March for our babies

    This Sunday my husband and I are walking for the March of Dimes. We did it last year with Target because we had one angel on our mind that we wanted to remember, as well as all the other babies in the world. This year we have two angels we are walking for and we've created our own team, Team Hermosa. :) We've created our own shirts, pins and I'm thinking cupcakes. :) I got help with the shirt from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NE1aWDteoM&feature=youtube_gdata_player. Its really simple, just print the lettering you want , cut it out, trace with a pin and then trace with your choice of fabric paint. For the pins I just winged it on my own. I got these bows and ribbon that was made for a gift but I turned it into a pin.  After that its whatever you'd like to share. :)
      I'm really glad that I'm doing this event because of two reasons. One is the obvious, that we've lost two of our very own and want to help others be shielded from such heartache. The other is that as a student in high-school I found interest in premature births. I thought one day I would become a nurse or doctor in that field but god has a different plan for me. I'm just glad I'm helping now in whatever way I can. :)

My baby sister is married!!!!!

                Ahhhhhhh!!! Ok so after one heck of a week it was nice to wrap it up with the marraige of my new brother-in-law, Hector and my baby sister, Tina. It was a beautiful day and I don't think any of us could ask for a better day to celebrate such an occasion!

Boutonnieres

Brides Bouquet

                 I'm not going to dwell to much on the how to's. :) I got lucky and the week I got her flower and the stuff to go with was on sale. Yay! All the corsages, boutonnieres, and bouquets were made with three bunches of flowers. I bought a four leaf clover punch because I found on marthastewart.com a bouquet made with them and she liked that idea. It was supposed to be crepe paper, but I used felt. It would be easier to use the punch with paper of course though. Floral tape was wrapped around the bottoms of everything except the corsages. I used the floral tape to keep the corsages closed and then I tied with a ribbon. Only the bride and the corsages had the clovers. I wanted uniqueness between the bouquets. Then for the ribbon around the bouquets I tied in the front, went around the back and then I tied in the front again. To attach the clover, use floral tape, wrap around the stem of the clover gently and the attach wherever you'd like. That's pretty much it.

Wedding Cake

             So you know that moment when you  know you took on too much or just need to relax? That happened to me. I originally wanted to make a cake pop cake for my sister. I saw someone do it for a wedding and thought how neat that would be, but it back fired. :( It looked like plaster or cement and lets just say I think I have a while before I master the cake pop craze. :) So I made the now newly weds a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting of course! I tried to make the fondant black, but I'm a newby at that too and it turned marbaly, but it looked great! Added some ribbon and a chalkboard topper. Whala!

Bridal shower

This last weekend was my sister's bridal shower or more like girls day out. Regardless it was fun and will always be remembered. My mom and sister made a wedding cake out if kitchen towels and utensils for her and I gave her my ornament with a spice thing I also got. We went to Cheesecake Factory. Such a great place!

     Anyway since I like to use any occasion as an excuse to create something...I did. I remember seeing Dylan from the candy store in New York have ring pops at her shower and I thought it would be cute.  So I did and I blinged it up with star confetti. I was in crunch time so I couldnt get gems or anything.

Wedding frenzy

     So this week is my sister's wedding and I'm trying to get last minute things completed for the big day. One of those things is a snazzy bowtie for our childhood dog Buddy to wear. It it pretty simple to make and only takes thirty minutes tops to complete.
       First pick out your fabric that you want to you want to use. I picked an emerald green in a satin fabric to use because of the  bride's choice in color. Next cut two 12 by 24 cm pieces, one 3inch by 12 inch ( this piece will be the collar so you might want to adjust according to the comfort, but remember you will be adding an adjuster to it.) and one 1 inch by 3 inch piece. All these can be adjusted to your personal preference. Next iron one if the 12 by 24 cm pieces lightly. Fold the short sides of the 12 by 24 cm piece in and iron flat.  Make sure that when your done it measures 6 cm. Do this to both pieces.  Next fold the long ends into the middle and iron flat. Both pieces should now look the same and not overlap. If you ever wonder just compare one to the other so that they are the same.Now hand stitch the middle together of each piece so they won't budge when you sew the two pieces together.  Once complete flip one piece over on top of the other so that you can't see any stitching. Sew down the middle and now the two pieces are stuck together.
       Now get the other two pieces and fold in half inside out and sew. Once complete flip right side out. I just used my fingers but feel free to use whatever method helps you. Now you have the collar and middle of the bow.
       Most people buy their adjustment pieces for things like this, but I was being cheap and I made mine out if floral wire. Get one end of the long collar piece and weave the adjustment part that looks like an eight and then sew a little bit so it stays in place. Next pull the part that has a hook through, making sure the hook is on the outside. Then take the other end without anything and weave it back through the part that looks like an eight. It should adjust now.  Now take the last part and pull through a little bit and sew. It should all hook and adjust the same way now. 
          The last parts are hand stitching. Grab the bow piece and pinch in the middle. It should look like a bowtie already just by doing that. Take a needle and thread to sew thru the middle. Do this several times and maybe wrap a few strands of thread around the middle too. Now take all three pieces and now its time to combine. Put the bow about halfway and wrap the middle piece over the middle of the bow and collar. Once you are positive this is it sew the middle piece to the collar. Tada! You've now got yourself a snazzy new bowtie. :)

100th Anniversary for the Titanic

So being as it is the 100th anniversary of when the unsinkable Titanic sank I thought I would say a few words. Ever since elementary school this ship has fascinated me and I mean who hasn't been? I always think of what it would of been like if it was still around today. Its just such an amazing wonder. I guess though that if it hadn't taken place, we wouldn' t have been able to fix what went wrong like that fateful night unfortunately. So as this goes along today I am going to keep the memory of those and this great ship in my thoughts.

Some more crafty crafts for your next holiday needs!

         The holidays are a great time to get together and spend time together with the ones you love. It's also a time when the craftsters and creaters come out to play. I'm still in the process of becoming this brillant like the creators I snagged these from, but I'm having fun while I'm getting there and hope you are too. :) For the elf pinecon, turkey pinecones, turkey made out for paper bags and peppermint wreath I got them all from marthastewart.com For the elf pincone you will need to go to the site for sure because you will need the template that she provide for the mittens, hat and elf shoes. For the turkey save your grocery bags and this project is practicly free. :) The turkey pinecones are the easiest. All you need is pinecones, brown pipe cleaners, hot glue and something for the feathers(actual feathers, foam, construction paper etc.). Cut a big enough piece of pipe cleaner for a turkey head a hot glue to the front of the pinecone and do this as well with the feathers that you have chosen. When it came to the peppermint wreath I made a few minor adjustments so it could fit my budget. I bought a smaller wreath, which I see now they sometime have at the dollar store so keep that in mind. I used about eight bags of peppermint, but they were only a dollar each. I hot glued each one on and added the ribbon just for fun because I had it. :)
          The eggnog and sugar cookie recipe I got from Paula Deen magazines but you can also get them from Food Network or her website. You will not be disappointed with either of them.
         The pumpkin with tissue paper and homemade suckers was my own creation. All you need to do is scoop out a pumpkin paint or carve your own creation, dry out really well and place tissue paper with special treats. :)

Colored Deviled Chick Eggs

       So I used to ideas I saw on the web to make one idea come to life. Chick + colorful deviled eggs = colorful chick deviled egg.

• Dozen eggs
• food coloring
• 5 tbsp. of vinegar
• 1/2 mayo
• 1/2 tsp. black poppy seeds for the eyes
• 1/2 tsp. chopped carrots for the beaks
• pot
• cups
• mixing bowl
• potato masher
• strainer

           In a pot fill about half way with water and let boil. Carefully add eggs and let boil for about 15 minutes. Take one egg out carefully if your not positive they are done and crack open to make sure its a hard boiled egg. If it is pour the rest in a strainer and pour cool water over them to cool them down. Once they are cool crack and carefully pull away the shells. Then cut down the side and scoop out the middle with a spoon. Place yolk and 1/2 cup of mayo in a bowl and mash together.  Set this aside and lets get started with the dye for our eggs. Place out your five cups and fill them with 1 cup of water and 1 tbsp. of vinegar. Now you can be creative and make up your own colors in each with a few drops of food coloring. :) Place your egg halves in the dye and wait til desired color is achieved. About 4 eggs can fit in a cup, but this also depends on the cup. Pull them out and place them on a towel to dry before filling with mayo mixture. You can either pipe it in or spoon it in. Finally you can add poppy seed eyes and carrot beaks. How cute are these? :)

More Ketchup Please!

    So around Halloween Target had Kleenex boxes that had these candy corn people on them that just made me want to bring them to life some how...so I did. :D

You Will Need:

• About 3 styrofoam cone (depends on your preference)
• Yellow, Orange and White glitter
• Modge Podge
• Black Pipe Cleaners
• Wiggly Eyes
• Sandpaper
• Foam for the mouth and eye brows

   First you sand the styrofoam so it is smooth like a candy corn. Then what I did next was slowly glue and add one color glitter at a time so they don't mix. Also I would let it set a little between each. Then once the glitter was fully set I started with the face and last but not least the arms and legs are put in. I also made this later with a small mason jar and modge podge. I put dye into the modge podge and painted a candy corn person on the jar and made it into a latern. :)

       

I was on the web and I ran across how you use the middle of an orange as a wick and light it like a candle. I thought how neat, so of course I had to try it. Make sure to soak with olive oil for a little bit before you light.

         Remember when some people put sugar cubes in their coffee? Well now you can put a sugar heart in your coffee. Like they weren't sweet enough already? :) This blog shows you how http://amandamerlin.wordpress.com/ Its basically sugar, a little bit of water and letting it set for a while.

       Now this drink would be the margarita to you child eye. Chocolate milk with chocolate dipped sprinkles on rim of the glass. I think I hear a chocolate chip cookie calling my name now. :) This only shows the picture but its so simple that you don't need instructions really http://www.tumblr.com/dashboard.

Ketchup Time! :)

     So I've been doing so much that I haven't been able to keep up with my ownself. Ha! Well here are a few things all the way back to Thanksgiving.

      Lets start with a real treat the choco bowl for your ice cream. Yum! All you have to do is melt some chocolate, inflate a balloon and using a pastry brush paint the ballon to make the bowl shape. Now remember to oil the balloon a little so when you pop the balloon it will slide off easily. Once you've painted your balloon to your liking stick it in the fridge for 5 mins, pop and fill with your favorite treat. My inspiration for this idea came from http://the-tum-tum-tree.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-02-23T11%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=10.

     I have two beautiful nieces so of course I wanted to make or buy them lots and lots of tutus! I first bought my niece, Madison the green and red one. Then of course the fourth of july one was inspired by my dad. He is very patriotic and I thought he would like it since he loves Madison. The pink with purple was inspired by a newcomer to our family Charlotte. I knew that they were going to be pals so I wanted to make them matching tutus. Of course she was only 2 months at the time when I tried it on her and that why there is only the picture of Maddie.

       Tutus are very easy to make and you can make them in variety of different fashions. I basically did it the easy way since I'm still working up to my full potential. You can start by wrapping your elastic or ribbon, which is the base ( what will go around the waist) around a paper towel roll. Then get your pieces of tulle (the amount will be based on how fluffy and what style you are going for) and make simple knots around the waist pushing each piece closer together as you go. When your done you should have a gorgeouse tutu.

      For my bridal shower we has ginger ale withe punch heart shaped ice floating in it. It was so cute and really easy!
 

        My sister just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and for her baby shower I knew she wanted a diaper cake. Hmmmmm, how was I going to come about this one? I really took the easy way out on this one, and got the kit at Michaels for my first time, but next time it will be an original. :) Basically that is a whole box of about 80 diapers right there, but you can add more or less and whatever details you'd like.

        Since I couldn't go to Kansas with my parents when Charlotte arrived I sent my sister a little gift. I got the giraffe from Toy R' Us and I made the label myself out of foam letters and a rectangle I cut to make the lable. The lollipop is from Chocolate Iguana, a local store here, but you can get those in just about any candy store.

Easter Lilies

Easter lilies are really pretty this time of year and I was surfing the web and found out I could make my own orgami ones. Neat, right? Here is the website http://charcoalandcrayons.blogspot.com/2011/04/folding-paper-lily.html. I'm not even going to try to explain something that somehow confused me for an hour. :)

Hot Cross Buns!

All this Easter season I've seen recipes for hot cross buns and I finally decided I had to try them when I got my Cooking Light Magazine.  What I loved the most is the smells that they give off because of all the cinnamon, nutmeg and citrus flavors. I don't have the recipe from my magazine, but you can try the website for Cooking Light or http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/hot_cross_buns/. I believe I will be doing this every year now. :) Yum!

Easter Treats Part 2

Ahhhhh! So I finally completed my chocolate Easter candies. It was supposed to be easy, but I guess I made it harder on myself somehow. I first thought it would be smart to put in a squeeze bottle  and just squeeze it in my tiny molds but somehow it was too thick. Then I tried to thin it out with milk and I really don't know what I was thinking. Basically I had to look up again how to melt chocolate because I was having a hard time, so becareful with that. I went to this site, which led me to another site http://www.informationvine.com/home-garden/holidays/easter/make-your-own-chocolate-bunny. Just make sure you don't go over 160 degrees and if you do it in a microwave do it in 30 second intervals. I got my molds off of etsy.com, but they originally came from crate and barrel.

      I also decided to do Easter peanut butter cups. First I did my Easter molds so that they would be ready when I finished my cups. For the pbc I just placed chocolate in a cupcake holder ( about a tbsp.) and stuck it in the frezzer. Then I pulled it out and spread peanut butter on top and stuck it back in. Then placed more chocolate on top. At that time I placed the my Easter molds on top and placed it one more time in the freezer.