She Rants

Happy Saturday people!

It is getting wet and cold...and I am very thankful for the fact that I don't have to drag my kids out in it every morning! I have already pulled out the sweatshirts!

Its almost Halloween, which we love around here, and I have a great post planned...tomorrow...

Today, she rants. Here is your warning: I am fixin to drag out my soapbox and hop right up on it...so if you are easily offended, or just don't care to hear me b*tch...then now is your cue to exit.

I don't even know where to begin...it has been a discouraging and frustrating week. I love technology as much as the next person, but I truly believe it has created a generation of some of the rudest people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.

I am not trying to sound holier-than-thou...yes, I am positive I have bad days and am rude at times...but I also know that it isn't long before I feel REMORSE for doing so...and try to make amends.

It seems to me that the ability to hide behind a computer screen has created a society that says anything and everything...things they would never say to a person's face.

I notice these things more online...I do alot of buying and selling for my little business there...and people take no care with the tone they convey when they "talk". This is true for texting as well...there is no "tone" or body language for people to read when you are messaging or texting...be aware that what you say may be taken literally...take two seconds to make sure your message says what you really mean to say.

I wish the rudeness was limited to online....people are rude in person too. It makes me sad that people make such a big deal over the fact that my kids say yes ma'am and hold the door open for people. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make my kids sound like saints, the Good Lord knows they are awful at home...but my point is, they know how to act in public, how to treat other people.

How much energy does it take to just smile at a stranger when you pass them in Wal-Mart? How much more time does it take to just be NICE?

I could say so much more...but I won't. Thanks for letting me vent....very entertaining Halloween post coming tomorrow, guys...stay tuned!!!

A Lizard and a Rug

Happy Hump Day, back porchers!! It has been very busy around here, but I wanted to take time out to share a super SIMPLE and super useful tutorial with you. In fact, it is so easy, this post was going to be pretty short and sweet....so I decided to share some of the things going on at the zoo....

I've been getting some things ready for a "booth" at the Somethin Snazzy Paint Studio shopping event tomorrow night (feel free to come shop!)...baybay loves to paint when I'm painting, so I try to keep some "junk" furniture around for him to work on when I'm working.

This took much alcohol, polish remover, and patience to undo folks.

Just in case you wondered, this is what dinner looks like at the zoo.

This nice weather inspired us to sit around the fire last night, roasting marshmallows, and telling "scary" stories....like The Three Bears.

And last but not least....because, WHY wouldn't this be happening in my house...in fact, I really don't even question these kinds of things anymore....

Yes, that is a lizard on my living room wall. It's the latest thing, you should totally get one.

Now...on with the tutorial....

I love a cute rug...but I do not like to PAY for a cute rug, because rugs do not last at my house...so, I'm going to show you how to make a cute rug. It's so easy!!

First, you will need to acquire a not so cute rug....

(if this rug is in your home and you think it is cute, then I apologize for the previous statement)

Next, choose your cute material...you want to cut the material to extend a few inches past the border of the rug...

Lay the fabric on top of the rug, and fold back one side to the middle....

Now, spray the rug with spray adhesive and smooth the fabric back down on top of the rug, making sure there are no wrinkles.

And then do the same thing with the other side.

Next, you want to spray the very edge of the fabric with adhesive and fold the fabric over to make a nice clean edge...

Now, spray the fabric and fold it over onto the rug, making sure it is nice and tight against the edge....press it down well!

I used these little clips to hold my corners together for a bit while they dried....

Once the adhesive has dried and set well, you will want to coat the fabric on the bottom and of course, on the top with a water based polyurethane...I like to use a sponge brush for these types of jobs....

I did three coats to the top and the bottom, better safe than sorry....

And that is it!! A cute, affordable rug that I won't mind looking at OR throwing away in a month!

Got Cake?

Welcome back to the zoo! Yesterday was a migraine day...rough day...so I thought what better way to recover from that than with cake. Can I tell you that I live with a house full of cake junkies? If I make a cake or cupcakes for any function, it requires the making of two cakes or two batches of cupcakes, lest I leave this house headed somewhere with a cake full of finger holes.

We are getting to that time of year when there are more occasions to bring a cake...holiday dinners, potlucks, fundraisers, etc. Cake decorating can me messy, expensive, and time consuming. And am I the only one that cannot get the last little spatula crease out of the icing? It drives me insane!! So...I thought I would show you the Petal technique...its pretty easy and it is a step above a plain iced cake...and it helps hide those lines and creases.

Now...before we begin...let me tell y'all....I have used this technique before with success...but today was full of sh*t happens...the end result is not what I would call a great success. And the OCD in me really just wanted to scrap it and start over rather than show y'all  my crappy cake. But I decided I would take the opportunity to show you where I screwed up and save you the trouble. 

So, first you want to make your cake, obviously. 

No, he's not being punished...he participates in these things voluntarily....

And, you know, a costume change was necessary, cuz that's how we roll....

Now, if food is leaving this house, then I prepare it sans sidekick...but please know...if you eat cake at this house, there has more than likely been a superhero's hand in it. 

I'm not going to give you a tutorial on making icing...there are a ton of recipes on the web...HOWEVER...and this is very important...I would NOT recommend using a cream cheese icing for this technique. I have previously used a buttercream frosting to do this and it worked much better than the cream cheese icing I have used here. But it was red velvet cake...and you just gotta have cream cheese with red velvet.

Lesson number two....this cake is much more impressive if it is taller. I would suggest making two cakes...regular size cake pans...and then split those two cakes for a total of four layers. 

HOWEVER....my regular size cake pans have grown legs...they are no doubt full of little boy play things or man tool things somewhere in my yard. So, I pulled out a medium size Wilton cake pan and did the best I could.

Once the cake has completely cooled, you will want to give it a thin crumb coat...this serves a few purposes...first, as the name suggests, to keep the crumbs out of everything....and today, I learned there is another purpose....brace yourselves..I have to warn you this picture is graphic...

It happens. No other explanation.

Apply a thin layer of icing all over the cake...try to get it as smooth as possible, but it's going to be covered so its not a huge deal.

..

Yep, still ugly.

Put the cake in the freezer for about 10 minutes to let this set. You can get your piping bag ready while it is chilling. You will need a Wilton number 12 tip. I use a piping bag and a plastic coupler. You can just snip the end out of the corner of a Ziploc bag...but make sure you don't squeeze the bag too hard with this method. 

Fill your bag with icing...an easy way to do this is to stick the bag down in a tall glass and drape the excess bag over the edge of the glass.

Fill with icing and then pull the sides up...

Twist the top of the bag before you start squeezing or your icing will come out the top as well as the bottom.

Now...begin the petal technique...I'll tell you lesson three now...I'm going to go ahead and show you how I did this, otherwise my pictures wouldn't make sense, but I would advise doing the top of the cake first...you'll see why at the end...ooooh, the suspense!!!

Start by piping dots down the side of the cake...(remember, taller is better, but we're working with what we've got here, people)

Now, take your icing spatula (or a baby spoon if your cake is only an inch tall) and put it at the middle of the dot...push in and drag out...

Then, apply the next row of dots like so....

Repeat this over and over again until you have covered the entire side area. 

For the top, just pick an area close to the side and do the same...

 

Go all the way around the cake and then start a new circle inside that one..over and over again until the top of the cake is covered.

Now...I will show you the finished product...although I REALLY don't want to (haha)...

See the little "seam" between the top and the bottom? I think if you did the top first, this would be easier to prevent. But, even with the little flaws, it still makes a plain cake pretty!!