A Birthday Alternative to Cake (tart!)

Hey Ya'll! 

My sister Bethany had a birthday in September and I decided to make her a gluten free and sugar free alternative to a birthday cake. I thought to myself what would sound good and taste yummy for a b-day celebration that was just as good as cake? 

Then the idea came to my head, why not do a fruit pudding tart?! I had always dreamed of making some small personal tarts for myself and friends and family, but there was never an occasion. Now was my chance.

So I went to the dictionary/resource of all resources Google. :) I Googled fruit tart and up came this lovely blog. Then I wanted to do an arrangement of fruit on top that was different than her lovely tart. It was pretty, but I did not have raspberries and I wanted to use the fruit we had in the freezer and fridge.  I wanted to be frugal and not have to go to the grocery to buy anything and I did not have to.

So once again I went to Mr. Google and found some fun pictures for inspiration. Yes I know I should start using Pinterest and I might have found something even more epic, but alas I do not want to succumb myself to the temptation to be addicted to that lovely attraction. Although it sounds lovely, it could turn into a not so lovely addiction for me. ;) I regress.

Anyways, so I found this, this , this, this, and this to be very inspiring and helpful in figuring what design I wanted to do with the fruit I already had available.

Here are a few pictures of the 3 different tarts I made over the course of two different days of celebrating.

My dad even thought they were delicious and so did the birthday gal and my mother. We were all happy even without sugar or wheat in there. It was still tasty with a little honey in the vanilla pudding I made from scratch that filled the middle.

I used the crust recipe from the Gluten free fix blog and I used the Creamy vanilla pudding recipe from the Heavenly Homemakers blog. Both are so so so yummy! I substituted the almond meal flour in the crust for raw almonds, which I just chopped up into fine flour in our Vitamix. I also substituted honey instead of sucanat in the pudding since we are doing sugar free tarts. You really should make them sometime with or without the sugar. ;)

I hope you all are having a lovely day! And just to be honest this is the first day in quite sometime I have gotten up when its still dark outside to start my day and I am very excited about all the things I have gotten accomplished before 10am. ;) Am I the only one who has had a hard time getting into a good morning routine of getting up early? Its only by Gods grace and help I was able to. Praise the Lord for His help!

God bless,

Rebecca

Draped Cardigan and how to wear it

Hey everyone!
Yesterday I was browsing some thrifting videos on youtube and came across this great video for sewing up those drapey cardigans that were all the rage this past winter. I really wanted one and never bought one because they were expensive and I did not have the money to spend. I just so happened to have some stretchy jersey laying around that was going to be a skirt, but I wanted this cardigan more. :) This gal gave me the inspiration to sew one up! The music is loud, so you might have to turn your volume down. Just a friendly warning! :)

So I did exactly what this gal did in her tutorial for the sleeveless one, and then I added my own sleeves. I just measured around my arms and used that measurement to draft the sleeves. It was so so easy! Now I have a great go to cardigan for wearing with most anything. I have tried it with a dress and 3 different s kirts shown below and love it! I don't think its frumpy at all with skirts or dresses. Just pairing it with the right thing makes all the difference. If you have some knit fabric you don't know what to do with as I did not have any clue what to do with, try this tutorial! Maybe even add some fun rosettes to the neckline or go with a bold color. Its fun to wear! :)

First outfit consists of the sweater, thrifted belt, thrifted flats, thrifted floral skirt( I believe its handmade!) , garland of grace headband, and beaded necklace from forever 21

Second outfit consists of the drapey cardigan, same accesories and top, but different denim skirt from New Creation Apparel and it has a embroided floral on the bottom

 And last, but not least, I call today's outfit winter meets spring. It might be hard to tell, but the polyester skirt has vine looking flowers on it. It was a gift from my friend Laura and she found it at one of my favorite thrift stores! :) She is so sweet! she knows what I like. I miss you Laura!

The headband from garlands of grace is amazing!! It goes with so many of my things I already have in my closet and it was a smart purchase I believe with some of my birthday money. :) The rest is being saved though. :) You can see their etsy shop here-http://www.etsy.com/shop/GarlandsOfGrace?ref=pr_shop_more

I was inspired by them and also made one headband so far myself. I plan to sew up some more sometime soon! Will be sharing the latest quilt I am almost done with soon!

In Christ,
Rebecca