CreativeSpace

rapid rabbit

When I was six, my grandma sewed me a rabbit family for Christmas. They lived in a quilted carrot, and the entire family was portable. Wonder of wonders, I found them in my doll trunk last week, still in good condition. I brought them out to show Little Bear and was amazed all over again at the tiny detail of this cast of characters.

My Dear Sim received a similar family, and I believe we dubbed Brother Bunny, Rapid Rabbit. Because of the big R on his chest and his red cape, of course.

(Papa Bunny looks like he's part of a lineup, doesn't he?) I just wanted to show his cute little handkerchief and cotton ball tail.

Little Bear was immediately intrigued by the bunny family and settled underneath the table to play with them. Soon I overheard Mama Bunny shushing Baby Bunny repeatedly. I restrained myself from leaping to Mama Bunny's defense. That she was probably only shushing Baby Bunny because they were in church, and Baby Bunny was very likely making extremely loud noises throughout the homily. What's a Mama Bunny to do?

I finally had to interrupt when I peeked under the table to discover that Little Bear's diaper had come undone and was now circling her ankle. She could have cared less, and it didn't deter Mama Bunny's continued shushing one bit.

 

the belated birthday dress

Our morning began with cherry tomatoes, out of season but eaten with relish, the seeds dribbling down a certain someone's chin as she munched with glee.

In her jammies and on the table, no less. She knows dang well she's not supposed to be on top of the table, and my admonishments slow her down not one whit.

Like the crazy bear hairdo? Mother Nature has made her hair as untamed as Little Bear herself, and she has taken to baring her teeth when she's displeased about a motherly order. Here I told her I was going to pick her up and place her two paws back on the floor. That little sucker bared her teeth at me without uttering a word, but I got the message. I was sorta relieved that it wasn't accompanied by a growl.

Feeling juvenile and useless and completely un-motherly, I bared my teeth right back. I am the Mummy! I thought loudly in my head. I will give you the claw! (Flashing a claw is a warning in bear speak.) I thought these things but bit my tongue, maneuvering Her Protesting Squirminess back to the floor. To distract us both from a full-blown contest of wills which I'm not at all convinced that I would win, I showed her the dress I had finished the previous evening.

Ok, ok...it was supposed to be the dress she wore to her birthday party. *cough* Three weeks ago. At least it's finished, right? And Little Bear did seem to like it.

And she's back on the d-a-m-n table again. Where are the park rangers when you need them?

Aren't they the cutest puffed sleeves ever? I'm certain they're the finest ever sewn in all the history of puffed sleeves. Four days before Little Bear's birthday party, I attached the sleeves then stepped back to admire my work. It was the first time I had ever attempted such a thing, and I was quite proud of myself. I showed The Husband and Little Bear, maybe even had the dog look too. I knew he was impressed, because he woke up enough from his nap to open one eye.

As I returned to the instructions and got to the part about button holes (another first for me) I realized that the bodice had no front opening. I had mistakenly cut it on the fold...leaving no (insert curse word) opening. All my soaring pride came crashing down in a flaming ball of...poo. How could I have made such a stupid first-timer mistake? Oh that's right...I was jabbering away in a conversation completely unrelated (I remember something about birdseed) to what I was doing and had only given the layout a cursory glance as I chatted.

Maybe, I thought desperately, it will fit over Little Bear's head anyway. She was sitting on the couch as I approached her with the bodice in one hand, like sidling up to a mountain lion clutching a sandwich bag. Here kitty, put your head in this. Swiftly I had it on her head and gave a tug. "Ouch, Mama," Little Bear said. The protest sounded half-hearted. I pulled harder. "OW, MAMA!" Alright, she was serious. I had to concede defeat and accept a long tete-a-tete with my ripper or settle for sewing the bear an exceedingly floppy sun hat. 

So I ripped. And ripped some more. By the time I had dismantled everything, including my outstanding puffed sleeves (sob), I was ready to let the project sit. Not indefinitely. But long enough so that the next time I saw it I wouldn't burst into mad tears. It took me two weeks after Little Bear's birthday to cut out the front pieces again and sew the bodice together. Despite the setback, the pattern was fairly simple, just like it said on the package. Perhaps they should put in parentheses below it: SIMPLE IF YOU PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE DOING. FORGET THE BIRDSEED.

Duly noted.

I heart coconut cake

Happy Valentine's Day, my creative lovelies! This cake wasn't part of our V-Day festivities (nor is it red), but since it was something I loved I decided to post about it. This was Little Bear's birthday cake, but I'll say more about the actual celebration tomorrow. Today is all about love, and although I love the bear to pieces, her birthday adventures will have to wait.

First, the cake...

This turned out to be an excellent cake, and although the icing color was an accident, I was pleased with the final result. Truth be told I broke a cardinal rule and experimented on company. My gamble paid off, and I have the wonderful leftovers as evidence of my savory victory. The cake has a moist crumb, and the cream cheese icing provides just enough tang to balance the sweet of the coconut. Just thinking about it makes me want to cut another slice.

I was mid-recipe and beginning to whip the egg whites into a stiff frenzy when The Husband strolled into the kitchen (always a risky endeavor right before a party) and asked, "Does Little Bear even like coconut?" I replied, "I doubt she even knows what it is. We're not talking about a sophisticated palate here. Just yesterday I caught her snacking on a piece of dog kibble. How could she dislike coconut after that?" Most of the time if you ask a two-year-old if they like something, they'll say "no!" even if it's their most favorite thing in all the world. I wasn't going to ask Little Bear's opinion about the cake, and if she hated it and was horrified that I had made it for her...well, she could save it for future discussions with her therapist.

My sis-in-law generously donated her talents to plan the party, and when we discussed the cake she requested a beige or brown color for the icing. Well, hmmmmm....I thought. Icing has always been my achilles heel, and I knew that beige/brown icing was waaaaaaay beyond my meager abilities. If I wasn't a procrastinator or if I was born Martha Stewart with a hundred baking minions at my disposal, I would have worked weeks ahead and experimented with food coloring until I got the correct tint. Alas, I am neither of those people and it was the eleventh hour, and I was down to the wire. Light blue icing was it! Funny, I added purple food gel to get it. The small portion of icing that I did experiment with turned a hideous Dr. Seuss shade of puce that no one in their right mind would have touched, not even the dog. Like I said, I have almost no talent in the icing category.

You can find the cake and icing recipe here. I baked the cake in three 8-inch layers and decreased the baking time by ten minutes. One of the recipe commentators mentioned this, but I'll say it again. Whenever you use Coco Lopez cream of coconut, mix it well before measuring it into the recipe. Cream of coconut separates in the can, so stir it vigorously. And last but not least, make sure that your butter and cream cheese are room temperature before mixing up the icing. Cream them together first to make sure that all the lumps are smoothed out before adding the rest of the ingredients.

(And if you know how to make beige icing, help a girl out and leave it in the comments.)

on the To Do

So the gals over at The Sew Weekly are tackling the theme Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery with beautiful results. And I had an excellent idea for my sew-along, but the confounded fabric hasn't arrived yet. Grrr...It involved a dashing handbag with a hand stitched pattern--to be revealed at a later date. (After that darned fabric is delivered. Denver Fabrics, you're on my list. You hear me?)

That's really alright, though, because we're nearing Little Bear's birthday and I want to sew her a new dress for the occasion. Frankly the girl needs a bunch of new dresses, because she's growing like a weed and she can't wear Aunt Sim's dress every Sunday for the rest of the year. Without the ushers beginning to look at us funny. (We sit in the very, very back so that Little Bear's boisterous enthusiasm for the Gospel doesn't annoy absolutely everybody.)

So here's my To Do List for the rest of this week:

I'm making View C with this fabric:

And the best part? It was all free! My supremely charitable and generous Aunt Sondra opened her attic for us to plunder. And boy did I. I drove home with five bags stuffed full of fabric and patterns which didn't seem like much until I was unloading the car. I was like Attila the Hun of Sewing.

Next on the list is this cute little number:

Despite the slightly cheesy pose of the girl on the cover (can you say stage mother?) I think this dress will be perfect for the bear's birthday celebration made with this fabric...

Kindly excuse the dog hair.

So what's on your To Do List this week?

sewing along with shoestring chic

It's a two-for-one kind of day! Behold...

Yes, I stitched up the skirt for Something Floral, Something Blue at The Sew Weekly and turned the spring outfit into something for Shoestring Chic over at Thrift at Home. Two birds with one stone, my creative pals. Whew! Someone wipe my brow. Have you tried sewing with a toddler on your lap? I don't recommend it all. Not one bit.

Do I wish that The Husband could take a picture (just one!) that showed my feet? Heck yeah. Do I wish the sun would come out for just a second so I could get a decent picture without that awful overhead light? Yes indeedy. Alas, my dearies, it was not to be. Although not seeing my feet might be a good thing. My pedicure from Thanksgiving looks positively ragged, and although my neutral slides are quite fetching, the hard plastic flower embellishment pokes into my toe when I walk. So I'm bleeding. Just slightly.

When I found out the sewing theme for this week, for a few worrisome moments I was stumped. I didn't have any blue floral fabric in my stash. Really. Not a yard in sight. I had tons of florals but nothing that was blue. Which was crazy, because blue was one of my favorite colors. Then underneath a stack of peach paisley cotton I found some sad, neglected blue seersucker, leftover from my seersucker binge this past summer. It had been partially constructed before being thrown to the wayside as cooler temperatures descended and my attention turned elsewhere. My deepest apologies, seersucker. I will make amends by wearing you copiously this summer. I swear.

And score! The pattern had been rendered almost simple in comparison to my adventures last week with The Beatrix Skirt. Elastic waistband, baby. There ain't nothin' sweeter when suffering from zipper installation post traumatic stress.

The Facts

Fabric: seersucker from summer sale ~ $9.98 for 2 yards
Pattern: Cute Skirts by Favorite Things ~ $9.98
Year: 2006
Notions: elastic ~ $1.29
Time to complete: 4 hours, more or less
First worn: January 2011
Wear again? Oh yes…once it gets above 50° and stops snowing

Total Cost: $21.25

For the Shoestring Chic game where we try to put together inexpensive yet stylish outfits, here are my stats:

The Facts

Fabric: seersucker from summer sale ~ $9.98 for 2 yards
Pattern: Cute Skirts by Favorite Things ~ free because I’ve used it more than once
Tank Top: hand-me-down ~ free
Cardigan: clearance find for $8.99
Earrings and Cocktail Ring: birthday and Christmas gifts ~ free
Shoes that you can’t see: (Trust me, they're cute despite the blood.) Marshall’s sale ~ $23.00

Total Cost: ~ $41.97