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

Easter Cookies

When it comes to Easter I always feel the need to bake sugar cookies.  It goes back to my days when I was fresh out of college and my roommate and I would spend the entire weekend making Easter cookies in a tiny NYC apartment.  Because it takes so much time, I usually take a day off work so I can have an entire day to focus on the sweet treats without the demands of the kiddies.  Last year was no exception and I got to try out my 'new' Martha by Mail Hatching Bunny giant cookie cutter (from the 90's, found on eBay).  The resulting to cookies turned out so cute that I packaged up one to take with us to an Easter Wedding event to accompany our card.

Here are some action shots....To add icing details to the little cookies I use a toothpick.  This allows me to put a tiny dot for the nose and a small line of pink for the ear details.

For the gold accents, I spray the gold paint into a container so I can collect some of the liquid paint and then use a paintbrush to apply the paint onto the cookies.

Finally, this is a favorite picture from my day of Easter cookie baking...

-K

Octopus/Squid (aka Octosquid) Valentine's Day Cards

If you noticed I have not posted anything in a long time!  Chalk it up to a crazy two year old and two busy tweenagers.  However, if there is one holiday to pull me out from under the rock it's Valentine's Day.  Yes, I love it all--the hearts, the candy, the flowers, the notes of sweet endearment...I could go on and on, but back to why I am here: new Valentine's Day cards.  I took the cards I made for B$'s first birthday and rejiggered them for Valentine's Day.  These are available in either a boy or girl color way with a personalized name in my etsy shop and are perfect for handing out in little ones' classrooms.

XOXO,

K

Non-Fussy Easter Kiddie Table

Decorating the kiddie table at holiday times is always fun for me.  While I may have one or two elements planned ahead of time, the act of pulling it all together is usually very last minute and experimental. This year I ordered adorable bunny chair backers/treat holders from Pottery Barn Kids well ahead of time, but I had nothing else planned.  With 10 minutes till the guests arrived it somehow came together.  The bright green of the Easter grass and napkins is off-set by the neutral tones of the cups, bunny figurines and pastel Easter eggs.  A hint of pink is also picked up by some of the elements (the bunny noses on the figurines & the bunny chair backers, the ruffle of the cupcake liner under the bunny eggs and the speckled pink Easter egg nestled in the bright green grass) which adds a nice softness to the table. The Bunny Eggs decorated by the older boys and the little bunny cookies on the forks bring some whimsy to the serious neutrel tones.  Nothing is fussy and overly kiddie which is probably why I liked how it turned out so much.

-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

Bottega Louie -- Obsessed!

I love Bottega Louie's *Valentine's Day Window Display*.  I am seriously crushin'.  They make me want to move to LA.  I hope they open up something on the east coast, then I might have a shot at visiting them.  Their macarons look to die for (I might have to send myself a Valentine's Day gift).

-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

Christmas Sugar Cookies

*Christmas Sugar Cookies*--yeah, they're a lot of work but they're worth it!  

This year I squeezed in a day off from work so I could make some.  I made the dough the night before and after dropping off B$ at daycare I headed home to roll out the dough.  I have come to realize it's best to only select a handful of shapes to make (change it up every year so you don't get bored).  This year I went with bear, mitten, reindeer, snowflake, Christmas tree and candy cane shapes.  Start cutting the dough with the biggest shapes and then use the smaller shapes to fill in.  I follow Martha's techniques and tip to cut out the shapes directly on a silpat baking mat so I don't have to worry about transferring the shapes to the cookie sheet (more tips here).  

By lunchtime my cookies were baked and I had eaten a ton of raw cookie dough.  I had fallen into a slump.  I realized there is one thing I hate to do when it comes to the sugar cookie process: make and color the royal icing.  For some reason my sister loves this part.  I called her hoping to entice her to come over during her lunch break to whip up my icing, but it was a pipe dream and did not materialize to anything beyond words of encouragement.  I thought about going out to lunch, but then I set myself straight and got to making the icing (it's really not that bad).  My favorite part is to decorate the cookies--I really love this part.  Having fewer shapes but larger quantities of those shapes allows you to knock them out rquicker and also gives you the chance to experiment with them.  

Once you finish icing the base and applying the sprinkles to your cookies it's time to go back and add the fun details (e.g on the polar bears I added scarves, ears and tails).  When complete the cookies are the perfect holiday treat to share with others.  For easy packaging of your cookies you can follow the link here.

My friend gave me some of her mom's vintage cookie cutters, expect to see more of there bears next year.

Make sure to put your sugar cookies on top of the other cookies in your cookie tin--they will impress and will stay nice.

Happy Baking!

-K