Last night I was in the mood to do some creative stuff. Call me crazy but sometimes I just get the itch to make something. So, I tried a new technique for baking a cake and I made a new journal!
Pampered Chef Deep Dish Covered Baker Cake:
I bought the Pampered Chef Deep Dish Covered Baker several years ago because it’s really versatile and you can make all kinds of dinners with it. Last week I discovered a recipe that allows you to bake cakes with it too! And it’s super easy!
You basically make up any cake mix (I did Devil’s Food) and pour it in to the DDCB. You then take your frosting (chocolate of course!) and scoop it out (I used a cookie dough scoop but you could use an ice cream scoop or even a melon baller, or even a spoon), placing about 12 scoops on top of the batter (without mixing it in):
From there you just pop it in the microwave and cook for 10-12 minutes (uncovered). That’s it!
Here’s what it looks like straight out of the microwave:
Looks like a normal cake huh? Only the kicker is that the frosting has sunk down to the bottom and basically frosted itself! So it’s like a chocolate upside down cake or something.
Now, here’s where Martha Stewart has a leg up on me. The recipe I had didn’t say whether to flip it out of the DDCB right away or wait until it cooled. Because I’m Ms. Impatient, I flipped it right away and ended up with a big mess as frosting oozed all over the place. I was able to salvage it and the cake tastes AWESOME, it just doesn’t look very pretty, so I didn’t take a picture. But you get the idea. Next time, I’ll let it cool before I flip it.
Calendar Journal:
Once that was done, I popped “Tron” into the DVD player and started making my Calendar Journal. I saw this idea earlier in the week while Design Sponge and it really stuck with me. See, I’ve always wanted to be a journaler and every year I start out strong but then fade as I get busy and don’t have time to write paragraphs about my day. So I end up writing one liners. Well, this journal is designed just for that and it can last forever!
See, it’s basically a bunch of index cards placed in a basket with the date written on top (just the month and day, not the year). Then, each year, you write the year on one line along with a quick note about what happened that day. There’s no pressure to write a novel, and you can start to see over the years how your life has changed ( or not ) as you compare events from the past. It’s super easy to make too!
I got all my supplies at the Dollar Store and it cost me $5 (granted, I had some on hand already). You basically need:
- A basket of some type – could be as simple or fancy as you want!
- Enough index cards for the year, and maybe some extra (I just bought 4 packages of 100)
- larger index cards or thicker paper for dividers
- Markers
- Decorative stuff (I used ribbon) – optional
- Scissors and maybe tape
All you do it write (or stamp) the date on top of each index card and put them in the basket. If it was a holiday, I wrote the name of the holiday on red at the top, to distinguish it. Then you take the paper you got for dividers and cut/fold them to size. I used scrapbook paper that I already have and folded it to be thicker, then cut the edges to the right size. The dividers should be a bit taller than the index cards. I also chose paper to correspond with the month, to make it more fun (snowy paper for January, Valentine’s paper for February, etc). Put a divider before the index cards of each month (you can write the month on top if you want) and you’re done! You can then decorate the basket or leave it as is. I weaved a ribbon around mine and called it good.
Here’s the end result!
And here’s how you’d write on an index card:
Other things you could do with this:
- Decorate special days with stickers
- Put small keepsakes in the basket (if you have room)
- Add small pictures that are meaningful for a special day or at the beginning of the month
I put mine in the bedroom (thought about the kitchen counter but don’t want to clutter it up after I just de-cluttered it) and plan to write my one-liner each night before I go to bed!
Samson even helped me:
He really wanted to help me with the cake by eating it all but, alas, all he got was a lick of my finger.
Both projects were super easy and fun! Took me 20 minutes to make the cake (from start to finish and I didn’t have to frost it!) and 2 hours to do the journal. Normally I’m not “Sarah Stewart” but like I said, once in a while I get an itch that I have to scratch!
Today, CJ and I are going on a date to see “Tron: Legacy” and then we have a surprise party tonight. Should be a fun day and give me plenty to write about on my card tonight!
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