Where The Wild Things Are 1st Birthday Party

 My littlest turned one this year! He's a bundle of fun and just a little wild. I think that is just part and parcel of being the second child! We decided to put on a Wild ONE party. I centered the theme around the book, Where the Wild Things Are. There are so many great directions you can go with this book!

Let's start with my favorite part of a birthday party...the cake! Cam's cake was 3 tiered. The bottom cake was an 8 inch lemon cake with a lemon curd filling and a whipped mascarpone frosting under the ombre American Buttercream waves.  The second tier and the third tier were  chocolate cakes with the same whipped mascarpone as filling and frosting. The second tier was a 6 inch and the third was baked in a small ramekin.

For the decorations I used American buttercream in three different shades to give the wave effect.  I used black fondant to cut out silhouettes of the monsters from the Wild Things book. I did this a few days ahead and let them dry a little. Once on the cake I brushed them with a little water and edible dusting powder to give them a nice sheen. I also used some yellow fondant to make the crown.

The menu was Italian themed. We had pasta salad,  crescent ring sub sandwiches, caprese salad with French bread, fruit and veggie tray, and a Lasagna dip. For drinks, since it was mostly and adult party we had ginger ale and a white wine Sangria. It was all pretty tasty! I mean how can you go wrong with bread and cheese right?

You can find the recipes I used below:
Lemon Mascarpone Cake
Chocolate Cake
American Buttercream
Pasta Salad
Crescent Ring Sandwiches
Lasagna Dip
White Wine Sangria

I found a little crown for the Wild One to wear at Target and I made little shirts for both of my boys. I got the plain shirts at Walmart and purchased some transfer paper. On my computer, I found some free clipart silhouettes of monsters, a gold crown, and dowloaded some fun fonts. Using basic word, I created the image and REVERSED IT before printing on my inkjet printer. This was super easy and relatively fast and cheap!

On the big brother's shirt below the Monster silhouettes it says "Wild and Five" and Cameron's says Wild One with a monster peering out of the pocket.  

On Cam's it has the same monster silhouettes that are on the front of Big Brother's and Z's says Big Brother.  

 I also had a craft. We painted terra cotta planters and then planted little succulents. We just used craft paint and sponge brushes. They turned out great and were a lot of fun! Everyone's were so different and unique!

We had a blast with our little Wild ONE!

I've loved making cakes these last few months, but I'm itching to get back into my sewing room. I'm hoping to use my creativity in a different medium. But for now, I'll say Cake On since I've still got cake on the brain....Unicorns and Mirror Glaze cakes are in my future. 

J

Harry Potter Cake

Hello All-

The last month, I've been caking it up! First with the Lego Cake, and now with a Harry Potter Baby Shower Cake. This was a fun and challenging cake for me! 

I don't know if you've ever encountered this problem, but I was having some difficulty with the cake itself. I live at altitude and the center kept falling. I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong as I was following the recipe exactly. The reviews for the cake were excellent, and no one else was having the same problem with the recipe. 

I decided that it must be due to altitude. So I did some research, and found that cakes that sink in the middle don't have enough structure to support the rise or they are too airy. Structure in cakes is created via the proteins in the flours used. The recipe called for cake flour, which has a lower protein count than all purpose flour. I decided to switch out the cake flour for All purpose. 

Usually it is advised that you make just one change to a cake recipe so you can narrow down the problem....but I decided that I'd throw caution to the wind! I went ahead and made an adjustment to the actual cake mixing process. As I had been using a stand mixer to incorporate the dry and wet ingredients together, I decided that might be adding too many bubbles to the batter. Instead of using the stand mixer to add the dry and wet ingredients together, I did it by hand.  Also, after the pans were full of batter, I dropped them on the counter 3 times each, just to make sure that there were no unwanted bubbles left. 

Believe it or not, the cakes came out perfectly! I was amazed that making these changes helped the cakes to such a degree!

Set up for checkerboard cake interior. 

When you stack your checkerboard cake,
you need to alternate the layers. 

Okay, now onto the cake...I made a red velvet and "yellow" velvet cake checkerboard cake. The colors were the Gryffindor colors. You don't need any fancy pans to make a checkerboard cake. just some concentric rings. After you've baked your cake, let it cool completely and wrap tightly. Then freeze so the cake can firm up. Once it has been well chilled- but not completely frozen, use your rings to cut out the circular pieces. Since the cake is firm, you can easily remove and replace them. Alternate colors for each layer you intend to make. Layer 1- RYR. Layer 2- YRY. Layer 3 RYR etc. Rewrap your cakes and freeze until you are ready to use, or you can stack your cakes at this point.

Viola! This is the interior
of the checkerboard cake. 

Once your cake is stacked and dirty iced, stick it in the fridge for a bit to let it all set up. If you are going to use lots of fondant figurines, I would suggest you make them ahead of time. Sometimes fondant is too soft and can't support its own weight. For this cake, I made the following ahead of time: Golden snitch, baby onesie, Hedwig, Nimbus 2000, and the Gryffindor necktie.  If you make your figures ahead of time, you should store them on parchment paper and cover lightly. Don't store in an airtight container.

There is so much more that I could share with you that I learned while making this cake. If you have questions that I didn't answer, please comment. I'll do my best to find an answer for you. 

Cake ON!

J

Lego Birthday Party!

I love celebrating birthdays! It has always been fun to go all out one day a year for my kiddo. I love spending time planning birthday parties. I've mastered the food- going with a Nacho Bar, fruit and veggie trays pretty much guarantees that all the party guests will have something to choose from regardless of need or preference. (GF, Vegan, Paleo, etc) 

This year my 5 year old wanted a Lego themed party. I was thrilled because I was intrigued by the Lego cakes I'd seen on Pinterest. There were many cakes that inspired me. Some were shaped like numbers, some were giant lego block, others were construction scenes. I read many tutorials and watch videos trying to perfect my approach to the lego cake. I loved every minute of it!

Z decided that he'd like to have a square lego construction cake with one tier being chocolate with cookies and cream filling and the other tier would be chocolate with mint chocolate chip filling. I use a fabulous chocolate cake recipe from Sweetapolita. I have yet to have it fail, in fact, I use many of her cake recipes and find them wonderful. You should check out her blog for sure. The filling/frosting was a Swiss Meringue Buttercream that I added crushed Oreo cookies to. To make the mint cookies and cream filling (it tastes EXACTLY like a Thin Mint cookie) I made Swiss Meringue Buttercream and added the Oreo cookies, peppermint extract, and green food coloring. It was amazing! 

Making the individual lego blocks seemed daunting at first, but then I found a tutorial by Kathy over at Merriementdesign.com . She did a great job explaining how to use a baseplate as a texture roller to create the lego bricks. It was so slick and worked like a dream. The rest of the bricks on the side I used legos to measure the thickness and then cut varying lengths from a variety of colors. It looks complicated, but it went together easily. 

Aside from the cake, I also made some decorations using Mega Blocks, poster board,  plastic table clothes, construction paper, and crepe paper. Using the Mega Blocks, I made letters to spell out Z's name. Using the poster board, plastic table clothes, and construction paper, I made giant Lego bricks. It was far cheaper and easier to purchase the table clothes than primary colored wrapping paper. I used the crepe paper to jazz up our wooden banister and draw the primary colors together throughout the house. 

I like to have a few organized activities for the littles to work on. This year, I had three stations for kiddos. The first was a decorate your own MiniFig station. The second was a Building Station where little built race cars. The third and last station was a racing station. I propped a board up and put a yoga mat over top to create a race track. The kiddos LOVED racing their newly built creations down the ramp.

Ever since the Lego Cake, my brain has been focused on all things cake! I'm currently working on a baby shower cake. Hopefully, I'll be ready to share a success story next week!

So long for now!
J

New Quilt Design: Use Fusible Interfacing to get those PERFECT POINTS!

Hello Quilters-

I'm excited to share with you a big quilt block pattern that I designed. The finished product is 32X32.  I hope you enjoy!

Fabric: 

Dark: 4 fat quarters

Lights: 4 fat quarters

White: 2 fat quarters

2 1/4 yds ultralight weight fusible web 

21”X 21” light solid- muslin, flannel, cotton- We are going to 

mark a grid on this

*Because of the scrappy nature of the quilt block, you will have leftover fabric.

Cutting instructions:

From the Dark fat quarters:

Cut 100- 2.5” inch squares- Be sure to cut from a variety of fabrics. 

Cut 3- 6 inch squares- Be sure to cut from a variety of fabrics

From the Light fat quarters:

Cut 23- 6” squares

From the White: 

Cut 52 -white 2.5” squares

Cut 2- 6” squares

From the Fusible Web cut 4- 20X20 inch squares

Half Square Triangle Sewing Instructions:

This method of creating Half Square Triangles yields 8 Half Square Triangles per square combination.

1)Pair up the 6 inch square fabrics right sides together in the following combinations:   

3 sets of dark/light 

2 sets of white/light

9 sets of light/light

2)Mark an X going from corner to corner on one side of each 6” square pair. 

3)Sew 1/4” seam on either side of both diagonal lines.

4)Cut on the horizontal and vertical axis. DO NOT MOVE BETWEEN CUTS. 

  

5)Now cut on the diagonals in both directions. You can use the chalk marks as a guide for cutting.  Again DO NOT MOVE PIECES BETWEEN CUTS

6)Press Half Square Triangles Open and trim down to 2.5” square.

You should have: 

24 Dark/Light Combo

16 White/Light Combo

72 Light/Light Combo 

With your solid light muslin create a grid using a framing square or your long quilting ruler. Measure and draw a 20 X20 inch square. Then mark every 2.5 inches along the vertical and horizontal lines. Connect the marks to create an grid. 

Perfect Piecing with Fusible Interfacing

Step One:

Lay your fusible piece bumpy side up on the grid. Be sure to line up your edges to the outer lines of your grid. 

Step Two:

Arrange your half square triangles and squares on the grid according to the block arrangement diagram. They do not need to be perfectly aligned with the grid lines. Be sure that the fabrics don’t overlap- a little space between the squares is ideal. 

Step Three:

DOUBLE CHECK your fabric arrangement!!! You can’t go back once you’ve ironed them in place. 

Step 4:

Iron your pieces in place. Be sure to press your iron and hold for a few seconds. Then pick it up and move it to the next spot. DO NOT SLIDE the iron around because your pieces will move. Once you’ve set the fabrics then go back and iron once more to make sure that everything is held in place. 

Step 5:

Move over to your sewing machine. Fold the first row over and sew a 1/4 seam along the length.   Repeat with the remaining rows. Repeat for all blocks.

Step 6: 

Cut the fold off of each seam using your rotary cutter or scissors. Then press open the seams. 

Step 7:

Return to your sewing machine and fold over the first row going the opposite direction and sew a 1/4 seam along the length. Repeat with remaining rows. Repeat for all blocks.

Step 8: Again cut off the fold of each seam using your rotary cutter or scissors. Press seams open. 

Step 9: Arrange your blocks. Pin two together checking for seam alignment. Then sew 1/4 along the length. Repeat for the second set. Iron seams in opposite directions. 

Step10: Pin the two rows together. (I like to pin from the middle out to) Check to make sure your seams align. Iron open and ADMIRE your gorgeous block!

Off Set Blocks- 5 full and 2 halves

Finishing your block- There are several ways that you could finish your block off. You could simply sandwich and quilt to create a beautiful wall hanging. Or you could create some more blocks and end up with a gorgeous throw or twin quilt. I am going to go the wall hanging route, but I've put together some images of what the block would look like if you expanded the design. 

Single Block with borders

Four Block Pattern

DIY Utility Tote

Dear Readers-

I am in love with the large utility totes that are popping up everywhere. I have two of them, but I felt like I needed more...you know the feeling...it is apparent in your  my stash. Anyway, I use my utility totes for EVERYTHING- grocery shopping, Costco, swimming bag, winter stuff bag, hauling around Christmas presents etc. They are amazing...but commercially made bags are expensive. I thought there had to be a cheaper option...so I went searching.

I made two frames. Each frame was about 10inches wide. 

I found a great tutorial by Jill Cataldo, but I couldn't find the metal U-shaped frames that she used locally. When I went to order them online, they were inexpensive (~ $.70/per unit), but when I got to the checkout shipping was around $15. Taking that into account with the cost of the home decor fabric and the webbing strap, it would have been cheaper to just purchase one from Thrity-One.

So out I went to Lowes to see what I could find to make a frame for the bag. My husband has a pipe bender so I purchase a 6ft length of 1/4 inch steel for around $5.50 thinking that I could bend. It was a little heavier than I would have liked, but I gave it a go.

It wasn't difficult to bend the rod into shape, but I had to play with it a bit. I learned that I had to bend it past 90 degrees to get it to actually be 90 degrees. After I had each of the corners, I made sure that there was some overlap on one of the long sides so I could join the two ends. I used duct tape to wrap the joint tightly and cover the ends to help project the fabric from wear.

The bag itself was very easy to make. It went together easily and it was simple enough to change the size of the bag. I think that I will make a few more using Cataldo's pattern, but try to make a different lighter frame...perhaps I'll use the wire hangers that are just taking up space in my closet =)

QAYG 2: Working with Spray Baste

Dear Quilters-

Week 2 of the QAYG is here! If you are like me, then the least favorite part of whole quilting process is the sandwiching quilt together. I hate pinning...the pokes and pricks, the sore callus you get from opening and closing the pins (though my father-in-law made an awesome tool which has helped incredibly) not to mention the pins become a hassle when you are quilting because you constantly have to stop to take them out. I've heard some other quilters talk about using spray basting to speed up the process, so this week I decided to give the 505 Spray Baste a go. 

It went okay. I wouldn't say that it eliminated the hassle, it just changed it. I struggled to get the right amount of spray evenly across the batting. I wouldn't get enough and the backing wouldn't stick to the batting or I would get too much and it was difficult to reposition and smooth out. I also still pinned around the outer edge of the quilt sandwich. 

I would probably use it it again, but am not sure how it would work on larger pieces. 

Anyway- down to the quilting. I picked a curvy overall quilting motif for this block. I was searching through different quilting books I got for Christmas and found that I really liked the Fandangle motif in Christina Cameli's book Step-by-step Free Motion Quilting.  It was pretty similar to the orange peel I did on the last one, so the U shape was familiar, but the addition of the swirl within the U shape was new to me. 

I used the clear vinyl to audition the motif and thought it would work. I tried it different sizes and variations and settled on two passes across the row. One was too big and three was too small. (Just like the three bears right?)

I wanted to practice drawing out the pattern, so I found this great tool called Sketch Toy. It is a free online drawing app...check it out! I played with it for a bit practicing the design I'd chosen. (Click on the pictures to view the methods for each)

My quilting is improving with each little bit of practice...hopefully I can get to the point where it isn't SO nerve racking to start. With each little trick I learn, I know I am one step closer to making that a reality!

Hope you find these tools as useful as I do!!

J

Dino-Mite Birthday Party

Hiya-

If you've been looking for the upcoming QAYG post, you may have noticed that I've been neglectful of my blog the last couple of weeks. I thought that I'd share with you what I have been up to! I have been preparing for my Little's 3rd birthday party. It seems to me that often I become consumed with a quilt, fitness routine, or in this case...a toddler party!

I had so much fun planning this party. I'll be the first to admit that it took on a life of its own and that perhaps it might be a bit much...BUT I couldn't give up one thing I was so in love with everything.

My Little LOVES dinosaurs! We are talking obsession! So it was clear that a Dinosaur Party was a MUST! I started buy making a banner out of construction paper. I made a template in word for the pennant triangles. Then I inserted a text box in each of the three pennant triangles. I trimmed my construction paper down to 81/2 x 11 and then just printed. Each time I printed different letters and crossed them off to make sure that I didn't have two of the same color next to each.other. Then I used a hole punch to make the holes for the string and then I threaded the string through and hung it up.

I also used dinosaur themed library books, construction paper foot prints (176 to be exact), and large dinosaur figures that we already had ( I also borrowed some from my mom) to decorate shelves, windows, the fireplace etc.










I thought that the easiest menu would be a Nacho Bar: I called it the Cretaceous Cafe. It turned out to be very easy to put together because I didn't have to worry about my guests' special dietary needs because there were so many options. We made Chipotle Chicken , Queso, Pineapple Black Bean Salsa, Guacamole, Tomato Salsa, Veggie Tray w/ dip, Fruit Tray w/ Dip ( This is fabulous! I use plain yogurt), and Yellow Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes (Vegan Friendly), and Cookies.

If you'd like to have some of the other recipes, let me know and I'll email them to you. They are family recipes that I haven't put online. 





Cake Inspiration: I searched on Pinterest for a Dinosaur Cake that would be easy yet stunning, and Katie at Butterlust had the perfect one. She included her recipe for the cake, though I didn't use it because I was looking for a yellow cake. I also modified the ganache a bit because mine was too thin. I just added more dark chocolate to take care of the problem.

Cake Recipe: I love Rosie @Sweetapolita. Her cake recipes turn out wonderfully! I used this cake recipe for my sister's wedding cake and it turned out amazing!

Frosting Recipe: This recipe is a Swiss Meringue Buttercream also from Rosie@ Sweetapolita. It makes 10 cups which is a lot. But I used it to fill and frost a 3 layer 8 inch cake as well as frost my cupcakes. It is delicious and great for piping. It isn't as sweet as American Buttercream which is perfect for us!

I made some chalkboard fabric table runners so I could easily label all of the foods. It is great because these just wipe off and can be reused. You can find the Chalkboard fabric at Nancy's Notions.  I found a Chalk Marker at Walmart that worked great. You can use regular chalk, but I didn't want it to rub off around the food.

I also made my Little a birthday shirt to wear at his party. It was very easy! I purchased a plain shirt at Walmart, then created an image in a word document to print off on Transfer Artist Paper and iron onto the shirt. He loved it!















We also had several activities for the Kids to participate in at the party.

Dino Dig:
I set up a Dino Dig station for the kiddos. I purchased a large shallow tub and filled it with cloud dough and plastic dinosaur figures. The kiddos could dig around and find different dinosaurs to take home.  Cloud dough is awesome!! My little LOVES playing with it. It is a mixture of flour and baby oil.

Recipe: Mix 8 cups flour with 1/2 cup baby oil (I've heard mineral oil or veggie oil will work, but I prefer the smell of baby oil) For this bin I used 4 1/5 5lbs bags of flour and 2 1/2 bottles of baby oil. 







Dino Egg Hunt: 

I hid 60 large "Dinosaur" eggs filled with dinosaur figurines around the house. Before the hunt began I handed out dinosaur pillow cases I'd made as a take-a-way/egg basket. The toddlers had a lot of fun searching for them and packing them away in the cases.

Story Time: 
After all of the eggs were found, we sat down to open our eggs and look through the "loot". While they were examining their dinosaurs, I read a short dinosaur book.










Dinosaur Magnets: 
I have these fabulous dinosaur cookie cutters that cut out the silhouettes of the dinosaur as well as presses in the skeleton. They made perfect salt dough figures! I decided to glue magnets onto the back before the party and then have toddlers paint them using some neon temper paint.

The party was a lot of work but it was all worth it because my Little LOVED every minute of it. I'm not gonna lie....so did I!

Now that the party planning is over with for another year, I can get back to quilting and sharing what I've learned.

QAYG 1: Trouble choosing a quilting motif? I've got a fast easy solution!

Alright Quilters-

I started working on my 36" QAYG blocks. For these blocks I am focusing on the quilting. I thought they would be perfect for working on my Free Motion Quilting proficiency. But I have found that before I could work on the proficiency side of the FMQ, I actually had to make a decision regarding the quilting itself.

I find myself experiencing a kind of paralysis when it comes to completing a project. I work frantically to complete a quilt top, but then once the top is pieced I seem to freeze. I fear ruining a beautiful quilt top. I agonize over choosing just the right quilting design for the quilt I'm already in love with. How can I best enhance the blocks and fabrics? What if I choose a design that detracts from the block or clashes with the fabric prints?? All those hours spent picking fabric, cutting, and piecing would go down the drain. This last step....becomes frustrating.

I know that I am not alone. I have heard many of the women in my quilting group say they experience this same frustration. I am happy to say that I think that I might have found a solution to our problem. At least, I have found a way to audition quilting motifs and practice on my quilts in a meaningful way that is also cost effective!

I had purchased the vinyl before Christmas for making Eye Spy bags for the littles in my family, and had a lot left over. I was racking my brain for something to do with it when it hit me. It is so simple that when I thought of it, I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner. I could use the vinyl to audition quilting motifs.

You will need a large piece of clear vinyl, expo marker or vis-a-vis, quilt top, quilting design inspiration (I am currently reading Shape by Shape by Angela Walters) and camera.

My piece of vinyl is 36"X36". I am planning on binding it using some of my leftover binding materials to keep myself from drawing off the edge. I haven't yet, because the pieces I am working with are smaller than the vinyl, so I am not concerned about drawing off the edge. If you are working with a smaller piece of vinyl or larger quilt top, then I would bind my vinyl before I tried auditioning any quilt motifs.

Lay the quilt top down and place the vinyl overtop. Now comes the fun part. I auditioned many different quilting patterns- both overall and custom. It was amazing to me that designs that I thought I'd love, I couldn't stand. I made sure to take pictures before I erased a design, so that I could compare them to each other before I made a final decision.

Once you have made a decision of the motif you are going to be using, then sandwich your quilt and pick your thread. I love contrasting threads on my fabrics, because the quilting really stands out. I typically like to use a variegated thread because it can pick up all of the different colors in the fabrics that I use.  I do have to admit that recently I have become a fan of the blended threads used in negative space quilting.

I started quilting my design using the larger quilting foot. I call it the "Starship Enterprise". I have used this quilting foot for a bit now, and I've really liked it, but I was struggling to quilt smoothly. So I changed quilting feet to a closed free motion foot- I think that it is also called a darning foot- and my quilting became so much smoother. I think that I will continue to practice quilting with this foot for the time being and let the "Enterprise" take a much needed break =).

I am pleased with the quilting motif that I choose, and I am going to be auditioning my quilting motifs from now on. I will be confident that I am no longer going to ruin my quilt top. I am hoping that this little change will help my UFO pile decrease =)

I hope you have found this tip to be helpful. What are some other methods you have found to get past the paralysis?

Happy Quilting-
J