Organization..

I have been on a kick, an organization kick (when I have the time..) lately.

When it came to my craft room, I wanted it to be better organized so my time there could be better spent.   It was downright frustrating at times in there!  I had stuff that I wanted to do, but just couldn’t get it done without having to move and re-arrange things to get the project done.

My ribbon storage hasn’t ever been what I wanted it to be, and I have been brainstorming ideas for A VERY LONG TIME..

I just couldn’t find anything that I was super happy about.

(And if you’ve been to my house, and have witnessed the amount of ribbon I own, you might understand..)

Then it came to me…

Making Memories embellishment shelf..

(So before you go telling me that I have a ribbon problem, oh, I already know!)

And this isn’t all of it..  there were some spools out being used (or can’t fit, I still haven’t decided what my excuse is..)  and I also have a glass jar that houses all of those tempting mini-spools that the craft stores dare to tempt me with..

I do use every last scrap of ribbon though..  EVERY LAST BIT.

I went to Michael’s armed with my 40% off coupon that I printed from the www only to find that the shelf was already on sale for 40% off..  yay!!  Another ting to use my coupon on. ;)

They also had the perfect color of spray paint there..  the color of teal/turquoise that I was hunting for in the fall and had to settle on a lighter shade of..  it just so happened that I was attracted to some scrapbook paper that fell in the same color family, and when I went to buy all my lovely, new, fun things, the girl ringing me up asked, “You must really like this color, huh?”  Turns out, the shirt I was sporting that day was also the same color.

(Blush.)

It was unintentional, I SWEAR!

The next day, which was lovely for February in Utah, but a little colder than I thought would be outside, I painted my plain white shelf my fun new color.

I opted to not use the dowels that fit in pre-drilled holes in the bottom two nooks because the idea of that just bugs me..  I want to take my ribbon with me to the table to cut or test.

I want to move on to more re-organizing now..

Then comes the fun!

I’m a dork..

I thought I finished Peyton’s shirt..
Then I realized that I forgot some details.  I often do that…

What’s a cupcake without sprinkles?
I mean, really?!

Scrumptious: Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

This was the treat I made for Family Home Evening this week.
I also made them, slightly different, for Ashley’s pre-school class.  They had a letter “P" on top instead of the heart.  They are learning about the letter “P” this week.
They were really quite cute.
Quite tasty too..
I am a boxed cake mix kind of girl.  Sometimes, but not very often, I will make one from scratch, but I have perfected the box mix, and I choose to stick with it.
For these I used a triple chocolate fudge super moist mix (and it was goooood).  I usually go for the devil’s food, but Merrill isn’t a huge fan of chocolate, so I thought I would go a little lighter on him with the chocolatey-ness of the cake, since it was gonna hit him in the topping. :)
I have taken to using these nut cups instead of the traditional liner, and I love them!  I can set them all on my huge cookie sheet and fill them, baking more at a time and they turn out perfect and cute!
After I let them cool, I dipped just the tops in Ganache that hasn’t been whipped yet. 
For those who haven’t enjoyed Ganache yet, try it, tomorrow.  I would promise to bring you some, but I would probably eat it all before I got to you.
It is that good.
It’s equal parts of a good chocolate (I like semi-sweet) and whipping cream.  You heat the cream (don’t boil it) and then put your chocolate (chopped up) in it.  Let it sit for a few minutes, then stir in the chocolate, letting it all melt.  Let it cool longer in the fridge (but not so it is set up and hard).  I let mine set for about an hour, then mixed it using my mixer until it was nice and smooth.  Then I dipped the cupcakes.  I put the Ganache back in the fridge and let it chill a bit longer, then whipped it up the rest of the way and piped the tops using my favorite tip (Wilton 1M).
I took a tip from Bridget when it came to my toppers.
I melted white candy melts in my handy-dandy squeeze bottle(both are found at any craft store) and squeezed that onto waxed paper.  For the Ps I had a piece of paper with the perfect Ps to trace underneath the waxed paper, for the hearts it was all free-hand baby..  and while the chocolate was still soft, topped them.   I used crystallized sugar on my hearts (shown here) but used Valentine colored non-parelis (sprinkles) on the Ps.  Let those harden up and transfer them to the cupcakes.
They tasted so good!
In fact, there is one left in the fridge, and I have a book to finish!

Word for the year.

Every year I have been doing this, I like to have a visual reminder around of what my word is.

I am liking this year’s reminder!

Birthday Shirts..

Peyton’s second birthday is fast approaching and I wanted a special shirt for her day.
I ironed heat and bond onto my desired fabrics, then I traced the pieces for the cupcake onto the backside of the appropriate color.  I cut those out, then ironed them on, starting with the base of the cupcake.  I sewed around that, using a straight stitch.  I moved up to the frosting layer and did the same thing.
Before I ironed on the number candle or the little flame, I marked where they would be, and did a straight stitch forward and then backward a few times to make a little wick for the candle.
After that I added the number candle and flame the same way I did the other two pieces.


I made another one for my nephew, Tyler, who turned one!  (Where has this past year gone?)
I saw a plush iron on at the store, and thought, I can so make that..  or I can “sew” make that, if you want it to be “pun-ny”  or funny, if you will.
(Someone is tired..)
I used felt instead of fabric for this one, but used the same heat and bond, iron on then sew technique.  I did add a button for his little eye.

I was pretty excited with how cute they turned out!
Go here and here  for patterns.

More painting..

I said I loved it didn’t I?

I had some projects planned for the girls rooms, and switching the girls around, just pushed those along.

I had planned, after getting the big IKEA shelf for what used to be Lynn & Ashley’s room, to paint the little white bookshelf “Peyton green” (aka: American Accents Green Apple). 

More pictures to come on how cute this turned out..

To Bonnie, with love..

My sweet cousin Bonnie asked a question a couple of posts ago..
“Mindy! Do you take requests? I would love some crochet hints if you are posting something about crochet again. Like, how do you properly start a new color of yarn? In my crochet class I was showed 2 ways and I am a little confused. I love this afgan you are starting!
Oh yeah, thats what it is, how to join yarn when you run out vs how to start a new color in a planned spot...”
Here ya go Bonnie!