Etsy shop?

I had an Etsy shop a couple of years ago. I was so excited to finally get my shop up and running because I had been thinking about starting the "business" for a while. I made a ton of cards and listed them in my shop. Right before Christmas 2011 I had one sale. A set of personalized Pirate Thank You cards! I was so excited and then totally bummed. It was my first and last sale. I thought maybe my merchandise wasn't good enough. Well, since I LOVE crafting and creating, I continued making jewelry and cards mostly, but stopped listing my pieces on Etsy.

By December 2012 I had so much jewelry made. I decided to bring my jewelry in to work to see if maybe a couple of my coworkers would like to buy some to give as gifts. I was wiped out clean. I had orders coming in everyday. I made over $100, I gave them really good prices. I knew then that my merchandise was awesome and that there are people that would love it and do love it. Since then, I've been debating on whether or not to open up shop again. They've raised their listing cost and also take a percentage of your sales...so will it be worth it? People tell me to start my own website but I haven't looked too much into that. Since I am still at home, jobless, I figured it is a great opportunity for me to start building up my inventory to get my "business" running again. I still need to do my research on getting a website. I have so many things in mind. I already have a list of Halloween decor items that I am going to try to sell and after Halloween I can get started on Christmas; cards, banners, decor, jewelry, handmade gifts, the list goes on. I am really hoping to succeed in this. Alex, my fiance, and I want to start trying for a baby after the wedding so having my own web based business would be really great.

Here are some pieces I've been working on. I have a couple more that I am working on now so I will try to post those tomorrow.

Gold Bar Necklace

Turquoise ID Bracelet

Mini Heart Knuckle Ring

Flower Stud Earrings

Gold Initial Necklace

I wanted to give them clever/cute names but these will do for now!

Happy Hump Day!

Best Cake recipe EVER!

Yesterday was my father in law's birthday. We had a small BBQ at our house. I was the designated birthday cake baker. Naturally, I used my favorite cake recipe and I made a banana cream filling using ingredients I had on hand. My son requested Banana Cream Pie cupcakes for his last birthday and I had an extra box of banana cream pudding mix so I decided to make a cake version. The cupcakes are so yummy it should be tasty as a cake too! I got out my ingredients for the cake and started baking.

Here is the recipe for your baking pleasure:
Cake Layers
3 cups Cake Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 1/4 cups Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Milk
8 Egg Whites
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-In a medium bowl, sift together Cake Flour, Baking Powder and Salt.
-In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat Butter and 2 cups of the Sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in Vanilla.
-With the mixer on low speed, add the Flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the Milk, beginning and ending with the Flour. Beat until just combined, do not over mix. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
-In the clean bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of Sugar, beat on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form. Do not over beat. Gently fold one third of the egg white mixture into the butter/flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg white mixture.
-Transfer batter to lined muffin pan or cake pans of your choice. For this cake I used two 8" rounds, greased with butter. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, cakes for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Once my cakes were cooled, I cut the tops off to prepare for filling and frosting. Unfortunately I am not very good at slicing straight so this is how it turned out. Fortunately, you can level everything out with the cake filling.

Filling
1 3.4 ounce package of Instant Pudding, flavor of your choice (I used banana cream)
3/4 cup Whole Milk
1/3 pint Heavy Cream
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract (optional)
-Whisk together all ingredients until thick, pudding consistency. Refrigerate until the mixture sets.

I lined the bottom layer with banana slices, then chopped half of a banana and mixed that into the pudding mixture. I spread the mixture over the layer of banana slices, then placed another layer of banana slice on top of the pudding mixture.

 After I spread the filling evenly over the bottom layer, the cake was level!

*Sorry for the clutter in the background...my fiance's figurines are back there....I should hide them in the garage.

I crumb coated the cake then frosted it with my homemade buttercream. (2 sticks of butter, about 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract, Powdered sugar to your heart's desire.) I never use specific measurements when I make my buttercream, I just go by consistency and taste. I made a washi tape banner and tied it to some paper straws I had, we don't have wooden skewers and toothpicks are too short. Here it is, the best cake ever!

**I also like filling cakes with strawberries and cream, chopped up fresh strawberries and home whipped cream. Super easy too.

I hope you have fun baking this cake. Let me know how it turns out for you!

Happy Monday!

I've been MIA

Since my last post, over a week ago (oops), I've been quite busy. One of my best friends is getting married in September and her bridal shower was last Saturday. I drove down to LA with Hunter and spent the day baking at my parent's house. As soon as the last cupcake was frosted I made my way to the party to help set up. It turned out absolutely adorable. I wasn't able to help in the morning before the shower since I live so far away, but, I was able to do what I do best, provide desserts and some decor.

The photo of the "From Miss to Mrs" banner got washed out. The pink isn't a bright as it was in real life....oh well. And I didn't get a good shot of it hanging up, you get the idea.

On Sunday, my mom followed me home and stayed with us for the week. It was really nice having her at our house and she really helped out a lot! I am truly blessed to have such an amazing mother. She ended up taking Hunter for the weekend and they are coming back tomorrow for a BBQ.

I've neglected my crafting until today. I've made a handful of cards and I started on some Halloween banners! I really hope to get a variety of projects done by the beginning of September so I can put some products for sale in my Etsy shop. I'll post about crafting/Etsy within the next few days!!! Have a great Saturday evening!!!

Worst Mom Award goes to...

I spent my morning in the craft room. Organizing and creating. By the time I looked at the clock, it was already noon. I decided to close up shop and head downstairs for lunch. I whipped up some fried rice using the leftovers. As I was cooking, I decided to treat myself to an episode of Doctor Who, so I sat down on the couch with my lunch and watched The Doctor. I got up when the episode was over after debating on whether or not I should watch another episode, and decided to go back to crafting. When I walked into the kitchen to put my plate in the sink I realized that it was past 1:30. Hunter gets out at 2. So within 10 minutes I was in the car and on my way to the school. I parked on the street and sat in the car for about 7 minutes since I was early. At 1:52 I got out of the car and started walking toward the front of the school. After I crossed the street I noticed that there weren't any parents waiting at the elementary school. There were plenty of middle school kids but I didn't see any parents waiting to pick up their kids at the elementary school. I looked further and noticed the gate was still closed. Then I see a group of kids sitting just inside the gate with a couple of aides. I see my little man stand up and I wave to him.

One of the aides opens the gate and I ask Hunter, "Did you get out early today?"

The aide says, "They get out early every Thursday."

WHAT!?! "I had no idea. I'm so sorry Hunter."

"It's okay mommy."

My heart shattered. I fought the tears. How could I not know that school gets out early every Thursday? The calendar I received from the school says when they have vacation and days off, even minimum days but nothing about early dismissal every Thursday. I felt so horrible. My little guy had to sit out there in that heat for 45 minutes. He was fine and smiling when I got there and he even told me that a first grader was crying because his mom wasn't there, H was totally fine but I felt like the worst mom in the entire world. How did I not know he got out early? I'm not a clueless mom. I pay attention to signs and postings. I read all of the papers that get sent home. I even put all of his vacation days in my phone. How did I miss this? I apologized to him several more times and each time he told me it was okay. When we pulled into the driveway I offered ice cream or smoothies as an after dinner treat. H said he just wanted a shake, a cookies and cream shake. So, as soon as I put my things down, I made him a shake. I still felt bad, even though he was fine and completely unaffected, I felt horrible. I still do, 2.5 hours later. My poor baby, sitting there waiting for his mom. I know I shouldn't beat myself up but I can't help it.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having an excellent day! Don't forget to pick up your kids on time tomorrow!

We had such a crazy weekend I didn't have a chance to post anything. We drove down to my parent's house during rush hour in LA on Friday afternoon so we could attend a 40th birthday celebration for one of Alex's best friends. It turned out that it had been canceled and no one told us. Since we had packed our truck to the brim with a kid and dogs my parents told us to go out anyway. We ended up hanging out with another couple and it turned out to be a really nice night. On Saturday, we went down to San Diego for a birthday celebration at Alex's Uncle's house. We ended up on the freeway for about 3 hours on the way down. It was a nightmare. But we finally arrived and had a blast celebrating with good food and tasty drinks. By the time we made it back to my parent's house it was 1:00am! We slept in on Sunday morning and we were on the road at 11:30am. It was a crazy weekend with tons to do but we had fun and I'm glad we're back home in our normal routine. It has been so nice to come home to such a great home. Our last house was miniature compared to what we have now, 2,072 square feet with a pool. Our last house was not even 900 square feet, we were practically sardines! We are blessed to say the least. Our home is awesome, we are so lucky to have what we have.

So aside from our hectic weekend, I seem to have been stung by the creativity bee. I have so many ideas and so little time, my mind is all over the place. I can't seem to focus on one project at a time. I have three going on right now! Below are photos of some projects I have finished. Photos to come: two wreaths, and a set of handmade cards. I've been considering opening up my Etsy shop again, since I haven't found a job, I might as well do what I love!

I hope you had an excellent Monday! I hope to have something awesome to share tomorrow. Maybe a trip to Michael's!

Homemade Vanilla Iced Coffee

Yesterday I took H to Starbucks for an after school treat. I ordered a tall iced coffee and before I knew it, it was gone. So I decided to look for a recipe for a yummy iced coffee on Pinterest. I found this recipe for vanilla syrup. After I worked my butt off unpacking and cleaning up around the house a bit I decided to make the syrup and use the left over coffee in the pot to make myself a little treat!

I am so glad I tried this recipe! I can treat myself daily to a nice glass of iced coffee. We always have leftover coffee and the microwave is currently non operational so this is the perfect alternative for leftover coffee! I was so excited about my vanilla iced coffee that I forgot to make lunch for myself. I better eat something fast before H gets out of school.

I hope you're having a great day! Happy Friday!

First Day of School

Today is my son's first day of second grade. The traffic was CRAZY since the elementary school is next to the middle school. We had to park way down the street to avoid the craziness. So we were walking along the sidewalk when suddenly his foot slipped into the gutter. "Hunter you need to watch where you're walking." Then I told him he just took a gutter bath. He laughed and I don't think he felt too upset about it after that. Then we were walking towards the crosswalk and he didn't notice a bump in the sidewalk, he trips and falls. He quickly jumps up and says, "I'm okay keep walking." Of course I want to look at this leg to make sure he isn't bleeding and to rub the pain away. "Mommy, I'm fine keep going." I'm sure he was embarrassed. New school, new people, first impression. So we finally get to the front of the school and I force him to pose for picture with a "2nd Grade" banner I made. Now he is frustrated with me because this embarrasses him. "I hate this stupid banner." "You take too long to take a picture." What a great way to send him off, right? So we finish the mini photo shoot and I walk him into the school, to his classroom. He has a horribly grumpy look on his face and I tell him to walk up to his room. And he does. No hug. No kiss. Not even a wave good-bye. My heart broke. My baby's first day at a new school and no reassurance from mommy that he is going to have an awesome day. I peeked into the classroom, dodging parents in front of me so I could get him in my sight, waiting for him to turn to the door to say goodbye, but instead, he found a hook for his backpack and a seat in the classroom. "I didn't even give him a kiss," I tell my fiance. I walked to my car, sad and lonely. Will he be glad to see me when I pick him up? Will he make friends? Is he going to play alone and sit at a table by himself for lunch? Then my eyes tear up thinking I didn't prep him enough for today and that maybe his day was going to go horribly because he had fallen twice and I didn't give him a hug or a kiss. I can't wait to pick him up and hug him and make sure he had a good day. I might be paranoid and over thinking but I can't help but worry. He is my everything and I feel like I let him down. Worst Mom award goes to me. (He's making a funny face in the last picture because I took his hat off and the sun was in his eyes...)

On a lighter note. Since we moved over an hour away from our old home, I had to quit my job. Since finding a job is the hardest thing, I'm a temporary house wife. Not surprisingly, I LOVE it. I secretly hope I don't find a job soon so I can live the life I've been dreaming about. Cooking, cleaning, baking, crafting, laundry, blogging, this is the life. I thought about baking cupcakes as a surprise for the boys when they get home. I already made a "Welcome Home" banner and taped it up on the wall in front of the door. Tonight is back to school night so the cupcakes might have to wait, my fiance is a teacher at the middle school so I'm not sure if we will have time to have a nice dinner and dessert. Cupcakes can wait. I'll focus on dinner for tonight. On the menu, lettuce wraps with ground turkey! Simple, fast, healthy.

I'm hoping to post some crafting projects tomorrow. I've been working on some jewelry. Stay tuned! Have a great day!

Hello and Welcome!

Hi! This is my very first post on this blog! I have been wanting to start a blog for a pretty long time but I just never got around to doing it. Between working full time and having mommy duties it just was too much for me to take on. Now that I have a bit more free time I figured what the heck, I might as well get it going now. So here I am, blogging!

This blog will be all about mommy life and crafting. Some cooking and maybe other tips and tricks along the way. My fiance and I bought a new camera so I'll be posting some pictures of projects, food and of course, my little man.

Stay tuned!