Getting OLDer
So today's my birthday, and I'm blogging, that's right :) God has been so overly generous to me - I have had a fantastic week of celebration.
I'm pretty excited about the fact that my incredible family went in together and bought me this...
A lovely sewing machine! I have NO clue how to use it - I mean, none. Absolutely zilch. But they are offering a BEGINNERS sewing class in Motown this fall and so I am really looking forward to that. In my head I have lists of things I can't wait to make!
It has long been a desire of mine to sew and I think that desire culminated when I got this cool idea from a friend's baby shower to have all the guests stitch up a little bird out of two fabric pieces and then put all the bird's together to make a bird mobile. We ended up doing it at my sister-in-law's baby shower and while I still have to get her the finished product, it should come out something like this:
(Although I don't like the lone hanging bird! hahaha) For the pattern, visit this site.
I also made a fun tart that I thought I would share with everyone because it is a pretty simple make for parties, etc and you can make a lot of it ahead. I love things I can get done when I have time and quiet!
It's pretty, too and you can see it to the right of the AMAZING cake Nina made for the celebration :)
I make a simple sponge cake using 4 eggs, 2 C white sugar, 2 C all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 pinch salt, 2 tablespoons butter and 1 cup milk. Beat the eggs for 4 minutes with electric mixer on high. Add sugar and continue beating until nice and fluffy. Add flour mixture. I like to put mine in two round cake pans and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes - check it at about 15 though. You can also just put it in a 9x13 and bake it for more time but I've never done it that way, so let me know how it goes!
Anyways, once cooled, I poke some holes in it using toothpicks or whatever else you have on hand :) and drizzle vanilla syrup (like you get for coffee, etc) over the top (use about 1/4 cup or so). Then I cover it with cool whip and add cut up fruit all over it. I like keeping a variety of fruits for presentation and tastiness, but you can use whatever you want. You don't need as much fruit as you may think - I used about 1 container of strawberries, 1 of blueberries, 2 kiwi maybe, not even a whole pineapple and 1 cherry (the last time I did it I used raspberries instead of a cherry per Daryl's request - yum).
You can bake the cakes and chop all the fruit in advance. I took it to the shower unprepared and it took maybe 5 minutes to put together. People SAID they loved it and the kids and I enjoyed eating all the left over fruit, etc, afterwards. It also easily makes two and so you can take one to someone else who might like it!
The other night I was around some older women who were bemoaning getting old enough to have kids old enough to be having their own kids. They were mostly being jovial enough but there was certainly some sadness in their tones. Personally I would love getting discounts on coffee and everything else, but I know growing older in our culture is hard to swallow.
In fact, not only was it my birthday today (and a fabulous one thanks to many of you), but the past week I've been finding lots of little white hairs growing in my head :) I think it's going to be time to start dying soon rather than just plucking the occasional straggler out. When I found my first one I thought I would die, but now I am learning to appreciate aging and hoping to look it in the face with joy - I am getting closer and closer to the day I will get to see my Savior face to face and He is adding wisdom to me year by year - I mean look, I know how to stitch a bird! Hahaha! And lots of good gifts - some things I am looking forward to this year are meeting Colton Douglas, Benjamin David and Kirk Isaac :)
Here's looking to the days ahead with joy and trust (and praying for more of it)!
I'm pretty excited about the fact that my incredible family went in together and bought me this...
A lovely sewing machine! I have NO clue how to use it - I mean, none. Absolutely zilch. But they are offering a BEGINNERS sewing class in Motown this fall and so I am really looking forward to that. In my head I have lists of things I can't wait to make!
It has long been a desire of mine to sew and I think that desire culminated when I got this cool idea from a friend's baby shower to have all the guests stitch up a little bird out of two fabric pieces and then put all the bird's together to make a bird mobile. We ended up doing it at my sister-in-law's baby shower and while I still have to get her the finished product, it should come out something like this:
(Although I don't like the lone hanging bird! hahaha) For the pattern, visit this site.
I also made a fun tart that I thought I would share with everyone because it is a pretty simple make for parties, etc and you can make a lot of it ahead. I love things I can get done when I have time and quiet!
It's pretty, too and you can see it to the right of the AMAZING cake Nina made for the celebration :)
I make a simple sponge cake using 4 eggs, 2 C white sugar, 2 C all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 pinch salt, 2 tablespoons butter and 1 cup milk. Beat the eggs for 4 minutes with electric mixer on high. Add sugar and continue beating until nice and fluffy. Add flour mixture. I like to put mine in two round cake pans and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes - check it at about 15 though. You can also just put it in a 9x13 and bake it for more time but I've never done it that way, so let me know how it goes!
Anyways, once cooled, I poke some holes in it using toothpicks or whatever else you have on hand :) and drizzle vanilla syrup (like you get for coffee, etc) over the top (use about 1/4 cup or so). Then I cover it with cool whip and add cut up fruit all over it. I like keeping a variety of fruits for presentation and tastiness, but you can use whatever you want. You don't need as much fruit as you may think - I used about 1 container of strawberries, 1 of blueberries, 2 kiwi maybe, not even a whole pineapple and 1 cherry (the last time I did it I used raspberries instead of a cherry per Daryl's request - yum).
You can bake the cakes and chop all the fruit in advance. I took it to the shower unprepared and it took maybe 5 minutes to put together. People SAID they loved it and the kids and I enjoyed eating all the left over fruit, etc, afterwards. It also easily makes two and so you can take one to someone else who might like it!
The other night I was around some older women who were bemoaning getting old enough to have kids old enough to be having their own kids. They were mostly being jovial enough but there was certainly some sadness in their tones. Personally I would love getting discounts on coffee and everything else, but I know growing older in our culture is hard to swallow.
In fact, not only was it my birthday today (and a fabulous one thanks to many of you), but the past week I've been finding lots of little white hairs growing in my head :) I think it's going to be time to start dying soon rather than just plucking the occasional straggler out. When I found my first one I thought I would die, but now I am learning to appreciate aging and hoping to look it in the face with joy - I am getting closer and closer to the day I will get to see my Savior face to face and He is adding wisdom to me year by year - I mean look, I know how to stitch a bird! Hahaha! And lots of good gifts - some things I am looking forward to this year are meeting Colton Douglas, Benjamin David and Kirk Isaac :)
Here's looking to the days ahead with joy and trust (and praying for more of it)!
I got a sewing machine for my birthday too! Except mine is a mini, and doesn't do nearly as much as I'd like. Once you get the hang of sewing, you'll love it, I always have. Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteI know you are going for lessons but Reta Haube @ Grace Chapel is a great resource. So is Sylvia. Reta is always willing to help out and she is super patient. So happy you are joining the sewing world and maybe you can give me some pointers after your class! Happy Birthday!!!!! Miss you!
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