Book Bags? Take elevator to 1st Floor and look for Bag'n Baggage Department

Youngest son returns to college on Friday -- to work as a sandwich artist at Subway; to a new set of 2nd semester classes; and to his girlfriend -- not necessarily listed in order of his priorities!  They decided to exchange some small gifts for Christmas upon their return to college and I'm in charge of making one of them.  Thought I would share Wednesday's project with you as well.   Did you get that:  Wednesday's project -- leaving on Friday --- just another glimpse into my character there for you all!

Not sure when I found this website -- Sutton Grace -- but discovered one of her many fun projects was this tote bag.   Thought this tutorial would make a great book bag.  What girl doesn't want to look fabulous carrying her college books around?  

As a side note here I wanted to introduce you to another one of 33rd and Broadway's personnel.   Let's give her the title of Fashion Consultant!   Daughter was born with my sister Kelly's eye for color -- not sure how that all happened but it did!   Am fortunate to have her expertise and help with projects!   Fabric choices for this bag were totally her doing.   

Without downloading the entire tutorial here for you, let me talk you through some of the steps as I made the book bag.   We started out by obviously raiding my fabric stash.   Daughter Fashion Consultant  came up with three choices instead of two.   We made the front pocket a different fabric than the main bag itself.    

The second change that I made was in the handles themselves.  I didn't have any cotton webbing so decided to make my own using the same fabric we had picked out for the front pocket.  I like the looks of it but wished I'd made them a little bit wider.   I will make note of that on the tutorial for the next time.  Think I would make them 2 inches wide.  Should I purchase some cotton webbing would try and get it at least 1 1/2 inches wide.  

Another mistake I made was in placing my monogrammed letter to low on the front pocket.  I should have measured better and the placement would be much more pleasing to the eye.  Hind sight for sure!

The tutorial was amazing -- so easy to follow and very detailed.   I loved how she instructed me to sew the strap to the trim at the top of the bag last.  It looks very neat and tidy that way.  

Here's a picture of the finished project!   

When I say "finished project" here please know that I am aware of the fact that I've have not yet sewn the lining opening shut!   That will be done before this beauty gets on the plane bound for Knoxville!  

I just can't say enough about the tutorial over at Sutton Grace.   I already have three more book bags in the planning stages -- two for grand kids and one out of a brown and tan checked wool.   Just love how easily this tote went together and that encourages me to come back to the pattern time and time again!  

Apart from the great fabric choices made, I wanted to share one more good suggestion that came from my sister Kelly over at Restitch Me.   I didn't have interfacing that I thought would give good stability to the suede fabric for the outside of the tote.   She had me dig into my stash for some denim fabric and use that in between layers instead of going out to purchase more interfacing!   Awesome tip!  I was able to use something I already had -- didn't matter what it looked like as it was sandwiched in between outside of the bag and the lining itself!   

That's it for today!   Be sure to leave your comments and tell me what you think!  

Have three cosmetic bags to make before the plane takes off and then I'll be on to something else.   Hope you will take the time to run over to both blogs Sutton Grace and Restitch Me.  It will be well worth your time!  

Cooking Demonstration: Kitty's Orange Cake -- 8th Floor Housewares

Loving to read as I do -- and not always having the time -- am enjoying a new found freedom here in Phoenix that allows me more time to dabble in my passion.  I've recently picked up a book written by Joanne Fluke called Key Lime Pie Murder -- the 9th book in her Hannah Swensen Mystery series.   

It resembles closely a Murder She Wrote mystery (one of my favorite television programs).   Hannah owns a shop in Lake Eden, Minnesota -- The Cookie Jar.  What more needs to be said?   An interesting quirk to Fluke's series are the recipes included at the end of some chapters.  Typically Hannah has made up said recipe somewhere throughout that chapter.  Not all are recipes for cookies -- she has a killer breakfast casserole in there that I tried, along with my first stab at popovers.  The casserole was amazing; my second try with the popovers was better than the first!  I noticed the recipe for Kitty's Orange Cake and wanted to try making that today.    

Seriously -- take a look at a couple of the main ingredients!   Who wouldn't want to make a cake out of those!  Rather than type out the recipe for you I ran over to wegottaeat.com  and copied / pasted it here for you.   

INGREDIENTS

1 box yellow cake mix

One package 3 ounces orange Jello (NOT sugar free)

1 cup orange juice

1 tsp. orange extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp. orange zest

4 large eggs

1 cup (6 oz. pkg) mini chocolate morsels*

ORANGE FUDGE FROSTING:

2 Tbs. chilled butter

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. orange extract

2 Tbs. orange juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Grease and flour a Bundt pan.  

2. Dump the cake mix in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in orange Jello powder.  Add the orange juice, orange extract, oil and orange zest.  Mix all ingredients together until they are well blended.

3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Beat 2 minutes on medium speed with electric mixer.  Fold in the mini chocolate chips by hand.  Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes at 350.

4. Cool on a rack for 20 to 25 minutes.  Loosen the outside edges and middle and tip the cake out of the pan.  Let the cake cool completely on the rack. 

5. Make frosting by putting butter in the bottom of a 2 cup microwave safe bowl.  Add the chocolate chips; heat on HIGH for 60 seconds.

Stir to see if the chips are melted; repeat at 15 second intervals if they aren't.  

6. Add the orange extract and stir in; add the orange juice, tablespoon by tablespoon, stirring after each addition.

7. Pour frosting over the ridge of the cake, letting it run down the sides.  It will be thicker on top.  That's okay.  And if it's not, that's fine too. 

NOTE: *Don't even think of substituting regular chocolate chips for the mini-chips.  Doing so will cause the chips to sink to the bottom of the cake and you'll have a dickens of a time getting the cake out of the pan.

Being that I am who I am I followed the recipe pretty closely.   This is what happens when you give a "lick and a promise" to the "grease and flour a bundt pan" step -- a couple ugly spots on the top when I took it out of the pan after baking and cooling.  

At this stage of the game I did something ELSE that I typically do -- and that's reading a recipe and NOT paying attention to what I've read!   You'll notice that the instructions say to melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave!   And then you'll notice that I did NOT --  I did that step on the stove top.  Can't tell you if it made a difference or not, but it seemed to work out okay in spite of my error!  

My finished product!   Though I could have taken more time to make sure the frosting job was nicer -- more even all around -- it did manage to cover up my mistakes in the cake top itself.  

Let me tell you -- the frosting smells amazing!   It reminds me of one of those chocolate oranges that you can get around the holidays -- the chocolate that comes in the form of an orange.  Know the ones I mean?

  

Well, after another amazing dinner prepared by Daughter, we cut into that cake!  It was different than I had imagined -- the frosting was NOT overpowering at all.   Think maybe the orange juice cut the heavy chocolate taste some.  Very nice -- not light but very nice.  

Let me recommend both books and baking recipes to you!   I have thoroughly enjoyed them myself.   Am onto book #2 -- though am reading the series totally out of sequence.   Another thing I'm prone to do!   

Stop by your local library and check out one of Fluke's books -- if you are a Murder She Wrote lover like I am, these are sure to please!  Then take a moment and drop by my desk at Customer Service.  Let me know what you have baked up!   Happy reading AND happy baking!