Whimsical Teacup Wristlets

I found this teacup wristlet pattern in a book called, Pretty Little Purses and Pouches, and fell in love with it. Given that I'm not a quilter, the pattern was difficult for me, even with help from my mom who's a wonderful seamstress. Needless to say, I was determined to figure it out -- I really wanted to make this wristlet for my friend's birthday gift. It took two days to make my first one but the end result was well worth the time! And by the time I finished with the fifth one, I could sew without referring back to the pattern.

One of my favorite things about sewing these, is creating fun color pallets with the fabrics. A few of my friends have been recipients of these and although I haven't made one for myself yet, it is on my to do list.

These are not only whimsical but practical too!

Fits on your wrist
and has a zipper and lining

Wednesday's Surprise

Wow! Esme and Steph left me speechless this afternoon when they presented me with this patchwork tablecloth and napkin set, a collaborative effort from the both of them. I don't really know exactly what I did to deserve such a generous, beautiful gift (it's not even close to my birthday) and words can hardly express my gratitude for this true labor of love.

My friends know me well; well enough to know that I really wanted to make a blue patchwork tablecloth for my table but that I probably would never get around to making one. They also know me well enough to know that blue is may favorite color and this tablecloth is filled with wonderful blue tones that look lovely in my dinning room.

I'm so honored that they would take time out of their very busy schedules to make such a beautiful and thoughtful gift for me. I will treasure it forever.

Sugar Flowers

Here's my first attempt at making sugared flowers. I wanted to use violets because they are edible and they were right size for my mini Easter cupcakes. I used pesticide-free violets that I bought from the farmer's market.

To sugar the flowers, I combined 2 teaspoons of egg white powder with 2 teaspoons of water. I used a small paint brush to brush the entire flower, front and back with the egg white; it is important to coat the entire flower with egg white, any part that's not coated will decompose. After coated with the egg white, I then sprinkled super fine sugar over them. I didn't have super-fine sugar on hand but it can easily be made by putting regular sugar in the food processor for 60 seconds.


After the flowers are sugared they need to be set out to dry. It's best to dry them on a mesh screen so the air can get around the entire flower allowing them to dry faster. If you don't have a mesh screen you can place them on parchment paper, occasionally turning them so that they dry completely. Once dry, they can be stored for weeks in an air-tight container. Finished carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing and sugared violets.

Flowery Cakes

I spent a good part of last week in my kitchen creating springtime cakes for 4 different occasions, three birthdays and a baby shower.

For the chocolate iced cupcakes, some of my inspiration came from my very own yard where daffodils are abundant and in full bloom. I also wanted to incorporate the color orange and made orange daisies which were a nice compliment to the yellow daffodils.

The teapot cupcakes were made for Steph's She's CrafTEA! party, and the pink daisy cupcakes were ordered for a little girl's birthday tea party.The recipient of the baby shower cake loves chocolate and raspberry so I made a chocolate cake layered with raspberries and chocolate buttercream and iced in a raspberry buttercream.

Patchwork Dish Towels

Here's another fun project from Sew Mama Sew - patchwork towels. I enjoyed making these for my friend's new kitchen.

I encountered one problem while sewing them, however. I used plain flour sack towels and the unevenness of the towels made it difficult to line up the patchwork strip evenly with the ends of the towels. In the future I will use a terrycloth towel instead.

Sewing for Baby

Need a baby gift idea? Check out these simple patterns for a baby blanket and burp cloths. The baby blanket tutorial came from The Purl Bee blog. I used cotton on one side and flannel on the other. I also made it a little bigger, 42 inches square instead of what they recommend, 32 inches square.

I also found a tutorial for these burp cloths on Sew Mama Sew. The burp cloth pattern that I've used in the past has ribbon sewn on the ends but I thought these were extra pretty with a strip of fabric sewn down the center. And look they complement the blanket!

One note on the burp cloths: I bought the Gerber organic cotton diapers and they were awful to work with. They got caught on the needle and snagged. I would recommend using the regular cotton ones instead.

Arizona Blood Oranges

On my recent trip to Arizona, I brought an extra suitcase along with the intent of filling it with Arizona citrus to bring back home to the Midwest. My parents and my in-laws have bountiful citrus trees in their yards. It's always a treat to visit this time a year when the citrus is in full harvest. Both sets of parents have lemon trees, and each has a different variety of orange trees, Arizona sweets, tangelos, and my favorite, blood oranges.

Although my family has been enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade and snacking on oranges, I wanted to create a few recipes using the blood oranges.

First I made a beet and blood orange salad. Keith loves beets so I thought this would be an added bonus for him.

I bought golden and red beets from our local coop, trimmed them, coated them in olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them in the oven for about an hour until tender. After they cooled, I peeled and diced them up for the salad. I peeled the blood reds, removed the pith and thinly sliced them. I tossed the beets and oranges over mixed greens and added some toasted walnuts.

For the dressing, I blended juice from one blood orange with about 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, 1 clove of garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp of orange zest, 1 tbs of honey, and salt and pepper. I was pleased with the end results and so was Keith.

Later in the week I made Barefoot Contessa's Orange Chocolate Chunk cake from her Parties! cookbook, only I substituted blood oranges for regular oranges. I think this is a great recipe because it has a good balance of orange and chocolate flavor. The recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of orange zest which really makes the orange flavor stand out, but not overpower the chocolate.

The only thing I might change, if using blood oranges in the future, would be to use regular orange juice instead of blood orange juice in the batter. I found that blood orange juice made the cake batter have a bluish tint. And if you're picky, like me, about how your food not only tastes but also looks, you'd be better off using regular orange juice. It bothers me when food looks deceiving, tricking you into thinking it's something that it's not. The cake tasted delicious even with the bluish tint, but I had inform people that it was orange cake because it looked more like banana or blueberry.