Q: How? A: Paint, Vinyl, Decoupage Medium

So I have been redecorating our powder room recently and as part of this process I wanted to change the way I have decorated the box where the spare TP is kept. We have a vinyl cutting machine and I have been wanting to try putting a number on a project rather than words since that seems to be a new trend. So here is a BEFORE picture (this box holds 6 rolls of paper and I bought it several years ago on the craft isle at Wal*Mart).

First I sanded it down just lightly to remove the thin raised surface of the paint that was already there.

Next I spray painted it an aqua blue color (because I painted the bathroom walls a soft blue and because I already had a can of this color spray paint in the garage). After that dried I spray painted the top and bottom edge of the box in black leaving a middle "stripe" that was aqua blue. When it was dry I sanded it down some more and then I took a page from a book that had been previously ruined (this was another trend I wanted to try) and tore out a roughly rectangular shape. I adhered this rectangle of text onto the center of the box with decoupage medium and then coated over it with the same - it went on milky but dried clear.

When that was completely dry then I added a vinyl cut-out of the number six and then vinyl lettering that reads "number" across the front of the number six. I chose six for this project because the box holds 6 rolls of paper - maybe my kids will take the hint and make sure it's always stocked up full? Yeah, that'll happen. Anyway here is a picture of the bathroom with the finished TP box in service. Oh yeah, and I cut out vinyl letters for the mirror that say... "Yes, you're the fairest of them all." My kids thought that was cute and funny - even the boys.

Q: What? A: Carrot CAKE.

Every Spring I think of Easter and Easter makes me think of Bunnies and Bunnies make me think of Carrots and Carrots make me think of CAKE! If you are a carrot cake fan then you've GOT to try making my Aunt Laura's Carrot CAKE - it is SOOO GOOD!

Here's the Recipe...

Aunt Laura's Carrot Cake

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Grated Carrots

4 eggs

1/2 cup cooking oil

1 can 20 oz. crushed pineapple, drained

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

That's it - just drain the pineapple and dump everything into a mixing bowl. Stir it up with a wooden spoon and pour into a greased 9x13" baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool completely and ice with cream cheese frosting...

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. package cream cheese

1/2 cup butter - room temperature

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch of salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix it all together with a mixer for a long time until it's really nice and fluffy and tempting. Spread on completely cooled cake and serve.

Hint: if you like nuts try sprinkling some chopped walnuts on top of the iced cake but don't serve those pieces to anyone with nut alergies (I know - duh!)

Q:When? A: April 4, 2010... Easter Sunday

Our family doesn't have much to do with the commercial side of Easter. Mostly we just have a communal bowl of easter candy and call it good regarding the Easter Bunny. However, I always think the decorations are really cute and I came across an idea using a Goblet as a Cupcake stand with candy in the bottom. I'm pretty sure I was leafing through a copy of Better Homes & Gardens. Anyway, I wanted to make cupcakes and put the candy that would have gone into our traditional "communal bowl" in the goblets this year instead. It turned out cute but looking back I think I should have chosen a different color for the icing. I was going for purple using paste food coloring but I made a buttercream icing with real butter (yellow butter) and when you mix a primary color and it's complement (yellow + purple) you get GREY. So our icing had a greyish undertone to it. I would recommend using either and egg white based icing or shortening if you are going to use purple food coloring (that's what I'll do next time around). The goblet idea was a smash hit with our kids and with their cousins and with their aunts & uncles and with their grandparents. This idea could be used so many different ways in entertaining - try it, bet you'll like it - we did.