Backwood Creations

Old Cake, New Cake, & Update

I know it has been forever since I've done a blog and I'll tell you why. We have limited internet where I live 5MB upload and 50 MB download a day (per house). It was brought to our attention that the company that supplies us satalite internet had unlimited internet from Midnight to 6am East Coast Time, which meant 8 pm for us in AK! After a few months of that, we were then informed that it switched to each time zone has unlimited internet from Midnight to 6am. With being a stay at home mom of a son that likes to get up at 7-7:30am, I try to get to sleep before Midnight. Tonight though I took an unscheduled nap and can now blog for you.

In July my husband turned the big 3-0. I had a big 'ol kick out of it, but now that I'm looking at 29 this year...Yeah, I might have changed my mind about it all. Anywho this is the cake I surprised him with along with a surprise party. I have know idea how both surprises were pulled off considering how small our community is.

Corset Cake

I used Wilton's Sport Ball cake pans and two sheet cakes (for 2 layers). I made fondant for the first time and though it worked, I think I made it too soft. The flesh tone was made from Marzipan.

Today (technically yesterday) a woman here celebrated her Birthday so I made her a cake.

 
Valentine Birthday Cake

The cake is a two layer funfetti cake with creamy white frosting. I found a recipe for homemade conversation hearts here. I had ordered Almond Extract twice before I finally got it, but then reread the recipe and it said you could use any extract. So I left the blue alone for comparison, green was peppermint, pink almond, and purple vanilla. I really like the peppermint, they remind me of the white after dinner mints that you get at restaurants. I'm actually thinking of not tinting the dough, adding peppermint extract and rolling it in logs cut into bite size pieces like the after dinner mints. My second favorite and my son's favorite was the almond one.

Oh and after trekking this cake across site hoping and praying that (A) the hearts didn't fall off, (B) I didn't slip on the snow/ice, and (C) drop the cake; I'm starting to think a cake carrier would be worth the investment. Hmmm.

Next month I'm making a girl here a Fish Bowl Birthday Cake. I can't wait to see if I can pull it off. I'm going to put to the Wilton Sport Ball cake pans to use again. And dependent on how she wants to celebrate I might just break out my fish bento mold and make fish shaped deviled eggs. We'll see!

Homeschooling

Last week my family joined the ranks of homeschooling families. For the past year I've done some learn as we go kind of stuff and looked into the Montessori Method. My son decided last fall after visiting our friends in town that he was going to school when he turned 4 like his bff. Well, unfortunately that was not the case. We tried our best to explain our situation in regards to his attending school. He kind of understood, but wasn't really letting go of the school position. We decided that we should try to homeschool before the time came that we needed to homeschool.

I found Calvert School offered a Pre-Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum that would be a review and new material. The price was reasonable, except for shipping. After 2 discussions with Customer Service and Supervisor it was determined that FedEx 2 day would be the same as USPS Priority Mail. I didn't want to accept it, but I have heard great things about this company and just bit the bullet. Upon recieving the package I found out in their welcome material that they ship FREE to the lower states. So next year I will have it shipped to family and send them money to ship it up to me via USPS.

They don't leave much out of their curriculum packages. I've only had to add a pair of scissors and a bottle of glue to the supplies they sent. There are also some activities to add some items from around the household. The activity sheets are just enough for my son to have assistance once or twice with instruction before taking off on his own with it. The first day he wanted to do another session and for two weeks now we have done two sessions a day. I knew we would probably go pretty quick through the Pre-K. The Lesson Manual is for a school year and has some lesson plans that focus on a particular time of year, like currently Autumn though we are in Summer. It gives instructions of which lessons to swap with, but I was kind of cunfused to do it this first time. I think with some paper clips and post it notes I might be ok the next lesson swap. So far my son is doing well with the structure and doing school at home. He is the type of kid that knows what he is doing, but won't do it until he has perfected it in his mind first. Somehow having a routine of school everyday has let him practice or show him he can do it. After two tries first with me writing, then showing him the letters from a puzzle; he has written his first and last name. He still won't do it outside school though. He is singing some of the songs days after we've learned them and repeats to his dad what the story was that we read. He has even tried to teach him from his completed worksheets. He has always turned learning around to teach us.

I'm happy with Calvert School and I'm pretty sure that we will continue with their program. The curriculm seems sound and is pretty cost effective. The September after my son turns 5 we can enroll in a homeschooling program that would offer assistance both educationally and financially, but we would have to go through some of the school district hoops. We just aren't sure if we want to do that yet and if we can continue to afford to homeschool I think we will continue to do it on our own.

I've Entered the world of iPod

Ok, for a twenty something youth (adult, nah) I completely missed the stop to get on the technology bandwagon. Except for that may explain why I live in the middle of nowhere and am completely fine with it. A couple of years ago I won a Coby MP3 player. I was very excited to get it, except for then I had to figure it out. My husband tinkered around with it and besides the occasional use of the FM radio on it, I didn't use it. When I moved here and started running on the treadmill I started using it, figured out how to put a few songs on it to get me through a work out or two. After about 6 months it died. So I decided that I probably should just get on the kick of iPod dom and have just lived without a MP3 player, iPod, or otherwise. When we were on vacation we went to an Apple store and I found out the Nano wasn't too terribly expensive, then I got a job here on the weekends and vowed to buy one with my own money. Luckily it didn't take that long, hehehe. Two weeks ago our grocery store had a ad in the flyer for a bouquet of flowers on sale for $8. I circled it, showed it to my husband, and just so cleverly left it by the computer mouse sure he would see it. I come back from working out the last day of the sale and my husband asks me why I don't want an iPod Touch. I replied I don't need something like that and it was more money. Of course he goes all guy tech about more this and better this, that I just told him fine I'll split the cost with him. Later at dinner he tells me that he "thinks" he got it for me; after I told him we should wait. He then asked if that would get him out of the doghouse since he didn't order the flowers. Not that I'd complain about the new iPod, but why is it easier for a guy to buy a tech gadget than flowers? Makes no sense to me. Anyways today was plane day and I got it. Of course the first thing that has to be done is to download something so I had to wait until after 8pm to even start to try and figure this thing out. Luckily my husband took most of the initial figuring out frustation. Luckily it seems to be one of those plug it in and it takes care of things by itself kind of deals. Which I'm ok with but bugs my husband! Hopefully now I can "plug in" and get the creativity juices flowing so I have something to post about. I have a quilt post and a homeschool post, so maybe I'll rough draft those tomorrow to put them up tomorrow night.

Busy Little Bee

I've been a pretty busy little bee lately. Between playing in the wonderful weather that we've been having lately, finishing a few projects, starting a few projects, and working its been hard to get on here and write a note. Did you catch that I'm working? Yup just started this past weekend. I'll only be working on the weekends when my husband is home to watch our son and any work I can do at home during the week. I'm kind of doing two things right now around here. I'm helping out the fish culturists and helping my husband organize his work shop for easier inventory overseeing. I like both and I definitely feel rewarded from both. Working with fish is definitely different than anything I've ever done. Helping my husband is more or so along the lines of what I did retail wise in the past. I'm glad I can add some expertise to his current project and make a little less headache for him. Its late and I haven't been able to stay up as late as I have been, which I guess is a good thing. I'll try to get on here soon with something fun!

Sewing, sewing, and more sewing.

I have soo much on my plate right now. Ok, so maybe not so much my plate, but my sewing machine. I made 3 quilt fronts a few months ago, that had originally been cut and waiting to be sewn together a year or more ago. I need now to finish the quilts; I’ve got everything to finish them but just haven’t had the time to. It never fails when I make my quilts. I make crib quilts, simple, quick, and cute. Every time I’ve made these in the past someone announced they were pregnant or had just had their baby, so instead of being stocked up to be sold they got sent to some deserving cute, as can be babies. This time was no different either. So far two have now been destined for friend’s soon to come babies. I’m wondering who is going to get the third. I need to start on another quilt for a friend who is having a baby, but for that one I’ve been collecting scraps of fabric to make my first crazy quilt. Before all of this I still need to finish my husband’s boat dodger, yippie. Of course in the middle of all this I decided to help a friend here reupholster her couch, which was definitely in need to be. Luckily its all straight lines, but I just have to find the time to do it. We’ve been having some beautiful weather here and I’m not knocking it, but it is easier to get things done inside when you’re not tempted to go outside. I also can’t forget about the curtains I would like to make for my son’s room, the dining room and maybe the living room, and I would really like to have at least two tablecloths for the dining room table. See the dining room table is also where I sew and even though I have a cutting/ironing surface to go over the table, I still have to clean the toddler stickiness mess that always seems to be on it. Since I have to do laundry every other day it seems, it would be nice and easy to rotate two tablecloths and always have a fairly clean table.

 

I wrote the above while eating lunch and I’m happy to say that I’ve completed the upholstery project for my friend. Unfortunately when I dropped the last cushion off I forgot my camera. So I’ll have to add that later.

 

Now to decide whether I’m going to start on one of the quilts I need to finish and wait to see if I wake anyone up or sit down with some cooking magazines and get inspired on what to make for dinner tomorrow. Hmmmm.

Where I went

So you might have noticed that I hadn't posted in a few weeks. That is because I was on vacation, hehehe. Went down to Northern Washington and a few parts of British Columbia.

First off though I had to go into town a week early because a week and a half before we were going to be starting our trip, I realized that I didn't have a passport. If you are ever in the predicament that I was in, don't worry I have the solution for you. Its Easy Passport & Visa Services is the place to go. We found a few companies who do what they do but they had 24 hour assistance which let us call, several times, to make sure best we could it was legite and that we had everything together that was needed to have it go as quick as possible. It may have been pricey, but I did need it when we were checking back into the states.

We started off in Anacortes, WA. Before setting off from the dock we enjoyed lunch at Adrift Restaurant. It was sooo good. It was refreshing to be able to offer my son more choices than most restaurants do to his allergies. The hamburgers were made from grass fed beef, fries were baked, and they even had mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk. When the fries came out I looked at the ingredient list on the ketchup bottle and before I could get to the HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) the waitress asked me if I wanted Organic Ketchup instead. Besides my son's dietary restrictions their menu was riddled with Gluten Free choices and alternatives to. The water that was served was from a pitcher with Lemon and Lime slices in it. I don't like lemon in my water, but this was really refreshing.

Our first real stop was Friday Harbor, WA. We went to the Whale Museum which was good. It was kinda small but definitely learned some interesting things. They had one small room for kids to dress up like whales and fish, color, read, and watch a short movie. My 4 y.o. son thought we were going to see a whale there and even though we saw whale bones he was pretty disappointed.

Our first international stop was Sidney BC. We went to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre. It was very cool. The 4 y.o. had a blast, though the entrance was a little scary to him. You go through this door which looks like a big vault door, there are pipes with water bubbling around and the ceiling is t.v.s that are playing a video of water, when the doors shut it pretends as though you are submerging the video of water gets murkier and the floor vibrates, and then another set of doors open to the center. All the specimens come from the Vancouver Island area, which was interesting to know and see. While there, still with a no whale seeing 4 y.o, we stopped at a book store and discovered this book series Timmy the West Coast Tug. My son of course picked out Timmy and the Whales. It is a good story and has become one of my son's favorites. We anchored one night off of Sidney Spit Marine Park. It was really nice and quiet. We walked along the spit and found sand dollars both living and dead; which was very cool for me.

There is more to come!

Stay Tuned...

I will hopefully resume posting soon. I'm working on a post about what has kept me away from blogging for the last few weeks. I had just a "little" bit of fun playing in the unexpected sun. Ok I had a LOT of fun playing in the unexpected sun.

Revamped Sewing Corner

I wish I had a picture of my sewing corner before. But for a mental picture; just imagine a sewing machine box, 1 of the boxes on the shelves, and a trash bag full of yarn sitting in front of the 3 drawer box. Yup my sewing corner was quickly growing horizontal into the dining room. Luckily, make it and love it, posted a few things she did to get her craft room in order. I loved the idea of making your own storage boxes by using Mod Podge to adhere your choice of fabric to the boxes. I also LOVE great projects that are of little cost to me. We usually get our groceries in these great square egg boxes and I had this great maroon vine cotton fabric that came with a sleeper sofa from freecycle; the sofa found a new home, but the sheet stayed but doesn't quite fit an actual queen sized mattress. I differed a little bit though; my boxes were already a great size so I just separated the "seam" and hot glued the box back together inside out and I didn't paint the inside because there was a lot of packing tape and figured it wasn't worth the mess. So far I love it! I think this will control my "mess" for awhile.

Toddler Trekkie

Ah, the joys of being the mother of a 4 y.o. who has learned to love Star Trek just as much as his father has. This was made while dinner was cooking yesterday. My son asked me for one of the many egg cartons that I've accrued waiting to be made into something. I gladly obliged, just to see my son swoop it through the air into "faster speed" followed by a "come in, Enterprise". My husband asked what it (the egg carton) was and our son proudly stated a "star ship". My husband grabbed the paper towel rolls while I grabbed the paper plates and hot glue gun. My son was memorized at the transformation of his egg carton star ship into the mighty USS Enterprise. Last night he even slept with it in his bed, it was quite cute. It is soo wonderful to see such joy in his face from such a simple project.

Repurposed Earth Day Project

I've been meaning to do this project for months now, but seeing as it was Earth Day really got me motivated to accomplish it. Today I repurposed my son's outgrown baby hooded towels into a bath mat. I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do until I started sewing and I'm happy with the results.

I used 5 baby hooded towels for this project. The front squares were 6" squares cut from 3 baby hooded towels. I sewed 2 towels together for the back piece. I seamed the squares together by putting the wrong sides together and sewed 6 squares together to form a row. I seamed twice (3/8", 1/4") because once it start getting washed it will start ragging. I then sewed the rows together using the same method as sewing together the individual squares. I sewed two towels together after cutting off the hood to make a large back panel. I pinned the front and back right side together and sewed (1/2") leaving a 12" (2 square) opening to turn piece right side out. After cutting the corners and turning right side out I sewed 1/4" seam around the edge of the mat and sewing closed the opening.

The towels we mainly use in the bathroom are green, purple, cream, and white; so the mat really doesn't match. Maybe one day when we live in a town again I may either get matching towels or find some towels at the thrift store that match my towels or decor. Even though it doesn't match I really like it and can't wait to see it after it gets washed a few times.

I have a few more towels and a few more ideas to do with them. I'll let you know what I come up with!