Tractor Cake Pan Repurposed

Our friend’s son turned four years old yesterday.  When we were invited to the party I asked what we could bring.  The answer: a veggie tray. "And", her husband added, “make it blog worthy.”  I laughed and had no intention of making it blog worthy, until I went to assemble the tray.  My beloved plastic dollar store veggie and dip platter has been MIA since our last youth group potluck and so I had to think of what else I could use to transport it.  Then I thought, he loves tractors… maybe I could arrange the veggies into a tractor shape?  That's when it hit me, I had a tractor shaped cake pan used from my boys first birthdays!  So, I dug it out of storage and got to work.  It was a big hit.  The next time you are asked to bring a veggie tray, consider the shaped cake pan, formally thought of as a uni-tasker. 



Empty cake pan awaiting a new life!



A little creamcheese served as cement to level out the
surface for the container of dip and keep it from sliding




Another alternative would be to hollow out a
bell pepper and use it to contain the dip!




Small black olives make the wheels.




Roughly cut the veggie sticks to fit the space.




Colorful finished product



Dill Dip:

2 1/2 tsp dill weed
2 1/2 tsp dried minced onion
2 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp beau monde seasoning

Mix dry ingeredients with 1 cup mayonaise and 1 cup sour cream.

Veggies: baby carrots, celery, small white mushrooms, small black olives (1 1/2 cans), red and orange bell peppers, grape tomatoes, and cucumber.

cream cheese to hold dip container in place.

Freezer Paper Stencil Throw Pillow Tutorial



When I learned of the magic of freezer paper I was instantly in awe!  This is a fun project and can be done as simple or as complex as you choose!  If you are good with scissors or an exacto knife this is the project for you.  Pillows, clothing, curtains, napkins…the possibilities are endless.

Materials:

·         Freezer Paper (can be found at the grocery store next to aluminum foil and plastic wraps)

·         scissors or exacto knife

·         fabric (sewn to desired pillow size with a descent sized opening to get materials in and out from)

·         waxed paper

·         fabric paint

·         iron

·         ironing board

·         magazines or cutting mat

·         image for tracing

Directions:

1.       Find an appropriately sized image you would like to use.  Be sure that it is simple but has enough detail that it can be identified when depicted as a silhouette.

2.       Trace your image onto the matte side of the freezer paper – the shiny plastic coated side will be ironed against the fabric so your image will be oriented as you see it traced on the matte side.

3.       Cut out your image being sure to leave the outside edge in tact to become your stencil.

4.       Iron your freezer paper onto your fabric.

5.       Place waxed paper inside your pillow to prevent the paint from bleeding through onto the other side.

6.       Carefully and gently paint your silhouette using brushstrokes from the outside towards the middle to prevent the paint from getting worked underneath the edge of your stencil.

7.       Leave it to dry.

8.       Gently peel your stencil off the fabric – if you do this successfully without tearing your stencil you can reuse it.

9.       Remove the waxed paper, stuff your pillow and sew the seam opening closed or place a pillow form into your pillow case.



Below are photos of the airplane pillow in progress.