4th of July Cake

I saw this cake recipe in my latest issue of Taste of Home, and I decided to try it out for 4th of July.

It's a crepe cake, so you make the layers in a pan, just like a crepe or a pancake. It took probably just about as much time to make as a regular cake, but it definitely took more effort because you have to man frying pan the whole time, instead of just pouring the batter into a cake pan and sticking it in the oven. It was fun, though, and I'm glad I tried it.

Here's the recipe. It is supposed to make enough crepes and frosting for two small cakes, but I used a bit more batter for each crepe so I would have one cake that was a bit larger, and I ended up having extra batter left over, but that was fine since it allowed for mess-ups. I also added in a modification that I would do next time, which is adding a bit of extra baking powder. The layers I made turned out flatter than the original picture of the cake in the magazine, so I think a bit of extra baking powder would do the trick to make them fluffier.

Cake ingredients:

1 package (18-1/4 ounces) red velvet cake mix

2-3/4 cups whole milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup butter, melted

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting ingredients:

12 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 cups confectioners' sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, milk, flour, eggs, egg yolks, butter and vanilla; beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 2 minutes.

2. Heat a lightly greased 10-in. nonstick skillet over medium heat; pour 1/4 cup batter (or 1/3 cup, if you want one bigger cake instead of two smaller cakes) into center of skillet. Lift and tilt pan to coat bottom evenly. Cook until top appears dry; turn and cook 10-15 seconds longer. Remove to a wire rack. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing skillet as needed. When cool, stack crepes with waxed paper or paper towels in between.

3. For frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and salt until fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth. 

4. To assemble two crepe cakes, place one crepe on each of two cake plates. Spread each with one rounded tablespoon frosting to within 1/2 in. of edges. Repeat layers until all crepes are used. Spread remaining frosting over tops and sides of crepe cakes. (Or do this process for just one cake). Garnish with blueberries. 

If you're up for a fun variation on the traditional cake recipe, try this one out. And as always, if you do try it, let me know what you think!

Recipe credit: Taste of Home 


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Pretty for Spring

Maru Buttons: I really really really like this necklace!

Ami Rope Smile Necklace

Karu Maru Felt Ball Necklace

All of these are from Japanese seller Homako.

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Lunch Bag from Hong Kong

I got this Etsy order in the mail the other day, and I can't believe it made it halfway across the world intact!

The packaging is a brown paper lunch bag!

These bird stamps are really cute though!

Have you ever received an unusually-wrapped package in the mail?

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Felt Is Fun

Besides teaching fourth graders how to turn an improper fraction into a mixed number, and vice versa (it's pretty difficult stuff!), these are my other accomplishments of the day:

How was your day?

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New Dress

I am working on sewing a dress this week.

The fabric is pretty, and sewing with my cheery yellow pins is quite nice.

I can't wait to show you the finished product!

This is the pattern I'm using.


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Felt Dahlia Tutorial

Photo credit: Megan Reardon

I made a felt dahlia just like that, and believe it or not, it was not nearly as difficult as it looks! (I would post a picture, but the ones I attempted to take with my high-tech camera phone just didn't turn out so well).

Find the tutorial here: Mother's Day Corsage

The directions are very clear and easy to follow.

My input is this: Don't stress about cutting the petals perfectly. Once they are glued on, no one will be able to tell if yours aren't the exact shape of the ones in the tutorial. My other tip: Use a glue gun. Megan Reardon, who wrote the tutorial, recommends using a glue called "Fabri-tac", and she says it takes awhile to set. Glue guns make my life so much simpler, and the hot glue bonds to felt like no one's business.

Try it out! You'll be impressed with your abilities when you're finished!

Photo credit: Megan Reardon

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green really does love yellow

Since my blog is titled "Green Loves Yellow" (and those are my two favorite colors... no deep symbolism involved, just two lovely colors that look lovely together), when I found this "Simply Color" post on Design Sponge, I had to repost it!

For paint colors and item information, click here for the original post!

I  ♥ green and yellow!

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SwapBot

Maybe I'm late to the party, but I just discovered something new.

What is it?

Here's the website's own description:

Do you like sending and receiving snail mail? Do you like writing letters, making crafts, or putting together fun packages? You should try swapping! Swap-bot is a online service that organizes group swaps and a community of creative individuals. Swap-bot takes the hassle out of participating in group swaps by organizing all of the participant information and doing all of the partner assignments. On Swap-bot, you can host swaps, join swaps, and chat with other swappers from all over the world. Give it a try!

Basically, you join the website, look for a fun swap, and trade with other like-mindedly creative people!

I spent about thirty minutes poking around on the site this morning, and found at least five swaps that I want to join. Lots of the swaps are penpal-esque, as in, postcard swaps, letter swaps, etc., but I found an earring swap that I want to join, and several others! The best part is that it's free, except for the tiny cost of shipping an item to someone else. Swap-Bot is also not confined to the U.S.! I like the idea that I could participate in an earring swap with someone from Europe, or trade recipes with someone in Australia. I also like that you can participate as much or as little as you would like.


Months ago, I discovered a similar site hosted on blogspot called We-Swap. I thought it was cool, and (if you check it out) you'll see that it is, but Swap-Bot's community far surpasses We-Swap. On Swap-Bot, you can participate in group swaps (like the earring swap) or in individual swaps via the forum boards. No matter how you swap, it's almost always a surprise, and it's a way to connect with creative people whom you would never have known!

For example, I signed up for a blogspot swap. Tomorrow the swap closes, and the moderator will join everyone in the swap up with ten other bloggers. The participants' jobs are to read the blogs of those with whom they're been paired and comment on their blogs. I'm excited to read new blogs, probably in categories I wouldn't normally seek out.

Look around on Swap-Bot! I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Does it sound exciting to you? Are you interested in joining any swaps? Will you join any? If you do, tell me which one you joined, and what the results are. I'm so curious to know!


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