How to make a catepillar cake

Want a new and easy idea for decorating a cake for your next birthday party?  How about a caterpillar cake?

What you will need:

1 Bundt pan
1 cake mix (any flavor)
2 cans frosting (different colors)
2 chocolate donuts (or other items for eyes)
M & M's (or other items for eye pupils)
White chocolate chips
Chocolate chips
1 licorice stick

Bake you cake in a Bundt pan following the box directions.

Let the cake cool, then turn out on either a large tray or tin foil covered piece of cardboard.









Cut the cake in half diameter-wise.  Slide each half to make the shape of an "S".

Frost the cake, alternating colors according to the sections of the Bundt cake.  On one end "glue" on the chocolate donuts for the eyes.  (In the past I have used other items such as frosted strawberry shortcake cakes.  Use your imagination...there are no rules.  You are just trying to create the look of eyes)

Using frosting, glue one M & M to each donut for the pupil.  Add the white chocolate chips and chocolate chips  on the body  (In the past, I have taken shoelace licorice cut into 1" pieces and stuck them in the body to look like fur or hair on the caterpillar)

Cut the licorice stick in half and stick into the "head" of the caterpillar for antennae.  And there you have it.  A caterpillar cake.

 

 

Problem: King Size Fitted Sheets

If you have a king size bed, I bet you have run into this problem: which way is the correct way for the fitted sheet to cover the mattress. The problem is that a king size bed is almost square...almost, but not quite. That means that there is a correct way for the sheet to go on, and an incorrect way. The correct way will reach corner to corner side to side, and top to bottom...the incorrect way is that the sheet will come up short from top to bottom. So you make your bed, and you may have turn the sheet a few times just to see which way is correct.

Here is how I have solved the problem. Using a laundry marker, I find the correct way for the fitted sheet to fit, then I mark the bottom right corner with the marker. From then on, all I have to do is look for my mark, and put that corner in the bottom right. Voila! No more making and re-making because it is right the first time, every time.

Alternatively, you could use colorful thread and sew your mark onto a corner. Choose which ever corner you want to mark. For me, the bottom right was easiest because once the blanket and bedspread is on, no one will see the mark but me. Also, one set of my sheets happens to have a tag in the bottom right corner of the fitted sheet, so I just stuck with that corner when marking my other sheet sets.

Mickey Mouse Baby Shower Gifts

A dear family friend is due to have her little boy near the end of February (or maybe the middle...say...the 14th...which just happens to be my birthday ).  Recently there was a baby shower for her and her new bundle of love, and I made this Mickey mouse hat, diaper cover, and booties as a gift.  She was pleased and I had a lot of fun putting this together.  Sorry the picture isn't high quality.  I'm a poor photographer I'm afraid.

I got the patterns for these online from some very generous and creative ladies, and I want to post a link and give credit and thanks to them here:

Mickey Mouse hat: 

http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/06/mickey-and-minnie-mouse-crochet-hat.html

Mickey Mouse diaper cover: 

http://www.repeatcrafterme.com/2012/08/mickey-and-minnie-inspired-crochet.html

And booties (with a couple of pattern adjustments by myself) here: 

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/bevsbooties2.html

Craft day with the great grandkids

I am just now getting to posting this.. 2+ months later.
 

The day after Thanksgiving I spent with the great grandkids crafting.  Even the two year old joined in and did a great job with a little help from her mom.

We worked on 4 projects, and I have pictures of 3 and will tell you about all 4.

One thing we made were Christmas bulbs for the tree.  We took Styrofoam balls and modge podeged them with red tissue paper.  We stuck skewers into the balls to help facilitate even coverage of the tissue paper.  We let that dry and then took glitter glue and decorated them, then used water bottle caps with a tiny hole drilled into them and gold cord strung through for hanging on the tree.

We also made reindeer decorations.  We used the bottoms of 4 cup drink holders, the kind you get with take-out when you order more than one soda drink to go.  The bottoms are shaped in a sort of tri-pod.  We painted these brown, glued on google eyes, a red button for a nose, and a red bow.  Between the “ears” we glued pipe cleaner antlers and a gold cord for hanging.

What would Christmas be without candles?  We used toilet paper rolls for the candle sticks, and painted them...each great grandchild chose a different color.  We used construction paper to make “flames” and attached the “flames” inside the tube at the top.  We cut the bottoms of the tube into tabs that were then attached to a paper plate.  Rope tinsel was then used as candle rings.

Finally, I printed out some candy canes, and then we scoured magazine pages looking for things the color red.  We cut the red things into tiny scraps, then glued them into every-other stripe on the candy cane, making them look like mosaic candy canes.  These we put on the fridge with magnets.  I don’t have a picture of any of the candy canes, but you probably can imagine them from the description.

We had a lot of fun and maybe we will make this a yearly tradition?

How to make a Recycled Wreath

I know...Christmas is over.  But I wanted to post an easy way to make a recycled wreath.  Think beyond Christmas, here.  Think Valentines day...Easter...4th of July, baby showers.  This technique can be used for all Holidays by changing the doo-dads you add.  In this wreath the doo-dads would be the gold poinsettias and the gold bow.

Now on to the how to.  I don't have step by step pictures, but I think you will get the gist of it by explanation.

You will need:
1 Wire coat hanger
A bunch of shopping bags (these were from Walmart)
Doo-dads of choice.
Glue gun

Step one:
Bend your wire hanger into a wreath shape.

Step two:
Cut your bags into strips.  I cut mine into 1inch wide X 5 inches long.  You will need a bunch of strips.  Don't obsess over this...cut your strips approximately the same length and width.

Step 3:
Using a larks head knot, attach the strips to the coat hanger wire.  Pictured is a larks head knot.  If you need further instructions you can find that here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_13480_make-larks-head.html

As you add your strips, periodically stop and push or "bunch up" your strips.  It takes a while, but you  will soon have the whole wire wreath full of plastic strips.  When your hanger is full, you can give your wreath a "hair cut".  Trim the strips as needed for symmetry.

Step 4:
Attach your doo-dads using your hot glue gun.  This could include bows, flowers, Easter eggs, hearts, baby rattles and pacifiers, etc.  You are only limited by your imagination.

There you have it...easy peazy...If you have any questions or clarifications are needed, feel free to ask in the comments section.