Peanut  Butter Frosting
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1-1/2 sticks butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 cups  powdered (confectioner's) sugar
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl and mix on medium until creamy.   Add in the heavy cream and beat on high until light and fluffy.

My mom wishes that mirror was her face. Just sayin.

I used a 1M tip to pipe the frosting in a pretty swirl, and sprinkled a little clear sugar glitter over the tops because I like swag, even on my cupcakes.

Keep these babies in the fridge, the icing is butter and cream-laden.  And also totally lickable.

Just like Elvis.

My mom wishes she was on the receiving end of this smolder. Happy Birthday to the King!

In that frustrating way the internet has, I ran across a teeny tiny thumbnail photo of a freakishly adorable top.  Appeared to be red polkadots, neck tie or ruffly jabot, short sleeves with armband.  It appeared to be a screenshot from a tv show or movie.


Did you know you know you can copy the URL of a photo and paste it in the google search box, and it will search the internets for THAT image? 

You can.

Behold the magnificence of red (not polkadot) necktie/ruffly jabot short sleeve blouse:



WHY would such a lovely woman, who is clearly still quite young (early 30s?) do this?

Oh Hollywood, yet again you disappointment with your shallowness. 

If you haven't made a New Year's Resolution yet, might I suggest embracing your wrinkles?  Hopefully you got them from things like SHOWING EMOTION and SMILING and LAUGHING and LIVING LIFE. So they're nothing to be ashamed of. 

Also, more cute feminine blouses.  Yup.

This article popped up on my twitter feed tonight.  It is both heartbreaking and helplessness-inducing.

In synopsis, a woman, Julie Keith, was unpacking Halloween decorations and found a letter inside; a letter from the Chinese worker who packaged it.

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Please, go read the full articel (linked above) for the letter's full contents.  Here is a brief snip...

Sir, if you occasionally buy this product, please kindly resend this letter to the World Human Right Organization. Thousands people here who are under the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party Government will thank and remember you forever.

What is the true cost of low prices?  Human suffering?  How much must you "save"?  What is your bottom dollar, your lowest price?

What price?

What price.

Dear Friends,

In between unwrapping gifts and cooking Christmas lunch, I wanted to stop and take a minute to wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

I've had a really wonderful 2012.  This has been, hands down, the  most interesting year I've had in a long, long time.  So many times I have been faced with new opportunities I didn't expect (not all that turned out the way I originally hoped they would), found strength to accomplish things I didn't know I had the ability or stamina for, and made friendships that I didn't expect to find or love quite so much. 

Many of you have been a part of my incredible year, either directly or indirectly, or possibly you've only followed my progress and journey and cheered me from the sidelines.  In whatever capacity you find yourself here with me, to all of you, I thank you. 

May the love and peace of the season be with you today, and all days.

Merry Christmas,

Angie

Mashable got ahold of Santa's phone this year.  Santa should really be more careful.  Here are my favorite convos...

Justin Bieber:


Morgan Freeman:


An overly attached girlfriend:


Mariah Carey:

Mars Curiosity Rover:


Just a little holiday humor to get you through this beautiful Christmas Eve!  I still have a gift to buy.  WHAT?? 

I know, Santa. I know.

Safe travels to those of you on the road this holiday season! 

We have a Christmas baby this year in our family! Meet my brand new nephew, baby K.

I'm enamored.

Eighteen years ago today I met one of my two favorite people on the planet.

If I were Cinderella, and a suave and handsome prince happened by on occasion to ask me to a ball, I would accept demurely.  And then I would flit away to my singularly amazing closet filled with the kinds of dresses that set all my competitors' teeth on edge.

Dresses, like these.

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I need that prince now.

Or at least a lovely formal event so that I can recreate one of these gorgeous dresses...aren't they spectacular?

*swoon* 

One year ago today, a former student of mine lost his life in a senseless tragedy.  He was an amazing kid, so full of peace and happiness that you couldn't help but smile when you saw him.

Dustin was a pre-med student at Baylor, and his dream was to work in the medical field and to participate in mission work both at home and abroad.  His strong, beautiful family is continuing Dustin's legacy, with the formation of a foundation in his name, Dustin's Dream.

I was honored to participate in one of their first major projects this month, when they asked my graphic design class to design a poster for their fundraising efforts.


The student designer is Chai L., a senior, and he is simply amazing.  He has a wonderful eye for layout and I gave absolutely no direction on this project until the very end when I made two tiny, miniscule suggestions.  This is Chai's work, and it is gorgeous.

The reverse effect cross was a complete accident... Chai and I were both stunned when it began to emerge.

And then, we weren't.

Dustin's mom told me, after asking how he came up with the idea, that she no longer believes in "accidents".  

You have never heard more silence from a group of teenagers than the moment this 30 x 40 inch poster came off the large format printer in my room.  It's simple, quiet beauty stunned us all.

You can read more about the Guatemala City Medical Clinic project here, and if you find it in your heart to donate to their cause, I thank you.

God bless you, Dustin.  You are often in my thoughts.

So it's not the first of December.  And it doesn't fit the song.  Or ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas.  Unless I continue to 21. 

"21 Chocolate Covered Cherries..."

I may actually do this.  It could be a new tradition.  A post a day at Christmastime!  ANYWHO.  This weekend, in spite of my very best intentions, I got NO sewing done.  (Tissue bodice admiring, yes).  That doesn't mean the weekend was totally wasted!  For example, yesterday I made another ornament for my tree.

May I present to you, Castiel, Angel of the Lord:


Since it's quite probable you have absolutely no idea who that is...Castiel is the angel on the tv show Supernatural.  His besties are Dean and Sam:

Dean and Sam need to be little clothespin ornaments too. Yes?

If you look to the right of Castiel on my tree, you might recognize those two... It's Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Complete with sideburns.  *swoon*


Or do you prefer Colin Firth? (Who doesn't?? No really.  I'm curious.  Who prefers the remake over the BBC Pride and Prejudice?  Anyone?)


Before Dean and Sam, I must, MUST, make Mary and Matthew:


*Swoon* again.

These are my favorite ornaments to put up every year.  I have 8 now, including little Castiel.  I used the templates from the Martha Stewart website.  There's also a video clip of the Christmas special segment where she and a coworker made the little ornaments.  One of my very favorite episodes of Martha Stewart; I still have it recorded on VHS!

I also made my Christmas cards this weekend and sent those off to the photo lab.  I love to send Christmas cards, even though I rarely get any in return. WHY don't people send cards anymore?  It's such a sweet little cheery envelope in my mailbox in December. 

You know what we should do??  We should have a bloggy Christmas card exchange.  Quick! Somebody make a yahoo group and we can all enter our mailing addresses and swap cards.  Let's do it! 

And now it's Monday again.  SIIGHHH.

Special treat for you today...straight from my classroom!

I'm teaching Fashion Merchandising this fall, on a 4x4 block, which translates to 1 semester of class delivered in 9 weeks! (i.e. I'm locked in a room with the darlings for 90 minutes each day.  90 MINUTES WITH 27 TEENAGE GIRLS.  That explains alot, huh?   Nah, they're all really sweet and most of the time they're not giving me the eye glare of doom.)

It helps they still think I'm fashionable.  Lord help me when they figure out how old I really am.

The week before Thanksgiving, they had a project to practice their understanding of the elements & principles of design, and basic garment shapes (straight, a-line, bouffant, bustle, etc.)  I like to call it Trashy Fashion, and it was inspired by the Season 6 episode of Project Runway, where they created fashions from newspaper:


In essence, each group has two days to design a garment and accessory from newspapers, packing tape, and any recyclable materials they bring from home.  On the 3rd day, we have a little fashion show and then they get to parade through a few classrooms of willing teachers. (We've never been invited through the math hall. I have no idea why.) 

This year's fashions may be the best bunch ever!  They're amazing!  Group shot (heads chopped off for obvious reasons):


And some closer detail shots of the dresses!  The hot pink on this dress is recycled Forever21 bags:


Some of the little trims I allowed because these girls are master negotiators.  Their argument was..."but it's leftover from a previous project, so technically it could be considered trash".  Um, OK. Pickin my battles, daily.  And that's not one of them! haha!


There was so much detail on this next one, I wish I had taken closeup shots of each little piece.  It was incredible!!


Yes, this is a boy, and his girlfriend is in the class.  She insisted he be the model for their group.  He was cracking me up in his runway walk.  By far the best runway model!  The dress is beautiful. It has an intricate woven/pieced bodice that this photo doesn't do justice to.  And the fanned ruffle placement on the skirt?  So well thought out.


 The colors on this dress come from recycled color copy paper.  I love the pops of color!
 

The zebra duct tape snuck in under the radar of "is this allowed".  She was taped into that dress pretty darn fast, on the principle of "ask for forgiveness later".  haha!  It really is cute.


Pretty cool, huh?  Keep in mind, they had roughly 3 hours to make the garment (and an accessory), and they're "fitting" real people, not rail thin models or a perfectly proportioned dressform.  (well, for the most part.  Of course they're little things, they're teen girls!)

In any case, I'd say the PR folks should be paying attention. We're gunning for them.

TGIF everyone!!

I'm a tad enamored of "wiggle dresses" right now, and I've had some fun packages in the mail over the past few days!  It's like Christmas came early!

My favorite may be this Advance shirtwaist, in wiggle form. Love love the pockets and the simple shape.  So cute!


I also won this McCalls 6778 wiggle with keyhole neckline (and bonus gored skirt) but it didn't arrive. :(  I don't know if the seller forgot to mail it or if it was lost somewhere.  I have decent luck on ebay and etsy, so I'm hoping this seller still pulls through for me!


This Simplicity 3109 suit is so cute!  It's a skirt, jacket, and pussy-bow blouse.  Love!


This isn't a wiggle, but an adorable dress nonetheless, in an unusual larger bust size.  I had to snag it!



And now for the ones I didn't win or I'm too cheap to bid on (doesn't mean I can't set up an ebay saved search for the future though!)

This mail order pattern is sooo gorgeous.  It started out really cheap but quickly escalated.  I think the final bid was $65.  Whoa.

But it's definitely gorgeous!



This is a basic wiggle with raglan sleeves and a cute little jacket.  You could make a million dresses from a pattern like this and let the fabrics and trims disguise the fact that they're all from the same pattern!


I never win the Prominent Designer patterns.  They're ALWAYS too pricy.  But beautiful.


Wiggle dresses are so fitted it's a little risky for me to start one as a new project since I'm in size-fluctuation.

So of course I want to make half a dozen RIGHT NOW.

The little Advance shirtdress is definitely on my radar though, it's exactly my current size!  That should be permission enough, am I right??

Happy Thursday peeps!