Cupcake patch for apron

I made this patch for the apron I'm making for an Apron swap. I'm debating whether to add a cherry on top or not. I've noticed that lots of cupcake items have cherries on top but in reality I rarely see cupcakes with cherries. I'm over thinking this I know but it's something I've noticed :-)

Mobiles

I got into making mobiles when I joined a mobile swap. This is the first one I made but was way too big and with too many strings to mail. However I loved how it turned out. We have it hanging in Monkey's room and it gentle rotates and very sootheing.

Cloth Baby Shoes

I got the pattern for these shoes from Stardustshoes' blog. They were easy to make, required very little fabric, and came out so cute. I'm giving these as a baby gift this weekend at a shower and am also making several more pairs as gifts. So many people I know have babies or babies in the works that this pattern will definitely get used over and over.

Vegan Cupcakes

Cupcake Recipe:
This awesome recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes. Everyone (vegans and non-vegans alike) thought they were great. I think my best compliment was from my mom who asked somewhat suspiciously "Are you sure these are really vegan?"

makes 12 cupcakes
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. Whisk the soy milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and set aside a few minutes to get good and curdled. (Note: I did this but never really got a "good" curdle" - the cupcakes still turned out well though).
3. Beat together the soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, vanilla in a large bowl. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until no large lumps remain. (Note: I hate sifting, so I sifted about 1 a cup of the flour, got impatient and then dumped it all in to mix - again the cupcakes still turned out well!).
4. Fill the cupcake liners two-thirds of the way and back for 20 to 22 minutes till done. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting Recipe:
1 cup vegetable shortening (like crisco)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons water
1 pound of confectioners' sugar (approximately 4 cups)

Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together. Blend until creamy.

CRAFT

Divas, Cool Kids, and more

diva shirt, originally uploaded by sim-san.

So I'm already behind on updating this blog but for good reason :-) I've actually been pretty busy crafting and have lots of progress to report.

A while back Old Navy had a sale on plain kids t-shirts so I loaded up on them figuring that they would be perfect for embellishment. I've made several now for Monkey as well as for gifts. Other t's include "Baby Princess", "Foxy", and "Cool Kid". The rhinestones add that extra sparkle that little girls love :-).

ornament swap

I made these ornaments out of felt for a handmade ornament swap. I like the way that they look folksy. I've discovered that making cute things out of felt is a pretty popular craft in Japan.