, cut the center holes bigger, then use your fingers to open them to the right size.  It helps, but doesn't relieve the issue.  It really was no problem though... 

I just scrunched up some foil and filled the holes.  Worked like a charm.  

Now for the BIG defunkle... 

I over filled the cones.  They looked something like this before... 

And like this after... 

You can just peel off the runners, but it is prettier if you avoid the problem all together.  We ended up with 45 cones so I picked the good ones to take to school and fed the yucky ones to the family.  They were all in it for the frosting anyway :0)

With the other two batches I made sure to leave 1/2" or more head space when filling.  They turned out much better.  Turns out, when you don't over-fill the cones, they don't have a heavy side and fall over :0)  

You might be interested to know I mixed 2 cake mixes and had enough batter to over fill the first 15, then still do another 30 cones :0)

I did have 2 cones that had holes in the bottom or something, because the batter just disappeared!

I used the Wilton Chocolate Buttercream recipe for the frosting.  I piped it on using star tip no. 2B.  We topped these yummy guys off with unwrapped dum-dum suckers and multi-colored sprinkles.

Yumm!  

Only one problem, you eat all the frosting before you ever get to the cake!  It can drive an adult crazy, but kids don't seem to care. 

This is probably bad, but I just loaded all the cupcakes back into the pan I baked them in.  Transporting is the hardest part of this project.  I made these with colored cones *Adorable* a few years back.  However, we lost quite a few in the car ride to school.  To avoid the problem this time I used the higher-sided pan, pushed them all the way to the edge so no one could budge, then...

recycled my foil from the baking(after I scraped all the cake off :0) by balling it up and filling in the empty space.  The cones made it to the school, even with my crazy driving, all in one piece!!!

Eli loved it and Emmalee LOVED seeing Eli at school on his birthday!

Happy Birthday Eli!!! 

Party plans are underway, you will see more on that in the next week or two.

Any Suggestions?

What do I do with these?  

I'm going Bunco Bonkers!!!

I made these in the backyard last December.  It was my turn to host and I was going to give everyone a little something as a Bunco favor, but I just couldn't pull it together.  Finally, I bagged the project -literally- and hoped I could work it all out later.   

I think the basic design behind the 1 1/2" dice was to dangle them

 from this sign and it could be used as a Christmas ornament... 

It didn't work.  I am stuck.  The signs ended up way too small for the ornament thing, but a bigger sign would be way too big.  Now I think any more than one die would be too big.  I have been pondering for 2 months now and still have nothing.  Maybe the squeeze of hosting next month will get the juices flowing, but I am seriously open to suggestions.   

Any ideas???

The dice are just to super cute to waste :0}

Thanksgiving Skirts Re-Vamped

The Thanksgiving skirts became official members of the Vegas Collection when the ruffles were added.  I think it is really sad that I couldn't have possibly stitched those ruffles in place in the whole 3 months they patiently waited at my house.  I had to rent a car and drive to Vegas to do it!  You know how you just don’t see how bad things are until you leave, that was me.  The holidays are always so packed anyway, and when I added in all the clippies that exploded all over my house I was positively drowning.  I am determined to not let that start happening again-take time for my stuff too :0) and maybe, maybe say no sometimes :0)

Enough of my drama, I am so very in love with these skirts I cannot even express.  I sketched them up in my mind one night, then found the perfect fabric at Joanns.  I wanted a wool like fabric, but when I saw the price I started making other plans.  This is actually 100% cotton-must pre-wash :0)  I think it was in a section called “British Prints” or something and came in around $5 or $6 a yard.  With my coupon it was reasonable.  

For a circle skirt (found here) Emmalee’s size I needed 1 yard.  For Madison’s, I needed closer to 2.  I ended up using 4 yards for both skirts and used all the scrap for the ruffle.  I just cut the scraps into 1 1/2" strips on the diagonal and stitched them on with...you guessed it, my ruffler foot!!!  I didn't bother finishing the edges.  I wanted the scrappy look that seems so popular lately. 

Obviously the skirts are very accommodating for a busy girl.   

Taking pictures of Emmalee takes a great deal of patience and imagination.  Just wait, it gets worse.  

Here is where it is worse:0)

 

Sure you can dig in the dirt and rocks while wearing your hand-wash only ivory colored petti skirt :0)

Yes, and please roll around a little.  We want the dirt color evenly distributed.   

Don't you just love the layers of ruffles!?!

And we get a little worse all over again :0)  She discovered brother and sister laugh every time she hikes her skirt up, so BRING IT ON!

A little higher...

and higher still...

This pic reminds me of Holly Hobby.  Remember her?  That short little bell shaped dress...wait, that wasn't Holly Hobby.  She wore the pioneer get up.  Who am I thinking of, like Shirley Temple?  I don't know but it is kinda cute this way too :0)

Anyway, one more piece from the Vegas Collection revealed!

Yeah!  Now when is the next Vegas Retreat?  Next weekend?  Please!?!

Happy Birthday Skirt

Madison's friend had a birthday party today.  I rummaged through the stash in an effort to come up with something a newly 12 year old would like.  This skirt was the product of my trauma.  I had some pink chiffon that was just a little too bright by its self.  After pairing it with this black chiffon leopard print and the baby pink slip between the layers, the pink chiffon ended up very lovely.  As usual, the pictures just don't do justice.  I almost ran to Target for a gift card and kept this one for Mads.  You are probably thinking, " What would Madison do with another skirt!?!"  We find solutions around here :0)  It's ok, no solution necessary.  The skirt made it to the party and now has a new fluffy owner :0)   

Madison and I spent the afternoon today driving from store to store...ok, after I took hours at Joanns looking for fabric for another project, we went to Hobby Lobby and still did not find the polka dot fabric Madison wanted to use for the skirt.  When this leopard print was spotted it was love at first sight!  I made the top layer out of the leopard print chiffon, the middle slip/underskirt is a satin remnant I had, then the bottom layer is the hot pink nylon chiffon.  I ran almost 100 yards of fabric through my ruffler foot this evening to get this poof-ball of girly wonder :0)  Never try one without the "universal ruffler foot"  You are probably tired of hearing me talk about my ruffler foot for my sewing machine, but I never leave home sew without it.

The trauma came when my machine started pulling scary faces at me about 20 minutes from the completion of the project-had everything gone smoothly it would have been 20 minutes, that is :0)  I finally took the whole thing apart and vacuumed it out.  That seemed to work.  Guess my poor Singer was just feeling a little less than fresh and wanted a little spritzing.  

As you can see in the photo above, we figured you could actually flip this skirt over and wear it on the reverse side.  Had I a little more time I would have sewn a black ribbon on the seam between the two pink tiers.   I love the look of the ribbon lined skirts.  Maybe we will have to make another one :0)  Later, for now, the birthday girl!

She seemed to like her gift.  She pulled it out of the bag and put it right on :0)  Emmalee could have cared less about the skirt.  She was thrilled mot only that she got to go inside to pick up Madison, but they gave her a marshmallow pop!  Don't you just LOVE birthday parties!!!

Baby Shower Number 2!!!

I have 3 baby showers this week.  Tuesday was number 2!  I made some blankets, really just so I could try Ashley’s cute blanket lollipops.  They really are so easy to make.  Check it out over at Cute As A Fox.

Here is the first blanket.  Score for me!  Joanns has the baby flannel for $2.50 a yard.  I have HUGE babies so I like the blankets big.  Also, because I am a little OCD I MUST have them SQUARE!!!  Those rectangle blankets drive me NUTS!!!  Anyway, these are about 40" square.  I attempted to applique a monkey from the fabric on the front of this diaper-to-a-burp-cloth conversion.  I have to admit I didn't like them at first, but the diapers are actually quite cute as burp cloths and they are super absorbent :0)

Set number two has a blanket, a burp cloth, and my personal favorite, a changing pad cover!!!  I came to the conclusion with my very messy ;0P Emmalee that it would be nice to have a couple layers underneath their dirty bums to strip away as needed.  I only had one cover and it was always in the wash.  I had to use towels until I finally found the fabric of choice at Joanns.  It is over by the felt of all places, but is a waterproof cotton pad.  I think it is $10 a yard at full price, but with the coupon it is way less.  Babys-R-Us sells these pads for like $10 each and you can get a couple out of a yard-6 to be exact.  

Here is the other one I gave her.  I pre-washed the fabric so it looks a little worn, but I hate when things shrink after you used it once and then it looks like a science project for the rest of it's life.  I cut the yard into 1/6s, sewed the bias tape around the edge, then added the rickrack and random stitching lines for decoration.   My friend Whitney said "That's too cute to poop on!"  That made me smile.

Happy Baby Having Lyndsey!!!

Now for shower number 3!

I bet you will never guess what I am making for shower number 3.  Really, I can't either.  I hate making decisions and to make the  "what am I going to make for the shower" decision for the third time is causing small puffs of steam to tunnel out of my ears :0)

My Personal 80's Flashback

What do I remember about the 80’s?  Not much.  The strongest memory I have is getting to go into the coolest store ever…I think it was called Rainbow or something, and buy bright colored erasers in the shapes of hearts and rainbows.  Everything was made in primary colors and everything was covered in hearts or rainbows…or unicorns…everything for a little girl anyway.  

We were at Joann's a few months ago and I saw this fabric in the clearance pile.  Covered in hearts and kind of sweatshirt material, talk about taking me back!  I decided Emmalee needed a play skirt out of that fabric.  I bought ½ a yard and added it to my wanna-do basket.

This lovely piece also came from my "Vegas Collection".  I was actually running out of things to do and decided to go for it with this skirt.  No pattern, I basically sewed two ends together, folded over the top and inserted the elastic waistband.  To spice it up a bit I added the two front pockets and the ruffle of chiffon on the bottom just because I was into the ruffling mode.  Emmalee LOVED it!  She asks me for her heart skirt.  

Apparently it even looks good upside down :0)   

Go ahead, ask her.  "Emmalee, how much do you love your heart skirt?" 

Do you get the picture :0)

Blue and Gold Wrap Up

Whew!  I am sure I am not the only one who feels that way now that our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet is over,  but we all had a great time.  I was totally thrilled with how cool the fire pit centerpieces turned out.  In the end I decided to sand the edges.  I thought it gave it that white hot look :0)  Kristen and her hubby made the marshmallows/roasting sticks, sweet Ann painted the orange flames for me-HUGE help!  

It was kinda funny this morning.  All of the red flames were spread across my craft table like this when I walked into the room.  It looked a little cartoony.  It reminded me of a scene from Mario Brothers or something, with little fires all over the table top waiting to be put out-Made me laugh :0D 

Anyway, I glued all the orange to the red, then glued the logs to the bottom so that the two pieces could come apart, but the whole thing was free standing when put back together.  Can you tell I am a little proud of myself about this project.  I spend a long while trying to figure out just how to make this fire cool looking, easy to put together, and somewhat easy to store.  Yep.  I love it!

I have the pattern ready and on sale at my Etsy site.  You can find it here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBubbleBox

Here are all sides of the photo cubes.  They turned out totally Awesome!  Julie dropped by yesterday to help with the photo cubes and ended up taking everything with her and doing them all at her house-BLESS YOU JULIE!!!

  

Here is a table, scouts included.  I tore pieces of craft paper for the placemats, wrapped the silverware in the napkins and tied with jute, did a quick serge around the plaid for the center square, and then I think you have heard enough about the fires by now :0)  The photo cubes are all there too with each boy's photo and den photo as a keepsake.   

I made the pennant banner about an hour before we had to leave.  This one took about 20 minutes to cut, 20 minutes to look for my jute/ribbon/anything to sew the pennants to, 20 minutes to sew it all together.  It measured almost 90 feet long.   I really, really LOVE pennant banners.  They give the ability to decorate the top half of the room without the expense and waste of balloons.  The fabric for this banner was purchased at Walmart for $1.50 a yard-the equivalent of 3 yards- and $4 for the ribbon I sewed the pennants to.  That's a total of $9 for a decoration that can be re-used year after year.  I have enough fabric cut out to make one more so next year we can hang 2.

Check out these cuties!!!  Ann found the idea, Bobbi made them happen.  Little Owl s'mores!  How cute is that :0)

So they are made with a graham cracker as the body, two marshmallows slightly melted in the microwave, 2 yellow chocolate melts for the yellow part-obviously :0), and chocolate chips for the pupils.  Lets ask Emmalee if they were any good... 

Oh, I'm sorry.  She can't talk right now :0)  Scott said he couldn't stop eating them so you know they must have been good!

*Note*  If you are loven' the fire pit, I do have one for sale on my etsy.  The pattern is ready and available as a download for $5 at my Etsy site also:  

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBubbleBox

Email me if you have any questions at vanessa.cam5@gmail.com  

Well, there you have the behind the scenes wrap-up of our Blue and Gold decorating.  So many hands make light work, right?  Now to get ready for the Pinewood Derby :0)  One month to go!