Goodies

I have been away and have found a new love. CAKE POPS and Chocolate Lollipops. Oh FUN!

I have made pots of gold for St Patty's day, bunnies for Easter and now Ewoks for a lil boy's birthday party. Oh they are addicting...

So let's start with the Pots of gold.  I am thinking they can be turned into lots of things (seeing as I am sharing this late....)
1. First follow the standard Cake Pop Rules (roll or bake, stick and dip) BUT for this one don't shake off the extra chocolate. Turn it upside down on a sheet of wax paper. This will make it pool at the bottom and make the rim of the pot.

2. Once they set, pick up your perfectly shaped pot!

3. Now with a little bit of melted chocolate make a circle on the top of the pot, I used a little baby spoon to scoop it out and smear it on.

4. Sprinkle your gold sprinkles or sugar and you have a Pot of Gold

(you can see the many other colors I created in the background...I was aiming at all the colors of the rainbow)

The final product...

 Next up Bunnies....

Bunnies take 2

So last Easter I made Bunny Truffles...you can tell it was my first attempt at candy coating...so blotchy...almost like the lil guys had some disease!

So take two was a little different but my year of experience paid off!

I made three different versions...

The first: Bunny nose mold for the Teachers.

Don't have step by step pictures for this...just melted pink melts, white melts and then combined some brown and white. Piped in some pink for the nose, let that dry.
Piped in some brown for the forehead, let that dry
Dumped white over them all and put a stick in it!

The second: The Oreo Bunny
I had a box of White Chocolate Oreos calling out to me...so I made them for my Munchkins Spring Party.
First, cut ears out of Marshmallow stackers
Melt pink candy to attach the jelly bean nose
Melt white candy to attach mini chips for eyes
Melt white chocolate candy to attach the ears
Draw ear centers with Red Food Coloring (wish that it was not so RED)
and Tada!

The third: The  Bunny Lollipop
I had an aha moment that the White Fudge covered Oreos given to me by my SIL would be perfect! But I only had 3. After searching 3 stores and coming up empty I knew I could have to have a second item for Lil Man's class.  In a moment of pure genius I remembered the blank lollipop mold I bought for my Sisters party (more on that later). I could make a bunny out of that!!
 First step, pour white chocolate into mold and stick it.
Once set pull out.
Melt pink candy to attach jelly bean nose.
Melt white  candy to attach mini chips for eyes
Then I was stumped...ears...The marshmallows would not work...too big..
The great Bakerella used Pipe Cleaners for ears...but I did not have white.
Then another aha....I needed to bag them, why not make those into ears. So poke the stick through the bottom of the bag and gather the bag around the bunny. Using the pipe cleaners wrap it around the top.
Cut down the middle of the excess to minic ears and use the pipe cleaners to separate it.

A bunny was born!

Thanksgiving Table

It was the first time I was hosting the whole family at my house for Thanksgiving so I went a little overboard...

I wanted to share my table setting for posterity :)

I used my Cricut to cut cute Thanksgiving themed vinyl shapes and adhered them to the bottom of my acrylic plates for a little fun.

I cut felt boats and filled them with Candy Corn for the center of the table.

I created a Tossing Turkey for my 4 year old's share toy at school so it sat in the center of the table with a cornucopia of pumpkins.

And just for a splash of color I had a orange and yellow felt runner down the center of the table.

Super simple but makes a great statement!

See you Next Holiday :)

Pictures

I have tried and tried to upload pictures to my posts but it is being denied...so the dilemma... do I post without pictures or just stop this all together....I am pretty much talking to myself! :)

Birthday Blocks

My niece turned one and her mom and I made a bunch of blocks for her both to serve as decorations for the party and her room but also for her to play with. Of course we went with a Diva theme, I mean, how could you not with a DOB of 90210 (Sept 2, 2010)

They started out with my favorite blocks from TJ Maxx....seen before on this blog:

Next up add, fun paper, sparkle mod podge and vinyl.... VOILA!

The spell out her name, her special day 90210, Hottie, Glamour, and a bunch of girlie images.

Little Man's Birthday

My Little Man turned FOUR! I know not a big deal..but since when did I become the parent of a 4 year old.

His party was Fireman Themed.

We had invitations created by my talented roomie. Favors were the fireman and police hats from the Dollar Bin at Target...and the best part....the homemade carnival game created by the hubs and me!

Supplies:

HUGE piece of plywood

Hinges
Paint
Clear spray sealant
2x4s

So first up, get your adorable hubby to cut out the cityscape outline.
Second figure out the placement of the windows and draw the general window form and the flame.
Beg and plead hubs to cut the shape of the flame and the outline of the window.

Have 4 yr old help you paint the flames red, orange and yellow.

Paint the cityscape with gray spray primer, gray paint and then realize it does not cover enough and go back to hardware store for glossy can paint and do it all over again....
Spray flames with sealant
Attach flames to open window with hinges.
Have Hubs and FIL rig up a stand using 2x4s.

Day of party, con niece, nephew and roommate to fill up 400+ water balloons.

The moment of truth, let 15+ 4 year old Firemen throw water balloons at the "burning building to put out the fire"

Birthday Boy taking his turn

A HUGE hit!

Teacher Gifts - Valentine's Day

A little late, but can certainly be adapted for end of year gifts, birthdays or appreciation days.  

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So for my wonderful teachers this year I thought I would try to make somthing. So many great ideas out in blog land.

I decided on some chalkboard frames and some heart chalk.

Supplies:

Frame

Chalkboard paint

Chalk Hearts

Ribbon

First paint your frames with chalkboard paint. I used the spray kind.  I put 3 coats to make sure it was good and covered.  Following the directions on the can let it sit and then cure it.

Next up, make chalk hearts following this great tutorial or get lucky and find a 3 pack of heart chalk at Michael's for a whopping $0.49! that is $0.17 a heart! Go me :)

Then decorate the frame. I went with hearts to go with the theme. Write a cute message in chalk.
Last wrap your frame and chalk with pretty ribbon and Voila you are done!