Flower Power Cake Recipe

This cake just looks so pretty and the recipe is easy! I think I might just try it for Easter!

 

Flower Power Cake Recipe

Makes: 12 to 16 servings
Prep: 30 mins

Cool: 10 mins

Bake: 350°F 30 mins

ingredients
1 2-layer-size package lemon cake mix
1 16 ounce can white frosting
Small gumdrops
Candy-coated fruit-flavored pieces
Sour fruit-flavored straw candy

directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions using two 8- or 9-inch round baking pans. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans. Cool completely.

2.Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate; spread with frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and side of layers with frosting.

3.To decorate cake with flowers, slice small gumdrops in half horizontally to form flower petals. Use candy-coated fruit-flavored pieces for flower centers. Flatten gumdrops and cut into leaf shapes for leaves. Snip sour straws to desired lengths and use for flower stems.

Here is the link: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/layer-cakes/flower-power-cake/

Pattern: Firefly Jar LED Embroidery Pattern

This is an interesting addition to your embroidery projects! An LED light kit is used to enhance it. You can light it up! This is so cute!

Here is what you need:

Supplies:

* Firefly Jar embroidery pattern (download the PDF here)

* Embroidery floss in white, dark gray, dark green, medium green, light green, light blue, brown, and black

* Navy blue fabric

* Heavy-weight interfacing or t-shirt stabilizer

* LED Embroidery Kit from Sternlab.org (optional)


Tools:

* 5" embroidery hoop

* Embroidery needle

* Scissors

* Iron

* Ironing board

* Carbon/pattern transfer paper

* Tracing tool or pen

You can get the instructions at The Zen of Making with this link: http://www.thezenofmaking.com/2012/03/pattern-firefly-jar-led-embroidery.html

Peep Topiary

I saw this Peep Topiary on the Hungry Mouse Blog and just thought it was cute and easy! Here is what you need:

Peep Topiary

Peep topiary
1 6-inch pot
1 7-inch styrofoam ball (for topiary top)
1 4-5 inch styrofoam chunk (for inside the pot)
1 12-inch wooden stake or thick wooden dowel
1 box of wooden toothpicks
6-7 boxes of marshmallow Peeps
1 bag of jelly beans

Other table decorations
Assorted foil covered chocolate eggs
Plastic easter eggs
Easter grass
Assorted silk flower garlands

Makes 1 Peep topiary that will knock your socks off

 

 

Here is the link with all the steps: http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2011/04/11/peep-topiary-plus-other-easter-table-top-decorating-ideas/

Easter Egg Garland

Years ago, my step daughter made me a big egg and left part of it open so she could put in grass and Easter candies. It was so pretty and colorful! I just loved it! Here are some pictures that were on another blog and instructions how to make them. Hope you like them!

Make a stiffener mixture. I used 1 cup of liquid starch mixed with a half cup of flour. You could double or triple this recipe if you’d like.  I did.

 Next I got some string, I used embroidery floss. You could also use pearl cotton thread or crochet thread.

Then you stick your string in a bowl of starch goo, but don’t just plop it in there like I first did. Your string WILL get into a knot… and it’s not fun to try and un-snarl gooey string.  So don’t do it. Instead coil your string into the mixture and gently press it into the goo, I didn’t get one knot doing it this way. 

 

For a little egg, blow up a water balloon and wrap the gooey string around the balloon. Make sure you wipe off the excess goo and let it fall back into the bowl, it doesn’t need to be drippy.

One skein of embroidery floss was just enough for one water balloon sized egg.

It’ll take several hours for it to dry. Once it dries, pop the balloon. You might have crusty stuff in-between the string, I scraped that out with a straight pin. 

But then I decided to thread the eggs onto some more embroidery floss and made a garland out of them. You’ll need a fairly big needle to do this.

I threaded it  at about 1/4th of the way down from the top of the egg. To keep them in place, I hot glued the eggs to the string. Here is the link of the blog: http://www.craftyendeavor.com/2012/03/08/easter-egg-garland/

She also made some different size eggs.

 

10 Easter Eggs Decorating Ideas

Here are some pictures of Easter egg decorating ideas. They did not give a tutorial but look easy to figure out. Anyway, you can look at these pictures and create your own.

Photo credit: Wish on a Whisker

Photo credit: Rafał Wójcik

Photo credit: DyeDye

Photo credit: dotcomwomen

Here is the link: http://blog.luulla.com/handmade/10-easter-eggs-decorating-ideas 

Fragrant Fruit Wreath - can you just smell it?

Turn dried oranges and lemons into a circle of refreshing color. Although this wreath has evergreen and Christmas balls in it, I would replace them with Easter eggs and pastel ribbons to make it for Easter.




What You'll Need 6-inch round florist's foam wreath 

• 14 oranges 
• 8 lemons 
• Serrated knife 
• Straight pins 
• Evergreen sprigs or spring flowers
• Three small holiday balls or plastic Easter eggs
• Ribbon 

How to Make It


1. Cut oranges and lemons into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Places slices in a 150° F oven on an open rack to dry the slices. Leaves the slices in the oven for 3 hours, turning them over after 90 minutes. (Edges should not be brown.)


2. When fruit is dry but slightly moist, remove from oven and place on wire rack; air dry for 3 hours. If wreath form has flat edges, use a serrated knife to gently round.


3. Use straight pins to attach the fruit slices to the wreath, overlapping the pieces to cover the entire foam wreath.


4. Wire sprigs of greenery together, then secure the bundle to the wreath top. Wire a few holiday balls and ribbon to the greenery.

Here is the link: http://www.bhg.com/christmas/wreaths/fragrant-fruit-wreath/

DIY: SIMPLE & STUNNING LIVING SUCCULENT WREATH

This is such a great idea! It is a living wreath of plants. It is fairly easy and not that expensive. You can use supplies you already have around the house.

The tutorial has many pictures so rather than copying the entire tutorial, here is the link: http://prudentbaby.com/2010/12/prudent-home/diy-simple-stunning-living-succulent-wreath-2/

Drawing made out of thread by Amanda McCavour

Here is another drawing made from thread on fabric that disappears in water. This just amazes me! Amanda McCavour is definitely artistic! What do you think?





 farewell-kingdom:

Drawing made out of thread by Amanda McCavour

Amanda McCavour's Thread Drawings

I found this so interesting. Amanda McCavour makes these with her sewing machine, threads,  and fabrics that dissolves in water. Who would have thought? Anyway, these pictures represent her living room. Don't you just love these? I sure do!

Amanda McCavour creates incredible images with thread. She describes how she does it on her website:

In my work, I use a sewing machine to create thread drawings and installations by sewing into a fabric that dissolves in water. This fabric makes it possible for me to build up the thread by sewing repeatedly into my drawn images so that when the fabric is dissolved, the image can hold together without a base. These thread images appear as though they would be easily unraveled and seemingly on the verge of falling apart, despite the works actual raveled strength.

The images above are from an installation called "Living Room," in which McCavour made life-sized drawings of all the stuff she once had in her living room.

via [bookspaperscissors]

Here is her link: http://www.amandamccavour.com/gallery/living/ 

Tracing Paper Dolls for the Silhouette to Print and Cut

Tracing Paper Dolls for the Silhouette to Print and Cut

I saw this tutorial and just thought it would be so neat for my granddaughters. They love the "princesses" and would love playing with these. I didn't copy all the steps because it is a little long. You can go here: http://findingtimetocreate.blogspot.com/2011/03/tracing-paper-dolls-for-silhouette-to.html to see the entire tutorial.