Wedding Cake Madness

So where was I...November? Whoops.

I've been busy busy the past few weeks getting ready for yet another wedding. I was put half-in charge of the wedding cake. The lovely bride, my new SIL, had seen a cute as cupcake on Pinterest (I'm sure many of you have seen it before - the pink frosted cupcake with lace and 'i do' flag). So my other SIL and I got to work recreating 144 of them. Yep...144.

The vanilla cupcake recipe is the same as that vanilla latte cake I made a few weeks ago from Sweetapolita. The mix made just over 40 cupcakes.

30 little 'i dos'

The finished cake! Gubby frosted all of the cakes - don't they look amazing? I made the little bunting on top as well by stamping and embossing letters in bronze on each little cardstock flag and tying to kebab sticks with gold twine.

The lace is stuck onto the cupcake wrappers with edible sugar flower glue...well most of them are. I ran out with about 30 cupcakes to go and just used royal icing for the rest.

The gorgeous newlyweds and their cake. Congrats you two kids!

For bubba's outfit I made a cute bow-tie. I used this tutorial by A Lemon Squeezy Home. In the end, it was a tad too puffy and oversized for a bub. I'll make the next one smaller, although I think it kind of matched his head size...

My little pudding is 5 months old now!

I've started playing around with royal icing on cookies...not too bad.

I finished up a pair of cute booties using a gorgeous bamboo yarn. It's so soft!

And then all of a sudden Christmas is upon us - when the heck did that happen? Far out this year has zipped by. My tree this year is read and bronze. I always seem to underestimate the size of my tree hehe. I didn't really have my heart in the decorating this weekend...I think after a week at work really took it out of me.

Best cake ever..and some craft

If you ever are looking for a scrumptious vanilla cake recipe, then this is the one you need to make. The recipe is from Sweetapolita here. Oh man, it was delicious, especially topped with the latte buttercream.

Little Button is getting really good at his mini pushups and has started rolling from his tummy to his back and he even managed the other way once.

I'm still working on this quilt for him. First I had to get a clear presser foot to do the aplique around the felt letter, then I had to get a walking foot for the top stitching as it's all so thick and backed with minky. Now I'm undecided on how to quilt it. The bottom half is Humpty Dumpty so I was thinking of stitching round edged brick shapes through it, but I have no idea about the top half of Little Red Riding Hood. Any ideas?

I'm still working on this christmas apron for myself, but I finally found some fabric for the bias edging.

Yep, the starburst rug is almost done! I've joined them all and luckily each block has squared out nicely so no need to blocking. Now for the worst bit...weaving in all the loose ends. Gah.

I have some gorgeous new books to browse through and inspire me:

• Sunday Morning Quilts by the talented Amanda Jean and Cheryl
• Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey
• Women's Weekly Masterclass
• Decorating Cookies by the amazing Bridget Edwards of Bake at 350

Are you getting inspired this week? I can't wait to get stuck into making some cookies :)

Is it Monday again already?

This was a week of highs and lows as normal life usually is.

My craft room (part 1 and part 2) is in full blown use - huzzah. It still doesn't stop me from planning more craft projects than I'll ever ever get finished. Why do I keep starting things? I reckon I'm probably the most impatient person when it comes to craft. I love starting things...hate finishing things...until they're done and I can admire them. My other issssue is taking on projects that are just huge. No small time here!

This week I finished a couple of pairs of pants for Button, the first bandana bib, oh and I finally got Macarons to work! OK I have to admit that it was a packet mix (gasp) but you can't go wrong when Zumbo's name is all over it.

Pretty cute, huh! These were super easy and the pattern is the Basic Newborn Pants from Made by Rae. I upsized these to a 3-6mo size by adding 1" to the top and bottom seams as well as 1/2" to the fold. Ideally, I should have added 2" to the bottom hem, but Button has mummy's short legs at the moment, so it's not a big deal. I can always add cuffs to lengthen them later on.

This is way cuter than I thought it would end up being and now I have to get my s&#t together and make a million more. Button really is a drool monster! The pattern is from PurlBee.

What beauties! The packet came with a cardboard template so you can draw 2cm diameter circles on the underside of the baking paper and pipe on the other side so that all shells are uniform. Such a good idea! Next is to make them from scratch (wish me luck).

Here is a run down of my WIP's...

• Granny square rug
• Sunburst rug
• Zig zag rug
• Viking hat for bubba
• Cot quilt
• Pacifier/Dummy leashes
• Bandana bibs
• Satin dress
• Several cross stitches
• Toiletry box bag
• Christmas apron

And here're the projects I'm waiting to start...

• Canvas art for the nursery
• Pillow shams for our bedroom
• Quilts galore
• Bamboo yarn crochet rug
• Embroideries
• Baby foot impressions

I really need to get my cardmaking mojo back and of course get some jewellery made for the shop! Why do I keep putting that off?

Ugh enough of my whinging...here's a funny pic of Button to brighten your day. He's soooo gonna hate me when he's older. But I reckon it's payback for waking me up every 2 hours lately. *yawn* So this is what being a parent is like?! Boo.

"You talkin' to me?"

Fortnight in pictures (oops)

Oops I forgot to blog last week - sorrrrry! Anyhoo, little Button and I are sick with colds this week so it's been a PJ day today on the couch. He's been reaching his milestones lately though with gusto!

Yummy carrot! He's having just a little bit of rice cereal and fruit/veggies once a day to test out texture and taste. He loves every bit and giggles with every mouthful.

He finally mastered the mini pushups this week - yay fathead!

Mini chucks for Chuck Jr. Bargain at my fave second hand baby shop, See Saw.

Of course I've been baking...again

This is a gorgeous Egyptian desert called Basbousa. It's a semolina cake with a lemon and rosewater syrup. Oooh so delicious! The recipe's from a book my lovely old lab gave me when I left - Food Safari (buy from Bookworld) but the recipe is actually on the SBS wesbite here.

I have a few weddings to go to this summer and there's nothing in my wardrobe that fits again...yet...so off shopping I went! Why is it so hard to find pretty dresses that are breastfeeding friendly and made for big busted, but small waisted girls?

Ooh and I've allllmost finished the craft room! I have a new desk and the wardrobe is oh so organised now. I'm just putting up the shelves and making labels for the storage in the wardrobe and I'll share pics as soon as it's all done. Huzzah!

My week in pictures

I had a lovely quiet week this week. Oh except for Sunday...a baby shower and dinner on the same day! I haven't been that much of a social butterfly in ages. :)

I actually started playing around with my DSLR this week. I love this shot of Kitten in her favourite spot above me on the couch.

Another baby shower, another pair of booties. I was a bit slow with these this time. It's been a while since I've made any!

I finished up a custom order for some very lucky bridesmaids...

A triple layer strawberry cake for our family dinner. It wasn't bad, but I think the butter and eggs curdling made it too dense. Next time... (recipe via Sweetapolita)

I bought Button a new play gym from SkipHop. It arrived in the mail and we had to walk it home in the biggest ever box resting on top of his pram! Lucky he was asleep for the whole trip. It must have looked completely ridiculous!

I made a tonne of choc chip cupcakes in the prettiest cupcake cups I found at the $2 superstore. I bought up big on the red and pink ones too - they're just the cutest!

Button is the best sleeper ever. I don't know how I'd cope with a troublesome bub! I still have to get up around 3am to feed him during the night, but it's not so bad considering he goes down for the night at 8pm and sleeps til 8am.

Yes, I'm still going with these sunbursts. I get through about 10 or so a day. I keep telling myself to just hurry up and finish, especially after I bought a heap of new variegated bamboo yarn to make another rug for Button yesterday. Whoops!

What projects are you working on this week? Leave your links in the comments section and I'll definitely pop by your site and have a peek.

My week in pictures

Happy Fathers' Day to all the wonderful and loving Dads out there, especially to my amazing Dad and to Hubby who's already shown that one little bub can't have too much love. :)

We went for one of our daily walks to the shops so i could grab some caffeine and sugar - boy did I need it this week! It was an awful growth spurt week and bubba didn't sleep well most nights. Thankfully he's back to normal now and slept in til 9am this morning! woo!

I've been buying mini melting moments with my coffees at the cafe so decided to make some. These were with a passionfruit filling - so yummy! Recipe via Taste.

I had a heap of the passionfruit icing left over, so decided to make some cupcakes. The mix made so much, so I had to use all of my cupcake pans as well as my new mini bundt pan - love it. The icing was too thick for the bundt cakes, so I just thinned it out with some hot water and made a kind of glaze. Recipe via The Pretty Blog.

 Me in the mornings - I'm one of those never-leave-the-house-without-mascara people. Button's bald patch is just hilarious!

 I got some of the granny squares done last week, but I get bored pretty quickly, so went back to yet another rug project. These rounds just need edging then blocking and I can start joining them.

My other baby. I bought my Nikon D70 from a friend who was upgrading, but I haven't really had a chance to play around with it much. The aim is to start taking product shots with it rather than my trusty little point and shoot. At least I have the field guide out...we'll get there.

Huzzah for new pieces! I'm really moving towards using gold plated metals rather than the vintage look brass. It looks fresh and bright - ready for summer!

Oh and I picked up the dish on mega sale at Target - yay for sales!

My week in pictures

Another busy busy week has just flown by! I didn't get much of a chance to craft this week, but still snuck in some baking. I really can't help myself!

See - totes yummy. A gorgeous apple cake with sugar crust, the recipe via Pinterest.

My little Button gave me his first smiles this week - eep it melted my heart! I love this kid so much.

Yummy home made pumpkin soup for lunch. I think I put too much nutmeg in it this time, but it's still absolutely delish and my all time favourite soup during winter.

In the meantime, I found some time to snuggle on the couch with my new Practical Parenting mag. Damn you Mothercare for putting out a new catalogue! I really have to stop buying baby things.

Ooh and I started a new diet plan to get rid of my baby weight (amazingly called Lose Baby Weight). I only have 3kg to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but of course, I'd love to get back to my wedding weight (another 8kg away). The smoothies I had this week were soooo delicious and I even had one of my recipes posted on their blog (check it out here)! I'm planning to try some with lychees and passionfruit - yum.

I know I said this last weekend, but I really really will try to make some new pieces this weekend. You might have noticed that I've tidied up the store a little and everything feels in order. I've had one big wedding order come through and now I'm just waiting for my supplies to arrive.

What are you making this weekend? Feel free to share your projects - I love to hear what you're all up to. :)