A Very Scary Cake

Hello friends! I hope everyone had great Halloween! I made a fun cake and wanted to share it with you. I saw the recipe on From A Whisper To A Scream Blog originally. Except I made the frosting from scratch, made it into a cake instead of cupcakes and changed the "Blood" a little bit. Other than that I followed the directions and it turned out Spooktacular!

The humidity was high the day I made the blood so I omitted the water. Also I only added 1 drop of blue instead of 3 drops of blue food coloring it called for as it would've made it way to dark. I don't have much experience in the "candy making department" but it turned out perfect. It took about 45 mins. to get the sugar mixture to reach 302 degrees (Hard Crack Stage) so make sure you have the time if you want to serve this scary bloody mess to friends and family! I prepared the glass the day before Halloween and let it sit in a cold oven over night to harden properly. This recipe is very inspiring to me to venture out of my baking and do a little more candy making this holiday season!

The Book Has Arrived!

Hi friends! These 2 images belong to Aimee Ray. I was so excited to see these pics in her flickr photostream I had to snag them lol. Last year Aimee asked me to be a contributor in her book The Holiday Motif Collection. It's available through Amazon now in case you're interested. See the little teapot cozy up there in the left hand corner? I designed and wrote the pattern for it. I haven't seen the book in person yet so I'm dying lol. Aimee's doing a giveaway on her blog this week. Head on over to Little Deer Tracks and enter in to win a FREE copy! Aimee, in case you're reading this post: Thanks so much for everything! I'm so thankful to be a part of your fun crafty book!

Here's a link to my flickr: Annie Kight of Pinks & Needles

Here's a link to Aimee's flickr: Aimee Ray aka Merwing

 

Some Halloween Pin Toppers from the Haunted Crafty Cottage

Hands Down Halloween's my favorite holiday! Looking forward to creating some spooky pins this year! This little collection is from years past. If by chance you'd like to place an order in the month of September be prepared for a Scary Freebie Surprise Pin Topper with every purchase! Right now I'm working on a OOAK Pincushion Vignette which I hope to post very soon!

Alice in Wonderland Flamingo Croquet Mallet & Hedgehog Ball Pin Toppers

I owed a friend of mine a favor and his mom just happens to like sewing and Alice in Wonderland! So I created her this trio of pins.

Do you remember the part in the movie where Alice plays croquet with a flamingo as a mallet and that poor little hedgehog is smacked around like a ball?

I have always loved the Queen of Hearts' garden in the movies. I designed the tree to represent her and also when she demands that the roses be painted red (hence the one little rose in the left hand corner with red edges.

I decided to make this set available in my shop. Each pin is a la carte too!

LOVE Patchwork & Quilting Magazine Blurb

Hello Friends~

Well it's been a really long time since I've posted here on Blogger. It's quite embarrassing actually lol. Anyway, I'm trying to stay connected as of now let's see how it goes!

Tomorrow in the UK my little pins will be in issue #10 of LOVE Quilting & Patchwork! So excited to see it in person! Here's the proof page:

When I was contacted the gal asked if they could use pictures of my pins from Etsy since there wasn't enough time for me to make pins and then send them so I sent her a few pics to choose from. Whoever edited my original photo did an excellent job! This is a shot of my original here:

Kinda cool huh? I thought so too : )

Well friends I hope to post again very soon. I'm working on a Halloween pincushion already which I'm very excited about! Fingers crossed I can stay on track.

I bid you adieu,

Annie

Sunflower Sisters

A gal contacted me recently and asked if I could make her some special Sunflower pins for a quilting retreat she's attending up in Washington State next week. She and her friends call themselves The Sunflower Sisters! The seeds in the photo are Mammoth and I'm growing them in my yard this Summer. Some of them are reaching as high as 10 feet so far!

Triple Layer Vanilla Cake with Pink Icing and a Garden Rose Pin Topper

I love it when someone orders a pin from me and they say "Can you make me something special?"

My answer is always Yes! I've only made a triple layer cake slice one other time because it's a bit time consuming but I'm happy to say I'll kindly do it again.

I sculpted the rose in white and then painted it after it was baked so it ended up with a little more detail than usual.

The Mad Hatter Pincushion available too in many color combinations! I'm working on a dark gray schemed one for Fall. More pics coming soon.

An Old Fashioned Favorite

A Birthday Girl requested Old Fashioned Home Made Chocolate Chip Cookies for her birthday CAMP OUT last night. My mom was an amazing baker back when I was growing up. She loved crisp light cookies the best. In the recipe following I've adapted an American Icon's classic Blue Ribbon Recipe ~ Mrs. Debbi Fields!

2 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar (Mrs. Fields uses 1/2 c. sugar)

1/4 flaked coconut (Mrs. Fields omits coconut)

2 sticks of butter (salted & softened)

2 large eggs

2 t. vanilla extract

1 c. chocolate chips (Mrs. Fields uses 2 c. of chocolate chips)

1 c. chopped walnuts (Mrs. Fields omits walnuts)

Has anyone ever heard about baking cookies SLOW & LOW before? I swear it really does the trick.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, blend sugars and butter to form a grainy paste. Scrape the sides of the bowl down. Add eggs and vanilla just until blended ~ DO NOT OVERMIX!

Add the flour mixture, chocolate chips, coconut and walnuts at low speed ~ again do not overmix! Drop the dough by rounded Tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-22 mins. I usually bake at 18 mins on the dot but some ovens are different. Transfer immediately to a cool surface or wire rack.

Quick n Easy Black Bottom Banan Cream Pie

Good morning friends~

I came up with a twist for a very easy Banana Cream Pie yesterday! Just wanted to share with all of you.

In a food processor pulverize 9 graham crackers (usually one sleeve) + 6 T. melted butter + 1 heaping T. granulated sugar. Mix well and press into a pie plate. Bake at 375 for 7 mins. Let cool.

 

Here's the twist: melt 1/3 c. chocolate chips (I used bittersweet) + 1 T. milk ~ spread over bottom of the cooled crust and let cool again.

Prepare a 3 oz. box of vanilla or banana pudding with 1 3/4 c. milk ~ spread over chocolate bottom.

Slice a LARGE banana as thin as possible and lay them down on the pudding. This particular banana gave me just the right amount!

Whip a pint of heavy whipping cream + 1/2 vanilla extract and 1 T. powdered sugar and spread in a pretty design over the top of the bananas.

Top with a pretty flower from your garden!

This pie is best chilled very well.

Enjoy with a favorite cup of coffee or milk! Yummy!

Hello Friends~

Well it's been a very long time and to be truthful I'm a bit embarrassed lol. I'll try and post more regularly starting......NOW!

Tomorrow in the UK my little pins will featured in LOVE Patchwork & Quilting issue #10! I can't wait to see it in print. So far all I have is the proof page here:

I love all the colors and how they came together on this page : )

When they contacted me there wasn't enough time for me to make and send them actual pins so the gal asked if they could use existing pictures from my Etsy shop. Whomever edited my pic did such a good job don't you think? Here's the pic I submitted:

If you're reading this post and you just happen to place an order please convo me and mention "LOVE Patchwork & Quilting" and I'll send you a FREEBIE PIN with your ORDER!

Until then Friends, I bid you adieu, Annie