Hello Kitty Cake ♡

I baked a cake today for my birthday friend 😀 She and her daughter loves Hello Kitty, so I thought to surprise them by making a very cute cake!!

I’d love to introduce my quite healthy Hello Kitty cake. I mean “healthy” by not adding any artificial color to make it. Okay, please let me show you how I’ve done it 😀

First, bake a sponge cake. You can use whatever recipes you like. Once the sponge is done, you will wait and let the sponge chilled since it is much easier to cut them when it’s cold.

Then, slice the sponges into 2 to 4 layers. Also, you will cut the sponge’s outline as the face of Hello Kitty. You don’t have to be so nervous about this 😀

On each layers, spread a whipped cream and put some fruits, and make layers. I used lots of sliced strawberries since my friend’s daughter loved them 🙂 You’ll also cover the top and side of the cake nicely with the cream!

Now, the most important part is to put eyes, nose, whisks and the bow!! I’ve used sliced strawberries to make a bow. For the eyes and whisks, I used chocolate. (Precisely speaking, I had ganache at home, so I just used them by shaping them nicely by pushing and rolling them.) For the nose, I’ve used a chestnut.

Now, Hello Kitty is ready to be eaten!!!

Maybe you will try to make one for your friends or for the party you’re planning? 🙂

I’m sure it will brighten up the atmosphere and people will love it 😀
I hope you will enjoy making this cute cake ♡

Crochet Cafe♡ Hair Bow – part 2- :)

On Friday, I held a crochet workshop for a different group of ladies 🙂

Our theme was the same with the last crochet cafe, “hair bows”. This time, it’s all started with one facebook message which I’ve got from a lady. She wrote to me that she wanted to make a hair bow for her 1-year-old daughter! How nice ♡ I liked the idea ♡

Everyone chose their favorite color of yarns, and we started working on it.

 

After working for a while, we took a break. It’s been very hot these days, but we had a hot tea 🙂 Hot drinks work well both physically and mentally. We chose “SOHO” by Harney and Sons this time. I really like the flavor ♡ The sweet flavor always makes me relax 🙂

 

I had prepared healthy treats the day before the workshop. Can you notice the bow shape on the cakes??

 

We enjoyed the relaxing break time ♡

 

After the tea break, we knew more about each other. I could see that everyone looked so relaxed and enjoyed working on crochet as well as chatting ♡

 

Three out of five ladies were moms. So, there were cute little ones!! How cute!! They looked enjoying exploring around the room! 😀

 

Doesn’t she look like Virgin Mary…?? ♡

 

After working, we got bows!! From the back 🙂

 

TA-DA—!!! From the side!! I like this posing ♡

 

One lady made two bows while some others were still working on their first one !! Super fast!! One is a hair band, and the other one is a barrette 🙂 I like them both ♡

 

Her color coordinate was excellent!!!

 

“Say cheese ♡”

 

I like this picture 🙂 Maybe they are talking like this… 🙂

*Girl: “Yeahhhhh ♡ I’ve got my own hair bow which my mom made with lots of love in!!”
*Boy: “Mommy, where’s mine??”

We came up with the idea of making a bow tie for baby boys, so I hope he will get his bow sometime soon 🙂 ♪♪

 

I’m now super happy that my friend had sent me a message on facebook!! Without that, I was probably doing something different that day and I might have never met her…!! We had so much fun together and I hope to know more about each other 🙂 ♡

 

I’ve learnt that when you think of something, it’s really important to take an action no matter how small it is. The small action makes the big difference in the end. Do you know that you will actually get bigger feeling of regret when you didn’t do “the thing” compared to the feeling you get after you did it. It’s easy not to take any actions and just to see how it goes, but if you are thinking about something, I think you should do it.

With the one step, you will be one step closer to your dream 🙂 ♡ Grab your chance and be happy ♡♡♡

A Small Cute Photographer :)

The easy-to-follow crochet pattern for this pretty cotton summer hat is now available on Craftsy and Etsy!! If you are interested in, please come visit my shop below 🙂

 

 

 

The other day, I made a summer hat with cotton yarns. It came out pretty, and I put a pink lace tape to decorate the hat.

I wanted to give it to my friend’s daughter, so I wanted to decorate it how she would like it. My friend told me that her daughter loved yellow, so I decided to add some yellow color.

Then, I thought it would be nice to add more colors, and this is how the hat is now!! We can’t see the pink tape anymore… but I like it so much 😀

Now, a little cutie wears the hat. How cute!!! I’m so happy to see my hat worn by the others!! But it was a bit big for her… maybe she will be able to wear it for another 5 years or so… 😀

We went out to a park to play and she took my camera and turned out to be a great photographer!! It’s interesting to see how kids see the world!!

So, these amazing photos of the cutie are taken by her mom with her camera!! She has a great eye for making great photographs of her daughter 🙂 Moms are great!!

Let’s go out a lot this summer 😀

A Big Angel Smile in Pink

I have a lot of nice neighbors with kids. In the evening, when it gets a little less hot, they always come out and play around with the other kids.

Kids are genius in terms of making friends and adapting to a new environment and culture. They get new friends very soon. They master multiple languages at once, so I see some children speaking in two or more different languages (English and their parents’ languages).

I wish I had those abilities… !! Anyway, just wishing is not enough. We always need a first step to achieve a goal, no matter how big it is 😀

When I moved to this apartment, I met one neighbor and he told me that his wife just gave birth to a baby girl. I thought it would be very nice to make her a baby cap. It took me some time, but I finally saw her outside and she gave me a huge cute smile to me !!! She is already 5 month old… Time flies!!

How cute she is!! How big smile she has!! I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls and a smile is the most important factor to make girls look beautiful!! So, please always keep smiling 🙂 ♡

Here Summer Comes!! Ponytail With A Pretty Bow??

This week, it was hot here in California. According to the weather forecast, it reached up to the mid-90 F… Oh, I couldn’t stand staying under the sun, so I’ve dedicated a lot of my time to do another tutorial here.

Since it’s getting hot recently, I put my hair up in a ponytail almost everyday. So, I assume that there are lots of girls who need this hair bow now!! I’m trying to put more effort on making it easier for everyone to understand. I hope you will like it! Well, let’s get started 🙂

◆Materials◆

Worsted Weight Yarn (Medium 4)

• Red: BERNAT Satin (CRIMSON)

Size G(4mm) Crochet Hook
Yarn Needle
(Safety pin)

◆Size◆

If you follow the instruction below, it will be around 4″ width. If you want something bigger, you can increase a number of ch in the step 1 and increase the number os sc in the following rows.

◆Pattern◆

*** It’s easier to start every row with 1 ch and to end each row with a slip stitch since you will see where you started the row which you are working on.

*** I like the seamless surface, so in this tutorial, I take this method. You just have to keep going, but it may be difficult to see where you started the row (especially when you are working on even rows). So, it’s better to use a safety pin to mark the first stitch of each row.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

1. ch 9
   • Ch 8 as a foundation of the oblong, and the extra ch 1
   • You will treat “the 2nd ch (from the hook)” and “the last ch” as “the increasing zone”
   • You will just make 1 sc for the middle 6 st

   

2. 2 sc in the 2nd st from the hook, 1 sc for the next 6 st, 5 sc in the next st, 1 sc for the next 6  st, 3 sc in the next st (same st with the st you made 2 sc at the beginning) (22 sc)
   
3. 2 sc around in the increasing zone. (2 sc for the 1st 2 st,  1 sc for the next 6 st, 2 sc in the next 5 st, 1 sc for the following 6  st, 2 sc for the next 3 st) (32 sc)
   
4. 2 sc, 1 sc around in the increasing zone. ((2 sc, 1 sc) twice, 1 sc for the next 6 st, (2 sc, 1 sc) 5 times, 1 sc for the following 6  st,(2 sc, 1 sc) 3 times) (42 sc)
   
5. 1 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc around in the increasing zone. ((1 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc) twice, 1 sc  for the next 6 st, (1 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc) 5 times, 1 sc for the following 6  st, (1 sc, 1 sc, 2 sc) 3 times) (52 sc)
   
6. 1 sc around (52 sc)
   
7. 1 sc around (52 sc)
   
8. 1 slip stitch (sl-st) around (52 sl-st)
   
9. Cut the yarn and bring the yarn to the very center of the backside with a yarn needle
   
10. Shape “M”, leaving the center and the both ends to low, and making somewhere in the middle (around Row 4) high. Sew a little bit with the yarn to keep the form.
    
11. Here, we’ll work on the center ring. ch 14 and make a loop by joining to the 1st st with sl-st
    
12. 2nd row: sc around (14 sc)
    
13. 3rd row: sc around (14 sc)
    
14. Cut the yarn, leaving some length (enough with 10″). Trim the both ends with a yarn needle. Leave the long end yarn.
    • I recommend to tie  those two strings together, just in case, before cutting off the short yarn (shown in the picture).

    

15. Put the oblong (you made at Step 10) through into the center ring.
    
16. Insert a string of elastic hair band into the center ring and bind it up.
    
17. Sew the backside of the bow with the yarn needle. At this point, it’s better to hide the joint point of the hair band.
    
18. Trim the rest of the yarn, and it’s DONE!!!
    

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

If you are with me till here, thank you so much for your patience!! It was challenging for me to explain the flow with lots of photos, but I hope many people will find it easier to understand this tutorial and eventually enjoy making a bow for the summer!!

You can also use the bow as a decoration of your bags, clothes or hats!! Please enjoy customizing it as you like!!

I will always be happy to see your works ♡ Please feel free to leave comments or questions 🙂

A girl's birthday present♡

I was invited to one of my friends’ daughter’s birthday party this weekend! She turned into 3 years old now!! I’ve been thinking what kind of thing a 3 years old girl would like… I asked my mom over Skype. Then, we thought about an accessory!! Yes! NO GIRL dislikes accessories!!!

She has short hair, so hair accessory wouldn’t stay on her well-treated healthy hair. What would be good… well, a necklace!! It was my first time to make a necklace with crochet, so it took time to figure out how to make nicely… I think the outcome is quite good 🙂

Can you recognize this smily guy? He was also here!!

My stuffed cow also looks quite happy with him around his neck.

The Anpanman necklace is in a gift-box waiting to see his new friend!!

He met a girl finally, and for me, those two looked super cute together!! I hope my little friend will enjoy this accessory 🙂

A Symbol of GIRL

What character do you think is the symbol of girl??

I would say… Hello Kitty 🙂

When I was little (about 20 years ago… wow time flies!!), I was not really a “Kitty girl”, but she was already very popular. I can still see lots of Hello Kitty everywhere even here in California!! I’ve got really amazed by her popularity 😀 Do you know that wherever you visit in Japan, you can find regional Hello Kitty goods!! (We call them “Gotochi Kitty-chan”.) I have many friends who like to correct these goods!! So, if you like Hello Kitty and if you have a chance to visit Japan, why don’t you try to find and collect the Gotochi Kitty goods??

Hello Kitty’s weight is same with 3 apples and her height is same with 5 apples!! Wow. I’m not sure how many apples I need to describe my weight… I wouldn’t like to think about it… 😦

I think my stuffed cow is now satisfied with Miss. Pretty!!