Something New

Not that I have a great following here or anything, but if you ever have read this blog you might have noticed a dearth of posts lately.

That's because I have a new website devoted to sewing and baking!  I'm excited to tell those of you who haven't yet heard!

Go check out Cristy Makes and Bakes .  I have pictures of my creations with the needle and from the kitchen.  I've even filled a few orders!

I'm thankful to have the chance to provide a service for other people and help my own family at the same time.

And here it is...

My first mini cupcake...

I've already learned from you, and I look forward to many experiments in the future.

Homemade Christmas

This year my husband and I made some special gifts for our children.  His gift to our daughter is simply jaw-droppingly amazing!  I had this ready to post not long after Christmas, but life happened, and we're all still recovering.  Enjoy stepping back in time with me, if you will...

I made a simple little apron for her to accompany this fantastic gift.

This picture doesn't do justice to my amazing husband's talents.  He built Nadia her own kitchen complete with microwave, stove, oven, sink and cabinets.  Let's just say that he is the best dad in the world - definitely in his children's eyes and in mine!

They got bunk beds for Christmas, which meant the pack-n-play could finally be packed away, which also meant we needed new bedding.  I made this reversible Buzz/Toy Story blanket for Isaiah (you're seeing both sides).

I've made bean bags for several friends, but I never seemed to get around to making any for my own kids, so I remedied that.  One side is Buzz and the other Woody.  For now they have 2 each, but hopefully we'll expand the repertoire.  

While Thomas showed off his wonderful skills by making Nadia's kitchen completely from scratch (I still can't get over how amazing it is!); my most challenging gift was a little smaller, and didn't take as many hours as Thomas put into his gift of love.  I think the recipient will be just as pleased, though.

and a close up view

This Kermit shirt was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be, but I was really pleased with the end product!  And so was Isaiah...

And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, makes every ripped out stitch worthwhile

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (yes, I know it's February).

A Little Thankful Treat

This picture of turkeys was going around Facebook for a while, and my mom thought that I should do it.  

So here's a go:

I whipped up some butter cream frosting to put in the top of the Double Stuff Oreos to help hold the candy corn more securely.  Amazingly enough I was able to ignore any OCD tendencies and didn't bother lining up the word Oreo correctly with the candy corn.  I mean it was going to get covered up anyway.

Now, I used generic peanut butter cups and malt balls, which I think are actually bigger than the name brand.  You'll see what I mean in a bit.  But definitely get the Double Stuff Oreos - you need the extra cream!

And here's my finished product:

See, the bigger candy pieces didn't leave room for me to make the cute little icing legs/feet.  But, you know, I don't think the kids who will get to eat them will really care.  I'm sure they'd really prefer the larger candy.

And all my little turkeys ready for school in the morning!

Just Because

Sometimes you just need to bake.  Knowing that we wouldn't eat a whole cake, I thought cupcakes would be more appropriate and easy to share.  First time to make cupcakes in my new oven, and well, I guess I need more practice.  

They tasted great, but um, I don't think cupcakes are supposed to have little gnome-like caps.  Obviously filled some of the cups too much, but I'm curious why they cooked over to the side.  Oh well, practice makes progress.

And I don't think my taste testers would mind more testing in the future.

And this is how cupcakes look after being iced with the help of 2 year old.  I do think we need a bigger tip.

You can't go wrong with chocolate.

My First Clutch and First Review

I don't remember exactly how I came across Sew It Love It, but I've enjoyed the site, and even got a special treat!  Ilse is very talented and makes beautiful things out of fabric, but even more than that, she makes it possible for other people to make beautiful things out of fabric because she creates patterns.

She asked for pattern testers, and I volunteered.  The pattern was for a date night clutch, something I have never sewn before, but an accessory that most women would love to have, right?

You should definitely check out Ilse's site if you're even remotely interested in sewing - she's got some great patterns!  And you can see my review for the date night clutch on her site, here.

And here's my finished product:

Front

I really, really like the ribbon down the side of the bag (it's front and back).  It was challenging to make it look ruffled in a natural, pretty way, but I think I pulled it off.

Inside

There is so much room in this little bag!  The contrasting lining is a full pocket, then you have the zippered pocket (I'm really proud of getting that zipper in on my first try, by the way!), and there are two small pockets at the bottom.  Definitely enough room for any woman, but small enough that any mom on a date night will wonder why she has so much room in her hands!

Back and Front

I'm sorry this isn't the best picture, but I wanted to show the contrast of the front of the clutch with the back.  I had fun picking out these fabrics!  

This pattern would also work well with simpler fabrics for less of a fancy look, but you really need to just check it out for yourself at Sew It Love It!

Choo-Choo Someone's Two!

My latest cake adventure was a lot of fun!  This was my first time to have directions on every aspect of creating the cake, which relieved some pressure in some ways.

In honor of my little girl's 2nd birthday, the girl who stands at the window and "commands" for trains to come by, who waves "bye-bye" and says "thank you" to them for coming, and when visiting other people's houses goes to their windows and looks for trains, this cake seemed appropriate:

from Wilton's Celebrate! with Fondant magazine

When I showed her the picture and asked if she would like this cake, she excitedly replied, "Oh-TAY!", which is how she says "yes" when she's extremely happy.

I chose a simple pound cake recipe and followed the directions given by baking 2 loaves and one cupcake.

Loaves "dirty iced" with vanilla buttercream frosting

Of course, I had to change the colors for my girl, who without being taught to do so, gravitates to pink.

The body of the train

I forgot to take more pictures in between because I was kind of in a hurry, but here's the almost completed project.  The wheels are made from fondant as well.  I had to make them several days ahead for them to be firm enough and not "wilt".  As a precaution I stuffed paper under them since I put them on the night before.  They turned out great!

Almost done!

I don't have letter cutouts, so I bought some "food writing" markers.  They were easy to use, and I think will last a while.


The "steam" is marshmallows slightly melted so that they would stick together (thanks to my mil for the great idea!)  I did vary from the directions here because I didn't want to make more fondant to roll into balls for the steam.

Finished product!

My daughter LOVED her cake!  She ate it with concentrated determination.

The happy birthday girl

This cake was lots of fun to make, and by changing the colors, could be used on different occasions for any train theme party.  This cake serves 10, but if you have a larger event, more cars could be added to make sure everyone can "get on board"!

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