lylasttdid. take two...

On Bree's last weekend home we decided to get together again to sew! I had a project in mind!!! See, I have this fondant rolling pin and mat that I keep in a tube that I bought at the UPS Store, a cardboard shipping tube. It is not pretty. My solution...make it pretty!

I headed to JoAnn's a few weeks ago looking for fabric to make curtains for my classroom (more on that later) and found the perfect fabric for a fondant rolling pin cover!! Brown background, pink cupcake decorations! Love at first sight. I bought just 1/3 of a yard and it was enough to make not only what I had in mind, but two other things!

I brought the fabric and ideas to Sewing Day and set to work, with my Mom's help. We pinned and plotted and really, came up with the perfect solution!! A tube cover with a strap! Because this tube is long, awkward, and it rolls...not always the best combination when moving it around or traveling with it.  Once I had made that, I had some left over fabric and decided to make a pot holder and a fondant tool pencil case. I really like sewing days with Bree, my Mom, and Kathy - Bree's Mom. I hope this is a tradition we start...especially since Bree says she's moving home next spring!!!

Mom and I in the planning stages.

All done. Pot holder. Fondant cover and carrier. Fondant tool pouch.

This makes me happy!!!

The cover.

Closed.

Top of the container.

A peak inside :) Secure, clean, and decorated!

The original plan. Came out just like I wanted it too!

reposting & intro about CCOC...

So I figured out how to get all of my 'old' posts from the family blog over here...so I'll be adding those as time goes by. Though...I will tell you I am going to my first ever CUPCAKE CAMP at the Oregon Coast (Cupcake Camp Oregon Coast - CCOC) this weekend so the next two nights I'll be busy baking!!! Well tonight is more about getting things lined up and making sure I have all the ingredients before the baking starts tomorrow! I have one of my favorite friends Sabrina helping me with production tomorrow and a husband who's agreed to watch TV in the bedroom to avoid the madness :) Actually, that was his idea! There will be SO MUCH more on Cupcake Camp this coming weekend...fingers crossed!

the first...

Welcome to my 'homemaking' blog. It seems to me, and to many of my friends and family, that in the last few years I have really started to take an interest in many things related to homemaking. I love cake decorating, I'm interesting in scrap booking, and have really started to enjoy sewing - 99% of the time!

This blog is meant to take the "family" out of it, that's for the other blog, and focus on my adventures of homemaking. We've been in our house just a month under a year and it is really starting to feel like home as we start to make memories here.

You'll see things about baking, my adventure's in cooking dinners (my least favorite activity), scrap booking, photography, and sewing...at least for the time being. I've been known to knit about once every two years and like to think I now how to match colors to make the room look good. I even once, just last week, used the word decor in a sentence!

And who knows where this will lead...someday...well, I guess we'll see when we get there :)

lylasttdid...

One of my other favorite friends Bree has been working at 'home' in Portland this summer. Though she currently resides in the OTHER Washington (DC that is) she convinced her job as part of her rotations to let her come home this summer. Its been great having her back! We've been over to her house for a couple camp fires as well as pool parties and sewing nights!!!

Before Bree came back she requested a cake, to which I was happy to oblige! Though I was certainly surprised to know she wanted a carrot cake but I was happy to try that out. I got the recipe I used from my Mom who'd tried it many times before so I had encouragement that between that cake recipe and Martha Stewart's creme cheese frosting recipe I'd be in good hands.

action icing shot! thanks hunny.

going for a 'tropical' theme. lemon yellow, pink, orange, and sky blue.

i used a cookie cutter to get the flowers 'about right'

Bree and her cake. This is the first cake I've ever made for anybody else :)

Later that week we had a sewing party. Bree has been wanting to learn to sew for a while but has been wanting my mom to teach her. You see, Kathy and I are like-sewers. We eye everything, don't really measure...etc. My Mom and Bree are like-sewers. They measure everything twice and worryworryworry!

A funny thing happened though. My mom brought over a project for us to work on because she wasn't sure if Kathy and Bree would have anything. The project...a burp cloth. You know...for people who might be having babies some day. The razzing started there! Kathy and Bree had a HAYDAY teasing my Mom about being passive agressive about wanting grandchildren...and she did not deny it. Oh no, she did not admit it either. Not sure which is worse.

So my mom prefaced the project with "you can buy ribbon to customize it to who you are giving it to. You could buy basketballs for a sport fanatic, ABC letters for a teacher OR...AND THIS IS THE FUNNIEST PART...you could buy cupcake ribbon for someone who likes cupcakes". That brought on even MORE razzing!!! Bree decided to first make me an eventual baby shower gift of a burp cloth made out of a cloth diaper with cupcake ribbon sewn on. How thoughtful ;-)

My Mom teaching Bree (with her little helper Maya).

Bree and I sewing. I think our Mom's were very proud of this moment.

B hard at work. Making a reusable bag.

B and her bag. Now all she has to do is add handles. I taught her how to do this and my Mom had taught me. I love family :)

Bree is only home for one more weekend so hopefully I get to see her again!!!

little Lizzy turns one...

I have successfuly made my first cake for someone else, as in, to show off at a family gathering. For Bree's cake it was for many many people I'd met before but for Little Lizzy, it was a different story.

Lizzy's Mom Megan and I went to college together! We were even roommates for a while. A few months back Megan and I had met up for a walk and lunch in downtown and were talking about Lizzy's first birthday. I said I would be honored if she'd let me make the cake and she agreed to it! Lizzy's favorite book is about farm animals so Megan had a farm animal themed birthday party. I googled a bunch of different cakes about farms and emailed them to Megan. She and her husband Bill decided they wanted the bottom tier to be a fence/pasture and the top tier to be a cow pattern. They also wanted a 'smash cake' that Lizzy could eat and so they decided on the form of a pig cupcake.

It was very interesting making something for someone else. Asking them what they wanted flavor wise, hue wise (bright, light, pastel, etc) but it was such a fun experience and Megan and Bill seemed very greatful. Now...on to the pictures!!!

WOW. Messy kitchen!!! Eek!

Pink Pig cupcake.

from the top.

from the side.

My first clients! Megan, Lizzy, and myself :)

Robyn & Annie picnic. 2010 edition...

I have this friend. She is great. Years ago before cars, college, weddings, boyfriends, and cell phones we started a tradition of going on a picnic. My friends name is Robyn. You've seen her in many other posts, probably because she is fun to have around!

It all started in 1998 and we've only missed two summer's since. One was 2008 when we climbed Mt. St. Helen's in place of the picnic. Okay, I should clarify. Robyn and Joe climbed it. Jason and I didn't make it, we ran out of water! Ooops! The other was 2009 when we were both busy getting MARRIED!!! Just 2 weeks apart at that! We always meet at Robyn's old elementary school which, when we were in high school we used to walk to and pack our own lunches. Then when we were in high school we drove to Bruchi's and got sandwiches. This time around Robyn made the food, all of which I tried and most of which I liked, and I made the desserts :) Perfect pair!!!

Here are a few pictures from our 2010 adventure.

The lunch Robyn put together. Cheese and bread. Fruits. Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil salad. Figs wrapped in some kind of meat...

Chocolate cupcake with fresh strawberry butter creme. All homemade by me!

The take home box for Robyn to bring to Joe. We also ate one of each there!

Robyn looking at picutres I brought from picnic's past.

2010. Who knows what will happen between this year and next :)