Cozy Coffee Cake

I swear it rains every August 31st.  Taunting me to put up some fall decorations before its September.  And then the next day its back to summer.  And why is it that when it rains, I just want to bake?!  Probably just so I can smell those cozy smells. 

I grew up in Portland and I remember hating the rain.  But I have lived away long enough that when I do get a rainy day I savor every second.  And lucky for me I didn't even have to do the hard work to get the cozy.  My sister drove back from Portland today with some of my mom's coffee cake.  Lucky me!  And lucky you cuz I'm going to share the recipe...

Coffee Cake

2  1/2 cups flour

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

5 Tbsp butter flavored shortening

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

Topping

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

6 Tbsp flour

4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup nuts (totally optional)

6 Tbsp butter, melted

Measure dry ingredients for cake into a large bowl.  Cut in shortening with back of a spoon until its in tiny pieces.  Combine eggs, milk and vanilla.  Add to flour, stirring until just mixed.  *Don't use a mixer or over mix*.  Set aside. 

Mix together topping ingredients in a small bowl.

In a greased 9x13 pan spread half of cake batter in the pan.  Sprinkle on half of the topping.  Then carefully spread the rest of the batter to cover the topping.  Sprinkle on the remaining topping.  Bake at 375* for about 35 minutes, checking at 30 minutes.  It is done when a toothpick comes out clean.  

It is most definitely best served warm.  And if you are feeling really good,  cut open a slice and put some butter on it.  Mmmm... 

Enjoy the cozy weather!  Hopefully it will be gone tomorrow ;)

Winner!! and Garland Tutorial

 Ok, If you are new around here you will soon learn that when I say I'll be back tomorrow sometimes that means in a couple days!  After all that ignoring my family time spent getting ready for the She Market I had to take a little break.  We played and cleaned.  Yesterday I had full intentions of going to the mall and getting some new jeans, but instead we spent an hour trying on Halloween costumes and two hours reading books at Barnes and Noble.  It was the best kind of productive day.  

But before we get to the tutorial we have some very important business to take care of!

The winners of a spool of baker's twine from 

 are....

#63   Rach {el Paulsen!}

#93 Lyssa said...

I posted about this giveaway on FB!

 #115 Amber said...I love twine! I am a new follower.

 

Congrats ladies!  Email me your info {makingitmyown@gmail.com} and the color of twine you want so we can get it to you lickety split!

 

Alright.  Here's how I used my twine this week!

 

I had this fun garland hanging on my tent at She Market.  Super easy and pretty quick if you have an easy way to cut circles!

 

 

You are going to need a stack of felt circles about the size of a quarter, a stack of bigger circles {these are 2 1/2 inches} from your fabric of choice, hot glue, bakers twine and scissors.  

Want to know a secret about me?  I am seriously bad at cutting.  If it wasn't for things like rotary cutters and my Big Shot I would not get very far in this crafting world.  So for this project I used my big shot and my nestable circle dies to cut out my circles.  

 

 

To start out, take a fabric circle and fold it in half and then half again.

 

 

 Then glue that circle in the middle of a small felt circle {like the first picture}.  Then keep folding and gluing until it looks full.  I used five circles each.  You will soon realize that you need more fabric circles then you thought so cut some more and keep gluing.   Your gonna need a lot of these because it takes two for each pom pom.  

 When your done folding and gluing and have cursed your hot glue gun for being so mean to you, lay one poof felt side up.  Lay the bakers twine color of your choice over the middle like in the picture above.   Then take another poof, add some more hot glue to the felt circle and glue it on top, sandwiching the string like the picture below.  

Cute! 

On this garland I spaced them apart 4 inches.  I started on one side and put two 2x2 squares next to each other then added another.  This gives you about 6 inches of garland.  On my white one I spaced them six inches apart.  So three pom poms was 24 inches of garland, just to give you an idea.  Just keep gluing, just keep gluing...

When you have your desired length: hang, stand back and smile.  Aren't they fun!  

{I used white linen and aqua twine for this one, and for the colored one I used MM dinky dots in gray, Lotus in red from Amy Butler and yellow twine.}

And a side note to save you from hating your new garland...

If you are transporting this at all or putting it away, wrap it around a piece of cardboard to prevent it from getting tangled.  Because it will in about 2 seconds.  

Have a great weekend! 

 

Don't forget to use the code MAKEIT25 through Monday at The Twinery to get 25% off your order!  And become a fan of The Twinery on facebook to catch all of their fun deals and ideas!

She Market Recap

Wow!  I'm impressed.  You guys really like your bakers twine!  

Well, I'm done with the She Market.  Was it worth it?  Eh, maybe.  I had a fun time chatting with all the ladies and watching the mad dash for the $5 Shade shirts.

 These two ladies did a fabulous job with the sale.  Just look at all of theboxes and boxes of clothes. And thats not all of it.  I can only fit so much in my 50mm lens! When I showed up at 3 yesterday it was a mad house. Seriously.  Like probably 200 people.  And it was steady business all day.  Thanks for inviting me Karen!

Here's a little rundown of what I had. I tried my hand at some little boys ties, which were super cute, but maybe $15 is too high? I guess I should check with mom's who have boys first ;)

 Clutches, pennant banners and skirts were the hit of the party though.  I had fun pairing up all the fabrics for these little guys.  I think almost everything I made had some form of polka dots on it.  I can't help it, I just heart them!

I also had some purses and little girls clothes.  I used my orange baker's twine to tie my tags on to things I was selling.  That stuff just makes it instantly cuter!   

Ok, so I'm beat, I just wanted to stop by and say hi and THANKS for all of your entries for the Twinery giveaway!

 

{so far I think that Cappuccino is winning the poll}

I'll be back tomorrow with a fun project to do with your twine!

A Fine Twine {GIVEAWAY!}

 Whew.  What a week.  I can't tell you how much I'm glad its over.  And that doesn't happen very often for me since I try really hard to be grateful for each day.  Especially in the summer... 

 {hopefully we will be back to our regular scheduled twirling this week}

  

Well I've been really thankful for all the super nice comments you have been leaving, and all of you that have been following me lately. 

Seriously it makes my day.    

So I have a BIG thank you for all of your kind words over the past couple of weeks!

 The Twinery is so graciously giving away a spool of their bakers twine to THREE of you lucky ducks for being so nice!

I have been pining over baker's twine for a while now.  There are so many ways to use this cute string and I love that it is eco-friendly {yep its bio-degradable. love it.}  The Twinery has a bunch of fun colors and you get to pick one!

 I know, its hard to decide right?

Well I have more great news.  Whether you win or not, The Twinery is offering anyone who reads this 25% off!

{Isn't that nice of them?} 

And if you are like me and can't pick a color why not get a sampler pack?!  You get 15 yards of each color.   Then you can decide on your favorite.  Or just get a spool of each. ;) And don't forget to check out their blog for tons of fun ideas on how to use baker's twine, free printables and more!

Ok.  Here's what you need to do to win.  

+Become a follower.  

+Cross your fingers and hope that random number generator picks you on Friday! 

Easy peasy!  And if you want an extra entry, leave me a comment telling me your favorite color of twine!    Another entry?  Spread the word via your favorite social media and leave another comment telling me about it!

OH! and to get 25% off {cuz thats a smoking good deal and you should take advantage of it whether you win or not} use code MAKEIT25 at checkout.  But you need to hurry because it expires next Monday!  

Here's to a new week!  Have a fabulous day!

Project: Craft

Ok, so I really have nothing to do with this awesome event but I'm super excited to finally tell you about it!   Two of those Local Lovelies I told you about are having a fun little get together.  Did you notice the location?! We are opening the doors of Greenies for all you local crafty folks who want to get together with other crafty folks and be crafty!  I hope to see some of you there!

{For more information about Project: Craft, visit HERE and HERE }.

Check me out!

Crazy Domestic has a post today about blueberries and my blueberry ginger jam made the list!  Blueberries are still in season so go ahead and make some! 

 {Ivy is finally starting to feel better, so hopefully I can get more than one thing done in a day!}

Checking In

Just a quick note to say I haven't forgotten about you. Ivy has been really sick the past couple days and I'm trying to get ready for She Market.  Its going to be really fun, its just a lot of work to get ready since I've pretty much sold out of everything at Greenies.  And my little baby needs me so my hands are tied all day.  Hope you are having a great week and are squeezing in every last second of summer.

 source

Passing the time...

I'm working at Greenies today and in between rentals I've been updating a few things around here.  Plus I've been catching up since I've made a vow to not be on the computer as much.  

{unless I'm at Greenies and don't have much else to do!}

I've added a Local Lovelies Iist over on the sidebar.  I went to a blogger meet up WAY back in April and met a few fancy ladies that are way better at this kind of thing than me. So be sure and check out their links and if you are from the Tri Cities and want me to add you to the list just let me know! 

I changed my picture and put my favorite quote on it.  I found that quote right after my last round of IVF didn't work and realized that I most likely wouldn't have the opportunity to be pregnant again.  It always makes me feel a little stronger when life is hard.  Because sometimes it just is. 

"In the midst of winter I finally learned that in me lived an infinite summer"

I've also been trying to think of a name for my "company". My friend Karen is having another Shade sale in a couple of weeks.  But this time much bigger with other vendors, and I'm going to be setting up shop.  But what do I call myself?  Care to chime in?  Here's what we have so far...

Lovely Little Bicycle 

+++

Infinite Summer

+++

Ruffled

bleh.  I hate coming up with this stuff.  

Have a fabulous weekend!

{

{source}

Memory {Summer Edition}

Homemade gifts are always the best.  Even when three year olds don't fully appreciate it. 

 Case in point, Ivy's Memory game I made for her birthday.  Someday she'll appreciate I'm sure.  

I've been wanting to make her this game for a while and her birthday gave me a good push.  Want me to show you how to make one?  Ok.  I will anyways ;)

I used these 2 inch chipboard squares from Craft Warehouse.  I even got to use a 40 % off coupon.  Sweet ! I spray painted both side white cuz its A LOT faster to spray paint 24 squares then to use craft paint.  While those dried I cut that cute blue and white polka dot paper up there in to 1 7/8 inch squares for one side and put together a sheet of images for the other side.  

I used images from LD Summer Popsicles and Treats and LD Seven Seas to make a sheet with 12 different pictures of some of Ivy's favorite summertime things.  I sized them in photoshop so they were 1 1/2 inches square and spaced evenly in a 8 1/2 x 11 inch document.    I then printed out 2 sheets on white cardstock and cut them in to 1 7/8 inch squares .  

{side note: Lettering Delights is awesome.  They have free stuff all the time and huge sales.  I haven't paid more than 20 cents for something.  Plus they keep all of your stuff in a library for you, and bunches of other cool features.  Check it out!}

I then modpodged the blue squares to one side of my now white chipboard, let them dry overnight and then the pictures to the other side.  

Tada!

A game perfect for ages 3+ (just like the box says!)

I had the perfect bag for our game, but it would be fun to decorate a box for one too.  I'm thinking this will be perfect for Ivy's cousin who also turns 3 this week.  There are so many different themes you can do too.  

+numbers or letters

+holidays

+boy stuff or princesses

+animals

+or my original idea of family pictures!

If you make one ever I wanna see!  

  

"I should pay $5 for this!"

 {salted caramel cupcakes}

Next time you want to be the hit of the party you should make Julie's cupcakes.  Seriously, rave reviews.  The only change I would make is to not heat up the caramel before injecting the cupcakes with it.  Yep you read that right.  Chocolate cake injected with caramel.  And topped with frosting, crushed toffee and more caramel.  Its a good thing I don't like chocolate cake so I'm not tempted to eat them.  Maybe I'll be like Ivy and only eat the frosting ;)

{tea set is Ivy's birthday present.  Its from Target.  I wish I could find real plates like that.}

I heart Picnik

 I think I'm late in the game, but I have a new love.  I really do heart Picnik.  From their clever loading phrases to their bugs and grass everywhere.  It makes it fun to edit photos!  I do like Photoshop but it can be so darn frustrating sometimes.  Well I took some of my  pictures from my photos hoot the other night to show you some of my favorite effects in Picnik.

{cinemascope without the filmstrips + rounded edges frame}

I love that on each thing you can customize it.  Like taking off the film strips or adjusting how rounded you want your corners.  I think this one is my favorite.  Hence the Facebook profile picture!

{cross-processing, faded just a bit + rounded corners}

Cross-processing is by FAR my favorite.  It gives that vintage-y summer feel that I love.  I almost always fade it to about 45 percent.  

{collage}

The only time I really want to upgrade to Premium (its free unless you want more stuff) is really when I try the collages because they have way more layouts in premium.  But I'm cheap and these work!  You can change the color, spacing, sizing and all that.  Much easier than trying to figure all of that out in Photoshop!

 {polaroid frame + text}

These polaroid frames are fun and always make me think of Jim and Pam's wedding on the Office when they pretend to capture moments with a camera. Little side note- I sure hope the Office is a little bit better this season.  Is it just me or did it lag just a bit this past year?

{black frame + exposure}

Sorry,back on track :).  You can also do basic editing like fill light.  You save them right to your computer and all of the sudden you are a pro photo editor!

 {before and after + rotate + '60's}

Here you get the whole picture.  The photo on the left is the original and the right is rotated and has a '60's effect on it.  Pretty cool huh?!  It was really fun getting all dolled up and getting my pictures taken.  I was inspired by my friend Stacy and her beauty shots she got a couple of weeks ago.  Hope you enjoyed the photos!  Now go mess around with Picnik!

{FULL DISCLAIMER}

You have to have good photos to begin with!  Thanks Darin, for making me look so beautiful.  I heart you too ;)