Give Away at Made By Lex!

Click here to enter and see these beautiful pieces by Coco Bijou!

ETSY STORE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Due to lack of computer literacy, it's taken me awhile to get to, but my Etsy store is finally open!!! Click on the link at the right hand corner of this blog, or click HERE to see what I have available right now. If you don't see what you are looking for, I am always willing to do special orders! Thank you everyone for your support!

Just for fun!

These all sold before I could post them, but I thought that I'd put the pictures up anyway. I'll have to make some more like them soon.
Pretty pink and white crepe flowers


Blue damask frayed flower with a rhinestone, white flower with silver pearls

Cream bubble organza and white organza flowers with bead clusters

Beaded Chiffon Flower Shirt

I saw this cardigan at Old Navy yesterday and thought that the flowers would look so cute on a little girls shirt...

I recently bought this shirt(at Old Navy, of course) for $5. To be honest, plain shirts just aren't my thing. I find them a bit dull. So it was the perfect shirt to spruce up!

I made a few chiffon flowers and and attached them to the shirt by sewing little beads in middle of each flower.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out! And hey, it only cost $6 to make!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

I made these cute little cupcakes for Valentines Day last week and had a large amount of lemon curd leftover...so I made a few more today to share with all of you on the blog. These little lemon cupcakes are filled with a lemon curd to give it that really "lemon meringue pie" sort of taste, along with a swiss meringue piped on the top and toasted.


I found Meyer lemons at the grocery store and was so excited! Finding little treats like that is a rare occurence in this town. Click here to learn more about Meyer Lemons... they are just lovely.

If you would like to make these cupcakes, simply find a lemon cake recipe that you like(or use a boxed mix) and bake in cupcake wrappers. When they have cooled down, cut the tops off, fill with a little bit of lemon curd. Make a Swiss Meringue, pipe on top of the cupcakes, and toast underneath your oven broiler until lightly browned (it only takes a 30 seconds or so, so watch them closely!!)
Here are my recipes for a lemon curd and Swiss Meringue:

Lemon Curd:
2 1/3 cups sugar
4 t. cornstarch
1 cup lemon juice
4 large Eggs
4 large Egg Yolks
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, cut into ½ inch cubes

For Curd:

Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a heavy large saucepan. Slowly add the key lime juice, whisking until all cornstarch is dissolved. Whisk in eggs and yolks. Add butter. Stir over medium heat until curd boils and thickens, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Chill until cold, at least 6 hours or overnight.
*Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd to prevent crust from forming and keep chilled.

Swiss Merinque:
2 large egg white
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the meringue:Put the sugar, cream of tartar, and egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water (the bowl should not be touching the water) and allow the sugar to melt into the eggs. Once warmed, add the vanilla and beat the mixture until stiff peaks form, about 3 - 5 minutes, set aside.


A few tips~

* Lemon curd can be made up to a week in advance.
* Try using other citrus juices to make curd with, such as key limes or meyer lemons.
* You can use a creme brulee torch to toast your meringue, but I think it is a little too time consuming and prefer the broiler method.
* Keep these cupcakes in the fridge, I think they taste even better cold!

Enjoy!

Emmaline Headband

My first headband is sold to a cute little girl named Emmaline. Little sisters and their friends make excellent clients =) I LOVE the green damask print on the large flower. It sort of reminds me of the curtains that Maria used to make the Von trapp children playclothes.....

Stain-coverage discovered!

What do you do with a childs shirt that has been stained multiple times and been placed in the rag-pile? Throw it out? I think not!
If you have a few pretty scraps of material laying around and a few hours you can do THIS!
I used strips of dark gray crepe and light gray chiffon to sew little ruffles over the stained area.
With the scraps left over from the scraps, I made this matching hair clip. Matchy-matchy, but cute!

A few things I learned from this project:

1. Fray Check is your friend.
2. USE Fray Check.
3. Use Fray Check on the material BEFORE you sew it into little ruffles. It sure is a lot easier to apply it to flat material.
4. A sewing machine would make this project a LOT faster. I think I logged about 3 hours on this project by hand-stitching it.
5. I need to buy a sewing machine. And learn how to use it.

Look HERE for more idea's on re-fashioning old clothing. This woman is brilliant and inspired me to try my hand at it.

Frayed & Fancy Headbands!!

I can't stop making these headbands! They are so fun to make and I love coming up with different styles, so I have decided to sell my handywork. Look for a link to Etsy soon, I am working on setting up an account at the moment. If you are interested in my headbands, please take a look and see if there is anything you like, and spread the word! We'll see how I fare in the crafty mom buisness world...

Caramel Covered Marshmallows

I've recently discovered that the very best of caramel recipes contains not but 5 ingredients....how great is that? Dip marshmallows in it and you have something amazing!

Cherry Blossom Paintings

I made these paintings a little while ago for Ava's bedroom, wanting to make a big statment peice. It's been years since I've painted anything, but I really enjoyed it!

Easy Christmas Decorating Idea

I found these vases on clearance at T.J. Maxx for about $4 each. Fill them with red candies and christmas ornaments and you have an easy Christmas spread for your home! I think I ate more candy than usual this year.....

Christmas Candy Cane Vases

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I don't really consider myself a crafty person, but I saw these vases in a magazine and had to make them because they were so pretty! And so easy to make! just coat candy cane sticks in acrylic spray, let dry, and glue them onto a vase with a glue gun. Wrap ribbon around the middle, tie a little bow, glue it on with a mint in the middle and viola! Christmas vases! I think I'll try the crafty stuff more often ;)