Snowman Milk Glasses

So, this morning I was freakishly checking Bakerella's blog (like I do everyday!) and the first thing I saw almost made me choke on my coffee!

These little snowman milk glasses have got to be the cutest edible thing that I have seen in some time! How easy to put together!!

My kids would flip if they woke up to these this Saturday!!!! or anyday for that matter:)



She suggests using these glasses from Target.

Even better no trying to track down the cute little glasses!! Please leave a comment with pic if you decide to try this one out!! I'd love to see hwat you all come up with! This would make a great preschool Valentine's treat if glued somke heart shaped button to the front of the glass. Or just make it easy and slap some cute stickers on the front!

Valentine's Day Handmade Gift Round Up

It's always good to have your ducks in a row when it comes to handmade holiday gifts.
If your like me you'll need the extra month to get some of these super great handmade Valentine's Day gift ideas done in time!

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This cute little wrapped paper chocolate bar from Stinkin' Cute Stuff would make an excellent Valentine's gift for anyone.  

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I love this idea from Alpha Mom! You could could do these up as a surprise for your little ones or have them help and send them off you Grandma. What a fun way to use up all of that scrap paper!

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These are just too adorable! I think I might wear one;)

The Purl Bee provides a wonderful tutorial on how to make some of these Rose Barrettes!

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Who wouldn't love this yummy jar of cookies! Found this idea over at Squidoo.

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Catching Fire Flies offers a bunch of really affordable and fun ways for the whole family to share on Valentine's Day.

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Catching Fire Flies also has a very easy tutorial on how to make this sweet recycled firefly! This one is too good to not share;)

I love that these little treat boxes feature special art work! These would make very thoughtful classroom treats to share! Check out inchmark for more great ideas!

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This is one of the cutest ideas yet!!! Stitch Craft gives an amazing tutorial on how to make these little tissue holders. What a great time of year for a gift like this!

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Moda Bake Shop gives full measurements and directions on how to sew one of these Valentine's Penny Pockets! These would be cute holding your silverware for a romantic dinner!

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Cake Journal does it again!

My mouth is watering looking a this cute paper cone filled with sugar cookies!

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This crocheted edging on About.com would make a very sweet trim on the bottom hem of a pair of jeans or a cotton dress!

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Sew Mama Sew has a really easy tutorial on how to make one of these sewn valentines for someone special in your life!

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Happy Crafting!!

A Trio of Valentine's Treats Tutorial

This is a little Valentine's Day Tutorial Trio that I put together.  I have a conversation hearts white chocolate bark, a heart candy bar, and finally, a delicious strawberry cream liquor filled chocolate shot. 

Conversation Heart Bark

Candy bark is a very easy and affordable treat to make and give away or just eat yourself.

For this bark, I melted some white chocolate candy coating (but you can use any white chocolate you want - disks, chips, etc.).

Next, I poured the white chocolate into a small dish. 

I placed my conversation hearts around making sure they were print side up.

Then, I sprinkled on some colored sugar.

Next, you want to put it into the freezer for about 5 minutes until it hardens.

Once it hardens, you can break it apart into nice sized chunks. 



Two Hearts Candy Bar

For this little chocolate car you need both white chocolate or candy coating and pink candy melts. 

Grease a small ramekin or cookie sheet lightly with butter. 

Next, you want to melt your white chocolate and a small amount of the pink candy melts until they are nice and smooth.

Put the white chocolate into your little ramekin.  Put the pink chocolate into a small, sturdy sandwich bag or piping bag.

Snip off the end of the bag so that you can squeeze out the chocolate.

 Pipe dots of pinks into the white chocolate.

Next, you need to take a toothpick or skewer and marble the chocolate by dragging your toothpick around through the pink into the white.  Then I piped two large hearts in pink and ran the skewer through the middle of each to give it a marbled effect.

Place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes to harden it up.  Then, pop it out of the mold.  If it doesn't want to come out you can run the bottom of the ramekin under a bit of hot water.  Finally, I wrapped it in plastic wrap and tied a bow around it.

Shooters

These little shot cups are soooo sweet but soooo good. 

First you melt your pink candy melts.  Then you need to fill a mini cup mold (you can usually find them online or at Michael's and JoAnn's.) 

The cups should be partly hollow inside, but they do not have to be perfect.  No one will see the inside.  I usually brush on a thin layer of chocolate, freeze the cups for a few minutes, and then brush on another layer.  This will give you a sturdy cup.

Then, I fill the inside about 1/2 way with strawberry cream liquor.  You could also use vodka, coffee liquor, or even that delicious chocolate red wine.  It really depends on your tastes. 

Next, I seal the top of the cups with a nice big twist of butter cream frosting.

Finally, I decorated the little cups with a conversation heart.  I think that these would be adorable at a bachelorette party too. 

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Let's begin on the couch where I sit and have a ritual morning cup of coffee while reading some kind of cookbook or craft book. The one time I choose to be completely unaware of the growing mess my children are making throughout the house. Why a person would put their pajamas in the hamper is beyond me; they look much nicer on the dining room floor. And my children agree. There it's settled then. We'll all be careless for this ten minute cup of coffee... so that I can THINK!!! And these Apple Pie Cupcakes are what I thought about. I had seen different versions of this idea around the Internet. After combining different components from some of the recipes that are out there I came up with my own. I made these for my mother in law's birthday dinner and let me just say, everyone had seconds. Yes!! Success. You must try them.There are three different levels of flavor in each bite. A spicy moist cake bottom layer. A sweet and tart apple pie center. Finished with a sweet caramel butter cream. So good...TRY THEM!

To bake the cake you'll need:

 Spice cake mix or use your favorite recipe

Ingredients to bake cake

Small box butterscotch pudding mix

Cupcake liners

 Cupcake pans

To make the Apple Pie Filling:

4 tbsp. butter

4 tsp. cinnamon

6 tbsp. sugar

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced

To make the Caramel Butter Cream:

1 Stick Butter, softened

1/2 C Shortening

2 tsp. Good quality vanilla

16 oz. Powdered sugar

2-4 Tbsp. Heavy cream

1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping or favorite recipe 

Now preheat your oven to the cake recipes specifications. I always bake cakes at 325.

I used a box mix to make my cupcakes. It was super simple. I followed the box direction but added my butterscotch pudding mix to the dry cake mix before I started. I generously filled my lined cupcake tins with cake batter and baked as directed.

Then I made my pie filling.

Heat your butter in a medium skillet. Add the cinnamon and sugar and cook for 1 minute. Next, add the apples and mix to evenly coat each apple. Cook for about 10 minutes. Let this cool while you prepare the cupcakes.

I just cut all the way around the top of the cupcake at an angle to take out a pyramid shaped piece of cake. Just eat those.. no one will know:) 

Next fill each cupcake with equal portions of filling. Don't be stingy with the juices.

Now for that delicious caramel butter cream.

In stand mixer or with hand held mixer, cream your butter, shortening, and vanilla together until smooth. Then alternate sifting in powdered sugar and cream until all of the powdered sugar is gone and you have the right consistency for piping. Pipe a generous amount of frosting on top of each cupcake.

And Voila! The Best Cupcakes Ever!!

S'mores on a Stick

Our Girl Scout troop recently hosted on a night hayride and bonfire for about 50 people. Which by the way was a super duper fun time! Naturally we wanted to roast s'mores at the bonfire but the idea of organizing 50 people with sticks and hot sugar was not exactly all that appealing. So I came with the idea of a s'more on a stick. They were simple to put together and I only needed 4 ingredients! Bonus:) What's that you say? "Show me how!!" Oh alright!

First you'll need to gather your supplies:

One sleeve of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows, 12oz. bag of milk chocolate chips,
1 tablespoon vegetable oil. a waxed paper covered cookie sheet or tray,
and a microwave safe bowl, and some lollipop sticks or toothpicks.
Actually, little twigs would be super cute to use... darn thought of that one too late!

Now you are ready to begin!

Cover the tray that you are going to serve them on with wax paper and then line up all of your mallows like so.

Then, insert put a lollipop stick in each mallow. I made 50.

Next, take your chocolate chips and pour about 3/4 of the bag into a microwave safe bowl with

1 tablespoon vegetable/canola oil. Microwave the chips and oil in 30 seconds increments until melted.

Place 1/2 a sleeve of graham crackers into a zip lock bag and smash with a rolling pin until you like the size of your graham cracker pieces. I left quite a few small chunks.

Now you should be all set up to do these babies assembly line style like below.

Now it's just a dip in the chocolate...

Followed by a dip in the crushed graham crackers....

And you're done!!! These little yummies got a ton of compliments at the bonfire and were pretty tasty!

If you have a kitchen torch... which I desperately desire, *wink* *wink* if your reading mom;), you could brown the tops of the mallows for a toasted effect!

I served mine right off of the same tray that they were made on so I only had to clean up once. Just throw out the wax paper and voila your done!

With all of the holiday vacations coming up for those of us with little ones. This would make a great project to do with your kiddos during a family camp-in. Just set up a tent in your living/family room. Turn off the TV. Get out the flashlights. Tell some ghost stories. Make a pretend fire. And roast your s'mores on a stick!

Sew up a camp out set for your little one with our easy S'more Fun Campout pattern.

Happy Crafting!!!

DIY Break & Bake Cookie Dough Tutorial

I love making cookies with Kamille, but I always seem to be throwing away most of a batch of uneaten cookies.  So, I decided to try making my own break and bake style cookies so that I could have the convenience of refrigerated cookie dough, but have all natural ingredients.

I started with my favorite cookie recipe.  I usually just use the recipe off of the nestle morsels (then I substitute whole wheat flour and flax seed meal for the white flour).  Plus, I like to make without eggs, so I substitute milk for the eggs.  It makes a chewy, delicious cookie.

Once I finished making my batter, I refrigerated it for 2 hours, until the dough was really stiff.

   

Next, I lined a small pan - I think that it is about 5"x5" with wax paper. 

Then I filled the pan about 1" deep with cookie dough.  I pressed it flat. 

Next, I cut it into sections, cutting about 1/2 way through the dough.

Finally, I wrapped the wax paper around the cookie dough, lifted the whole package out of the pan, and sealed it into an airtight gallon Ziploc freezer bag. 

You can keep cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months (the store bought kind last longer in the freezer and fridge because they are full of preservatives).  The dough will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.

To use, you take them out of the freezer and let them defrost before baking.