Hair Bow Holder

Hair bows for girls... Where do they all come from? How do you collect so many? They seem to multiply and then you can't find the one that you want. At least this was my problem. They were getting cluttered up in the drawers in the bathroom.... I'd seen many different bow hanging ideas on other websites, and at a variety of stores. After much deliberation...I chose to make one large frame to hang on the kids bathroom wall.
I took a framed metal board (made by my brother) and we took out the glass and replaced it with plexiglass to make it lighter. The frame measures 41 inches by 21 inches. Inside measurements of the board are 35.5 inches by 15.5 inches. Then I used two different types of ribbons, one that is green with white polka dots and another one that is an orange ric rac. I have 16 strips of each ribbon and they are each about 18 inches long. For a total of about 8 yards. There are a total of 38 stripes of ribbon, which makes for a grand total of 16 yards of ribbon. Starting with the orange ric rac and then alternating the ribbons, I wrapped them vertically around the glass/plexiglass and the metal and secured them to the back with packing tape. Finally when all of the ribbons were taped into place, I put the ribbon wrapped metal & plexiglass into the frame and secured it.
Then you can start putting all of the clip flowers directly onto the ribbons that are on the board. It helps to hold all the flowers in an organized way and it keeps them from getting lost or crumpled up in a drawer.
My daughter wrapped some headbands around the ribbons as well and that seemed to work for some of the fabric ones.

Ta dah! Done. I put it up high so that the baby can't get into them, but my 9 year old daughter can reach them so she can use them as she desires.

I feel like we use our flowers more and a better variety of them since we can see them all at once.

Felt Flowers For Headbands or Clips

These felt flowers are easy to make and quick. You can make them with as many petals as you want and you can vary the size of the flower based on the size of the petal. Obviously you can make them any color too.

Starting with at least 5 petals, cut them out of your color choice of felt. Using a piece of coordinating thread and a needle, thread them all together. Down on the first side and then up at the bottom of the petal, then down and up, etc. When all the petals are on the thread, you are ready to move to the next step.
Pull on the thread until the petal pull together and form a flower. Thread the needle back into the first petal so that it completes the circle.

Then complete the flower by tying a square knot in the thread and snipping it off. You can use a dab of hot glue to ensure that the thread doesn't come undone.
Next you can add a small rectangle of felt on the back so that it can be added to the headband temporarily. Click on the image to enlarge so that you can clearly see where the rectangle of felt is. Use hot glue on the edges of the rectangle and attach it to the flower.

Attach a jewel in the middle of the front of the flower to finish it off. Voila... Done! Ready to wear.Slip the rectangle onto a headband and place it where you want it. You can have it on top or on the side. This keeps your options open. Plus when you are done wearing the flower, you can remove it from the headband and it won't get squished. You can also put this flower on a clip.

Here it is on the my two daughters. Cute. Simple.

Pirate Cake

Here is the bottom layer of the cake. I didn't pull out my camera soon enough to capture every step of the cake making process. The bottom while plate is a rotating turn table. then the pink and black layers are from IKEA. They are just think plastic sheets that I added under the cake for some color and decoration. The cake is a Chocolate Crazy Cake. Here is the recipe:

{{Crazy Cake}}

3 cups flour

6 tablespoons Cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Whisk and combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then make three holes in the flour for the liquid ingredients.

2/3 cup oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons vinegar

2 cups water

Pour oil, vanilla and vinegar each into a separate hole. Then pour the water over and beat together until almost smooth. Pour batter into a prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until tested done.

Then I made a Basic Buttercream frosting (below) to coat the cakes and tinted it pink using Wilton Pink Icing...

and then covered the frosted cakes with a homemade Marshmallow Fondant (below).

Basic Buttercream Icing

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1 lb.)

2 tablespoons milk Makes: About 3 cups of icing.

(Medium Consistency): In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

For thin (spreading) consistency icing, add 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, water or milk.

Marshmallow Fondant

16 ounces mini marshmallows (buy the best quality and brand you can find if fondant will be eaten, if used just for decorating, a cheaper marshmallow can be used)

2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted (important to sift because it will remove the lumps that won’t go away during mixing)

4 tablespoons water (if making the fondant to be eaten, replace 1-2 tablespoons of the water with vanilla)

shortening for greasing everything, bowl, spatula, mixing bowl, dough hook, countertop, etc.

1.Put the marshmallows and water in a large microwave-safe bowl that has been greased with shortening. Microwave on high for about 1 minute, until the marshmallows are all melted. The mixture will expand. Stir to incorporate. (After mixing the marshmallows smooth, this is a good time to add coloring if you want to have colored fondant.)

2.Grease the dough hook and bowl of your mixer really well with shortening.

3.Put about 3/4 of the powdered sugar to the mixer bowl and add all of the melted marshmallows.

4.Mix on low speed for a few minutes then check the consistency of the fondant. It will probably still be a little sticky at this point. If it is, add some of the remaining powdered sugar and mix again for a minute or so. Repeat this step until the fondant is firm and neither dry or sticky.

5.Turn out on to a clean, firm work surface that has been slightly greased by shortening and knead by hand just for a minute until there are no flecks of dry powdered sugar remaining. Wrap in cling wrap and let the fondant rest for at least an hour before using.

We rolled fondant balls in both pink and black to add to the base of the cakes. I had made a full batch of white marshmallow fondant and then dyed a small portion pink and an even smaller amount black. The balls are all supposed to be shaped irregularly, and then left the rest of the fondant white.

We rolled out and cut the fondant. Here is the pink fondant that we are cutting into strips using a pizza cutter.

First we cut 3/4 to 1 inch strips...

Then smaller 1/4 inch strips in between.

Here's the second layer, frosted with pink buttercream and then covered with white fondant. Then we used pre-made black frosting from a tube to write the number 9 and the trails for the "treasure map" portion of the cake. Pink fondant are the "X" marks the spot.

Finally we cut a circle of black fondant for the cake topper. I was going to make a skull out of fondant and then I had a new idea. I had a Stampin' Up rubber stamp set (Just Jawing) that I had been using for her invitations, party favors and other such things, I pressed the stamp image into the top of the cake and it left an impression. Stamps aren't just for making cards anymore!

I followed the impression with frosting and essentially drew the skull on top with cute heart eyes. Now it matched everything else at the party! YAY!

To finish it off we added one simple rose to the top of the skull. It is of course a girl skull for a GIRLS pirate party! I thought it was perfect. I wrote her name at the top and Happy Birthday on the bottom.

TA DAH! I think it LOOKS MARVELOUS!!