To DIY Soap or Not To DIY Soap

This post has absolutely nothing to do with cakes but another side of me that I like to partake in whenever possible.  DIY projects.

So for all you DIY'ers out there that love to save money...this is for you!

A few months back, around August, I decided that I wanted to make my own laundry soap.  I happened upon it when I was reading a blog about how to buy groceries monthly and then supplement with fresh veggies and fruits weekly.  I have no idea what blog that was.  I've tried searching for it and cannot, for the life of me, find that blog.  Not to worry because there are tons of sites that show you how to make this detergent.  In a nutshell (commence reenactment of the scene from Austin Powers)...  here's how I made mine.

What you need: all found at wal-mart
1 Box Borax
1 Large Box of Baking Soda
1 Large Box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 Container of OxiClean
3 Bars of Fels-Naptha

First you need to grate the bars.  You can do this by hand, which is what I did, or use a food processor with the grating blade.  By hand takes some elbow grease.

Transfer it to a large container that you can mix the rest of the ingredients in.

Add your OxiClean...

And the rest of the of the powders.  Thoroughly mix and then I put in all in a Trader Joe's, put the bag in one of my boys' toys bins to secure the bottom and added an approximately 2 tbsp scoop.

That's it!!  Save money, have great smelling clothes and have bragging rights that you make your own powder laundry detergent!

Give it a try and see if you don't make the switch yourself.  By the way I haven't bought laundry detergent since September and I still have about a 1/4 of it left.  We wash a LOT of clothes so I don't think I'll make it to the 1 year mark that some people claim.  I've still been thoroughly satisfied with the results!

As always...thanks for stopping by, God bless and leave some love!

Pretty, Pretty Petals

Hey guys!  I've missed talking with you all lately.  I just haven't prioritized properly to get blogging in on top of everything else.  I know you understand and that's why I cherish our friendship.  You're all so forgiving.  Thank you.

Over the past several weeks I've been planning, making lists, buying supplies and working on the preparation timeline for this wedding I had...TODAY!  It's right after all the holidays and I was very worried that I wouldn't find time to get everything done and give it the attention it requires.  So as soon as I knew I was doing the event, which was in August, I set about preparing.

Making a cake to feed 140 is typically nothing to stress over...but...throw that in after Christmas and New Years and you can guarantee there's going to be some kind of level of stress.  Fortunately, proper planning and prioritizing helped to avoid a lot of it...Except when it came to the chocolate marshmallows but we'll get to that later.

By the way I'm keeping this post short.  I want to tell you all the boring details but, alas, I shall restrain myself.

I've always wanted to do one of those rose petal cakes where the petals cascade down the cake.  This was my opportunity.  When the bride sent over what she had in mind I was thrilled and worried.  Would it be as pretty as others I've seen?  Would I even know how to make it look the way it's supposed to?  What do I start with first, the middle flower or the outside petals?  These are the questions that flooded my mind and so I do what I've always done...being a self taught cake designer... I googled.  I'm not ashamed to admit it.  I looked up pictures, videos, how-to's, other blogs and forums to figure this baby out.  The design is simple enough but I wanted to make sure I did it right.

She also wanted strands of pearls on the cake and, for a moment, my heart stopped...rolling all those little balls and attaching them one by one can be a nightmare...but it's so pretty!  So, again, I googled.  I  knew there were molds to use that help you create a 12" string of pearls in one go and I set out to get one.  I was a bit worried about how easy it would be and if I'd actually be saving any time if it ended up not working properly.  I ended up getting this one from CakeSuppliesPlus.com.  It did make the work easier but still a bit time consuming to rollout the fondant to fit in the mold.  All in all a wise choice and great success!

The bride also wanted some extra goodies for the guests besides the cake and I suggested something different than cupcakes since they would have cake already.  She decided on marshmallows and the ever popular french macarons.  So we created two flavors of each.  Toasted coconut and chocolate marshmallows.  Pumpkin spice and strawberry cream macarons.  With my lists made and my schedule on my calendar these ended up being a breeze to create...except the chocolate marshmallows!  I don't know what I was doing wrong and ended up blaming it on the humidity because I had to make 3 batches before I got ones that came out right!  The marshmallows ended up being the perfect choice because they also had a Hot Cocoa Bar set up.  How awesome is that!

I was so thrilled to be apart of this wedding as well because a dear friend of mine was the one doing the  decorating for the event.  She's incredible!  She definitely has an eye for style and pulling things together to look gorgeous and this venue definitely looked just that.   Unfortunately I don't have pics of all the beautiful details but I'm sure I can find a way to share them with you later. ;-)

This is the cake we made and I think it turned out pretty close to what I had envisioned.  What do you think?

...And here it is set up at the wedding.  She wanted it separate from the desserts because she didn't want anyone bumping it. 

...this is the dessert table but I forgot to get a pic after they finished decorating.

Turned out pretty nice, right?  The cake, by the way, weighed a ton!  I could barely lift it and was worried I would drop it.  But.  I didn't.  It was an honor to be a part of this wedding and I hope the guests all enjoyed the cake and goodies!  

If you were a guest and visit this blog please let me know what you think!  I'd love to hear from you!

As always...thanks for stoping by, God bless and leave some love!

Love is in the air...

I've got a few updates for you.  I know you've been on the edge of your seat, wondering, "what in the world is Natalia up to?"  Well, I am very sorry to keep you waiting but you see I've started this new thing.  It's something that I have to get up for each morning at 5am, get dressed, eat breakfast, fix my lunch and leave...my house...typically BEFORE my boys get up for school!  Yes.  That 3 letter word...MUD.  No, I'm kidding, not MUD.  That doesn't even make sense.  It's a JOB.  Yep, I've gone and done it.  This stay at home mom of 10 years has a job...outside the home.  Bittersweet.

I started in September and it is definitely a different lifestyle.  It's a different mindset.  I was very excited to start something new, something different than what I've been doing for the past 10 years...which has not been bad, I love being a mom, cleaning up after kids, washing other's clothes, mopping floors that have some kind of weird sticky substance dried on them...for the third time...in one day.  I'm lying, I don't mop that much.  But there does always seem to be something sticky on the floor at some point during the day.  Where was I?... Oh yeah...making meals for others to eat and cleaning their dishes.  So yeah, I've loved doing all these things...for 10 years.  Can you hear a little sarcasm there.  If not, you should.  I don't always love doing those things but the funny thing is I don't feel like I've stopped doing many of those things since I've started.  I've just got less time to do it all in.  I know you working mothers can relate AND I have a new found respect for you!

At this point I need to pause and give a HUGE shout out to my dear, sweet, handsome, incredible Mr. Mom who has completely taken over morning duties at our household since I've started this new adventure.  He gets up before the boys and cooks breakfast, which is NOT just cereal or waffles like I used to do but he cooks eggs, bacon, cinnamon toast...in the oven AND he gets them dressed, makes their lunches, feeds the dogs and takes my sweet boys to school.  Every morning!  Now that's an awesome husband and dad!!  I'm ever so grateful and blessed to have this man as my own.  Whew, I got tired just typing all of that.

So, I go to this JOB that I have been really enjoying, get off work in time to pick up my boys and when we get home there's a whole list of more things to do, of course.  You all know what I'm talking about.  The "Evening Schedule".  I usually give them 30 min of "free time" to get the wiggles out then it's homework, dinner, some family time, bath and bed.  Then I typically stay up for a few more hours to catch up on house chores or work on a cake order.  That's what I've been up to.

In the middle of all this new stuff I've still been baking.  I just haven't had a lot of time to tell you about it because I usually can't keep my eyes open long enough.

I made a butterfly cake in October but I can't find the finished photos I took so I'll just have to show you the crumb coated one and let your imagination take it from there until I find them.

I told you you'll have to use your imagination! :-)  I can tell you it had two shades of lavender and swirls.

My hubby and I celebrated our 14th year of wedded bliss. ;-)

I know...we haven't aged a bit!

I have to tell you, all the photos I'm about to share are from facebook and uploaded from my phone.  Sorry, no glamour shots in this post.

We got to go to the Renaissance Festival with a friend.  Lots of fun!

Gotta get ya' some turkey leg!

Corban and the Barbarian

Love this pic!  He fits right in!

We found some pirates!

Then there was Halloween!!!  I had a lot of fun dressing up as Master Chief from the video game, Halo.  If you don't know what that is it's ok.  The only reason I know is because that is what my 10 yr old is into right now.  We actually bought this costume for him last year, removed the armor and attached it a suit that fit him better.  So this year I had to remove the armor from his suit and resew it back onto the original!!  I was pretty proud of myself...as you can see in my diva pose below. ;-)

Master Chief Natalia

After Halloween, I voted.

After I voted I made a wedding cake and desserts for my sweet, beautiful sister in law and her now hubby!  Congratulations guys!!  One of the most emotional weddings I've ever been to.

Wood cake with succulents and dogwood flowers.  The bears on top were salt and pepper shakers!

Three kinds of macarons.  Chocolate Ganache, Pumpkin Spice and Blackberry Cream.

...And then Thanksgiving...I love Thanksgiving.

Pecan pie.  

At the family dinner table.  Love.

 After Thanksgiving I have to eat this for lunch everyday to lose the  pounds that I gained enjoying all the wonderful food!!!  It's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

Spinach, quinoa and tomato salad

There is where I get to eat lunch every day at work so I don't mind it much.  It's a good thing!

Lunch by the lake, sitting in the grass having a picnic.

And then of course it's time for Christmas!!!!!  Where has the time gone????

Tree.  Living room.  Handsome boy.

Gingerbread House making time!!  It was eaten this morning!!!
Lasted all of two days. 

I also made a baby shower cake this weekend but the pics are not ready.  I'll get them to you soon.  I have another wedding coming up in January so I'm gearing up for that one. 

So that's my life in review!  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed living it!!

As always...thanks for stopping by, God bless and leave some love!

What'cha up to?

Hey guys!  I'm so sorry I've been incognito for a while.  I've been trying to keep up with everything that has been going on and I gotta say it's a bit difficult.

"So what'cha been doin' Natalia?"  Well, I helped with my sister-in-law's wedding shower.

Then had two cakes to do the next weekend...

AND my other sister-in-law had her new baby!!  On that THURSDAY!!  Isn't she the sweetest thing!  It ended up being a tough delivery but the hand of God was over this baby.

Then, I started a new job.  Okay let me just say that I've not been in the workforce for about 10 years!  So far it's been good because I feel like I'm going to school with all the training we are doing.  I love school!  I'm a bit worried though about the "real work" kicking in.  Also, my hubby has been the greatest with caring for the boys since his schedule is flexible.  What a blessing!

Plus, we had 2 birthdays this past weekend.  One being my nephew and the other, my better half!!  Happy birthday boys!

So that's a small recap of the past few weeks of my life.  I'll keep in touch as much as possible so please just bear with me during this transition period.  

P.S. Yes, I still do cakes even though I'm working. :-)  I have 3 coming up!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

Cute little monkeys!

Aren't these little guys cute!!  I got a request for them last week and was excited to make such an adorable cookie.

Their rosy cheeks, crooked smile, big ears and sweet eyes just make me want to eat them all up!!!  BUT...I restrained myself because they aren't mine. :-(

I used the monkey cutter from the Wilton 3 piece Jungle set.

I had to squish it a little since I didn't like the elongated shape of it.  Worked out great!

A perfectly adorable addition for a little monkey party for your little monkey!!  Thank you!  Goodnight!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

All My Happy Endings, Guest Blogger!!

Well, if you've been following along you would know that I was a guest blogger over at All My Happy Endings, hosted by Mandi.  Today she is happily returning the favor for me!!

On the post I did for her I gushed all about her.  She also gushed all about me.  Well, she kind of does that again (thank you) with this post.  I'll save you all the other sappy things I could say about her and just tell you that she is a very sweet person and you should get to know her.  I'd like to know her more myself.

Without further ado, here she is, the one and only, unmistakable, MANDI!!!!!!

"APPLAUSE"

My name is Mandi and I blog over on All My Happy Endings.  Natalia invited me (yes ME!) to guest blog on Natalia’s Cake Creations and my heart fluttered. Goosebumps. All. Over. My. Body. You see, she’s someone I greatly respect in so many ways. Natalia is a phenom baker (we all know that), but she is also a stay-at-home-mom (and we all know this too). But that, right there, in itself, is a much more demanding job than the rest of us attempt outside the home. All the while, exuding a loving spirit, something I call the Christian walk…’put life before money, people before things, and actions before reactions.’ This is Natalia. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by countless amazing people who aren’t necessarily my closest chums, but their examples really have an impact on my life!
With that, thank you for having me as a guest. I have no interesting business or skill to advertise, so I’m not going to try and sell you on anything. I’m simply a blogger who writes because it’s something I enjoy doing. I’m not a poetic author. I don’t hypnotize anyone with my prose. I’m pretty much bare bones. There's not much here on my blog that constitutes artistry.  No flowing of words trance you with their splendor.

Nope.
I tell stories. About me. About my life. About being a mother. A wife. A friend. A working woman. A voter. A product consumer. A wannabe photographer.
Ah ha… [I wasn’t quite sure where I was going to go with this post]…speaking of photography, Instagram is my new found obsession. I've always loved photography but I've never been patient enough to learn how to use Lightroom or PhotoShop, so only lately have I become proud of my photos. 

  

You don't need to know anything about shutter speed or apertures or whatever other fancy camera terms you can come up with because so much can be edited after the fact. You can crop your photos and edit them with different tints and hues. You can turn a relatively simple and plain photo into something beautiful and interesting. Photo editing is my new favorite waiting-in-line activity. Basically, it’s replaced Angry Birds.

   

Actually, I’ve been using Instagram for quite a while now, but it was a private account and it was mostly for personal use, personal memories. Once in a while I manually share an Instagram picture here on my blog or Facebook + twitter. But finally (FINALLY!) I’ve set up an account for the purpose of social media.

I would love for you to follow me on Instagram. Anyone is invited. My username is mandi411.

 

 
If you’ve only heard about Instagram but you’re not really familiar with what it’s about, I love this snippet from their website: Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. Snap a photo with your mobile phone, then choose a filter to transform the image into a memory to keep around forever. We’re building Instagram to allow you to experience moments in your friends’ lives through pictures as they happen. We imagine a world more connected through photos.

Indeed. I, too, imagine a world more connected through photos.  

 

Did you know that you can Instagram (yes, I’m using it as a verb) photos that aren’t necessarily taken on your iPhone? True story. I figured this out accidentally a few months ago and it’s just one of those things you iPhoneographers must know! You can get any image from your computer to your phone with syncing … or you can email the image to yourself then save the image to your photo library and there it is! All ready to be instagrammed.  : )

PS: The baby is actually NOT my most favored child, but he is the one who doesn’t have much opinion about whether or not he is photographed and uploaded to social networking sites with startling regularity.

All My Happy Endings - Guest Post

I'd like to tell you of a lovely friend that asked me to guest post for her on her blog.  Her name is Mandi and she's a Woodlands mom like me.  She posted it today and here's the link...

All My Happy Endings - Guest Blogger

I hope you pop on over and take a look at her great blog and enjoy the post that I shared there!  

I'll leave you with a picture of what we (my boys and me) did today.  Can you guess what/who it is?

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

Guest Posts and Birthdays

Hey friends!  I have been asked to do a guest post over on All My Happy Endings blog by a sweet friend Mandi.  I'm not sure when it'll be up so I'll keep you posted.  Until then I'd love to share with you all that it is my eldest's 10th birthday today!

Happy Birthday Love!!

You captured mommy's heart the day you were born and have held it captive ever since!  I am amazed at your intellect, understanding, ability to draw, to make me laugh, your loving spirit, kind heart and giving soul.  You are filled with emotions and not afraid to express them.  Don't ever let that change.  I love you my son and I am so proud of the young man you are becoming! 

Love, Mommy

Here's an old video I made several years back.  I think it's time to add to it. :-)

With music by none other than MuteMath

Pencil Sugar Cookie's...How did you...?

It's the start of a new school year!  The kids went back to school and it was great!  They were glad to go back and see all their friends.  They are happy with their teachers...whew!  One less drama to deal with.

You know those pencil cookies I showed you on my last post?  Well, today I'm gonna show you how I did them and what I learned that I would do differently next time.  Remember I'm still fairly new cookie decorating so don't hold me too close to the fire.

I did the pencils in the school's colors so that's why they are only red and blue.  Like I mentioned in my previous post I decided to make these after I saw Georgeanne's pencil cookies on her blog, LilaLoa.  Her's are adorable!!

Yes, I made apples too and some circles to write messages on.  The cookie cutter I used was actually a candle that I found at Sur la Table on clearance for $0.49!!

{via}

That's why the sides are bumpy and I didn't bother smoothing them out.  I used my go to Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe from LilaLoa's blog.  It's so yummy and bakes beautifully... when you remember to take them out in time. :-\

I followed her steps on outlining them but used a #1 tip which made it a little difficult for me and I think I had my royal icing a bit too thick.  Next time I'll use a #2 and thin it just a little more.  I did add cocoa to my icing to help achieve the black color and I gotta say I LOVED it!  It smelled soooo good!

After they dried a few minutes I started filling in the areas .  Starting with the "metal" bands, then the eraser, the "wooden" tips and lastly the body.  As you can see I did the outside lines first.

 I let them dry for about 20 min. then filled in the middles.  The blue pencils I did the same way.

I'm not sure if you can tell but I added some silver luster dust to the "metal" bands to give it a bit of a shimmer.  I had a lot of fun and  learned a lot making them.  Here are all of the finished cookies!!

 I delivered these last week to the teachers for them to enjoy and they all were saying how much they loved them!  I am really grateful for the wonderful teachers at our school and all the effort they put forth to care for and teach the students!  Have a great school year!!!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!