Safari Baby Shower Cake!!

One of my dear friends is getting ready to have a baby. I had all these wonderful ideas of baby cakes to do going through my head for her shower. However, when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted she said she wanted it to be safari themed. I was dumb founded and unsure what to do, I mean I had tons of ideas in my head but nothing to the effect of a safari themed. This is what I came up with, and I hope you all like it.

Sorry that this picture is far away, and one of the monkeys has fallen over..this is the view from the top of the cake

This is the top part of the cake!

From the side angle..sorry about the mess in the back ground!!

Spiral Scarf

Spiral scarf for sale
Adults 2 color scarf 15.00
Adults 3 color scarf 18.00
kids 2 color 10.00
kids 3 color 12.00
If you provide your own yarn I will do it for 6.00

Cheap Christmas Idea

First off I want to say that I am very sorry that it has been a while since my last post. I have been very busy lately, but I will try and fix that and post more often. I know Christmas is a few weeks a way still, but I don't like to be one of those last minute Christmas shoppers, so therefore I like to start early. I wanted to share with you a cheap idea to make if you need one of those last minute gifts you weren't expecting to buy. I have a couple people that buy me cheap gifts every year so I made them this cheap gift this year. I do want to say that I am sorry for the photo quality a head of time, I was in a hurry.

First I chose a nail polish color that fit them. The next thing I did was take those free paint strips and cut them in a shape of a tree. I added a brown stem from some cardboard I had laying around in my craft box. I wrote on their "for your mistle toes". This project took me all of about 5 minutes. Now you could also decorate the tree if you wanted to, I choose not to because I got one of those .49cent staking to place the item down in and I didn't want things to fall off.

Golf Birthday Cake

My husband really enjoys golfing. When I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday in May he had told me he wanted a golf cake. I thought hmmm a golf cake, and really had no idea where to go with it from there. Here is the cake that I decided to make him.

This type of cake can be made for the golfer in your family for any occasion. It was simple to make. I used an 8in round pan, I cut a hole in the cake. I used a small star tip to icing the cake.

From Pringles can to Pasta can

So, I have decided that we need to start being more frugal in our household. we throw to much away that can be reused over and over again, saving us money in the long run. In today's society who doesn't want to save some money. Today, I am going to be showing you an easy DIY that can save you at least 10.00. In my household we never eat a whole box of pasta in one setting. I have been wanting to purchase a pasta holder for sometime, but can never justify spending at least 10.00 on one. Today when I was finishing up the Pringles I thought to myself this is the perfect thing I need to hold my pasta, and it is one less thing going into my city landfill that is only about 2 miles from me.

First you will need your empty Pringles can. I washed mine out when I was finished eating the chips.

Then I chose a light purple scrap booking paper. You could choose any color of your choice, in fact you don't have to wrap it in scrap book paper if you don't want (I just thought it would be easier not to get confused when I do have Pringles, or so I want get excited about there being Pringles only to find pasta in it.) This week when I get to go to Michaels, I will be getting some scrap book stickers and write pasta down the side of it (I just didn't have any in my craft box)

Then add your pasta and your good to go.

Strawberry Cheesecake bites. Yummy!!

So, I was surfing the internet one day looking for something new to make to family gatherings that I thought would be quick and easy to make and the family would love. I found this recipe from Nutmeg Nanny, and had to try it. This DIY food item is so easy to make, I just finished making them. I am sure (or at least hoping they will be hit at Cory's Grandpa's birthday party tomorrow.

First thing you will want to do is wash the strawberries.

Nest you will want to cut the top of the strawberry off. I did this as close to the green as I could get.

Then I cut the bottom of the strawberry just a little bit so that the strawberry would be able to stand by itself on a plate without falling over.

I then used this nifty tool I got free from Krogers for watching a demo to hollow out the inside of the strawberry. Note you wont have to take much out of most of the strawberries because they will already be hollow inside. You could also use a knife if you don't have this nifty tool.

I then put my cream cheese filling in the strawberry. Since I do cakes I used one of my cake bags with a tip to put the filling in. If you don't have this at home don't worry about going out and buy it. You can put the filling in a ziploc bag and cut the corner out it will work just the same.

Then you dip your strawberry (cream cheese filled side down) into your gram cracker crust and they are ready to serve.

This is what the final product looks like. I really hope that you enjoy these.

Strawberry Cheesecake bites
Ingredients:
1 lb Large strawberries
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Graham cracker crumbs (follow recipe on box for this)

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry and the bottom. Remove the top and clean out the middle with nifty tool or knife. Set strawberries aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc bag with corner cut off. Fill Strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once Strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately refrigerate until serving.

Thank you Nutmeg Nanny for the recipe. Let me know how you like the recipe once you try it.

Elisabeth Bradley's baby shower cake

Making cakes is one of my favorite things to do. When I got asked about a month ago to do a baby shower cake, I knew just what to make. I have always wanted to make a 3-d rubber duck cake. When she asked me to make it she had originally asked me to make it a brownie, but brownies don't rise like cake does and it was next to impossible to work with. So I used a devil's chocolate cake recipe and then made some brownie cupcakes with rubber ducky flags on them.

This is what the cake looked like before I left for the shower.

When I got to the shower I added three butterflies made of icing and three little rubber ducks to make it go with the baby shower.

This is what the final table looked like. I hope that you all enjoy it. Add me on facebook,                       cake-monkey ByAshley-Taylor. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I enjoyed making it

Baby Blanket

Hey everyone, first off I want to say I am sorry that it has been 2 months since my last post I have been busy crocheting a lot of blankets. Today I am going to be posting a baby blanket that I have mad for one of my mom's best friends daughter who is having a baby in may =-). Also I will be making sure not to let it go this long between my post's. Sometime within in the next few weeks I will post the rest of the blankets I made, I will also be posting several DIY projects before long so please check back.

Sorry that the picture is kind of hard to see I had a hard time finding the right angle and lighting to take the picture. I hope you enjoy. I am also selling baby blankets for 25.00 each plus shipping and handling like this. If you would like to order yours today please send me a message of the colors you are wanting. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks to be made thank you.

A birthday cake for Kira

So my sister's birthday is Feb. 5th and this is the first birthday she has with my wonderful niece. So I made this wonderful cake from her from my niece that can't even talk yet lol.

A browine Cake

Making cakes is probably one of my favorite things to do. A little while ago my mom (who helps with the making of the cakes) and I were asked if we could make a cake out of brownies for a wedding. We were told that they didn't really like cake nor did they like icing. My mom and I told them that we could, but were a little unsure of what the finished product would like like. This is what we came up with and I think it turned out great.

Check out my cake monkey facebook page for more cakes that I have made. I think this link will take you there https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002806223045. My facebook name is cake-monkey byashley-taylor. If you live in central Ohio and would like me to do your wedding cake send me a private message. I also do cakes for other occasions as well.

Magazine coasters

I have quit a few magazines just laying around the house. I always hate to just throw my magazines out for the weekly recycling just because they seem to cost so much to buy.  I have been reading articles about upcycling. Upcycling is taking something that is useless and recycling into something that can be used.  I have also read on several articles on-line about magazine coasters, and I thought to myself why not. So I decided to give it a try with a basic basket weaving technique that I knew. I will post later how to make these step by step once I make some more. I wasn't sure how they would turn out so I didn't take pictures a long the way as I made it. I am also selling a 4 set of these coasters for $5.00 plus shipping and handling. If you would like to order some just leave me a comment with your email address or email me. It may take me a little bit to make them I already have a few request for these.

I think on the next set of these that I make I am going to add clear packing tape over the paper so that it wont get ruined from water.

Record Bowls

First off I would like to say that I am sorry that it has taken me 10 days to post something else on my blog. I have been very busy. I really hope you enjoy what I have made today record bowls. I got this idea from someone a while back and have been wanting to try it but I couldn't really part with any of the records I already had. So I bought a polka record at the thrift store on half off day which made it 45 cents. I got one that came in a sleeve so that I could use the sleeve for another project. =-). The first thing I did was turn my oven to 350. I decided to use a square bowl because I thought that it would make a fun shape, but you can use a round bowl, a rectangle one, or an oval one. Just make sure the record is bigger then the bowl or it wont work out well. Depending on what you are wanting it for would really depend on the shape.

The first thing I did was set my oven to 350 and picked the record I wanted to use.

I then chose what shape I wanted my record bowl to be. I went with a square bowl because I had a square candle that I thought this would make the perfect holder for. I then put the bowl and the record in the oven. I recommend standing right there because it will literally take seconds for the bowl to heat up and start to bend. I also recommend putting it on a cookie sheet so that it will be easy to pull out of the oven.

This is how my bowl turned out. I am pretty happy with it because it turned out the shape I wanted it. I do think with a round bowl you might be able to get a few more waves in it, but remember no two bowls will look alike it just depends how the oven heats that record up and how quickly you get to it to bend it.

So I put my candle and my rocks in it and whala I have a new way to display my candles. You can also use these bowls to store things in them, my husband brought up that the square ones could also be used as an ashtray, you would just need to put a little piece of duck-tape on the bottom.  If you would like some record bowls and don't have time to make them or don't want to risk making them I will make them and sell them for $5.00 plus shipping and handling a bowl. Just send me an email or comment on this post.

Handmade Butterflies and a handmade card

So I learned today how to make paper origami butterflies. They are so easy to make and can be used on a number of things. I chose to put them on a card and I made an envelope for the card and chose to stick one on the outside of the envelope. I think these butterflies will also be good to put in a scrapbook, or on the outside of packages.

  I used yarn to tie the butterfly shut and the top serves as the butterfly antennas. You could also use ribbon or a piece of fabric. I just had an abundance of yarn. I went though my scrap book paper to find the colors that would match with my card stock. I recommend if you make the butterflies to use scrap book paper as opposed to card stock because it is easier to fold.

This is the envelop that I have made for my card.

The pink is the card. The picture doesn't do the envelop justice. The envelop is a pastel green color that matches the pink really well. If you end up making one of these I recommend that you hot glue the butterfly on to the card stock. If you would like me to make you a card that looks like this it will cost $4.00 plus shipping. Just leave me a comment with the color's you would like.

Above is the template I used to make the butterfly. I then folded it up like a paper fan, and tied it in the middle with yarn. I hope you enjoyed this post.

Valentine's gift Idea

I really enjoy making something each year for my husband for valentines day. This year I was having a hard time coming up with something that I haven't already done for him. Then I decided to make this

(sorry that the photo quality is so bad, the lighting in my house today wasn't the greatest) I took a deck of Playing cards and one of the jokers (I threw the rest of jokers and card game cards in the trash). On the joker card I wrote out 52 reasons why I love you, then on each card I wrote one reason why I love my husband. I was going to type out all the reason and then glue them on but I know my husband likes it when I take the time to write things out so that is what I did.  So for about 3.00 I have made a valentines gift that my husband will love forever. If you do this project I recommend writing out all the reasons first so that way you don't end up repeating yourself on the cards. Once I completed the cards I realized that the cards no longer fit back in their original box because I used card stock. So I made this box to put them in. If you don't know how to make a box I will post a template later on this month once I get the chance to scan it in. Also you could use any type of box that you like.

  

These boxes are super easy to make and I will post a template later this month when I have time to upload the template.

Handmade Cards

So I learned today how to make cards and I think they turned out really great

This one is one I am willing to sell for 4.00, If you would like to buy a card and want different colors just let me know =)


This card below is the card I made for Cory's grandma's birthday in March, I think she will love it.

I also made the envelops to go with it. I found that this is very stress reducing. So I am sure I will be making a ton of these cards for everyone in my family at some point =)

Scarfs

So my husband has baby cousins that are 6. I wanted to make them something that I knew they would be able to cherish, so I decided on making them scarfs. I probably should have made them the same colors, but oh well. For their birthdays in March I am crocheting them purses that will be the same colors (post to follow once the purses are complete)

This scarf was for his cousin Loren. I really like these two colors together, and these are the two colors that I am making for the purses for their birthday.

This is the scarf I made for his cousin Kara. I think both scarfs turned out really well, I just wish I would have made both of them really bright instead of just one.

Mark and Emily's wedding cake

Add caption

One of my favorite things to make is cakes!! I have my own cake business that I am just starting out of my house called cake monkey! This is a wedding cake that I did for my cousin Mark back in August when he got married to Emily. This is one of my favorite cakes that I have made so far this year. 

Getting Started

So I decided that for this I was going to try and blog. I really enjoy making things and being extremely thrifty. I will be sharing through out the year some of the things I make, along with some of the thrifty ideas I have. I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I am going to enjoy making it! =). It may take me some time to figure out how everything works to be able to fully get started.