Pitman Photography

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Monster Bookend

I was searching through Simple Sewing for Baby for a gift for my nephew's first birthday, when I came across the perfect one! I was so excited to find it and am so excited to share it with you!

Before I do though, there are a few things you need to know:

  • Simple Sewing is wonderful. Lotta Jansdotter did an amazing job at detailing the instructions and providing all the patterns you need.
  • I found this pattern to be pretty easy for only making a handful of quilts and a few other sewing projects.
  • Always pre-wash your fabric. This step is so important because it will stop shrinking and shifting the first time you wash your finished product.
  • Tip: Make it a habit when you come home from buying new fabric to pre-wash it right away. If it's cotton, then leave it a little damp before ironing it. This makes it easier to iron out the wrinkles.

Enough with the words, here are some photos!

1. cut out all the pattern pieces and pin them to your fabric -



2. cut out your fabric -



3. sew the pieces together and fill the top with fiberfill and the bottom with rice to get the cutest monster bookends! (felt is used for the not-so-scary eyes & mouth) -




Happy sewing!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Cakes of the Month

Claire and I made a LOST themed cake for the finale last night. It was four layers of chocolate and vanilla cake alternated. We used cream cheese frosting and covered it in white and black fondant. It was quite the spontaneous cake made in an afternoon!





My nephew Iain's 1st birthday was on Saturday and I made him a lion cake inspired by his favorite stuffed animal.



It is a 10" vanilla cake with Wilton's orange coloring added to make it more lion-ish. I used my favorite frosting and all the add-ons are made of fondant.














This month might be my favorite month for cakes! :)


Sunday, May 23, 2010

Fruit Salsa & Cinnamon Chips

I have to say, this 90 degree weather makes for a perfect day to have fruit salsa and cinnamon chips!

If you've never made cinnamon chips before, they are super easy to do and most of the ingredients you'll already have in your kitchen:

Flour tortillas
Melted butter
Cinnamon
Sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Using a pastry brush, brush melted over one side of the tortillas. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle liberally. Cut into slices with a pizza cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet.





Bake for about 10 minutes or until the chips start to curl.

Fruit Salsa

Any fruit
Any sweetener

Look easy? It was. I picked up a bunch of fruit that was on sale - kiwi, mangos, strawberries, and pears. Cut it all up into bite sized pieces and sweeten it with your favorite sweetener. I used honey and a little bit of cinnamon to keep it healthy.



I promise you will make this all time (maybe for the LOST finale tonight?!) The chips and salsa are sooo yummy together.


Saturday, May 15, 2010

Rainbow Cupcakes

This weekend I made rainbow cupcakes found on my favorite site...you guessed it: Our Best Bites!

Recipe:
1 white cake mix
2 eggs
1 C sour cream (I didn't have a full cup in my fridge, but they were still moist and yummy)
1/2 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Divide the batter into separate bowls and add your favorite colors. I use Wilton's for almost every batter, frosting, and icing I color.



I chose four different colors, but you could easily do more.



I added about 1/2-3/4 tablespoon of each color per cupcake. I did one color at a time so I didn't have to keep washing my tablespoon.



Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. Mine were done in 15.



Now it's time for the best part...frosting!

I used and doubled this recipe and it was so good. You don't need to double it, but I wanted to pipe the frosting, so I used a lot more (and used it all too!)



Add a little sprinkles and you're good to go!




Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Spring Cookies

My very favorite food blog posted the cutest cookies that I made a few weeks ago in honor of spring and the warm weather coming our way!

Original recipe from Our Best Bites:

1 recipe sugar cookie dough
Jam, any flavor (I used a mix berry jam)
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. almond extract


Roll the sugar cookie dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge to harden. The cookies are much easier to cut out this way and they keep their shape. I used a flower cookie cutter in keeping with the season of spring.

Each cookie is like a sandwich. Cut out two shapes per one cookie and spread half out on a cookie sheet. Cut out a circle or a smaller similar shape out of the rest of the cookies. These will go on top.

Mix together the cream cheese and almond extract. Spread over each whole cookie.



Top with the remaining cookies.



Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 8-12 minutes. Make sure to take them out just as they are starting to brown. I had some cookies that were crispy and some that were soft and chewy - the soft cookies were definitely the favorite!

Once cooled, spread a little jam in the center and eat eat eat! My hubby had about 10...I think that says something!










Sunday, May 2, 2010

Cake Pops



Items needed
  • lollypop sticks
  • candy melts - any color
  • any flavor box of cake and ingredients needed to make the cake
  • 3/4 container of frosting
  • block of styrofoam
  • cookie sheet
  • wax paper
Bake the cake according to directions on the back. Once cooled, crumble the cake in a food processor or KitchenAid using the whisk.



Add 3/4 container of frosting and mix.



Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Form into balls (or any other shape), line on cookie sheet, and place in the freezer until hard. Melt the candy melts in the microwave. Dip a lollypop stick in the candy melts and stick in the balls.



Once the candy melts have melted (a minute or so) coat the balls in the melted candy melts. Decorate with sprinkles, m&m's, coconut, or pipe on a design. Stick in a piece of styrofoam to dry.



Once coated and decorated, they are ready in just a few minutes!