Last week was spirit week at the girls’ school and I have to admit that crazy hair day is something we all really look forward to. This year the girls wanted big bouffants. They are in love with the book Big Bouffant and were convinced it was the perfect style. I spent the night before watching youtube videos and then scheming ways to do it with less work. This is what we ended up with (possibly a little less pretty than a real 60′s beehive, but it only took about 20 min. to accomplish and the girls were thrilled. I thought it was pretty darn fun too. )
Emily with her petit bouffant (I think it looks like Suess hair)
Meg with la grande bouffant. It was pretty darn impressive in person.
…and Amanda sporting her daily occurring crazy hair–post nap hair. She manages to pull it off though.
So I did a wedding cake last week and the super-cute bride, Sid, wanted a ruffle tier. Here is the finished wedding cake.
While I was experimenting to get the ruffle technique down, I tried it for Megan’s birthday cake. I LOVE it for a 2 or 3 layer cake. I think the ruffles on the top add a lot. It is definitely a technique I’ll use again. It is so easy to do. Here is Meg’s cake, just 2 layers and made with some strawberries blended into the buttercream frosting. The strawberry was fairly subtle and SO yummy with the chocolate cake!
You can see that the consistency of the frosting makes a big difference in the finished look of the ruffles. I think both have their charms. For a more rounded ruffle, you’ll want your frosting to be the usual thinner consistency usually used for spreading. The wedding cake frosting is a little thicker, like you would do for making flowers, etc.
This is my recipe for buttercream frosting:
1/2 c. butter at room temp.
1/2 c. shortening
2 lbs powdered sugar (about 2.3 lbs for the wedding cake consistency)
1/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
Cream the butter and shortening then add about 1/4 of the bag of powdered sugar. Then mix in milk and flavorings and salt. Finish adding in remaining sugar, a bit at a time, until desired constancy is reached. Tint and readjust sugar if needed. If the frosting is too thick, add no more than a teaspoon of light corn syrup and whip for a few minutes, then add a little more if needed. Make sure to give it plenty of time to mix before adjusting.
I also tried ruffles on some cupcakes. I thought it turned out cute and decided to share a tutorial that is a little rough, but get the job done.
We have had a week jam-packed and frosted on top with fun. Megan’s birthday was on Wednesday (party plan and a cupcake tutorial to follow soon) and the excitement just hasn’t slowed. Today was my favorite day and I had to share quick, so you can get in on the fun. Megan, Emily, and I went to see Mary Poppins at the Capitol theater.
The production was amazing. It was so much fun to see the reactions on the girl’s faces as they watched Burt walk up the walls or Mary Poppins actually fly over our heads. It was the most spectacular show I have seen. Even the scenery is amazing. The Banks’ home actually opened up like a doll house. It was awesome!
There were also several new musical numbers and a little deeper story line. I just loved Mr. Banks’ nanny and the awesome candy store in the park. I wish I could find a picture that showed the store clerks’ awesome wigs and bustles. There was so much going on, I could hardly decide what to look at.
The very kind people at Broadway Across Americaoffered some Utah Mamas tickets to enjoy this chime-chim-sheree of a good time, but we were so excited that we were happy to purchase another ticket so both of the big girls could experience it. After having seen it, it would be worth it to buy all three tickets over again. Mary Poppins runs until the 25th. So wince a little as you enter your credit card to pay for the seats, but do it anyway. You won’t be sorry! (As always, even though I did not buy all of the tickets, my opinion is mine alone…and I really loved this play!)
Emily had her first day of school and was so thrilled. I don’t think her cute little grin could be bigger. As a kindergartener, usually she would get a special date with Grandma Lu to pick out a school outfit. I got to fill in for her and loved shopping with this little shopaholic. Thanks Grandma Lu, she loved it! Here she is sporting her new threads:
Meg played it a little cooler on her first day-after all, she is a big kid-rockin’ second grade. But you could tell she was pretty excited. I love it! We had a whirlwind summer, and I am not sure I am really ready for it to be over; but I am looking forward to getting back into a routine. Maybe I’ll even visit my blog a little more often. I’ve got some fun stuff to share. (wink)
If you are in the SLC area, you will definitely want to make a trip over to the Headbands and hardware huge clearance sale. They are marking everything down to retail to clear it out-that means seriously cute stuff for REALLY cheap! It is being held in my yard, so don’t forget to say hi to me! Also, mention Leap Into Art at checkout for a free gift with your purchase. See you there!
aka: What I have been doing for the last few months.
In January, I received the call to chair the committee for our Stake’s float and it has been fun to learn about how these things are made. (Here’s a hint-think out of the box–as in scrape, scrounge, and hack it together.) It has been a ton of work, but also a lot of fun. The very best parts: the cute kids wiggly and giggly in their costumes, excited to be in a parade as well as working with awesome women that I have come to LOVE–a ton! Here are some pics of the finished product.
My little WWII nurses. We had the kids in each ward dress up from the different eras represented on our genealogy tree.
My girls! We have spent a lot of hot sweaty hours together.
Phew, nothing like seeing the end of a big project!
I know, it has been forever, right? I am jumping back into blogging now that I am done with my giant float project (more on that to come). Earlier this week, Megan received a package and it has had her smiling ever since. My dear friend Terrie (aka: the fairy doll mother to my girls, aaka All Dolled Up Doll Clothes) connected me with a very sweet and generous doll collector, Barb, who was looking for a little girl to love her Josephina American Girl Doll. When a package arrived for Megan on Tuesday (amidst some serious room cleaning), Meg kept saying that she wished it was Josephina. She has been reading the Josephina books and mentioning how much she wants the doll for her birthday. I was excited, but told her that we should finish working on her room then open the package. The room cleaning did not wrap up that night. (I love how my girls clean their room, it is 85% playing with 5% cleaning and 10% whining/general distraction.) Feeling like I had to stick to the plan, which Meg actually agreed readily to, we agreed that she would finish the last section in the morning and open the box. Let me just say that in the end, I got a 6:20 wake-up call to do some quiet cleaning with m darling girl, while Emily slept 15 feet away. It was-ahem-lovely, well at least by the time we got to the opening. Here is Megan opening her box. http://youtu.be/teDsP6c49o8
I kept cracking up at the way she was acting, she was so shy about it and just had this huge smile. Every time I turned the camcorder on, she demurred. Maybe she knew I planned to share it. Anyway, I wanted to let Barb know what a magical effect she has had on our family. Megan is so in love with Josephina. It has been fun to watch her play and talk to her. Yesterday morning, she crawled into bed to snuggle with me (doll in tow, of course) and asked how long I thought Josephina would stay with her. When I told her that I thought forever, she just beamed. Gotta love girls and their dolls (and I have to say that I am a big American Girl fan. I know they are kind of expensive, but I love that they have great strong character stories, are well made and promote kid play. I am not calling Barbie a hoochie mama or anything, but I am really happy the girls would rather play with the AG girls, for sure!)
Thanks again, Barb! We may not know you, but we sure do love you around here!
Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, aka Grandma Banana; we love you!
Happy Mother’s Day to Grandma Lu! We love and miss you and wish we could sing to you in person, but this will have to do while you are on “your mission to outer space” (says Emily). As you can see, we are as chaotic as ever! I really wish we were having our traditional Jensen Mother’s Day dinner of burgers and such–all made by the men. Love you!
I have to admit that Easter dresses are one of my favorite things. My Mom found the big girls’ dresses months ago and we both fell in love with them. She really went above and beyond though when she made a matching dress for Amanda. (Holy cow! The woman can sew!) I have been horrible about blogging; but I know Grandma Lu will want to see. And we certainly did miss our Jensen Easter fun. So for her, here are are my darling girlies playing after church.
Save me from all of these “helpers!”
…and my Easter morning hunt shot:
Don’t forget to save some egg shells to make egg shell mosiacs! Megan can barely wait to make them again. We’ll post pictures soon.
Today is my little sis’ 28th birthday. She died of cancer 10 years ago in May. For some reason, this birthday has been a really hard one for me. So I wanted to share some Koryn things. (Hopefully the 3 of you who still read my blog don’t mind.)
Koryn really loved this bit! She taped it on her “happy tape.” I really love that she had a happy tape.
She also loved this commercial. But especially at the time she was diagnosed. We reenacted this many times, giggling uncontrollably as we chorused “It’s really big. I’m serious.” in her hospital room. I think everybody thought we had lost it (at least a little). We just needed the humor to cope. You know me. I laugh. a lot. She does too.
This song is just mine and it perfectly encapsulates my feelings about loosing her and the feel of that time. My Mom used to call us Mutt and Jeff; I didn’t know who they were, but that is pretty good label for us. …two peas in a giggly, cheesy, happy pod. I miss you Koryn and olive you a lot.
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