My Crafty Side
10:29 AM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 2 comments
While Ly was gone I needed a craft project to keep me entertained. So I decided to make pillows for my couches. It started with just two until my mom came over and planted the bug in my ear that every cushion need a pillow. Off I went and made 5!






First I made the sash by putting small folds to create texture then sewed the seams.



If you iron your seams, it makes it easier to sew


 Then you put your pillow squares right sides together, making sure your sash is in beween.

Then start sewing, making sure you leave a opening to insert the pillow fluff!

If you cut the corners while it is still inside out, it lays nicer

Then I just stuffed a normal bed pillow into a small opening.

Sewed her up!

Add some cute stuff with a glue gun


And poof! The job a snap! ( Just went to Mary Poppins!)



Another Birthday Cake!
8:11 AM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 2 comments
Wednesday was my sister-in-law's birthday and her husband asked me to make her a cake. So I agreed, thinking I would bake the cakes Monday and decorate them Tuesday. Then my mom calls Monday night to remind me we are going to Mary Poppins on Tues! So that means I have to bake and decorate all in one night, 5 hours to be exact! So with a little (or a lot) of help from my husband we finally got it done.

First, I baked 3 cakes, the part that takes so long is waiting for them to cool before I can dirty frost them.

                             In hopes that I could speed the process up, I stuffed them into my freezer!
I finally learned the tricks of getting the cakes out of the pan with ease...
I asked (made) my husband roll out the fondant to cover the cakes. Then I form it into the cake, which is harder then it looks!
Then comes the fun part of decorating with my Cricut Cake
I think I need a bigger kitchen!
And this is the finished product!



Slowly getting better decorating cakes!
8:49 AM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 1 comments



So it is my brother-in-laws birthday today and since I got a Cricut Cake for Christmas, I take every opportunity to make cakes! I thought it would be so much fun and it is... don't get me wrong but it is hard! Baking the cakes, dealing with them falling in the center and having to stack them without them going everywhere or having to fill the center with a gallon of butter cream frosting to even them out... It's a process! The first one I made was my mother-in-law's birthday cake. After I threw away the first two cakes that I had to bake separately for 30 minutes each, I started again, 6 hours later I was done! Then I attempted to make a tri level cake for my sister's baptism. Ly helped... we were frustrated and the fondant didn't like me that day and her cake was not the best and I swore to never make a cake again.
Then time went on.
So I hit the Internet and logging on to cake schools. I cannot believe some of the stuff that is out there! They help me a ton! I am getting better with every cake I make. Here is the process of making one of my
Masterpieces HA HA!

 

First I baked 2-10in round cakes in these awesome cake pans my mom got me. The sides loosen and the bottom comes out, make this obstacle a little easier to over come. Then since the center fell so much I leveled it out with butter cream frosting. Then you let the butter cream "crust," in cake school words! Once crusted, roll out the fondant 1/4 inch thick, store bought of course and lay it over the cake. Just like that! NOT! This is the hardest part! Making sure there are no creased at the bottom is major stress!
 I think I finally learned this skill on my third cake!


Then you want to trim the extra fondant with your circut cake tools that I got for my birthday! Thanks Mamma Terry!


This my friends... is the Cricut Cake! You roll out your fondant on the mat, use ANY cartridge you want and cut!


Once it is cut, put straight onto the cake, another hard lesson learned! If it doesn't stick, add a dab of water to the back and it will adhere. Don't add to much water or the color will run on your white fondant!




My boys love their Red Sox!


 There you have it! I am very proud of it!


Thanks to all those who helped! My next project might be a bridal shower...wish me luck!


First Attempt with my Cricut Cake
2:55 PM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 3 comments
My mother-in-law got me a Cricut Cake for Christmas and my first attempt was to make her birthday cake! It took me 5 hours! First of all I only had one 8 in pan so I had to bake the two separately. Then I tried to frost them too early and they crumbled. So then I had to bake two more! 2 1/2 hours later and a little help from my husband I was ready to play!  I put the cakes in the freezer then frosted them and that worked great. Next I rolled out the white fondant and laid it over the cake. Then I went to town cutting. Let me emphasize, I could not of done this without my husband! He was a life saver.

My next project is my birthday cake!  I am going to make a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and then go to town on my Cricut! I post pictures of either my masterpiece or disaster cake!



Decorating my new house
12:07 PM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 2 comments





I have been a busy bee getting my house decorated, and again my mom has been a huge help. I try to get a few things every paycheck so my husband is content. Here are a few of my ideas:
These plate were inspired by Rod Works. I dont know where I want them yet. I just know I wanted them. Right now they are on top of my pantry. I dont know if I am a huge fan of them up there. We'll have to see.
 These were also a purchase from Rod Works. They were 50% off and since I am obsessed with green, I had to have them. They are on top of my coat closet. My entire house has these little in-coves that are tricky to decorate without being tacky.
Going down my hall you look at this beauty. I made her myself!  One problem, it's bowing... The candle holder matches the frame. That was a Hobby Lobby purchase!
 
This is on the floor of my spare bedroom. I am trying to see if it looks good and if I like it, I want to put it on one of my hall walls. They will all be connected with ribbon. If you look close you can see the wanna be ribbon.  It needs some work but I want to make that wall the picture wall of fame and just go all out with pictures!



These are my bathrooms. The master is done is red/green/tan. The main bath is done in green/white. I turned my hand towel hanger into a toilet paper hanger! I got most of this stuff from Rod Works and Hobby Lobby. I just love those stores!


This has been my Halloween craft! My mother-in-law has a Cricut and we have been playing. My next Halloween project is making Mr. & Mrs. Frankenstein. They are super cute!


Craft Projects in the works
9:23 AM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 0 comments
Ok, so moving into a new house has been so much fun! Especially because my mom is the queen of decorating and I just love having her decorations in my house. So here are my mom and I's first project for the new house. Take a look.
This was an ordeal. First we spent a fortune on flowers and a vase at Tia Pan, then we made a stop at Hobby Lobby and their flowers were 50% off! So we bought more flowers and took everything back to Tia Pan. We ended up saving $60!
This little creation was also 50% off! We took a flower display that is supposed to go on your mantel or something of that sort and we folded it in thirds and zip tied it to this iron rod thingy! We put our "G" in the center but it doesn't show up so well.
My husband says he feels like he is walking into the Garden of Eden with all of these flowers in the entry. My mom also gave me her old table and mirrors that we painted black to match the house but in the process we broke a mirror! Oops... All in all it turned out really cute and I just love what the woman does! She missed her calling in life! 


The latest 411
3:34 PM - Posted by Lyonel and McKenzie - 0 comments
Lyonel and I just celebrated our 1 year anniversary!  It was an amazing night but the whole time I felt guilty... Ly and I talked about 2 weeks before the big day and decided we were not going to give each other gifts because we are in the middle of buy a house (details below). So the weekend of our anniversary we were on vaction with my family at Sand Hallow.  So much fun baking in the sun and wakeborading my little heart out! Another fun tent story. Ly's aunt gave us their tent because they vowed never to go camping again.  Wonderful, that is great for us right... sure take the tent and we will sleep in that for the weekend.  I went down a day before Ly and when I pulled the tent out of the bag there was only a rain fly and poles.  NO TENT!!! I dont know what is with us and tents but it never works out in our favor!  To top it off the aunt has no idea where the actual tent even is.
The morning of our anniversary comes and I get woken up by Ly asking me if I am awake.... obviously I was not. He handed me a card with two Lion King tickets inside and I freak.  I have wanted to go to The Lion King for such a long time!  When I realized that I got him nothing, the guilt set in.  I ended up crying over the whole ordeal when we got home...I know, Im a big baby. Anyways the Lion King was great and the rest of the night followed in suite! :)
Tomorrow we are finally closing on our home in Herriman... (house warming party coming soon!) It has been a process getting the loan approved because of Ly's job and his stupid HR lady. If the loan did not go through, we would of lost $2,500 big buckaroos! I would not be a happy camper. But things are good now and we should get the keys on Friday!  We just bought a front loading washer and dryer from KSL and I hope we got a good deal. We are now in the marketing for a lawn mower! There is a lot of things we don't have the a home needs. It all adds up so fast. Our next problem is selling out apartment contact. The leasing office is trying to fill it with us but if it is not filled by Sept. we have to pay them $1500 to get our of our contract. This is another stresser that is making me lose sleep at night. I pray everything will work out just fine!
We are going on another family vaca this weekend with Ly's family to Rock Port to go boating and camping.  What can I say, its our favorite thing to do! Then it's moving time. My car finally gets to be park where hard water cannot get to her. I cannot wait to decorate and make my own home decor projects. YAH!!!
The bank put in a front yard for us because the city was complaining so that is great for us, we were just going to leave it until next summer when we had expendable income.
One late note. I am changing jobs again. On Sept.7th I am going to be the housing coordinator for CHG Healthcare.  They are a fortune 500 company and my mom works there so we can now carpool.  I officially hate my job here at Broadview University. I cannot make another phone call and listen to another voicemail or else... I give my two weeks on Friday after we close on the house.

That is all for now.