Bunny Cakes

Some Bunny - Easter Cards

I had been toying with using these bunny cards as Valentine's Day cards as I think it would be really sweet for the boys to write something nice about each of their classmates, but it never happened so I turned them into Easter cards last year.  They are the perfect accompaniment to any Easter treat: flowers (Ranunculus will soon be in season!), Easter candy or a basket full of goodies .  Just download, print, trim and deliver.  I have created two versions of the cards: download the Monsieur Some Bunny Cards or the Mademoiselle Some Bunny Cards.  Each file has 6 little cards.  Enjoy.

-K

Engagement Gift Idea

Last night Hubby and I went to an Engagement Party for one of his co-workers, but coming up with a gift was a real challenge.  When you are going to an Engagement party and the couple being honored has not yet registered, what do you give them?  If you know they have a favorite something, then I think that would be nice to give them, but if you don't know that...then what?  In this case something personalized with their names (or initials) and/or their wedding date seemed like a good way to go.  So, I went with it, but because I was late coming up with the idea I had to make something myself, which I was happy to do...I just wish I had thought of doing it sooner!  I decided I was going to make a print and then put it in a nice frame (so if they didn't like the print, then at least they would have a nice frame).  I wanted to use lyrics from a love song, but I had some sort of mental block (panic mode!) and only two songs popped into my mind...Wild Thing by the Troggs and So Happy Together by the Turtles.  Luckily I found a sweet line from Turtles song (Skies will be blue for all my life...now that we're together) and went with it.  Once I was done with the design I had it professionally printed in an 8x10 format.  The professional printing made a big difference in the print quality (highly recommended if you do this).  I was happy with the final product and I felt good about giving them a personalized gift just for the two of them.

-K

Groundhog Day Treats

Tired of doing the same old thing on Groundhog Day?  And by that I mean doing nothing.  Well here is an easy way to bring some cheer to this gray and boring holiday...*Groundhog Treats*!  All you need is something chocolate covered to be your 'treats' and this PDF label file to create fun goodie bags for all your favorite people.  After printing the file, cut around the labels and then fold in half (the file makes four labels).  Fill 4"x6" cello bags with your 'treat', fold over the top, place the label over the folded edge and then staple to seal.  I also added a little heart to my treats as a reminder that Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

Happy Groundhog Day!

K

Snowy Pecans

One treat which I always associated with the holidays are sugared pecans.  We have several names for them: Snowy Pecans, Heavenly Pecans and Pure Goodness (you can find the recipe here).  We have learned that if you are going to make them, then you might as well make a boat load.  They are great little treats to give to friends and neighbors.  They are also the perfect little homemade something to accompany an impersonal gift card.  This year we planned ahead and bought 12 oz. glass jars to package the pecans in.  To complete the packaging we added a label and baker's twine.  I have included the link if you wish to download our Snowy Pecan labels.  Simply print them on whole sheet adhesive label paper and cut them out.  To affix the label lay the jar completely perpendicular to you and position the middle of label on the bottom third of the glass.  Then smooth out the label from the center to each side.  If the label doesn't align perfectly don't sweat it, it just proves that it was homemade.

-K

It's a Wrap

It's that time of year again, time to get out your scissors and tape, but before you do take a look at some inspirational wrap jobs.  

I love to wrap presents and wish I had all day to spending embellishing my gifts, but usually I am in a hurry.  Having kraft paper (or a paper with a simple design), plenty of ribbon/bakers twine and little tie-ons on hand make it easy to make your gifts look good in jiff!

-K

Halloween Boo

One of our favorite Halloween activities is 'Booing' our neighbors.  The boys like it because they get to sneak around at night and leave mysterious surprises for our neighbors and I like it because I get to put together fun Halloween packages.  This year I decided to create my own version of the Boo message to be left with the Halloween treats.  Please feel free to download your copy of the Boo poem and spread the Halloween cheer.  If you are unfamiliar with 'booing', then the poem below summarizes it all.

*The Halloween Boo Poem* (slightly modified)...

The phantom ghost has come to town
To leave some goodies...I see you've found.
If you wish to make this a happier Fall...
Continue this greeting, this phantom call.

First, post this Ghost where it can be seen,
And leave it there until Halloween.
This will scare other Phantoms who may visit.
Be sure to participate, you don't want to miss it!

Next, leave treats at two doors where the Phantom hasn’t hit.
You have only two days to act, so be quick!
Deliver at dark when there isn't much light...
Ring the doorbell and run--stay out of sight!!

And last, but not least, come join in the season.
Don't worry, be happy, you need no good reason.
This is all in good fun and we are just trying to say...
Happy Halloween & Have a Great Ghosty Day!

 

 Happy Booing!

-K

First Day of School Treats - Fifth Grade

The boys started 5th grade last week (yes, pre-Labor Day).  I can't believe their grade school years are coming to an end.  As a tradition that will sadly end this year (next year they will be in middle school), the boys handed out baked goodies to all their prior teachers and their new teacher.  In my nesting moments before the baby's arrival I made sure to print and cut out the treat holders so I would have them ready for the first day of school.  The design for the treat holders features their school mascot, a cardinal, NOT getting stabbed by a bunch of pencils.  Inside the treat holders we tucked a heart-shaped brownie.

If you want to make your own treats you can download the file here.  To make: 1) Print out the design; 2) Cut around the border; 3) Use a corner punch to round the corners (optional); 4) Fold on the gray lines; 5) Punch a hole in the top; 6) Tie with a ribbon.

-K

Mother's Day Brunch & DIY Plant Labels

This year for Mother's Day we had the usual family brunch at our house.  Chef M treated us with S'more French Toast, challah bread stuffed with chocolate and marshmallows coated with graham cracker crumbs.  It was delicious to say the least.  I treated my fellow mothers with little gifts at their place setting.  Succulent plants for my mom, who always welcomes more plants.  To make the plants more special we added personalized plant labels.  The clay labels were made by following the DIY instructions from Say Yes to Hoboken.  They were very easy to make and didn't take too long (we actually made them before everyone came over for brunch).  For my sister we gifted snack containers and sprinkles.  Who doesn't love sprinkles! 

Gifts for Grandma...

Gifts for A...

S'more French Toast...

Finally, here is the inspiration for the clay plant labels from Say Yes to Hoboken...

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

-K

Teacher Appreciation Gifts - Apple of My Eye

For this year's Teacher Appreciation gifts we were inspired by Amy Atlas' Apple of My Eye dessert table found in her latest book: Sweet Designs.  The boys and I collected a bunch of apple flavored goodies and even made our own apple shortbread cookies and then packaged them in baskets for their teachers.  Of course we had to add our traditional gift of a movie gift card too.  Teachers work really hard and do amazing things for our kids.  I hope they know the little gifts we bring them are just a small token of our gratitude.

Here are the goodies we gathered...

To make the apple shortbread cookies we used red, green & brown royal icing to make little apple images on the store-bought shortbread cookies.  We used squeeze bottles for the icing so the boys could help create the apples.

Here is the inspiration from Amy Atlas, who is truly an endless source of inspiration...

And finally, the baskets...the boys wrote out 'You are the Apple of my Eye' on hang tags tied to the baskets.  We also added a little red ric-rac to the baskets with fabric glue to match our color scheme.

-K

Cardboard DIY Gift Tags

I get excited about wrapping presents.  I know most people dread it, but I think of it as an opportunity to get creative and make something look good.  Plus, it also makes the recipient feel special--at least I like to think it does.  After seeing Natalie Jost's DIY Stamped Hang Tag post, I knew I wanted to make some.  A baby shower gift gave me the motivation I needed to head to the craft room and get busy.  Instead of stamping on paper I stamped on cardboard.  Then after letting my designs dry I cut them out and punched a hole.  The trickiest part is finding out what color ink shows up best on the cardboard.  I found that either very bright or very dark colors work best, the medium shade colors get lost on the cardboard background.  Here are the results...

Here is the inspiration from Natalie's post...

-K