My new Apron

So I was waiting for the fabric for the lounge pants to come in the mail and in the mean time I decided I needed an apron. Because I make big messes in the kitchen and am forever dirty!

I looked at a few in stores and they were ugly, I found one through Thirty-One that I really liked but it was kind of pricey and I know I can make one on my own!

I found a free pattern tutorial online for Classic Apron and bought some fabric. I didn't use Micheal Miller fabric that was shown but I have bought some of it from Fabric.com and I really like the quality and prices!

I prewashed it so I can get it dirty and throw it in the wash when I am done. I used it tonight and loved it! I am loving being creative!

Butterfly Cupcake Cake

Right before I had my second child, I got it in my head that I wanted to bake cakes and make icing from scratch. As I got further into it and the more pregnant I got, I lost interest as I do with a lot of things it seems. Well this past weekend was my niece and brother-in-law's birthday party, so I volunteered myself for the making of the cake! I always preferred making cupcakes, so I decided to try a cupcake cake!

I couldn't decide if I wanted to do Chocolate cake or Vanilla, so I did both! The Chocolate recipe turned out great, the Vanilla wasn't my favorite. Well for another birthday, a friend of mine and I made tie-dye cupcakes and I really wanted to do that again. I seperated the batter into two bowls and colored each with Wilton's icing dye. I'm not sure about that but it worked! Then spooned in each color layering them.
And baked for the appropriate time.

After they were baked and cooled, I made a Buttercream Icing. I have decided that the amount and consistency of what I made was good for spreading NOT for fancy decorations, which was my original intention. But it kept melting off the sides if I made it too high, so I either need to tweak that recipe or give up icing making. I haven't decided yet!

Then I lined the cupcakes together to make the shape of a butterfly and decorated accordingly.

I was never great at writing with icing but I would say I did better then I have done in the past!

This was fun for me! I wouldn't want to do it for a living but I am glad I can do it for birthdays and other occasions. My kitchen just isn't set up for regular cake baking/decorating.

Pillowcase Dresses

So this summer I have been tapping into another creative side. I have pulled my sewing machine out of my closet and got back to work. I had a string of little girl birthday in May, June and July. I found a free pattern online and bought some fabric (I shop at Hancock Fabrics because they are the closest fabric store that always has sales and good prices) and got to work. Before I knew it, I was out of birthdays and 8 dresses done!

I could pretty much do those in my sleep and I'm ready for another challenge. So I am starting Lounge pants for my boys. I found that tutorial for pants and fell in love! Plus Jackson feels left out because all these girls are getting dresses and I haven't made him one yet. I keep trying to tell him dresses are for girls. So I bought some Transformers fabric and will make pajama pants to practice with the pattern.

But on the side, I will be making curtains because my house needs a little color! I started with the kitchen to practice.

Maybe I'm taking on too much at once but just I'm excited that I can do all this! I will have to learn to prioritize my projects.