Crayon holder roll

I saw this crayon roll about 2 years ago but I never really had any drive to make it. Then I saw it again the other day and my little boy said, I want one of those. So, the nice mommy that I am, I made him one. Actually I made 2, she saw me making one for her brother and of course she has to have one as well. This is an easy projects for beginners and it's great to for travel or if you go to restaurants.
The kids picked their own colors and sew away we go.

This one is for Gus, this was from his baby crib mattress cover that I saved and now I finally used it. Good thing I saved it, I love the colors.
See he put it to good use already, he couldn't wait to get started with his coloring.
Yes, he loves his new crayon roll :-)
Lexi just doesn't like her pictures taken, and she wasn't feeling too good. She does love her new crayon roll as well. She even colored me a nice picture :-)

What it looks like if you roll it.
See how pretty it is, even when rolled?
If you want to make your own crayon roll, here's the instruction on how to.
I made mine simpler since I didn't have any ric rac in hand. Still it turned out good. I guess, I'm off to making more so I can give them away.
❤ clairebakescakes ❤

Maja Blanca (Filipino Sweet Dessert) RECIPE

This delicious Filipino dish is great anytime. Not great for the cholesterol but taste wise it's awesome. This I would eat every single day if I could, just like I would with spaghetti. Hubby likes this dessert as well, but I haven't really made anything that he doesn't like, LOL!

Mix everything well to get rid of the lumps.

Turn it on medium low and keep stirring

Stir until your arms couldn't stir now more, LOL! Stir til you can have run your spatula in the middle and it will stay put.

See how easy and quick that was? Just pour and wait for it to cool down then you can chow down.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup cornstarch
• 1 Small can corn kernels
  
• 2 Cups coconut milk
  
• 1 Can evaporated Milk
  
• 1 Cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup crushed peanuts
  
• 1/2 cup raisins
  

Procedure:

1. Place cornstarch, corn kernels, coconut milk, evaporated Milk and sugar on a medium sauce pan and blend well with a whisk until all the lumps are pretty much gone and disappear.

2. Turn the heat on medium / low and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. You literally have to continue stirring or the bottom will burn and lump up.

3. Stir for 8 to 10 minutes until you reach a firm pudding consistency (see picture)

4. Pour hot mixture into a prepared dish and add the crushed peanuts or raisins. If you like both you can add both

5. Completely cool and cover. Place in the fridge if you like it cold or you can leave it in room temperature (covered) for a day or two.

Enjoy!

❤ clairebakescakes ❤

Men shirt turned into girls dress

I've tackled this dress before but failed. I tried this 2 years ago but I ended up with a mess load of scrap fabric all over the place and a shirt ripped into pieces out of frustration. Forward to now, while I was browsing Green bag lady's site and saw her post about this shirt I knew I had to try it, again. With the .99 cent shirt I got from Goodwill, I didn't care if it will work this time or not.

So I read the step by step on how to make this dress and this was so much easier to follow. The last tutorial was hard to follow and just a mess. If you want to make this dress you can visit DANA.

Started with a huge shirt :-)
Cut them all up, you can get the instruction here.
Since DANA explained it all in her site, I figured I would just sew the dress and show you the finished product. LOL!
Lexi loves the dress and she couldn't believe I made it. Now she wants more. Joshua wanted to be in the picture too. Don't laugh so hard, you might pee in your pants.
I tied the ribbon in the back, the front would probably work too but I like it better in the back.
In DANA's tutorial she had the elastic waistband added, but I didn't want to mess around with it so I decided to make it into a tie around instead. It's so much easier this way.

I won something, Hoorayyy!!!

I never win anything, but I did this time. I won a bag from Green Bag Lady. She's one amazing woman, I can tell, who sews hundreds and hundreds of bags and she gives them away. Now that's amazing! Talk about being green, how much greener could you get?

That's the bag I won, isn't it adorable? Excuse my mirror, I tried cleaning it but when you have 2 kids it will never look clean again. LOL!
I quickly asked hubby to take pictures of me before I put the groceries away. I used the green bag for my produce. No more plastic, please!

So how did I win this cute and beautiful bag? I was browsing something from Bakerella, another amazing woman, and that's where I found her site. Perfect timing for her giveaway, so I left a comment on her blog and tadaaaaaaa!!! I was one of the winners :-) Here's the link on that giveaway she did. Make sure you bookmark her and check back all the time, you never know you might be the next bag winner. Those are the fabrics she used and one of those is my bag.
This picture I borrowed from her site.

The fabric design is by Amy Butler and Teresa made them into bags. I'm bag #8640, I think that's how many bags she's given away, WOW!!! I told you she's amazing :-) OK! enough about my blabbing and check out the pics with the bags in action.The bags below are the ones I have made a while back. I actually had more but I gave them to my mom to send back to the Philippines to give away to families. I will start sewing again and make more bags. Thanks to the Green Bag Lady for inspiring to me start my sewing again.
Thank you very much Teresa for saving the world One bag at a time :-)
❤ clairebakescakes ❤

Lemon Drizzle Bars - Recipe

This lemony sweet treat reminds me of summer fun in the sun. The right combination of the sweetness and tang. It's super moist and just perfect for any day of the week. This is like my early welcome to spring thing :-)

You will need eggs
Powdered sugar
Butter
A helper to sift your flour, he was asking me why I have to do the swish swish (meaning sift) He's such a great helper.
Finely grated lemon rind, I used my new Microplane (please be very careful if you do use one, it's super super sharp and if you are not careful you will get your fingers cut)
Cut lemon in half and squeeze the crap out of it, hehehe! This would be the time to let all the frustration out. Pretend it's someones head that you're mad at and just squeeze it. LOL! Don't worry about the pits, you can take it out when you're done with all the squeezing.
Take all the pits out and discard
Add the rinds into the mixed batter
Fold in the flour, don't use the mixer at his point or you will have flour all over the place.
Add milk in slowly, and when I say slowly, I mean it.
Place batter into a 9x13 pan and spread evenly.
Bake and poke a few holes into the cake so the drizzle will soak in
Drizzle the warm syrup
Cut them up if you want / like or just cut from the cake pan. I cut them in squares for hubby to take for his class.
You want to make one?

Here's what you need:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  
• 1 1/4 cup of butter (2 1/2 stick) softened
• finely grated rind of 2 lemons
• 3 cups self rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• extra powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Syrup:

• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Juice of 2 lemons

Instruction:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees (180C).
   
2. Grease 9x13 baking glass or pan, grease or spray with baking spray.
3. Place the eggs, powdered sugar and butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy. Stir in lemon rind, then fold the flour in lightly. Turn the mixer back on the lowest setting and add the milk slowly.
4. Spoon into the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.
5. While waiting for the bars to cool, make the syrup. Place the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small pan and heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves. DO NOT BOIL.
6. Poke the bars with a fork all over and spoon the hot syrup evenly on top and let it be absorbed.
7. Let it cool completely in the pan before cutting. Dust with powdered sugar if you like.

❤ clairebakescakes ❤