Homemade Caramels

I don't know how I decided that I needed to make some caramels but I'm so glad I did.

I used this recipe here for chewy caramels. It was absolutely fantastic!!

I used the reviewer's suggestions to heat the caramels up to a higher temperature. They came out perfect. I loved individually wrapping them like I owned my own little candy shop too.

These make a wonderful gift!

Apple Pie a la Mode

An All American Apple Pie a la Mode just time time for the 4th of July.

Twirly Skirt

My 4 year old loves skirts. She has this one favorite skirt that perfectly twirls as she spins. So when she asked if I would make her some skirts, I knew one had to be a twirly as the store-bought skirt. She chose the fabric from my stash and away I went. Based on her favorite skirt, it has 3 tiers of fabric. I cut strips of fabric and gathered them as I sewed the strips together. It has an elastic band and raw-serged end. It's not perfect but she loves it and that's all that matters...well that and how well it twirls. : )

Birthday Party - Baby Favors

I first found this idea on Flickr (see here). Isn't it so cute?! I knew this would be perfect for baby favors. She has her instructions on her blog. I don't know if I did exactly the way she did them. I just saw it and made up my own directions as I went...you know the "wing it and hope it works" version. : ) I've been told they were a big hit with the babies.

Birthday Party - Part 2

The invites. They were designed on Photoshop and printed at home. Then I cut little scraps of paper to glue and machine sew to make bunting.

Very simple design. A little heart punch glued at the bottom.

The party was a good excuse to make homemade jam. It makes a lot so there was no need to keep it all for ourselves. I made 2 different kinds: strawberry and strawberry-pineapple. With the strawberries in season, it was inexpensive to make. The Ball Jars were most of the cost.
Now, I'm telling you anyone can make these jams. It was so easy - seriously. It tastes very sweet therefore it's very yummy. : ) I don't think I'm ever going to buy store bought jelly again. This (again) was way too easy and tastes way too good.


It makes a perfect summer gift. It also says it's good for 3 weeks in the fridge or up to 1 year in the freezer. Perfect. I'm making biscuits this weekend to complement the jelly. I'm definitely looking forward to Saturday morning! I have linked the recipes above so go ahead a try it!

Moss "S" Tutorial

Make your very own initial for a party, wedding, living room decoration - whatever you desire. I even think a little mini moss letters to make "love" in a frame would be cute.

1. Get out a cardboard box. A thick cardboard box. Moving box, Amazon box, etc would be good. Now, you can either free hand the letter or print from the computer a large letter and trace it on the cardboard. I used a box cutter to cut out the "S" - please be careful! The cutting doesn't have to be perfect because it's going to be covered anyway.

2. Get out the hot glue and your moss (found at any craft store). Put a generous amount of hot glue in a small area of the cardboard letter. Quickly place a generous amount of moss on top. Trying not to burn your fingers, press the moss down so it adheres to the glue.

3. Keep gluing and adding moss until the top of the letter is done.

4. After you are done, you can give it a hair cut. Trim off all the excess moss fly-aways so it is more "shaped."

5. I hung my letter on a mirror so that means you would be able to see the back of the cardboard so I had to repeat this whole process for the back of "S." I also filled in the sides where the cardboard was still showing a little bit.

The whole project comes down to glue, add moss, and trim. As long as you don't cut or burn your fingers, it goes pretty quick. The moss is quite messy though.

6. Finally, you can hot glue any accessories on it that you desire. I used butterflies and tied the top with a pink ribbon.

The Birthday Party

We had my 4 yr olds birthday party this past weekend. I was so happy to host and decorate.

I love a good party!

The dessert table. On the table, was butterfly cupcakes (from Hello, Cupcake!), butterfly shaped cinnamon sugar cookies, various pink candies, and the party favors.

I made the "S" with cardboard, moss, and hot glue. I will post a tutorial later this week.

I also stamped the napkins with the pink butterfly theme.

I made a white tablecloth for the dessert table. Even though, it's more like a slip cover since it fitted and goes to the floor. I bought a pink plastic tablecloth to protect the white slip cover I worked hard to sew. Haha. A tablecloth to protect a tablecloth? I know I'm crazy.

I scalloped the pink tablecloth edges to make it look fancier. I had extra of the pink tablecloth since I trimmed it for the dessert table. I was able to make another scalloped tablecloth for the main food table. So I made 2 tablecloths for 99 cents. What a steal!

I had two different party favors. One for the 4 yr olds and one for their baby siblings. Inside the boxes were bouncy balls, small markers, pad of paper, stickers, temporary tattos, and candy.
The baby's had a small plush toy I made...pictures of that later.
I made the fabric butterfly tops. I will be selling those in my shop later this week.

The kids also received a tulle wand. I found the tutorial here. I thought it made a great favor that was also used for decoration - again, more bang for your buck.

I even made pink strawberry jam for the parents to take home. It's just a good excuse to make lots of stuff and give it away. Again, I will post more about the jam later this week. So much to post this week!

If you have any question, just put them in the comments. I will try to respond to them on the next post. Also, I did make the pink polka dot felt teapot that is on the dessert table too. It's for my best friend's birthday tea party coming up next week. I don't think I'll be selling them in the shop but I can do custom orders.

Spinach and Berry Salad