Uptown Girls

Last weekend my family and I went to visit my Grandma in Connecticut. We went went shopping in Ridgefeild and we found this really cute boutique called Valery's. It had very affordable purses and jewelry. My Grandma bought me this bracelet (below).

Monday my mom and I took a girls day to Lancaster, PA to go fabric shopping. I got so much fabric for upcoming birthday's and Christmas, I just hope I can get most of my projects made before my summer break is over.

We went to so many great fabric stores and they all have much better prices than we have her in NJ. This store is the only one I remembered to take a picture of but it's called Zooks and it has almost all Amish women working there. We also went to a store called The Old Country Store, Bitty Kinna which was a beautiful store, and a few others whose names I can't remember.

Whoopie!!

Beautiful Irises in my back yard. We've never seen them before because there was a bush in the way that wouldn't let them grow.


One of my rose trees in the front of the house.

I took off work and school Monday and made Whoopie pies. There was so much batter is was almost going over the edge of my mixin bowl.

Yum!

Recipe from Foodnetwork.com

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups milk
Filling, recipe follows
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, or preheat a convection oven to 315 degrees F.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and eggs together until well combined. Add the oil and vanilla and beat again.
In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Add half of the dry mixture to the egg mixture and beat or stir to blend. Add 1 1/2 cups milk and beat again. Add the remaining dry mixture and beat until incorporated. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk and beat until blended.
With a large spoon, scoop out 32 circles of batter onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool.
Spread filling onto 16 circles and place remaining circles on top, to make 16 Whoopie Pies.
Filling:
1 1/2 cups shortening
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/3 cups marshmallow topping
Dash salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 to 1/2 cup milk
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients except the milk and beat well. Add just enough milk to achieve a creamy consistency. Spread filling across cooled cookie circles.

Born to be Wild

My sister in law and I found a picture of this online at http://babyfavorsandgifts.com/dog-on-motorcycle-diaper-cake-p-118.html. We decided to give it a try and make it ourselves. Thank goodness Jake was there to help.

It has: Bibs, receiving blankets, diapers, a bottle, socks, toy key ring, and a dishwasher basket for pacifiers. We ended up with lots of leftover stuff to give to the soon to be mommy and we made it for a very good price.

Ups and downs

In school a few weeks ago I finally got to do a real perm and boy do they smell. I really like the end result though. Unfortunatley this is the experimental head and it's cut super short now.

Last week I did highlights with the cap and then put a color on top. I chose Flame, the color didn't come out great in the picture but it is a very cool red. I think I want to do this to my hair soon.

This is a style after the highlighting. This hair really doesn't cooperate.

These pictures below are my first semi updo. All of the manikin's hair is short so I don't have much to work with. This is not a ponytail it's cascading curls.

Easter and Flowers

The flowering peach trees Jake planted last year were quite disappointing this year. The weather has been a lot warmer than a typical spring here in NJ. Usually early spring you wouldn't be able to see any of the red leaves on these trees, they would be covered in these beautiful pink flowers.

I decided last minute to make my neices, Emily and Lauren an Easter gift. I've had the fabric for this pillow case for a long time, so I finally decided it was time to make it for Lauren. She is 3 1/2.

This is a picture of Emily and Lauren on Easter with their Nana and Pepere.

My mother is going to be very angry I put this picture in here but I like it.

This is what I made Emily. She can't wear it yet but hopefully this summer she can fit into it. I made another Pinafore top with bloomers.

This is showing the back view of the Pinafore top.

perfect

So I had this substitute for 2 nights of classes this week who I like to call the drill sergeant. She kept mentioning that I am a perfectionist. I never realized this until she said something but she is absolutely right, and I think it's getting worse. Then I started thinking, hmm.. where did this come from? Mom and dad. In some ways you can say it's a gift but in other ways it is torture.
This is a quilt my mom made for me about 3+ years ago and I think it was one of her first. Now can you see where I get this problem from. This quilt is not only beautiful but it is perfection.

My most recent project in school. I did another fronch twist. I saw this picture in a magazine and I really wanted to replicate it so here is my first attempt. Of course it didn't turn out how I hoped but manikin hair is a whole other ball game.

Movie and crochet night

My husband asked me to make something for his dad's birthday this past weekend and he only gave me 2 days notice (ugh! men). So after getting some advice from Kelly I started on this scarf. It's made out of thick wool and I crocheted it using a K hook. I am very pleased with the outcome.

While my fingers were working I was enjoying this movie: How to Make an American Quilt. I really enjoyed it.