Mom's Birthday Fun

My mom has been in town since Saturday visiting us. We have accomplished many things- crafts, re-decorating my house, and finding furniture that I really didn't need but, just had to get, in some local consignment stores. More importantly today is her birthday! We exchanged our birthday bracelets- even though my birthday is not till April!

My bracelet- (Tangier 1969)

Mom's bracelet (Oxford 1901)

And even MORE importantly I made my first caramel cake for her birthday. If you are from the South you should know what a carmel cake is. Traditionally they are made with yellow cake and caramel icing amazingness. I still have memories of a caramel cake that a lady in Mississippi made- and I left Mississippi after 3rd grade!

I am not gonna lie this cake is a labor of love but it is so yummy and decadent that it is worth the time!

I found my recipes in my Joy of Cooking Cookbook- which I fully believe has every recipe in the world listed.

Four Egg Yellow Cake

2 2/3 cups sifted cake flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs yolks

4 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar

Have all ingredients at room temperature, about 70 F. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans or line the bottom with wax paper. 

1. Whisk together thoroughly in a bowl- sifted cake four, baking powder, and salt.  
2. Combine in another bowl or a liquid measuring cup- milk and vanilla.
3. Beat butter in a large bowl until creamy. Gradually add 1 1/2 cup sugar and beat on high speed until light, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts, beating until smooth. 
4. Using clean beaters, beat in a large bowl on medium speed your egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add in your last 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed until peaks are stiff but not dry. 
5. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the batter, then fold the remaining whites. Divide the batter among the pans and spread evenly. 
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-35 minutes. Cool and remove from pans. Let cool completely before icing. 

Caramel Frosting

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup heavy cream

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

*may need extra milk and confectioners sugar

Prepare yourself to have lots of time to create this. Sometimes the best stuff requires patience!

1. Combine brown sugar and heavy cream in a medium heavy saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 
2. Cook about 3 minutes, washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Cook, without stirring, to 238 to 240 F (soft ball stage). The water trick really does work- have a bowl of cold water and drip some of the caramel into the water. If it sinks to the bottom and forms little balls it is ready. Also to note- it takes quite some time for the caramel to get that hot so just have some patience. 
3. Remove from the heat, and float the butter on top. 
4. Cool, without stirring, to 110 F. It takes about 45 minutes. Then add your vanilla. 
5. Beat the icing until cool, thick, and creamy. If it becomes too thick add some milk. You will be beating the icing for what feels like FOREVER- thank goodness for my kitchenaid mixer! I ended up reading other people's recipes and I added a little milk and a little confectioners sugar to make it smooth. 
6. Try to not eat the icing out of the bowl- instead spread it on your yummy cake immediately. 

Good luck,

Quick Project

My mom is in town visiting me. I frequently get all crazy when my parents come to visit me. I decided to do a quick project to entertain myself while I was waiting for her arrival on Saturday. It is just a simple wooden letter that I painted. 

 I started with a plain wooden R that I bought at Michaels. They are very cheap and just think of the possibilities. I probably should have sanded it but I am always lazy about stuff like that. 

I started by painting my letter completely white

Pinterest inspired me to use, the much talked about, chevron pattern. I found the pattern for a chevron print on some one's blog. I honestly can't remember the name of the blog- but google chevron pattern and a thousand pop up. I then used a pencil to trace the pattern onto my letter. 

It started out like this- but I felt like it was missing something. I then added smaller lines to make it more interesting. 

Ta-da! I don't know why I like it so much better with the added small lines but I did. Here it is hanging up in my kitchen:

This is also the only picture that kind of shows the colors correctly- baby blue and grey. Hope you like the idea! It is simple- but it is another of my wonderfully tedious projects. I am starting to create a tedious habit I think. 

Crafty Thursdays

I have one word for this week- chocolate. I have no reason for that word other than the fact that I am craving it. Plus, I think baking is this evil art that calls to me and therefor makes my pants not fit.

5 Chocolate Yummys:

From: Better Homes & Gardens
Super Duper Chocolate Kisses Recipe

From: Cooking Channel
Chocolate Truffle Cake Recipe

From: Tracey's Culinary Adventures
Chocolate Croissants

From: David Lebovitz
French Chocolate Macaroon Recipe

From: Joy the Baker
Chocolate Chocolate Donuts

Side note: Why is it that when you find yummy recipes or awesome crafts on pinterest people don't know how to link correctly. You link to the actual blog page about the topic- NOT the main page of the blog. Seriously, it is becoming a pet peeve of mine.

Happy Crafting,

The Monkees

This afternoon I was driving to one of my client's homes when I heard some most depressing news. I was just listening to NPR expecting normal broadcasts and what do I hear? Davy Jones from the Monkees is dead. Now you must be saying to yourself- what does a 25 year old know about the Monkees? (I suppose me listening to NPR also makes me old- but that is another discussion).

Well let me tell you- I had a sever obsession with the Monkees in middle school. They had started playing reruns of the show on one of those oldy channels. I even found an old Monkees book that my dad owned from the 60s that was like my my sacred treasure on earth.

Of course, while watching I, like every other little girl in the 60's fell in love with Davy Jones. Granted, when I was watching the show, he was probably in his late fifties but you couldn't tell me that. He was still a cute young guy in my mind. I literally did not miss an episode. And if I had to be gone from home, I recorded the video on a handy dandy VHS tape. Ah, those were the days.

So goodbye to the cutest 5 foot 4 inch guy on TV. You made one summer of my life quite lovely.

Etsy

Well, I have given in and made my first etsy purchase. When my mom saw the pretty spoon bracelets that I posted yesterday she wanted one. So, I bought her one for her birthday and she bought me one for my birthday. Luckily, she will actually be here visiting me for her birthday and I am hoping I will receive the bracelet before then.

The name of the shop is Mon Petit Chou Boutique.  They have over four pages of bracelets with tons of different patterns. Some of the patterns are even from the early 1900s. I think it is pretty neat that the silverware has been around for that long and is now re-purposed.

They have been very helpful in buying the bracelets because my mom and I both have six inch wrists. With our freaky tiny wrists finding bracelets that fit us is nearly impossible. The shop is having to custom make ours- hence why individual etsy shops are so amazing.

Here are some more pictures of their pretty bracelets:

I can't wait to get mine! I highly recommend this shop if you like the spoon bracelet look. They don't know me or anything- I just like them!

Crafty Thursday

I haven't really ventured into all areas of crafting land. Specifically, jewelery making- I have tried and I am too much of a perfectionist. On the other hand, I am constantly drawn in to jewelry ideas that you can make yourself.

Top 5 DIY Jewelry Projects:

From: Melok's Place
http://meloksplace.blogspot.com/2010/02/tree-of-life-pendant-tutorial.html

So, instead of actually trying something simple I attempted this pendent. It is supposed to be "natural" looking but I still was not happy with it. Like I said- I want everything to be perfect- which doesn't help when you are trying to make complicated necklaces.

From: ECAB
http://www.ecabonline.com/2010/04/braided-bead-necklace.html

From: More Design Please
http://www.moredesignplease.com/moredesignplease/2010/8/4/diy-sailors-knot-bracelet.html

From: Whirly Bird
http://johannainman.blogspot.com/2011/10/craft-project-friendship-bracelet-with.html

Who doesn't remember making friendship bracelets in elementary school?

From: Sarah Ortega
http://www.sarahortega.com/2011/05/diy-fingerprint-jewelry.html


So I could not, for the life of me, find a tutorial on how to make these bracelets that are all over Pinterest. I absolutely love them and I want to make them myself but- no luck. I am about to resort to just buying one!
 P.S. If you happen to know my husband feel free to point him in this direction for gift ideas!



 http://www.etsy.com/shop/monpetitchouboutique

Happy Crafting,

Is it Spring Yet?

If you live in the South, like me, it sure feels like it! I don't think we have had winter weather all season this year. I'm ok with that- I am not made for snowy climates. I feel like I may die.

I really don't want to do any more winter crafts so I have moved on to Spring. I started my wreath- but I feel like it is missing something. Now I have made some spring time topiaries that are easy- and time consuming.

Supplies: 

styrofoam balls (mine are 5')

dowels

little pots (Dollar Store!)

pink paint

floral arrangement foam

moss

some cute ribbon

Mod Podge

Glue Gun (and a lot of glue)

6-7 bags of Lifesavers pastel jelly beans (found mine at Rite Aid)

Start by painting your styrofoam ball. I did pink because the tutorial I found did but honestly you could paint it any spring time color. If you go ahead and put your dowel in you won't get your fingers covered in paint!

Separate your candy- with my 5' ball I went through a little over two bags of jelly beans per ball. It doesn't help that each bag practically has enough purple in it for an entire thing. You really have to go through the bags to get a nice assortment of all the colors.

Start your glueing- it is time consuming but they do end up cute. This is the point that I ran out of colors-except purple and some pink- and had to open my third bag. 

After you have glued all of your jelly beans on shove your foam into your little pot. Line up your dowel in the middle of the pot. Then you can cover the ugly foam with some floral moss.

Tie on some pretty ribbon- and repeat if you make three like me! I did add modge podge to the jelly beans at the end because I am afraid it will attract bugs. Honestly, I kind of wish I hadn't done that. It you do decide to use it try to keep the glue from collecting in-between the jelly beans. You can see little clumps of it and it annoys me. 

Here is the original link:

http://craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com/2010/03/jelly-bean-topiary.html

If I can figure out what to do with my wreath I will post about that one soon. Although, spring does not technically start till next month!