Recipe: Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Sauce

Happy Halloween!!!

I know.
Right?
The title AND the picture alone is enough to leave you drooling.
I LOVE this cake.
I have no idea where the recipe came from, just that my Grandmother and Mom have been making it for as long as I can remember.

....and let's use up all those good apples that you got on sale at the store!

This is an insanely simple desert to make --- and I am all about simplicity when it comes to baking.
But I am also about the *wow* factor too.
You'll come to learn soon enough; that I love to create food that is simple, yet has a great effect in taste as well as beauty.

Ingredients for cake:

     1 cup granulated sugar                                                                     1 1/2 cups flour
     1/2 cup butter at room temperature (1 stick)                                    1 tsp baking soda
     2 eggs                                                                                             1/2 tsp cinnamon
     3 large apples; peeled & diced (use a potato peeler)                        1/2 tsp nutmeg
     1/2 cup chopped nuts (your choice--& totally optional) 

Directions for cake:

~preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x9 pan.
~Cream together the sugar, butter and eggs.
~Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the sugar mixture.
(HINT: the dough will be really thick, almost like a cookie dough -- that's ok)
~Stir the diced apples in -- by hand -- add the nuts (if you so choose) and put in your pan.
~Bake for about 45 minutes. -- Just watch it, you'll know when it is done: the center won't be wobbly and it will be nice and brown (tan is not done).

Caramel Sauce ingredients:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whipping cream, non-whipped (1/2 pint)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tblsp flour

Directions for Sauce:

~ Mix the flour and granulated sugar in a small bowl.
~Put the rest of the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
~When the butter and brown sugar are melted add the flour/sugar mix and whisk until clear. -- You're basicly warming up all the ingredients and letting the flour do its binding job. It won't be super-thick, but it will look like caramel sauce.

You can serve the cake warm or room temperature --- its good no matter what!
You can also double this recipe and make it to fit in a 9x13 pan. Just adjust the time to cook it.
When I made this, this past week, we had leftover sauce --so I dipped some chopped up apples and had myself a snack. YUM!

Enjoy a new fall recipe!

If you would like to print off a copy of this recipe just click HERE.

Paper Distressing - Sanding

I know, I know. We're DAYS away from Hallowe'en and all the Betties are posting fantastical Hallowe'en crafts. Which are FABULOUS; I am in awe of my fellow Betties' creativity! And, honestly, looking forward to making some of these with my kiddo over the weekend!  Buuut...I'm not going to do a Hallowe'en-themed post.   

GASP!

I KNOW, I know. I'm horrible.

But I wanted to show you one of my most absolute FAVOURITE techniques. SANDING! It's a fabulous distressing technique aaaaaaand I use it all the time.

Before you get started you need to make sure your cardstock has a white core. You can tell by looking at the edge - if there's white, you're good to go.
 Not all cardstocks have this absolutely FANTASTIC perk, though, so be mindful of it when you're at the stores.

white core cardstock

Then, obviously, you need some sandpaper.  (I use the three fabulous grains from Close To My Heart's sanding kit; love it).

dunno why this uploaded upside down... whoops! But 220, 100, and 60 grain papers

Coarse, medium, and fine... all well loved!

Also, you'll need to work on a surface you're not overly fond of, and I DEFINITELY recommend scratch paper to protect whatever surface you are on.

Base of my card, ready to go!

For this, I used my COARSE (60) paper.  And then I've sanded applying pressure in only one direction - it gives a sort of lined/striped look...

Once finished THAT, go back across the other way, to make a thatched pattern.

 

Now, I'm all about efficiency (read: LAZY), so for this card, I'm only sanding two of the edges, 'cause that's all that's going to show. 

Okay, next, I'm sanding this fabulous buttercup circle, and I'm going to use my FINE (220) paper - this will make a much softer look, and actually makes the paper super smooth to the touch.

There's no real which-way to sand this - make circles, do lines back and forth, whatever.

I focused a bit more around the edges to soften up the shape. Resulting in:

voila!

And here's the finished card!  Sanded edges, softened yellow... I love sanding!

(Card pattern from Wishes: Card Confidence Program "Keep it Level")

Here are some other examples of straight sanding techniques I've done: 

Using medium (100) all over the card.
(Card pattern from Wishes, "Lucky Layers")

Coarse sanding just the edges...
(Card pattern from Wishes, "Collage")

...results in this fabulous look!

Sanding the base-pages and photo mats around the edges with fine grain, coarse-grain hatching on accent pieces, and finally light sanding with coarse paper around the edges of the pictures themselves.

The result being some extra depth and dimension to this adorable page (layout from Cherish but I can't tell you which one 'cause I sold my copy and haven't got a new one yet! At least my kid's cute, right?)

And that, my friends, is that! A brief introduction to your next favourite technique! I'll expand on it in another post - you can do some seriously fun stuff with an embossing stylus, paperclips, shapes, and your sanding kit, but for now get a feel for it, fall in love, and happy crafting!

Cheers!
*Red

Halloween Paper Pumpkin

Its Halloween  time and seems like everyone are thinking about that, so i'm too. And one more time papers can help in your decoration. You can make a lot of paper pumpkin, and use onother materials to improve this simple ideia.

To start the only thing that you'll need is  paper and glue.

First you  have to glue the paper strips together forming a circle

Then join the ends to form your pumpkin



And now you can decorate with everything that you can find at home!!! Happy Halloween everyone!!

Halloween Spider Craft for Kids

Spider Craft for Kids using Recycled Egg Carton

Kids love to make crafts as much as their parents do. This craft especially draws out the giggles because children are making a creep-crawling spider from a recycled material everyone is familiar with: the cardboard egg carton!

Although good for all ages, my children (all 5 years-of-age and younger) had some difficulty with scissors and the whole punch. I made notes of when a particular step should be done by an adult... hopefully to make your life easier while making this otherwise kid-friendly craft.

Spider Craft for Kids Ingredients

Craft Ingredients (See Picture):

* (1) 12-count (or HIGHER!) cardboard Egg Carton
* (1) Tube of water-based Black Paint
* (1) Paint Brush for each child
* (4) Black fuzzy Pipe Cleaners for each spider
* (1) Pair of Scissors
* (1) Hole Punch or other paper-piercing tool
* (1) Pair of Wire Cutters (optional)


Directions:

 1.) Cut out each individual egg-holding shell from your recycled cardboard egg carton. This can be tricky, so if you kids still have difficulty with their fine motor skills, this should be done by an adult. Once every shell is cut out, trim the bottom of the shell so that it sits evenly on a flat surface.

Punched Leg Openings

2.) Using a hole punch (another prep-work item for an adult with strong hands) or other sharp paper piercing tool, make four openings on two opposite sides of the egg shell for the legs of your future creep-crawling black spider.

3.) Paint your favorite shade of color, though I most certainly recommend BLACK paint... makes the craft project for kids (and adults!) more entertaining and creepy. Wait 30 minutes to 1 hour to dry.

The Belly of the Beast

4.) Time to make the legs! Take four black fuzzy pipe cleaners and, using your scissors or wire cutters, cut the pipe cleaners in half. Now you should have eight black fuzzy pipe cleaners for the eight spider legs. Bend each leg in half making an upside down letter "V". For a little bit of fun,  make a "foot" on one side of each letter "V"  by bending a small amount of pipe cleaner to the side.

5.) Insert all black fuzzy pipe cleaners into each leg opening. Twist two side-by-side pipe cleaners together on the inside of the shell of the recycled egg carton to hold the legs in place. Turn your new spider right-side-up and adjust legs. Place in any nook in your home that needs a little more creepiness this Halloween holiday season. If the kids didn't have enough enjoyment from making the spiders, this step can be particularly fun as they prepare to scar their family and friends.

Finished Spider Craft for Kids

Candy Corn Wreath

Halloween has got to be for my family one of our most favourite times of year. Each year we decorate the house and try on all sorts of costumes at the stores and of course eat a lot of candy. So this year I took my love of the holiday and my love for sugar and combined them into one awesome decoration! It is super easy, doesn’t take a lot of time and it was a lot of fun!

Supplies needed:

1 - Foam wreath. Mine was about 13in. and more squared than rounded for ease of use.

1 - Roll of black duct tape

1 – Spool of wide ribbon. Does not need to be wired.

Krylon spray or something similar to seal it all up

Glue gun and glue sticks

Bulk Store candy corn

Step 1: Take your candy corn out of the plastic bag and let it sit and dry out for a few days. The harder it is the easier it is to work with. Plus it will keep better in the long run.

Step 2: Take your wreath and wrap it with the duct tape until it is all covered. It is difficult to wrap continuously so consider cutting strips for this part.

Step 3: Lay out how you want your candy corn to sit on your wreath. I chose to have them all go around in one direction and then reversing it for the next row. Keep in mind the further you go toward the outer edge your candy corn will not line up properly because the diameter will change (unless you like to see a lot of black on yours).

Step 4: Start gluing!

Step 5: Once you have finished the front of the wreath you can start on the inside and outsides. This part is a little harder because you need to figure out how to hold the wreath in a way that is comfy for you, but easier in the sense that you don’t need to plan as much since the diameter does not change. Tip: avoid eating the candy corn...you will need more than you think!

Step 6: Once you are all glued up and you have removed all the little glue “spider webs” you can take it outside and use any clear sealer spray that you have and give it one or two coats. This becomes especially important if you choose to hang your wreath outside. It will keep the bugs away and keep your candy from melting in the rain. Wait a while for it to dry completely.

Step 7: Attach a ribbon about 2-3 ft. through the wreath, tie it off or glue the ends to the back and you are done!

Voila one seriously awesome looking Halloween wreath! Happy crafting!

Fabric Pumpkins

Fall is my absolute FAVORITE season.

You wanna know why?

~Because I can leave my decorations up for three whole months!~

These pumpkins are just the thing to create the warmth and glow of the fall season in your home.

My mom gave me a set of pumpkins just like these about five years ago -- I love them.

So I'm now sharing with you

(this is where you clap your hands in exaltation and joy --- and go and get your glue gun ready!)

--And the best part about this craft is that most everything with a "fall-theme" is on sale--

Cast of Characters:

~3 different prints of fall material: 1 yard, 1/2 yard, 1/4 yard (on sale at Jo Ann's)
~10 oz bag of batting (make sure you don't get quilter's batting or you'll be out of luck)
~ jute twine (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
~Rafia
~1 lb bag of rice (or beans, if that is what you have)
~2 stems of leaves/berries (I got mine at Hobby Lobby -- they were 40% off)
~sewing machine, thread, scissors
~hot glue gun

1. cut your material for each of your pumpkins.
           large: 17" tall x 27" wide
           medium: 12" tall x 21" wide
           small: 10" tall x 17" wide
     (this is already measured for seam allowance)





2. turn your material inside-out and sew your edges together to make a cylinder
~ double-check your seams to make sure that you got all the material.
(you don't want to start stuffing and realize you've got a gap --- yeah, I did that already, just passing on my hard-earned wisdom)

3. Leave your material inside-out. Gather one end of your cylinder together and bind together with thread, twine, a rubber-band -- whatever your have. (The messier end)
I used thread and just wound and wound and then threaded a needle and made a couple of knots when I felt that I had enough around the bottom.



4. Turn it right-side out and now you have a little bag. Kind of adjust it so that you won't have a lop-sided pumpkin.

5. Get your rice out. You can measure it if you like (this is for the small pumpkin, and I measured out 1/3 cup --- the others, I just poured until I felt I had enough)
* the rice/beans are in the bottom just so that there is a little bit of weight. There is absolutely NO science to this.





6. Now you're ready to STUFF!
~I bought a 10 oz. bag of batting and used most all of it for the three pumpkins so don't be shy about using it.
But DO make sure that you have enough room at the top to gather the fabric a tie it off to look like a stem.

7. Tie off the tops of your pumpkins. I used rubber-bands. (It just seemed easiest.) You could use thread or even some of the jute twine. Your choice.
~Now make "ribs" on the pumpkin by winding the jute around the pumpkin and criss-crossing on the bottom.
I made 6 ribs of each of my pumpkins.
~Think like you're cutting a pie - the jute goes down one side and up the opposite, wrap it around the stem and create a "pie-piece" and do the same thing. Tie it off at the top when you've got the look you're going for.


8. Now it's time to decorate. Get those leaves and berries and pull them off the stems.

9. After you've pulled them off the stems, you'll probably want to cut them into individual leaves.
Leave stems on if you want.
~Get your glue gun out and plugged in.




10. I began by "dry placing" the leaves and berries onto the top of my pumpkins around the stem to see what I liked.

Get your glue gun and glue your decorations onto the pumpkin. I just put glue on the stem and a little bit of the ribs.

~When you're satisfied with what you've got; get some of the raffia and tie a bow around the stem to finish it off. (You could do this BEFORE you put the leaves on -- I just forgot and did it after.)

...and now, you have some beautiful autumnal decorations to sit on your table or mantel.

Something that you can leave out for three whole months!

Origami Box

I wrote this out once before a couple of years ago somewhere else, but I LOVE that I have the mad skillz to do this, so I'm sharing it with the lovely world of the internet once again!

Ladies and gentlemen (...do gentlemen ready craft blogs aimed at we mom-folk? Hmmm...), I give you: THE ORIGAMI BOX!

Are you READY??

WHAT YOU NEED:
- one 12X12 piece of paper (I do NOT recommend cardstock, at least at first - it's a bit tricky and you fold over and over and over... try with B&T papers first)
- some PATIENCE as you look at the pictures and try to decipher my instructions (I'm going to do the best I can here...but it's pretty logical once you get going, PROMISE!)

OH and FYI - you can click on the images to make them bigger.

STEP ONE:
Lay your paper out flat. (Mine's lumpy-looking 'cause it's an un-origamied-box I JUST made!)

"flat" 12x12 paper - put the side you want to show on the bottom

STEP TWO:
FOLD the four corners of your paper into the middle and make a new, smaller square! (It's a bit tricky to get them all lined up perfectly - do yourself a favour and don't stress about it!)

See how my box is going to turn out blue? Yay!

STEP THREE:
Fold the right and left edges of your box over so they meet in the middle and you have a long skinny rectangle. 

Ta da!

STEP FOUR:
Fold AGAIN, this time grab the short edges and fold the long way 'till the middle. Same move as last time, but the LENGTH of the rectangle. Should land you approximately square, again. Or lopsided-like squareish... folding should be a little tricky, but you can do it.

Lopsided-square DONE! Wahoo! Next?

STEP FIVE:
Okay, don't go berserk on me here, but UNFOLD the whole thing EXCEPT for two of your FIRST folds, so your paper should be nice and lumpy with folds like mine and look like this:

Lumpy? CHECK!

 Got it? Okay, good.

STEP SIX:
THIS is where it gets tricky. See this part of your 'box' I'm pointing at??

Okay, good. (I know, I could take Vanna's Job - I mean, just LOOK at these perfect-for-pointing hands!) GRAB that part, and FOLD the pointy-bit over to HERE:

That's right, right in the middle. Good job. Okay, NOW you can EITHER do the same thing on the other side and THEN move on or move on and then do the same thing on the other side. I moved on 'cause I was still mastering my technique...

You gotta' FOLD back over where you just folded, making the wall of the box. So, keeping the pointy-bit where it is after you fold, fold the rest of the paper back over. 

(you can click on pictures to make them bigger, you know)

 I know it's a bit confusing and I'm a bit of an idiot so that may be making it worse BUT just look at it and you should be able to figure it out. It makes SENSE to do it to make a 'wall'.

Okay, when BOTH sides are done it should look like this: 

STEP SEVEN:
Fold that LAST corner that sticking out of your wall OVER the wall and down into the floor of the box. (Are there actual technical terms for these parts of the box?? Anyone?) 

Wall & floor DONE!

STEP EIGHT:
REPEAT steps six and seven on the other side.

VOILA your box!

Booyah

Make a second box for a top and tie on a piece of ribbon and you'll feel oh-so-very finished and accomplished for the day! YAY! Especially useful for last-minute gift-wrapping, oy!

 Okay, happy crafting! Let me know if that's as clear as mud and/or you need any help! :D Cheers.