Catching up

So its been a couple of months since I posted anything on my blog. Since the end of May, I've had a new addition to our family. I had another beautiful baby girl!

Welcome Eden Kennedy Chege

She was born on May 31st @ 10:02am. 7lbs, 9oz, and 19 inches

I couldn't ask for anything more and she is worth the "troubles". Let's just say that every child is different and she is my hands on little one. Constantly wants to be held & feed, which again, I don't mind to much ... except at 3am when all she does is cry for hours at a time. But it seems like she is getting better adjusted now that's she's 3months old.

So summer has come and gone. Summer started out pretty crazy, having a baby, then I needed gall bladder surgery 3 weeks after I had her, and just trying to entertain two kids in the midst of this. But thanks to a WONDERFUL husband and friends, the mayhem was manageable. We did get to do some fun family outings such as the beach, a bonfire, some park days and a trip to Santa Barbara to meet up with my husbands family.


As soon as I started feeling better I did get back to crafting. I actually squeezed a little crafting before I had my baby. I made "big brother" and "big sister" t-shirts for the kids to wear to the hospital. They were a bit challenging cause I used my cricuit to cut out the lettering and the blade kept getting snagged on the fabric. I had used iron-on fusible webbing first on the fabric then tacked it on the sticky matte of the cricut. Then once I went to cut, it was a big 'ol mess.. Once I got to the end of cutting the letters I was about done with this project ... hahaha. Well not really. I still had to iron them on the shirts and then I did a simple running stitch to make sure it wouldn't come off.

Now I'm not gonna lie, I didn't get this idea on my own, I did get inspired with this project thanks to Esty. That place is AWESOME!!! I just didn't want to spend double the money on buying it from someone when I could spend half the amount they are charging and do it myself.

Hello kitty birthday

My little Ezra turned 4 years old back in March. And up until a couple weeks before her birthday, Ezra was still not sure what type of birthday party theme she wanted. On a side note, we don't do themed b-days every year cause it gets a little expensive even though I have a tight budget. So I reminded her that this would one of her last "big" birthday parties in a while. So she finally said she wanted hello kitty. Yeah! I love hello kitty!

So I did some research on-line, once again, for ideas on HK themed b-days. I seriously LOVE doing this. Planning parties, especially on a budget. I've always said that I would love to be a party planner. I love to match colors, items, and get my creative side going. Anyway, I ended up making most of the decorations, party favors, centerpieces and some cute hk ears for her girlfriends to wear ... sorry boys, no hk ears for you. I made her invites using my cricut which I invested $25 on the hk cartridge (normally $80 bucks at craft stores), thanks to Ebay. I got A LOT of usage from that cartridge and being that I am preggers with another girl, I will continue to get my money's worth.

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of most of the things I made, but I didn't think I was gonna blog this. So it's a lesson learned, from now on take a picture of everything!


Thanks to Kim Hernandez Photography for the pictures and to Sabrina's tutu's and bows for the birthday girl's accessories.

Here are some of the links I used to get ideas for the party.....

Party invites:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/58472408/hello-kitty-invitations-set-of-8?ref=sr_gallery_21&ga_search_query=hello+kitty+birthday+invitations&ga_page=4&ga_search_type=all&ga_face

Birthday banner:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/68227217/hello-kitty-happy-birthday-banner?ref=sr_gallery_20&ga_search_query=hello+kitty+birthday+banner&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Centerpieces:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/72378409/hello-kitty-bright-color-or-original?ref=sr_gallery_22&ga_search_query=hello+kitty+centerpieces&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

Hello kitty ears:
I couldn't find the website, but there easy to make ....
1. Cut to hk ear shapes out of white felt. Using about a 4x4 in square as your guide.
2. Cut a strip of bright pink felt about 6 inches wide and 4 inches long. (rectangle shape)
3. Round out the 4 corners of the rectangle piece of pink felt and gather in the middle.
4. Cut and place a strip of matching pink felt in the middle of the rectangle piece where it is gathered and hot glue it together so it can stay in place. I would secure it to the underside of the bow.
5. Glue the ears first onto a white or pink head plastic headband.
6. Then place the bow in front of the left hk ear and hot glue it.

Cherry blossom baby shower ideas

The past few months I've been busy with planning my best friends baby shower. Her theme was cherry blossoms which I absolutely loved. It was so fun to look on line and come up with do-it-yourself ideas.

Some of the things that we did for her shower were paper pom-poms, cherry blossom branches for centerpieces along with cute paper fans. They were fairly easy to make and it didn't cost much. Here's a tip ....... see what resources you have among your friends and family. The vases we used for the centerpieces were from a friends wedding that she had used as centerpieces which she saved from 4 years ago. Also, the branches were bought at a discount floral supply store (shinodas) and I just glued punched paper flowers to them. I did have to buy the flower punch, but I used a Michaels coupon so I got it for 40% off and the paper was on sale.

When it comes down to it, it's about looking for deals and taking advantage of coupons and using discount stores.

Here are some links to used to get the ideas for this baby shower.
Pom-poms:
http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/paper-pom-poms-diy-wedding-decor/

http://kinsereventcompany.blogspot.com/2010/04/diy-tissue-pom-poms-and-napkin-rings.html

Paper fans: (picture not shown)
http://blog.myweddingreceptionideas.com/2011/02/how-to-incorporate-cherry-blossom.html

Centerpieces:
http://curbly.com/diy-maven/posts/6360-how-to-make-a-branch-of-paper-cherry-blossoms

Cupcakes inspired by:
http://www.pepperdesignblog.com/?p=5168

Photos by:
http://www.davidchegemedia.com

Seriously!

Okay, SO seriously?! April of 2010 was the last time I have blogged? What the heck? I have a lot of catching up to do. I will be honest, I forget I have this blog and I need to start using it more effectively.

I know I had said I was going to bake through a whole cook book (Martha Stewart Cupcakes) and well ..... I've only done like two recipes. The one I have posted last year of the chicks and I made a strawberry cupcake. I did come up with my own recipe for a double chocolate cupcake, does that count? I made it for my son's Batman birthday and for my friends little girls flower birthday. Yep, I'm gonna count it. OH and I made my own birthday cupcakes too from scratch but it was a recipe from better homes and gardening, so I'm gonna count that too!

I have been in the crafty mood recently. Maybe cause I'm nesting or something. We will be having our 3rd child in May, second daughter, and I've just been a crafting fool. I did venture in sewing a dress for my daughter back in November 2010. I was pretty proud of that, but I don't think I will be doing it again anytime soon. I will give more props to those who are in the fashion industry. It's a lot of hard work and patience to make clothing. I don't think will do it again, okay, maybe one more time for my new baby girl that is on her way.

I will be posting some pictures of my "hand made stuff" in the near future, I not only do cupcakes. But for now, here are some pictures of those cupcakes I was telling you about.

Tweet-tweet

So I made my first, from scratch, cupcake recipe from my Martha Stewart cupcake book. It calls from 5 whole eggs + 2 yolk, buttermilk, and butter. Lets just say the batter was really think. My friend, Kim, helped me along the way cause all I have is a hand held mixture and several times during the recipe, it calls for ingredients to be added alternatively. Kim and I came to a agreement and we both think it's a good recipe, but it's a little dense. Maybe next time I need to under cook the batter or something. It's so thick and dense that it could be considered borderline dry. Pretty much every time you take a bite, you should have some milk or water next to you to wash it down. But in all, it's pretty tasty. I also made a vanilla butter cream frosting which I REALLY liked. The blue bird cupcake is what I copied from the book. So here's my final product ..... not to shabby if you ask me. And of course the first picture of the blue bird cupcake is from the actual book, but I just thought I would add it so that you may compare.

So today I will bake

So today or should I say later today (it's 12:30am), I will be making my first batch of cupcakes from scratch thanks to my Martha Stewart Cupcake book. I decided just to do random recipes, so I'm gonna start with the yellow buttermilk cupcakes with fluffy vanilla frosting. I'm hoping they come out good considering I'm making them for Easter. I have family coming over on Sunday and I would like to make a good impression.

On a side note, I'm just thinking out loud here ..... does anyone else daydream about having a "Martha Stewart Holiday"? As I flip through her creative and wonderful ideas in her magazine or on her website, I imagine myself doing these things .... I know .... I'm a nut. I also imagine myself throwing a lunch or dinner party that only the queen of entertaining can do. I like the idea of using real cloth napkins verses using paper ones or using regular dinner plates verses plastic plates or even having a "themed" dessert table instead of having saran wrapped desserts placed on a table w/no pretty presentation. Call me crazy. It's something that I would love to do one day. Oh and don't forget the color coordinated themed decorations around the house .... that is a must! I guess a girl can only dream :0) So I guess for now, for this Easter Sunday a semi-okay dessert table, some hand made paper egg garland, and a vase with fresh flowers will have to do.

Until next time ...... may you all have a blessed Easter. And remember the true meaning of Easter, it's not about bunnies and chicks, or how well your home looks with festive decorations ..... It's about CHRIST the risen KING.

Finally got the book

So I finally got the Martha Stewart cupcake book. I was so excited when I got it in the mail that I thought it was Christmas. I must admit, am I the only one who reads a cookbook like it was a "normal" book? I've always done that with my cook books, it's weird. I've read it over and over again and it doesn't bore me. Now to decide on what cupcake I want to make. I just might have my husband and kids help me pick out one. Or should I just start in the order that they are written in the book? ..... hmmmmm..... decisions, decisions.

Off I go to face the rest of the day. Hopefully I can follow through with my goal and not give up, which I tend to do often. I do feel that I have some accountability since I started a blog.

Have a sweet blessed day!