Felt Christmas Tree for Toddlers - Tutorial

- A TRAVELLING CHRISTMAS TREE -

Felt Christmas Tree

It is a long over due project that I have been planning to post since December last year. YES, LAST YEAR! Here I am a year later and on time for the Holiday. Last year, I decided to make a felt Xmas tree for our 2 year old to avoid him to play with the real tree and the ornaments. It did work. He enjoys putting his own ornaments on his tree and travels with it all over the house. It is still a success for this year! It is an easy, quick and FUN Project :-)

Time to Decorate the TREE!

Materials:
- white foam board
- green felt with glitter
- brown felt
- tacky spray
- ribbon
- buttons (depending on the size of your tree)
- glitters (different colors)
- hot glue gun





Steps:


The Tree
1. Cut the white foam board the dimensions of your choice. I made it a little taller than our little boy. My design was very simple: a triangle and a square on one whole piece.
2. Cut and spray glue the brown felt for the trunk and place it at its location on the white board.
3. Cut the green felt a bit bigger than your tree to have some extra to fold it in the back of the white board. Spray of your glue on the board and put the edge of your piece of felt on the bottom edge, to meet the edge of the brown felt, and apply the felt evenly. Turn your tree and apply some spray glue on the extra felt and fold on the back.

View on the Button Ornament Holders 

Ornament Holders
1. Get some buttons (around 15), spray some of your tacky glue, sprinkle some glitter of you choice all over immediately, and let it dry. I let it alone for the entire afternoon.
2. Place your buttons on your tree suiting your mood. As you can see on the picture, you have 2 different styles of button holders. 1) You just have the button that I hot glued which is perfect for an ornament with a string. 2) I hot glued a ribbon (around 4 inches) with the edges on the top and a button at the same time. You now have a loop to hang a hock for your ornaments which require one.

Note: Get your felt early November is you want to have a choice for the brown.

HAPPY HOLIDAY!

Pumpkin Spice Cake Square

Pumpkin Spice Cake Square

My goal was to make a pumpkin bar with an end result looking like a lemon bar in my mind. I should mention that I have never had a piece of pumpkin bar before. After searching and comparing online recipes, I came up with this recipe which turn out to be a cake that I called "Pumpkin Spice Cake Square". Give it a try... and if you happen to have the recipe that I was originally looking for, send it to me. Thanks.

This recipe makes 24 servings.


Ingredients:

• Cake

Out of the Oven

- 4 large eggs
- 1 2/3 cups white sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- 1 t baking soda
- 2 t cinnamon
- 1 t pumpkin spice

• Butter Cream Frosting

- 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 T butter, room temperature
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar

A nice layer of Butter Cream Frosting!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350°F.
2. Spray a 9 by 13 in. glass pan.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin.
4. In another large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Add to wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix very well.
6. Pour the batter in your baking pan and bake for 35 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let the bake cool down completely.
8. Once the cake is cool, It is time for the frosting. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter and confectioner's sugar until you get a nice creamy paste.
9. Immediately evenly spread the frosting on the top of the cake.
10. Cover your cake with clear wrapping paper and put it in the fridge to let the frosting set for 20 to 30 minutes.
11. Cut into squares and serve.

Inspired and adapted from a member of food dot com


What do I think about this recipe?

The cake and frosting are quick and easy to prepare. It would be a perfect dessert to bring without spending all day in the kitchen. Just bake the cake either the night before or early in the morning and it will be perfectly cool to lay the frosting. Note that the cake will rise around 1/2 inch higher than the edges, in the middle.

The cake is definitively moist and light. But do not let this small square fulls you. You will feel satisfied after it. The spices are not overpowering the taste of the cake. It just the right amount. The frosting has a creamy and soft texture. It gives some extra sweet tenderness at each bit.
For a more sophisticated look for a party, I would try to bake the cake in a mini muffin or small square pans, use a piping design of your choice to spray the frosting and add a tiny pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin spice on top of it.

ENJOY!

 Laetitia

Three Pumpkin Pies - Which one do you like best?

Pumpkin pie is my husband's Thanksgiving dessert and there is no negotiation around it. For this special day, we make THE pumpkin pie following his family recipe. Several years ago, he found out that the special recipe for the pumpkin pie, made by his grand-mother, was in fact the recipe in the back of the can of Libby's pumpkin can. What is your family dessert recipe(s) for Thanksgiving?

You will find below three pumpkin pie recipes: Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie of course, Perfect Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin-Maple Pie.

Pumpkin Pie - Libby's Recipe

• Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie by Libby's

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 ground cinnamon
- 1/2 t ground ginger
- 1/4 t ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 1 can (15 oz.) Libby's 100% pumpkin pie
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Carnation evaporated milk
- One unbaked 9-inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish pie crust

Direction:

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves in small bowl. beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pour into pie crust.
Bake in preheated 425 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 minutes. reduce temperature to 350 degree Fahrenheit  bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

• Perfect Pumpkin Pie by EAGLE BRAND

Ingredients:
- 1 (15 oz.) can Pumpkin
- 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 t ground cinnamon
-1/2 t ground ginger
- 1/2 t ground nutmeg
- 1/2 salt
- One (9-inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:
Heat the oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit  Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth.
Bake 15 minutes. reduce oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit  bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired.

• Pumpkin-Maple Pie

Pumpkin-Maple Pie

Ingredients:
- One 16-ounce can of puree pumpkin
- 1 cup of whipping cream
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 large eggs
- 1 T all-purpose flour
- 1/2 t maple flavoring
- 1 t pumpkin pie spice
- Pinch of salt
- One unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Direction:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour the filling into the unbaked crust. Bake 55 minutes, or until the filling is set.

What do I think about this recipe?
I ended up have too much filling for the pie. So, I baked the left over in 2 ramekins.
The filling has a nice rich brown color. The texture of the pie is fluffier than a regular pumpkin pie. It feels really light. However the top of the pie has this very thin layer of sugar which make you think about marshmallow consistency. It is slightly sticky on the top. The hole on the picture was made with the knife. Some of the filling stick to it when I checked if the pie was cooked.

With the maple flavoring and almost a cup of maple syrup, you would think that the maple flavor would be overpowering and it is not. The flavor is just right.


If you have the pie with some whipped cream it gives a creamier texture and enhances the maple flavor.
This recipe was a success to the extend that my husband would like it again but not on Thanksgiving day! ;-)

Recipe from Pumpkins by Jacqueline Farmer (non-fiction, children's book)

ENJOY :-)

Laetitia

DIY Halloween Frame

Spider Theme Halloween Frame

Our little guy did a foot ghost painting last year at his drop in Center. It was kinda too late to frame it at the time and I kept the project on my "To Do List" for this year. So, here it is. The frame is a deep purple with some spider webs and spiders. The frame looks somewhat blue on the picture. It is an easy and quick FUN project.

Ghost foot Paint in a Spider Theme Frame

Time: an afternoon

Cost: $1.75 just for the frame (I already had the paint and props).

Think about buying Halloween related items when the holiday is over to get the best deals for your next year project. I know that I will be looking for googly eyes of different sizes to make another frame to display a picture of our little guy in his Bee costume from this year.

Materials:
- a wooden frame
- acrylic paint
- glass (medium for acrylic paint)
- brushes
- small containers
- hot glue gun
- Halloween props

BOO!!!!

Instructions:

1. Sand the wooden frame to have a nice smooth surface.
2. apply 2 quotes of acrylic paint (purple). Let the paint dry between each quote. It should dry very quickly.
3. Apply 1 quote of acrylic varnish and let it dry.
4. Glue Halloween props of your choice on the frame using a hot glue gun.

Have a Spooky Halloween!!!!

Laetitia

Busy, Busy!!!

I am Back :-)

I cannot believe that it has been several months since my last post. The summer went on and before you realized it, it is now Fall! I have been busy baking, sewing, gardening and making some craft projects and taking pictures along the way to share it with you on the blog. I have several projects on my list that I will be sharing with you before the end of the year.

Baking: Madeleine, Bread, Sablée, Nutella ice cream, Nutella cookies

Sewing: Toddler Folding Chair Cover and Traveling Train Tracks

Crafts: Frame, Violin, construction theme bedroom on a budget and Frame mate

Laetitia :-)

Pillowcase Dress

Pillowcase Dress

- A Present for Alexias -

Several months ago, I found that great website called Sew Like My Mom. This site has a lot of wonderful sewing ideas and came across this nice and very easy dress tutorial described as the Pillowcase Dress. I thought it was super cute. Since then, I became an Auntie. As I was ready to send a package with some clothes to my niece Alexias, who will be turning 5 months mid June, I remembered that dress, and thought that it would be a perfect addition to the package.

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Here is the direct link to Mellisa's tutorial from her site Sew Like My Mom.

Materials: a piece of fabric with pink heart on fuchsia and some white ribbon and white thread.

Size: 12 months

Feedback: The dress was very easy to make follow the tutorial. It took me 2 afternoons. On the first day, I did all the measurements, cutting and ironing the hems. On the second day, I did all the sewing and took care of the ribbons. Because of the design of the dress The little girl will be able to wear it this year and next year and offers the option to wear it with a tee shirt underneath.

Happy Sewing,

Laetitia

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins for "Teacher Appreciation Day"

Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Tomorrow Tuesday, May 7th 2013 is "Teacher Appreciation Day" and for the occasion Lucas and I did some cooking. We made some Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins for his teachers. You can celebrate your children's teachers all week long this week :-).

HAPPY TEACHER DAY!

Laetitia

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Mini Chocolate Chips Muffins

Makes at least 24 mini muffins

Ingredients:

Out of the Oven

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 T butter
1 large egg
3 T milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit.

2. Place mini paper holders in the mini muffin pans.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

4. Cream sugar and butter until it looks somewhat white and bubbly in a smaller bowl. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix well.

5. Gradually add to creamed mixture into the dry ingredients and stir. 

6. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix well.

7. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the batter or 1 level of spoonful of a tablespoon in each mini muffin holder.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until it looks a little brown.

9. When done, let them cool down in muffin pans for 5-10 minutes.

10. Remove from the pans, place them on a cooling rack.

11. Serve very slightly warm or cold.

• Note About the Recipe

The muffins are easy to make. It might be time consuming to measure the batter in the cup holders but it would come very nicely and in a perfect shape. If you put too much the batter, (1) it will stick to the edge of the baking pan and break as you try to remove them from the pan. (2) The muffins will not look as round but flat on the top as they cook on the pan. They are moist and chocolaty. A nice sweet bite to go with a cup of coffee.

• Wrapping

Material: 1 white paper sandwich bag, 1 big paper napkin of color, 1 medium size Ziploc bag, raffia ribbon, pen, a pair of scissors, and a small card

Directions:

1. Open a white sandwich bag.

2. Unfold a paper colored paper napkin (lavender) and place it inside of the bag with the correct side out.

3. Place a medium size Ziploc bag in the bag (inside the paper napkin), put around 10 mini muffins inside the bag and zip it. It will prevent the muffins to dry.

4. Fold the top of the sandwich bag once or twice.

5. With a punch holder, make 1 hole on each side of the fold(s).

4. Pass a string of raffia through the holes and till it.

5. Slide a small, punched on 1 side, into the raffia and secure it with a double knot or a with a bow.

and Voila! Easy, Fast and Simple

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle: Spiders and "The Cat in the Hat" Toddler Flat Bed Sheets

- From Queen Size bed sheet to 4 Toddler Flat Bed Sheets -

As I was ready to get rid of a pair of sheet for our bed (the color was faded), I had the idea to reuse the sheet for Lucas's toddler bed. Our little guy will be using his toddler bed for 1 or 2 years at the most and it will time to transition again to a twin size bed. I did not want to spend money on sheets for such a short period of time. With 1 queen size bed sheet, I made 4 toddler flat bed sheets.

_________________________________

Material: 1 queen size bed sheet (black), left over pieces of fabric, Steam and Seam paper for applique, threads  of different colors, pencil, a template of your choice (the hat of The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss), and left over ribbon.


Sheet Brief Descriptions:

Black Bias Binding

I divided the queen size sheet bed in 4 equal pieces.




Sheet #1 and #2: Black on Black

I did a hem on the necessary sides of the sheet using some orange and black threads. The sheets have some interest on the front with a black bias binding. So, I did not add anything more.

The Cat in the Hat

Sheet #3: The Cat in the Hat

To add some interest on the front of the sheet, I did an applique (almost) in the middle top part of the sheet. I picked the hat of The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss to go with the posters, ceramic characters and mobile in Lucas's bedroom.










Sheet #4: Spiders

I added a piece of fabric on the top of the sheet to have a large bias binding with a ribbon (that I already had about 2" wide) and sewed on top.

Spiders - Flat Bed Sheet

Spiders - Flat Bed Sheet

Happy Earth Month,

Laetitia

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle: Carboard Play Kitchen Set for kids

- A KITCHEN SET - 

Back in December, I made a kitchen set for Lucas as part of his presents from Santa. 4 months later, it is still alive and Lucas has been enjoying it! It keeps him busy in the kitchen when we are preparing a meal, especially dinner, and he likes to pretend making coffee, and muffins, being a chef like Caillou and fixing it to name a few of his kitchen scenarios.

My goal for this project was not to spend a lot of money because I cannot justify spending over at least $70 for this kind of toys/furniture when you can make it yourself using what you have around the house and a lot of imagination. The total cost was around $35.

A Special Delivery from Santa: A Kitchen Set

Overall Dimensions: 40"L x 18.25"W x 29"H


Time: Several months to collect materials and several days to put the different parts of the kitchen together.


Material from Recycling: Boxes of different sizes (shipping boxes like the one you get from Amazon, diapers, food, furniture), leads of different sizes (nut containers, gallon of milk and vitamins), a medium size round container, piece of fabric, number stickers, velcro (from the tag of a free fabric sample ), shoe lases, hot glue gun, screws with nuts, and laminate


Purchased Material and Accessories: White and black contact papers, faucet, hot pads, hooks, apron (from Michaels), empty containers of spices and dishes set (Learning Resources Pretend & Play Kitchen Set by Learning Resources). About the faucet, we had someone who gave us one but had to get rid of it because it was smelling and got a new one. Habitat for Humanities and Dollar Tree are 2 placed to find extra things for few dollars.



I will go over each part of the kitchen set to give you some details about the material, dimensions and description. As you make your own kitchen set be aware of the pieces (small or big, sharp or round) that you will be using. It is made for toddlers so keep in mind that it needs to be safe and sturdy at all time and keep an eye on your little ones as they play with their kitchen set.

_________________________________________

• The Microwave

Material: Small box, white and black contact papers, shoe lase, hot glue gun, velcro, and a laminated template  for the key pad

Dimensions: 10.75"L x 5"W x 7"H

Instructions:

Door
- Cut 3/4 of the front of the box (top, side and bottom),
- Cover the front and back with vinyl paper,
- Cut 1 rectangle with the white vinyl paper for the "window",
- Make 2 holes on the side of the door (around 1" away from the edge) and place the shoe lase to make a "handle".

Key pad
- Laminate a key pad template which must be a little wider than the 1/4 of the box, hot glue it on the small area of the right side of the box.
- Place the sticky part of 2 pieces of vecro on the key pad on the top and bottom (soft side on the door).

• The Stove 

Left Side View of the Kitchen Set

Front View of the Stove and Oven

Material: 1 Shipping delivery box (from Amazon), 1 small rectangular box, white and black contact papers, 1 shoe lase, velcro, and Stickers with numbers (1-5), 5 milk/vitamins lead, 5 screws with nuts, hot glue gun, and 4 big containers' leads (from nuts).

Dimensions: 19"L x 14.5"W x 12.5"H



Instructions:

Stove

- Cover the top and sides of the box.
- Cut a white square using the vinyl paper to fit 3/a of the top with 1" margin for the edge.
- Hot glue the big leads on the white square with the same distance apart.
- Cut 4 circle using the white vinyl and stick them on the top of the containers to represent the "burners". The circles were 1/4" smaller than the containers to see a red rim.



Oven

View of the Oven and Inside

The knobs*
- Make 5 holes around 2" apart as shown on the picture (4 + 1).
- Secure them with screws with nuts.
- Place a sticker with numbers (1 to 5).

Inside of the Oven
- Cut the front of the box from the side to have a door opening from the top. You could cut the door directly from the edge of the box instead of leaving a margin like I did. I did it this way thinking that the frame will facilitate the closing of the door without adding anything, by pushing the top edge of the door a bit inside the oven. It was not that efficient in the long run.
=> Make the following changes to close the door:  *Do this before you do the knobs
- Hot glue a rectangular piece of cardboard that you can fit all the way behind the knobs and wider by 1.5".
- Cover the front piece where the knobs are as a whole with vinyl paper.
- In the middle of this extra piece of cardboard stick a large piece of velcro and do the same on the door and make sure it is aligned.
- Hot glue a small rectangular box to fit inside the oven to place rack or muffin pan on it.

=> The oven is wide enough that it can fit a muffin holder.

Door of the Oven
- Cover the entire front of the door with one color (black here)
- Cut and lay a rectangular piece of vinyl in the middle of the door (white in this case) to represent the "glass" of the oven.
- With a punch holder make 2 holes about 1" from the top and 2" from the sides.
- Pass a shoe lase from 1 hole to the other and till it to represent the "door handle".

• Sink Area: 

Material: 2 diaper boxes (from Target), 1 round and deep Tupperware, 1 small faucet, 1 shoe lase, vinyl contact paper (black and white) and 1 piece of fabric.

Dimensions: 18"L x 14.5"W x 14.25"H



Instructions:

Sink block

- Cut the small flaps of each side of both boxes.
- Push the longest ones inside their own boxes and hot glue them.
- Cover the inside with vinyl paper (white) to reinforce long flaps, protect the inside, and facilitate the pulling and pushing of extra small boxes for storage.


Sink Top

Ready to Wash Dishes

=> (1) The faucet and Tupperware are placed on the right side to leave room for the left side for a strainer or just some extra room. (2) Make sure to try how everything fits because you start cutting.

- Make the necessary hole to place and secure your faucet close to the edge of the box.
- Cut a hole a bit smaller than the circumference of the bowl that you have for your "sink". It should a tilled fit. You might have to make some extra cut until it fells right. Try to leave at least 1" between you faucet and "sink".


Curtain (Use a piece of fabric that you already have or combine few pieces together)

- Make 1 hole on each side of the top box with a punch holder about 1" from the edge
- Take the dimensions of the front of the 2 boxes.
- Make a hem of 1/2" around and leave an inside opening to pass a shoe lase on the top.
- Pass the shoe lase in the right side of the box and make a strong knot, then inside the top opening of the curtain, and go around the top left side and inside the hole on the left side and till it very strongly.

• The Back Base with Clock

Left Side

Right Side

Material: 1 rectangular box (from Target), Vinyl contact paper, hot glue gun, and screws with nuts. A clock template that you can find online with a brass fastener.

Dimensions: 40"L x 3.75"W x 29"H



Instructions:

- Cover the entire box with contact paper with the exception of the sides.
- Place each piece that you made on the front of the base, hot glue then screw and secure it with some extra hot glue on the top of the screw. Place the screw in a hidden spot inside the boxes.
- Laminate the clock and place it where you like and secure it with the brass fastener.
=> When all the "pieces of furniture and appliances" are secured, close the sides by hot gluing the flaps and cover with contact paper.

The clock is next to the microwave.

• The Accessories

Personalized Apron

Material: 1 Apron for kids, tracing paper, and fabric paint.


Instructions:

- Wash the apron.
- Using your computer, chose the font name and size that you like for your apron, type the child's name and print.
- Trace the name over tracing paper on both sides with a pencil.
- Put the tracing paper on the apron where you would like to see the name and trace over the letters very hard using a pencil.
- Write over the letters with fabric paint.
- Let it try on a flat surface for a day.



Hooks

Material: 2 magnetic hooks, a pair of scissors and hot glue gun


Instructions:

- Find a place that you would like to hook.
- Cut them if needed to fit the area that they will be.
- Hot glue the back, place and push to the decided location.

• What does the kitchen set looks like today?

After 4 Months

More Props

The kitchen set is still standing in our kitchen and has been used pretty much everyday. The only part that did not survive well is the oven door. It does not closed anymore. So, please follow the tips that I have provided above to help you. Underneath the sink area, I added a several boxes for storage. On the top left side box you have: food (in the box), egg carton with Easter plastic eggs inside, and a container of long spaghetti (1/4" white Felt). On the bottom (from left to right) you have dishes and spatulas. For the item in the boxes, glue a picture of what it is inside to help your child to facilitate the location of the toys and to clean up as well (I have done done it yet as you can see).

Happy Crafting!

Laetitia

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle: High Chair Cover

A Nice New Cover

Sewing Project: A New Cover for a High Chair 

A friend of mine loaned us a high chair several months after Lucas was born when we started solid food. Lucas was 4 months at the time and used it for over a year. Then, it was time to switch to a booster seat to eat at the table with mom and dad. We made the transition from high chair to booster seat last summer.

As a "Thank You", I decided to make another seat cover. The high chair was around 12 years old. My friend used it for her daughter and was going to pass it to one of her niece who just had a baby girl. The original cover of the high chair, which was in plastic, was ripped at several spots in the seat and was particularly damage around the in-between leg area. The plastic had gotten hard over the years. I did not think to take picture of the original cover to have a "Before" and "After". I was really pleased with the result. It was not has hard as a thought of a project and my friend liked the cover a lot!

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Before you start - Are you thinking to add new features to your new cover? Double check your high chair design

If you want to make some improvement to the cover that you are making make sure that it will fit with the configuration and different functions and options that your high chair offers. I was planing to add a pocket on the back of the chair to add some storage. I could not because the high chair had a recliner options. I also thought about extending the side of the cover (around the front arm resting area) to have it coming down to add pockets as well. It was not possible. On the outside of the side were the locking ecumenism for the table top.


Material:

- 1 to 2 yards of material (small white hearts on red - that I already had)
- Tack thread or regular thread
- Pencil fabric


Template and Steps:

1. I laid down the fabric on the wrong side, placed the cover over it and traced around it. Then I cut 1 inch away from the line I traced and cut it all the way around.

2. Cut your fabric up to the line you traced marking the correct dimension of the high chair. The snips with your pair of scissors should be done every inch or so and even closer around the curvy areas.

Preparing the Hem

View on the sewed Curve

3. I pinned the bottom of the cover and realized really fast that it was too many pins. It was not safe, time consuming, not easy to handle to see  to see if it fits high chair and have it going through the sewing machine.

Too Many Pins

To finish the rest of the cover, I switched for a different option. The best way to shape the fabric along the blue line, defining the correct shape of the high chair cover, and sew the hem was: tacking. It was actually way easier and faster this way to build the hem, sew and try it on the high chair.

Tacking the Hem of the Cover

4. Dealing with Details: Back Cover (a) and Opening for Belt (b). 

(a) To add a longer back cover, I first laid down the new cover on the high chair, which was not tack yet, and placed over the back of the high chair an extra piece of fabric (around 1/4 of a yard) to decide of the length considering the handle on the back of the chair. Then, I roughly pinned the extra piece of fabric with the new cover and cut the extra fabric (of the back) following the curvy shape of the top of the high chair. Finally, I placed the right side of both back and front cover against each other and tacked it together to sew it.

Back View

(b) For the belt opening, I placed the cover in the high chair and made a hole with a small pair of scissors to have it fit at the correct place. I treated the belt hole area as a button hole to have it nice and define on the new cover. It took me sometime to have it done because of the width of the hole.

A Nice and Define Belt Opening

  5. When you are done with the cover try it on the high chair to set if it fits to your taste and make the necessary changes.

Hope it will help you in your new project.

Happy Sewing,  :-)

Laetitia

Easter Dessert: Orange Carrot Cupcakes

- Orange Carrot Cupcakes -

For Easter dessert, carrot cupcakes sounded delicious. So, I made the carrot cake cupcakes from Diana's Desserts for our Easter dinner. She has a lot of wonderful recipes and make sure to try her peanut butter cookie recipe. It is outstanding! It is my to go recipe... Below you will find comments along with pictures about the cupcakes, Mascarpone icing, and garnish following her recipe.

The Cupcakes:

The carrots are in. Almost done!

I followed the instructions of the recipe word for word and used maple syrup. For the step where you are supposed to stir the baking soda and the warmed orange juice make sure you are using a medium size bowl. Once you add the baking soda, you have a chemical reaction happening called carbon dioxide gas. Your mixture will bubble and expand immediately.

Baking those cupcakes for Easter, I used those cute baking cups from Wilton with egg shapes design and pattern with soft colors that I found at my grocery store.

The recipe indicated a total of 10 cupcakes and I made 12. I use an ice cream scoop to fold the batter into the cupcake paper holder (1 scoop in 1 cupcake holder). 

12 Cupcakes Ready to Bake

Out of the Oven

The cupcakes cooked a little bit longer than the 20 minutes suggested to get this nice golden/brown color and let them cool down on a rack where they stay for several hours.



The Mascarpone icing:

The lemon zest is in.

I stuck to the original instruction for the icing and used the Mascarpone. The recipe suggested Mascarpone or cream cheese. I went for the Mascarpone but be aware of its very high in fat content. 2 tablespoons are 130 calories with 120 from fat compared to 70 calories (62 from fat) for regular cream cheese.
I did not use all the icing that I made to cover the cupcakes and had around 1 cup of icing left. I am not a big fan of icing. I think that it masks the taste of the cupcakes. I am sure you can use all of it if your guests are fan of icing ;-)

Garnish:
Because the cupcakes were Easter dessert, I added some Jelly Beans on top and Voila!

- 12 Easter Orange Carrot Cupcakes -

• What do I think of the cupcake?

The cupcake was moist, light and it was very easy to peel off the paper holder. After my first bite, I knew that I had to rename this recipe from carrot cake cupcake to orange carrot cupcake because of the orange flavor. If you are expecting to carrot cake flavor you need to find another recipe. I was disappointing because I was expecting a carrot cake flavor and got an orange flavor. However, the orange flavor of the cupcake was not overpowering and you could taste the maple syrup as well. It is a nice flavor combination. The icing was very creamy and melted in your mouth like butter. I was afraid that it would be a bit too lemony but the flavor is subdued. Even my husband who does not care for lemon liked it. Overall, the cupcakes were tasty and if you like citruses you will definitively love them.

Enjoy!

Laetitia

Vegan Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with Wheat Germ

- Vegan Whole Wheat Bread with Wheat Germ -

This recipe makes 1 loaf of 20 slices (at least).


Ingredients:
- 2 and 1/4 t of yeast
- 2 T agave
- 2 cups water
- 1 and 1/4 t salt
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 3 cups of whole wheat flour + 5/8 cup for kneading

Directions:
1. In a medium size bowl, mix yeast, agave and in warm water (between 100 and 110 degree Fahrenheit) and let it set for 10 minutes.
2. Combine and stir the whole wheat flour, salt and wheat germ in a large bowl.
3. Spray some canola oil in a baking bread pan and set aside.
4. Pour the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and stir well. If the dough is a little bit sticky add around 1/8 of cup of whole wheat flour at the time.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes (add flour as need) and shape it as the same form as you baking pan.
6. Place the dough in the baking pan, cover it with clear plastic paper, place it on the top of the dough and place the pan in the fridge to rise until it doubles in size or over night.
Note: (1) Spray some oil on the side of the clear plastic wrap which will touch the dough to avoid to stick when it will rise. (2) The dough rises pretty fast. I planned to let it rise overnight but after 3 hours  in the fridge I was satisfied with the result and baked it.

Ready to Rise

After Rising for 3 Hours in the Fridge

 

7. After the dough had risen, cut the middle with a knife (1/4 inch in) and sprinkle some whole wheat flour and wheat germ.

8. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degree Fahrenheit or until golden brown.
9. Let it cool down on a rack.

What do I think about the recipe?
Taste: The bread has mild flavor and you do not taste the agave which still surprises me because it has a particular flavor.
Texture: You will notice a soft texture at the first bite which is nice to the palate. Because of it dense texture, the bread holds well when spraying jelly or butter.

This bread is definitively a nice bread for sandwiches and fast and easy to make.

Happy Baking! :-)

Laetitia

Buckwheat Bread Recipe

I was feeling like baking, found some left over buckwheat flour (around a cup) and made this delicious buckwheat bread.

A Delicious Buckwheat Bread!

Ingredients:
- 1 T yeast
- 1 and 1/8 cups of buckwheat
- 1 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour + around 1/2 cup for kneading
- 2 T molasses
- 4 T butter
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup milk + some to brush the top of the bread

Directions:
1. Melt the butter with the milk, and molasses and let it cool down until you reach a temperature of 105 degree. 
2. Pour yeast to the milk mixture and sprinkle just a pinch of white sugar. Let it set for 10 minutes.
2. Grease a bread cooking pan with spray and set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the 2 flours and salt and mix well.
4. Pour the beaten egg in the flour and gradually pour the milk/yeast mixture. Make sure to stir well.
The dough should be slightly sticky at this point.
5. Sprinkle some white flour on your kitchen counter top and start kneading the dough for 10 minutes. After 5 minutes the dough felt nice and soft and kept kneading until I reach the 10 minute mark. I did not had anymore flour as well because it was not needed.
6. Put the dough in the greased pan
7. Cut the top of the bread with a knife.

The signature of the baker

8. Cover the bread with some plastic wrap (spread as well) and let it rise for over 2 hours. 
Tip: To rise my dough, I place it in the oven (off) with the light on and with a steaming cup of almost boiling water.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.
10. Brush the top with some milk.

After rising over 2 hours

11. Bake the bread for 10 minutes at 400 and 15 at 375 or until the top of the loaf is golden brown. 
12. Cool on a baking rack and serve.

A Perfect Loaf

Happy Baking, :-)

Laetitia