Come visit me over at UCreate with kids today.

I'm over at UCreate with kids today!

I was so honored when Becky asked me to join her and her readers today. Head on over and see what took us three tries to get it right. It was not because it was hard to make. Our first try was lost due to my computer not wanting to upload all of my photo's. Our second try, well let's just say this momma was not paying attention and the baby got a hold of it. But our third time was a charm! It was definitely one of those crazy momma days!

So head on over to UCreate with kids to see our masterpiece, cuz I deserve an award just for getting this one done!

How to make your own cupcake liners.

The kiddo's wanted to make Daddy some cupcakes for Father's Day. So we mixed our batter and were ready to put them into the liners when I realized I had no cupcake liners. EEK! Not able to get to the store I racked my brain on what I could use instead. Of course baking a cake instead never crossed my mind. The kiddo's wanted to make cupcakes and I was going to find a way to make those cupcakes. Because afterall cupcakes and cake taste so differently...am I right?! Looking through my drawers I came up with the idea of using parchment paper. And much to my surprise it worked great! Actually I love the idea of it. It takes a bit longer to do it this way, but once in awhile it will be fun to do for the kiddo's.

Wanna make your own liners? Here's how:
You will need parchment paper, regular and fancy scissors, a glass and your cupcake pans.
Rip off a 7" piece of parchment paper.
Cut it in half.
Then center the piece of paper evenly over one of the holes in the pan.
Take your glass and push down the parchment paper. Make sure the paper is even on all sides, or as close as possible.
Now take your fingers and press the folds flat against the sides of the pan.
Take the glass out and flatten the parchment paper some more against the sides of the pan.
Now take some fancy scissors and trim the sides, or cut into shapes if you want. The kiddo's wanted to make flowers for Daddy, so I attempted to make some flowers.
Use a large scoop to scoop the batter into the liners. Make sure you don't get any batter on the sides...it's just not pretty.
Make sure you give the kiddo's their own pan to fill up. I'm a bit OCD and could never let the kiddo's get my cupcake liners all messy on the sides. Yup, that's how I am...sorry!

Bake your cupcakes per instructions. Ours baked a little longer then usual because we used jumbo muffin pans. We like BIG cupcakes.
We attempted to make sunflowers and some purple flowers.
But as you can see, I'm not the best at decorating cupcakes as flowers, that's alright the kiddo's loved them just the same.
The best part is that they can eat right from the cupcake liner. Easy clean-up and fun for the kiddo's.
While the kiddo's like their cupcakes decorated like flowers, I'm all about peanut butter frosting with some mini Reese's and a peanut butter topping.

Happy Baking!

Fat Quarter Friday {Clothespin Bag Tutorial}

A few weeks ago our store bought clothespin bag finally gave out and I have been storing our clothespins in a plastic Walmart bag...cringe! Even the hubby made a comment last weekend on how he was shocked that I haven't made a clothespin bag yet. So this week, I made a clothespin bag. I wanted a bag that was not made with a clothes hanger and one that would have ties to attach to my laundry basket as well as my clothesline. I also knew I wanted it to have a drawstring on the top to keep the clothespins from falling out. I really love how this little bag came out and I think it fits my laundry needs perfectly. This bag is very quick to make and will definitely make hanging the clothes out on the line much easier...or at least prettier. Clothespin Bag Tutorial(takes about 1-2 hours to complete)

Materials Needed:
* 2 fat quarters in contrasting fabrics

Cut your two fat quarters into the following sizes:

Main fabric:
1 piece at 20" x 14" (bag)

1 piece at 21" x 3" (part of the drawstring)

Contrasting fabric:
3 pieces at 20" x 3" (large ties and button flap)
1 piece at 7" x 3 1/2" with rounded edges (bottom of bag)
2 pieces at 20" x 2" (ties for the drawstring)

Start by making the large ties for the bag. Take 2 of the 3 pieces that are 20" x 3". Fold right sides together and sew along one side. Make the ends pointy if you want. Leave one side open for turning right side out. You do not have to do anything to the open end since it will be sewn into the bag later. You should now have two ties.

Now take the other piece that is 20" x 3" and fold the two ends together with right sides facing. The piece should now be 10" long by 3" wide.

Sew along all 3 sides and once done, turn right side out. Iron flat and then top stitch around 3 sides. This is going to be the buttoned flap.

Gather the main fabric piece that is 20" x 14" and pin right sides together. Piece of fabric should be 10" x 14" when pinned together. Sew just the open side.

Now take the 7" x 3" piece of fabric and round the edges slightly. Pin in place onto the bottom of the bag piece. Sew. Searge or zig-zag unfinished edge.

Turn right side out.

Take the 21" x 3" piece of fabric and fold both edges in twice to hide raw edges. Top stitch ends.

Now gather all of the pieces you have put together so far.

Pin the ties and buttoned flap onto the bag like shown in the picture below.

Now take the 21" x 3" main colored piece of fabric and fold it so that the wrong sides are touching and right sides are facing out. Working with the folded edge on the bottom pin around the top of the bag. You are going to pin right over the ties and buttoned flap that you just pinned in place.

Sew. Searge or zig-zag stitch unfinished edge.

Fold piece inside of bag and iron flat. Top stitch all around the top of the bag. Make sure you don't sew the ties or flap down by mistake.

Now gather the 2 pieces of fabric that are 20" x 2". Sew the two pieces of fabric together to make one long piece of fabric. Now fold right sides together and sew along the open side. Turn right sides out and iron flat. Fold edges in or make them pointy.

Pull tie through opening in the top of the bag. Now you have your drawstring bag.

Add a button or some Velcro to the flap piece.

Don't forget to add your tag if you have one and add any embellishments.

Now fill with clothespins and your ready to do some laundry!

I love that my clothespins will no longer be falling out.

And that it ties perfectly around my laundry basket handle.

Or will secure perfectly onto my clothesline.

**Please feel free to use this tutorial for your personal sewing projects. You may link this to your blog and use any photo's. Just please be kind and give credit where credit is due.**

Any questions or comments please do not hesitate to contact me. If you make one using this tutorial, please add it to my flickr group. I would love to see it and you just might see it featured on my blog someday!