Photo Project

Hey ya'll! Here's a little Christmas project I did for my Grandma. Check it out:

All you need is:

- 3  5x7 canvases
- 3  5x7 pictures (I chose pictures of my siblings and me)
- Scrapbooking paper
- Modge Podge
- Ribbon
- Heavy Duty craft staples

Step 1: Modge podge the pictures onto the top of the canvas

Step 2: Modge podge the scrapbooking paper to the sides of the canvas

Step 3: Let it dry overnight

Step 4: Staple the ribbon to the backs of the canvases

Step 5: Attach a bow to the top (or a flower, be creative :) )

And voila! You have a cute, decorative wall hanging!


Until next time,
Danielle :)

Beyond-Incredible Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, so I found this recipe for chocolate chip cookies but there were a few components that did not seem right about it. So, I modified it and ended up making my own recipe. Let's just say that the cookies turned out DELICIOUS! Probably the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted. Warning: If you do not like soft, melt-in-your-mouth, "Mrs. Fields"-like cookies, then stop reading immediately and definitely do not try this recipe :)

Note: This picture does not accurately capture the amazing-ness of these cookies :)



Kelsea's Beyond-Incredible Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter (slightly melted)
1 cup brown sugar
1 /2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease cookie sheets if needed.
Cream the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl then add them to the butter mixture. Beat until combined then add the chocolate chips. Spoon onto cookie sheets in 1/2 tablespoon drops. Bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! The edges should be barely golden and the cookie centers will be puffy and gooey. As the cookies cool, the centers will fall, creating a soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookie with slightly crispy edges. Let the cookies sit for about 2 minutes until they can be removed neatly from the cookies sheet (don't worry, they will still be warm!) Then enjoy!
Makes about 6 dozen.

Yoda Cake!

So, this is posted a little late, I know. But I made this cake for my younger brother's 9th birthday. He told me that he wanted a Starwars party and a Yoda cake...my response: I will try! It took a bit of imagination but I finally came up with this:

I baked the cake in a mixing bowl and made all the wrinkles and shapes like that with frosting (the ears were fondant)

So, there you have it! A yoda cake :)

Tiger Watercolor

So, believe it or not, a couple weeks ago I found myself bored  (I guess there isn't much to do on Christmas break). Anyway, I sat in my room wondering what to do, I had already baked, I didn't have an inspiration to draw, and I had already been on Facebook enough that day :) So, I decided to pull out my watercolors to paint. Well, I googled the word "Tigers" (because, for some reason, that seemed interesting to me), found a picture, printed it out and painted it.
Just a sidenote: I don't have anything against people who trace images then paint them but I'd rather not. I like the feeling of looking at a picture and knowing that I painted it myself, no tracing required. 
Ok, so anyway, enough said. This is the end result :)

Sweet 16 Cake

So, I guess it's time to post about another cake! :)  I made this one a few days ago for a friend's 16th birthday.

The bottom tier was vanilla cake (white and purple marbled) with raspberry/blackberry filling and buttercream frosting. Then, the top tier was chocolate cake with vanilla filling and buttercream frosting. Everything was homemade (of course) so the cake took a while to make and construct. I made the butterflies out of white fondant then painted them with zebra stripes, I also made the "16" square out of fondant and painted that as well. Altogether, the cake was challenging but really fun!

I get inspired by looking at people's cake pictures so I hope this inspires you to create something :)

Photography

There are a lot of "artsy" things that I enjoy (baking, cooking, drawing, painting, etc.) and among these is photography. I love to take pictures and try to make them look as professional as possible, even though my camera is just a little point-and-shoot digital one. So, I just want to share this photo that I took of my sister and brother. I love it but can't pinpoint exactly why....here it is though :)

My Attempt at Poetry...

Well, most of my posts are about baking even though this blog is titled "The Random Life of Me- The Journal of an Aspiring Artist." So I figure that I should add a little more than just food... here is my attempt at poetry :) I had to write this for a  literature class and discovered that I kinda actually enjoy writing poetry! So, here it is:


I Am Thankful

I am thankful for...

A family unbroken
in a house full of Love
A shortage of nothing,
always enough
A cozy, warm house,
a place by the fire
On freezing cold nights
I am safe