Sew God's Grace

This year, our school did not have an official eighth grade promotion celebration due to COVID-19 restrictions.  However, I wanted to have a small celebration with close family at our house to celebrate my oldest son's eighth grade promotion.  I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, and he requested a chocolate chip cookie dough cake.  My sister-in-law had made one for my nephew's birthday a while back, and it was a hit!  I made the recipe that my sister-in-law used with a few tweaks.  Since some of my other children have already asked me to make it again, I wanted to get everything down in my blog for future reference. The original recipe can be found here , and it uses a boxed cake mix.  I have no problem with that, but I decided to use my friend's homemade chocolate cake recipe.  I think it produces a little denser cake that holds up better to that thick cookie dough layer.  I also used the option to bake two 9 inch round cakes instead ...

So . . it's been a while since my last post.  After having baby number six, blogging has definitely been on the back burner.  However, when I made Orange Julius for the kids to enjoy during our family "Movie Night" last Sunday, I decided to snap a quick pic so I could add the recipe.  Hope you enjoy! Homemade Orange Julius 6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate 1 cup milk 1 cup water 1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (I always use 1/2 cup) 1 - 2 teaspoons vanilla (I always go with 2) About 4 cups ice or to taste Place all ingredients except ice in blender and blend until smooth.  Add ice slowly and blend on high until it is the consistency that you would like.  Note:  when I make this, I almost overflow the blender.  You may need to hold the lid on!  Also, it's easy to get an ice cream headache with this if you drink it too fast, so beware!

So the day is fast approaching for our new little guy to be born.  Which means that I am frantically nesting.  For me, that includes cleaning every nook and cranny and sewing madly on different projects that I think I will never finish once the baby comes!  It's probably a good thing we are having another baby, because I'm pretty sure I hadn't cleaned out our bathroom cabinets since I was pregnant with Grant! I finished up this onesie and pj pants set yesterday.  The pattern for the pants is found here and is really quite simple.  I do cut the front of the pants a little lower than the back--about one inch or less.  Tip:  when you do this,  put the legs pieces right sides together to make sure you are cutting a mirror image (ask me how I know this!) To applique the powercat, I followed my usual steps as outlined in this post .  I also ironed this product on the back so that it won't irritate baby's skin.  His Christmas present ...

I have been feeling the urge to sew this week and have completed a couple of projects.  I needed a gift for my step mom for Mother's Day, so I decided to make her an apron. I used this pattern from the Dating Divas.  One tip I would offer on the ruffle is just to sew one end shut, turn it right side out, press, and then start pleating.  When you get close to the end, cut off the extra fabric and sew the ends shut.  Press and finish pleating.  As per the instructions, I tried several times to get it to come out exactly right, and I about drove myself crazy! I'm planning to make some more of these close to Christmas time with some really cute snowman fabric!

     Wow, it's been a long time since my last post!  But, with baby number six on the way, I have had to cut out some activities, which has included blogging for the most part.  I'm realizing, too, with another one coming that I may not be posting as much to my blog.  But, when I have the chance, I hope to sneak one in here and there.      One of my friends has been working on eating a mostly Paleo diet, which I have been eating for almost three years (minus a couple of months at the beginning of this pregnancy!)  We had been talking about getting together for a Paleo meal, and we made it happen this week. It was a lot of fun, and really delicious, too!  For an appetizer, I made these delicious Bacon-wrapped Sweet Potato Bites.  You can find the recipe here .  I really love the Stir It Up site and have made several of her recipes including one of my favorite Paleo pancake recipes.        I softe...

So I had pieced Grant's quilt top together and had it finished when he was just a few months old.  Then it sat and sat in a bag until I finally got it to my friend Kristy to machine quilt it for me.  She returned it me around January of 2014.  She did an amazing job with it.  If you live in the Cheyenne Wells, CO area, you should really check out The Rambling Rose Quilt Shop .  Matt's aunt Sarah helped me to machine sew the binding around the edge of the quilt, and then it sat again in my closet, waiting for me to finish it up. About a week before Grant's birthday this June, I got a burst of energy and decided to do the hand sewing on the back of the binding to finish up Grant's quilt for his birthday. Being two, he was not that impressed with the quilt, but I think it will be something he enjoys over the years. I'm not sure why, but this morning I decided to try to get a picture of Grant--my wiggly, busy boy--sitting on his quilt.  This is the bes...

Do any of you remember the cartoon Fat Albert?  "Hey, Hey, Hey. . It's Faaat Albert!"  Probably not too politically correct today.  Anyway, I don't remember much about the cartoon show, but I do remember watching the Halloween special for Fat Albert and eating chocolate peanut butter chip cookies that my mom had made.  I started thinking about that when I was making these cookies.  It's funny how our memories can be tied into food, isn't it? I am still working on fall-themed cookies for the baby shower that I am helping with for this weekend.  I thought these would be a neat addition, and I was really happy with how they turned out.  My littlest, Grant, obviously thought they looked tasty, because he started asking for one as soon as they came out of the oven! Here's the recipe (adapted from  this recipe ): Candy Corn M&M Cookies (Yield:  approximately 20-24 cookies) 1 16.5 ounce box chocolate cake mix  (I used Duncan ...

I was planning to make some cookies for a fall-themed baby shower this weekend, so when I saw some Candy Apple Flavored M&M's, I knew I wanted to try them out in a cookie. Here's the recipe (adapted from this recipe ): Candy Apple M&M Cookies (Yield:  approximately 20-24 cookies) 1 16.5 ounce box yellow cake mix 2 eggs 5 tablespoons butter, melted 1 cup butterscotch chips 1 bag Candy Apple M&M's Beat cake mix, eggs, and butter until blended.  Add butterscotch chips and M&M's.  Refrigerate overnight.  Meanwhile, place remaining M&M's in freezer if you are going to do the optional step below.  Drop by two tablespoon-sized balls on parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.  Let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Optional:  After the cookies have been baking for 8 minutes, remove from oven and press 2-3 M&M's on top.  This is st...

We were excited to be done with harvest and able to celebrate Maddie's tenth and Grant's second birthday on July sixth (Maddie's actual birthday!) I say this every year, but I can't believe how quickly time has flown and how much these two have grown!  With Maddie hitting double digits, I am starting to realize anew how important it is to enjoy every moment. Maddie is into horses, so I wanted to make her a horse-themed cake.  I really like cupcakes because they are easy to serve.  For instructions on how to make this cake, see this post. Grant loves Elmo (or "Mo-Mo," as he calls him), and I knew if would be easy to make Elmo cupcakes.  I simply used black decorator gel to make the mouths, then piped red stars on with a #16 Wilton tip to make the fur.  The nose is an orange pretzel M & M, and the eyes are candy eyes bought at Walmart . One note:  I made these ahead of time and froze them.  When they thawed, the black on the eyes ble...

My daughter Maddie just turned 10, and she really likes horses.  So, when I saw a picture of a cake like this on Pinterest, I knew that I wanted to make one for her birthday party.  I couldn't find any tutorials online for how much frosting to make, etc., so I thought I would post how I did it. It was a pretty easy cake.  Maddie and I baked the cupcakes and had it frosted in an afternoon! You will need: 26 cupcakes (see my recipe below or use your favorite!) 2 recipes  this chocolate frosting 1 recipe this buttercream frosting (you will have extra left over) Cake board (I use a piece of cardboard covered with aluminum foil) Wilton 1 M cupcake frosting tip Frosting bags (Use disposable--you will thank me later at clean up time!) Wilton size 3 tip or larger What to do: 1.  Bake your cupcakes.  I used this recipe from pinterest for modifying a white cake mix.  I used a Funfetti cake mix. To a white cake mix add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sug...

In the interest of staying sane, we have started combining some of the kids' birthday parties.  So this year, Anna and Lyla had their party together.  We had a great time celebrating Anna's sixth birthday (coming soon in May) and Lyla's fourth birthday (in April.)  Time has sure flown--I can't believe how big my girls are getting. Anna requested rainbows, and Lyla wanted Hello Kitty again for themes for their cakes.  I decided to make cupcakes.  That way I could decorate half with each girl's theme.  What better way to have a Rainbow Hello Kitty party? We made rainbow cupcakes by dividing the cake batter and using food coloring to make the cupcakes themselves in a rainbow pattern.  My son Evan and I spent quite a while one morning scooping small amounts of colored batter into cupcake pans.  We used two boxes of 15.4 ounce white cake mix, and we made 28 cupcakes.  I think we could have made 30 so that the cupcakes would not have bee...

For Evan's eighth birthday, he wanted a tractor and grain cart cake.  This is what I came up with.  Though I didn't take pictures as I was making it, I think I can describe the steps for it. You will need: 1 Funfetti (or your favorite) cake mix, prepared and baked as directed in a 9 by 13 pan 2 batches  one bowl chocolate cake .  Fill 9 by 13 pan 2/3 - 3/4 full.  You will have a little bit of batter left over. 2 mini donuts--use chocolate covered if you don't want to cover them with modeling chocolate. 4 large donuts.  I could not find large chocolate-covered donuts, so I ended up baking my own. Candy corn 3 batches Wilton Buttercream frosting (or 9 cups of your favorite cake-decorating frosting.) Gel food coloring--leaf green, orange, lemon yellow, and black 1 batch semisweet modeling chocolate , colored black # 3 and #16 decorating tips Frosting bags and couplers--make it easy on yourself and use disposable! 8 inch 2 by 4 board 6 inch 2...

I think I say something like this every time one of my kids has a birthday, but I can't believe my Evan is eight already!  This little guy with a tender heart has grown so much (both physically and spiritually) in the last year, and I am so blessed to be his mom. We celebrated Evan's birthday with family on March 23rd.  It seems like we start brainstorming ideas for birthday cakes right after Christmas, and Evan had decided he wanted a tractor and grain cart for his cake.  (He has a lot of confidence in my cake decorating abilities!)  I looked online and found inspiration for the tractor and decided carve a grain cart to go with it. I didn't take pictures as I was decorating the cake, but I hope to get another post with some details on the cake soon!  Let's just say that this was my first experience with modeling chocolate, and I really had fun with it! Happy birthday, sweet boy!  May the next year be filled with blessings!  Love, Mom

I had seen this idea on Pinterest, so when I saw these darling folk star cookies cutters at our local general store, I knew I had to give it a try. After I washed and dried the cookie cutters, I made up a batch of Grandma's recipe for easy fudge (recipe below).  I sprayed a small glass dish (since I was only making three of these) with cooking spray and also sprayed the insides of the cookie cutters. I carefully spooned the fudge into the cutters and used the spoon to level it out and make sure that the corners were filled. Yes, a little will come out of the bottom, but it will clean up easily later.  Then I covered these and refrigerated them overnight.  (The remaining fudge I placed in a greased 8 by 8 inch pan.) I removed the excess fudge from the bottom and used a paper towel to wipe the outsides of the cookie cutters clean. Then I placed them in a clear treat bag and tied it up with a raffia bow.  Easy enough.  I originally started with ...

I think that I admitted in a recent blog post that I am not that great at pictures.  However, I am not going to let that stop me from posting this fun and easy recipe. To celebrate Anna's fifth birthday, she requested a tea party with several of her friends.  We have done tea parties in the past, and no matter how much I doctor up the tea with honey, the girls don't drink it.  So, I had the idea to put punch in their tea cups. It was a big success!  I think Anna had at least four cups.  And, despite the picture not showing it very well, it was a beautiful shade of pink. Perfect Party Punch: Raspberry Sherbet Sprite or another lemon-lime soda Pink Lemonade (I used the frozen concentrate and mixed it per the package directions) Pour equal parts of Sprite and Pink Lemonade into punch bowl.  Add small scoops of raspberry sherbet.  Let sit for at least ten minutes so that the sherbet can melt into the liquid a bit and get foamy.  Serve! ...

So, my oldest is 9, and my youngest is 1.  I can finally say that without cringing!  I say this all the time, but it sure has gone quickly!  These two have birthdays that are just a week apart, so we decided to do a combined party with family. Maddie wanted a basketball cake, and Grant has always been our little monkey, so we had monkeys and basketballs!  I found the monkey cupcake idea here .  I used candy eyes from Walmart and placed some chocolate sprinkles on the top of the monkeys' heads for hair. Of course, I had to make some cake pops, too!  The monkey idea came from my Cake Pops:  Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats  by Bakerella .  I used a mini vanilla wafer for the nose instead of a peanut butter candy wafer. When Maddie requested a basketball cake, I decided it was a great opportunity to try fondant.  I mean, I only needed one color!  I used this recipe and tinted it...

I found this recipe on Six Sisters' Stuff.  I love their blog!  I have probably made at least two dozen of their recipes, if not more.  Not to mention the massive amount of ideas/recipes from them that I have on my Pinterest Boards!  I love this recipe because you don't have to run the mixer--it just stirs up easily.  (aka, we can whip these out during nap time without making too much noise!)  Plus they are just so fun!  You could easily add seasonal sprinkles to fit any holiday you could imagine.  Anna, my five year old, was pretty excited to show Daddy the cookies that she made "all by herself"! Here's the recipe (modified slightly from here .) Funfetti Cake Batter Cookies 1 box, 18.25 ounces, Funfetti Cake Mix 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 eggs 1/2 cup canola oil 1 cup white chocolate chips (chocolate chips are also delicious in these!) 1/2 cup sprinkles Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cake mix in large bowl.  S...