Easy DIY Glass Cupcake Stand

My sister-in-law is getting married this August. Thanks to the ridiculousness that is Pinterest, I have spent many hours looking at all the wedding pretties on far too many pin boards. Since cupcakes are being used as wedding favors, I thought it would be a fun idea to display the cupcakes as a table centerpiece. Enter this DIY cupcake stand. It turns out Dollar Tree stores have a great selection of glassware and you can order in bulk on their website and pick it up in store for free, a handy feature for the spendthrift bride.

To construct the cupcake stand, I got two of these taper candle holder sticks:

and one of these 10 inch cut glass plates: 

The plate is surprising sturdy and pretty. All of these items were a buck a piece (so we're up to $3 worth of material, if you are keeping count).

To glue all this together, I used E-6000 craft glue. You can find this at pretty much any craft store for about $5 and it is pretty awesome. It does have a strong smell so I recommend using it in a well ventilated area. 

Start by cleaning and drying all your glass pieces. Place a small amount of glue around the rim of one of the candlestick holder tops. Flip the other candlestick over and place it on the gluey piece. Any excess glue can be wiped away with nail polish remover. I let this candle holder pillar sit for about an hour. It was still tacky so take care not to bump it too much. 

Find the center of the underside of the plate. This is easy on this particular one because the candle stick top fits right around the perimeter of the flowery star burst design in the center. Add a small amount of glue around the rim of the candlestick pillar then carefully set it to the underside of the plate. Let this dry for at least 24 hours, though the glue says it can take up to 72 hours to cure, so be careful with it until then.

 And Viola! Here is the stand with some of my felt food on it. I can't wait to see it with real cupcakes. This stand would also be great for displaying brunch goodies if  a wedding isn't really on your radar.

Happy Crafting!

~Brittany

     

What's in a Doula's Bag?

Last month, World Doula Week was celebrated March 22-28. These humble birth attendants certainly deserve their own week, probably their own month. A kindred sister to the midwife, a doula provides physical and emotional support to a laboring mother and her partner. She plays an important part in the births she attends, reducing incidences of c-section and epidural use while increasing breastfeeding initiation and overall birth satisfaction. If you aren't at all familiar with what a doula is and what they do, be sure to check out THIS ARTICLE.  

When a fellow blogger asked me if I had an item similar to the Midwife kit that she could give as a gift to her doula, I thought a felt playset would be a fantastic idea. In addition to a fun appreciation gift, I think this set would help a child conceptualize the tools a doula would use at a new sibling's birth. Here are my felt doula tricks-of-the-trade, developed with suggestions from the Mama's Felt Cafe Facebook community:

Of course we need a bag to carry all our birthy goodies in. I chose a tote style bag so that it would be easy to grab for the on-the-go doula. 

First up for items are a fan and a purple rice tube. No matter what time of year you are giving birth, laboring is well, labor. I remember feeling alternatingly too cold and too hot while I was having Asher. A fan helps keep a mama cool while she is working oh so hard. The rice tube is filled with real rice and although I would not suggest heating the felt, a real rice sock can be warmed and provide relief to achy muscles. It's also provides a fun texture to play with. 

Next comes the granola bar, this one is cranberry oatmeal flavor. This item could be for the mama or the doula. During long labors, both the mom and her support team need to make sure they feed to hunger and drink to thirst. We know there is no reason to deny a birthing woman food and labor can even be stalled if the mother is hungry and uncomfortable. Many doulas make sure to carry some healthy snacks with them to births.

I also included two starlight peppermints in the kit. One is for the mother, to help ward off any labor induced nausea. The second is for the doula, so she will have sweet breath while working with the mother. Smells seem heightened during labor and anyone who has breathed coffee or onion breath on a birthing mama has probably been shown the door!

Last was a bottle of lavender essential oil, complete with removable cap. Many find the scent of lavender calming and relaxing. It can also be mixed to be used as a massage oil and rubbed on the mother if she likes. If you happen to be a doula (or just a person of interest) you can win a (non-felt) doTERRA Essential Oils kit from The Black Sheep Princess and Essential Oils for Family Wellness. The kit contains lavender, peppermint and lemon oil plus a list of suggested uses. Enter to win HERE.

Based off a logo by Everyday Miracle Doula Services

So there you have it, all the tricks in my doula bag. Did you have a doula at your birth? Would you consider a doula for your next birth?

Happy Felting!

~Brittany

Star Trek + Felt + Giveaway = Love

Being a kid in the early 90's means there is a good chance you've seen an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I'll admit to a long standing crush on Commander Will Riker, though only in the seasons when he had a beard. 

When a friend *ahem* asked for a Star Trek Kindle case, it sounded like project worth taking on. I chose Captain Picard's rank and uniform design and went to work. 

I discovered some other pieces of Star Trek felt awesomeness during research and development: 

This Star Trek Quiet Book Pattern from Julie Bell is complete with template for TNG finger puppets, 

This Spock pillow is crafted by Victoria The Germ,

and just in time for Easter, this wool felted bunny, an ode to the Expendable Ensign, made by WoolyKins. 

Now to celebrate this feat of geekery, I'm giving away a custom made Star Trek: The Next Generation device  sleeve. Completely hand stitched with two layers of felt on top and bottom to protect and clean your electronics. The winner can choose between Command Red and Engineering Gold and the rank (those gold buttons on the collar) from Ensign to Captain. Winner can also specify the device (Kindle, Nook, Tablet, Ipad, smart phone, ect.) but you'll have to provide me with measurements for something other than a Kindle or Iphone. 

Enter to win with the easy Rafflecopter form below. This contest will be open for two weeks and end midnight EST April 18, 2012. Will will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen. Open to residents of US and Canada. Star Trek is copyrighted by Viacom. 

May the odds be ever in your favor

and Happy Winning!

~Brittany

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Peeta's Goat Cheese and Apple Tart Recipe

Recently, my friend Yuliya and I threw ourselves a Hunger Games birthday party. She did a wonderful job recapping the highlights from our Tribute themed get-together, which you can see HERE.  

The best part of the party was undoubtedly the food. We had been collecting menu ideas on our Pinterest board. Fictional Food was a fun resource for our literary eats come to life. The item that caught my culinary eye was Peeta's goat cheese and apple tart. There were a few versions of the recipe, but I wanted to make one big pie to share rather than individual tarts so I made some modifications. The result was rather scrumptious and worthy of being made as a dessert for non Hunger Games functions. The goat cheese is a rich surprise complimented by the cinnamon apples on top. Here is the first "real" food recipe I've shared on my blog!

Ingredients:

-1 frozen pie crust, thawed (I used a Trader Joe's pre-made frozen crust. If you have a tried and true crust recipe, feel free to use it, just leave it unbaked.)

-1 egg wash comprised of one egg beaten with 2 Tbs water

Apple Topping:

-4 cups diced apples (I used Gala but other varieties would probably work just fine.)

- 1 cup sugar

-1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs cornstarch

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 pinch salt

-1 pinch nutmeg (or apple pie spice)

-3 cups water

This will yield more cinnamon apples than you need for your tart but the leftovers are a delicious treat on their own!

Goat Cheese filling:

-9 ounces creamy goat cheese (This I also got at Trader Joe's)

-1/3 cup regular cream cheese

-1/4 cup honey

-6 Tbs sugar

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-2 eggs

The Recipe: 

-First, prep the crust. Unroll thawed crust into 10 inch pie pan (or have your homemade crust in a pan ready to go). Brush crust with egg wash, set aside. 

-Next comes the apple filling. Put the 3 cups water in a large sauce pan. Add dry ingredients to the water and heat over medium heat, stirring well to combine. Add the diced apples once the cinnamon sauce starts to thicken just a little. Cook apples, stirring constantly, for about ten minutes.

-Now, get your oven pre-heating to 350 degrees. 

-Time for the goat cheese filling! Using a stand mixer (or a whisk if you feel like it), combine goat cheese, cream cheese, sugar and honey. Mix until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrap the bowl and add the vanilla. Beat until well combined. 

-Once you have your creamy cheese filling, pour it into the prepared crust. It should fill the pie between half and two thirds full. Bake the cheese filling and crust in the oven for 30 minutes or until the center has a soft set. 

-After the half hour of baking, remove the tart and spoon apple filling over the top. If the apple completely sinks, bake for 5 more minutes at a time until the center can support the apples. The apple doesn't need to completely cover the top, I left some goat cheesy goodness visible on the edges. Leftover apple filling can be refrigerated and reheated. 

-Return pie to the oven and cook an additional 20-25 minutes. If the crust starts to get too golden, loosely cover with foil. Allow to cool then refrigerate, I left mine in over night. Serve cold from the fridge or room temperature, if you can stand to let it sit around that long before diving into it. 

Oh, I wish I had another one of these so I could eat it for breakfast. No joke, it's that good. 

Stay tuned for a tutorial for these hand made wine charms I put together for our party:

Happy Hunger Games!

~Brittany

Fun Felt Easter Basket Craft Round-Up

Ok, I realize today is Leap Day and that Easter is still more than a solid month out, but my friend Lauren was asking me about felt goodies for Easter baskets this morning. While I was doing a search, I found some awesome free patterns and tutorials and decided it was time for a felty round-up post. So, let's put winter behind us, look towards the spring and get crafting with some of these fun items!

First, I'll start with my own Easter post from last year. These over-sized felt eggs are perfect for Baby's First Easter. The tutorial for them can be found HERE. 

Next, we need some Peeps for our basket. The tutorial for these bunny peeps can be found courtesy of  Mommy Savers. 

If birdie Peeps are more your style, check out this handy pattern from Dusty Bottom Acres. 

If you would like some felt eggs you can fill with candy and other goodies plus have the added bonus of reusing them year after year, One Inch World has you covered. 

Toddlers LOVE quiet books, and this free pattern from Chez Beeper Bebe is Egg-cellent!

This tutorial from Apine Industries for this super cute bunny is in Italian, but thanks to the wonders of Google Translate, it is still very easy to follow. 

If you need a little chocolate in your life, these delicious bunnies from Playing With Your Food are sure to get your sweet tooth. 

If you are in the market for felted jelly beans in their own box, American Felt and Craft has a lovely tutorial. 

This herd of felt bunny finger puppets from The Purl Bee were too cute not to include. 

And, if you need a basket to fit all your goodies, this pattern from Maya Made takes care of all your spring basket making needs.  

Well, there you have it, plenty of patterns to keep you busy! Time to break out the felt and get your Spring craft on!

Happy Easter Felting!

~Brittany

CLOSED: Anniversary Giveaway--Felt Midwife Play Set from Mama's Felt Cafe and One Month Supply of Oatmeal Butterscotch Lactation Cookies from Mommy's Milkin Cookies ($83 Value, Cookies US Only)

It's so hard to believe that a whole 12 months has passed since I open my Etsy shop last February. This has been an amazing creative journey that has taken me places I haven't expected. My felt tamales and enchiladas are in a Children's Museum in New Hampshire. My Mama's Milk Carton has been in the presence of  midwifery great Ina May Gaskin. I've shipped items as far as Australia, Spain, Nova Scotia, Sweden and all over the United States and have Facebook fans from 19 countries around the world. 

To celebrate this Etsyversary, I wanted to giveaway my most cherished item, the one closest to my heart. Enter this oatmeal and chocolate colored Midwife Play Set. You can read all about the pieces of this midwife kit HERE. 

This makes the perfect gift for the midwife, doula or birth junkie in your life or a great way to introduce new siblings to the tools of a midwife. I also donate a portion of the sale of this set to Citizens For Midwifery. 

To sweeten the deal (and stay on an oatmeal theme), Katie of Mommy's Milkin Cookies is providing a one month supply (3 dozen) of her scrumptious Oatmeal Butterscotch Lactation Cookies. These yummy treats contain 6 galactagogues known for boosting milk supply and are delicious even if you aren't lactating. I recently sent a couple dozen as a gift to a girlhood friend who is pumping for her micro preemie NICU twins. If you are interested in ordering some of Katie's cookies, you can contact her on Facebook or at MommysMilkinCookies (at) gmail.com. Thanks, Katie!

You can also save 20% off an order at the Mama's Felt Cafe Etsy Shop with coupon code ANNIVERSARY at check-out in the month of February. 

To enter the giveaway, just use this handy, dandy Rafflecopter entry form. Contest will run from February 8th to midnight, February 15, 2012, EST. Winner will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours or a different winner will be selected.


 NOTE: Due to their perishable nature, the lactation cookies will be shipped in the US only. The Midwife set is available to international entrants. If the winner selected is  a US resident, they will win both prizes. If the winner is outside the United States, they will receive the Midwife set and a small set of FELT "lactation" cookies hand sewn by me. A second winner in the US will then be chosen to receive the Mommy's Milkin Cookies prize. If you have any questions, please email me: Mama(at)mamasfeltcafe.com. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has lent their support to Mama's Felt Cafe. I wouldn't be here without you!


Happy Winning!

~Brittany

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Valentine's Day Craft-- Felt Hand Print Owl Stuffed Toy

Oh January, how you have just flown on by! Now that we are several weeks into the New Year, it's time to start thinking about Valentine's Day. Last year, I posted how to make a heart shaped PB&J felt food sandwich and cut-out heart felt cookies to create a lovey lunch for your little one. This year, I was inspired by a pin I saw on the awesomeness that is Pinterest: 

You can check out the hand print paper owl craft over at Meet the Dubiens. I thought these owls would be perfect to make into a  felt stuffed animal and I love that the wings commemorate your kiddo's wee hands. I have dubbed him Owlbert Hootsweet. 

The Ingredients:  

-Front and back red felt owl body piece. This I drew free hand. It's 6 inches wide and 8.5 inches tall from the tip top to the bottom. The dip at the top that forms the owl's ear tufts 2 inches deep at it's deepest. 

-Left and Right felt hand tracing "wings". I used red glitter felt for a little sparkle. Be sure to trace each hand over two layers of felt there is a front and back. These don't have to be perfect or even. I liked the "wing" made with the spread fingers a little better myself, though. 

-Two white felt circles for eyes. These circles are 2 inches wide.

-Two small black felt circles for pupils. Mine are about a quarter inch wide.

-One small yellow felt triangle nose. The short side is three-quarters inch and the long sides are just under an inch long.

-Two pink felt heart cut outs for the belly applique. I used this free heart template and the 4 inch wide heart and the 1 inch wide heart.

-Polyfil stuffing

-Matching Embroidery Thread

The Recipe:

First, sew the eye pieces to the owl front body piece. I positioned the white pieces about 1.25 inches in from the edges of the owl's body. Whip stitch a few stitches to attach the pupils to the white circles then sew the eye circles onto the body with a running stitch.

Next, whip stitch the nose piece so that it is nestled in between the two eyes. 

Then, sew on the hearts to make the owl's belly. The little heart is centered on the big heart and the big heart is positioned about and inch down from the bottom tip of the nose. 

Here is our owl so far. Now it's on to the wings. 

Whip stitch around each each hand, sewing the top and bottom pieces together. 

Next, arrange the hand pieces how you would like them on the owl. Mine were about even with the eyes, though you could angle yours down a bit more than mine were. Pin the front and back body pieces together with the wings in place. 

Before I sewed up the body, I quickly embroidered the year on the back of Owlbert in white floss. That way I would always know how old my son was when I traced those hand prints. 

Now, starting in the upper left side of the owl, whip stitch the front and back pieces together. Pay close attention when you sew the wings and be sure to go through all the layers of felt. Keep sewing until you get to the top of the right ear tuft. 

Add stuffing, 

and finish sewing the top shut. 

Ta-da! Owlbert Hootsweet is complete. 

My son and his new owl lovey 

Happy Valentine's Day Felting!

~Brittany