Award

*Sorry, I had this saved as a draft but somehow completely forgot about it and never published it ... so very very late but here it comes ...*



Thanks to LiEr from IKAT BAG who gave me this award a long while ago. So FINALLY I would like to properly thank her and proudly put it onto my blog and - of course - give it to some other blogs/ nice people.

I really had a hard time picking 10 blogs. I would have instantly given it back to IKAT bag of course - I do love her blog so much and she is simply an amazing person! But since she already has it I guess that does not count. So I decided to pass it on to these blogs:

Chasing cheerios

Simple beauty

Blueprints

Skip to my lou

Obsessively stitching

The long thread

Make it and love it

Someday crafts

Naptime Crafts

the purl bee

Love to read your blogs and all the inspiration you give!!!

*I actually had planned on pointing out a few posts of each blog that I especially like ... but if I do that this post will probably never be published. So I'm off to write ten comments and tell the people I nominated that I did ... :-)*

Here are the rules for the award:

Thank the person who gave the award to you, post the award

on you blog or on a post, nominate 10 blogs which show

great attitude/gratitude, link to the people you chose on

your post, and comment on their blogs

to tell them about the award!

Ideas wanted!

I simply can't come up with something to do with this fabric - and it really bothers me! It is a cotton fabric and I have a big piece of it. (I bought it second hand together with other ones.) I don't think it would be nice to make clothing from it. I kinda was thinking that I could make something for birthdays ... something that could become a tradition. Like a tablerunner that will be used every year for the birthday table. However - I can't think of anything else but table runner! *help* And a table runner just seems so ... well, easy and boring. I just would have to hem the fabric ... and that's it. I would like to have a more exciting project ...
Any ideas out there? What would you make from a printed fabric like this? Anything that comes to mind when you are looking at it?

Banana pancakes

This will be just a quick post without any pictures ... sorry. But I have found such a great recipe which I just HAVE to share with you! If I am ever awake enough to actually not only make pancakes in the morning but also take a picture of them before they are gone ... I will add the photo! ;-)

I totally love pancakes. But I usually drown them in syrup so they are actually not a very healthy food and that's why I don't make them very often. Now I found a recipe for banana pancakes which taste really great - even without having to drown them in syrup! I sometimes eat them just like that - without anything! Not always though - bit of butter and syrup does not hurt the taste... ;-)
I even froze some which is of course VERY neat because I am usually WAY too tired to actually mix a pancake dough together in the morning BEFORE having anything to eat ...

My first handbag

I can't believe I did it! I made myself finally a new handbag. My old one was coming apart and it was about time. I figured before I start any more sewing projects (already alot in my head), which are going to be for my daughter, maybe the baby .... I should finally make something for myself!
I had this project planned now already for ages. I found this pattern and tutorial on the the blog Lula Louise. I thought it looks like I could manage it ... So I wanted to try it for so long! Finally I did get around to it! And you can't believe how proud I am of it!!! :-)

I even added a pocket! Thanks to this great tutorial for sewing pockets on Fat Orange Cat I even managed that. I actually was thinking back and forth whether I should try the pocket. I was so afraid that I might mess up the whole bag ... So I am simply totally pleased!
Can't wait to try my new bag tomorrow!


Sorry, the pictures were not easy to take ... it's not that easy to take pictures of a black bag .... :-/ If you click on them they enlarge and you can see more detail.

Finally another dress

When the weather got hot I realized that my daughter had grown out of almost all of her dresses ... so I really wanted to make her a new one. I actually meant to make a "twirly one" already for ages. But I had never done one like those before and at the time I could not really bring myself to try and also I simply did not have much time. So I figured better I use the pattern that I have used before already (here and here) ... I know how to do it and she gets her dress quickly. I still want to make a twirly one ... Hope I get to it as one of my next projects.
So here are a few pictures of the dress I made


I am especially proud of the lower hem which instead of making a usual hem I finished off with bias tape (I hope I use the correct term here). I did this for the first time and I think it turned out nicely. Also I am proud that this time the back seam in the middle of the dress actually IS in the middle! :-)

You can probably tell from the pictures that I hate ironing .... :-)

Fondant decorated cakes

Okay, here are the promised pictures. As I looked over them I realized that my fondant-skills must have progressed alot ... so I am a bit embarrased to show the first pictures. But I guess it is all right - maybe it encourages some of you guys to try it! As you can see from the pictures the more you do it the better it get's ....
All of the cakes in this blog are decorated with fondant, not marshmallow fondant. The marshmallow fondant I tried for the first time when doing the Winnie Pooh cake. I find it much easier to work with than regular fondant!

So this was the first cake I ever decorated with fondant. I used food color powder and it turned out to be kinda blotchy looking. I am not too proud of this ... but it was my first try. :-)





This was a cake I made for my daughter's first birthday. It was the first tiered cake I ever made and I remember being totally proud and happy that it actually turned out to be a TIERED cake - and did not fall apart! :-)
The fondant actually did not turn out very nice - it was very dry and you can see cracks and it is not very even.


I think my bear-making-skills have progressed alot from this pink thing to the Winnie Pooh ... :-D

This cake I made for Christmas. I still like the all white look and the snowflakes. At the time I did not own a snowflake cookie cutter. So my husband made a cardboard pattern for me and I actually cut out all the snowflakes with a knife and that pattern. I would not recommend doing this - unless you are REALLY REALLY bored and have WAY too much time!!! ;-)

Oh, it was a fruit cake and just looking at this makes me really hungry .....


Well, this was MY WEDDING CAKE! Yes, I decorated my own wedding cake! :-) (Hey, there must be some crazy people in this world!)
Because obviously I had other stuff to do just before my own wedding I wanted it to be really simple. I made three different cakes:
The largest tier was chocolate - since I LOVE chocolate cake! The middle layer was carrot cake. And the smallest one was almond apple cake. It was simply all covered in white fondant, we added red ribbon and scattered red rose petals over and around it. I loved the look of it.

Some of you guys might be wondering why on earth I would make my own wedding cake especially such a simple one. Could I not just have bought some plain fondant covered cake???
Well ... no. I live in Germany and we do not have fondant covered cakes. I assume you might be able to order one in bigger towns by now ... but it's not like you can go to your regular bakery and tell them "I would like to have a fondant covered chocolate cake." As it is rare to have it is probably also very expensive ... and we simply did not have that much money. In Germany people also have tiered cakes for their wedding - but they are usually frosted with cream or some kind of butter cream. Some might be covered in almond paste. But I did not like any of those ... And I often also don't like the cake that you can buy in bakeries overhere. That's how I ended up making my own ...

These are some muffins I decorated with fondant for the christening of my daughter. For the lady bugs I used bought colored fondant (I had bought that on a trip to England). I think you can tell the difference - the colors are much richer.


I made lady bugs, butterflies and flowers. I especially like the muffins with the flowers. They are really easy to make and look so cute!

Tips for using marshmallow fondant

I feel a bit bad because I just posted the photos of the Winnie Pooh cake but nothing about how I made it. I already posted a few sites with recipes. There are also quite a few tutorials on the web on how to make marshmallow fondant. That's why I am not going to do a tutorial about this. I am just going to write down a few things that I figured out along the way and that might be helpful for other first-time-users of (marshmallow) fondant.

-One thing to always keep in mind when working with fondant is that moisture will spoil it.

-If you are planning on making a fondant covered cake for a rather special occasion - like your wedding ;-) - I would always recommend a trial run!!!

-If you are making marshmallow fondant you can make it the day before you actually want to use it. I am not sure whether it makes it actually better - I read different things on different sites. Some people say it should sit a while before you work with it. I did it that way rather because it was more convenient. It takes a bit to make - with all the kneading - and after it was made, I usually needed a break anyway. ;-)

-I store the fondant wrapped in plastic foil and OUTSIDE the refridgerator. I have read different things about marshmallow fondant. Some say it can be put into the fridge. I did not try but I am not too sure ... If you put hardened fondant into the fridge it definitely will not look as pretty as before (see below) ... I just did not want to take a chance and since the marshmallow fondant basically just contains marshmallows and sugar I figured it should keep a while outside the fridge without spoiling. So far I was right.

-If the wrapped up fondant does happen to get a bit dry - for example if you wrap rather small portions - you can make it workable again by putting it in the microwave for a few seconds. I would recommend only doing this for a few seconds at a time - if you overheat it you might ruin it. Also, when you take out the heated fondant it is not a wise idea to just check on the outside how hot it is, decide it is just a bit warm and try to knead it! As with all microwave heated items - the heat is not evenly distributed. This means you might end up burning your fingers with really hot and STICKY fondant when trying to knead it!
Been there, done that! :-/

-If you want to decorate a cake with fondant you basically have two choices.
1. You make just the "decorations" like figurines or flowers and stuff and frost the cake with regular frosting or something similar and put the decoration on the cake. I have done this only with cupcakes. You definitely should put on the fondant decorations just very shortly before serving the cake. Depending on how moist the frosting is the fondant will soak up moisture and not look as nice anymore - and in the worst case kinda melt away.

2. You can cover the whole cake in fondant and put your fondant decoration on top of the fondant. That's how I did it and I find it has two advantages. First you don't have to worry about your decoration soaking up too much moisture from the cake and therefore you can (actually have to) prepare it ahead of time. Second, because of the fondant cover the cake itself will stay nice and moist at the inside.

-If you want to cover the whole cake you should plan to cover the cake at least one day ahead - so the fondant can dry before you put the decoration on top.
I find that marshmallow fondant does not harden as much as regular fondant, but I actually like this.

-If you want to make figurines or little flowers or Winnie Pooh bears ;-) you should make these a couple days ahead so they can harden. The thicker the decoration you are making the more time it will need to dry. (It will also depend on the warmth and humidity where you are living.) Once the figures/ decoration are hardened you can store them in an airtight container. I actually like the fact that you have to make the decoration some time in advance - that way I am forced to distribute the work over several days and don't end up totally exhausted after hours of decorating! :-)

-I have read on some post - unfortunately I don't remember where - that marshmallow fondant is not as suitable as regular fondant or gum paste to make figurines. I have never worked with gum paste so I simply don't know what that is like. I have worked with regular fondant before and I actually found the marshmallow fondant even easier to work with. But it might also depend on what kind of things you are making. For me it worked fine and I will definitely use it again.
I am not sure how it would keep up if you would make something like a really big figure. It might kinda slide together (sorry, don't know how to describe it). My Winnie Pooh bear did a bit. But for smaller items or rather flat decoration it is very nice.

-I colour fondant with regular food color - the liquid one you get in the supermarket. There are specialty stores where you can buy special colors. I guess they might have their advantages - I have never tried them however (mostly for the lack of having a specialty store nearby). When adding liquid color you should keep in mind that you probably will have to add more sugar as well. I tried regular food color powder but will not use it again. It did not work very well for me but this might depend on the kind of food color powder so I would recommend to simply try it with a small piece of fondant. Also I always used rather light colors. If you want to have a really dark color (like a dark red instead of a pinkish one) you probably should go for the specialty colors! The ones I used are simply not strong enough. Even if you add a lot the color will not get really dark. And there is only a limited amount of liquid color you can add before your fondant will get way too soft (even if you do add more sugar).

-Black fondant I would not try to make. I read somewhere that it is not possible to make really black fondant yourself at home. I would recommend buying it or if you need only tiny bits - like for stripes for bees or eyes and stuff I recommend using a food color pen! It's easy to work with and you can very easily add small details.

Hope this helps a bit! If I think of more things or if you have questions I will add more stuff ...

Since this is a rather boring looking blog without any pictures I will go through my photos and try to put together a blog with photos of fondant cakes I have done in the past ...

Birthday trifle - OR- "Take-it-easy birthday cake"

Just one week after my daughter's birthday is my husband's birthday. Luckily after all the get-togethers with different family members which all involved some kind of cake or muffin my husband was a bit fed up with cake by the time his birthday arrived. This meant I did not have to bake another cake! But since I thought no cake at all was a bit sad, too ... I was thinking about what to do?
Remember, that I had half a chocolate cake still sitting around from my daughters birthday cake. (There was one layer which I did not use in the end.) So I figured it would be perfect to make some trifle. I have only made this raspberry trifle so far (it's a german site with american recipes) - but this one I have made a couple times because I liked it so much. I already wanted to try a chocolate trifle for quite some time ... so this was THE opportunity. I read a few recipes on the web ... but in the end decided that I was not going to use a recipe. I just didn't want to bother and figured ... well, I just need to figure out what I want in there and layer it! Can't be that hard! :-)
So I decided to put the following inside

-chocolate cake (I broke it into pieces or cumbled it - did not bother with cutting)
-bananas (sliced those and put a bit of lemon juice on top so they would not brown so badly)
-whipped cream
-vanilla pudding (hubby loves vanilly pudding - if it would have been my choice I would have used chocolate)

I also wanted to use some kind of sauce but did not have any. I thought it would be very nice to soak the cake with some kind of alcohol ... but obviously - since I am pregnant and my daughter probably also wanted to try - this was not an option. I also was not too keen on cooking choc or caramel sauce and you can't easily buy this stuff around here. What I did have was a bowl of chocolate frosting sitting in the fridge. (I had used this to frost my daughter's birthday muffins.) So I got into some experimental mood .... and warmed the frosting up to make it soft again and put some sweetened condensed milk into it to make it more into a sauce. It was PERFECT!!! It got a really nice caramel like colour, tasted great and fit perfectly to the rest of the trifle ingredients.

I layered everything into a big glass bowl and let it sit over night. We had it in the morning for breakfast and it was VERY YUMMY!!!


And it was even better in the afternoon - it seems it gets better the more it sits! :-) Definitely a very easy and quick way to make a very very tasteful - and goood looking - dessert.
(Sorry, the trifle looks actually much better in reality - the pictures are not that great.)

Painted cup

This is what my daughter made for her daddy for his birthday. It is actually a very nice thing to make even for younger kids. All you need are

-white or light coloured table ware that is oven proof
-porcelain colour

The porcelain colour comes either as a pen or in small glasses that you use with a paint brush. It simply depends on your or your kids' preference. We used a red pen for this project simply because we had it laying around from an older project. When my daughter was about 2 1/2 years old we used such pens to make cups to give away at christmas. Basically she scribbled with different colours on white cups. Too bad I did not take any photos back then of the results. I found them rather sweet. Now she can do already a bit more than just scribble. So she wrote "daddy" - in german of course - all around a huge cup and even drew a couple of hearts.
I liked the result so much that I told my daugher I would like her to make a cup for me, too. She responded that she could do that but I would only get if for my birthday. And I would have to tell daddy first where I bought the cup so he could go and buy one for me, too. She really had it all planned out ... ;-) (Now I only need to convince daddy ...)

It is really a nice project for kids. You simply draw something on the table ware. (You might want to protect the work surface as the pens sometimes splash around a bit.) As long as it is not baked you can also remove the paint again (just wipe it off) and redo bits. After you are done you let it sit for a while to dry and afterwards you bake it in your oven. DONE!

(If you are wondering - the brown bits on the inside of the cup are just coffee. I took the picture just after it was used for the first time and simply forgot to rinse it before. I was a bit worried that the writing would not survive the dishwasher since the pen had been laying around for quite some time. But after the first ride in the dishwasher the cup still looks fine!)

4th birthday

I already posted photos of the big birthday cake. However, I served that one for the birthday party with the grandparents at the weekend. Since the actual birthday was in the middle of the week we celebrated it alone - which I quite enjoyed.
For breakfast we had birthday muffins. Huge ones! :-) My daughter wanted candy on them - which she got. And she wanted lolli pops on top as well. (I did that last year for her birthday and she wanted to have it again.)

My husband and I did not go to work and we all went to the zoo together. It was very nice! My daughter had not been to the zoo for quite a while and she seemed to really enjoy it. I especially loved that they had so many baby animals.




And I always love the meerkats.

The highlight for my daugher was probably the camel ride ...


.... on a camel named KLAUS! :-)

Rainbow cupcakes for kindergarten

Another post that I have saved for quite a while now ...

For my daughter's birthday we made cupcakes to take into kindergarten. She wanted rainbow cupcakes which we had made before in June. (I intended to post about it ... but never got to it.) I used a recipe I found on the blog Bethany actually. I did change it slightly though ... I don't like using food coloring very much. So I only used it for "blue" ... cause I could not come up with something more natural that would make my dough blue. (Now writing this I'm thinking I could have used the juice of blueberrys ... oh well ...)
I used pudding powder for yellow and the powder for red fruit jelly for red. For green I used the powder of instant green jello. Well, I know ... this is still artificial stuff and there is food coloring IN the powder ... I don't know why I rather like using this - sometimes I am just weird. :-)
Well, a nice side effect is that the different powders make the dough taste differently ... which food color only obviuosly does not. And I used cocoa for brown dough. I know ... a rainbow does not really have brown ... well, my daughter turned four and did not really care. It was supposed to be colorful - that's all that mattered! :-)



The process of making the cupcakes is kinda like making a zebra cake. You just drop spoons full of batter into the muffin cups. Above you see a picture of how it might turn out. This is actually one of the muffins from the first try in June. The kindergarten muffins actually ended up having horizontal stripes ... I think it has to do with how heavy the dough is which again depends on how much additional powder you put into it. (For example the chocolate dough tended to be the heaviest.) With food color it should not matter and the stripes should be rather vertical in the end.


We frosted the baked muffins with white frosting - kinda like clouds - and put rainbow stripes and chocolate/ sugar animals on top.

I suppose the kids must have liked them ... not a single one made it's way back home to us ....