Havin' a Ball with Chocolate Cake!

I thought I was pretty busy last week, but I really don't have much to show! I made my mom a pillow similar to this one:

I forgot to take a picture of hers, but it's pretty much the same as the one above. I made it last year sometime, and my mom really liked it. I've been trying to use up some of my stash, so now she has a matching pillow!

The thing that took up most of my crafting time was this ball:


I much prefer machine stitching to hand stitching, so why I decided to make this ball, which is completely hand stitched, is beyond me! I'm hoping to get a tutorial put together for it in the next week or so. I didn't take pictures as I was working on this one, so I'll be making another one.

Things that were started, but not yet ready to show include:
scarf
notebook/composition book cover
Chore charts for the boys
organizing my fabric

I'm hoping to have more crafty things to show you soon!

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Now for that promised recipe, my Grandma's chocolate cake.

3/4 C soft shortening
1-3/4 C sugar
3 eggs
2-1/3 C sifted flour
2/3 C cocoa
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 C water
1-1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (2) 9x1-1/2 inch layer cake pans or (1) 9x13 pan. Blend shortening and sugar together in large bowl. Add eggs, beat at high speed until mixture is fluffy and light colored, about 5 minutes. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. With mixer at low speed, add dry ingredients alternately with water and vanilla. Pour batter into pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until cake springs back. Cool 10 minutes. Enjoy!