Apr 30, 2013

Strawberry Lemon Coffee Cakes


Looking at Pinterest while you're hungry is the equivalent to going grocery shopping while you're hungry...you end up pinning a million recipes that are definitely not good for your waistline! Fortunately, these little delights aren't too terrible for you! At about 125 calories each I'm sure you can afford to have one or two for breakfast!

Coffee Cakes:
2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup greek yogurt
3/4 cup milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Strawberry Jam:
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425F.

In small saucepan over medium high heat, add strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. While heating, mash strawberries in the sauce pan. Heat and stir until boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool and thicken. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
 Beat in greek yogurt, eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter until fully incorporated.
Spray a mini bunt cakes pan with non-stick spray. Dollop two to three tsp of strawberry jam in each pan cavity. Fill each cavity 1/2 - 3/4 full with batter. Using a knife swirl the jam into the coffee cake batter. Bake in oven for 9 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Allow to cool on wire rack.
In small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is runny.
 Pour over each doughnut, or dunk tops of doughnuts into glaze and turn right side up to set. Serve while still slightly warm. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Wilton doughnut pan recipe




Apr 21, 2013

DIY Stenciled Dog Bed



I love Cutting Edge Stencils. Love them. This happens to be my third DIY using one of their stencils. I've also done a simple canvas painting for my master bedroom and a very detailed gender neutral nursery accent wall. After completing my nursery accent wall, Cutting Edge Stencils asked if I would do another project from them. Duh, of course I will! I decided to tackle a project that I've been meaning to do for a while now, and create a DIY dog bed. My poor Dixie girl has fallen in love with an old pink heart pillow that my husband gave me when we first started dating. As sweet as that is, the pillow is unfortunately one size too small for her. Either her head is falling off or her fuzzy little butt is hanging over the edge. She loves it, but I felt the need to make her one that she actually fits on!

Dixie with her fuzzy little butt hanging off the heart pillow...forgive the photo, I took it at night with my phone.
I do realize that I could have just painted an already assembled dog bed, but I wanted it to be a certain size. Also, you can't paint all types of fabric...I mean, I guess you could, but it wouldn't look good! Not to mention, most dog beds are not cute, and the ones that are cost an arm and a leg.

So, starting at square one, I picked out a stencil from the Cutting Edge Stencil website. If you've never been to their site, I highly recommend you go check them out! There are tons of stencils to choose from and they come in large and small sizes.

Here's what you'll need:
- 1 yard of duck cloth for the main pillow section
- 1/2 yard of duck cloth for the side sections
- stencil (I used the Charlotte Allover Stencil)
- foam paint roller (I recommend buying one from their site)
- acrylic paint (I used two small craft sized bottles)
- 2 large bags of stuffing
- sewing machine
- thread
- painters tape
- scissors


To start, I decided on the dimensions of my dog bed. Mine is a medium sized bed. The main section is 23in x 24.5in and the side sections are 23in x 5in and 24.5in x 5in. You will need to cut two of each of these shapes for a total of six pieces.

Next, choose one of you large main section pieces and secure the stencil with your painters tape. This part can be tricky. The painters tape does tend to un-stick itself form the fabric, so be sure to take your time and not be in a hurry. You will need to re-stick the tape and make sure the stencil is staying lined up.


Using your foam roller, paint your fabric, but be sure not to over-saturate your roller or push too hard when rolling, this could make the paint bleed under the stencil. Don't forget a drop cloth, we don't want the paint to bleed through the fabric on to your floor! Also, make sure to paint on a hard surface like tile or wood floors.


Allow your paint to fully dry and touch up any areas with a small paintbrush before adding your side pieces.




You will need to sew the pillow inside out so that when it is flipped right side out there are no raw edges. Lay the side pieces on top of the painted side of your main piece so that the edges line up, and sew. You will also need to sew the side pieces short sides together, so that they create corners. Once you have done this your dog bed will look like the image below.


Place your second main piece on top of the rest of your dog bed and sew around the edges again. On your last side, leave a space open, wide enough to reach your hand inside and flip it right side out. Your pillow will now look like the image below.


Stuff you dog bed with the stuffing until you are satisfied. I used about one and a half large bags of stuffing. When you're done, fold the edges in and pin. This will end up being a raw edge on your pillow. You will have to shift the stuffing in the pillow so that you can reach the edge to the sewing machine, and sew.



Take the pillow and fluff it so that all of the stuffing evens out, and you're done! Your puppy now has a beautiful posh dog bed! I think Dixie likes it, what do you think??