Hello blog friends.
Are you all ready for Christmas?
Are you all ready for Christmas?
Well, things are starting to slow down here at
Julie's Creative Lifestyle.
Julie's Creative Lifestyle.
I will be taking a blogging break to spend time with family and friends.
I'll be attending some holiday parties and celebrating my birthday.
I'll be attending some holiday parties and celebrating my birthday.
Wishing you all a happy holiday filled with wonderful moments.
Have a Merry Christmas
And
See you all in the New Year!
Julie xo
Hello blog friends.
I have this delicious carrot cake recipe to share with you.
During the late summer, my college girl had some friends visiting from out of town. They decided one evening that they wanted to bake a carrot cake. The cake they baked tasted so good that I thought it would be a nice dessert idea to serve for the holidays.
If you follow my notes in the recipe, baking this cake is even easier.
I hope you enjoy baking this easy and moist carrot cake. Your guests will love this cake as much as my family.
CARROT CAKE RECIPE
* The recipe was found at Live Well Bake Often and made by college girl and her friends.
INGREDIENTS:
For Carrot Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs - room temperature
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots, lightly packed
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8 oz.) package brick-style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans well with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt until well combined. Set aside. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the grated carrots into the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a whisk until well combined, making sure not to over mix the batter. Pour the cake batter evenly between both prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until the tops of the cake are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack, and allow to cool in pans for 20-25 minutes. Once the cakes have cooled, remove the pans and return the cake to the wire rack to finish cooling.
To Make Cream Cheese Frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and mix for 30 seconds - 1 minute until well combined and smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully combined scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
To Assemble the Cake:
Level the tops of each cake with a knife or cake leveler. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand, top with a little over 1/2 cup of frosting, and smooth it out into one layer. Place the other cake on top and use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. Top with pecans or other toppings of choice if desired.
NOTES: This is where we changed around part of the recipe. This is what we used to make the cake.
For Easy Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 can Betty Crocker Cream Cheese Frosting or Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting
1 Bundt Pan - Sprayed with Cooking Spray
YUMMY CARROT CAKE |
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hello blog friends.
We had our annual Christmas Knit/Crochet sale recently that was held at our church fair. I'm happy to report that our sale was a success.
We had one table filled with so many knit and crochet items that we all made for the sale.
The club meets each week to work on the items we make throughout the year.
We had a $1 raffle for the sweater, hat, and scarf set, which was a great idea. The sister that used to run the club has retired. Our new head of our club fashioned the sweater set as seen below.
One of the happy customers buying a raffle ticket.
The ladies work so hard throughout the year knitting and crocheting for the sale.
You can see the huge amount of knit and crochet items we all made.
The happy winner can be seen below fashioning her new sweater and hat set that she won.
I couldn't wait until Christmas to give Bosco his new blanket. One of the talented ladies in our group made his new blanket. Bosco is happy to lay on this new warm and cozy blanket.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hello blog friends. Happy December! 🎁
I am so excited to share with you these Crochet Christmas Mitten Ornaments I made!
I wanted to crochet something cute to add to my Christmas tree and to give out to friends.
I was so happy when I found these cute mini crochet Christmas mittens to crochet at the blog Posh Pooch Designs.
This crochet designer has an awesome website with so many free crochet patterns and a YouTube channel.
I started making these back in October to give me enough time to make as many as I wanted. The fun part about this project is that they work up fast.
You can use yarn in any color scheme that you like. This is the perfect way to use up any leftover yarn.
These mittens make the cutest gifts for Christmas. You could add money or even candy to put inside the pocket.
I hope I have inspired you to make these ornaments.
I hope I have inspired you to make these ornaments.
CROCHET CHRISTMAS MITTENS ORNAMENT
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
INSTRUCTIONS:
YARN: Acrylic yarn in any color you like
CROCHET HOOK: US size I - (it's what I used)
PATTERN: HERE
NEEDLE: To weave in ends
SCISSOR: Use to cut yarn
CROCHET CHRISTMAS MITTENS ORNAMENT |
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hello blog friends.
I wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving early.
I will be hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year. I will be busy cleaning, food shopping, and cooking.
I will be cooking a delicious turkey and many more side dishes.
I made Corn Pudding Muffins for Thanksgiving last year and I'm sharing the recipe with you again.
CORN PUDDING MUFFINS
Serves: 24 Muffins and Plus 12 Mini Muffins
INGREDIENTS:
2 - 8.5 oz. packages of Jiffy cornbread mix
1 - 14.75 oz. can creamed corn
1 - 15.25 oz. can corn - drained
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs - beaten
salt and pepper to taste
muffin cup liners
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Add all of the ingredients into a large bowl. Stir until everything is combined. The batter should be lumpy. Line muffin pan with liners. Pour batter into cups until 2/3 is full. Bake in 350 degrees F oven for 25 - 35 minutes. It's done when toothpick is inserted and it comes out clean.
YUMMY CORN PUDDING MUFFINS |
HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends.
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hello blog friends.
I have another crochet project to share with you.
I have another crochet project to share with you.
I recently made some crochet towel holders.
I made these to donate and sell at our annual crochet and knit sale we host each year at our church. Our church sale will be held the weekend before Thanksgiving.
I know these are retro but I thought these towel holders would make nice gifts for the holidays or to use for stocking stuffers. You can pair them with a holiday towel and they'll look festive.
I had fun making these with different colored yarn. The fun part is they are a quick project to crochet. You do not need a hair rubber band to use for the ring on this towel holder.
CROCHET TOWEL HOLDER
DETAILS TO MAKE CROCHET TOWEL HOLDER
YARN: Any worsted weight yarn in any color you like
CROCHET HOOK: US size I
PATTERN: This pattern was found on YouTube by crochet designer Nautical Moon
I hope you visit Nautical Moon on YouTube and crochet these fun towel holders.
HAPPY CROCHETING! |
Click HERE to see the great parties I will be linking up to!
Julie
Hello blog friends. Happy November.
I'm happy to share with you my Friday Favorites.
1. Celebrating My Blogiversary
I can't believe today is my 7th-year Blogiversary! I am amazed that I've been blogging for this long. I continue to blog because of you and you keep me inspired and motivated to be creative. I look forward to your blog visits and your sweet comments. I like the blog friendships I've made with you and I'm thankful that some of you have even made my recipes and crochet projects. I appreciate you and cheers to blogging with each other.
THANK YOU!
2. Thanksgiving Recipes
I like looking at the recipe ideas in my magazines. I hope to try out a few for the holiday season as I will be hosting Thanksgiving at my home this year.
I like looking at the recipe ideas in my magazines. I hope to try out a few for the holiday season as I will be hosting Thanksgiving at my home this year.
3. Apple Pie
I enjoy making an apple pie for Thanksgiving. I posted on the blog a few years ago this Semi Homemade Apple Pie recipe. It's so easy to make and perfect for the holidays.
4. Monarch Butterfly
I spotted a few weeks ago this monarch butterfly. I was surprised that it stayed on the ground for such a long time.
I spotted a few weeks ago this monarch butterfly. I was surprised that it stayed on the ground for such a long time.
5. Fall Vignette
Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I recently spotted this pretty fall vignette with the pumpkins, mums, pansies, cabbages, and corn stalk. Some of you might remember this photo on my Instagram @brklynhousewife.
Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I recently spotted this pretty fall vignette with the pumpkins, mums, pansies, cabbages, and corn stalk. Some of you might remember this photo on my Instagram @brklynhousewife.
6. Recent Visit
We visited our college girl a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful fall weekend.
We were also happy to see John Legend perform for her college. He is such an amazing singer and performer and we LOVED seeing the show.
We visited our college girl a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful fall weekend.
We were also happy to see John Legend perform for her college. He is such an amazing singer and performer and we LOVED seeing the show.
We had breakfast the next morning at a popular cafe. I enjoyed my pretty latte and egg on a croissant sandwich.
7. Recent Book
I just finished reading Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. I was so interested in reading this book after it was given 5 stars and recommended by the Preppy Empty Nester. It's the love story of a perfumer in Monaco and an American journalist. It also involves Grace Kelly's wedding. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading this book too.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a happy Friday and weekend.
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