Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Thanksgiving

Hello, Hello! I'm sorry that I've been gone for SO long. This last semester of nursing school has really just taken up ALL of my time. Anyhow, I'm back now and I wanted to get this out for Thanksgiving, aka: the beginning of the most magical time of the year!

So last year I changed up our table decorations a little. I used navy blue napkins, the blue and gold plates that have tiny fruits painted on them, and dark browns and oranges in the center to bring in the fall feeling. I think it turned out okay... What do you think?


ps. Sorry the picture isn't that great... I was rushing to get my mini pumpkin pies out of the oven!

So yes, I made individual pumpkin pies for everyone so we wouldn't have to worry about cutting and passing, as if it was really that big of a deal to cut and pass. Mini pumpkin pies just seemed so cute and I wanted to come up with an easy way to do it. So, here's what I did...

On rolled out pie dough, I drew circles, about 1-1.5 inches larger than my muffin pan circles. I lightly powdered the muffin pans with flour (this helps the dough not stick to the pans when removing them) and neatly stuffed each little circle with the dough and filled that with the pie filling. From here I used the extra dough to cut out little designs to add a little something-something to the mini pumpkin pies. I used the mini cookie cutters from William Sonoma (you can see how much I love these cut-outs below). Oh, and before cooking with pies I sprinkled a mixture of 1 part flour and 1 part sugar over the top of the pie crusts and little leaf cut-outs (this helps prevent the edges of the pie from turning brown and overly crunchy).


I got so excited to use the mini cookie cutters that I made a whole other pie so I could use the leaves as a boarder. Cute huh? Too bad I used a pie crust protector, instead of my fool proof flour and sugar mixture, because the edges got a little too brown and crispy. Silly me, tricks are for keeping!


Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Candy Bouquet

I recently saw a picture of a candy bouquet online and it really got me to thinking of all the different ways someone could make one of these sweet little ditties! I don't know if I would necessarily use one for a wedding, but I think they would be so cute and very easy to make for a bachelorette party, birthday party, some sort of recital or achievement, or...well... you get what I'm trying to say.

So... here are some of the ideas I found online. I could believe there were not very many of these out there. Why are these not more popular?

The most whimsical of it's kind, the true lollipop bouquet...


The flower tissue lollipop bouquet. Can you see the lollipops hidden in the center of the flowers? They add a little something sweet to the mix. I would imagine you just take a topiary ball, cut some tissue paper, stick lollipops through the center of the flower cut outs , and stick them into the ball (possibly with some glue, maybe?)


Now, I realize this is a topiary, but couldn't it just just as easy to take this thing out of the pot and have it be a bouquet? The small accents of tissue paper and the large bow on the bottom really kick it up a notch! This one seems even more simple than the last! Just push the lollipops straight into the topiary ball, glue or stick in some tissue, tie on a bow and wha-la... a sweet bouquet!


I'd be too afraid to hold this one in fear that I would break it! How pretty are those sugar flowers though?!? Bet this one took a little longer to put together than the others.


And now... introducing the most unique bouquet of the all... the ice cream cone candy marshmallow bouquet! Is your mouth drooling? Mine is! So uniques, so pretty, and so tasty all at the same time! Love this little concoction!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Birthday Box

How do you turn an ordinary shoe box into a quick and easy birthday gift box? Especially when it says 'ballet flats' and the gift is for a guy?!?

Grab some construction paper, fun marker or pen, stick glue, scissors, and roll of ribbon!


To do:
1. Cut the construction paper to the shape you want (just make sure it is large enough to cover the entire logo... in this case J.Crew).
2. Measure your ribbon. I usually cut a little extra just in case it ties funny and I can cut off my mistakes instead of having to use a whole other cut of ribbon and waste just that much more.
3. Glue the pater materials together and write your message (I doubled the message as my card as well).
4. Lay the materials on the box as you would like them to appear, then glue the ribbon to the back of the paper card, and finally glue the whole set (back of card and ribbon underneath the card) over your box logo.
5. Whip the remaining ribbon around the rest of the box, tie, and wha-la! Quick and easy gift box!

The only thing left from here is for my brother to untie the ribbon, open the box, and be surprised! He won't even know, unless he reads this I guess, that the box originally had a logo and the words ballet flats on top. You could call me very very sneaky, but I prefer resourceful or creative!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bow Cupcakes Part II

After my last post about edible bows cupcakes Ibegan to think of the those of us who don't always have enough time to whip up perfectly sculpted sugar bows. Don't get me wrong they are beautiful and I'm sure very delicious, but some times when a quick little extra something is needed to complete the look I usually find myself looking through spools of ribbon or fabric. They're quick, easy, sugar free, and dishwasher friendly! :)

A fabric bow-knot topper...


Preppy bow tie toppers...


A little bow tied or glued to the side of the cupcake liner...


A cupcake cut-out topper on a cupcake with a bow (man that's a mouth full)...


Or maybe a bow tied around a single cupcake stand...


Or as the ever clever Amy Atlas would do it: decorate the cake stands with ribbon, paper cutouts, and a little bow to tie it all together...



Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Bow Cupcakes


Psst... here's a peak into my thought process and how this post came about... "I could really go for a cupcake right now. {Window shopping} Ooo, those are cute shoes. Would be even better with a bow. Lots of things are better with bows. I should make a cupcake with a bow. Oooo! Bow around it. No, wait, bow on top. And made out of sugar. I need to google this."

So here's some of the best of what I found in my search for bow cupcake greatness...

Short, dark, and dreamy...


The perfect fit...


Big and pink...


Multicolored and look the most like real ribbons...


Bedazzled...


And, who's the leader of the them all... Minnie! How stinkin' cute is this cupcake?!?...