Bunny Cakes

Classroom Easter Treats: Jelly Bean Carrots + Bunny Tassels

I love making little favors/goodies.  I will use any excuse and Easter is one of the best out there because it means cute little bunnies are a must.  So for B's classmates I decided to throwback to an easy favorite, jelly bean carrots.  The *Jelly Bean Carrots* are originally from Martha Stewart (how to instructions found here) and are very easy to make and are perfect for little helpers.  I made the carrots a bit smaller for the little guys & gals and added a *Bunny Tassel* to make them irresistibly cute.  

The project is relatively simple, but there are a bunch of steps.  Since I don't have a lot of dedicated free-time I tackled the project a step at a time.  First I cut out the bunny faces (the bunny face came from a pin of kikki-k's bunny gift tags).  When cutting always use the right scissors for the job--Martha Stewart Crafts precision scissors were perfect for this task.  Next, I made the fringe tassels from white tissue paper (how to video here). Then I made the carrots and then finally assembled it all together.  I used washi tape to attach the bunny face to the tassel and then ribbon to tie it all to the carrot.

The bunny tassels also make great gift toppers...this was for a recent baby shower gift and inspired the making of the bunny tassel.

Happy Easter!

-K

Our Easter Eggs Over the Years

This past week Martha put out a call for Easter eggs for her Good Egg Contest. If Martha calls, I answer.  I dug through our Easter archives and created some new goodies to enter in her contest.  Here are a few pictures of some of my 'good' Easter eggs from over the years.

*The Bunny Pack* - This is my favorite entry.  The older boys helped me draw cute bunny faces on regular white eggs with markers.  It was fun and easy to do.  I love how sweet the boys' bunnies turned out.  We placed the bunny eggs in mini-cupcake liners to complete the cutesy look.  The little pom-pom stickers are from Martha Stewart Crafts.

 

*The Egg Throne* - For the perfect dark chocolate bunny pop we created a throne out of a faux robin's egg, paper greens and a tiny ceramic pot.  The green paper leaves were made using my neighbor's new cricut explore machine (it's awesome!).

 

*The Glitterati Eggs* - Glittered eggs always look good because they add sparkle and depth.  They are also very versatile.  They are relatively easy to make it will look good year after year.  

 

*The Traditional Dip-Dyed Eggs* - These are perfect for the kids to do.  They love getting creative and experimenting with different colors.  A simple rubber band applied to the egg before dying can have interesting results.

 

*The Favorite Eggs* - Washi paper eggs are my favorite.  My grandmother taught me how to make them and I have a few that she made in my collection so they are special to me for both sentimental and asthectic reasons.  This year I paired them with my new jadeite and pink bunny egg holders.

Hope you make some good eggs this year!

-K

Teacher Appreciation Week Rewind -- Get Crafty

One of things I never posted about was last year's Teacher Appreciation Week.  Our PTA does an amazing job planning out a week full of goodies and love for our teachers and staff--and let's all agree, they deserve it!!!!!   My neighbor had signed up to decorate the Teachers' Lounge for the traditional Friday teachers' luncheon which caps off the week's festivities and asked if I wanted to help.  I was game.  A 'Sports' theme was set for the week and I was definitely disappointed because I had envisioned paper flowers and something Spring-ish.  However, we made the best of it and went with an All Star motif.

There were two paths we could have taken: (1) Go to Party City and buy up all the Sports stuff we could find OR...(2) Get Crafty!  We really wanted to the teachers to feel special AND we wanted to put a glamorous spin to the All Star Theme, so we got crafty!  We set our palette to red (the school color), black, gold and fuchsia--think Oscars with a feminine edge.  Before I get into the details let me share the pictures first...please note our school mascot is the cardinal.

Now onto the details...we made a bunch of red and gold paper rosettes, tissue fringe (for the balloons) and all the kids in the boys' after school program assembled paper cardinals, the school mascot, for us to decorate with.  The cardinals were my favorite...I could have made all 60 myself, but I could never have captured the charm and perfect imperfection of the kid's cardinals.  Finally came installation day, the Thursday before the lunch.  We went to work and covered the three bulletin boards with black paper (to mimic a chalk board) and then painted on a gold boarder to add some elegance.  My neighbor is quite skilled in hand lettering and painted lovely messages for the teachers, 'You are All Stars' & 'YOU ROCK', in white to complete chalkboard look.  Then we added the cardinals en masse on one board and the rosettes on the other.  The tables were treated with red tablecloths and potted bright pink geraniums wrapped in gold foil.  Mini cardinals soared out of each pot and a framed message sat on each table (I spray painted yellow frames from Target gold).  The teachers loved it!  One of the school administrators told us our bulletin boards made it to her Top 5 List!

Teacher Appreciation this year is on May 6th this year, so don't be afraid to get crafty!

-K

Heart Brownies--The Ultimate Dessert (and Valentine's Day Treat)!

*Heart Brownies* are a staple in my house and at almost any gathering I attend.  They are easy to make and they are delicious--crunchy edges with soft, gooey centers.  A priest once told me they were 'walk on water good'.  I almost died at the compliment (hubby doesn't believe or likes to pretend he doesn't)!  However, since I make them all the time they hardly seem special for Valentine's Day and I have to remind myself they are the perfect Valentine's Day sweet.  Keep reading for my super secret recipe...

...which is not really secret at all.  The key to making the perfect heart brownies is having a heart-shaped pan...this is a must and it's the only way to get brownies with crunchy edges and soft middles.  I use this pan from Nordic Ware, in fact when making brownies I use three pans at once because I never make just one batch (each pan makes 6 heart brownies)--it may be somewhat of an investment, but totally worth it.  The next key step is to spray the pan(s) with Pam Baking spray (or an equivalent baking spray), regular Pam will not keep the brownies from sticking to the pan so do not use it.  Most boxed brownie mixes will yield good results, but the best mix I have found is Ghirardelli's Triple Chocolate Brownie mix, which can be found in bulk at Costco.  Follow the directions to mix up the batter and use a cookie dough scooper to fill up the hearts 1/2 - 2/3's full.  One bag/box of mix usually makes 13-14 brownies.  Then bake the brownies at 350 degrees (instead of prescribed 325) for 19 minutes (adjust time to your oven).  Allow them to cool for 2 minutes in the pan before dumping them out on a cooling rack.  I have found that the brownies taste better the next day as long as they are stored in an air tight container.  Make sure you spray the pans in between batches to make sure the brownies don't stick.

This year I plan to pack up the brownies in cute heart-shaped containers I purchased from Target for Brooks' teachers.  Last year I packed them in polka dot bakery boxes from Martha Stewart Crafts.  I included a festive badge on top of the boxes which were made from cupcake wrappers and animals cut out from Paper Source wrapping paper (instructions found here).

 Happy Baking & Happy Valentine's Day!

-K

Love You Valentine's Day Cards - Free Printables

I previewed these new printable *Valentine's Day Cards* on Instagram a couple of weeks ago.  I am finally finding some time to post them to the blog.  These cards have a simple and clear message: 'Love You' and are perfect for anyone near and dear to you.  You can download them in with all red hearts here OR with a mix of red and pink hearts here.  There is blank space at the bottom of the cards to add a name or a short, sweet message. If you would like a personalized version then head over to my Etsy shop.  Each file contains 6 cards and is best printed out on heavy card stock (110 lbs or thicker), which can be found at any office supply store.

Here's a picture of this year's Love You card hanging on the 'bulletin' board in my youngest's room along with mini-versions of some of our other Valentine's Day cards available for download.

Happy printing and cutting!

-K

A Christmas Tree for Baby

My older boys have a special miniature Christmas tree in their room.  It's decorated with ornaments loving made out of candy (thanks to Martha for the inspiration).  Naturally I wanted little Brooks to have his own special tree in his room.  When I pulled out what I had up in his room last Christmas I was horrified.  I couldn't believe 'that' was the best I could come up with.  Sure he was only 4 months at the time and I had just started back at work, but it still didn't seem like a valid excuse.  After I was done chiding myself for last year's disgraceful attempt I stripped down the tree to nothing.  But then I couldn't think of anything cool to do for his tree, but I put up his miniature tree anyway hoping for some inspiration.  It sat there for a while as an empty slate waiting for me to do something.  I finally wrapped the felted ball garland we used in our Christmas card photo shoot around the tree, but it was still very, very lacking.  Maybe next year, I thought.  Then one night I got the idea to use one of his toys to make ornaments for his tree.  It was perfect--easy and simple, but still meaningful since the toy used to belong to his brothers and therefore practically vintage (*wink*--does 10 years count as vintage?).

Here is the toy (from Pottery Barn Kids) prior to any alterations.  I am not even sure what it is called.

After dismantling the toy I settled in with some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (can't stop baking) and ribbon to tie through the blocks. Viola!  Done!

Here is the tree.  I never got around to making a proper tree skirt for it.  This picture was taken just before I packed it up till next year.  I hope I don't take it out of the box next year and give myself three lashings for another poor attempt.  It could still use a little something, but at least little Brooks seemed to like it (or he was just happy to finally get grabby with it).  

Happy Holidays!

-K

Toddler Quilt

I am not the seamstress in our family.  That title is maintained by sister (and mom).  I prefer to do more crafty/graphic design type stuff which is usually paper based.  Over time this difference between my sister and I has worked itself into a nice exchange system.  Anything I need sewn my sister willingly does for me and anything she needs designed and printed I do for her.  It has become the perfect give and take relationship.  There are no complaints and only feelings of great gratitude and a happy-to-help mentality (speaking for myself).  I assume my sister feels the same way, because if she didn't she would certainly let me know.  This is all to say that I really don't sew and don't have a need to.  So I was surprised to find myself at the sewing machine last Friday night.  Yes, sewing!  I was inspired to make little B$ a quilt so he could have a nice snuggly blanket when he transitioned from the infant room to the toddler room at daycare.  I was also inspired use up some of my fabric stash which hasn't seen the light of day in years.  I promised myself I wouldn't go out and buy any fabric and that I would make do with whatever fabric I had even though it may not be perfect.  And even though I wouldn't call the quilt perfect, it gives me great joy to know that little B will cuddle with something which I made everyday at school (don't worry sis, our perfect arrangement will stay as is).

The inspiration for the quilt I made came from two sources.  My main source of inspiration were the quilts my aunt made for my twins when they were first born.  They were high loft quilts and the boys loved them (they still do, even though they are too big for them).  My aunt told me she was slightly embarrassed that they were high loft quilts, but I don't think they boys would have loved them so much if they weren't.  My other inspiration was blabla's new coverlets: simple and sweet.  I ended up using three different Japanese inspired fabrics.  I had to sew together two pieces of fabric for each side of the quilt (not bad at all).  Then I sewed the sides together, inserted my high loft (3/4") batting and then sewed up the last side.  To keep the batting in place I tacked down the corners and middle of the quilt using embroidery floss.

This is my favorite picture of the quilt posted in my IG account.

-K

First Birthday Octosquid Party

I have always been 'artistic', but my 'craftiness' didn't surface until later in life.  This means our twin boys didn't have a fancy first birthday.  They still turned out okay (so far).  So 10 years later when little B's birthday was on the horizon (9 months out) you would think I would have been ecstatic to plan a big bash for his first birthday, but I wasn't.  I tried to figure out the root of my lack-lustre attitude, but I couldn't pin it down.  As his birthday got closer (6 months, 5 months...) I still had no big desire to plan his party.  Then late one night as I sat in front of my laptop waiting for some contractors to finish work in our kitchen I came across a spark.

As I was perusing a bento box website for panda stuff for the twin's birthday I spied a cute little octopus/squid figure.  By the time the contractors finished I had already recreated the little guy (now termed 'octosquid' -- couldn't decide if it was an octopus or squid) in Adobe Illustrator and added a sailor hat and cupcake to make him ready for the invitation.  From that point on the wheels for B's first birthday party were set into motion.  I guess I just had been lacking some serious inspiration.  We did not have a big bash and instead kept the party very small.  Even though the party was small I did not skip out on any details because those are the fun things to do!

For B's *Octosquid Party* we set up a small dessert buffet with brownies, sugar cookies in the shapes of sea horses, lobsters and hearts (my octosquid cookies turned out disastrous so I couldn't use them) and mini red velvet cupcakes--all lovingly baked by me.  The centerpiece of the dessert buffet was an octosquid cake baked by A Touch of Sweetness Bakery--it was so cute and so delicious!  I love having homemade cakes, but I found it to be really liberating to have someone else bake the cake because I got to focus on all the other desserts.  For our birthday meal we had Japanese fare with sushi and gyoza from our local Japanese restaurant, rice noodle salad and regular salad with sesame ginger dressing.  As for the decorations we reused the tissue paper backdrop from the Washington to Rome Goodbye Party (only had to replace the pink and gold with blue crepe paper) and reused the tissue heart (again replacing the pink tissue paper).  And finally the favors were little octopus snack containers I picked up from Target and filled with swedish fish and sixlets.

Here are some pictures from the *Octosquid Party* followed by some more details...

As soon as I settled on the octosquid theme I knew I wanted to bring in some Japanese influence (little B is a quarter Japanese after all).  I started with the color palette making it blue and white with a hint of red.  Then we settled on sushi for the meal.  I really wanted to order from our neighborhood Japanese restaurant, but I figured it blow our budget so I looked at other options (Wegman's and Harris Teeter).  Two days before the party I decided to stop by our neighborhood Japanese restaurant and price things out anyway.  I was really surprised that it wasn't much more than the grocery store options.  Plus by going with the Japanese restaurant I was able to order exactly what I wanted and didn't have to go with a pre-selected platter and on top of that it tasted so much better.  I pre-set the table with our serving platters and headed out to pick up the sushi right before it was time to eat to ensure that it was fresh.  I bought a cheap pack of wooden chopsticks which came 6 pairs to the pack but they were all loose.  washi tape to the rescue!  It only took a few minutes to pair them up and keep them together with a small piece of washi tape.

B's bib was made by my sister with fabric I had printed at Spoonflower.  This was my first time having anything made at Spoonflower and in general I was happy with the result.  The colors on the fabric were not as vibrant as I expected, but the printing still looked good and the fabric was a nice material.  

-K

Goodbye Party - Washington to Rome

Last weekend we hosted a Goodbye Party for good friends moving to Rome.  I had a lot of time to plan for the event, but I found little inspiration for goodbye parties...even Pinterest let me down.  After nixing the toga party idea I was left at square one.  I finally found some inspiration in a Minted Save the Date card for a destination wedding which depicted a suitcase and flag bunting.  I created my own custom version of the image and added the bitter sweet line, 'Kiss me and Smile for me,' from John Denver's Leaving on a Jet Plane and was off to the races.  From there I went with a heart theme and a color palette of dark blue, pink & gold.  

My favorite detail was the background for the dessert bar.  I followed Ruffle Blog's instructions to create a backdrop using crepe streamers.  This did take some time to complete so I was happy that I started the project well in advance (I also planned to change out the pinks and reuse the backdrop for B's first birthday party, so the effort was well worth it).  I floated the Kiss Me & Smile for Me poster over the backdrop and had another copy of the poster wrapped for the guests of honor to take with them.  Other details included a tissue paper flower heart with a 'Washington to Rome' banner, which I hung above the favors (directions for the tissue heart found on Martha).  For the favors I wrapped up twinkies and attached a heart-shaped note which read 'Sweet Returns'--the twinkies themselves being a symbol of renewed homecoming were the perfect favor.  For the fare we decided to pair American and Italian foods (pigs-in-the-blanket/meatballs, pulled pork BBQ/chicken parm, mac & cheese/penne with red sauce, cupcakes/cannoli) along with salad and garlic bread.  Large blooms of creamy hydrangea and hot pink crepe myrtle were straight from our backyard and provided some added color and cheer.  In the largest arrangement we tucked another 'Washington to Rome' banner.  For the dessert bar we had mini cupcakes from A Touch of Sweetness Bakery, homemade cookies, heart-shaped brownies and mini cannoli and a few other goodies.

Here are some of the pictures which were taken the day after the event and leading up to the event.  Unfortunately I didn't manage to take any pictures the day of the party because I was so busy running around--can you believe it!?!  The day-after pictures feature mini-angel food cakes made by my sister for a little birthday celebration we post-Goodbye Party.  It was a fun and busy weekend!

Ciao,

-K

Glittered Eggs

Martha [Stewart] is the queen of many things--glitter included.  She has the best glitter selection out there.  I recommend her glitter collection packs, which give you a wide selection of colors that you can mix and match as you desire.  Also, her new florescent glitter collection offers a bunch of fun, bold colors.  This year I thought it would be fun to glitter some eggs to add some bling to old Easter favorites: daffodils and candy.  Glittering eggs is pretty easy.  To start with you can either paint or dye your eggs (I would paint them if they're fake or dye them if they're real).  Then coat with craft glue and sprinkle on a heavy coat of glitter and shake off the excess.  Plan to glitter about half your egg at a time...this way you can get a nice even coat.  Finally enjoy!  You can embellish your eggs further by adding stickers or ribbon.  If you are going to place your glittered eggs with food be sure to sit them in cupcake liners.

For the treat tower below the boys helped me make jelly bean carrot favors (idea from Martha) and then we layered in mini chocolate bunnies and carrots with our glittered eggs.  I used stickers (from Martha) and ribbon to add a little extra to the display.  The cake stands are also from Martha via her Macy's line.

My second use of the glittered eggs was to add some interest to Spring daffodils.  I first layered some sheet moss down at the base of the daffodils.  Then I nestled in the glittered eggs and some colorful glass flowers.  I attached a glass hummingbird to a skewer so he could hover amongst the blooms.  I also tied gold elastic around a few of the eggs to complement the glitter.

Happy glittering!

-K