Diaper Cakes: step-by-step tutorial

I when I posted "Baby Shower Bonanza" showing off my diaper cakes, they were pinned on to Pinterest a thousand times, so I thought I would come back with a step by step tutorial, and some pictures of the three most recent cakes I've made.

So this step-by-step is from the cake that I made my amazing cousin Sheila, who coincidentally gave birth to a beautiful little boy yesterday.

So for the base of the cake, you need: Diapers, a skinny dowel rod, rubber bands and ribbon, and then you can choose add ins as well.

Notice Zoey creeping into the picture, hoping that Mom has new toys for her

She's so cute though :)

So basically the first step is to roll and rubber band all of the diapers. For me this is the most tedious part, and also the part that takes the longest.

The first step is to lay the diaper out, which the folded side away from you.

You're then going to roll the diaper away from you toward the folded end.

Once rolled it should somewhat resemble a swiss cake roll

secure with rubber band

At that point I would go ahead and roll all the diaper in your package. Next its time to start banding them together.

"Hey Mom! Those diapers look like toys to me!"

I band the diapers together in groups of 4. Pushing the ends toward the center makes for a cleaner look.

You'll need to start forming cake layers and banding them together. Within the rubber bands you'll be able to shift the diapers around to form a circle. You'll use one rubber band to band the whole layer together.

Stack the 3 layers and put a down rod down the middle to keep them together

 Next you get to add in the fun stuff. For this I used baby wash cloths, a rattle (the topper), a teething ring, a Johnson&Johnson travel kit and a baby nail care kit (not pictured).

Usually the color of the washcloths I find basically inspire the look of the cake. I was really excited to find these color schemes because usually I find typical, pink for girls and blue for boys. 

You're going to want to roll the washcloths just like the diapers, I secure them with a piece of clear tape. Some brands come pre-rolled.

I love this pattern set. I believe the package came with 2 of each pattern.

Next you really just start placing the accessories around the cake until you get the look you want. I try to evenly space out the washcloth patterns, and get the ones I like best close to the front.

Along with the washcloths stick the other accessories in the cake. I open the J&J kit and stick each piece in the cake.

Once all the accessories are in it's time to finish the cake off with ribbon.

It's really only necessary to do one layer of ribbon, but I like to do a smaller layer as decoration.

I found this cute "It's a Boy" ribbon on sale!

I top cake off with some homemade bows for decoration!

Moms always tell me that the appreciate these, because they can tell I've put a lot of thought into their gift :)

Here is a cake I make for a co-worker having a boy:

And I made this one for a co-worker having a girl:

The great thing about this cake is that it has the exact same "ingredients" [except for a pink and not blue teether] as the cake I made my cousin Becky, just with different colored ribbon!

Switching out the teal and pink ribbon, makes it look like a completely different cake!

Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home...

Well it's been a long time, but I'm back with a canvas art DIY. It's hard to believe that I've been in my house over 8 months and I've not created a Harry Potter related decoration, so it's about time:)

Really, you could use any quote for this project, but I was rereading Order of the Phoenix for the zillionth time when I chose to use one by the queen JK Rowling herself!

So basically you're first step is to trace out your quote on our canvas in pencil, I also traced out the Deathly Hallows symbol, but you could easily do another picture, or stretch your quote out over the whole canvas.

The next step is do your splatter painting, you're going to want to add a small amount of water to your acrylic paint. I always use cupcake liners to hold my paint, so I just got my fingers wet and added a few drops of water and mixed it together.

Once you've got your paint and water mixed, you're going to dip in your brush and get a good amount of paint on it. Then hold your brush over the canvas and tap it. The amount of paint on your brish will determine the splatter size, so as your brush gets drier, the splatters become smalller. There really is no rhyme or reason to this, don't focus too much on one spot- spread it out.

After letting your spaltters dry, and make sure they've dried thoroughly or you'll get smears, trace over your letters. You can do this in a few way, obviously you can use a brush, but I hate brushes. You can also use your finger, or as I did in this case a q-tip. Your quote may need more than one coat to cover the splatters! But let it dry and you're all done :)

I adopted a shelter kitty. . .

When I decided that I wanted to get a cat, shelters were the main avenue I considered. I looked on Craigslist a bit, but I felt a lot better about going with a shelter.

I wanted a kitten, under 6 months. So, I wasn't really thinking about the possibility of my cat having a bad past. I was going to get a kitten, and she'd grow up with me.

I immediately saw the picture of the cutest kitten ever on the facebook page for my local shelter and I decided that I was going to visit her the next day after work and see if her personality fit me. I called ahead and found out that she had been adopted and to be honest, I was a little devastated. I hadn't even met this kitten and I was already mourning the loss of her.

What really came out of that, was that I for the first time realized how much I really wanted a cat. I spent days on petfinder and the websites of animal shelters in the area. I saw a lot of cute cats, but none that I was willing to drive out of town to go visit. I'll admit, I was guilty of typecasting my future kitty. I love gray/brown tabby cats. My cat growing up (who still lives with my mom is a tabby and he's so handsome).

Handsome Tanner

I looked and looked online, but no kitten really caught my eye. My gut just kept telling me- wait until you find one at your local shelter. I was just hoping that I'd find one sooner, rather than later. Living alone for the past 6 months was finally getting to me.

So that next Saturday I was visiting my mom, about 30 minutes away. And playing with my old cats made me want one so much more. My mom convinced me to go to the shelter in town, and honestly I did not think I'd find a cat. However, perched on a high shelf was a cat, not a kitten who caught my eye. The guy at the shelter called her "Vixie" and said she was about a year old. Her old family had left her about a month ago saying they couldn't have pets anymore and that she was spayed and declawed.

He pulled her off that shelf and handed her to me, and she had me at first purr. I was quickly in love. It took me all of 5 minutes to decide to adopt her and after one quick stop at walmart for essentials we were on our way home, where I quickly decided she was "Zoey". My mom hung out and helped me give Zoey her first bath and by the next day (Sunday) Zoey was feeling at home.

Monday evening I noticed that I hadn't seen Zoey in about an hour (I also hadn't left the couch in that time). Zoey was still exploring, but she usually was around quite a bit and spent time on the couch with me. When she finally reappeared around 8 pm her eye was completely swollen.

When I say swollen, I mean swollen. Her third eye lid was so enlarged that you couldn't even get to her eye ball and she was just scratching and scratching and scratching. I got really worried {hysterically craying and calling my mother freaking out} and tried to get a hold of a vet. When I finally did, the vet had me meet a tech at the office. They wanted to get an E- Collar on her so she wouldn't damage her eye by scratching. They also had me board her, so the vet could squeeze her in the next day even though she was booked solid. 

After leaving Zoey at the vet, I entered a whole new round of hysterics. She had belonged to me for only two days and then I was handing her over to a stranger who was going to put her in a cage. I knew she must feel like she was being abandoned, just like she had been a month earlier. It just really hurt my heart that there was no way for me to tell her that I loved her and wanted her and would be back for her.

As I laid in bed that night, I just kept wondering, what really had happened with her old family. And mostly how did she feel when they took her to a shelter. Pretty soon, "Where You Belong" by Kari Kimmel came one my iPod and the lyrics of the chorus really hit me. 

You're surrounded
By love and you're wanted
So never feel alone
You are home with me
Right where you belong

From that point, I pretty much just wanted Zoey to come home so I could let her know how much I loved her. She came home the next day, and although she's still wearing a cone, she's on the mend.

This is how she watches me get ready in the morning

Zoey hasn't been in my life very long, but I already feel like her Mommy. I don't know anything about her past, and I'm never going to, but from now on, I get to make sure she has the best future possible. She's lying in bed next to me as I type this, nudging me every so often letting me know that she's more important than my macbook. I probably lucked out, that I got a truly sweet cat, who seems to be as smitten with me as I am with her.

I seriously can't bear the thought of her sitting in a shelter, waiting for a possibly good home, and it upsets me even more to think about the possibility of her being put down, because she wasn't adopted. Cats out there need you, and if you're a cat lover, go get one. If you aren't a cat lover- give them a try. Visit a friend with a cat. They're so loving. Getting to know Zoey makes me want to find a home for every sheltered cat. My other cats were given to me by friends who owned their mothers, their back stories were not a mystery.

I've recently seen articles claiming that cats have no affection for their owners. Looking into Zoey's big green eyes, I know that isn't true. She follows me around and wants to be near me. She gets excited when I come home. She loves me already, like I love her. 

Crescent Roll Cheeseburger Ring

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 of an onion

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

salt and pepper to taste

Prep:

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat pizza pan with non-stick cooking spray (or use a pizza stone). Cook onion and ground beef in a skillet until beef is no longer pink and the onions start to become clear, drain. Mix in ketchup and salt and pepper to taste.

Unroll crescent rolls and use wide ends to form a ring in the center of pizza pan. Ends should overlap about 1.5-2 inches. Spoon hamburger mixture around wide end of crescent roll ring. Top with shredded cheese.

Take narrow ends of crescent rolls and tuck under wide ends (filling will be showing). Cook at 350F for 20-25 minutes.

Tip:
Cover ring with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent top of ring from overcooking while bottoms are still doughy.

New Mommy!

There I was on NYE, making the promise to myself to post more. Especially because I have SEVERAL things I could post about, aannnnnnddddddd I failed. However, I am making this promise: I'm posting a recipe tomorrow!

This weekend I took a big step and became a mommy! Mommy to this beautiful girl, Zoey!

Zoey Belle to be exact (because all of my cats over the years have had both first and middle names). I adopted her from an animal shelter about 30 minutes away. They estimate that she's about a year or so old. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow so hopefully they'll have a better estimate of her age and fingers crossed that she's healthy! She's so sweet and she's a lover even though she's pretty skittish still! She's making herself at home already though, taking over my {former} spot on the couch!

As another year comes to an end...

I haven't written in a really long time. The month of December was just crazy and then the holidays came and so I find myself writing this up before I head out for NYE.

2013 has been one of my best years yet, and I don't think I really expected that it would be. I started off the year, with a wonderful student teaching experience. I had the opportunity to be placed with 3 host teachers who taught me more than I ever would have thought possible. They are 3 educators who really love the profession and they helped show me how much I could love it as well.

My hard work was then paid off when I graduated from college in May. College both flew by and lasted forever. On one hand I never thought I would make it graduation and on the other, I blinked and those 4 years were over. I'll always cherish my time spent at Old Mizzou and the friends I made there.

Post-graduation. I had somewhat of a tough summer, down because it just didn't look like I was going to find a job for this school year. And then, in the middle of July, my world turned upside down when i unexpectedly interviewed and was hired at my old middle school. I truly believe that some things are just meant to be, and I'm so lucky to be working in the school that I'm in. I dearly love my co-workers and feel so supported by my administration. It's such a great environment for our kids to learn in.

2013 has been unbelievably good to me, so 2014: please follow suit!

I promise I'll be back in the next few days with some new crafts! And my bedroom re-do is almost complete :)

Put A Little Holiday In Your Heart

I love Christmas music. Like a lot. The period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is wonderful to me because I get to break out my "Merry and Bright" playlist. Well truthfully, a lot of years I don't even make it to Thanksgiving. Martina McBride's "O Come All Ye Faithful" is truthfully one of my favorite songs ever, and sometimes I've been known to break it out, even in the summer. N*SYNC's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" is another favorite. This year is especially amazing for me because one of my best childhood friends has a holiday EP out, and his first single off it "Fireside" is amazing. I've had it on repeat 24/7 lately. It's truly amazing. I've know my whole life how talented this guy is, but dang this song is a great reminder!