Rainbow Party

When discussing her birthday about a month ago Katie said she wanted a rainbow cake, not the awesome seven layer cake where each layer is a different color but one with a rainbow on it. I thought this was a good idea and so we went with it. I browsed Etsy and Pinterest for rainbow ideas. I was still considering throwing a large party and found some great ideas. In the end I decided to go small. Grandma, Papa, Uncle and their doggies were invited for Katie's 4th Birthday Rainbow Party.

One item I saw in my research was a rainbow twirl dress. It is a dress with the ROYGBIV colors in each layer down the dress. I thought this would be pretty easy to do. We looked and found Simplicity pattern 2377 which was the closest I could find. I figured I could break the two ruffled layers into as many as needed. When we went to pick fabric we found some new broadcloth fabrics with built in sparkles. The fabric looks like it has glitter in it but it doesn't fall off, it was perfect. My mother helped with the gathering but other than that I actually made a dress! It is a size 5 so is a little big but she has some room to grow into it.

Katie loved the dress and wore it all day. She got many complements and we were even asked where we got it.

For decorations I found a few rainbow things at Party City like these hanging flower like things.

Inspired by what I saw online I decided to make bunting. I got the rainbow colors of felt and added pink. My brother cut them into triangles then I used bias tape to sew them together.

It is a great reusable decoration and it came together really quick and easy

You can also see the rainbow streamers I found at Party City. They were pretty awesome and made the picking of streamers much easier.

Of course we had to have balloons, lots of ballons.

I asked my mom to make a few things as well. She made this rainbow scarf which Katie wants to wear in the snow. She also bought rainbow beads and made a matching necklace and bracelet for Katie which I did not get a photo of. With the leftover yarn she is now working on a rainbow blanket.

Katie's original idea for a rainbow cake changed at the last minute, like I am getting ready to pour the cake in the pan last minute. She changed to wanting dots on a cake, no rainbow.

I made a plain rectangle cake and used Wilton's basic buttercream icing to decorate it. First I frosted it white then had Katie choose four colors for spots. Katie picked yellow, pink, red and violet. She was pretty happy with the results.

The cake was chocolate and accompanied by none other than chocolate ice cream. BTW you can see the rainbow bead necklace in this photo. 

I can't believe my baby is 4! It seems like just yesterday I was holding this:

More Christmas

Christmas craft making has continued around here. The photo quality is a little poor as most pictures are taken late at night but the general idea comes across.

Katie gets Turtle magazine which always has good games, activities and more in it. She usually finds a craft or food project she wants to try. Her most recent issue was all about the holidays. She found a craft project she has really been wanting to do, basically it is a tree made from craft sticks.

Here is the finished product:

We also made some bell necklaces.

Foam reindeer ornaments.

Bell snowmen. These were a few weeks work, wooden balls have to be painted, hats have to be cut and sewn, etc... Some of their faces are a little odd looking but I never claimed to be a painter, I still think they came out cute.

A felt, sequin and bead snowflake.

A foam Christmas cookie ornament.

Paper ball ornament.

Foam garland.

Paper chain garland.

Christmas Crafting

We have been getting into the Christmas Spirit, lacking a sewing machine has forced us to move to other types of projects.

One ornament project was ribbon lollipops. These came from OTC craft kits and came in three colors. They involved rolling felt and ribbon in a spiral for the top part.

My Mom has been working with Katie on decorating pine cones she collected from her yard. They have while snow (paint) and glitter

A kit I purchased at Jo-Anns made these ball ornaments that Katie decorated.

In a craft book I found a Borax Snowflake idea. I had borax and just needed to get pipe cleaners. They form over night and we have made several rounds of them. Here is one of the first ones.

After looking at some of the many ideas online I got a little more creative with the design and we also added food coloring to give them a slight blue tint.

Finally, I completed this felt wreath. It is made from a variety of shades of green felt squares. The squares are folded and cut then strung on a heavy wire. Next I put together the felt flowers and glued them along with some decorative buttons and now have a completed wreath.

All Framed Up Quilt

This quilt is again from the Moda Bake shop and called All Framed Up. I finished a few months ago but did not get around to taking pictures of it. It is also the last quilt I made before my machine fried so it might be awhile until I get to finish any others.

The quilt name comes from a group of different sized squares that get framed and then those squares go together. Here are the cut pieces.

And here is the completed quilt. It was a baby quilt but I went with a different fabric line Moda's Circa 1930. It has a vintage feel and I really like the line.

And here is a glimpse of the back and the binding.

Fall Canning

With this post I will bring everyone up to date with what we have been canning in the mlast few months. There have been quite a few green beans which we now easily clean, cut and can, this take so much pressure off of trying to get them used up. Going back to September through the final item which was made yesterday we have canned these, in sort of chronological order.

Zucchini Relish

Corn Relish

Blackberry Jam

Apple Pie Filling

Apple Jelly

Grape Jelly

Spiced Apple Chutney Put em Up

Golden Gossip Chutney Ball Complete book of Home Preserving

Apple Preserves Ball Blue Book

Jalapeno Jelly Ball Blue Book

Red Pepper Jelly Ball Blue Book

Pumpkin Butter Pick your own website (not photographed)


Green Tomato Chutney Ball Complete book of Home Preserving

Lemon Jelly Blue Ribbon Preserves

We have been busy and the cupboards are full!