Red Velvet Cake and other Doings

Its been a bit of a crazy week around our parts. Between my sweet hubby's 24th birthday and general busyness, hubby's car... imploded. Of course, that's my non-technical female term for some very serious bad happenings inside of the engine that led to hubby's old (but faithful) car totalling itself. After paying a pretty penny to get this car fixed to a certain point, the mechanic then discovered that many other bad things (insert technical terms here) had happened. Sigh. The car was kaput. What began as an inconvenience turned into a bit of an event. So, long story short, even though it wasn't what we had planned on, we ended up purchasing a "new to us" car for hubby. Even though this might seem like a bad thing, the Lord provided for us in many ways, guiding this, and I am convinced that this is a good thing the Lord had planned for us. These are the ways the Lord provided for us:

1. Hubby's car died right outside the apartment complex, as opposed to on the highway or at his workplace. Two nice men helped him push it into a spot.
2. Our car insurance covered the towing to a garage.
3. The mechanic who was working on it bought it for the amount we owed plus a wee bit more. (Such a blessing!!)
4. We found a great used car quickly and the Lord has provided for us financially.
5. Hubby's car was quite old and took up a lot of his free time fixing it. Now that free time can be used for things like... oh, I don't know... dates with his wifey :)

We've had a wonderful Saturday so far, and I've made a Red Velvet Cake for a little family party we are having for him. Something about making a red cake in a red kitchen wearing a red apron makes me blissfully happy!

Many thanks go to Momma for reading me her great recipe over the phone. I made my own buttermilk (see the note at the bottom on how to do that) and I think it turned out great. No since in buying buttermilk when you have vinegar and milk on hand! The icing is doubled, not 1 1/2'd like I originally wrote, so use the numbers to the right.


Note: You must, must wear an apron, unless you wear all red while baking this cake:)

It's a yummy three tiered treat when you're all done.
I'll try to post pictures of the finished product when I ice it all!

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time....

I am very much enjoying the happy blooming of our balcony flowers. This lovely earring plant had a very rough winter... it got a little frozen, and what was left kitty ate until it was just a brown stick in a pot. I thought I would have to throw it away. Can you believe how it has come back to life? A little like Lazarus, I think...



And here is "The Lemon". Now it has five wee competitors, but it's still the biggest by far!



A gift from my momma, pretty pink impatiens.



The beginnings of a pretty passion flower vine, started by my brother.



Now, to keep all these plants happy takes quite a bit of water. I was telling my momma how I was making several trips back and forth from the kitchen with my coffee pot (biggest container I owned!) to water all of them, so she brought me an old vinegar container so I would only have to make one trip :)

I then decided a little decoration was in order. A bit of fabric left over from the window treatments and chairs, a little more puff paint, and Ta Da! I now water in style. What a fun free project.

Making your own Magnets

Today I was wonderfully inspired at the craft store. I happened upon some scrapbooking stickers that matched our kitchen and breakfast room *exactly*! I can only assume that the companies' artists must know each other... or be the same sweet gal. So I stood on the sticker aisle, puzzling over how I could possibly incorporate these stickers into my kitchen...


Of course, some of the stickers would have to be thrown away... the ones with the silly catch phrases on them. I've never been one for silly phrases.

...Thinking...

Ah! Magnets! I didn't have any matching magnets for my kitchen theme. I found a wonderful selection of magnet paper that is scissors friendly.

All you must do is trace the shape onto the paper, cut it out very carefully, and then peel off the sticky backing from the magnet paper. I bought the kind that was picture sized since it was most cost effective, and I had lots left over, so I'll put it away for future inspiration I think.



Now my fridge coordinates quite well!



Also, the Easter dress plans have been "revised". I'll post when I'm done! :)



I hope everyone had a blessed Good Friday.

A few touches of Valentines!

I normally don't get that excited or decorate much for Valentine's Day- but this year I had to put out a few touches...

A heart shaped candy dish and Valentine's table runner- and yes, I actually picked all the red and silver candies out of the "Leftover Christmas Candy Ziploc". I'm thinking I'll put out the green and silver ones for St. Patrick's Day... :)

A little sign my momma gave me... hanging with the spoons!

And well, of course, a red rose wreath.

And this isn't "Valentine-sy" at all, but I redid our mantle to match the blue wall. Yay for Michael's craft store half off flowers! I bought ten clear glass votive holders at Ikea (2 for a dollar, I think...) a year ago or so, putting them away for later. It's one of the best ideas I've ever had- I use them for every holiday and it is very inexpensive to put different colored candles in them!

The Dreaded Green Wall

There once was a wall in an apartment.... This wall was terribly green.

It made the living room an awful scene.

It was the color of... a green bean.

A wife asked a sweet hubby pleeeease paint it. She wanted something more... serene.

He surprised her and and taped it off... It was the opposite of mean. :)

He worked ALL day, like a machine!

He primed it white, without any caffeine.

Then he painted it blue! The wife was as happy as a queen.

This new marine....

It looks so clean.

Nesting

Recently I've been on a little home re-decorating kick. I'll be posting pictures as we accomplish things! It's been so much fun already. One of my ideas is to fill one of our walls with old pictures- wedding photos of grandparents and parents and such things. Here are a few of what we've collected so far. I still want many more!

My parents. Precious!

My husband's great-grandparents wedding photo. I love how back then you just wore your "best dress"!

Me and my brother.

My husband's grandparents... My absolute all-time favorite wedding photo. I just LOVE her cat eye glasses and fabulous dress!!

Oh Christmas Tree....

"the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned."
Matthew 4:16

Colin's grandparents VERY kindly gave us their Christmas tree!! It has lit up (tee hee) our apartment with Christmas cheer.


We couldn't hang our stockings on a fireplace... so I painted one :) They hang on the wall next to the tree!

And of course... the snowman forest. I was thinking of putting a feather boa around the bottom to be "snow", but I think that might be too tempting for a certain furry friend of mine.

I'll try to have the tutorial up in a few days for the skirt!

Our new baby!

Our sweet new baby is currently purring up a storm and trying to pounce on the computer while I type! My (early) birthday present is this loving baby kitty :) Though my birthday isn't for two weeks, my grandfather found this little one all cold and wet in a bush while he was walking his doggy. He knew my hubby was going to give me a cat for my birthday, and he said he thought God had brought this one for me! She came home withe me today, and we are already enjoying some wonderful cuddle time. Her name is Ari, which is a Hebrew name meaning Lion. Now thats alot of name to live up to, right? :)

On "girls gone mild"

I've only read about 30 pages, so far. But I had to stop and I say I'm not sure if I'll continue or not. The book has been filled with disturbing stories, and definitely I would NEVER recommend it to anyone who wasn't married. This is because I don't think there is any reason to be so disturbed by tales of wicked people and woe unless you plan on reading it for the defense of say, homeschooling your own daughters, or something along those lines. So that's my mini-review of Girls Gone Mild. It uses those stories to get across a point, understandably, but it is by no means or measure rated any less than R.

New book!

I've just picked up Wendy Shalit's new-ish book from the library. I'm really excited about reading it, since her first book (A Return to Modesty) made such an impact on me. I'll let you know how it goes!
Has anyone else read it or her first book?

Organized Drawer = Complete!

After much googling and reading of your helpful comments (Thanks ladies!), the drawer project is finished. I would post a "before" shot, but it would be terribly embarrassing. I ended up putting the headbands on another ribbon inside our second cabinet, and clothespinning them on! I'm very excited about this storage method...




And I made four different sized boxes out of scrapbook paper to keep my bobby pins and hair twisties organized! I very much recommend this tutorial.

A little note: Looking at that picture, it looks like I coat myself in makeup everyday. I really don't, I promise :) Most of that is quite old, and used only for very dressy occasions. I usually just wear eyeshadow, coverup, powder and mascara... when I do wear makeup.
And... I don't buy MAC makeup anymore because of their just plain awful messages that they send in advertising. But... I'm certainly not in the financial place to toss it all and start over.
Just to let you know :-D

Clippies and Headbands- "Works for Me Wednesday"

Confession: I am a closet disorganized person. My husband is very neat... so I try my absolute hardest to keep our apartment neat and clean. There are a few places that are completely mine, though... that no one ever sees.... like the drawers in my craft tower. And my makeup/ hair drawer. Those places are ridiculously messy. However, in trying to improve myself, I am going to TRY to organize those spaces. Hmph. I just don't know really HOW to.
For example, my "hair" drawer. Having the kind of crazy curly hair that I do, I have in my collection about one million barrettes and headband- type things. Not the hard plastic kind- I can't stand those. But fabric headbands (I've made a ton of these) and ribbons- the impossible to organize kind. I've tried putting them in a box. I've tried hanging them on tie hangers. Every time I either get annoyed and just throw them back in the drawer when I can't find one, or dump out the box in frustration.
I've also lost half my clippies.... either in clippie lala land, or in the car, or possibly in the vacuum. Here's my newest solution for the barrettes- clipping them on a ribbon like my momma used to do. But here's my "grown up" version- inside the cabinet! It 'works for me' (Tee hee)

I just used push pins and a ribbon I used to wear in my hair. Hopefully now I won't lose so many, and I'll actually remember which ones I have. And for you with the 20/20 vision, yes I do have a barrette with my name on it. And yes, I still wear it. And yes, I am about to turn 24. :)
So, my question is, and I am so hopeful that someone has an answer... is how do I organize the ribbons and fabric headbands in a way that will last more than one day? I so hope some creative gal out there has the answer.

For now, go check out the other neato "Works for Me" at Rocks in My Dryer.

A Guide To Staying Home

When Your Husband is away on a business trip.
I am now able to very happily say my husband is back from his trip to the "big apple". I didn't blog about it while he was away for safety reasons... you know, a 'just in case' type of thing. I am VERY happy to have him back! But while he was gone, I was thinking up a silly list of how to survive with your husband away. So here goes :)

1. You'll have to learn how to work the alarm clock by yourself. This may take several days to master if you are electronically challenged like yours truly. I was very happy to have my human alarm clock back this morning. :)
2. Rent the GIRLIEST movies you can think of. Something you desperately wanted to see, but didn't want to torture your poor husband with. For me, this was Persuasion. I absolutely loved it... and I watched it twice.
3. Check all the locks on the doors and windows while you are on the phone with him. This makes it a little less scary, knowing you're going to bed all safe and sound.
4. Spend the night at your parent's house, only after you absolutely have stayed by yourself as much as you can possibly handle. (For me, this was one night into his trip... but then I came back)
5. Make a pillow 'wall' in the bed, shaped like your husband :)
6. Go to lunch with your momma and grandmother.
7. Have your whole family over for dinner, and make sure they stay late!
8. Remember, if the doorbell rings, even at 8 o clock at night, sometimes it really just is the poor UPS man, working late. Still... don't answer the door. He'll leave the package! (My loving daddy always warned us, "Never answer the door when you're home alone!! Even if its flowers, Lauren!")
9. Make a casserole to freeze. I'm sure I'll be glad I did this later!
10. Lastly, even if you're husband is supposed to fly in at 11 p.m., flights do get delayed. Sometimes they get delayed unto 2 a.m., so be ready for a long night!

On Dryers...

When I do use our dryer (like now... when we get torrential rain daily!), I can't use dryer sheets because both me and my husband have sensitive skin. I use these, which seemed awful steep at $10... but they really do work. Things seem softer and fluffier... and more chemical free than dryer sheets. Which is always better!

Shower Curtains...

After much fuss and buttonhole making, the shower curtain is complete! I ordered the fabric online, and I really like the colors- I've been such a fan of brown lately. I'm currently working on a curtain for our "potty area" in the bathroom- right now its just an open doorway. That will be made of the border fabric, with an edge of the polka dots. Here's a closeup:

the fabric wreath

A few years back, my momma was going through some older kitchen things and happened upon an old fabric wreath. It was sun faded and had a few spots on it from hanging in a well loved and well used kitchen for many years :) Instead of giving it away, I decided to "revamp" it for the hope chest. I used a quilting square set that I bought at an Amish quilting store in Colorado. After cutting off the old fabric (inside was a heart shaped wire with an opening at the bottom), I sewed a new 'tube' of fabric that was the same width. My tube ended up being quite a bit longer, so mine was a bit more ruffly. I sewed two lines of basting strings down the center to make a casing, then placed the tube onto the heart shaped wire, pulling the basting strings to make it taut around the heart. I then hand sewed the bottom shut, and glued a ribbon to the top to hang it by. I hope that made sense- I'm not the best at how-to's. :)

My kitchen "theme"

Long, long ago... in a galaxy far, far away... oh wait, no. It was just about a year and a half ago :) My dear momma and me were strolling through the shops of a nearby small town, when I spied a lovely set of kitchen wares in the corner of a store called, "Remember This". It was cherry printed with an aqua background. I have a sincere affection for all things retro (especially from the fifties), so it looked like a 'must-have hopechest item'. :) I asked my loving momma and daddy for it for Christmas. A year later, when preparing for our new married home, an Aunt of mine offered to give me her old kitchen table. It wasn't really my style- more modern than I liked- but I thought with a little work, I could make it just right. After many weeks of searching the fabric stores online and in our town, I couldn't believe the find I had made. It seemed to be almost the exact print of the kitchenwares! I ordered 5 yards of it straightaway, and after much chair covering and drapery making- we have quite the theme going on :) Its so fun to see hopechest items, fulfilling their purpose, out in your home! So here's a peak into our kitchen/ breakfast room. You can see the other draperies and the covered chairs in the birthday pictures.


I made this "drapery" to cover a big, ugly fuse box that someone decided should go in the middle of the kitchen wall. I have no idea what apartment designers are thinking sometimes! I got the hanging rack at Ikea.

The famed canisters.


For lemonade...
I tried my hand at painting. Well... it wasn't a complete disaster :)

My Husband's 23rd Birthday!

Yesterday was my beloved husband's birthday. He asked for my present from him to be that I sew draperies for the kitchen window :) How sweet he is. At first it was planned that I would sew him up some pajama pants- but he said it was too hot for those now anyway, so to work on the draperies instead.


Since I couldn't make him feel special with a real present, I made him waffles for breakfast, took him to one of his favorite restaurants for lunch (Panda Express... so unhealthy and fun!) and made him his favorite dinner- Lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. For his cake I made the Cream Cheese Pound Cake to be eaten with strawberries and whip cream! He said it was his best birthday ever :)

Green thumbs...

My brother, the soon to be doctor, gave me just a sprig of his beautiful plant (he has an amazing collection of plants and an awesome fish tank), and this is what is has turned into- under the loving care of my mother, who also has a green thumb :) I just hope I can keep it alive and so pretty as it is... I hope I inherited just a bit of that green thumb.


Its called an earring plant, since its pink and purple flowers dangle down like earrings.

Bread making fun!

For the first time ever last night, I tried my hand at good old fashioned bread making! My husband and I were VERY happy with the results! Sure, I've made "bread" before- but only with a starter from a friend. I've made lemon bread, cinnamon bread, banana bread, chocolate bread- the list goes on and on! But this is my first ever, no starter, whole wheat sandwich bread!
Let it rise... let it rise.

The finished project ended up with 3 loaves and one star pan of delicious bread. One star pan? Yes... I ran out of loaf pans, and ended up filling an old star shaped pan. Fourth of July bread, anyone? :)