Baby shower time. Not for me, no no.......lol
 So many ideas! This was going to be a onsie ...but I was going to have to cute away a lot of cake. So we made it in a dress and tried to save as much cake as possiable. Now this cake was not as moist as the others, due to the fact I was going to be sawing a way on it. It was almost like a pound cake. The lady bug was a frozen buttercream design that I did. It was so easy!

I think this was the best tasting cake I have ever made! I made it for my preachers wife, Ms Bobbie. I told her I made it was love...cheesy I know. But I do love her and I did spend a lot of time on this cake to make sure it was as perfect as I could get. We always have a church dinner for her, and we all enjoyed it! I made this cake with applesauce....and boy it was super moist! I can always look back at my cakes and see where I can improve. Maybe one day Ill go take some classes and maybe Ill get them to look as good as they taste :)

Now this is a cow cake I made for my step daughter. Her request was, "A goofy looking cow".....well there you go....Looks pretty goofy to me......I now wish I had went back and wrote Happy Birthday to Moo on it......but she wanted it plain.I also made some cupcakes to go around the cake that were just green grass.....made it look kinda cute :)

So I been in a baking mood! I am always trying new things when it comes to anything crafty or artsy...so why not make it so you an eat it! Here are a few cakes Ive been working on. Maybe one day I can start a little bakery...wouldnt that be fun! Instead of a happy little tree, Ill have a happy little bakery :) Get it? Ok , moving on lol.......So this is a cake I did for a friend of mine. She needed a cake for her daughters birthday. She was doing Aerial. No luck finding a pan or anything, so I had to free hand this bad boy. I see so many ways I could have improved this, but with the time I had, I think it turned out ok.

Coconut Banana Cream Pie

Are you ready for something YUMMY? If not, just move along. If so....you MUST make this! I'm talking YUMMY. There are several steps and some time you will put into this amazing pie, but I promise it is worth it. Here is what you will need:

Crust: You can buy a homemade crust or you can make your own. I made a graham cracker one.
1 package of graham crackers (3 come in a box )
3 Tbs of Butter 1 Tbs of Sugar (or powered sugar)
2 Medium bananas (sliced)
Splash of lemon juice

Pie Filling:
3 Tbs of Cornstarch
1 1/3 cup of water
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
3 Tbs of butter
1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/2 tsp of coconut extract
1 C. of Sweetened Coconut

Creamy Topping :
1 Pint of Heavy Whipping Cream
3 Tbs of sugar (or powdered Sugar)
1 1/2 Tsp coconut extract
1/2 C. Toasted Coconut (simply place in a nonstick pan and stir over med heat till toasted)
 
First thing, go ahead and make that crust, or unwrap it. I love things homemade. Makes me feel like I have accomplished something....yea,yea  I know. Most likely this cost me more money and more time, but hey......makes me feel like I should be back in the 1950s. Waiting on my husband to come home from work with my awesome looking pie waiting in the window seal. The whole " Hi, honey, I'm home!! " bit. Ok back to the crust. I crushed graham crackers, added sugar, and melted butter and built my crust. Slice the bananas and splash them with some lemon juice. This keeps them from browning and adds a little tangy. Let set for just a few minutes then drain. Line the bottom of your crust with those cute bananas. Now is here is where I thought.....that just maybe, adding some crushed pineapple.....maybe a little pina colada pie?? Maybe next time.

Now to the filling. Add your starch and water in a heavy medium size sauce pan. Dissolve well. Turn on medium heat. I used a whisk during the rest of this process. Now add your 3 eggs yolks and sweetened condensed milk. I looked at buying the fat free condensed milk and believe it or not it had more sugar! So I went with the regular. I mean if you are going to go out, go all out!
Do NOT leave this pot! I mean it. I did and I almost ruined it! So now stir, not really constantly , but often. You are waiting on it to get thick and bubbly...........this takes some time. Do not be tempted to turn up the heat though. It will burn and scorch it. But when you get there, remove it from heat. It will be a thick like pudding. Now add your butter and extracts. Let this cool a little. Leave it sitting for maybe 20 mins. Then fold in the coconut.
Let this cool down before adding to your crust. I put mine in the fridge until completely cool. Once cooled. You will want pour this on your crust. Well its kinda thick and doesn't really "pour". Get out that pasty bag! Or a large zip lock bag. If using a pastry bag, clip the end with a clothes pin before filling...if not it will be a handful trying to keep it pinched. Also You can set it down in a large cup to help hold it upright while you are filling it. Now fill it up and then poor over the crust. This way, your crust isn't disturbed. No tip needed, just let it flow out of the bag. I started in the middle and worked my way out. Leave about and inch from the side. Now add toothpicks and cover with clear wrap...this will keep a skin from forming. Now the hard part........place in fridge for several hours! You at least want 4 hrs to set. I know...this part stinks.....I was up all night thinking of this pie. But the more time it has to "set" the better it is!

Now onto the Cream! For those of you lucky enough to have a Kitchen Aid Mixer.....I adore you. I on the other hand, do not. Not yet anyway. But I do have a sturdy hand mixer with a whisk attachment. You can do this step with just regular beaters as well. Before starting this process, you will need to cool down your bowl and attachments. I put ice water in my bowl along with my cream and whisk. This works really fast! ( Be sure to dry out bowl though!!)

If you have never made REAL cream...boy are you in for a treat! Once you do this, you will never buy cool whip again!! And by the way, read the label to cool whip next time......uggg......is there any milk or real cream in there??!!
Pour in your heavy cream in your now really cold bowl. Whisk until it turns thick and fluffy, then add your sugar. I used powdered sugar...seems to me that it will dissolve faster and keeps the cream fluffy. Also add in your extract. You can do this to taste too. You may wont more and less. So add a little and taste......awwww I know tough job having to test taste that cream huh?! Mine, had to be tested SEVERAL times....hint hint!! Pastry bag time again! I did use a tip this time. But its not necessary since you will be covering the top with toasted coconut. That's up to you. Use the same technique as before. Load up that pie and top with the toasted coconut! Now you can enjoy this now, or for an easier cutting pie, I suggest letting it set for at least an hour. But again, you are the cook, so you get to call the shots!

Enjoy!!!

So far this year I have been feeling the artsy side in me trying its best to bust through! I have always wanted to go to art school...and maybe even teach art....maybe some miracle will happen and Ill be able to do that before I am too old! lol. So I have been doing some baking and decorating some cakes. I have this awesome cake I made for my step daughters 17th birthday. It was a yummy almond cake with Raspberry frosting. My all new fav! Decorating was so super easy! The key is having the right tip (1M) and the right bag! Tomorrow I am making a strawberry one for my Nannys Sunday School class....I cant wait to see how that one turns out.

Wow, Cant believe its been so long since I have posted! Life has really been moving along. Ill have so much to update on. One big ol reason I havnt been blogging is my laptop died on me! Boooo hooo!! I mean really, what the heck? Now I cant deceide if I want to have it worked on or just break down and buy a new one. So anywho! Havnt been crafting much, but I have been baking and cooking and doing a few things. Miles is 27 mths old now. Seems like I just had him. Times does fly, but again seems like I have had a fussy baby for EVER! He is so wild, I cant seem to keep up. He is trying to talk in sentances....which may not be a good thing haha. When he does something wrong, he will go ahead and spank his self. I find this very funny, and saves me from feeling bad from having to do it myself. So there you have it. Here is a cute pic of him laughting at his birthday party. Looks cute huh....right before we gathered everyone for the big ol Happy Birtday song...he takes a big ol yucky in his diaper, nice huh? So my child!

For more serious news of the homefront. We lost a beloved pet last summer. My heart was completly broken. Still is. I cant believe Rock is not laying at my feet as I type this. I could NOT have ask for a better dog. He was the easiest to potty train, he loved to sleep, he loved to lay on my lap, he knew when I was sick, he was the best. He accepted Miles the very moment we came home with him. Even though I had some nut case of a dog whisperer try to tell me to get rid of him. She said he was going to eat my baby....these people kill me. Yea he really killed him alright, does drowing in dog slobber count? Miles raced cars up and down his back, he put things in mouth, he rode his back like a horse. He inspected every part of that poor dogs body...and I mean EVERY part! lol I will forever miss my best friend. I miss cleaning out his ears and eyes. I miss plucking the hair from around his teeth, yea the hair......do not ask.....I have no idea. I miss letting him out to poop at the last minute because he was so lazy he would hold it in. I miss putting baby blue PJs on him. I miss riding him in the car and people giving us double looks. I miss taking him to park with Miles. I miss just laying in the bed or on the couch with him on a lazy rainy saturday afternoon. I honestly believe dogs go to heaven. And I cant wait to pet his soft sweet head again one day. Im sure he is sitting at my doorstep now, sleeping and waiting for me to come home. Im not sure Ill ever be able to have another pet. I hope so. And Im sure I will. I see the smile and light in Miles eyes when he sees a sweet dog. So I know Ill break down and get him one one day when he is old enough. Until then Ill say good night and touch Rocks urn each night, and sometimes hold it and cry just a little.

Easter is on the way!

I love spring and cant wait! Spring pictures just seem to have a glimmer to them. Here is an old picture of me and my 2 cousins with my great grandma from back in the 80s. I am guessing I was 5 . She loved the spring and summer to get out and work in the yard. She past away this past fall and I will deeply miss her. But she left behind so many good memories that no one can away from me.
Here are also some layouts I did last year for Easter. Can you find my very obvious mistake?!

Boo in the Zoo 2010

I love Halloween. The fun of dressing up and going out in the crisp air for strangers candy! Ok, other than the "strange" candy, its really fun to dress up. But most of all, I love to work on Halloween scrap pages. They always seem to just flow together. So Brett and I took Miles and Mercy to Boo in the Zoo for the 1st time. It was really crowed, but the line moved fast. If you havnt been dont expect to see any animal in their costume, or any animals for that matter. There were a few. Reptile house was open, some goats to pet and monkeys that screamed at us. It was a fun adventure anyway. I believe their park there is the best feature. They have this awesome rubber mulch! So I dont have to pick it out of my shoes! This year Miles will be older and can get down and play more.

Birthday Day Scrappages

So I am just now getting around to working on Miles 1st birthday page. These have been so fun, because I love all the photos that were taking. It was such a perfect day. And each time I look at them I think of the warmth of the sun and the laughter in the air that day. I try to cherish each day with him. I know one day he will be a grown man and leave the nest. Knowing I will have all these wonderful memories is the only thing that prepares me for that.
I also took most of his birthday cards and put them in his scrapbook. I hope one day he will love to look back at them and read all the messages loved ones sent him.
( If you dont see your card or picture, Im not done yet!! )

I had a fun busy weekend! I got to go to 2 crops and share some laughs with friends and got a lot done in the meantime!
As you know I love to do altered projects. I found these ugly plaques at Mighty Dollar for one buck! Then I found the pair of dinosaurs for a buck too. I had a pack of dinosaur paper and simply covered it up! The cheapest, most simply things always turn out so darn cute!

Christmas 2010

Miles came down with a high temp on the 23rd. We thought for sure he would be sick all through Christmas. With lots of care and prayers he was feeling much better by Christmas day. We enjoyed a quiet day at home watching the snow fall and playing with Miles new toys. I did miss my family , but happy to spend it with my husband and baby.
Most of the day Miles stood in our bay window and looked at the window. He played with Handy Manny and his laptop.
The night before he helped his daddy make cookies for Santa. They turned out very well...yummy!

Photography

As well as doing hands on craftiness, I love to get great shots of people and nature. Here is a few shots of Gilreath Mill in Greer SC. Brett and I were riding around and found this awesome place right on the road. I dont know much of the story behind it, but the pictures turned out great.
Also inside, it is still full of stuff! I have no idea how long the stuff has been there. I cant imagine anyone being able to walk in there, the floors look like they would fall right through. But I would love to get in there and look around at all that old stuff.

Miles 1st Birthday!!

I cant believe a year has went by since I gave birth to my sweet baby Miles. We tried to give him the best birthday party ever! I know he wont remember, but he will always have pictures to look back on. And each year will only get better!!

So almost everything from his party was handmade......I find so much joy in doing this and plus I save the muhlaa!

Here is his cake. Simple small cake iced. I found some Wiltons candy decorations at Mighty dollar. So I used all the party hats out of it to go around the outside. The one on top was made by using my cricut.


I also made his cupcakes. These were very simple. I used my cricut to cut out each party hat, and then cut out a "m" to put on them for Miles. I got one of those cupcake stands, which I think made it look much nicer!

Making his party decorations were fun too!! Again I put that cricut to work!
I made a banner and with the left overs I made a poster. On the banner, I cut out scalloped circles using my nestiabilites and cuddle bug. I put a picture of him on each one from through out the year.



Miles loves his cake and all his presents, and thank you to all the wonderful family and friends that came to celebrate with him!

Treat Bags

These are special little treat bags I made for my 4 step children. They are crafty themselves and really appreciate any crafty thing they receive. So here are so some simple treat bags.
I found some orange bags a couple of years ago and K&Company put out these die cuts a few years ago. I think they still make them. Just glued to the front. Used some stamps and made some labels to jazz it up.
For the first time I attempted to make these chocolate suckers. It is a lot easier than it looks. I though they turned out pretty cute!
Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Halloween!

I love this time of year. The leaves, the crisp air and Halloween!
This year Miles is going to be a giraffe. And boy oh boy is he cute!
I also love craving pumpkins at Dan and Angies house each year. Although Brett did most of the work.

And you thought they were only cards.......

I have almost made it through all my baby shower cards. This was so fun to cut them up and put them together again!!