On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

I finished Moss Creek Designs's "Julbock" from the 2004 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments mag:

I eliminated the cross stitch border (too much cross stitch!) and finished the ornament on a round disk, with yarn for trim. I also replaced a row of green cross stitch with a red backstitch, because I like the look of red and gold together. Like this, which I made for Beadmom ages ago:

I keep thinking maybe some day I'll make another for myself, but who am I kidding?  It's too big a design.

Even though the twelfth day of Christmas is past, Christmas doesn't end until next Sunday, with the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.  So I have a week to finish the last two ornaments I was determined to create this season.

Today was Three Kings' Day, so in a last-minute attempt to be festive I made a cake.  The recipe was from Cocina Criolla, chosen because it called for guava paste, of which I had a lot in my fridge.  Only, once I combined the ingredients I had a batter that was like a cookie dough -- stiff enough to roll out.  Repeated reviews of the recipe and a couple of google searches did not reveal a mistake on my part or the recipe's, yet clearly something was wrong.  Cake batters often have milk in them, so I added a half cup and an extra egg for good measure, and finally got something resembling cake batter.

The original recipe called for pieces of guava paste placed in the batter, with the baked cake cut so each slice has one piece, so I made cupcakes -- same idea, easier to execute.  The paste sunk to the bottom, though, so I probably should have put it closer to the top.

I had leftover white frosting to which I intended to add orange extract (I thought it would go well with the guava), but that seemed to have disappeared from the cabinet.  Instead I found rainbow jimmies, so I used that:

They were a little bland, but the Beadboys enjoyed them.  Next year I should plan out my Three Kings' Feast ahead of time. (Fortunately, the homemade platanutres and Mr. Beadgirl's pernil were successes.)