Craft Show Roundup

It's that time of year: flowers blooming, weather warming, and best of all...it's the time that craft shows start to pop up again.

If you're in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area this spring/summer, be sure to check these out. I've been to almost all of these in past years, and will likely be in attendance again. Can't wait!

Capital City Craft Company’s Sip and Shop

Saturday, April 28

12-6 pm

Larry’s Lounge, 1836 18^th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009

http://www.capitalcitycraftcompany.com/

Ballston Arts & Crafts Market

Second Saturdays from May to October (May 12, June 9, July 14, August 11, September 8, October 13)
10 am-4 pm
Welburn Square (the Ballston Circle) at the Ballston Metro, 901 North Taylor St between North Stuart and North 9^th Streets, Arlington, VA
http://ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com/

Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival

Saturday, April 14

11-6 pm

The Sakura Matsuri – Japanese Street Festival stretches for six blocks through downtown DC on Pennsylvania Avenue from 9th to 14th Streets NW (Federal Triangle Metro station)

http://www.sakuramatsuri.org/index.html

DC Craft Mafia Spring Thing Craft Show

Saturday, May 19
11 am-5 pm
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church parking lot (near Whole Foods), 1514 15^th St. NW, corner of P St. and 15^th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036
http://www.craftmafiadc.com/?p=93

Baltimore Pile of Craft

Saturday, June 16
10 am-5 pm
2640 St. Paul St. (St. John’s Church), Baltimore, MD 21218
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=eb5585732f0a672d6c72d2cda&id=bf5009e034

Artscape

Friday-Sunday, July 20-22
Covers 12 city blocks of downtown Baltimore, check website for directions
http://www.artscape.org/

The Sprinkles Cupcake ATM

Who dreamt that this day would finally come? Ladies and gentlemen...presenting the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM.

DIY: Metallic Letter Decor

Looking to start decorating those plain beige walls? For something budget-friendly, easy-to-do, and eye-catching, try making your own "metallic" letter wall art.

I purchased these letters from my local Jo-Ann store (sold at their online site as well). Click the "T" to be taken to the link.



The letters are paper mache, and therefore nice and light and easy to hang. I struggled for a bit trying to figure out the best way to hang them on my walls, and I ended up using Velcro by adhering one side to the letter and nailing the other side to the wall.

Along with your letters, pick up a can of matte silver spray paint (or another color - up to you!) and you should be able to take it from there.

Be sure to spray in a well-ventilated area (outdoors would be best), and give enough time for the letters to dry. I did a couple of coats of paint on my letters, and I like that they came out with a very metallic-like finish. Along with the "LOVE" letters, I made "DREAM" letters for over my bed.

Finally my walls are no longer naked!

DIY: Circle Scarf

I found this tutorial for circle scarves from the blog come on, ilene! and knew I had to try it. Not only are these scarves super cozy and versatile, they're a cinch to make!

So I saw this beautiful soft cotton print at my local fabric store (on clearance no less!) and quickly snatched it up.

The instructions were all fairly straightforward and easy to follow.  I will say this, however: if you're not using a knit fabric, as I was not, I would suggest reducing the width to make the scarf less poofy. Since knits tend to hang/drape more, you can get away with more width than with standard cotton.

But I was still happy with the end result, and can't wait to make some more!

Vegan Cupcakes

One fine afternoon, my friend Louisa introduced me to Sticky Fingers Sweets & Eats, a bakery in Northwest D.C. She told me it was a vegan bakery, which was something new to me. I was curious although somewhat skeptical about how a bakery could produce delicious cookies, cupcakes and other treats without ingredients such as butter and eggs.

Consider me a convert. I tried a Red Velvet cupcake and a Cookies n Cake cupcake, both of which were incredibly moist! I also learned that the owner of Sticky Fingers, Doron Petersan, had won an episode of the Food Network's Cupcake Wars, beating out traditional bakers with her vegan creations. I was so intrigued and saw that she had just released a new cookbook that I decided to make the splurge.



The first recipe I've tried was for the Banana Chimp Muffins. I learned from reading through the book that some of the key substitutions for the moist ingredients were items such as:

- non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
- soymilk
- apple cider vinegar
- egg replacer

I was worried about finding the vegan margarine which was needed for the muffins but had no trouble finding this at my local grocer (no specialty store needed!)

How did the muffins turn out? I think these pictures should tell the story:

All gone! I can't wait to try the recipes for Sticky Fingers' famous treats (like the Cowvin Cookie and the Little Devils). As for vegan baking in general, I'm hooked! While I don't think you can make the claim that they're healthy, they at least seem better than traditional baking by stripping the cholesterol and saturated fats from eggs, butter and milk. The decision is a piece of cake!

We're on Facebook!

C-Squared Cupcake is finally on facebook! The page is still a little sparse so bear with me as I try to get up to speed on making updates. But please "like" us! As an added incentive, the first 25 people who "like" us and message me on Etsy (csquaredcupcake.etsy.com) will get a promo code for 25% off storewide! Even better, this code will also be good for all purchases at our sister shop Ring Bling (ringbling.etsy.com). Whoo!

Vintage Charm

Lately, I've been fascinated by all things old and vintage-y. Here are a list of keywords that make my ears perk up when they come up on conversation:

- estate sale
- lace
- letter writing
- Mad Men
- flea market
- library stamp cards
- French vintage prints
- vintage suitcases
- found paper
- re-purpose / up-cycle

I was even contemplating purchasing a cute vintage typewriter like this one from Pinterest:



I think about waking up on a weekend morning and having a coffee while typing up lovely letters to family and friends from bed. Obviously having a typewriter will change my typical weekend morning routine of jumping out of bed thinking I've overslept, throwing on my comfiest sweats and commencing my day of errands and activities.

But man are these guys expensive. So for now I'm satisfied with my newest line of Ring Bling rings: typewriter key rings! Customized and made-to-order, you can select whichever letter (or number or symbol!) of your liking to be made in to a beautiful ring. These keys were laser cut on wood with vintage images applied to the key. Only $8 a pop and only a limited supply available so act fast!

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