Baby Card for Sketches

I decided that while I was doing sketches I might as well tackle a couple at a time since I have so many baby showers coming up in the next couple of months. Here is one for a baby girl.
This sketch comes from Sketches . Enjoy

Baby Shower Card and Sketch Entry (all in 1)

I did this card for an entry in 2 Sketches for you. It was really fun putting it together while following the guidelines. It is for a friend that is having a baby in a couple of weeks. I debated crossing off flowers and putting frogs instead but could not decide if it was corney or even if it made sense. What do you think?

The latest Wedding!

Here are just a few pics of the latest wedding that I decorated.




The bride and groom did not really want a line, but their parents talked them into having a central place for them to hang out during the reception so that guests would be able to find them and give them their congradulations. Of course they really did not have a lot of time to sit down, but the chairs were fun to have there for them anyway.

For a very simple centerpiece the bride chose to use a flat round fishbowl, with clear and royal blue rocks and carnations. Blue carnations are difficult to find so the flourist sprayed the tips blue. I think that they turned out really great. Simple yet beautiful!

I previously posted more tips on working with fondant. Here is the end result of all my hard work. I think that it turned out really great. I did the dots to help hide all the imperfections in the fondant.

My favorite item at a reception are chair covers. I think that it just makes the reception complete. I especially love the smaller square on top of the larger square in different colors! I hope that you enjoyed looking!

The Latest Bows

I swear that everyone I know is having a baby. Most of them are going to be girls. I really don't want to go out and find little outfits for all of them because 1) I don't have the money for that 2) I would rather buy baby clothes for my bun in the oven than someone elses (I know that is selfish of me)

A few weeks ago I found a really good deal on the really thin satin ribbon. So I decided that I would make a few corkers out of them. I attatched the korkers to 2" alligator clips so that their moms could put them in their hair or on a headband. I was going to make a knee high nylon headband, but ran out of time for the shower last night so she got 2 tiny (I think they were almost 2 inchs across) korker bows.

The really colorful korker is for my dd. I found a korker similar to this with a lot of crazy colors and could not resist. I only made enough korker for 1 bow, but I am definately going to make enough for one more for the pigtails. I normally do not go for crazy stuff, but I stepped outside my comfort zone yesterday with that one.

And the last one that I worked on is more inside my box. It is the same "spider" shape, but it is just purple. There are two different prints on the ribbon, one is stripe and the other is dots. My dd just loves them.

The lastest Wedding Cake

I have another wedding of a family member coming up this weekend. She found out that I did a cake for someone on my dh side of the family last year and wanted me to do one for her. So I agreed.

I have only worked with fondant 2 times before this week. The first is here and the second was a small cake that I did with my sister because she wanted to see how to make fondant. I must say the third time around is a millions times easier.

I used the marshmallow fondant that you can find here. A couple of hints that I have learned this go around are

1. Use about 2/3 - 3/4 of the bag of powdered sugar. It will make your fondant stickier, but alot easier to work with in the end.
2. If the fondant is really hard to roll out, put it in the microwave for a 15 seconds at a time until it is easier to work with again. Sadly I figured this out after doing 2 of the layers.
3. Patience, Patience, Patience!
4. Invest in a good roller that is long and skinny and has no handles. You will not get the lines that come from the rollers ends as badly.
5. Get a fondant smoother. It is like a plastic trowel (you know those things that concrete people use to smooth out the concrete), but it is made for fondant. I found mine at walmart for 5 dollars or so.

For the actual icing (the dots and the shells) I used royal icing and tips 18 (for the shells) and 4 (for the dots). The last wedding cake we did dots all the around the bottoms of the cakes, but this time I decided on the shells because I had some pretty big flaws at the bottom to cover up. It definately helped. The dots are for something a little different and to try and hide more flaws.

The royal icing recipe that I used is

mix 1/2 c crisco (the white kind), 1 drop of butter flavoring, 1 tsp vanilla (I used clear)

Then add 1 lb powdered sugar and 1/4 c water until it is the consistency is like whipping cream

I also found this great website with lots of great tips for decorating any cakes, find it here. She also has a different recipe for the marshmallow fondant.

I love doing the marshmallow fondant, it is cheap, tastes really great, and it is easy to work with. We are setting up for the wedding tonight so I will get pictures of the cake with the flowers on it for you later. I am just so excited that it turned out better than the last ones! Wahoo!

Sour Cream Container Valentines

I recently saw some really cute tutorials for Sour Cream Containers. I fell in love with them. I normally don't do Valentines, but I could not resist this year.

Each of the containers have either a fun size M&M, Snickers, and Almond Joy or Hot Tomales, Runts, or Swedish Fish poured into the container.

The tags were cut with Mini Monograms cart for the Cricut. I just adore that machine! :) The words were black rub on letters from TLC (they have changed to Breezy Designs since then). I just love all their rub ons. I seem to go back to them more than any other brand.

They turned out so cute. I even did a couple for Birthdays that were last weekend. The bucket I got from Walmart for $1.00 each, then I filled the bucket with the tissue paper that has been cut into thin strips. ( I was really lazy when I was making them because I just bought the tissue paper already cut up).

More Boutique Girl Hair Bows

I have been working on some more bows for my little girl. These are much larger than the first ones that I did. They look so cute in her ponny tails.

I have seen many bows that have a ton of color, the only problem with them is that you have to have a specific outfit to match. So if you are just starting out in making the bows or buying them then stick with ones that only have one color on them, and that you know will match many outfits. As you figure out how you like to use them then get more at your desire!

The white one is so versatile. It works with fancy and casual clothing.
This bow I just could not resist making. I loved the color combo, the only problem, my dd does not have anything that matches it. Oh well. It sure is cute!

A little girl can never go wrong with pink. This bow will go perfectly with her brown pants and pink, blue, or white shirts. Love It!

Apron Tutorial

The apron I made was for my 3 year old. At the widest point it is 20 inches and at the top it is 6 inches wide. It is going to be big on her but I did that on purpose so that she could grow into it. It is about 2 ft tall.

Materials Needed:

Newspaper

Fabric (I used 3 different colors, 1/3 yard of the blue, 2/3 yd each of pink and yellow)

Sewing Machine

Sewing Supplies

1. With the newspaper cut out the shape of the apron that you are wanting. I wanted the bottom to be scalloped so it was a little more difficult. I also made the slides slope a bit, but to make it easier you could just cut it at a straight line. Also the top part is a little bowed so that it will fit better around the neck.

2. Place the newspaper pattern over the fabric. Pin in place and cut.

3. Place the right side of the cutout apron on the right side of the other fabric that you will be using. The wrong side (that would be the side that you don't want to see when you have a finished product). Pin them in place and cut.

4. Cut out of the blue (or accent fabric) two 4 inch x the short length of your fabric (it will either be 45, 54, 60)

5. Fold in half and sew together.

6. Turn the tubes inside out (this is time consuming because the tubes are pretty skinny) .

7. Next cut the desired length for the neck piece (my fabric was 45 inches and I cut it in half so 22.5), and the lengths for the ties (mine were the same length as the neck piece).

8. To make the ends of the ties and neck piece look better fold inside of the tube about a 1/4-1/2 inch of fabric and sew in place (see the pic).

9. Cut out desired size of pockets (mine are 6 inch by 5 inch). Turn about 1/4 inch of fabric over to finish the sides and sew.

10. Sew the pockets onto the first apron cutout onto the desired spot on the right spot.

11. Sew the two apron pieces together, inside out, or the right sides facing each other. Make sure to leave a hole about 2 inches long so that you could turn the apron right side out. Sew the hole together when it is turned.

12. Attatch the apron strings (neck piece and side ties). On mine I place the neck piece as close to the edge of the top as possible, and the side pieces I placed them at the top of the widest part of the apron.

If you are wanting to purchase my newspaper cutout of the apron, then feel free to visit my etsy site.

I also would love to see your variations of the apron (or any other apron that you have made). Leave me a comment with your blog address so I can check it out!

This tutorial is to be used for personal purposes only. Thanks

The last few weeks of crafting/scrapbooking

My DD birthday is coming up the end of this month and I made her this cute little apron. I am going to attempt to make a chefs hat and hot pad (my husband forgot to get my batting out of storage the other day so I will wait til next time one of us goes there). I am going to be putting up my first tutorial for the apron. Let me know what you think of it and how I can improve.

I made these two bows for my dd. They turned out so cute. I did the boutique bow tie and then layered it on top of 3 matching ribbons that made an x. The next picture shows it better.

Finally I made 2 different cards this week. One that I forgot to take a picture of (argh) for a bridal shower and the other is this one. We just got back from a cruise with my family that my generous dad paid for half of it. So this is a thank you card for him. I made it big enough to put the cd of our pictures in it so that they could have some of our pics too.