Trying My Hand at Making Faux Cakes

Hey everybody....I hope you all are enjoying your weekend!  I know I have had a great week with my health and have felt better than I have in months.  I found out that I have (I guess Kidney stones, will find out for sure at my next DR appointment).  I think I may be on the right track at finding out what has caused me so many problems since last December.  Keep me in your prayers...I just want answers!

Now onto what I've been working on.  I love trying new things and thought I'd try my hand at making faux cakes and cupcakes.  Now before you all make fun of me, please know that I have never decorated a cake in my life other than just plain icing.  I think I tried "one time", when the girls were little, writing one of their names on their birthday cake.  It was a big FAIL!  So, I left that dream alone! I have seen so many beautiful cakes and started noticing some of them were fake.  Hmmm....my mind began to dream a bit again.  I thought with them being fake, it would give me room to "flub" up a little.  So today, I did it!

Sorry about the dark photo...it was past 10 pm.  I am pretty happy with my first try with piping.  I need to practice, but all in all, I am pretty pleased being that I've never done it before!

I wanted a cake for my pale pink cake stand my mother bought me a few years back for my birthday.   So I bought some foam which was the perfect size and stacked them just like a cake. 

 I used All Purpose Compound for the icing and mixed in some of my acrylic paint for the pink.  I am going to use Spackle next time since it is whiter and looks just like real icing.  Hey, I'm learning....

But, like I said, I am happy with my little faux cake for now.

Then I started working on some faux cupcakes.  This is a little more challenging than I thought, lol.  I'll work on them tomorrow afternoon.  Tonight wasn't the night.  But at least I have them all ready for tomorrow....

I used the spray foam for these...let's just say like with making real cupcakes, do not over fill because you'll regret it!  

I'm sure you all may have noticed,we have a little addition to our family....

His name is Louis (Louie) and was a stray.  We think he's around 4 of 5 months old.  After losing my sweet Oliver from heart disease, I just thought I'd never get another cat again.  My heart missed him so much since he was my therapy cat.  He always made me feel so much better.  Here, he fell asleep on my chest when I was having heart problems.  Little did I know that in a few months he would pass from his own heart.  Makes me cry just thinking about it all....

We haven't been able to have any animals inside due to our oldest daughter's severe allergies to dust mites and cats.  But she loves them.  I feel so sorry for her because she swells up like a tick, sneezes her head off and starts to have problems with her throat swelling.  Not good.  They could come in for a little while before she started having problems, but they'd have to go back out.  I always hated that and so did she.

We are trying Louis as an inside cat for now as long as we keep him in certain rooms and making sure Sara takes her allergy meds around the clock.  Also, I'm trying the Febreze Allergen Reducer.  Thank goodness I have slipcovers....that will help immensely with being able to wash them to help cut down on animal dander and dust mites.  

I sure hope this works because just look at this little guy...he's absolutely adorable and has a crazy personality!  So far, Sara has done ok and just told me tonight that maybe she'll be able to have a cat inside when she moves out.

( the crazy cat lady as she calls it)

She loves animals, especially cats...so I sure hope this all works out.

Building a Window Wall

My brother in law brought me 4 old windows someone was throwing out.  He has brought me several through the years and it always makes me so happy!

So, as you all have to know, my mind immediately started to think and thought up the idea to build a "window wall".  First I thought about making it for the living room, then the back deck, then downstairs for our master closet...but I still kept coming back to the living room.  

So, last night, Mike and I built one.  It took us about 4 hours to build it.

I had no clue it was going to turn out this huge!  And you all will be happy to know the hubby and I didn't spat one time...can you believe it?

I still needed to paint it all and add the feet, but over all I was tickled to death with how it turned out.  

This was the spot I wanted it.  I have had a window hanging here for years and I've always loved the open concept of the kitchen and living room.   But I have wanted some type of separation without blocking the open feeling.  

So I took down this window and hung it in our hallway.

Perfect!

This is my view when I come up the stairs.  I love this old window...simple but yet so detailed.

So here's the window wall....I am in love!

It's perfect for that separation I have wanted without blocking the view or making it feel like a true wall.  And the good part is that I can move it!

I really love how it looks from the kitchen!

And we can still see the TV from the island.

Who knew this would thrill me to death like it has?

We added the beadboard to the bottom  and trimmed it out with old lumber for the base.  I bought shelf brackets and added the wood to make the feet.   Mike thought they wouldn't be sturdy enough...but I told him this wasn't my first rodeo, I knew they would, lol.  He was surprised how sturdy it was!

And whenever I want to move the sofa to where the loveseat is, I'll still be able to slide the feet under the sofa.  

It doesn't take up much space either.  

I love how things look cozy now.

I hung a cross and an old piece of trim on this side.  I can't wait until Christmas now!  I have so many ideas!

Mike said to the girls, "she'll have it all wreathed up with lots of lights"....little does he know. 

 tee hee hee

 I grouped some lights together, the rooster and pig weather vane add a little farm feel to the kitchen side.

Look how pretty the chandelier looks all lit up behind it....

This is my spot now!

It's really made our home feel old...like way back in the good ole days...not like a 90's built home.  The older I can make this house, the happier I get!

And to make sure we have lots of natural light!  I want our home to feel cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter.  So far, so good!

I love having mirrors that reflect all of the light.  

I don't know if I ever showed you all this or not, but the piece below the candelabra came from an old light fixture.  I thought it looked so pretty as part of the base.  Reminds me of lace....

So there you have it...a window wall....I guess I invented a word, lol.

I love it!!!  I hope this inspires you  and that you all have a blessed weekend!

More Ruffles

Hi all, I hope your weekend is full of blessings and fun.  I've been a little down under the weather so I decided to perk myself up with a bit of sewing.  

I absolutely love to sew, and after a few late nights looking on Pinterest, I just had to do something creative!

So, I made the two smaller pillows with some old sheets and some left over lace.  I decided to do more white on the sofa. 

(as you can see the slip cover needs to be washed) 

Something simple and easy that made me feel better.  Of course, once I start sewing, I look for more things to sew.

Then I made two of these ruffled shams, but had no idea as to where I was going to put them.  I've moved them around since I took these photos.

I left this one on the bed for now.

I thought it looked good with the ruffled curtains.

I'm still loving the canopy and thankfully I can still feel the ceiling fan....hot flashes are for the birds!

I hung the big mirror under the scroll since I moved the settee from the bottom of the bed.  I had nowhere else but here...thank goodness it fit!

I hung this sign that I've had tucked away in storage.  I love that this is what you see and it really makes a person think about Faith, Hope and Love.  It makes me think of how blessed I am and how much God loves little me.

 I had to move some furniture around, so....

I played musical chairs, or should I say that my girls did, lol.  I had them carry 1 chair upstairs and then one down the stairs.  I took a few videos and some photos while they were "trying" to get the first chair up the stairs.  They make me laugh!

Now tell me, what is wrong with this picture?  lol  Don't ya think Sara (the tallest) should be the one where Hannah is?  I can't stop laughing....

Once I was able to stop giggling, I decided to take down all of the stuff on top of the old gun cabinet.  Adding the "family" tin sign and some old milk pails made it look less cluttered and a little cleaner to me.

I made one more pillow, but didn't take a photo of it.  It is upstairs and I am too lazy to walk up and take one, lol.  It's late and I am waiting on the hubby to get home.  I think I'll relax a bit and hopefully get sleepy.  Have a great weekend....

A Canopy Made from Scraps

Ok you all....I have wanted a canopy for YEARS!  And you all know that our master is in the basement which means we have a drop ceiling.  We also have an iron bed.  Those two do not go well together in my favor for a canopy.  First, how would I attach it to a metal frame?  Then if I were to attach it to the ceiling, how would it be secure to ceiling tiles?  Oh the heartache I've had with not being able to figure this one out.

~BUT~

As I was on facebook the other night, I watched a video of a beautiful bedroom from a very talented lady named Tina who lives in Australia.  She has a canopy bed that is to die for!  Well that didn't help me with my desire....it just made it burn more.  Then it hit me!

Attach it to the cornice above the bed.  It is attached to studs and is very secure.  Then use zip ties to secure the frame to the bed.  Oh I was on a roll!  Finally, my dream was becoming a reality.  Needless to say, I was waiting patiently on the hubby to come home from work so "we" could make it. I had made sure we had everything to make it happen, so there was no money spent.  Always a plus when one is broke!

So here it is all dressed up...

Just a simple frame made from 1x2's, some screws, white paint and white zip ties.  Then of course I made the curtains afterwards from sheets.  I tied them up with ribbon I had sewn in.  

 I had already moved the furniture around to make sure I didn't have anything at the bottom of the bed. I wanted it to show the beautiful railing.  No one has stubbed their toes yet, so I think this is working perfectly!

Our ceilings are quite high for a basement, but after the canopy was up, they looked even taller which makes no sense.  But they do look taller!

I couldn't wait to sleep like a princess under my canopy...but then I noticed my chandelier looked a little under dressed.

This is what I did to make her stand out a little better.

A simple picture frame that was tucked away  made a perfect medallion after being painted white.  I hung it with wire and used the picture board to give it a back drop.  If you look really close you'll see the wire on either side of the frame.  Definitely want to make sure it is all secure so we don't have an accident on our little heads while we sleep!

By the way...this is a battery operated chandelier I made from an old 70's light, some battery candles that were epoxied to the plates, painted white and then I added some glass beaded garland to add some sparkle. 

I feel like a true princess!

I truly needed some fun after all of life's craziness that has been going on.  A breast cancer scare, my mother's husband's bad fall, Aunt Judy's stroke, mother in law health scare,  Sara's wreck, Oliver being diagnosed with heart disease....oh how I could go on with all of the bad stuff.  But as the Good Book says, sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto Lord all ye earth.  SO I am going to praise Him for all of His wonderful blessings...I am alive, my husband and girls are alive, my mother and her husband are alive, my aunt Judy is alive, my mother and father in law are alive, my uncle is alive, I have loved ones all around me and I can still create!  I may get down, complain some, have a pity party...but I always dust myself off, stand up and look to the heavens because my God is mightier than anything I face!