summer creations

so i have been a pretty terrible blogger this summer.  i know, i'm awful.  i really don't have any excuse.  anyway, i'm going to post a bunch of pictures to show you some of what i have been up to.  it isn't all of the creations i have created (because, i have also been a bad craft photographer).  but at least you are getting a summary.  maybe i'll be better this fall.  yeah, i doubt it, but a girl can try.  so here you go:

savory deep-dish mushroom pie - this was for the opening ceremonies of the olympic games. british themed food, of course! 

this is sue mi's birthday cake.  the girl like board games and is korean - hence the monopoly board and the korean characters for monopoly.  notice the cute little asian girl portrait - that's sue' face in butter cream.

my roommate's fiance asked me to make his son and his brother a joint b-day cake. so the 26 car  is for the brother and the 2 car is for the little boy.  this cake is also dairy free yet was surprisingly delicious.

my friend christy from back home had a baby over the summer. she has posted photos of how she decorated the baby's room.  she did a fun mural with song birds and an owl on the wall.  so i went with the theme to make this little guy.

my sister-in-law's baby shower was in august. i was put in charge of dessert. so i make four dozen mini pies (peach, strawberry, and apple/blackberry).  they took 5+ hours to make, but they were yummy!

i threw my roommate a bridal shower with a purple theme - since it is her favorite color. this is the bathroom with some of the purple poms i made (notice the purple hand towel, candle, and bunting also in the room).

and the purple bunting i made for the living room decorations - i might have to sell this on the etsy shop - it is too cute to not let someone else enjoy!

coffeecake in a mug

i was in the mood for some sort of breakfast baked good this morning.  couldn't really decide what though. i has some applesauce in the fridge and was bound and determined to use it.  don't know why, but it was a requirement :P 

anyway, i found a recipe for coffeecake in a mug online at prudent baby, and i sounded promising...  the website was great too, step-by-step directions with pix.  very helpful.  so i gave it a whirl.  buuuut, i did some tinkering, cause we all know that's how i roll ;)

so, if you want to replicate my creation, follow prudent baby's directions with the following tweaks:

substitute the egg with 2 tbsp of unsweetened applesauce

double the baking powder

at the end of the cake portion, add in a tbsp of dried fruit (i used blueberries) and 3 crushed walnuts

add a tbsp of shredded coconut to the crumble topping recipe

i ended up baking mine for 1.5 minutes

and, i also made a topping.  i had a vanilla pudding snack pack cup in the cupboard, so i mixed that with a few drops of maple extract and tossed it on top when it was done cooling.  just enough for a little pudding sauce with each bite

the pudding sauce is on the left, finished cake on the right

one delicious bite :)

Jar project

Another Arthouse Co-op project! The jar project! Of course I figured out how to stick a flamingo in there :)

4x6 exchange

my entry for the arthouse co-op 4x6 exchange!  granted, i finished this over the weekend (and i was sick all weekend), so it isn't my finest work, but it was a fun little challenge.  and it forced me to work on my cross stitching.

i'm took congested and tired to type-out the purpose of the project.  you'll just have to click the link and check it out :)

Double chocolate cherry oatmeal cookies!

I got a craving for cookies this afternoon and did a little googling. I found a recipe for chocolate oatmeal cookies (see link below) and decided to tinker with it ;)

I added a half bag of chocolate chips and a bag of dried cherries to the mix, swapped out two TBSP of butter for apple sauce (only cause I ran out of butter), and subbed one third a cup of the all purpose flour for equal amount of rye flour. Man, these are delicious! Oh, and I made the huge! I used my ice cream scooper. :)

Enjoy! I know u will ...

http://catesworldkitchen.com/2010/04/chocolate-oatmeal-cookies

get your felt on

i decided to do needle felting at the museum this past tuesday.  it was part of a much larger program, and there was, of course, a valentine's day theme.  anyway, here are some images from the event and some of the samples i created :)

photos by mary tait

first attempt

i saw an article in martha about cross stitching, so i decided it was about time to give it a try.  at work, we are having a postcard design contest for the museum's 40th anniversary.  technically i can't win the contest, but i decided to participate anyway (just for the fun of it).  so i cross stitched my entry.  pretty appropriate for a craft museum, but that is just my take.  anyway, for your view pleasure!

ps - one of my resolutions this year was to actually sell on my etsy site and complete more crafty projects, so expect more posts!  (i know i have been slacking, but i'm trying to make up for it now :) )

UPDATE - the museum liked my design so much that they used it to illustrate the blog.  check it!