Layer Cake Shop = HEAVEN ON THE WEB

As I mentioned before, I’ve dipped my fingers in the land of baking and oh my, am I having a BLAST or what! Because I’m such a newbie, I have ZERO clue where to find specialty & novelty goodies in town. My mother says there are tons of stores, but I think she’s wrong. We don’t have a Michaels (or even a Williams-Sonoma).

I get Daily Candy newsletters daily, and I usually scan over them briefly and delete, partly because I’m not so into them, and partly because they’re US based - which is of limited help to Canadian me. Today, though, they had a little ad for Layer Cake Shop. Instant love. Their website is full of amazing novelty treats - from printed baking cups to over a dozen food colorings - if I’d known of them 2 months ago, my birthday cake probably would’ve been a teensy bit more eclectic!!

Truthfully though, their website isn’t so clear when it comes to shipping costs, so I’m more hesitant than not to order stuff. I probably WILL search Montreal a little more thoroughly before I finalize my shopping cart. Until I decide, I made myself a little Layer Cake Shop inspiration board!!

(All images pulled directly from http://www.layercakeshop.com )

Yummy!!!!

Tags: baking, fun stuff, inspirations, kitsch

A Little DIY… Printed!

Hello Precious readers!

I wanted to share a little piece I wrote for one of my university’s student newspapers. I wrote on some current trends to DIY, taking inspiration from my top 3 DIY reads - http://lovemaegan.com , http://psimadethis.com and of course, http://carboncouture.blogspot.com .

I won’t bore you with double reading, so here’s the link! http://www.theconcordian.com/diy-fashion-update-your-closet-and-save-money-1.1110338 (you can leave comments, too!!!)

It was actually great fun writing my first article for The Concordian - especially since it was on DIY. I’m hoping it’ll be well received, and that I can eventually make a series out of some DIY fashion posts. I will say that it was a completely different experience writing for a newspaper rather than a blog. A challenge, even. I learned that APPARENTLY exclamation marks aren’t so accepted in journalism. Something about how it seems like you’re laughing at your own joke? Who knew! (I almost ALWAYS laugh at my own jokes. Especially the ones that are just untimely and horrible and not funny.) Naturally, of course, full capital lettered words don’t fly. That I already knew.

I brought home for myself approximately 8 copies. I’m a little girl when it comes to things like that, I want EVERYONE to have a copy! I had to sneak copies into the crook of my arm when nobody was looking. I didn’t want other students to think I’m a LOONY TOON. I am pretty sure some of my classmates saw me trying to shove my stack of papers into my bag. Whatever. I am one proud peacock!

And since I know the text won’t stay online forever (or does it? I don’t know how those archive things work), I’ll eventually repost it as its own post!

XOXO

Tags: "press", diy, fun stuff, glue gun, inspirations, my writing, The Concordian

Birthday Yummies

Whoops. I found this one-lined post in my drafts. From December.

Let’s talk.

I didn’t drop crafting, per se, but in the interim, I discovered a love for baking. To me, it’s part chemistry, part manual labor (I mix batters by hand, thank you very much!) and part YUMMY. I love sampling uncooked batter, and I especially LOVE tasting a finished delicious treat.

My birthday was in December, and I turned the ripe age of 26. Instead of ordering my usual grocery-store vanilla cake with sugary white icing and pink/purple flowers, I decided to bake my own top-notch hilarious cake and decorate it, for my party. My original plan was to bake a few layers and slice them thin to have a beautiful multi-layer cake with tons of icing and fillings. My mom was slightly upset that I didn’t A. ask her to do it first and B. allow her to just BUY me a cake, so I ended up allowing her to pre-bake the cake layers for me. At my request: 2 layers of vanilla confetti and 1 layer of lemon.

When it came to actually icing the cake, I was so excited that I COMPLETELY forgot to trim and slice down the three layers of cake. I’d become so hilariously preoccupied with making the perfect shade of pink icing (thanks, red food coloring all over my fingers & betty crocker whipped icing). By the time I noticed that I should’ve evened out the layers, it was way too late. And then I ran out of my pink icing. And then my carpal tunnel kicked in and I couldn’t make cute rosettes.

And then I got lazy.

What I didn’t get lazy for, however, was decorating and assembling my “sweet table”. That’s the Martha Stewart in me, I suppose!

Special thanks to my man, who bought me a beautiful bouquet of pink flowers to match and, of course, for hosting my party. He is the best!!

Tags: baking

Quick Craft/Update

Two points of order:

1. I filmed my first craft this weekend! A girl I know - http://ebwhite.blogspot.com/ - asked me if I could prepare a small craft for a film she’s doing for a journalism class. She wanted a quick cheap unisex craft (that means no feathers or jewels) that could be gifted for the holidays. Right up my alley!! After much pondering (and then running out of time due to an overload of schoolwork), I settled on making a handy-dandy box out of dominoes with a matching picture frame! The clip is right now being edited, but that won’t stop me from showing you the box - the picture frame has since been destroyed. I made the mistake of glueing the dominoes to the glass before sticking a picture in, thus making picture placement impossible.

Here’s the box:

To make it, it’s pretty simple. I used a box of old dominoes and a hot glue gun (but really, a heavy duty tacky glue would be wayyyy better) - and made coaster-looking “walls” out of 8 dominoes. 5 total - one for each side, and then an extra for the base. I then made the cover, which is not necessary, but equally cute. You can vary the height and width of the box, making it a tall pencil cup or a short squat box. Easy!! And, if you don’t happen to have a box of dominoes hanging around, it’s a cheap craft to go out and buy the supplies for: dollar store dominoes ($1) + dollar store glue gun + glue shots ($2). Fun!!!!  What I liked the most about this, is that the black and white graphic look of the dominoes ends up looking SUPER TRENDY right now. Everyone loves black & white!! Chic!!

2. Non-craft related, I figured I may as well promote myself a teensy bit. http://maddykweddings.com/blog/2009/11/hello-sunday-this-is-valerie-maddy-ks.html

That’s me! I’m going to be one of the on-site bloggers for Maddy K’s Bridal Boudoir bridal show in 2 weeks! I’m pretty excited. I LOVE weddings and I love blogging, so why not! Rumor has it that the brides who show up get an awesome goody bag. Rumor ALSO has it that volunteers - like me - MIGHT also get said goody basket. YUMMY!! Be sure to check out the Maddy K blog on Dec. 6th - I’ll be there all day writing about all the awesome things I see!

XOXO

Tags: fun stuff, news, recycling

Montrealers.. This is for YOU

http://www.salonpassionchocolat.com/home.aspx

This weekend. Equivalent of the Beer Festival but with CHOCOLATE. Delish!!!!

Alex’s Vest - Reader Craft

One of my faithful fans sent me a really precious email along with her version of the draped vest. Alex, an old summer camp pal AND a fabulous blogger too, she runs EAT a super blog on everyone’s favorite topic - eating yummy things while trying to stay healthy.

She sent me a picture of her vest, along with the following message:

“i found my boyfriends old sweatshirt from when he used to be 250 lbs, and i cut it up.
here’s the photo!
feel free to post it if you like.
i almost went 80s on it and added beads to the end until i realized i actually wanted to wear it!”

Fab fringes!!!

Tags: alex, Reader Craft, vest

Cold-Weather Cuteness #2: Cozy Fleece Scarf… WITH POCKETS

My friend Rosalie is PROBABLY my blog’s biggest fan - both of my blogs actually. She pestered me to get back on crafting because she was running out of things to read when she’s bored. She is also a lover of the craft making, and has asked me repeatedly to invite her over when I craft. I don’t think she’d be too keen on coming over at 3 a.m. when I can’t sleep and have a weird jolt of inspiration. So, because she’s a really great girl, and because I like her and think she’s awesome, I made her a teensy little present - that actually kills two birds with a stone - because it’s both a wearable craft AND a recycled household objects craft! Wow!

In my house, we are apparent lovers of the glorious fabric that is FLEECE. Back in my summer camp days, I gave the same gift for the gift game two summers in a row: a fleece QUILLOW lovingly handmade by myself - or my mother if I ran out of time/got lazy. My mom once made me a fleece bed cover thing, that attracted both stray hair and sweat. My sister had giant hot pink fleece throw pillows. I made MYSELF a hot pink fleece QUILLOW. See a trend?

So, using all this excess FLEECE we happen to have lying around (I have since put the fleece cover into storage and my sister outgrew the need for HOT PINK FLEECE), I thought nothing would be cozier than a great fleece scarf for Rosalie. And hey, IT’S NO-SEW.

Things You Need:

• A ton of leftover fleece - like old throw blankets, even old fleece bathrobes
• Scissors
• Glue gun
• Heart template - or whatever shape you want your pockets to be
• Optional: embroidery floss & a needle

Now, I know I said it’s NO SEW, but I made mine LOOK like it was sewn but it’s really not. A sew trompe-l’oeil!

How To:

1. Decide how thick and long you’d like your scarf to be, and cut it as evenly as possible to your desired length/width. Make sure it’s wide enough for pockets!
2. In an alternating color (or the same, however you wish), trace & cut out 2 patch shapes for your pockets, large enough to fit most of your hand.
3. OPTIONAL: sew stitches around the pocket shapes to look like seams.
4. Glue the patches to the near bottom of your scarf, leaving a wide opening at the top. Put glue ONLY on the edges, you’re making a pocket, silly!
5. Wrap around your neck, sneak some candy into your pocket and go out for an Autumn walk!

   

   Stuff I used

   

   Cut fleece

   

   Tracing a shape

   
   

   

   Cut hearts!

   

   Glue the hearts on!

   

   Finished scarf

   
   

   

   Rosalie's package!

   
   

Estimated Time: 20 minutes, add 15 if you’re faux-sewing the pockets.
Craft Level: Easy - cut & glue!

Tags: cute, diy, easy, no-sew, presents, recycling, scarf

Cold-Weather Cuteness #1: Hat

There once was a time where I’d buy things just to get a present out of my parents. Example: a baby blue cable knit RALPH LAUREN hat with a YELLOW polo person thing. I NEVER wore it. I’m pretty sure I got it on a trip to North Conway, Maine - which dates this chapeau to EASILY 1998. Which makes it okay for me to decorate it and make it wearable. I mean, I AM preppy, but not THAT preppy. Plus, that yellow horse-guy really just doesn’t match anything.

Enter inspirational Elle Woods, of Legally Blonde. This hat is one of her cuter accessories from the movie [okay, ALL her accessories are fab], and I never really got over giant flowers. SJP as Carrie Bradshaw as dressed by Patricia Field? I’m talking to you.

ANYWAYS, onto the craft. I wanted to make this idiotic looking plain hat look more charming.

Things You Need:

• 1 old knit hat that can use some SPUNK
• 1 big flower brooch OR any large brooch OR 1 fake flower [but if it's not a pin, be prepared to use the glue gun]
• T-shirt sleeve scraps [think the pieces leftover from the vest below]
• Safety pins
• Scissors
• Glue gun & glue - optional

How To:

1. Cut the sleeve off of the t-shirt scraps, and trim the seams off and open it so it’s long.
2. Cut 3 approximately equal width strips from the sleeve - and pull them to stretch them out, so they’re long and skinny.
3. Using a safety pin to hold the 3 strips together, make a braid.
4. Cut evenly spaced out small slits around the edge of the hat, where you’d like to weave your braided fabric through - for a weaved ribbon look. Be careful and cut your slits small and fairly spaced out but not too close to the bottom - knits rip easily!!
5. Weave the braid through - using a glue gun, glue the ends to the hat (weave it so the ends are on the inside!).
6. Attach brooch/pin/flower over the point where the ends of the braid meet.
7. Braid your hair, clean your smart-girl glasses, and be Elle Woods for a day!

   

   

   Some things I used

   
   

   

   3 "even" strips of fabric

   

   Pulled strips

   
   

   

   Braided pieces

   

   Almost ready!

   
   

   

   Done & ready for wearing!!

   
   

Craft Level: Easy
Estimated Time: 15-20 minutes, including internet research time on Patricia Field.

Stay tuned for some more cold weather cuteness! Up next: Cozy Fleece Scarf with Pockets!

Tags: brooch, cute, elle woods, hat, recycled

Anniversary Crafts

My man and I recently celebrated our one-year anniversary (OKAY, I know 1 year of dating ISN’T SUCH A BIG DEAL ANYMORE, but to me it was so deal with it!) and in addition to man-made/store bought presents, I knew that I had to MAKE him something. Apparently sending pictures and captions to Bureau en Gros to be made into a calendar didn’t count so much.

I did sell my soul to the scrapbooking gods to make him a great looking corny/stereotypical scrapbook, but the real craft that I made has its own background story:

My aunt’s parents have these giant fish sculptures at their place that kiss. If at any time, you should visit them and the fish aren’t kissing, the couple are NOT happy with each other. But if you visit, and the fish are kissing, you know it’s - as we say in Hebrew - “Shalom Bait” (literally: peace in the home, figuratively: things are koooooool). I wanted to recreate this idea - complete with the undertones.

So, a DIY sculpture kissing couple? EASY AS PIE.

I bought 2 identical and inexpensive glass figurines, and decorated them - one male & one female. Using a heavy duty adhesive [Well-Bond], I gave them lips, a necklace/bow-tie. For the female, I recycled trimmed edges from a set of false eyelashes to make her eyes lashilicious.

Check out pictures below!

It’s easy to find inspiration to make cheaper presents! Who needs fancy crap when you can give from your heart?

Tags: cute, diy, frogs, love, presents

Recycled Old Men’s Tshirt = Stylish VEST (NO-SEW)

With the help of a bag of old huge t-shirts, a pair of scissors and a handy tape measure, I made a really cute vest today. Inspired heavily by all those cute jersey/cotton draped vests I’ve been seeing everywhere, making this one is more cost-efficient than zipping over to Urban Outfitters (over-priced!!) or even Forever 21. And hey - all you need to know how to do is use scissors and a tape measure. Easy, no?

Things You Need:

• 1 huge old t-shirt (I used a men’s medium, but that’s because I wanted my vest cropped. Bigger = longer, smaller = shorter)
• Scissors
• Tape Measure

How To:

1. Lay t-shirt out on flat surface/floor.
2. Cut from armpit to armpit, leaving the “trunk” in one piece and giving you a wide tube.
3. Cut your tube down the middle.
4. Tricky part: measure the distance between your shoulders and center that “amount” in the middle of your now long wide strip - this is to figure out how far apart to make your arm holes.
5. Cut two generous slits for arm holes at designated central points.
6. Wear!

   

   Old t-shirt, scissors & tape measure

   

   You don't have to cut evenly

   
   

   

   Clearly I can't cut straight - those are arm holes

   

   It looks wayy cuter on a human than on a hanger.

   
   
   

Fun facts: I used some old give-a-way t-shirts to make mine. You can also cut fringes along the front to make it cuter. The longer/bigger the t-shirt = the better your vest will be. You want it to be drapey and hang a bit. Don’t judge how it looks on my t-shirt - it falls FABULOUSLY when it’s on. I just didn’t think you all need a gratuitous boob shot.

Estimated Time: no more than 5 minutes, and that includes figuring out how far apart your shoulders are.
Craft Level: So easy it hurts!

Tags: easy, no-sew, recycling