Glass Glitter Cupcake Toppers...

when i was about 6-years-old, my mom started taking cake decorating classes at a little store called Angel's. i remember going with her and staring wide-eyed at all the decorations stored in clear plastic boxes: ballerinas, clown heads, cowboys, sugar hearts, brides and grooms...it was kind of like being in a toy store and the whole place smelled like frosting! Angel's is still there, still owned by the same two sisters and still has a revolving white rabbit in the front window whose dress changes with the seasons. it's kind of hokey, but i love the familiarity of it and the memories it brings and, 35+ years later, i still find myself going there for boards or their raspberry filling (so good) or a special tip i might need.

for quite a while, what started out as a hobby for my mom turned into a nice little side business and she started making cakes professionally. of course, this was pre-cake boss and cupcake wars and ace of cakes.  fondant, sugar sculptures, and edible gold dust were things of the future and, that said, it's been interesting to see not only the way cakes have evolved over the years but also what's replaced traditional wedding, birthday or shower cakes. now there are candy tables, pies, ice cream bars and cupcakes. cool, right?

plus, the embellishing of said substitutes is half the fun and cupcake toppers have really taken off on this trend. that said, i thought it would be fun to make some glitzy toppers using my trusty old dictionary and some chunky german glass glitter. i'm in absolute love with this stuff, especially the coarser grit; reminds me of raw sugar.

what's neat about the glitter is that if you get the kind that is made from silvered glass, it will age to a gorgeous patina (which you can see in the front heart in the above picture) over time which just adds to the charm. and don't feel limited to only using these beauties on cupcakes. put them on mini cheesecakes, into individual pies, bowls of ice cream or fresh berries. use them as photo props. heck, you can even put them into your fabulously messy top knot for some random prettiness!

Knitting the Tuck Stitch. A Tutorial...

not long ago i was the happy purchaser of some gorgeous Malabrigo yarn in a shade called purple mystery; a delicious, variegated, deep grape color and i finally decided on turning it into a felted purse designed by Nora J. Bellows called the Bedouin Bag. it's a roomy number done up in rounds of stockinette and ridges and finished off with a thick leather strap.

the directions are simple and fairly easy to follow ~ if you can knit, purl, pick up stitches and are comfortable with knitting in the round ~ except for the decorative ridge part which was a bit confusing to me because of the way it was written:

Special Techniques: Ridge Pattern
Rounds 1-8 (12, 14): Knit around.
Rounds 9-12 (13-16, 15-18): Purl around.
Round 13 (17, 19) [Tuck Round]: *Insert the tip of the
right-hand needle in next stitch knitwise, pick up the
back of the corresponding stitch 5 rounds below, and
knit the 2 stitches together; repeat from * around.
Repeat these 13 (17, 19) rounds for pattern.

ummmm....i'm sorry.... "what the what?"

now, after 15+ years of knitting i consider myself to be more on the advanced side of things but for some reason this stumped me a bit; i couldn't visualize what i was supposed to do. a bit of brain wracking and finagled term searches on google yielded directions on the tuck stitch (which can also be called the welt stitch) which adds a decorative rolled ridge to your knitted item (note, this stitch is different from the knitted purl ridge).

here's a little photo tutorial to help you learn this fun stitch. remember, i'm knitting in the round.

 

 

 

i did come across a video tutorial on how to accomplish this stitch the way it's written for the pattern, but i think it's much easier to do it this way; the finished product still looks the same. all-in-all, it's a relatively simple design and i'm excited to see what it looks like after i felt it. i'll be sure to post some pics when i'm done.

Meyer Lemons 3 Ways...

 

ahhhh....lemons!!! love the way they smell, taste, look. holding one is like holding a little ball of sunshine and, to me, that's what they add to whatever you use them for - brightness! i'm no horticulturist but i'm sure there are several varieties out there, all with their different sizes and scents and colors but my absolute favorite has to be the meyer lemon. hands down. actually a cross between a lemon and possibly an orange or a mandarin, it was named for Frank N. Meyer who first discovered it in China in 1908 (thank you, wikipedia). it's flavor is mellow in that it's not as bitingly tart as other lemons i've tried and it lends a distinctive, pleasant flavor to lots of dishes. and the smell....it's like lemon blossoms!!!

there's someone who lives around the corner from us who must have a tree of these little beauties because they often leave a large tub of 'freebies' out front and more than once we've come home with our shirts used as baskets and filled with a few handfuls which is how i ended up with a bowlful of them and looking for ways to use them.

first thing that came to mind...lemon curd. love it! and it's glorious in desserts, with fruit, on toast, on a spoon. i found this recipe via pinterest which actually originated from ina garten and i loved it. not only is it delicious but it's probably the easiest lemon curd i've ever made. quick too.

and it makes the lovliest ice cream sandwiches! seriously, you won't believe how good these are. i used vanilla coconut ice cream (the best tasting ice cream if you're dairy free) and the waffle butter cookies from trader's. 

i also wanted to make candied lemon peel and lemon sugar so before i juiced the lemons i made sure to remove the peels.

i love having the candied peel and sugar on hand too. makes me feel like my pantry is fancied up and they're perfect 'go to's' when you want to had something special to a butter cookie, chutney or even to rim a glass for a fun cocktail. enjoy!

One Thousand Years Wall Hanging

anyone who knows me really well will tell you that i love to shop. i do. love it. love it. love it. doesn't matter if it's groceries or shoes or paint; online, at a store or an outdoor market. i'm a shopper. for some reason though, when it comes to valentine's day, i don't head to a store to buy a gift for my sweetheart. i'm all about the handmade kind. the hearts and doilies, cut-out collages, finger-painted chocolate-smeared glitter-sprinkled kind of gift.  this year, i went big with the creativity. wall-hanging big.

if you're on pinterest (of course you are) you've probably seen this pin from sugarbeecrafts in which she takes a small picture and blows it up super big and then mounts it on foam board.  i had repinned it to my "totally trying this" board and when it came time to come up with a v-day gift for my husband, i knew what i wanted to do. ok...so there is some shopping involved. but only for supplies, not the actual gift. smile.

for my wall hanging, i chose the words to 'one thousand years' by christina perry. gorgeous song. and since my picture consisted of text instead of an image, i first created what i wanted in picmonkey. saved the finished product as a jpeg image onto my flash drive which i took to staples and had them print out their largest print: 3'x4'. only $6.99! then i walked down a few stores to michael's for some spray adhesive $7.99 and then down a few more stores to lowes for a big piece of styrofoam $9.99. gotta love town centers.

because i chose text instead of an image, this project took a couple of days to do. for me, this means getting out some of my favorite movies to play while i'm working. one's i've seen so many times that i don't have to watch them to know what's happening. and some snacks are definitely in order too! one thing i hadn't really counted on was that the font i chose pixilated A LOT when it was enlarged. i'm thinking this probably wouldn't have happened if i'd chosen something like helvetica or verdana. not completely sure. what it meant, as you can see, was me outlining and coloring in EVERY letter. all i can say is that he's lucky i love 'im!

once i finished the letters, it was time to mount it onto the styrofoam and here's a little tip: it doesn't cut well. at least it didn't for me and if you have any tips please pass them along.  be sure to peel off the shiny lining on one the side of the styrofoam that you'll be putting your image on. for me, this was the aluminum foil-looking side. i started to paint the outside edges and got three of them done before i stopped because i decided instead to buy some ribbon -5 yards of gray twill - to attach to them instead which, in my opinion, gave it a more finished look.

i really love the way it came out! and my husband loves it, too. he teared up. that's the kind of guy he is and it's why i'll love him for one thousand years. and then one thousand more...