Christmas-time is here

And now my house has its halls fulled decked!

I changed it up a bit this year and borrowed my mom's white Christmas tree. Yes I'm a fake tree person, with my allergies I can't imagine how I'd feel with that pine scent in my house for a month. I'd also like to say that whoever decided to make pre-lit trees is a genius. How I hate stringing the lights, but these pre-lit trees are so easy!

Here's my tree all done! I used all red balls and green ribbons. (BTW, my red riding hood cape is the tree skirt!) I think it came out pretty good. It was nice to change it up this year with the white tree. The tree has multicolored lights, so it looks pretty when it's all lit up.

My next decoration was the village. This village takes over the living room coffee table. We have 15 assorted houses. They are all different brands and slightly different scales, but we make them work. Grandma loves having the village out. She actually wants to get some more houses.

I also threw up some garland on the gate that separates the dining and living rooms. I added a few red bows to go with my red decorations on the tree. On the side table there is also a vase that I filled with all of the red poinsettias that we had. I think it's a great way to make a normal vase a little more christmas-y.

The Nativity that we have is too big to put under the tree, so we put it in the foyer. I hang up a pretty garland around the mirror and use the table for the nativity. I also string some lights in the garland and use the rest to give the Nativity some light. It looks so pretty when you walk into the house.

All that's left now is to put the Christmas tablecloth on the table and we're good to go all season. I love having the house all done up. I dread the time it takes, but always love it once it's done. Plus, between Mom, Grandma and I we have so many decorations that we can really change up the look.

Have you put up your Christmas/holiday decorations yet? Do you have a look you go for?

Thanksgiving dessert making

I decided this year to change up my normal desserts for Thanksgiving. I decided to make a pumpkin bundt cake with maple glaze--which covers the pumpkin dessert and apple and cherry cup pies (does anyone but me get the Pushing Daisies reference?)--for the pie part.

First the cup pies. I made them in a disposable muffin tins. I figured this would make it easier to get them out of the muffin tin once they were baked. I also used the ready made refrigerated pie crusts. I was experimenting, so easier was better. I rolled out the pie crusts and used the cupcake liners to measure out the crusts and then gently pushed them into the muffin tins.

I made one pan of apple cup pies and one pan of cherry cup pies, so I had 6 of each. I started with the apple pies. For the apple ones I made a variation of the Martha Stewart Mile-High Apple Pie filling that I love so much. This filling is the perfect amount of sweet and tart. So I started prepping the apples.

sugar, apples, flour, cinnamon, lemon, pie crust

Here's a tip in case you don't have an apple corer. Just use a 1/4 teaspoon measure to scoop the apple seeds out (kinda like a melon baller). Then once you've quartered the apples, you can make a little diagonal cut to get the rest of the core out. This way of cutting out the core also gives the apple a flat surface to sit on, making cutting the apple slices so easy.

After all the apples were prepped (they were tossed in lemon juice to prevent them from getting brown). I added the sugar, some flour and cinnamon.

Once you mix all of this up the apples start to let off their own juice, so there's no need to cook the filling. I also think the cooked fillings tend to be too sweet, but this one is just the right amount of tart and sweet.

I used 6 apples to make the filling, but that was total overkill. I should have only used 4. But I filled them all up and made cute little pie tops and fluted the edges.

Then I made the cherry cup pies. And yes, I totally cheated and used Comstock cherry filling. It's easy and I like the flavor. But when I topped the pies, I made lattice tops. I figured this gave them a little special-ness and I could tell the pies apart too.

pie crust and cherry pie filling

After both pies were filled and topped with their pretty crusts, I put them in the oven. First at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then I lowered the temp to 350 degrees and let them cook for about 30 minutes longer.

Yeah they bubbled over and some of the crusts aren't too attached, but they look good, and more importantly, they tasted good.

Next came the pumpkin bundt cake. I scoured the internet for ideas on this one. I knew I just wanted a pumpkin cake with a maple glaze. I was looking for something that wasn't too complicated, since I've never made a cake from scratch before and I needed something reliable. I also didn't want to use a pumpkin bread mix, so I figured something with a cake mix base would be easiest. I bought some yellow cake mix and a can of pureed pumpkin. I looked at tons of recipes, but finally took this one, and made a couple of little adjustments.

pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, yellow cake mix, eggs, oil, sugar and water (not pictured)

I mixed everything together poured it in the bundt and put it in the 350 degree oven. It ended up taking about 45 minutes to cook completely.

It made the house smell delicious! When I took it out of the oven it had a very uneven and crag-like top. Since this is a bundt, I knew this would be the bottom, so I didn't mind it. But it also seemed like it weighed a lot when it came out. I thought it might be too dense. So, since no one was gonna see the bottom of the cake, I took a little sample. It was good and wasn't dense at all.

I let everything cool and came back to it in the morning. I released the cup pies from the pans (they came out pretty easy once I got all the over flowing pie filling unstuck). Then I went to unmold my bundt. Thankfully the bundt pan is silicone, cause it wasn't wanting to drop out. So I rolled back the bundt and the cake looked good. I couldn't wait to dig in.

Before dinner I made the maple glaze for the cake. I basically threw some maple syrup in a pot and reduced it. I also added some powdered sugar and a splash of milk. Before it cooled completely I poured it over the cake.

Finally I got to taste everything and boy was it good. The pies were adorable and good as always, but the cake really took the cake (pun intended).

Grandma enjoying her cherry cup pie

I just want to say on this Thanksgiving Day that I'm so thankful for all I have. For my family who is there for me no matter what and my friends who help me through everything. I'm grateful for a job that I like and for a crafty business that I love working at. I'm grateful to be able to share my love of crafting and spread the love of handmade through my community, and gain some really great friends in the process. I'm grateful for my health and my strength. I'm so grateful for another great year!

So to all of you, a very happy Thanksgiving! What are you grateful for this year?

my weekend

This weekend I drove up to Orlando to spend some time with some of my best friends. 

I hadn't been up to meet their new baby girl yet, so I was able to get tons of time with the little lady, Veronica. Is that not the cutest face ever?! She is a such a sweet and good baby. I can't wait to see her again and watch her get bigger.

And I also wanted to spend time with Veronica's older brother, Xander. He's so awesome and I just love going up to see him. On Saturday, we packed up the kids and took the whole family to Sea World. Xander just loves that place. He couldn't wait to see the dolphins, sharks and Shamu.

He even took my camers and shot a few pics of the dolphins. I think he took better pictures than I did.

picture taken by Xander

After a ride on the kids Shamu roller coaster, Xander wanted to feed the dolphins. So his dad, Eddie,  took him as his Mom (Kris), Veronica and I took pics. He gave the dolphin a fish! He was so excited.

After that Kris and I went to ride the Manta. Yeah, that's the roller coaster that you ride facing down. It had been years since either of us had been on a roller coaster. And since there was no line to wait in by the time we went to ride, there was no time to really think about it. So we got on and braced ourselves. It was a freaking blast. So much fun.

On Sunday we ate a yummy homemade breakfast and then the girls went out shopping. We hit an awesome Goodwill store and I got a couple of things, but then it was time for me to head home.

I had a great time in Orlando, as always, and I can't wait to go back and spend more time with them all. How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

A little thanks

This past Thursday we had a Thanksgiving lunch at my office, and I planned it this year. This wasn't too complicated, it just involved ordering some catering from Boston Market and putting up our Thanksgiving decorations.

We put up the decorations and tablecloths and set up our buffet. Everyone was good and hungry by the time lunch rolled around. And we all helped ourselves to turkey and all the fixins.

We did have one homemade dish, Elena brought her famous corn casserole. It just wouldn't be the holidays without it!

We were thankful for getting away, at least for a bit, and spending some time together. Happy early Thanksgiving! 

Baby shower sewing

Now that I'm craft show free, I'm getting to do some different types of sewing. My mom got an invite for a baby shower of a friend and former co-worker of ours. I've known Marc for what seems like forever and I was so happy that him and his wife, Melissa, were having a little boy. So I had to make something for the new little guy.

Whenever I'm invited to a baby shower I like to make my gifts. It's so much cooler and more personal than buying a generic something from the registry list. I try to make the baby things fun and cool, but still going with the theme that the mommy & daddy seem to be using. Plus, this is me, I like to think that people look forward to my handmade gifts. So I picked up these cute fabrics (the stripes, dots and plaid are cotton and the lime green checks is flannel for the back) and got to work.

I made these cute bibs with the coordinating fabric. And I know you guys may think that I'm obsessed with bias binding (which is true to a certain point), but the bias, in this case, was covering up the fact that I cut the bibs too small. I dBut in the end I like the detail the bias gives the bibs.

Out of the same fabrics, I also made some burp cloths. I added batting to the inside of both the bibs and burp cloths to make them extra cushy and comfy for mommy and baby. I think any baby would love to be burped on these.

I thought the gift needed a little something else. so I snagged these white onesies that Mom had left over from another shower gift. Little girls seem to have the market on cuteness in the clothing department, but who says the little boys can't look dapper too? So I added a bow tie and a long tie to the onesies. Marc & Melissa's little guy will look super cool in these.

 

I love making these handmade gifts and they were pretty easy to whip up. 

Do you like to get handmade gifts?

Craft Carnival, my own craft show

I knocked another one off of my list! This past Saturday (Nov. 5th) was the Craft Carnival. A craft show that I not only participated in, but also organized from the ground up.

My awesome craft sisters (cause they are more than friends now) from Handmade Miami and I really worked our butts off to get this show to happen. It was our baby and we can't wait to see it grow year after year.

Me, Frances, Julie & Vanessa... the ladies that made it happen!

I had Mom and Grandma helping me at my booth. I even finished my items a week before the show! That's a real record for me, but I had a rack full of aprons, and I don't think I would have had any more room if I would have made more.

Abuela watching my booth

Mom had an area in my booth too. She made the scarves and cowls that she usually makes, but this time she also made these awesome stuffies! Aren't they cute? The little owls all had their own personalities and the pillow pals were so snuggly

Mom's area! her stuffies were all so cute!

Look at all those vendors in the room! We had about 40 vendors in the show. They sold everything from vintage suitcases to handmade soap and awesome unique jewelry. We were happy to have some first time vendors too, and they had really great items!

the show about to open

A big thanks to all of my customers new and old that shopped with me. I just love helping aprons make a comeback. And Melanie (a return customer) has another designed by Diana apron to add to her collection now.

a satisfied customer, Melanie

The last few weeks were crazy, but I'm glad to say the show was a hit. It ran smoothly and everyone had a great time. If you wanna see even more pics, check out the Craft Carnival Facebook page.

We're already getting our gears moving for the Craft Carnival 2012, so stay tuned and I'll let you know what we have in store.

Are there any great craft fairs in your area? Do you like buying handmade?