Pine Cone Trees DIY

For the past two of the three Christmases that my husband and I have celebrated while married we have debated about whether to get a real or fake tree.  Last year my husband surprised me with a real tree and we got the tree stand, tree skirt, ornaments, the works!  One move into a smaller apartment later...and we don't exactly have room for a tree, fake or real.  So I have been coming up with creative ways to make the house look more festive.  I thought I would share one of the ideas with you.  

And it is easy as pie (if pie were easy).  All you need is a glue gun, about 20 sticks of glue for the glue gun, three (or four, or five!) foam cones (I chose three different sizes), and two boxes of pine cones (I found them for 50% off at JoAnn Fabrics!).  And, start gluing!  It will take a while, so don't expect to get them all done in one afternoon...unless you have incredible amounts of stamina.  

this is about how many pinecones you need to cover the smallest tree

in the middle of covering the medium size tree

Baby Bows

A few baby bows for my niece made from some of grandma S.'s lace, grandma J.'s buttons and a few odds and ends from my beads/ribbon box.  Can't wait to take pictures of them on my niece!

made from grandma's lace

made with grandma's buttons

Made with grandma's buttons

New Journal colors/designs!

Check out the newest journals for my etsy shop!  Follow this link to see them on my etsy page

 

2013 Calendar Art

My new 2013 Calendar Art is just up on Etsy.  Be sure to check it out! Just follow this link to check it out in my shop.  All of the artwork below is copyrighted Rebecca Bartlett 2012.

Baby Shower Invitations (blank)

 Some more baby shower invitation designs that I have done recently.

click here to purchase the 'Baby Baby' Baby Shower Invitations 

click here to purchase the Baby Banner Baby Shower Invitations

click here to purchase the Baby Mobile Baby Shower Invitations

click here to purchase the Baby Clothes Baby Shower Invitations

White Chocolate Mud Cake: U.S. version

White Chocolate Mud Cake with Buttercream Frosting that I made for a baby shower

This was a recipe taken from another blogger but I converted all the ingredients measurements so that I wouldn't have to every time I make this.

Ingredients
10.5 oz white chocolate
7 oz (14tbs) salted butter
1 cup milk
3/4 cup caster sugar (or grate up regular sugar in a coffee grinder)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
2/3 cup self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour

Directions
-Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
-Grease a 9-inch round cake pan (or two six-inch round as shown in the pictures) and line the base of the pan with parchment paper. Click here for tips on how to line a round cake pan.
-Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. 
-Remove from heat when chocolate and butter have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth. 
-Allow mixture to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.
-Add vanilla and eggs to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined. © exclusivelyfood.com.au
-Stir flours together in a large bowl. 
-Add one cup of chocolate mixture to the flour and stir until a smooth paste forms. Repeat with another cup of the chocolate mixture.
-Add remaining chocolate mixture and stir until mixture is smooth. This gradual method of combining the wet and dry ingredients helps prevent lumps.
-Pour mixture into prepared pan.
-Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes (or less if using two six inch rounds) When the cake is ready, a fine-bladed knife inserted into the centre of the cake should come out without any batter attached.
-Loosely cover cake with greaseproof paper or a clean tea towel and allow it to cool to room temperature in pan.
-The cooled cake can be iced or stored and then iced on the day of serving.
-Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. The cake is suitable to freeze iced or uniced.

Buttercream Frosting

A Recipe of my mother's that I have used on many a birthday cake.

5 Tbs flour

1 Cup milk

Mix together and cook on low heat in saucepan until it thickens into a paste (stirring constantly).  When it forms a ball when stirring then remove from heat and cool.

Beat together til creamy:      
1 Cup sugar      
1 Cup butter      
1 tsp vanilla

Add flour mix to butter mix after it’s completely cooled – Whip together

New Journal colors!

Some new color additions to my shop.  Click here to see more.

Paper Hydrangeas

A recent project I did for my Etsy shop.  These would make really cute baby shower decorations!

If you like what you see, you can have it!  Click here to purchase.

DIY Drum Shade

Do probably the most recent DIY project was this DIY Drum Shade for our dining area.  In my opinion, I think it looks so much better than the black metal with frosty white lamps chandelier that came with the apartment.

What you will need:
- 23" Quilting/embroidery Hoop (2 of them) or a size that works for your table/dining area (I ordered them from Jo Ann Fabrics)
- a table runner measuring at least 74 inches so fit around the embroidery hoops
- string/wire to attach to existing light fixture

Directions:
1) unscrew the out ring of each embroidery hoop and lay the inner ring on a flat surface.
2) wrap the table runner around the inner ring lengthwise, the table runner will overlap with itself a bit
3) slide the outer hoop around the table runner and inner ring so that the table runner is squeezed in between the two rings
4) repeat with the other end of the table runner
5) tie string to one of the embroidery hoops by either sewing or gluing and affix to the existing light fixture (this will be different for different light fixtures, you'll kind of have to find your own way.

TADA!

Baby Balloon

A baby shower invitation design I did for a family friend.  I know so many people that are pregnant right now, it is getting a little crazy!

 

Like the design?  You can purchase these here

Gallery Show!

Peacock Surprise!

Just thought I would post this oldie but goodie. I think I am going to wear this in my hair at some point this week...maybe...