Hoppy Easter

Yes. I know Easter was days ago. I swear I've been in some kind of candy induced coma or something. Or just yet another case of lazy-itis. I looked for something to do today. I brought yarn and needles to the sofa but nothing happened. I couldn't even bring myself to cut recipes out of my myriad stack of magazines. Sigh  . . . I need a spa day. :)

So how was Easter? I love Easter crafts and wish I would have made more this year. (lazy-itis!)

I did fill my leafy basket with some cute speckled eggs. I really love how this turned out! And how simple. I love that!



And look how cute my little chenille baskets look with speckled eggs! 



Don't they look adorable on my Easter feather tree? As I've said before, Sarah sent it to me and I love it more and more each year. You can see Sarah's tree here. So cute!

Something new I tried this year, chocolate covered strawberries. With soe help from my sister these were very easy and were a huge hit.



I made another Tiramisu. I added less Kahlua this time and it was even better. Who would have thought LESS alcohol would be a good thing? LOL



Here is my super cute nephew Christopher enjoying his thrifted bunny. 

All in all it was a fabulous day. :) 

Please send me some good vibes to get off my butt and get some things done. It's about that time for me to drag the sewing machine out and attempt to make something presentable.

xoxox

rr

Go for a visit . . .

Before I rush of to AC I'd like to share a link with you, please visit Erin HERE for her wonderful 100th post giveaway. Wait until you see the goodies. You'll thank me. :)

And speaking of give aways, I think it's about time I had one, too. Come back next week and see what I've put together for you to win.

Now wish me luck at the roulette table. :) Black 22!

A Tisket, A Tasket . . .

Chenille stem Easter baskets!



I followed these Martha instructions and it was pretty easy. I used stems I already had but I think the pink and gold came out cute!



The white one was made with bumpy stems and is also cute but I think I like the pink better. I plan to put them on my table and fill them with Robin's Eggs candy, what do you think?



I also made this little basket after seeing these on the Martha web page. It's sort of cute, you think? And the cost was only 69 cents for the basket and 69 cents for a bag of artificial flowers and leaves. I want to pick up some kind of grass to put inside and I have a few faux speckled eggs that would be cute in there.

And speaking of Martha, has anyone picked up her A-Z Craft Encyclopedia? I decided to go for it and since I had a nice coupon for the Barnes & Noble I got it for a good price. I like it! There are new projects and also classics from the magazine. One thing I like is that there is a list of basic supplies and then instructions for for each topic including candle and soap making, rubber stamping, paper making, decoupage, you name it. I have already bookmarked a few things to try and hope to share them soon!

L. and I are off to Atlantic City this week to celebrate his birthday. We'll be back before Easter.

Fondly,
Rebecca

Thrift?

Has anyone been finding anything at the Thrift lately? I know I'm not much up on my blog reading but those I have read haven't reported too much. I have found some things but nothing too blog worthy you know? I did dig through and have picked the best of the bunch out to share. :)



I felt so lucky to snag this vintage Florida table cloth! It's not in the best shape, someone wrote on the corner in magic marker? Why? But I love it anyway and it was only $2. :) See Lincoln there? He thought I was taking his picture.



Alright, boy, there you go. Happy now? He's getting so big but still acts like a wild puppy. :)



I also found this table cloth. It's not hand made but it is large enough to fit my table (I need 102 inch length at the very least) and at $4 was a steal. It's a little stained but not too bad and I plan to use it for Easter brunch this year.



Also found these vintage pillow cases. Isn't the pattern divine? I'm trying to decide to keep them for pillow cases, put them in the shop or make something from them. If you were going to turn them into something, what would it be?



The red Dansk pitcher is a real mess. It has black marks all over the bottom showing through the enamel. But I love it anyway in all it's shabby glory. :) The little silver bread basket was too cute to pass up and the dessert server is for my mother who said she didn't have a nice one. Hmm. I find that hard to believe. Anyway, the quiche dish in the copper holder was in a box from Macys. I do make quiche a lot and now it will be that much fancier. :)



I also found this sweet heart shaped sewing box. The inside is yellow silk and is in fairly good shape. I'd love to add some vintage flowers to the lid maybe? I'm not sure what but I do think I'd like to decorate it. Maybe I'll try to make some velvet strawberries like I've seen on this blog which is one of my favorites. I think I'll check out her store for some of that vintage millinery.

May the thrift be with us all. :)

RR

Best Friends

Remember sweet Felicity Foxity?



Remember that I promised to make her a friend? Meet Turtlelina!



She's a little shy.



But I introduced her to Felicity hoping they would get along. After all, they both love flowers!



And now they are best friends.



Turtlelina is made from cotton yarn with embroidery floss features and wool felt flowers. More friends to come! Any suggestions? I'm thinking perhaps an owl? or a doe? Thoughts?

hugs
Rebecca

PS - visit THE GOODNESS SHOP for new trims, vintage pillow case pairs and some fun vintage paper goods.

Craft Challenge #1 - RESULTS

The results are in and Craft Challenge #1 was a success! But of course I knew it would be. :) So without further ado:

The original cards sent to our participants:



And the final works of art:



"A Time to Sew" from Shara - read more about it here. I love the sweet girl's thimble purse!



"Sew Many Thanks" from Dana who doesn't have a blog but should think about starting one! I love how she thought to make the card into a thread spool!



"Mulberry Tree" by Caroline - read more about it here. Caroline is a fairly new blogger so stop by and give her some love! She just completed her very first swap with us at Sweet Goodness! I love the little green rick rack leaves!



"Stretch Your Wings" from Jane - read more about it here. Jane actually sent this to me! I love it! Thanks! And how clever to put it in a little frame! The bird is embroidered, such talent!



"Kitty Wants In" from LeeAnn - read more about it here. Oh how I wish I could draw like that!



"Smocked" by Sarah - read more about it here. I love Sarah's vision, I never would have thought to smock anything but fabric! Love it!



"Easter Parade" by me. I have a lovely white feather tree (a wedding gift from Sarah!) that I always use at Easter. I try to make a new decoration for it each year and I knew from the beginning that is what I would use my mini spool card for. The eggs on the front are glittery.



And the back is more plain. Doesn't that Easter bunny look a bit mad? LOL I'm inspired now to make more Easter ornaments and hope to share them with you soon.

I love all the entries for Craft Challenge #1! I will defiantly be announcing a new challenge soon. I think for the next one I will choose an object that many of us already have so we can have more participants.

Thank you to all of the participants! Everyone is so creative and I feel very inspired now to go make something new. :)

Fondly,
Rebecca

Craft Challenge #1 - EXTENDED

LOL it's extended for me since mine isn't finished yet! :) That's what I get for making the due date my birthday! I'll post the results of the first craft challenge tomorrow.

Participants - if you haven't already sent me either a photo or a link to your blog with your challenge piece, please do so!

Thanks!
Rebecca

Heart to Heart . . . and Spade to Spade . . .

One of the best things about being a managing part of Sweet Goodness Swaps is that sometimes I get to pick my partner. For the last swap I knew I would be running late and might not make the send out date so I wanted a partner who would be okay with that. I invited Vallen to join the swap as my partner. The theme was The Winning Hand and had to include elements from all 4 card suits. Yes, Vallen's last name is Queen and YES I really wanted to run with that theme. Like I said, it's good to be the organizer!

As I knew, Vallen did not disappoint! Look at this mass of goodness!



Whew! The box must have weighed ten pounds! Of course I love everything, Vallen really has a way with things. I thought I'd show some favorites:



Beautiful jewelry including a bracelet, earrings and a Queen of Hearts pendant that I am drooling over!



A lovely decoupaged eye glass case. Vallen is a mind reader because I needed one of these!



Some vintage crochet books. Did I mention that I love old patterns?



A set of four card holders, each player uses one to hold their hand. Cute!





I am enamoured with this tiny little clothes pin. I love it!



Beautiful crocheted heart doilies.



A sweet velvet heart shaped box filled with vintage cookie cutters. Could it get more perfect??




These linen napkins are high on my list of favorites. Vallen knows me well. :P

I'll be posting more photos in the Flickr Group today and will post photos of what I made for Vallen soon. If you've never joined one of our swaps before be sure to sign up for the next one. You can register to receive an email when we announce the next swap on the blog site. We really get some talented ladies in our swaps!

Have a lovely day!
Rebecca

Let Them Eat Tiramisu

I've always wanted to learn to cook and bake the right way. You know, when you can look in your fridge, see 5 random things and whip them into a gourmet meal. I would love that!

To celebrate my new motto, "You're not getting any younger!" lol I've been trying some new recipes and actually READING those parts in the cookbooks that teach you tricks and techniques. My first endeavor? A tiramisu cake to take to a dinner party. Quite risky to make a new recipe and then have other people count on it as their dessert LOL. But it turned out great! I tweaked two different recipes and will make it again. Since it's really my own recipe now I thought I'd share it here. It's pretty easy. I am a lazy cook. :)

Rebecca's Kahlua Tiramisu Cake



Vanilla Buttercream Cake

12 tbs of butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 cups self rising flour
1/4 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with Pam (or other) and line with parchment circles.*

Beat butter, vanilla, sugar, eggs, flour and milk with electric mixer on low until ingredients are combined. Increase speed to medium and beat until mixture becomes a paler shade.

Pour half of mixture in each prepared pan. You want your cakes to been thin, so about an inch of batter in each. Bake until golden on top, about 20 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for about 10 minutes and then remove to racks to cool more.

Coffee Syrup

1 cup white sugar
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/8 cup Kahluha (you could substitute 2 tbs vanilla or almond extract)

Stir together 1 cup sugar, boiling water, coffee and 1/4 cup rum until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Mascarpone Cream

1 (8 ounce) container mascarpone cheese
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/8 cup Kahluha (you could leave this out I would think)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream

Combine mascarpone, 2 cups confectioners' sugar, Kahlua and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk together until completely smooth, scraping the bottom of the bowl to remove any lumps. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream. Whip with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stop whipping when the mixture shows the first sign of graininess.

To assemble:

Place one layer of cake in 9 inch spring form pan. Poke holes in the cake (a lot) and pour half of coffee syrup over cake. Spread a generous amount of mascarpone cheese on top. Don't be stingy, you'll have cream left over. Spread all the way out to the edges of the pan. Place next layer of cake on top and press down into pan. Poke holds and pour remaining syrup over top. Spread another layer of mascarpone cream. Top with shaved dark chocolate (if desired.)



Refrigerate cake for AT LEAST 4 hours. This is very important. You can leave it over night if desired. Remove side of spring form pan and enjoy!

This really is an easy cake to make and it's quite impressive! LOL I do think next time I'll go a little easier on the cream for a better presentation but that is the yummiest part of the cake. I've frozen my remaining cream (I had about 2 cups left over) and plan to make vanilla butter cake cupcakes and make mini tiramisus this weekend. I got the idea from this book. My Mom found it at the thrift store. It has some fun cupcake ideas in it. I think I'll try the banana caramel ones sometime soon. :)

If anyone tries a tiramisu let me know! You can leave out the Kahlua or substitute dark rum or extracts. As long as you use strong coffee in the syrup it should have the traditional tiramisu taste. :)

hugs
Rebecca

* - trace your pan bottom onto parchment paper and cut out a circle. Voila!

Sugar & Spice & Eveything Nice

Hello! I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted and even longer since I've been able to catch up on my favorite blogs. I've been busy! Whew! I actually have a few things to post about so you can expect to hear more from me. :)

First I'd like to share some photos from my dear friend Dana's baby shower. Dana is expecting a boy on April 22nd and her sister in law, mother and I threw her a lovely Blue and Brown bash. :)



Corey, Dana's SIL, made gorgeous bird houses and potted plants with chipboard bird picks for all of the tables.



Don't you love those bird picks? What a great idea!



We also had this wish tree. It's an actual peach tree for Dana to plant and everyone at the shower filled out cards with wishes for the baby and advice for Dana to hang on it.



The gorgeous cake is from Sugarbakers which is where Dana, my sister and I all had our wedding cakes made. The cake was delicious!



Corey also made this cute baby sign and the little bird nests. She is so talented! And do you believe she says she's NOT crafty??



Dana's mother did the adorable favors which were chocolates and little seeds to plant. I can't wait to grow myself a little lavender garden!



And Dana's other sister in law, Charmin, made this super cute baby bootee bouquet. Adorable!

I did the games and did make some super cute baby bingo cards but of course forgot to take a picture! I did get some shots of the gift basket my mother, sister and I put together:



My Mom organized the basket, she is very good at that sort thing. And who is that peeking out the front?



Why it's my little crocheted dinosaur. :) Finally he has some eyes! Dana also loved the sweater I knit for her and asked for a matching hat.



A fun day for all involved!

xoxoxo
RR