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Niki Jin Crafts is Back!

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Last you heard from me (from this blog, anyway) was almost two years ago when I said goodbye and went exploring new directions. I started another blog (it ... didn’t last), and wrote a post here and there for my portfolio website, mostly talking about my professional art and design work. Nowadays I stick to posting mostly to Instagram.

So what have I been up to? Life has been busy, taking care of two young kids and building a freelance career doing book design and illustration. In between, I keep myself busy with various projects related to my art.

I let go of Niki Jin Crafts for a little while, but recently, it came back to my mind. I thought about what I want to do with this site. Just let it sit there? Delete it? Well no, I’m not ready to get rid of it quite yet! It could use a little updating, though, that’s for sure. I’ve given the site a new look (I hope you approve!) but that’s not what you’re here for, right? We need some new content, of course. I promise, new stuff is coming…
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April Fools Cake

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Spring is officially here (finally!), and we are approaching the final days of March. This Friday is April 1st, a.k.a. April Fools Day. What better way to end a cold, dreary winter than with a day of silliness. Here's a fun dinner idea to celebrate—a meatloaf "cake" with a mashed potato "sundae."

For the cake, I pressed the meatloaf mixture into two six-inch round pans lined with parchment paper (about a pound of meat in each). I baked them at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. I ended up with two "cake" layers, which I assembled with a layer of mashed potato "frosting" in the middle.



I then spread mashed potato over the entire meatloaf cake so it resembled a frosted cake. I piped more mashed potato decoratively around the cake, just as I would with regular frosting, and embellished with peas and ketchup lettering.




And, of course, cake is always better with ice cream. I created a mashed potato "sundae" with gravy "chocolate sauce," a dollop of sour cream "whipped topping," and colorful veggie "sprinkles."



Life is short. Have lots of fun, and eat cake for dinner. :)
Happy April Fools!
Niki

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**UPDATE - 2015** The miniature sweater knitting pattern has been revised.  View/Download the new pattern here:
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A gift tag template for creating a Christmas ornament from this sweater can be found on my Templates and Patterns page. Additional sweater patterns are available for sale in my Etsy shop.


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