Ribbon Top

So today's post is just a little quickie....

I whipped up this fun little ribbon top for a sweet friend the other day. It literally took me no time at all. I first saw the idea from Sweet Verbena. She is so cute and crafty. (Check out her guest post at UCreate today, I'm totally going to try that.) The only thing I did different was use a cotton fabric and ribbon for the tie. But I thought it was cute and so did my sweet model (and that's what counts right?). If your interested in doing your own, be sure to check out the link to the tutorial.

See, I told you she was cute. The top just emphasizes it. :-)

Coke Cake...It's Addicting :-)

Is everyone ready to learn how to make the easiest cake...ev-ah! Serious face....this is the easiest thing you will ever do.

First, prepare your ingredients.

Yup, that's it. I promise. Just a pop (or soda as some prefer it) and a cake mix. It's really that easy. And baking it up is as easy as 1,2,3. I'll show you...
Step 1: Pour cake mix into bowl.

Step 2: Pour Coke into bowl.

Step 3: Mix.

Really that's all you do. Throw it in your pans, cupcake liners, whatever and bake it according to the normal instructions on the box. Since I was making mine for my Mother's birthday, I chose to do a 3 layer cake, so I lined my cake pans in wax paper, poured the batter in and baked it up. I then iced it pretty and served it up. I've been serving these for years now and they are always a hit. When I originally learned of this recipe I was told that it is a Weight Watchers recipe. I haven't verified that, but I know it does cut down on the calories significantly. So the bonus is, its a DIET CAKE. Never thought you'd hear the words "diet" and "cake" put together like that did you? Well I'm happy to say...that just happened. Plus you'll love all the chocolate-y goodness. You can't even taste the Coke. And it's so moist and yummy. :-)

When I was icing the cake, I kind of tried to pull of the Rose Cake that has been all over the blog-o-sphere. You can find the original over at I am Baker.

When making white cakes (or lighter colored cakes) just use Sprite or 7-Up. 

Hot Plate? Cold Drink? Don't worry...I've got just the place to put them.

So recently...I got addicted to Pinterest. I blame Valerie. But through Pinterest I came across these little beauties and the easiest how-to ever. And I mean EV-AH! With my Mother's birthday on the way, I thought....how handy would these be, and she always needs trivets too, so I set out to make a few.

When I bought my house, I inherited boxes full of leftover tiles from the re-do's of the bathroom and basement floor. Since they've just been gathering dust in my garage, this was the perfect project. A trip to Hobby Lobby supplied the cute paper and the Mod Podge.

Once I had all the supplies assembled...I got busy. First I flipped over my paper and traced the tiles.

After doing this I then cut out all my pieces of decorative paper.

Then I spread a thin layer of Mod Podge directly onto the tiles surface. I didn't do anything to prepare the surface except wipe it down and dry it with a paper towel.

I then quickly placed a piece of the paper on top of the Mod Podge and smoothed it out to get rid of all the air bubbles and wrinkles.

Then I spread another layer of Mod Podge on top of the paper. I made a point to seal down the edges very well, as you don't want those peeling away from the tile in the future.

Then I let it all dry. I then gave each piece a second coat of Mod Podge to be on the safe side. After they had dried again, I sprayed them all with a clear glossy coat.

Finally, I placed felt pads on the back of each tile and called it good. This whole process took me about 30 minutes (not including the drying time). It was so easy and you get such a great look. I think I need to make some for my house now. Love them.

Red White and Blue...I heart you!

Do you ever make something and you are just ridiculously proud of it? That happened to me on Saturday. I bought this fabric forever ago at JoAnns. I saw it and had to have it, because lets face it, it has everything I love, shirring, polka dots, and red/white/blue. For those of you who don't know Independence Day is my favorite holiday, even before Christmas. It's mainly because I am a borderline pyromaniac and I love to blow things up and to watch giant fireworks.

So anywho...I bought this fabric at JoAnns and I was so pumped about it. I saw it and thought, what could be easier, one seam up the back and you have a dress. It was that easy, until it was awkward. Let me explain.

First, I wrapped the fabric around me and determined where I need to cut the fabric for the width of the dress. After doing this, I cut down the fabric. I then did one big seam down the back.

You should I have seen my face, I was pumped, I had a dress. Then I put on the dress. And it was an AWK-WARD length. And, I couldn't take a full stride, which basically means that I would forget and try to take a big step at some point and fall flat on my face.

 So then, I started looking at it, and I figured out I could cut a big section out of the middle, and that if I did it right, you wouldn't be able to tell a difference in the pattern. So, I then cut the dress into thirds. Scary, I know.

I then, sewed the top and bottom pieces of the dress back together and got this. I'm not going to lie. I was pretty stinking proud of myself at this point, because when I told J about the seam in the middle of the dress, he couldn't even tell. It blends perfectly into the pattern.

After trying the dress on again, I decided it was still a little to tight on the legs. So I added a panel to the back. It turned into a little bit of a back ruffle, which I enjoyed. To add the panel, I just ripped out the back seam to the middle seam cut out the panel, matched up the patterns and sewed it in.

After doing that I decided to take off some of the smaller dots at the bottom and add a rolled hem.

And then I was finished. And I was proud. And then I realized I needed a big red ribbon. And I whined to J about how I needed a big red ribbon and didn't have one. J told me I was silly and that the dress was fine without a big red ribbon. I looked through all my scraps, but I didn't have a big red ribbon. Eventually I looked through my jewelry chest and YAY I did have a big red ribbon. The dress was so much better with the Big Red Ribbon. See...

Finally, the dress was finished. It took me a whole hour to do. More than I had anticipated, but it was so worth it. I then had to force myself to wait an entire day before I could wear it on the 4th of July.

P.S. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a dog-free picture in my house? Look at all these reject pictures...

Seriously, I have to lock them in the bathroom to take a picture.

Anyways, as always...

Dirty Duo meets TuTu Trouble

So I've been absent for a while, but things are happening. I promise. Recently, I made some TuTu's for a race. I know it sounds crazy, I'll explain. I also made some sweet shirts for the same race. I've started working on a bedroom re-do that I promise to share as it progresses (it's moving slowly) and I've been rehearsing for Cinderella. Way more fun than I have time to have. :-)

The tu-tu's I made following a similar pattern to this one. Except I was lazy and just tied knots in the elastic. However they were awesome. As you can see it the following pics. As you look at the pictures, also notice the shirts. It's just some sequins and fabric paint, but I think they really speak about our team goals. My good friend Becky and I decided to enter a race called the Dirty Duo. It was way more fun that I can handle (literally, since I've spent the past 2 days walking like an 85 year old). Part of the fun is the costume contest so of course we went all out. Our team name was "TuTu Trouble" and boy did we have fun.

The race consists of six miles, half of which you run and the other half bike. At each mile marker there is a challenge/obstacle course that you have to complete before you can continue on with the next mile. At the end, you and your partner have to be together and crawl through 40 feet of mud to finish the race. And boy did we get muddy. Becky and I had so much fun. And as a bonus, we got 5th in our age group. It took us 56:51.6 to finish the race, and we are already planning our costumes and strategy for next year.

Team 163 aka TuTu Trouble definitely brought it this year. Watch out Dirty Duo 2012, we'll be back for you.