How To: Fairy Warm Cocoa

Fairy Warm Cocoa Tutorial from Denny McEntire on Vimeo.

This is what happens when I leave Denny alone with the kids!

How To: The Great Pumpkin Cake

It all starts with two bunt cakes. I made one pumpkin bread and one banana bread.


Cut the bottoms to make a flat surface. You will want to save that part for snacking!


Place one on top of the other and line up the ridges.


After frosting the cake, roll up a paper bag for a stem and carefully fill in the hole with bits of scrap cake. Carefully frost the last bit.


Decorate as you wish! I had great plans to melt chocolate to make cutouts for decorating. You could also use this for a Thanksgiving cake. Use your imagination and get fancy!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe
2 c baked pumpkin or squash or 1-15 oz can
1 c brown sugar, packed
1 c granulated sugar
2/3 c veg. oil
4 eggs
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 t ginger
2/3 c water
3 c flour of your choice
1/2 c mini chips


Mix pumpkin, sugars, oil and eggs. Add salt, baking soda, ginger and water. Mix in flour until incorporated. Stir in mini chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour for a bunt pan.


Banana Bread Recipe
6 large bananas
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
4 eggs
2/3 c veg. oil
1 t vanilla
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
3 c flour of your choice
1/2 c mini chips

Smash bananas. Mix in sugars, eggs and oil. Add vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix in flour until incorporated. Stir in mini chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour for a bunt pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick of butter, softened
1 pkg cream cheese, cold
2 t vanilla
4 c pwd sugar

Beat butter until lightened, add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add food coloring.

The Making Of A Monster: a tutorial

There was a question about how hard these bean bags were to make, so I thought I'd give my hand at a little tutorial.

Start with a rectangular piece of scrap fabric, this one is roughly 9" x 6".



Fold it in half length wise and start creating a face using shapes cut out of felt or scrap material and things from your bag of tricks, like ric rac or ribbon.



Once you have them how you like, pin them in to place and start sewing! I used the zig zag stitch on the shortest stitch length to sew on the eyes and the straight stitch for the mouth. Don't forget to start and end with a back stitch!



For the hair placement, pin it facing down, right sides together.



Then you are going to fold the right sides of the rectangle together and sew around the edges with a straight stitch, being sure to leave an opening at the bottom that will be used to turn it right side out and for filling.



Clip your corners, just don't get the stitches! This will help make nice square corners when turned right side out.



Pull your little monster through the hole and Voilà! Sometimes you really have to wrangle it through, a chop stick or similar device is useful for this, just remember to ease, not force.



Now its time to fill it up. I prefer using plastic pellets or sand so that they are totally washable, not good for the dryer though. A great filling tool is the funnel, it helps keep spillage to a minimum. Bean bags don't need to be stuffed to the brim, around 3/4 is great. Using a thread and needle, stitch the hole closed. I like a whip stitch or a blind stitch, just be sure to keep the stitches close together.



Have fun making!