Bunny Cakes

Valentine's Day Update

If you are a regular reader of our blog, then you will know Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays.  And you will also know I haven't posted in a long while.  One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to post more frequently, but as you can see the opposite has happened.  The truth is, I haven't been feeling well and have been utterly useless outside of my regular work hours.  Somehow I can keep it together for work, but as soon as I come home I am worthless.  For this reason I was planning on passing on personalizing Valentine's Day cards this year.  However, it only took one person to ask and I found myself opening up my etsy shop.  So if you are interested in getting your hands on a personalized version of our cards please check out our shop.  The personalized cards are $4.50 for a PDF file (with 6 cards) you can print as often as you want.  The non-personalized cards are free to download: Zebra cards, Sweetheart cards, Love is All You Need cards, Playbill Valentine's Day cards, Love Big cards & Penguin Treat Holder cards.

-K

Teacher Appreciation Gift - Wild Thing Cookie Stack

It is that time of year, *Teacher Appreciation Week*--time to show your teachers how much you appreciate them.  I know managing my two boys can be rough at times, I can't imagine managing 25 kids and getting them to learn!  Don't let this week pass by without letting them know you appreciate them.  The class moms have really taken charge this year in both my sons' classes, but I still wanted to give a little something extra from our family to let them know we are thankful for all they do.  Usually I convey our message via song lyrics (examples here and here), but even after reviewing a ton of Beatle's songs I couldn't come up with anything new.  So I reused the lyrics from Wild Thing, but with a different spin: a Wild Thing theme.  After looking online at some Wild Thing parties for ideas, I was inspired by Caroline Armelle's invitations for her son's third birthday--loved the font she used (Kohicle 25).  I created a simple wrappers to decorate individually packaged Chocolate Chip Cookies.  The top cookie had a Wild Thing image with the message, 'Wild Thing, You Make My Heart Sing.'  The the other cookies had messages from the boys.

Finally, the cookies were stacked on top of a gift card and tied with baker's twine to create a sweet Teacher Appreciation gift.  For details on how to attach the bands check out here.  Download the Wild Thing Cookie Wrappers here: Wild_Thing_Cookie_Wrap.

 

-K

Penguin Valentine's Day Treat Holder Cards

The boys and I are still deciding on what they will pass out this Valentine's Day to their classmates.  For the last four years we have designed and made our own cards, but I was beginning to wonder if I was forcing my craft upon the boys.  When I asked them if they wanted to do store bought cards this year, they looked at me like I was crazy.  'No, Mom. Why would we want to do that!?! We always make them.'  Their response definitely made me smile.  When I then asked if they had any ideas for this year, C$ suggested featuring his favorite stuffed animal, Waddle Do.  Waddle Do is a cute little penguin he won at a boardwalk carnival game over the summer and seemed like the perfect subject for a Valentine's Day card.  We added a festive cupcake to the card and the line, 'Wishing you a Sweet Valentine's Day'.  All Valentine's Day cards go best with a treat so modified the format of the card so it could be folded to hold a little something sweet.  If you would like to make your own cards, here is the link: Download the Penguin Valentine's Day Treat Holder file.

The inspiration for the card, Waddle Do...

 

Steps for making the treat holder cards:

1.  Print card, then cut around edges.  Use a corner punch to easily round the corners.  Fold card along the guidelines (thin gray lines).

2.  Align the top of the front and the top of the back.  Then using a hold puncher, punch a hole through the front and back the card.

3.  Put both ends of your ribbon from the front to the back of the card.

4.  Pull the ends of the ribbon back through the ribbon loop (on the front of the card) to create a knot.  Then slide in treat.

5.  Distribute to your friends and secret crush.

-K

Personalized Valentine's Day Cards

Healthy living and organization dominate my New Year's Resolution list.  I have 14 items on my list.  I know it sounds like a lot, but I feel very energized to make some positive changes in my life.  About half the items on my list focus on organization.  I want to be more organized so I can get things done faster and easier and ultimately get more done.  For example, I have already designed and printed out my address labels for my 2011 Christmas cards.  So now when Christmas rolls around and I am working on a million projects, the house is a total mess and I have tons of shopping left at least I have one thing less to do and just maybe I will get my cards out on time.  In that line of thinking, I am making my *Personalized Valentine's Day Cards* available now via my Etsy shop so you can get a head start on Valentine's Day.  There are currently 4 designs to select from, but hopefully I will be adding a few more soon.  For $4.50 you get a downloadable PDF file with the design and name of your choice.  Of course you can always download the cards for free and write in your name.  Here are the links to the free downloads: zebra cards, sweetheart cards, love big, playbill cards, 'love is all you need' and the newly added penguin treat holder cards.  

-K

Easter Bunny Cupcake Toppers

I decided to turn the bunny cupcake toppers I made for A's birthday into *Easter Cupcake Toppers*.  They are available for download here.  Now you can turn plain o' cupcakes into something festive and cute!  I placed my mini cupcakes on a bed of jelly beans for an extra special treat.  I might have to rethink the green jelly beans.  I was going for a grassy look, but instead they look like peas.

To make the cupcake toppers I used the Glue Stick Method:

1.  Print out template.

2.  Cut loosely around the image, but make sure you cut the bottom edge of the image (the ribbon   part) straight.

3.  Apply glue using a glue stick and place on top of another sheet of plain paper.  Make sure to sandwich your toothpick between the sheets of paper.  Also make sure to align the bottom edges of the paper layers, since it will not be easy to cut that edge with the toothpick in place.

4.  Let dry slightly, then cut around the image to trim off any excess paper.

5.  Insert into cupcake.  Admire, then eat.

-K

Playbill Valentine's Day Cards

This year for Valentine's Day I planned for the boys to pass out drool-worthy, old-fashioned lollipops from Hammond's Candy to their classmates.  I designed *Playbill Valentine's Day Cards* with a fun message to accompany the lollies.  The cards were inspired by these wedding invitations from Paper Source.  The Playbill Valentine's Day cards are available for download here: Download Playbill_Valentines_BunnyCakes.  For directions and other ideas please see here.  Personalized versions of the cards are available for a limited time here.

 

 

-K

Love Big! More Classroom Valentine's Day Cards

I love Valentine's Day!  What's not to love!?!  Cards, sweets, treats, flowers, sweet nothings...and of course lots of love.  Bring it all on and *Love Big*!  I made new cards for my 2nd grade boys to pass out to their classmates.  They helped with the coloring and narrowing down the fonts and layout.  Most of the time they took their time to look at the choices before giving their opinions (I was going to nix the green card, but both the boys & Hubby liked it best).  If you would like to share the love, please feel free to download this year's classroom cards here: Download LoveBig_BunnyCakes.  The theme is the perfect message for any age.  *If you would like your card personalized with a name please visit my Etsy shop*.

The instructions for these printables are the same as the Zebra, Sweetheart & Love is All You Need cards: (1) Print template on card stock (110 lb. weight recommended)  (2) Cut out individual cards (3) Round corners using corner punch --optional.  The template makes 6 cards.  *The first 3 people to comment I will personalize the *Love Big* cards with your child's name*.

If you want to attach some treats to go along with the cards, I thought it would be cute to have one big treat in a sea of smaller treats.  I went with one large conversation heart (love these) and a scoop of strawberry heart-shaped runts.

To assemble, punch two holes in the top of the card and cello bags and tie off with a ribbon.  Step-by-step instructions can be found here.

Enjoy!

-K

 

Peace, Love & Pecans

Due to the prevalent lack of Christmas spirit this year our annual Cookie Night was canceled.  So instead of handing out cookies A decided she would give out sugared pecans to her coworkers.  She put me on the hook for making labels/tags to dress up the pecans.  So while I sat on endless hours of conference calls I came up with some simple *Peace, Love & Pecan* tags, which are available for download here: PeaceLovePecans.

 

Here are some tips for putting together the sugared pecan treat bags:

1. Cut the tops of the cello bags with scalloped shears or rotary cutters for a nicer look.

2.  Use a 2 inch circle punch for cut out the 'Peace, Love & Pecan' tags.  The punch can be found a craft stores.

3.  Use bakers twine to tie up the bags and attach the labels.  I actually broke down and bought a 2 lb spool of red and white bakers twine ($17 for the spool and S+H from Country Clean Paper Supply).

(Some special recipients got the 'Deez Nuts' tags - email me if you want that template).

-K

Mother's Day Cards

There are twenty days left until *Mother's Day*!  If you are looking for some fun cards to pass out to all the moms you know, I have just the spot for you.  Connect the Dots is a group of women who will be participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day and are raising money to support the fight against Breast Cancer.  For just $5 they will send you these downloadable cards (plus Easter & Thank You cards).  All the proceeds from the cards will go to the Susan G. Komen fund.  

I have packaged the cards with these yummy creme-filled rolled wafers.  I can't stop snacking on them because they are so delicious!  To package the wafers just bundle them up and roll them in cello, then tie off both ends with bakers twine or ribbon and attach card.

-K

Easter Treat & Cards

I am happy to announce that a set of downloadable cards are available to purchase here.  The set covers Easter, Mother's Day and Thank You Cards.  There are 6 cards per page, so a total of 18 downloadable cards for $5.  Best of all, the $5 will help a team of 6 ladies reach their fundraising goal for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day.  We all know what a worthy and applicable cause the fight against breast cancer is, so please show your support!

I thought I would showcase a great & easy way to make an adorable *Easter Treat* to accompany the Easter cards that are available.  Cello wrap is used to form a egg shape around a chocolate bunny sitting atop colorful jelly beans.

The Easter cards...

Cello Egg Treat How To:

1.  Gather materials: cello wrap (for a 3.5" chocolate bunny I used a 19" square), jelly beans, card stock circle, ribbon, small shallow bowl & Easter card.

2.  Center cello square over bowl.  Place card stock circle in center of cello wrap.  The card stock circle will provide support for the jelly beans.

3.  Place handful of jean beans (or you can also use Easter grass) on top of circle.  The bowl will keep the jelly beans centered and from spilling every where.

4.  Position chocolate bunny (or other treat) on top of jelly beans.  Gather sides of cello wrap and tie with ribbon and attach card.

5.  Puff out sides of cello wrap so that the overall shape looks like an Easter Egg.  Enjoy!

 

Thanks!

K