so good to be back

Hello Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything. I think I have been in a "creative funk" (at least that's what I am calling it). Whoa My Darling is moving in a new and exciting direction! While I love posting about the incredible things other people do, I would really like to post about things I have been dabbling in.

                                                     [Image from Dots and Stripes Events]
BAKING! Every time I see a cute little bakery somewhere, all I can think about is how fun it would be to own my own bakery. The next best thing: filling my recipe box with lovely and delicious recipes! This process includes trying countless recipes, some tweaking, and a TON of butter. Slowly my recipes are coming together and I can't wait to share them with you.

Some other fun things I have been trying my hand at are wire lace and resin jewelry-so much fun. I see some great tutorials in the near future.

[Image from Life With Sprinkles on Top]

diy:: diaper cake

Last week I made a diaper cake to send to my cousin for her baby shower. It was so hard waiting to put the pictures up, but I had to wait for the shower. This was my first attempt at making a diaper cake and I think it came out quite well!

Since I was mailing my diaper cake across the country, I made it a little bit smaller than most that I have seen. I used 100 diapers, 4 receiving blankets, 6 onesies, 2 bibs, 2 hats, 2 pairs of socks, 1 security blanket, ribbon, and various items to add on ( teething ring, book, pacifiers, rattles).

The first step is creating the ring of diapers. I used 4 different sized cake pans and spiraled the diapers inside longways (that sounds confusing-the picture will help). I did this until I couldn't fit any more diapers and tied it with ribbon to stay.

Then, I removed them from the cake pans and used safety pins to attach a receiving blanket to each tier (I folded the receiving blankets to match the height of the diapers). Once I was ready to stack them, I put a wrapping paper tube down the center to keep the tiers together. You don't need to worry about your safety pins showing because they will be covered up.

Now begins the fun part! Start draping any onesies, bibs, hats, and socks that you have. I spread mine apart and varied them between tiers making sure I could still see the cute receiving blankets! There is no need to pin them on because next, wrap ribbon around each tier to hold everything together. Make sure to cover your pins!



Now add any teething rings, rattles, books, or pacifiers you have. I also created bows from the ribbon and added them to various tiers.

Finally, for the top I stuffed the security blanket into the first tier to cover the diapers.

Now it's all ready to go!

do-it-yourself

Tonight I started thinking about thinks that I really like.

[Image from Mit Museum]

...mostly just things I don't really need, but want.

One thing I am terrible at is starting projects and then forgetting about them. I have had some oilcloth to make myself a lunch tote for over a month now. I will have it finished by the weekend and I will put the tutorial on here!

[Image from CT Pub Blog]

This will be the first of many DIY projects to come.

DIY::This week

I finally finished the skirt I was making! With quite a bit of help. Now I can't wait to dive into another sewing project.

I was at a craft store last week and found Styrofoam balls in the floral department. I got a few five inch ones and glued red and white carnations to them. I didn't realize how many it would take to cover! And apparently red carnations are very popular around the holidays. Luckily I found some at a grocery store. They came out great but I doubt they will last long.

Bittersweet Ending

There as been so much going on lately I don't know where to begin. This semester of school has come and gone so quickly. I decided to make all the kids in the third grade class I was in goody bags. It's amazing the effect these can have on kids!

Each year for Thanksgiving I try to think of something new to use as the centerpiece on the table. This year I came across this wonderful idea in a Martha Stewart magazine. It was a simple find. I used real apples, limes, lemons, cranberries, and pears, brushed egg white onto them, and covered them in sugar. They took a few hours to dry, but they lasted for a good week after the holiday.