A Sewing Lesson and Some Kitty Cupcakes

Our cat loving friend, affectionately known to the boys as "Mr. Leroy," had a birthday today so the boys and I have been working on some extra special projects.  We invited Mr. Leroy over to dinner to celebrate and I had the last minute inspiration to cross stitch him a little cat which I knew he would find hilarious--not to mention the fact that he really appreciates home made gifts :)  I've been working like crazy trying to get the little fella finished and David (seeing how much fun I was having?) decided that he also wanted to sew something.  My son......wanting to craft?  I got right to work gathering supplies!

David cuddled up next to me and started working on his masterpiece.  He got the hang of it right away and especially loved sewing on the buttons and beads.

Here's his finished piece....he found those letters and insisted I sew his name on for him but other than that it's pretty much all his original work.  I thought he was done about three dog beads before he thought he was finished......oh well, he's the creative genius........

And my finished masterpiece....not nearly as colorful.......(I used this Martha Stewart pattern)

I braved TJ Maxx this morning to grab a frame.  David picked this one out....I do think Mr. Leroy liked it.  I don't think he fully understood the process of taking the boys into an aisle full of glass chotchkies and attempting to pick one frame out of hundreds while trying to maintain David's focus on the task at hand and away from the random Precious Moments figurines that he felt the need to gently cradle in his arms......

We also got ambitious and made some kitty cupcakes from the book:  Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make.  David and I whipped up the chocolate cupcakes yesterday...with the inevitable cloud of cocoa powder when we turned the mixer on.  David was covered  but he didn't mind too much.  I intended on turning all our cupcakes into kitties but I lost momentum after just three....well really after two but I had already mixed up the orange icing so I figured I'd do one of each....

When David came down this morning to see the finished products he said "cats!"  I didn't love how they turned out but if they were recognizable as cats to a three year old I figured they couldn't be too bad right?

The rest we just iced the old fashioned way and they made a much better base for birthday candles.  Of course David was on hand to help out Mr. Leroy with such an arduous task.....he also offered his cupcake licking services as well.  Apparently he only likes the icing......I'm not sure where he gets that from, certainly not me :)

Happy Birthday Mr. Leroy!