Ruffle Skirt

 Okay, I am no photographer. In fact these pictures were taken on my phone because our regular point-and-shoot camera is MIA. I'm not sure the darlingness of this skirt really comes out in these mediocre pics, so you are going to have to take my word for it. 

With all the Spiderman and Ironman kiddos running through the house, I couldn't resist making this burst of femininity. I found this yarn calling my name on the the shelf at Hobby Lobby. There are a few different brands of this ruffly yarn. Frankly, I don't even remember what this one was called. I found the ~pattern~ online after doing a quick search. You may have seen scarves made from this yarn - also super cute.

I deviated from the pattern because I used yarn from my stash rather than buy more for the waistband and the knitting in between ruffles. I like the look of sport weight yarn a lot, but I bet the project would have been even quicker with thicker yarn. Oh well! I'm happy with the result. I couldn't wait to try it on my little chunk of a ballerina girl.

Top view. There are five layers of the ruffle yarn with 5 rows of knitting in between each layer with the sock yarn. The pattern specifically called for a yarn with elastic in it, which this sock yarn has. It seems to me that it would work without the elasticity as there is an elastic band in the waist. I plan on making another skirt but with 10 to 15 knitted rows in between the ruffle layers to spread them out more. I would also like to put this yarn on the edge of a half-sleeved sweater or something for me. I need ruffles too!

 The skirt in motion. Buglet had to pick her up in an attempt to keep her still. I plopped her on the couch, but the little princess couldn't see the TV with mom standing in front of her. I guess I can't blame her, SuperY is a great show :-)

Cakes

I've had fancy cakes on my mind for the past couple of days and thought I would share a few of the cakes that I've made. But then I realized that very few of them had blog-worthy pictures taken of them. I LOVE the look of a cutely decorated cake, but I really don't like actually eating cake, so I usually make these for other people :-). A few years ago I expressed interest in cake decorating, and my sweet Israel got me some great tools from a local craft store. 

Tools I have and use every time I decorate are:

1.  Pans. Obviously the correct size and shape of your pans is important (mine are circular) but please save yourself some sanity and purchase TWO of every size that you want. Seriously.

2.  A set of frosting tips with bags. I really like the disposable bags, but my non-disposable bag is great too, it just stays the color of the last frosting I put in it. I have fun playing with the different tips.

3.  Spatula. Not a pancake spatula or a rubber spatula, but the spatulas that look like gigantic butter knives.  Mine is off-set but I'd like to try a straight one at some point. The long, smooth "blade" of the spatula spreads and smooths the frosting.

4. A good "how-to" book on decorating cakes, including recipes and techniques. While I use the internet all the time for new tricks and techniques - it's really nice to have my book out and open right there. Wedding Cakes You Can Make by Dede Wilson is my current reference. 

My point-and-shoot camera did a bang-up job with this picture. Trust me, it is decorated. Mainly I put this in to show the size. In a wedding cake, this would be the top tier - but it is perfect for a small family. I used two 6-inch pans. If you use a box cake mix, just fill both pans 2/3 full and use the extra batter for cupcakes.

Another layer cake. I put caramel in the center, but was lazy and failed to put a large bead of frosting around the perimeter of the first layer before covering the top of that layer in caramel. As you can see, it is bulging around the middle. 

This is the biggest cake I've attempted to date. Clearly I have some things to work on - getting rid of those bulges for one - but what I'm most proud of are the flowers. I purchased a set of rose cutters at JoAnn's as well as some pre-made fondant, then I went at it. I LOVE them. I will definitely be making these again and will include a tutorial.  There are a couple of tricks, but once learned they are incredibly easy for looking so . . . darling!

This cake was for my parents 30th anniversary a few years ago. These pics don't show it, but the swirls spell out "love" and '30th' at different places.