Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Cake Pops...I'm totally hooked!


Ever since I first saw this blog by Bakerella, I was hooked on these little cake pops that she makes. They are just so stinkin' adorable!! I've wanted to make them for the longest time but kept putting it off. Well...she just came out with her first cookbook titled Cake Pops and I bought it at my local Barnes and Noble (got the last copy on the release day too). Her cake pops are adorable and her photography of them is even more fascinating. Everything is just perfect about them. I was just in awe as I sat flipping through the cookbook on that first day. I REALLY wanted to try to make these now. I was going to start with just the basic cake pop round shape and just coat them and see how they turned out. But, Evan celebrated Apple Week last week at school and they were allowed to bring in a homemade treat (this never happens at school). I was SO excited because I remembered seeing apple cake pops in the cookbook. I bought all of my items, having to substitute some items because I couldn't find the right sprinkles for the leaves but I was happy. I made 48 of these little pops. Evan had enough for his 1st grade class and we delivered some to each of the other 1st grade teachers as they were all celebrating Apple Week, the kindergarten teachers as they will always hold a special place in our hearts, Max's teacher and Max's teacher last year! They got RAVE reviews. Nobody wanted to eat them as they were too pretty they kept saying. They were quite delicious. To keep with the apple theme, I used a spice cake and substituted apple sauce for the oil in addition to making them look like apples. I have to say that these were pretty easy to make. They were time consuming but so worth it to see everyone's faces when we delivered them. Evan took them in to his class in this little basket that I lined with tissue paper. So, what do you think...good enough to eat?

Thursday, September 2, 2010

More crafting!!

I've been busy crafting but haven't gotten around to posting too much. One thing is I had to get a new camera over the summer and I still have a hard time getting my pics off of it and the other is I also got a new printer and it has messed up how I scan things in so I need DH to help me figure that one out so I'll get some LOs posted after I get it all worked out.

First off, I've got this mini clipboard that I altered. I've got 2 boys that are in school full day this year so they are both taking their lunch this year. We were doing really well and getting all of their non-refrigerated stuff packed the night before and having the other stuff ready in baggies in the fridge. Well, life is getting more hectic with Scouts starting up. DH came home from work one afternoon and designed these lunch order slips for them to fill out and then we'll "fill" their lunch orders. Actually we trade off days and each of the boys is responsible for getting out all the stuff for him and his brother. It's taught them a lot of responsibility. They LOVE the idea of filling out an actual order and then filling it. I decided that I didn't want these little papers all over the kitchen so I altered this clipboard for them to go on. I used Locker Talk and All Mixed Up. I covered it in Mod Podge to protect it too. I added some ribbons to the clip and tied a pencil to it too.

Next are some birthday cards that I've made. I used Elmo's Party for this first one. There is a gorgeous cake cut on there. I used my Gypsy and welded two cake cuts together to make a shape card. I didn't add the silly face that you can from the Elmo's Party cart though. I inked all the cuts and stamped Happy Birthday on the cake plate.


Next birthday card was made using Happily Ever After for Snow White and Elmo's Party for the cake. This is for a dear friend's birthday that is a Snow White fan just like me! ;)



The next two cards require some explaining. LOL My dad's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and the boys wanted me to make cards for him from them. They gave me "orders" as to what they wanted their cards to look like. My dad likes to feed the squirrels in their backyard so that is the basis for both cards. First is Evan's card. I used Create a Critter for the whole scene on the front and Cuttin' Up for the inside. Evan wanted a card that just said "SQUIRREL" but didn't want the actual animal on there. Evan really likes the Disney-Pixar movie UP. He likes to imitate the dog when he's talking and then all of sudden freezes and says "SQUIRREL". My dad thinks that is so funny so that is the story behind his card. Max's card is second. He actually wanted a squirrel on his and wanted him roasting an acorn over a campfire because we like to roast marshmallows with my parents. So, thus his card was born. It was all fairly easy to plan out on my G. I also used Create a Critter on his too. LOVE that cart!


Last, I've got a birthday card for my DH, Charlie. He turns 32 tomorrow!! Happy Birthday, honey! I just got the new Toy Story cart in the mail on Monday and I've been having the most fun playing with the cuts on it. I knew that I wanted to use it on his card because we all just love Toy Story. This card is 4x9.25. I used the Toy Story cart for the rocket and aliens, George for the claw, and Mickey font for the words. I had this vision in my head of cutting the aliens and making the scene in which the aliens are in the claw game and getting picked up. I'm so happy with how this card turned out!! I had to really enlarge the rocket to fit the whole height of the card so I could get an alien to fit inside. I also apart a clear envelope and used that for the front so it's shiny like you're looking inside the claw game. I welded together the letter I and 3 moon shapes from George for the claw and then just wedged the little alien in there like he had been chosen. Enjoy!