Simple Goodness

I've had these starred for awhile to try, but just got around to it today. Where I saw it was Ruffles and Stuff and she called it a Larabar. I've never heard of a Larabar, so I call it peanut-raisin fish. Doesn't that sound delish? SOOOO simple and really tasty! It's just 1/2 cup peanuts, 1/2 cup raisins, and 1/8 tsp salt. I don't have a food processor so I used my blender and it worked fine. I pressed them into a silicone fish mold from Ikea and voila! Peanut-Raisin Fish. I wanted the same reaction as her kid, which was "ooh yum mommy! I want them everyday!" or something like that... Ethan said, "eh... they're ok." Then he came back a few minutes later. "Um... I was wrong, they aren't just ok. Can I have another one? No, maybe two. Are you going to eat that one? Can I have more?" Hehe! Oh, and as an aside, she called them "sugar free" but actually I think she meant "no sugar added" since the raisins of course have sugar. And if you have peanut allergies in your house try something else. I want to try cashews and dried cranberries next. Mmmmmmmm.....

EDIT: I tried cashews and cranberries. It was ok, but actually not as good as the peanuts and raisins. Plus the cranberries had a ton of added sugar. I think the joy of the peanuts and raisins is that they taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

In other news, Haven has been exhibiting the "Younger Story Telling Gene" in which tiny fish become a giant catch, etc. Today I was explaining how the meat was a little crispy because of a mishap with the gas grill. Then Haven added to it: "Then there was a huge fire. It almost caught the house on fire. People were screaming. Babies crying. Then the neighbors house almost caught on fire. People running for their lives...." She sounded JUST like my brother when he tells stories! Straight faced and as if it really happened! This is a trait my brother picked up from our father who is the master story teller. (remember the one about the salmon?) I just didn't know that Haven could inherit this gift half way across the world!

A Reason to Make Cake

Deanna once said something like once she decides to learn something she keeps practicing until she masters it. I can totally relate to that. When I get a bee up my bonnet to learn something I become absolutely obsessed until I can do it perfectly and then I get bored and learn to do something different.

So, where does that leave me with this cake decorating thing? Well..... I clearly need more practice. This is actually much more challenging than one would think. Therefore, I see a lot more baking in my future. I have two exhibits to prove my point. In order to practice I have researched cakes on the internet and have been modeling mine after pretty ones I find. Here's my side by side comparison of my progress.

Exhibit 1

Clearly the layers are not right. I think I should have had two layers on the bottom and one on the top, or maybe three on the bottom and two on the top. And my flower is too big, but at least it's the right shape. But look how smooth and perfect her fondant is! I need a better recipe I think.

Exhibit 2

Well, the layers are a little better. (I was only doing the top two layers.) But her flowers are soooo beautiful! Look how thin hers are. So dainty and realistic. But hey, at least my frosting coloring is right on!

Well, just wanted to keep it real. Most of the time I only post the stuff that turns out nice. Since I don't know how long this learning process will take I thought I had better document the not so good stuff along the way too. I see more cakes in my future!

PS. "Her" in the picture comparison is Cupcake Envy and her cakes are AMAZING!!!!

Birthday Cake

WARNING! Lots of pictures ahead!

So the other day I saw a cute mini cake in an ad and thought "I can do that." So I started researching mini cakes. Then I got this urge the other night and HAD to make mini cakes! Since we were having people over to celebrate Rob's birthday I thought it was the perfect reason to make cakes. These were all made from one cake mix and one recipe of fondant. The recipe is fine except that I had to add a lot more powdered sugar to make it firm enough to mold. So... here's the cakes:

Rob's Birthday Cake

And one for each guest:

Here they are all together on the counter looking pretty.

There wasn't enough cake for the kids to have their own, so I made them these little cupcakes. The colors may be weird for the animals, but that's what I had left!

These cakes are about two servings and super sweet. So I knew the guests wouldn't finish their cakes. The ziplock containers were the perfect size for them to take their cakes home.

And since it was Rob's birthday, there were presents!

DELICIOUS homemade Tiramisu, a wine refrigerator to take care of all that wine from Italy, a cool iPad stand for use in the kitchen to read recipes, and fun espresso cups.

And our little dinner party.

Happy Birthday Rob! We love you!

MADE Header Contest

Hey all my digi friends! Did you see the header contest on the MADE website? Here are my entries:

Simplicity 2191 - sort of

I like the School House Tunic, but the bottom portion has a tendency to poof out and make me look pregnant. Then I came across this version of the Shearwater Kaftan and I got the tunic bug again. But I would have to mail order the pattern and that would require effort and patience, which I don't have. So instead I decided to draft my own! I just can't buy ALL the patterns I want and drafting them myself is rewarding and helps improve my skills. Anyway....... this shirt is based on the line art for Simplicity 2191. It's really great fitting. It has princess seams and vents on the sides and the sleeves. And the neck is cut to the perfect depth - not too low and not too high.

And those shorts used to be these pants. After an unfortunate run through the wash they were too short for pants. So a quick chop and hem and now they are perfect fitting capris. Thank you mom for sewing when I was growing up! I LOVE making my own clothes!

Did anyone notice that it's the end of July and I'm wearing long sleeves? It is the end of July and STILL raining and cold! I think the sun came out for about 5 minutes today. I keep hearing about this heat wave in the States. I guess the heat is pushing all the rain to Germany because this has been the wettest summer I can remember since we moved here! I mean on the one hand since there is no air conditioning here we aren't suffering from being too hot... but on the other hand I haven't been able to get my summer clothes out much. On the bright side, it is BEAUTIFUL here! So green. But pleeeeeeease bring back the sun!

More Sewing

This should be my last sewing post for a few days. I hope you're not bored!

I've been wanting to try my hand at a cowl neck shirt for awhile now (not the tube kind but the drapey kind) but I didn't have a pattern. I looked at some instructions online and figured I could do it without actually having to buy a pattern. So I took one of my t-shirts and drafted a pattern. First mistake was the t-shirt I picked. I should have tried it on first and seen that it wasn't as flattering now as it was when I was 20 pounds lighter! That's ok though because it looks GREAT on Haven!

I only had to shorten the shoulder seams for it to fit her. So you can imagine how snug it was on me! Oops! So I went back to the knit and tried widening it. But guess what - that makes a deeper cowl. Hmmm... maybe I do need a pattern.

Even though I shortened this one at the shoulders too I still had to wear a tank underneath. But I think it turned out fine.

And this is the hemline of the other bias skirt I made. I figured you didn't need to see the whole skirt again. For this one I added two bias strips to the bottom to make it look like layers. They are all un-hemmed so I get that nice frayed edge.

Haven has been spending some time with me at the craft store during her summer vacation and yesterday she started making these little Sculpey clay monster babies. Aren't they the cutest?! Don't you just want to take them home and cuddle them?!

Look at the eyes on that green one! I love it! And that red one has a party hat and a noise maker! He's for a friend of hers who has a birthday party this weekend.

And lastly, here's a lesson we want to share with all our friends. When there is a two hour stau (traffic jam) on the roads and you are trapped on base and decide to stay for dinner with your friends, be sure and look at the sky before deciding to eat out on the patio.

We got drenched! Everything was fine until the sky opened up and dumped a bucket of rain on our heads! It was still a fun way to spend an evening trapped with no where to go.

Corinnea's Bias Skirt

Did you all catch Corinnea's guest post on Crafterhours? It's so much fun to know a celebrity! :) It's a great look and such an easy tutorial! Great job Corinnea! So I've made two now. This was my second one, but I don't have a picture of the first one yet.

Pattern: Corinnea's Bias Skirt
Fabric: Navy cotton/linen blend
Waistband: navy t-shirt (I don't actually recommend using t-shirts because by the end of the day it's all stretched out and falling down! But it's what I had on hand.)

I added the ruffle by cutting 2" bias strips, sewing them together and then sewing the ruffling seam down the middle of the strip. The easy way to do this is to set your stitch length and your tension all the way to the highest settings (for mine the stitch length was 6 and tension was 9) and then just sew a straight line. Don't forget to reset everything once you're finished! I used the same technique to make Haven's ruffle skirts. I still had to tighten up the ruffle on her skirts to fit the pieces, but for this skirt it worked perfectly.

And here's my other Anna Maria Horner camisole with adjustments. This one is an Americana print but I forgot to write down the fabric line.