Cup O'Cake Designs

Onesie Dress

2011-12-06T10:16:00.003-05:00

Still more baby shower gifts to share...

This was probably the quickest and easiest of the clothing items I made. Prudent Baby has a very easy to follow tutorial for a onesie dress, and I knew I wanted to make one.

I decided to combine the idea with the necklace onesies that have been all over Pinterest. I really didn't follow any of the tutorials, but there are plenty out there if you want one. I just sort of eyeballed it and went with what looked good.

This was such a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to personalize one of those plain white onesies. Hooray for craftiness!

Embroidered Onesies

2011-12-01T14:53:00.003-05:00

More baby shower goodies!

When I thought about practical, yet fun, gifts for the family and expected baby- clothes came to mind, of course. But, I wanted to be sure to make something that would be unique.

I took fabrics and colors from other projects and worked from there.

The onesie in the back left is an "S" in the owl fabric for the baby's first initial. Back right is a cupcake- in colors pulled from the owl fabric. And the front one, is my favorite.

I screen printed the skull and crossbones onto the fabric patch first. I used my Cricut to cut the shape out (from the Mini Monsters cartridge) of vinyl. Then I put the vinyl on the fabric and painted the fabric paint over that. I wasn't sure it would work- I was a little worried about the paint bleeding under the vinyl, but I shouldn't have. It worked like a charm!

Plus- I used the shape that it cut out as a tattoo for my sewing machine.

I'll definitely be trying the Cricut vinyl for screen printing single items again.

Bapron!

2011-11-30T11:10:00.005-05:00

More baby shower gifts to share today.

I think I found this idea on Pinterest (are you on Pinterest? Man, that site is like a wormhole for me- but I've found some amazing ideas there.).

Since we've recently started feeding Noodle solids, I've noticed that bibs are a fun toy/challenge for her. She wants to eat the bib instead of her food. She has yet to yank a bib off, but they definitely don't keep the food off her clothes when they are in her mouth.

When I saw this, I thought it was genius. It's part apron, part bib- bapron! It has armholes and ties around the neck, so baby can't take it off.

The pattern and original idea are from a great blog called Craftiness is Not Optional. The pattern and tutorial are super easy to follow. Just pick out some fun fabrics that you love, and away you go!

I made this in two different patterns- the owls (from yesterday's post) and a blue and purple flower print I had in my fabric stash. I made the bias tape that is on the owl bapron, and used store bought (from my stash) for the flower bapron. It's funny how different the bapron can look, depending on the fabrics and colors you choose.

I have a few cut out at home for Noodle, but I haven't had time to stitch them up yet. I need to get on that!

*Feel free to find me on Pinterest, I've got a link over there on the right*

Loveys

2011-11-29T10:51:00.004-05:00

Alright, I know I've been gone a while- again. But, I have been crafting while I've been away. It's just getting difficult to find time to craft, photograph, edit the photos, and blog.

The next few entries will show off some baby shower gifts that I made last month. Hooray!

Some good friends are expecting their first baby (a girl) in January. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to make for their new family member. Originally, I'd planned to make a blanket, with some matching loveys. Prior to starting the blanket, I learned from the mom-to-be that she had already received several lovely hand made blankets. So, I decided to rethink my gifts.

I made the loveys anyways, because I guessed that she had not received any yet. I know the mom-to-be will have to go back to work, and the little one will be in daycare a few days a week. Loveys are really helpful to have any time baby is sleeping away from home/in an unfamiliar place. Mom can sleep with them for a night or two before giving them to the baby, so they smell like her (and thus like home and comfort).

Of course, you can't have just one because if it needs to be washed baby might be upset to go without. So, I made two matching loveys- using this tutorial as a starting point.

I used a cotton print on the front and a minky fabric on the back. The minky is irresistibly soft, I wish I had my own grown-up size blanket like this.

I read a lot of things online about minky being ridiculously difficult to sew with, but that wasn't the case for me. Now, that could be due to my gorgeous new sewing machine (I got a Brother 294 stitch Project Runway machine for my birthday), or it could just be that I went slowly and was extra careful because of the warnings I'd read. Who knows.

I chose this cute owl pattern, because I remember the overwhelming influx of pink when Noodle was born. It was like a Peptol Bismol bomb went off in our house. Don't get me wrong, pink is fine- in moderation. But, I am always more than happy to get an item for Noodle that isn't pink.

These 10x10 loveys are super easy to stitch up and make a great gift. I'm planning to make some for Noodle soon.

Later this week, I'll show off some of the other gifts I made.

Taggie Toys

2011-10-26T10:51:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we were invited to a Baptism for a good friend's daughter. I wasn't able to attend due to prior commitments, but my husband took Noodle.

I know what an important and special time this is for families and I wanted to make a gift from the heart that the child could enjoy.

I originally considered making a "quiet book" for the little one to enjoy during her many church services to come. However, I didn't have enough time to make one the way I wanted to- and it wouldn't be something she could use right away.

I decided to make some taggie toys for her instead. No squeakers, no crinkles, no noise at all. Just soft toys with tags of different shapes, textures, colors, and sizes for her to play with at church.

I tossed around a bunch of ideas as to what shapes to make- animals, regular shapes, fruits, etc. Ultimately, I decided to make the letters of her name (since it's both relatively short and appropriate to the occasion).

Each letter has two different fabrics (in blue shades)- so the front and back are coordinating fabrics, but not matching. The tags are just different ribbons I pulled out of my stash- some are ribbed, some are satin, and all different colors.

When I went to wrap up the gift, I decided to make a very quick bag to store the letters in. That way it was a cute way to package the gift and reusable storage for the toys. Win win.

My husband was confused by what the toys were, so he let Noodle (our daughter) demonstrate. Don't worry- we didn't let her chew on them! We left that honor to the young lady we were celebrating.

Scrappy Cap

2011-09-20T10:13:00.005-04:00

It's the fall! Which means, it's vaguely cooler than it was a few weeks ago. Cooler weather always leads to me wanting to knit something. It's a hobby/craft that I really shouldn't drop just because it's not chilly, but I always do.

I started with the thought that I wanted to make the Bean (one of many nicknames for my daughter) a fun, unique hat for the winter. So, I hopped onto Ravelry and started looking for a pattern. The only caveat being that I was pretty sure I wanted ear flaps and I definitely wanted a free pattern (yes, I am cheap).

I found an adorable Snowman Hat but it required Fair Isle Knitting, which I had never done before. Yikes! What do I do? First, I polled the few experienced knitters I knew. Unfortunately they didn't have much experience/advice to offer. So, I polled my friends to see if they knew anyone who might know.

I ended up (at the suggestion of a friend of a friend) trying out a snowflake pattern (again, from Ravelry) to see if I could do Fair Isle. Success! So then, being the crazy person I am, I decided to attempt the Skull pattern (which is, of course the boy pattern- but that's a story for another time/blog) of the original Cheery Scrap Cap, put out by Petite Purls.

The hat calls for seven colors. Seven! Yes, I don't choose anything easy as a first try. I ended up using six, and modifying the pattern a bit- which I knew I would have to do anyways, as I wanted to make a version with yarn I already had. My colors clearly did not match those of the original pattern.

When I finished the hat (which I made in the "infant" size, but it came out a little small as I used a smaller weight of yarn/needles), I decided that I liked it so much I wasn't going to bother with the Snowman hat. Not to mention, I'm currently trying to "up-size" the pattern for my adult head.

A few notes (take them or leave them, as you chose): for me, the infant size was a little small to knit in the round. If I make another one in that size, I would use double pointed needles for the whole thing. I left my tails (when I changed colors) suuuuuuper long. Which worked out fine for me, as I just used the extra to make the pom pom. I'm pretty sure the reason the word "scrap" is in the name of the hat is because it uses such a small amount of each color, that you could use left over yarn in your stash (from other projects). This was a super quick project for me- even with the newly learned Fair Isle technique. I made the hat entirely on my train commute. It took me about a week- so about 8 train rides for a total of maybe 16 hours.

I'm calling this one the Scrappy Cap because of the book the Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles. I love that book so much. In the book, the children wear/use what they call "Scrappy Caps" to boost their imaginations. I have great associations with that, and I can't wait for the Bean to be old enough to read that book.

If you're on Ravelry, you can find me as "risykay99."

Also? I'm trying to figure out how to add a Pinterest button on my blog. That's where I store a lot of my ideas and inspiration lately. I'd love for you to join me!

Felt Truck

2011-09-19T15:53:00.003-04:00

I went to a birthday party for a friend's two year old son a few months ago (yes, yes- I know it took too long for me to get this post up), and even though we weren't supposed to bring gifts you know I couldn't resist something small and homemade.

My friend's son, G, is really into trucks. I don't know much about trucks, but thankfully I happened upon this great tutorial on Make it and Love it. I omitted several of the details because G doesn't have the book that was used for the model, and I really did want something relatively quick to make.

It was so easy, I can't believe I never thought to try something like this before. I've made some two dimensional things out of felt (and other fabrics) before, but now that I have a vague idea on how to make them three dimensional, I'm looking forward to trying it again.

This has been dubbed G's "snuggle truck" and apparently doubles as a comfy pillow. Hooray!

Sparkly Skirt

2011-08-05T14:24:00.002-04:00

This is the last part in my dress-up gift series.

To complete the princess ensemble I made a very fun, very easy sparkly skirt.

Originally I was thinking I would make a separate waistband for the skirt- but my sewing machine was not having it. I love this sparkly material, but the waistband became more trouble than it was worth. I think once I have my serger up and running (and I know how to use it), I might try doing a skirt like this with a separate waistband.

At any rate, this skirt is basically a big old rectangle with a hem on the bottom and a gathered elastic top. So easy and quick. I took the birthday girl's waist measurements and doubled them (with a little room to grow). Then I cut the fabric to that length (width will depend on how long you want the skirt). I used my rolled hem foot on my sewing machine for the bottom hem (detail in the bottom right inset photo). I put comfy no-roll elastic in the top.

I swear this is a very easy project, and it turns out looking so much harder than it is. Impress your friends!

Tonight I'm going to break out my crochet hooks for the first time in a decade (at least)- if I'm successful, I'll have a new project to share next week. If not, I'll share another birthday project from last week.

Cape for a Princess

2011-08-03T09:53:00.005-04:00

This is the second part of the dress up gift I made for a little girl who turned two recently.

The birthday girl's favorite colors are aqua (turquoise) and purple. I fell in love with this purple and silver striped fabric when I was shopping for materials. It's very lightweight, so even on the hottest of summer days (and boy we've had some hot ones here this summer) it's still wearable.

I got the pattern for this over at Prudent Baby (one of my new favorite sites for kid projects). They used faux fur for the collar, but I opted to use a sweatshirt material (because I had it in my fabric stash and I feel like it's easier to clean than faux fur).

I used a simple lilac ribbon for the tie on the cape. In the inset photo you can see how the drape a little better (sorry, all I had to model was my iron).

It was really easy to sew up and it turned out fantastic. I know that when I was two, I would have loved running around the yard with this waving in the breeze.

Princess Hat

2011-08-02T10:50:00.003-04:00

This is a project from a few weeks ago. I would've posted it sooner but my little lady (who is not so little anymore at 15lbs) has been sick.

A few weeks ago we went to a birthday party for my friend's two year old daughter. I wanted to make her something unique and special. Out of the hodge podge of ideas I had, I decided to go with a Princess dress up set.

This Princess hat was pretty easy. All I needed was some felt, tulle, and sturdy interfacing. I've sewn with interfacing before, but in the past I've used light to medium weight interfacing. This stuff? Was crazy sturdy.

I cut out a triangle shape from the aqua felt- in retrospect I should have made the bottom curved, but I didn't think about that until too late. The bottom part was the length of the birthday girl's head circumference (so, if the head you are sewing for is 18 inches around, you want an 18 inch bottom), plus an inch for her to grow into it. I cut the same shape out of the interfacing and ironed it onto the felt.

Once that was done, I cut the "R" out of purple felt and appliqued it onto the aqua felt. I used an iron on fusible web fabric to attach the "R" to the aqua felt before I sewed it. I wanted to make sure it didn't slide out of place. I just used a simple zig zag stitch to attach it.

Before sewing up the side seam of the hat, I took my tulle (4 strips- 2 each of aqua and purple) and attached them to the top of the hat- with the short ends facing in towards where the seam would be.

Then, I sewed the two sides of the triangle together and once I was finished, I turned it inside out. Viola! Quick and easy project.

Later this week I'll show you the other pieces of the dress up set.

Personalized Onesies

2011-07-25T13:16:00.002-04:00

More blogging goodness- Hooray.

My husband's coworker recently had a beautiful, healthy little girl. We wanted to give them a small gift (separate from the office gift) because we also do things with them socially.

Like myself, my husband's coworker is hoping that she can offer her daughter a wardrobe that isn't all pinks. If you've been in any store that sells baby clothing recently you'll know what a challenge that can be sometimes (personally, I've taken to shopping the boy section on occasion- what? My daughter can rock a guitar onesie like no one's business.)

Mom & Dad both enjoy comics which is something that we have in common. I decided to make some fun onesies for their new baby that would celebrate their love of comics and superheroes.

I took some scanned comic panels and arranged them in photoshop, and then printed reverse images onto iron-on material. From left to right we've got Women of DC, X-Men, and Tiny Titans. The inset photo (Girls Kick Butt!) is on the rear of the Tiny Titans onesie. They all turned out fantastic.

I think the next time I consider making a personalized gift like this, I'll look into printable fabric. It's a more permanent medium and I think the extra dimension would make the onsies even more interesting.

Wet Bags

2011-07-21T11:37:00.003-04:00

Yeap, I'm totally posting two days in a row.

Yesterday I mentioned sending some gifts to my friends who recently had twins and I shared with you the humorous gift I made.

Today, I'm sharing one of the more practical gifts. Homemade wet bags!

Before I had my little zucchini muffin (she gets all kinds of bizarre vegetable nicknames because it's more fun than calling her "the baby," though we do that too), I never really considered the fact that I might need to bring an extra outfit for her in case she needed to change while we were out and about. Now? Sometimes I bring two extra outfits- because you never know.

The first time I had to change her clothes, I had no idea what to do with the dirty clothes. I didn't want to put them directly into my diaper bag because they might get everything else in there dirty. So, I scrounged up an old grocery bag to use. Which made me think, "Hmm...wouldn't it be nice to have a reusable and washable bag to put this stuff in?"

The answer, is yes, it is nice. I made these bags without a pattern, just kind of winged it. I based the shape on the brown paper lunch bags I used to carry to school- but a little larger. The bags are lined with washable rip-stop nylon and have velcro closures. You can see the lining in the inset photo above.

These are my new favorite baby gift. They're super quick and easy to make and the materials aren't at all expensive. They use about a half yard of fabric each (with some to spare- just in case of mistakes) and a little bit of velcro.

Baby Cross Stitching

2011-07-20T13:04:00.003-04:00

Some friends of ours recently had twins. I wanted to send them a few gifts. Knowing how much the gifts we received have helped, I thought for a long time about what to send.

In addition to some more practical items, I stitched up this sampler for the new parents. They have a great sense of humor and I knew they would appreciate this.

The pattern is from Subversive Cross Stitch. I modified the pattern to include two pacifiers and changed the colors up a bit (I wanted something a little more neutral and brighter). I'm happy to say that the parents understood the spirit in which the gift was given.

Tomorrow, I'll share some of the more serious gifts.

Wonder Woman Inspired Baby Attire

2011-07-18T14:01:00.003-04:00

So, I had a baby almost four months ago. My last post was written five days before my little lady decided to make her dramatic entrance into the world.

Since then, I've been busy, but I have found some time for crafts and baking. To make up for being so absent since last summer (holy crap, for a full year- that's really bad, I'm sorry!), I'm going to post every day this week. Woo!

First up is the newest outfit I made for my tiny one.

I love Wonder Woman. I've loved her since I was small- I had a photo of Lynda Carter as WW in my room and I even made my own WW costume for Halloween in high school. So, when my daughter was born (we didn't find out our baby's gender in advance) I knew she needed at least one WW outfit.

A few years ago DC Comics put out a Justice League series called The New Frontier. The artwork in the series is absolutely gorgeous. So, that's the image I chose for the onesie. I used a simple iron-on, printed the image in reverse (so the text would display properly), and resized it to fit on the onesie. I looked for fabric that would match WW, but I couldn't find any blue fabric with plain white stars. Ultimately, I'm pretty happy with the fabric I did find.

Next time, I think I'll invest in some printable fabric instead of iron-on material. The onesie looks just fine, but the image is already starting to break up because of how stretchy onesies have to be by nature. I was originally planning to sew the skirt directly onto the onesie. However, I decided to make it a separate piece so that we could pair it with other outfits.

Tomorrow? I'll be sharing some cross stitching.

Space Ghost Baby Sleeper

2011-03-21T11:55:00.004-04:00

As a long time reader of This Mama Makes Stuff, I knew that I wanted to try my hand at her T-shirt to Newborn Gown tutorial.

This used to be my husband's Space Ghost t-shirt. He wore it so often that it was starting to get holes in it, and yet he refused to part with it.

When I suggested that maybe I could bring some new life to the shirt by making it into something for the baby, he was more than happy to donate the shirt.

The tutorial is fairly straight forward, but it does require some techniques that might be a little scary to new sewers.

Once you actually start putting the gown together, it's actually a pretty easy pattern- but if you're twitchy about inserting elastic or zig zag stitching a collar that's probably going to get wavy (meaning, it won't lie flat as you sew), this might not be a tutorial for you.

Now that I've used the pattern once, I'm hoping to put one or two sleepers together before the baby arrives- we definitely have some more shirts we love that won't work for us, but have plenty of material for a baby sleeper.

In case you're wondering: this was a men's sized L shirt previously, and I had way more than enough fabric to work with for the pattern.

(Apologies for the not so great picture quality, all I had on hand was my iPhone- the camera's in the hospital bag already.)

Super Mario Brothers Nursery

2011-03-21T11:04:00.019-04:00

I know, I know it's been ages since I've posted anything. I've been doing things it's just that none of those things have been very original in the crafts or baking department. I apologize.

But, I'm back! With two projects that I had so much fun doing, I had to share.

Months ago, when my husband and I started talking about what we wanted to do with the nursery my goal was to choose something that wasn't sold as a set in Babies 'R Us. There's nothing wrong with that, but there also aren't a lot of gender neutral options (and we don't know our baby's gender).

I offered up two choices to my husband "Under the Sea" or "Super Mario Brothers." Being the gamer and technology lover that he is, he chose Super Mario Brothers and then asked my why I'd even bothered to come

up with a second idea.

Originally, I thought we were going to have to hand paint most of the decor in the room. We had a lot of time before the baby's arrival so I figured it would be no problem. When I told my sister about our idea, she found something even easier. Re-positionable wall stickers from Blik (found over at Think Geek). We ultimately decided to go with the New Super Mario Brothers stickers (because I wanted to include some of the newer characters that weren't around in the Classic game).

A lot of people have looked at me like I'm crazy when I tell them how we've decorated the nursery. I've also often been told that this is a "boy" room and now we're sure to have a girl. I politely mention that I happen to be a girl and I love playing Super Mario Brothers. Besides, take a look at a few other pictures and tell me this room isn't awesome.

The flying Goomba and Koopa protecting coins were a perfect fit for our Cape Cod ceiling.

Mario grabbing a coin before getting the extra life.

A "?" block and some bricks over the crib (my husband says these are here to protect the baby from anything Lakitu might drop). That awesome blanket came from Target.

Now, you might be wondering where the DIY portion of this room is. Don't loose your overalls- because there are definitely a few things in this room that were custom made.

What do you do, you might be wondering, when you create a very unique nursery theme and you can't find matching curtains? Well, you could just go with a plain coordinating color for your curtains. Or...you could make your own!

I searched for a very long time for Super Mario fabric. I failed, hopelessly. So, originally I was thinking I would make blue curtains and maybe putting appliquéd invincibility stars or piranha plants onto them.

But then, a good friend of mine mentioned that she'd seen Super Mario sheets for sale at Target. Sure, they're actually Mario Kart sheets, but good enough for me!

Curtains are probably one of the easiest sewing projects, in my opinion. You are basically just taking the fabric and finishing it in rectangles, with a loop at the top for the curtain rod.

In this instance, I used three different fabrics to make the curtains- a yellow for the curtain rod loop, the flat sheet for the smaller characters, and the pillow case (cut in half) for the larger characters. I also backed the curtains with blackout material- since the sheets were more sheer than your typical curtain fabric. (If you look in the lower right corner of the photo, you can see the lamp from Ikea that was my inspiration for the room- it reminded me of the tree tops in Super Mario Brothers).

Unfortunately, neither the wall stickers nor the sheets had any female characters included. Well, that simply will not do. So, I used a tutorial from How About Orange to create some additional artwork.

I knew I wanted to include Princess Peach, Birdo, and Yoshi. My husband requested Toadette and Bowser.

I love the way these came out- we have more bad guys, some rocking female characters, and original artwork. Hooray!

I'm still hoping to get a laundry bag made from the fitted sheet (from the Mario Kart sheet set) before the baby arrives. If/when that happens, I will post about that as well.

Chocolate Covered Blueberry Cake

2011-01-18T11:30:00.004-05:00

This weekend we went to a friend's place for a small dinner party of sorts. I volunteered to make dessert because, that's what I do.

And then, on Thursday night I panicked because I had no idea what to bake. I didn't want to make cookies (I made enough of those in December) and *gasp* I didn't feel like making cupcakes. What in the heck was I going to do?

My husband suggested I make a cake. Being the chocolate lover that I am, I responded with "a chocolate one, obviously." Then I proceeded to mull over filling options out loud.

"What about blueberry," asked my husband. Hmm, chocolate and blueberries? I wasn't sure about that combination. But, then I remembered that when we visited Ghirardelli in CA we ate some delicious chocolate covered blueberries.

So, on Saturday I put together a chocolate layer cake using my go-to chocolate recipe (Martha's 1-bowl chocolate cake). Because I'm not a huge fan of fruit jam layers in my cake (personal preference), I decided to make a fresh blueberry whipped cream for the filling.

I don't really use a recipe anymore when I make whipped cream, I kind of wing it. For this particular whipped cream, I put two containers of fresh blueberries (approx 2 cups-ish) into my food processor and pureed them. Then I put the puree into my kitchenaid with a pint of heavy cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and about a teaspoon of vanilla and using the whisk attachment beat the mixture on high until peaks formed.

To top it all off, I used a dark chocolate frosting recipe, which I think is too rich/sweet to not be a ganache (though, technically, it isn't as it does not use cream at all). This is another recipe from Martha. I halved the recipe though, because it makes 5 cups which is just about always way too much.

I would recommend refrigerating cake until serving, and storing any left overs in the fridge as well.

Enjoy!

Homemade Funfetti

2010-12-09T14:16:00.003-05:00

I'll spare you my usual diatribe about Funfetti. Suffice to say, while I can understand its appeal I don't feel it is a unique flavor.

A few weeks ago, I wanted to whip up some cupcakes for my husband's friends who were getting together to brew some beer. It probably didn't hurt that I was going to be hanging out with the wives, and wanted something to snack on.

Vanilla cupcakes are something that should be in your back pocket- a recipe you can customize by adding other flavors or ingredients (ie chocolate chips). I don't like making vanilla cupcakes. I feel like they never come out the way I want- they're always too dense for me.

At any rate, I used my current favorite vanilla cupcake recipe (Billy's Vanilla) and to jazz it up I mixed in rainbow sprinkles (jimmies- whatever you want to call them). I think I probably used about 1/2 cup of sprinkles (the recipe makes around 2 doz. cupcakes).

I topped the cupcakes with my favorite Vanilla frosting recipe (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). If you haven't used this recipe yet, I could not recommend it more highly. I always make more than I need, so I can eat some directly from the mixing bowl later. In fact, I have some in my fridge right now (from a batch made last night), mmm. Where was I? Right, ok so then I topped the frosting with some rainbow nonpareils because I'd almost exhausted my sprinkle supply on the batter.

Viola! Homemade funfetti.

One housekeeping note: I know I've been very lax in my posting. To be honest, I haven't been doing that much baking or crafting recently. Work is typically very busy for me over the summer, then I went on a nice long vacation, and when I came home I learned I was pregnant. While I can't wait to meet this new little person, I haven't had the energy or the time to devote to baking and crafting that I did previously.

I am working on a number of crafted items for the Holidays, which I will photograph and blog after the recipients have opened their gifts. And, I hope to tackle some new cookies this weekend or next.

In short: even though I'm not posting as much, I'm still here and eating desserts!

Not Your Momma's Rice Krispie Treats

2010-10-19T12:53:00.003-04:00

Rice Krispie treats are almost never found in our house. It certainly isn't because we don't like them, we do. It's because my husband is a vegetarian and chooses not to eat marshmallows.

I've been watching Top Chef: Just Desserts (only for the cooking, the contestants make me want to throw something at the tv) and my husband happened to catch a piece of one of the episodes. In that episode, one of the contestants made a more grown up version of Rice Krispie Treats that featured peanut butter and Nutella.

Ever since that episode, my husband has been asking me to make some Nutella Rice Krispie treats.

I can hear you wondering, what did I use in place of marshmallows? I've tried using vegan marshmallows before, but I didn't like how that came out (they don't melt the same way regular marshmallows do and I don't think I had enough of them). So, this time around I used marshmallow fluff. Yeah, fluff that weird sticky substance that I used to love on peanut butter sandwiches as a kid.

So, with the Rice Krispie treats made and cooled, I added a layer of Nutella (using a full 13oz jar) and then a layer of melted chocolate (10oz) on top of that.

The result? It's impossible to eat just one square at a time.

Girls with Glasses

2010-09-21T09:39:00.010-04:00

I cruise around a lot of other blogs on the good ole interwebs. Mainly I like to look at cooking or sewing or crafty blogs. I find inspiration there and motivation sometimes. Plus, it's just really fun to see what other people are making.

This morning, I was catching up on This Mama Makes Stuff and a post from September 19 caught my eye. Carrie sometimes posts about her family and what they are doing and this week she's shared with all her readers (and her readership is much more vast than mine) that her daughter needs glasses. Her daughter is going into Kindergarten and she's feeling nervous about having to wear these new glasses to school.

I got my glasses in the third grade, and when I tell people that it's as if they couldn't imagine having to endure that torture so young. I don't remember it being particularly awful for me. I do, however, remember popping out the cheap sunglass frames from a pair of awful blue plastic frames I had, so that I could "practice" wearing glasses. I wanted to make sure I knew what to do with them. I'd have to ask my mom, but I remember wearing th
ose suckers for like a week in preparation for the real thing.

So, Carrie's post hit home with me. She asked her readers to share photos of themselves as "Girls with Glasses" to help her daughter see that there are tons of amazing women out there (and girls!) who rock the frames.

Without further ado, I offer up two photos of myself:

This one is a silly one. My sister is currently in Optometry school studying to become, what else, an Optometrist. When I visited her last November, she let me play around with her traveling kit that helps diagnose prescriptions.

This is my more serious photo. I love my glasses so much. I didn't mind them in third grade, but around middle school I started to hate them. My parents let me get contacts in High School and I wore those throughout High School and College. After I graduated from College I just couldn't stand wearing my contacts every day while looking at computer screens at work. I begrudgingly went back to glasses.

Now? I love my glasses. I own two pairs of contacts for "beach days" but I much prefer to wear my glasses. I finally found a pair of frames that I love, and I'm proud to be a Girl with Glasses.

Princess, I hope you rock out those frames at Kindergarten! Glasses are awesome. I promise.

If any of my readers out there are fellow bloggers or tweet and are also Girls with Glasses- please visit This Mama Makes Stuff and share a photo of yourself.
*I haven't posted in a long time, and for that I am sorry. I've done a few things here and
there, but life has been hectic. I promise to start posting more, and to explain my extended absence in another week or so (sorry, out of town this weekend for a wedding and another wedding the following weekend!).

My Dog is Awesome

2010-05-08T14:05:00.005-04:00

Straying a bit from my typical Craft/Baking norm to post this video. Enjoy!

Icebox Cake

2010-05-04T11:05:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago my husband and I were watching TV on Sunday morning, aimlessly. I settled on Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and the theme for that episode was something like frozen/cold treats.

I don't remember much more from the episode, except that someone mentioned an icebox lemon pie. At that moment both of us started drooling just thinking about it.

My husband said "make that" so I hopped online to try and find a recipe. I didn't like what I was pulling up, but I remembered seeing a post a while back on Smitten Kitchen for an Icebox Cake.

This was super easy, but definitely worth it. It's twelve layers (the recipe over at SK calls for 11, but I wanted to use up all the cookies) of chocolate wafer cookies and sweet whipped cream goodness. One thing to keep in mind- the cake has to refridgerate overnight. That's what allows the whipped cream to soak into the cookies.

It tastes like a gigantic Oreo cookie. It's so stinking good, we probably could have eaten the whole thing in two sittings. However, we paced ourselves- because this is not a diet friendly recipe.

Anyways, if you're looking for a cool treat this summer- make an Icebox Cake. I promise you won't regret it.

Rocketship Pillow

2010-04-28T14:22:00.005-04:00

*Housekeeping note: I have a slight backlog on projects I want to post. I'm going to try to catch up, but my camera is not working so I may be MIA until I can take care of that issue- or I might post and add photos at a later date*

Last month when our family visited we celebrated my nephew's fourth birthday. You remember the giant cupcake cake, right? Right.

Since our nephew was visiting on his birthday and he was on a roadtrip with untold number of hours spent in the car, I wanted to make him something fun that would come in handy on the trip.

I looked through my One Yard Wonder book and found a super cute Rocketship Pillow that I thought would be perfect. Comfy and useful for napping in the car, cute and fun for at home, and it even has a little pocket where he can stash his stuff.

If I could go back in time and remake this, I think I would put piping on the "fins" of the rocketship (there are three, the third is in back). I used piping on the pocket instead of bias tape, because I liked the look more. I modified the pattern by sewing on "windows" that had "aliens" peeking out of them.

This is not a pattern for a beginner. But if you can piece your way through it, you do end up with a very cute and useable pillow.

Reece's Cup Cake

2010-04-26T14:24:00.005-04:00

No, not cupcakes- a Reece's Cup cake.

Sunday was my husband's birthday and I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. He said "surprise me." That is...kind of dangerous because it allows me to do whatever I want, meaning not necessarily what he would want.

However, it being his birthday I went with one of his favorite things: peanut butter. And who doesn't immediately think of chocolate when peanut butter desserts are on the table?

I started with a yellow cake recipe from my Sur La Table baking book (another recipe towards my resolution!). I read their whole primer on cakes, even though I've been baking cakes (and cupcakes) for quite some time now. I didn't learn a whole lot of new information, except that pre-beating your eggs (just enough to mix the whites and yolks) can help keep your cake light and fluffy. The other stuff was mostly information about bringing cold ingredients up to room temperature before adding and the importance of sifting.

The yellow cake recipe yeilded much less cake than I had anticipated, so I used one 9 inch round pan, instead of two. Since I only had one 9 inch round of cake, I decided to section it into three pieces, instead of two.

I found a quick and easy peanut butter frosting recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. I was a little surprised to see that it called for cream cheese, but it was delicious. The peanut butter frosting was put between the layers of cake and I should have been a little more generous with the frosting.

To top the cake I used a chocolate ganache recipe (from Sur La Table, again). I was beyond pleased that my crumb coating worked like a charm. (Crumb coating, in case you don't know, means that you coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting/ganache and then let it set. Once the layer is set, you add a more generous layer of frosting/ganache so that the crumbs do not show.)

As a final touch, I added some mini Reece's cups and peanut butter frosting accents. This cake should be kept chilled until about fifteen or twenty minutes before serving.

Mmm, don't you want a piece?

Giant Cupcake Cake

2010-04-08T13:44:00.003-04:00

I know I've been MIA for a bit- things were a little hectic. We had a visit from some family and then our basement flooded. No worries, everything/everyone is just fine and dry now.

Our family's visit coincided with our nephew's 4th birthday. Although we celebrated his birthday in NYC a few days before his stop by our place, I was itching to try out my Cupcake Cake pan and this occasion was too good to pass up.

My nephew requested chocolate cake, so I used my favorite recipe and layered vanilla buttercream in between the "frosting" and the "cake" sections.

My crumb coating is terrible on cakes. Terrible. I wanted this cake to look like a cupcake I would bake and not like one I'd dropped on the floor. I decided to try using rolled buttercream (because I'm pretty sure my nephew would not have enjoyed eating fondant on his birthday).

My experience with rolled buttercream was interesting. I am a perfectionist (I may have mentioned that before) and I got quite frustrated. The rolled buttercream was probably a little too warm (too much kneading by hand) and a little too sticky (I kept adding powdered sugar by the handful, but it never seemed to un-stick).

However, having said that- I think it looked great on the finished product. Plus, it tasted really good too. It's quite sweet, but I think that's right in line with it being a buttercream product.

I used the leftover cake batter to make coordinating cupcakes.

Kitchen Appliance Survey

2010-03-30T12:29:00.003-04:00

Y'all know I love my Kitchenaid mixer with a love that knows no bounds. But we have a conundrum in our house.

Recently we've been doing a lot of our cooking from scratch- fresh homemade breads, pastas, and sauces. We've been using our Kitchenaid daily and our little food processor has come in very handy. (I think this is the food processor we have currently.)

So, the question is this: Is it better to get some attachments for our mixer (pasta, slicer, shredder) or to upgrade and get a larger food processor?

Mainly I think we would use either for shredding/chopping. We have a mandolin, which we use regularly, but we're looking for something to make the whole process quicker/easier.

I'm drawn towards the attachments because of my love for the Kitchenaid, but also because you can use those attachments for cheese. (Mmmm, cheese.) But in the long run, I'm not sure if that's the smartest way to go.

Do you have any Kitchenaid attachments? A big food processor? Do you prefer one over the other? Have any other tips or advice?

Lay it on me.

Soft Pretzels

2010-03-22T14:14:00.003-04:00

Who doesn't love soft pretzels? They are always so tempting, but how do you know if they're fresh?

Easy, make them yourself.

I'd had this recipe on my "to-try" list since about December of 2008. It just kept getting shuffled to the bottom of the list because I tend to gravitate towards sweets (obviously).

Last month, my husband came home from a friend's birthday party raving over the soft pretzels. Wouldn't you know it, they were from the very same recipe I'd been wanting to try.

This month, we've been trying to make everything we eat at home from scratch. Homemade breads, sauces, pastas, etc. It seemed like the perfect time to finally retrieve this recipe from the bottom of the list, dust it off, and eat pretzels.

It certainly didn't disappoint. After a minor mishap with the yeast (I might've used 4 tbsp instead of tsp- whoops! Not to worry though, we used that activated yeast to make bread) everything went pretty much according to plan.

I was thrilled to roll out the pretzel dough and was pleasantly surprised to find that my "pretzel crossing" skills weren't gone, just dormant. (I worked at a bagel shop for about a year while in High School. Learning to make the pretzel bagels have that perfect cross seemed a useless skill at the time.)

The recipe yielded 8 big ole soft pretzels. If I make it again (ok, when I make it again) I think I'll go for smaller pretzels. The recipe also includes some delicious queso dipping sauce. Because if there's one thing that makes soft pretzels more yummy, it's hot spicy cheese. Mmmm.

Bobby Flay's Soft Pretzels

Note: I used regular old light brown sugar from the grocery store, instead of Muscovado, and my pretzels came out just fine.

My Resolution: Chocolate Croissants

2010-03-19T14:25:00.004-04:00

Over a year ago my husband got me a very generous gift certificate to Sur La Table for my birthday. I quickly signed up for one of their new baking classes (Tarts!).

I was a little disappointed in the class. It moved a bit too slowly for me, and I wanted to experience making more than just two kinds of tarts. I chose to use the remainder of my gift certificate (along with the coupon I received for taking the course) to purchase some items at the store. One of the things I purchased was their new book, The Art & Soul of Baking. All of the tarts we made were from the book, as well as all the recipes used in their other baking courses. I reasoned that since the class felt too slow to me, if I owned the book, I could teach myself.

The book is wonderful. It has primers before each chapter with tips and things to avoid to be successful with each type of baked item (each chapter is a type of baked good ie pastries, cookies, breads, etc). There are all sorts of great techniques and photographs.

There are probably at least 50 things I wanted to make just from reading the recipe's title- and there are over 250 recipes in the book. But the book just sat on my shelf, collecting dust.

No more!

After conquering my fear of cheesecakes, I resolved to try one new recipe from the book every month. This past weekend, I decided to tackle one of the recipes: Croissants.

After two days of making my dough block, laminating my butter, and I don't even know how many envelope and book folds I still don't know why I started with such a complicated recipe. Probably because I love Chocolate Croissants.

People, this is not an easy baked good. I started on Saturday morning, by making both my dough and my butter (and I'm not using the proper terms because the book is at home, and I don't remember them) blocks. That was probably the easiest part. Both have to sit in the fridge for a bit, to cool down and the dough needs to proof (expand/rise).

After that, I spent the majority of my Saturday rolling and folding and rolling and folding the dough. I should have used a ruler to ensure I was rolling and folding to the appropriate dimensions, but I'm not that kind of baker. Putting the laminated butter (which means- I mixed up my butter with a little flour, that helps create the flaky layers in the finished pastry) into the dough was fairly easy- roll out butter into a flat rectangle, lay on top of dough, fold dough over.

Every turn (fold) of the dough got tougher. After the last turn, I told my husband there was no way we were eating croissants until Sunday. I was too exhausted.

Sunday morning, I got up, and got my dough out of the fridge. I rolled and I rolled and I rolled, but I never got the dough down to that magical 1/4 inch that the book called for. I gave up and just cut the croissants thicker than what the recipe said. I wrapped them up, complete with my grated chocolate inside, and popped them into the oven.

People- if you EVER get a hankering to make croissants? One tip- do NOT use sideless baking pans. That was a big ole mistake on my part. Technically, from what I understand, the butter is not supposed to melt out of your croissants onto your baking sheet. However, I obviously did something (or more than one thing) wrong, because it totally did. And my sideless baking sheet resulted in a ton of melted butter dripping all over the oven, the pan, the floor, myself, my dog, and who knows what else. The second pan was fine because it had sides- but the damage was already done. All that melty butter from the first pan? Caused my kitchen to smell like burnt butter and smoke like we had a fog machine running.

The croissants turned out ok- the bottoms were clearly soggier than intended. I can safely say that I was probably baking beyond my abilities and I won't be craving croissants for quite some time.

If I do get a craving for them? Well, I'm sure there's a good bakery nearby.

Here's my helper dog, Wallace, who always seems to forget that flour doesn't taste nearly as yummy as it looks:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

2010-03-15T16:14:00.004-04:00

Oh my god you guys.

Look, I know it must seem to you (all four of you who read this blog) that I am forever gushing over some new amazing recipe for cupcakes (or other sweet treats). I think that's only because by the time I post the dessert here, it's already been taste tested by reliable sources (aka not just my husband who has to like whatever I make- though he doesn't always like everything). It's rare that I will post about something that didn't last long enough for anyone outside of my household to try.

This though? This. Is unbelievable.

I am a huge chocolate chip cookie junkie. In years past I often lamented my ability to make a prefect looking chocolate chip cookie. More recently, I embrace that my cookies come out either too puffy or too flat. Because the important thing is the taste. And I love the taste of a good chocolate chip cookie. If I had my druthers (and weight gain were not an issue), I would probably bake a batch of them a week.

But, I digress. The point of this post is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcake. Not my obsession with chocolate chip cookies. Ahem.

A few fridays ago, my husband really wanted cake. I did not want to bake another cake (so soon after the mini cakes and the cake truffles). He rarely requests specifics of my baking, so I set about finding a simple cupcake recipe- one which called for ingredients already in my pantry. I spotted this (in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book), and called it out to my husband. Once he gave me the green light, away I went.

The recipe is pretty straight forward and quick. It doesn't actually call for frosting, but I love frosting more than is healthy. So, I whipped up a quick almond swiss meringue buttercream (and if you've never used half vanilla half almond extract in a frosting, you haven't lived!) to top them. Perfect combination.

The recipe made about 22. Only 4 of those ever left our house.

I used some super cute cupcake papers that I've had on hand since my birthday back in Sept. I got these at Bake It Pretty (thanks K for the gift certificate!). Look, even the bottom of the paper is cute.

By request, the recipe on Martha's site. I used chocolate chips instead of chunks- it's what I had on hand.

Getting Over My Fear of Cheesecakes: Bakeover II

2010-03-11T15:57:00.007-05:00

I hear you out there. You're surprised that I'm scared of making a cheesecake. That's ok, you can be surprised. Or you can laugh at me. I'm cool with that. But, I am.

Or I was.

Maybe it was the waterbath, or the fact that cheesecake can crack and I hate imperfections. I don't know what it was. I love eating cheesecake, so it wasn't the taste that's kept me from baking one for so long.

When I told Danger Kitten about my fear of cheesecakes and admitted my desire to bake the Raspberry Cheesecake cupcakes (from Martha's Cupcake book), she told me she'd help me out. See, she also wanted to bake those cupcakes. Unlike myself, however, she had baked a cheesecake before.

Two weeks ago Danger Kitten, her husband, our friend L, and her husband all came over. The boys (my husband included) were bottling up three kinds of beer (that they brewed a while back- you can read more about that at Brewfus Alewise's blog, he's Danger Kitten's husband) so we ladies decided to have another Bakeover.

Danger Kitten and L walked me through the crust process. Once the crusts were ready, we doled out the cheesecake and raspberry concoction. It was a nice little assembly line. Look at those beauties up there. Mmmm.

Too bad, as a cheesecake novice, I didn't realize they had to chill in the fridge for FOUR HOURS after baking to set. Whoops. The boys? They were a little disappointed. Thankfully, I had Cake Truffles to soothe their needs for sweets and Danger Kitten had brought Vanilla cupcakes.

These little raspberry cheesecake cupcakes came out just delightful. Totally worth the process. And they helped ease me into cheesecakes. They were somehow less scary because of their size.

I didn't manage to snap any good pictures of them after they were baked and set, sorry about that. But I think you can see from the "pre-baking" photos how delicious they were.

And because this was still during the Olympics, I decorated one in theme.

Cake Truffles

2010-03-05T15:04:00.003-05:00

Mmmm, cake.

But what do you do with all those left over cake bits after you level your cake and put it all together?

Cake truffles, my friends. Cake truffles.

If you haven't already visited Bakerella's website, go there now. I'll wait. Bakerella does amazing things with her leftover cake crumbs and pieces.

A few weeks ago I went to a dinner party with some friends. I offered to bring dessert because, well, it's what I do. I made minature chocolate cakes (with yummy orange swiss meringue frosting in the middle). I ended up with a LOT of cake bits left over. And I didn't want to waste them.

Viola, cake truffles. I've made these before (as Cupcake pops) and they are always a huge hit. You take your cake bits, mix them with frosting, and dunk in chocolate. That's it. It's easy, but time consuming- be forewarned. And it makes a lot.

The ones you see above are chocolate cake (my favorite Martha one-bowl recipe) with vanilla buttercream (also homemade) in both white chocolate and chocolate coatings. We like to keep them in the freezer in our house.

I bet once you eat one, you'll need to eat at least two more.

The Best Accidental Cookies, Ever

2010-02-08T16:19:00.003-05:00

This cookie has been transported across state lines to prove its deliciousness. It is requested by out of state visitors. It doesn't last more than three days before it disappears. And to think this cookie almost never existed.

Last year, right around the holidays I tried out a gingerbread cupcake recipe. I didn't blog about it because the holidays were crazy for me and I wasn't super enthusiastic about the end result.

After making the cupcakes, I ended up with a whole lot of left over ginger cream cheese frosting. I hate to throw out left overs. In fact, right at this very moment I am pretty sure I have two piping bags full of frosting in my fridge, because I am pretending I will use them.

What's a girl to do with that much extra ginger cream cheese frosting? The holidays were looming overhead and I thought "gingerbread cookies!" I made the cookies and slapped the frosting in the middle, as a Holiday cookie sandwich. Then, I fed them to my visiting friends. That's how I knew I'd hit the jackpot.

Truth be told, no matter how much I love a recipe it just doesn't seem like a real hit until someone else craves the dessert as much as I do.

This past weekend some of my closest girlfriends came into town. I knew I was going to be baking cupcakes, but I had been craving these cookies since the holidays. They were on the "to-bake" list for the holidays, but time ran short and I got tired.

And this time, I managed to take a picture before the cookies were all eaten up. So, there you go.

Best Accidental Cookie. Ever.

Finally!

2010-02-03T11:57:00.004-05:00

Michelles Diaper Cake
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

Back on January 3, I promised to reveal a secret project in a week. Here we are, a month later, and I am finally revealing the project.

Due to my camera issues, I wasn't able to get photos of the first diaper cake I put together (on January 3) which is what caused the delay on this post.

I have made a diaper cake before, but this time when I was looking for toys I had a hard time finding things that fit with the theme I was using. For the first cake (in January), I was going with a Rock & Roll theme- the parents met while in a band together and are expecting a boy. I found some interesting toys on Etsy, but I didn't have enough time to order them and await their arrival.

For Christmas, my husband got me the book One Yard Wonders. It's got 101 patterns for projects (ranging from home decor to accessories to clothing) that use only one yard of fabric. I flipped through the book and saw patterns for baby booties and bibs. I was sold immediately. If you can't find what you want at the store, why not make it?

Using the patterns as a springboard, I then decided to make two rattles from scratch to go with the cake. For the original cake I made two electric guitar shaped rattles.

The cake pictured above was for a baby shower last night. She and her husband do not know the sex of the baby (what a fun surprise!) and have painted the nursery in sage green and cream. She is my husband's coworker so I was able to find out the nursery colors as well as the fact that she had many elephant toys and stuffed animals as a child.

The booties and bib were made using One Yard Wonders. I cross stitched "Wild about Mommy" onto the bib, and handmade the elephant and corn cob shaped rattle toys. The elephant actually is not a rattle, but has a squeaker inside. (The corn cob is an inside joke between my husband and his coworker).

You can see more photos of this diaper cake on my flickr account.

Many thanks to M. Mulligan for the photo of the January diaper cake.

Curse Your Sudden but Inevitable Betrayal

2010-02-01T17:24:00.001-05:00

firefly
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

Finally, one of the long promised Holiday gifts!

Before I get into the details of the gift, let me start by saying that I lost my battery charger for my camera. I have two camera batteries, but losing the charger means that when they ran out, I couldn't take pictures. I borrowed a friend's charger and now have two full batteries, but I'm not sure how long that will last. I promise to show you the secret things I was working on a few weeks ago later this week.

Back to the subject at hand.

A good friend of mine got me into the show Firefly. If you've never seen it and you enjoy sci fi and comedy, you should check it out. Space cowboys. That's all I'll say.

She loves the show, and I thought this was a perfect way to give her a handmade piece to display in her home. The quote is directly from Firefly. Wash (one of the characters) is playing with toy dinosaurs.

The Stegosaurus is speaking to the T-Rex.

I used black Aida cloth to make the grey and turquoise floss pop.

I put the pattern together and am pretty pleased with the way it turned out.

Hmm...

2010-01-03T14:50:00.001-05:00

It's a blustry winter day today in Connecticut. I can't think of any better way to spend today than snuggled in in my sweats and down slippers- creating homemade gifts.

What do you get when you take 1.5 yards of fabric, diapers, rice, ribbon, and paper?

Tune in next week to find out!

Fresh Baked Biscuits

2009-12-28T12:55:00.002-05:00

My mother used to make breakfast on Christmas morning. Most of my memories include a strata or quiche. Something that could be put together the night before, and tossed in the oven to cook while we opened presents.

My husband doesn't like eggs. He cooks for me about 364 days a year. This year I wanted to take care of breakfast on Christmas.

I was browsing Smitten Kitchen a week before Christmas, just poking around to see if there were any recipes I wanted to try. The stars must have aligned in my favor, because I found a simple biscuit recipe. My husband, you see, had recently mentioned that he wanted biscuits.

The recipe called for all of five ingredients and allowed for your biscuit dough to be frozen until use. Perfect!

I made my biscuits on Christmas Eve, and popped them into the freezer overnight. Christmas morning, when we were ready, I buttered the tops and cooked them in the oven. Viola! Delicious, fresh, mouth watering biscuits.

These were so easy, I'd be foolish not to make them again. Besides, I'm pretty sure my husband won't argue.

Screen Printed Shirts

2009-12-18T11:44:00.005-05:00

I love the holidays. Which, I am sure, comes as a suprise to those of you who read this blog.

I love giving gifts, I love making gifts, and of course receiving them. Of all the gifts I give and receive, some of my favorites are those that are handmade. Don't get me wrong, a good iTunes gift card makes me smile (and usually dance later on)- but there's something about a homemade gift that's just extra special.

This year I'm trying to make things for my close friends and family, in addition to things from their wish lists. It's been a lot of fun, and I haven't seen any of their reactions yet- but I'll be sure to share some photos after the holidays.

Way back over the summer, I spoke with my friend Christyn of BeadUp about doing a trade of sorts. She works in beads (which you probably know, as this isn't the first time I've recommended that you check out her blog) and I was in search of some unique jewelry for a wedding I was in. We settled on a trade: two pairs of earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet for some screen printed t-shirts (from me). I was expecting to churn out a few BeadUp! shirts for the lovely lady.

More recently I received an email from Christyn saying that she wanted to use her shirts as gifts for friends. Feeling the way I do about handmade gifts, I was beyond thrilled to accomodate her wishes. We went back and forth a little bit about her designs (and they were designed by her, 100% so I take no credit there). Mainly we were trying to settle on some designs that she liked and I felt would screen print well.

Screen printing by hand can be very tedious. Some of you may know about the freezer paper method, but I prefer to do it differently. I use a large embroidery hoop, very sheer curtain fabric, a design (printed on paper), a pencil, and some glue to create my screens. That way, I can reuse the screens with ease. It takes me a while to make a good screen, and every time you print from it the design will look a little different.

Christyn emailed me a design that said "I love cupcakes" that she wanted printed on a small pink t-shirt. She told me she was giving the shirt, as a gift, to her friend Cheryl (of Cupcakin' It Up). I've been brainstorming an idea for a similar shirt for a while, so I was excited to try this out.

The shirt in the photo above, was the result of the screen that I made. Unfortunately some of the cute details in the cupcake didn't come out as well as I had hoped. It's awfully hard to make such a detailed screen by hand- at least for me. Overall, I thought the design came through nicely.

Besides, I received a glowing email from Christyn telling me how awesome she thought the shirt was. Then, I got an even better follow up email saying that she'd given the shirt to Cheryl and she'd proceeded to wear the shirt around work for the remainder of the day. That was definitely a nice boost to my ego.

And now, I'm off to finish up some more handmade gifts for the holidays. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

*Photo courtesy of Christyn, BeadUp

Ten Things Any Baker Would Love to Unwrap this Holiday Season

2009-12-10T10:52:00.023-05:00

Long time no post, huh? I've been doing crafty things and baking, but I've been busy and forgetful when it comes to pictures. I'm sorry. But to make it up to you and your loved ones, today I'm featuring 10 gifts any baker would love to receive this holiday season.

1. Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.

If your favorite baker doesn't already

have one of these, you will

score huge points by giving them

one. They're expensive folks, so I understand that it may not be within

your reach. If it is, and

you can't make up your mind. Ask yourself this one question, "how often does my baker need to mix things?" Because if the answer is more than once a year, this is a perfect gift. The first time I made cookies after I bought my mixer? Amazing. www.kitchenaid.com

2. Extra bowl for the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer.

If your favorite baker already has a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer then I am willing to bet they've

discovered what I have: one bowl is not enough. I can't tell you how frustrating it can be to have to stall out on a baking project because you have to wash your mixing bowl before you can whip

up frosting or the other half of your dough, or whatever it is. Another mixing bowl will solve that problem. www.kitchenaid.com

3. BeaterBlade for your Stand Mixer.

If your favorite baker is anything like me, they get annoyed by th

e fact that their mixer (and these come for other Stand Mixers, not just

Kitchenaid's) leaves ingredients along the

edges and bottoms of the bowl. This

means we have to stop the mixer, regularly, so we can scrape down the sides (and bottom) of the bowl to ensure that all of our ingredients are incorporated. This blade has spatula like pieces on every side of it that scrape the bowl as you mix. Don't believe that it actually works? Head on over to the website to check out their side by side video comparison. I promise you won't be disappointed. www.beaterblade.com

4. A Spoonula.

What's a spoonula, I can hear you asking. Well, it's just what it

sounds like. A spoon and a spatula all rolled into one. A spoonula

will really help your favorite baker scrape their mixing bowl, to ensure they get all the dough, batter, frosting, or whatever out. Good for rolling up that last cookie, filling that last cupcake liner, or eating leftover dough. The price is so nice you should buy two.

www.crateandbarrel.com

7. Rolling Pin Bands

Does your favorite baker ever use a rolling pin? Chances are, they could use a set of rolling pin bands. Sure you can live without these, but why would you want to? These bands stretch and fit

over most rolling pins- one on either end. The bands then work to ensure that your dough is an even, consistent thickness. That means your cookies should cook for roughly the same lengthe of time, and no one's going to whine about how they got the "small"

cookie. Win, win, win! www.amazon.com

6. A Silpat Mat

Is your baker constantly complaining about cookies sticking to baking sheets or having to buy more parchment paper for baking

? This is a perfect solution. Silpats are reusable, washable mats that you can use on cookie sheets or jelly roll pans in place of greasing your bakeware or using parchment paper. They may cost a little more, but they're worth the price. www.silpat.com

7. A Cookie Spatula

I know, I can hear you asking me why in the world you need a special spatula for cookies. Is this 100% necessary? No, probably not. Is it extremely useful for someone who bakes a lot of cookies? Definitely. This particular cookie spatula is made out of silicon and has saved some of my more finicky cookies from breakage. This could even be a stocking stuffer! www.crateandbarrel.com

8. A Cake Stand

If your baker doesn't really decorate cakes, you can feel free to skip this one. However, if they do- this is a great gift. This cake stand tilts and rotates, allowing you to get into all the nooks and crannies of your cake without accidentally jamming a finger into the frosting. I have one that just rotates, which is nice, but not as nice as this one. www.wilton.com

9. Off Set Spatulas

This is another instance in which I recommend buying more than one. Off set spatulas are going to make your favorite baker's life so much easier when they're frosting a cake or cupcakes- or even just filling up their piping bags. They allow you to put just enough pressure on the frosting that you can smooth the surface without pushing too hard and leaving

uneven dents. Buy them in more than one size. Small is good for cupcakes, medium for cakes, and extra large is great for filling your piping bag. www.wilton.com

10. Cupcake Courier

I don't even want to talk about how I used to transport my cupcakes. The Cupcake Courier is a lifesaver! This thing holds and transports up to 36 (3 dozen) cupcakes. You can use one tray or all three at a time. Plus, the space between trays (and the lid) is big enough so that your beautiful frosting doesn't get smushed. The trays are all dishwasher safe. Plus, it comes in three very chic colors. www.cupcakecourier.com

So, there you have it. 10 amazing gifts for the baker in your life.

Wait, what's that you say? You have a baker in your life but you're not sure if they have these tools. So, you want ideas that won't overlap with any tools they might have already? Umm. Ok, no problem. I can do that.

2 Bonus Tools that your Baker will love:

1. Hostess Aprons

Hostess aprons are about the cutest things out there. These are stylish aprons (sometimes half aprons, sometimes full aprons) that are just asking to be worn when you have company. This isn't that dirty apron you abuse when you bake- this one is a special occasion apron. It's not something most bakers would buy for themselves, but it is something that every baker would love to have. I couldn't pick just one, so I encourage you to head over to www.etsy.com and search for "hostess aprons." Etsy is a website that features handmade products ranging from aprons to soaps to cards to patterns. Support handmade items and make your baker smile.

2. Deni LED Cake Tray

Alright, this is definitely a luxury item. I found it while I was looking around for recommendations and I thought it was so clever I couldn't resist posting it. Are you always struggling to cut the right amount of slices in your cake? This is the perfect product for you! You put your cake on this tray and then use the LED input screen to tell it the number of servings desired. The LED lights around the tray will then light up, showing you exactly where to cut your cake. Viola! You have the perfect number of slices. Unnecessary? Yes. Fun? Definitely.

Happy Holidays everyone. I hope you're all baking up your favorite holiday treats.

Doctor Coffee Sampler

2009-11-19T13:49:00.004-05:00

Doctor Coffee Sampler
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

I was cruising around flickr a few months back and found some amazing cross stitch, embroidery, and other stitching project photos. I think the last time I picked up a needle and floss was about six years ago when my first nephew was born. I cross stitched an entire blanket of the alphabet (complete with cute little animals/people for each letter).*

At any rate, seeing those pictures really got me inspired to cross stitch again. It helps that I'm commuting an hour (each way) to work on the train, which gives me plenty of time to work on small projects.

A very close friend of mine turned 30 in October and I wanted to give him something special and personal. Sure, I could've gone to the store and spent $30 on new CDs or a video game- but 30 is a big deal in my eyes (having just reached that milestone myself), and it deserves a special gift.

My friend is an MD and for as long as I've known him he's had an intense relationship with coffee. To the point where everyone around him notices if he hasn't had any.

I decided to use the old proverb, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," and put a spin on it. I wanted my sampler to say "A pot of coffee a day keeps the doctor awake," and have a stitched coffee pot.

I'm sure it will surprise you to learn that no one makes a pattern for such a sampler. So, that left it to me to create my own pattern. I figured it couldn't be too tough. Boy was I wrong.

After a few missteps and many edits, I finally had my pattern ready to go. I used simple black letters for most of the phrase and a more elaborate font and blue floss for the words "coffee" and "doctor" for emphasis. The little coffee pot was modeled after the diner coffe pots I always see.

Now I'm looking forward to creating more personalized samplers for holiday gifts.

*(I was just reminded by a friend that I actually cross stitched a little Charlie Brown scene about a year or two ago.)

Root Beer Float Cupcake

2009-11-12T14:12:00.002-05:00

Root Beer Float Cupcake
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

Mmm....root beer floats. Whenever summer rolls around you can bet your sweet bippy that I'm thinking about root beer floats.

This past summer I started thinking about trying to recreate that taste in cupcake form. I poked around online looking for a recipe, but the ones I found called for root beer extract. I didn't have any of that handy and I certainly couldn't find it at my local grocery store.

Then, I was lucky enough to receive a wonderful gift certificate to the online shop, Bake It Pretty for my birthday. And whaddaya know? They sell root beer extract!

Last Saturday my schedule had some free time so I got out my extract and started baking!

The recipe I used called for both root beer and the extract. The extract I had was for candy flavoring- a little goes a long way with the candy extract. Instead of using the full two teaspons of extract I used a few drops.

While making the SMBC, I also added a few drops of the extract.

These cupcakes are super moist and while they may not taste exactly like root beer floats, they certainly get the idea across.

Chocolate Cupcake Day 2009

2009-10-19T14:36:00.002-04:00

Chocolate Cupcake Day 2009
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

In case you didn't know, yesterday (10/18) was National Chocolate Cupcake Day. Yum!

My weekend was fairly busy and I wasn't sure I would have time to bake anything to celebrate. Sunday morning at 9:30 I thought, 'darn it, I have to bake something!'

I grabbed my Martha Stewart Cupcake book (a gift from my fabulous friend danger kitten and her husband) and rustled through to find a recipe that sounded intruiging. The problem? I was definitely low on ingredients.

Ultimately I chose my old standby- Martha's 1-bowl chocolate cupcakes. But to spice it up, I added toffee bits into the cupcakes. Then to frost them, I chose a Dark Chocolate Frosting (from Martha as well) with some sea salt on top.

The combination of flavors was incredible. Rich, sweet, and salty all rolled in one.

I brought the cupcakes to my husband's performance to congratulate him and his castmates on a wonderful show (for a local Library Arts series). I tried to snap a picture of the cupcake on stage, but the lighting was all wrong. So, this one with the mic pack will have to do.

How did you celebrate Chocolate Cupcake Day 2009?

She's Expecting

2009-09-16T16:08:00.002-04:00

She's Expecting
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

My parents came up for a visit two weeks ago. My Mom called me a few days before the visit to request a card. Her boss is expecting.

Although I know my Mom's boss, I did not know her favorite color was pink. So, I opted for a gender neutral green coupled with a lovely dark gray.

I cut out the lady and her purse with my Cricut. I used a corner punch to round the corners and stamped the phrase. Once I arranged the lady and phrase on the card, it still seemed to be missing something.

Some crystal accents were the perfect finishing touches.

Congratulations N & P! I wish you the best of luck.

Craft Room Organization

2009-09-14T13:22:00.002-04:00

Craft Room
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

Ever since I moved into the new house, I've been trying to find a way to be more organized with my craft space than I ever have been before. See, the thing is, the house is bigger. My craft space is bigger. So there's an even greater potential for me to end up with more craft items than I could use in a year.

I don't know about you, but I have a horrible habit of buying things at craft stores on impulse, and then completely forgetting they're in my "stash." I am in the midst of a self imposed "paper ban" because of how much paper I have. (I do allow myself to purchase paper for specific projects- only things that require multiples of the same color/patterned paper: ie. invitations)

Clearly, I am an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of crafter.

My solution? To get organized, in a very visable way.

My craft room is far from complete, but I am really pleased with the progress I've made.

At the old apartment, I had a steel storage unit, consisting of eight drawers per side (two of those, per side), with an opening in the middle. The unit also had a top "shelf." I got it from Ikea, and it served me pretty well.

The new house, having a larger space for my crafts (which is a shared space for our office and music room), needed something more. I have a great work space (again, from Ikea) that's deep enough to be the home for my sewing machine, Cricut, and Cuttlebug- even when one is not in use.

My parents were visiting last weekend and wanted to go to Ikea (they were in search of a bed frame for their guest room). I was more than happy to accompany them. While wandering around the showroom, I came across the Bygel rail system. A-ha! Perfect.

I picked up one Bygel rail, two baskets, one package of s-hooks, one package of spice jars, and one bygel plastic cup. All for under $20. When I arrived home, eager to brag to my husband about my finds, he reminded me that we had an extra rail from the old apartment (we used to house kitchen items hanging from the rail).

On Saturday, I had my husband hang the rails above my craft desk. Then I went about the task of deciding what was important enough to warrant space on the rail.

Each spice jar holds a different type of embellishement (brads, eyelets, buttons, google eyes), the second basket holds ribbons (with seldom used christmas and animal print ribbons in another storage space), and the cup on the end holds pens, pencils, and glue. The top rail holds hole punches (shaped and regular), scissors, glitter, and beads from s-hooks.

The space is far from done, but it makes me excited about crafting. I already have plans on a few more things to pick up at Ikea, including more s-hooks. Eventually we hope to pain the room (a nice slate gray color, we're not too into the beige/yellow feel right now), and I plan to use orange as an accent color (for a trash can, clock, etc).

Who knew Ikea could revolutionize my craft space?

Cupcake Congratulations

2009-09-01T09:26:00.002-04:00

Cupcake Congratulations
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

I haven't been making or blogging my papercrafts as much as I'd like as of late. So, I'm working on correcting that.

A friend of mine recently got engaged. I wanted to send her a card because it's what I do, but also because I remember how much I enjoyed the handful of engagement cards I received (hard to believe that was four years ago now).

My friend is an avid cupcake lover. I know that no matter what, I can't go wrong if her gifts/cards have cupcakes involved.

I used my Cricut to cut out the cupcake, and the shapes for the engagement ring. Instead of topping the cupcake with sprinkles or a cherry, I used the engagement ring.

The cupcake ribbon is from Michael's (I think the dollar bin a while back, it has a little sparkle to it). Then I used gel pens to decorate the engagement ring and to write the "congrats!" sentiment.

I'm really pleased with the way this card came out. It's simple and sweet, and I think it works well for the occasion.

Bakeover with Danger Kitten

2009-08-31T15:17:00.003-04:00

Cheese Crackers
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

Life has been hectic for me this summer, I know I've mentioned that before. I've been very careful to leave time for baking because if I go too long without it, I start to feel like I'll never pick it back up again.

About a week ago, my husband made plans to attend a Beer Festival with Danger Kitten's husband, Brewfus. Danger Kitten & I had zero desire to attend said festival, but I thought a bakeover would be a great idea. I'd been wanting to get together with her for a while now that she's moved back to the state, but hadn't had the opportunity.

While the boys went off to taste who knows how many Belgian Ales, we baked our little hearts out. And it was fantastic.

I made Cheese Crackers, two ways. First I made them as called for in the recipe- with two cups of Cheddar Cheese. However, I love a little spice to my cheese, so for my second batch I used a Chipotle Cheese.

In the future, I think I'll roll the dough much thinner, because I prefer a crispy cracker. These were delicious, but a little soft for my tastes. The Chipotle crackers were addictive, and the Cheddar crackers were quite yummy as well.

Danger Kitten baked Black Bottom Cupcakes and Raspberry Lemon Thumbprints. I didn't have a chance to eat either fresh out of the oven- but they were both delicious. I had a hard time keeping myself from eating too much of the cookie dough. The addition of lemon (juice & zest) made them the perfect summer afternoon treat.

We also had our friend Linda along. She baked some wonderful peanut butter chocolate brownies. Mmm.

I had so much fun doing this, that I'm hoping we can make it a monthly event.

Looking to get out of a baking rut? Looking for an excuse to try out a recipe you keep putting off? Find some friends and host a bakeover. I promise you'll have fun.

You can see more pictures (mostly "in progress" shots) at my flickr.

Neopolitan Cupcakes

2009-08-21T11:24:00.002-04:00

Neopolitan Cupcake Insides
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

I've been itching to make Neopolitan cupcakes pretty much all summer long. I had planned to make them for a BBQ at our new house. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided that this summer would be a mix of rain and unbareably humid thus prohibiting any comfortable BBQs (at least in our busy schedule).

Last weekend, I had a party to go to. A friend who moved across the country was in town. The perfect occasion to bust out a recpie I'd been dreaming about for months.

I tried out a new chocolate cake recipe. While the cake is delicioius, it's a bit too moist for a filled cupcake. I would definitely use this again for chocolate cupcakes, but not any filled cupcakes.

The filling is a strawberry cream, made using fresh pureed strawberries. I was a little uncertain about the cream at first. I felt you didn't get a strong enough strawberry flavoring. I shouldn't have worried. It's perfect.

The frosting is my go-to Vanilla buttercream.

The cupcake came out just right. I might try again, but with a strawberry cake and chocolate filling- because I didn't feel like the filling here was enough of a surprise (my ultimate goal).

Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-08-17T09:59:00.003-04:00

Peanut Butter Cookies
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

(Sorry for the not great picture quality. I'm working on getting a photo editing program installed on my home computer.)

I've been majorly busy recently with a few close friends getting married, which has led to more time out of my house than I care to think about.

Last week, there were two birthdays at my husband's office. I have become the unofficial cupcake supplier when it comes to birthdays in his office.

For Monday's birthday celebrant, I made an old favorite: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. I had to improvise a bit and use finely ground candy canes instead of peppermint extract. Otherwise, it was a very routine day for baking.

Friday's birthday celebrant, however, was a bit more challenging. This coworker doesn't really care for cupcakes or cake. Luckily for me, by now most of my husband's office knows to expect cupcakes on their birthdays. That makes it much easier to figure out what kind of sweets to bake.

When I found out that the birthday celebrant liked peanut butter cookies, I was a little stumped. I must admit that I'm not really into peanut butter cookies. I checked around and find a nice simple recipe, with a twist. Dipping the cookies in chocolate.

I dipped half the cookies in chocolate (not knowing whether or not the birthday celebrant would want that), and then half of those went into sprinkles (for a festive look) and the other half into peanuts.

The cookies were a huge hit at the office. And, it's always nice to try something new.

Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cupcakes

2009-07-23T15:04:00.002-04:00

Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

What do you get when you have to make cupcakes for someone who is celebrating a birthday, but you have absolutely no idea what flavors they like? Apparently, in my world you get Chocolate Butterscotch Chip cupcakes with Vanilla frosting.

I'm not going to give the birthday celebrant a hard time, because I'm the same way- when someone asks me what I like, I say "Oh, I like almost anything related to desserts."

I went to the grocery store hoping inspiration would hit me. I went down the baking isle in search of baking soda (I'd run out the previous week), and BAM! There it was- butterscotch chips. Mmmm.

I didn't want to use vanilla cake, because I wanted the butterscotch to be a hidden surprise, instead of the feature for this cupcake. I used a new chocolate cake recipe (from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook) which turned out amazingly.

After baking up the cupcakes, I decided to go with Vanilla buttercream frosting. I made a half recipe for 24 cupcakes, because I knew I was going to hand frost (as opposed to piping it on) and also because again, I didn't want the frosting to take away from the overall flavor.

They came out pretty darn well. And? The important thing: the birthday celebrant really liked them.

Sometimes going into the kitchen with no ideas does work out favorably.

Sewing Challenges

2009-07-12T01:32:00.006-04:00

I am currently working on a new project that involves minimal sewing. I'm really excited about it, but also feeling anxious.

Why the anxiousness, you ask. Well, this Natalie Dee cartoon pretty much sums it up.

Yeah, I'm having bobbin issues. Or maybe it's tension issues. Or something. I blame the bobbin because the thread keeps getting stuck down there.

I haven't actually sewed anything on the project for fear of destruction. So, here's keeping my fingers crossed and hoping I can do it without any hassle.

But for now, enjoy the above cartoon. I know I'll be looking at it the next time my bobbin gets messed up so that I won't feel alone in my bobbin disasters.

And They Lived Happily Ever After

2009-07-08T09:02:00.002-04:00

And They Lived Happily Ever After
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

This past weekend, I spent my 4th of July at the wedding of one of my very best friends. I got to spend five full days in my hometown, reconnecting with friends and family. It was fantastic.

Of course, having to be there a few days early for the rehearsal I had to make the wedding card over a week in advance. My creative mojo usually doesn't start working until I have about an hour to finish something, so this was a bit of a challenge.

For my inspiration I pulled out the materials I'd used to create her wedding invations (I...am trying to find the one I have so that I can show you what they looked like, but I have not yet succeeded there). Her wedding colors were black, ivory, and gold.

I decided to use the gold as the main color for the card (it doesn't photograph well, but it has a slight shimmer to it). Rooting around through my stamps I came across the stamp of the couple. It's actually got three different poses for the couple and I really adore the stamp.

I used a square motif because the wedding invitations had embossed squares on them, but incorporated the circles and squiggly lines as a way to tie in the thank you notes I made for a gift (which, I stupidly forgot to photograph).

The shapes are all cut out using my Cricut and the stamp of the couple was embellished using glitter gel pens.

How to Use Your Bone Folder

2009-07-01T18:54:00.004-04:00

A few weeks back I posted about my Martha Stewart Bone Folder that I can't craft without. Immediately thereafter there was a run on Bone Folders as my legions of readers rushed out to purchase their very own MS Bone Folder.

In all seriousness, I do have a reader who bought a Bone Folder and asked me for some tips on using the new tool. I tried to explain in words how to hold the tool and what to do, but all I think I was successful at was confusing the poor person.

So, here is a short video in which I explain how I use my MS Bone Folder in the hopes that it helps you use yours.

Inspiration from NYC

2009-06-29T09:36:00.006-04:00

Christyn, of Bead Up, does wonderful posts where she shares the inspiration behind some of her pieces. I love those posts and they make me think about where my inspiration comes from.

Truth be told, more often then not I am inspired by what materials I have on hand. Sometimes the inspiration comes from the person who'll be receiving the card or the mood that I am in. All of these things are a little difficult to showcase.

Last weekend, my husband and I took a trip into NYC to see a show and visit a museum. I've been to NYC a number of times, but it never ceases to capture my imagination. Once, on a trip, I was ruthlessly teased for whipping out my camera at every available opportunity. After my local tour guide (a friend) realized I wasn't taking the typical "tourist" pictures, he eased up.

After returning home from our trip, I was inspired by some of the things I saw there and began working on some overdue thank you cards.

While in NYC I visited FAO Schwarz. I am a Barbie collector and FAO is one of the few stores that I can actually see an upscale doll in person before making a purchase (their selection is limited, and typically a little overpriced). A silkstone doll came home with me (she just hopped in my bag, I swear I don't know how it happened), and when I took a look at the inside of the box I found inspiration to create one of my overdue thank you cards.

The card uses the same color scheme of ivory, gold, and a little black for the lettering. I used my Cricut to cut out the square shape. The phrase and gold corner details are stamped on. I went over the stamps with gel pens to enhance their look. The final touch was a little gold ribbon.

After pulling the tissue paper back to get a better look at my new doll, her swimsuit (inspired by the original Barbie's swimsuit back in 1959- yes, this is Barbie's 50th Anniversary!) was a definite inspiration. I love the simplicity of the swimsuit, and how the black and white really draw your eye.

I used the swimsuit and the turquoise pashmina I bought as inspiration for another long overdue thank you card. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the flower design on the black paper. Then I went over the embossed design with white and turquoise gel pens. The quadrilateral shape was cut out using my Cricut. Thank you was stamped and then enhanced using my gel pens.

Hopefully, in the future I can do more posts like this, where I can share the source of my inspiration. The trick will be remembering to snap a photo of the inspiration before it's too late.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Chocolate Chip Cookies, Now with Toffee Bits

2009-06-25T11:04:00.002-04:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies, Now with Toffee Bits
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

This past Tuesday while my immediate family was enjoying the wonders of Disney World and my husband's immediate family was anxiously awaiting the arrival of a baby girl (niece to us) I got a hankering for good old chocolate chip cookies.

I know I don't often post about cookies here, and to be honest it's because outside of the holidays (I'm talking about the winter holidays here), I don't bake cookies all that frequently. I love cookies, really truly love them, but I don't bake them much.

So on Tuesday, when I got a hankering for chocolate chip cookies and mentioned it to my husband I barely had time to finish my sentence before he said "BAKE THEM!" He's always so supportive.

As I was scooping the dough onto my cookie sheets, I was thinking about how I am never ever happy with my chocolate chip cookies. Sure they taste fine, but I always feel like they look...well, flat.

In the hopes of changing my attitude about my cookies, I decided that I'd try something a little different. I ended up with three dozen cookies (and I probably could have made closer to 3.5 dozen if I hadn't left a healthy amount of dough in the bowl for eating- hey I do not care what the world thinks, I LOVE cookie dough). I left two dozen as your usual, every day, chocolate chip cookie. That last dozen, though, I wanted to be different.

I rustled through our pantry looking for something to add to them. Something that wouldn't just seem thrown on top, but something that might enhance the cookies. In the back I found my half full bag of Heath Toffee Bits (leftover from the Banana Caramel Toffee cupcakes- mmmm).

My husband loves those things. He will eat them by the handful straight from the big- which is why the bag is in the very back of the pantry. I like toffee, but I rarely eat it.

The last dozen cookies had a very healthy amount of toffee sprinkled on them before they went into the oven.

After eating one of the toffee cookies, I decided that I personally prefer my chocolate chips the old fashioned way. If it ain't broke- don't fix it.

My husband, however, thought it was a wonderful combination and thoroughly enjoyed eating them.

So there you have it- if you have a desire for something fresh baked from the oven, go for it. You never know what might happen.

I Can't Bake Without: OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop

2009-06-09T15:24:00.004-04:00

Well, the move is progressing along nicely- and our kitchen is now completely unpacked. However, I have yet to bake anything in the new kitchen (hopefully that will happen this weekend). Combine that with the fact that all of my craft materials are still packed and chaotic, it's time for another segment of "Things I Can't Craft Without" but this time, it's a Baking Edition.

I see what you're thinking over there "yawn, a cookie scoop." But hold on dear readers, I'm here today to tell you that you can do more with a cookie scoop then just make drop cookies.

This is my cookie scoop, the OXO Good Grips Medium Sized Cookie Scoop. I bought it a few years back when I was making mounds of Holiday Cookies because I was tired of my lame attempts to make my cookies come out at about the same size. I settled on the medium, because the small was not going to cut it (I don't like tiny cookies) and the large was just...too big.

It works wonders on my drop cookies, but that shouldn't be a surprise as that is what it was created to do. I use it occasionally for rolled cookies, when I want a nice uniform look, because I don't trust myself to roll 2 dozen cookies in the same size.

Ok, ok, I hear you out there "so why should I not be yawning at this entry again?"

Here it is....are you ready for it?

The best use ever for this cookie scoop is to make cupcakes. Yeah, you heard me, I said cupcakes.

People always ask me how I get my cupcakes so even- without a few random small or overly large cupcakes. This is my secret- I use my cookie scoop to put batter in the baking cups.

It's so much easier/cleaner then trying to pour the batter from my mixing bowl/measuring cup/ziploc bag.

A regular sized cupcake takes between 1.5 and 2 medium cookie scoops of batter. A Texas Cupcake (jumbo, large, whatever) takes probably closer to 3-4 scoops. My mini's take between 1 and 1.5 scoops. Some day, I will probably end up with both the small and large sized cookie scoops too.

If you aren't using a cookie scoop to make your cupcakes yet, get on it. I promise you will think it was the best idea since the invention of velcro.

I Can't Craft Without: Martha Stewart Bone Folder

2009-05-20T11:58:00.007-04:00

So, even though I'm not currently crafting, crafts have been on my mind an awful lot lately. I'm lusting after a new sewing machine, stacking up project ideas and new techniques to learn, and dying to get my new kitchen and craft space organized.

I was mentioning to my friend K that I won't be blogging much until I'm settled in the new house. We went on to talk about various projects we were working on and she mentioned her need for a bone folder.

This led to my recommendation of a few types, and my ultimate statement that I loved my Martha Stewart Bone Folder. Upon patiently (and kindly) listening to me profess my love for my MS bone folder, K said "you should totally do a feature on your blog about the tools you love."

So, here we are folks, #1 in a series of things I can't craft without.

Why do I love my MS bone folder, I can hear you asking? Well, let me tell you.

I used to have a cheap plastic "bone folder." It broke. True, I was using it for something other than it's intended purpose, but that sucker never really made my creases as crisp as I would have liked.

I decided that my next bone folder would be heavy duty and get the job done. I went to Micheal's to have a look around. I didn't really like the options they had, so I thought I would check out the Martha Stewart section (I had a 40% off coupon). Lo and behold, there it was- the MS bone folder. Love at first sight.

The MS bone folder comes in a plastic pouch with a snap closure. While unnecessary, I like the pouch because it gives me the feeling that my bone folder is "safe" when not in use. It stays clean, isn't being dinged up by my other tools, and has a home.

But, the best thing about the MS bone folder? It's dual sided. There's a wide end that you can use for smoothing your folds or paper and for burnishing (polishing), and on the other end there's a pointed tip for scoring.

It's also made out of a durable and heavier duty (than my plastic one) melamine. That sucker is sturdy, let me tell you.

If you're creasing your cards or papers with your fingernail or another found object around the house- stop it! Go out and get yourself one of these, stat. I swear to you, you will thank me.

**While bone folders were originally given their name because they were constructed from animal bone, nowadays most are made of melanine or other heavy duty non-animal products.**

Bead Up!

2009-05-17T09:10:00.005-04:00

One of my good friends has been selling her gorgeous jewelry for a while now on Etsy.

I mentioned in passing back on May 5 that she's started up a blog about her jewelry.

Well, today's your lucky day! She is giving away a piece of her jewelry. What do you have to do to enter? Just hop on over to her blog and leave a comment with your favorite piece from her Etsy shop. Hurry though, you can only enter until Monday, May 25.

If you like hand made jewelry, you're going to love Bead Up. In her blog, Christyn shares her inspiration and process. She puts a lot of time, thought, and heart into her jewelry. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Cup O'Cakes is Moving!

2009-05-17T09:07:00.003-04:00

No, don't worry, the blog isn't moving, and my website is still at Cup O'Cake Designs.

But, my husband & I are moving. We've bought our first house and are in the complicated process of packing, closing, and moving.

The wedding cupcakes were my last big project before the move- which is why the blog has been (and will continue to be) quiet for a while. Expect to see posts again in early June.

For now? You can check out the pictures from the wedding on my flickr.

The Road to 135 Cupcakes

2009-05-08T08:11:00.012-04:00

8:00 am- First thing's first. Making a list of ingredients so I only have to take one trip to the grocery store today.

9:51 am- Back from the grocery store and washing up the last few dishes, I've donned my apron and am ready to start the baking marathon. Also, saying a huge Thank You! to my husband who cleaned up the kitchen on Thursday before I came home. He did a mound of dishes in preparation for my day of baking.

10:54 am- The first two dozen cupcakes are in the oven- Chocolate Peanut Butter. I've got another 11 waiting for their turn (10 regular, and 1 extra large for the Groom). I started here because the Chocolate recipes don't call for butter. I'm also pulling out more eggs (for the next batch) so they can come to room temperature. I'm off to wash dishes so I can start making the next flavor.

11:40 am- Cupcakes have finished baking. Taking a lunch break.

1:30 pm- Starting up again with the Mint Chocolate Chip cupcakes. My break was a little on the long side, but I'm still fine for time.

2:10 pm- First two dozen Mint Chocolate Chip cupcakes are in the oven. There are 11 more waiting (again, 10 regular sized and 1 extra large for the Bride). I'm washing the dishes so I'm ready to start making the next batch. I also need to wash some of my cupcake containers (Cupcake Courier, Wilton 3-in-1, and my regular old Tupperware) so I can store these puppies.

3:45 pm- Margarita cupcakes in the oven- well 1/3 of them. And, with that I am 1/4 of the way done with the cupcakes.

4:09 pm- Live blogging saved my behind. I forgot to set a timer after I rotated the cupcakes. Thankfully, I was able to check the blog to see when I put them in originally and avoided overcooking. Sweet.

6:08 pm- The Margarita cupcakes have been done for a while now. While I was baking the last 10, my husband came home with dinner. So, I took a nice break to eat and catch up on The Office, 30 Rock, and Scrubs. Now, back to baking!

6:40 pm- Cookies & Cream cupcakes are in the oven. Whew- so close I can almost taste it.

7:30 pm- Having finished all four flavors, I'm off to the grocery store. Looking back at my first batch I'm unhappy, so I'm redoing them. Which requires more peanut butter chips.

8:30 pm- Back from the grocery store, about to pop the second try of the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes in the oven. The nice part is that I can whip up the two frostings (Margarita & Cookies & Cream) without having to wait for pans to cool.

10:30 pm- Everything is done for the day.

All in all, I think today went pretty well. Sure, I could have budgeted my time a little better. For my first time making more than 4 dozen cupcakes (and it's a big jump from 4 dozen to 11 1/3 dozen) it went smoother than I'd anticipated.

Tomorrow I'll make the last two frostings, frost the cupcakes and transport them to the wedding. I promise to post photos of the set up early next week.

*The goal for today is to bake all 135 cupcakes, make 2 of the 4 frostings, and complete the cupcake tower/stands.*

What's Going On?

2009-05-07T14:34:00.000-04:00

Well, glad you asked.

This weekend I am baking 135 cupcakes, in a variety of four flavors, for a good friend's wedding. I am currently alternating between nervous and excited as I am sure you can imagine.

Not only am I baking, frosting, and decorating the cupcakes- I am also creating cupcake stands and some hip and cute cupcake toppers (identifying the flavors and for the Bride & Groom's special cupcakes).

I took Friday off from my "regular" job to give myself ample time for this project. So, I will be waking up nice and early on my day off to bake. I might check in here from time to time- if I'm not feeling too hectic- to update you on what I am doing.

In the mean time, why don't you check out some of my new favorite blogs?
My friend Danger Kitten started a baking (and sometimes crafting) blog.
Another good friend, Christyn, is now blogging her adventures in beading.
My new favorite design/diy blog How About Orange (mad props to K for recommending this one).

And if you want to laugh and haven't found this one already: Cake Wrecks.

See you all tomorrow!

S'more Birthday Cupcakes, Please

2009-04-27T19:36:00.001-04:00

Fired Up
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

My husband's birthday was this weekend. I'd been bugging him for quite some time about what he thought he might like to have. He suggested possibly the Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcakes I made for the wedding tasting, but I wanted to try something different.

I was going through my copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and calling out ideas to him when I came upon their recipe for S'mores cupcakes. Perfect! He's been a vegetarian for almost a year and hasn't eaten any marshmallows in that time (since they contain gelatin which is an animal product).

Taking a closer look at the recipe I discovered that they called for their Vegan Vanilla Buttercream. I love that frosting (in fact, it's my new go-to for Vanilla Buttercream), but my Husband does not. Not to mention the fact that I wanted something that was at least vaguely marshmallow-y. Otherwise? How is this like a s'more at all?

I had originally planned to make Vegan marshmallows, but got completely overwhelmed by a number of other things in life (though I do plan to make them at a later date). So I had to search for something else. Marshmallow fluff!

Believe it or not Marshmallow fluff does not have any animal products in it. I used the same recipe for 7 minute marshmallow fluff frosting that I used a while back for the Orange Creamsicle cupcakes. Now, please take note: this is not vegan frosting, it contains two egg whites. My husband does eat eggs, so it wasn't an issue for us.

The cupcakes turned out great. They weren't exactly what popped in my mind when I thought about them, because I'd expected a chocolate cake. These were a molasses cake, which made them extremely moist.

The frosting was super messy. But, what good s'more isn't?

We had a cast party for the play my husband is currently in on the evening of his birthday. The woman who is playing his wife in the show had her birthday the following day. What better way for the two of them to celebrate with their own special cupcakes.

You can see pictures of the whole group of cupcakes on my flickr.

Cupcake Tasting

2009-04-14T14:14:00.001-04:00

Cupcake Tasting
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

This weekend I had my very first Cupcake Tasting. A friend of ours is getting married in May and asked me if I would make the cupcakes for her wedding. Of course, I jumped at the chance.

Anyone whose been involved in planning a wedding knows that one of the best parts of the planning is the cake tasting! I couldn't deprive the Bride and Groom of this experience, so after getting an idea of their favorite flavors I brought over seven kinds of cupcakes for them to try (along with some family members).

I made them mostly in half batches and left many of them behind for the Bride & Groom to share with friends and co-workers. The few that were left came with me.

I made: Mint Chocolate Chip (chocolate cupcakes with mini chocolate chips, topped with mint swiss meringue buttercream and mini chocolate chips- top left), Vanilla Vanilla (vanilla cupcakes topped with vanilla buttercream- top right), Vanilla Chocolate Chip (vanilla cupcakes with mini chocolate chips topped with vanilla buttercream and mini chocolate chips- below the Mint and Vanilla cupcakes), Peanut Butter Chocolate (chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter chips, topped with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and Reece's pieces- fourth from the top on the left), Margarita (margarita cupcakes with margarita frosting- bottom right), Banana Toffee Caramel (banana toffee caramel cupcakes topped with caramel swiss meringue buttercream and drizzled with caramel- bottom left), and Cookies & Cream (not pictured).

It was a lot of work, but I viewed it as a test run for the actual wedding. I am pleased that spending that much time on the cupcakes didn't wear me out or frustrate me- in fact I think it was one of the more relaxing weekends I have had lately.

The Bride & Groom chose their favorite four flavors (Cookies & Cream, Peanut Butter Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Margarita) for their big day.

Reece's Cupcakes

2009-04-10T14:02:00.001-04:00

Reece's Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

A few weekends ago my husband and I had a small birthday gathering to go to out of state. One of the birthday people (there were multiple persons celebrating) has been seeing photographs of my baked goods from afar for quite some time. I thought it would be a nice birthday surprise (for all birthday persons) to bring along cupcakes.

I decided to try out a Reece's cupcake as I knew that peanut butter and chocolate were a favorite flavor combination of at least one of the birthday celebrants.

I started by freezing mini Reece's cups for four days. My goal was to have the Reece's cups so frozen that they wouldn't melt completely while the cupcakes were baking.

I used Martha's one-bowl chocolate cake recipe as the base for the cupcake. While making this batch, I figured out what went wrong with the Cookie Monster cupcakes. I'd forgotten to add the baking soda. Duh- but let this be a lesson that even people who have baked for quite some time make mistakes. At any rate, this batch of chocolate cupcakes came out perfectly. I topped them off with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream- not wanting the frosting to overwhelm the hidden Reece's cup.

My only comments are that I did not care for the way the Reece's cups cooked inside the cupcakes. I'm not sure if it is because I used mini Reece's or not, but while they did not burn they kind of crystalized or something (the peanut butter). Everyone else who had one thought they tasted great, but something about it didn't come together for me. I'm going to try again, and fiddle with the recipe a bit and see how they come out.

Visit my flickr to see a picture of the cupcake's innards.

Red Sox Purse

2009-04-03T14:00:00.001-04:00

Red Sox Purse
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

I thought today I would post one of the sewing projects I worked on for a client this past holiday season.

I know that lately the blog has become pretty focused on cupcakes (and baking in general), but I am still doing some other craft projects and this was a great one.

I was contacted and asked to help create a special holiday gift for a client's grandmother. As you may have guessed from the photograph, grandma loves the Red Sox*. However, poor grandma's t-shirt was no longer wearable as the player (Coco Crisp) was traded.

I used the t-shirt along with coordinating colored fabric to create a one of a kind hobo bag for grandma. The back of the bag featured the numbers from the t-shirt, cut in such a way that you cannot tell they belong to an ex-Red Sox player.

The bag has an inside pocket (handy for a cell phone or other small items) and a snap closure (as requested by the client).

I think that sewing projects like this are my favorites. I know I have at least five t-shirts laying around that I don't want to toss or give away, but that I don't (or can't) really wear any more. What better way to keep them in your rotation then by up-cycling them into a cute bag.

Have a shirt you'd like up-cycled? Email me!

*Full disclosure: I am a Cleveland Indians fan, so please spare me the Yankees/Red Sox debate.

Birthday Cow

2009-03-27T15:47:00.001-04:00

Birthday Cow
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

Waay back in November (I told you I'd try to catch you up on all I did while I took a haitus from blogging), a good friend of mine hired me to make her 24 cards (a mixture of Birthday, Thank You, and blank cards). I was beyond excited, and also a little overwhelmed.

When I make cards, I tend to either make them one at a time, or end up with a series of cards that all look similiar. I was a little nervous about being able to offer my client (I love that word, by the way!) a broad range of cards that she would be able to use. I wanted to make sure that there was a card in there for everyone on her list.

This card was one of the Birthday cards that I created. I have loved this cow stamp (part of an older Stampin' Up set) as long as I have had it, but I definitely have not used it enough in the past 8 years.

Even though the card includes flowers on the patterned paper (though, they could be sunbursts) and a ribbon, I still believe it is neutral enough to serve as a birthday card for men.

You can see some of the other 23 cards at my flickr.

Vegan Cookies N Cream Cupcakes

2009-03-26T09:26:00.001-04:00

Vegan Cookies N Cream Cupcakes
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

For Christmas I got Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I was dying to try a recipe out from the book and when my husband and I were invited to dinner at a friends house, it seemed like the perfect occasion.

The cupcakes themselves are chocolate with cookie pieces baked inside. They are a little denser than I would like, but taste awesome. If you gave these to someone without telling them that they were vegan, they would never know.

I used the vanilla buttercream recipe, and instead of using crushed cookies in the frosting, I placed a cookie half on top as a garnish.

This is my new favorite frosting recipe. It is so darned good, and I think a little less toothache inducing than some other buttercreams.

All in all, they were delicious and I can't wait to try another recipe from the book.

The Cookie Monster

2009-03-23T15:36:00.001-04:00

The Cookie Monster
Originally uploaded by Cup O'Cake Designs

For my first weekend post-play, I wanted to make a more complicated cupcake. I had been thinking about cookie dough and chocolate chip cookies for a while, so it seemed like a good idea at the right time.

Originally, I was going to make the cupcakes look like Cookie Monster (if you read a lot about cupcakes on the internet, you've probably seen these already). However, I ran out of time so I went with something more Cookie Monster inspired.

I started with Martha's one bowl chocolate recipe as the base for the cupcakes. Each cupcake got a bit of semi-frozen cookie dough added in, pre-baking.

Unfortunately, something went wrong somewhere with this recipe. I think that I either overmixed the batter or the cookie dough wasn't frozen thoroughly. The cookie dough ended up baking pretty much into a little cookie and the chocolate cake did not rise nearly enough- so it ended up being dense instead of light and fluffy.

The frosting is a simple vanilla buttercream, tinted blue. I topped the cupcakes off with chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookies pieces.

Regardless of the issue with the cupcake batter, they still tasted quite good. I think I will try this again, with frozen cookie dough and a more watchful eye on the batter mixing.

Faux-stess Cupcakes

2009-03-06T13:02:00.001-05:00

(click image to enlarge)

Annnnd....after a brief (hah) 3 month hiatus, we're back! Life kind of got in the way lately (new job, play, the holidays, etc), but I can assure you that I have been baking and crafting over the past three months. I'm going to try to play catch up and post about some things I did in Nov-Feb, but for now how about something current?

My husband and I have been in a play for the past five weeks (closing is this weekend), and last weekend one of our castmates had a party. She decided to have a pot luck, so obviously I chose to bring dessert. Originally I was going to decorate the cupcakes using details from my character, but I ran out of time.

I've been wanting to try my hand at a Faux-stess cupcake (faux Hostess cupcake) for some time now. I love Hostess Cupcakes. I don't think there was ever a time when I didn't like them, but when my husband and I started going on road trips together they were the perfect treat. Two to a pack, so we could split them, and not something we ate on an every day basis.

My husband asked me to make extras (for a coworkers) birthday, so I decided to make the cupcakes in both chocolate and orange flavors (I know the Hostess site says "golden" but I swear those suckers taste orange to me).

I used a Martha Stewart 1 Bowl chocolate cake recipe for the chocolate cupcakes. I was a little iffy on the cupcakes when I put them into the oven- but holy cats were they awesome after baking! This is probably the best chocolate cupcake I have made. They were light, fluffy, and really flavorful.

For the orange cupcakes, I modified a recipe from Wilton for Golden Yellow cupcakes by using 1/2 orange extract and 1/2 vanilla extract (instead of only vanilla). They came out pretty well- light, fluffy, flavorful- but I might cut back a tiny bit on the orange if I make them again.

After baking the cupcakes (each recipe yielded 24 cupcakes), and allowing them to cool, I used the cone method to fill the cupcakes. I definitely need a little more practice with this method but it wasn't hard.

I used a recipe from Baking Bites for the filling, and while it tasted just fine, I'm not sure I would use it again. It called for thickening milk with flour over a medium burner (on the stove) and I hated that method. Just hated it. I would much rather just make a whipped cream frosting for the centers.

The cupcakes were all topped with white whipped cream frosting- because I felt they were already rich enough. Using buttercream would have pushed them over the edge to sickeningly sweet.

Everyone at the party (and my husband's work) loved them. I will definitely be making these again.

I will post a photo of the orange verson as soon as I upload it from my camera.

Wilton Tool Caddy Decorated

2008-11-12T14:30:00.000-05:00

I finally bought a tool caddy for all my cake decorating pieces. I decided to purchase the 50 piece Tool Caddy because I knew I could use the extra tips and other things that came with it.

If you click on the link above, you can see what the tool caddy looked like originally. I liked the colors, but I wanted my caddy to be a little more personal. I'm the only person in my class with this particular caddy- but there are several people in class with the same caddy and I'd hate to get mine confused sometime.

So, I purchased some vinyl for my Cricut and sat down to think about what I wanted to put on my caddy. Of course, my first thought was: Cupcakes! I put two cupcakes on the lid of the caddy and one on each side- but then when I looked at the caddy the front seemed empty. Since I'd only purchased two colors of vinyl I had to come up with another design for the front.

Even though the flowers were kind of an afterthought, I love the way they turned out. I also put my name on the back of the caddy. Just in case there's any question as to who it belongs to.

Gift Cake

2008-11-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

This Monday I had the second class in my Wilton III class. We had to bring in a square cake to cover in fondant.

It was the first time I worked with fondant (we had to use the Wilton Fondant), and I was nervous. My instructor was really helpful and walked me (and the other people in my class) through the process.

The only thing we had to do was cover the cake and make the bow. I decided to add the shaped flowers to make it a little more interesting.

Overall I'm super pleased with the results. I think the fondant tastes kind of gross (I much prefer the MMF I made for the Cupcake Electoral Map), but I just peeled it off and ate the chocolate cake and buttercream icing that were underneath.

Cupcake Electoral Map

2008-11-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

Last week I made over 200 cupcakes for an Election party. When we were invited to the party, I told my husband to tell the host we would bring cupcakes. He suggested a Cupcake Electoral Map. I told him he was crazy and not to go overboard. Then I spent four days thinking about his idea and how fun it would be.

So, I found myself spending 8+ hours last week cutting out 107 Marshmallow Fondant (MMF) stars, baking over 200 cupcakes, and piping endless amounts of frosting. (For those of you wondering- this is where that Red Velvet recipe came in handy.)

I'll be posting a more in-depth look at this project and the process to create it on my website: www.cupocakedesigns.com It will be November's featured project. Please check the website later this week to see even more pictures of the map and cupcakes.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

2008-11-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

About two weeks ago I baked a cake for my friend's surprise birthday party. Her husband and best friend told me to make whatever I wanted because she loves desserts in any flavor.

I decided to try out a Chocolate Chocolate Chip recipe I had. It turned out really amazing- nice and moist but not overpoweringly chocolate. I torted the cake with a Whipped Caramel Cream in the middle and all of the frosting is Chocolate Buttercream.

The Birthday girl was very pleased, and there weren't even crumbs left after we cut the cake.

It Happens to the Best of Us

2008-11-11T14:20:00.000-05:00

Just to reassure everyone out there- mistakes happen to the best of us. I was home a few weeks ago and my sister requested some Mint Chocolate Chip cupcakes for her birthday. I don't bake often in my parents' house anymore and things aren't kept where they were when I was a kid.

I reached up to grab the flour off the shelf, and...well...ended up spilling it all over myself, the floor, and the counter. That'll teach me not to wear an apron. That picture above isn't white because there was too much flash- that's flour. All over my pants and the floor. My mom had to vacuum me off. Embarassing!

I put on an apron after that. Happy Baking everyone!

Red Velvet Mummies & Pumpkins

2008-10-29T08:24:00.000-04:00

Halloween is this Friday!

I had cupcakes to bake for a few occasions this week, so I decided to go with a Halloween theme for decorations. The cupcakes themselves are Red Velvet (from Paula Deen's recipe). I needed to test out the recipe for a project next week (stay tuned to find out what the project is!).

I used the same frosting tip for the basketweave on the Mummies. I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with the Mummies- I feel like maybe they need some sort of mouth, but I couldn't figure out how to do that without making them too cute.

The Pumpkins I frosted and then dipped in orange sugar sprinkles. Once the sprinkles were on, I piped on orange lines to serve as the Pumpkins ridges. On the top I piped a brown stem and green leaves. The stems...are wonky at best. But, live and learn.

I think overall the cupcakes came out pretty well. Cute and Halloween-riffic, while still tasting yummy.

Wilton Course 2

2008-10-28T10:39:00.001-04:00

Last night was my last class in Wilton Course 2. For our final class we have to decorate an oval shaped cake using some very specific techniques: the basketweave, the rope border, and at least two kinds of flowers made from Royal Icing.

I was really nervous about both the basketweave and the rope border. I made all the flowers last Thursday so that they had time to dry out before class. Both the rope border and the basketweave ended up being easier than I had anticipated.

I need to get a cake leveler I think. It's so hard for me to level my cake and make it even. I'm not too worried about it since the cake just got eaten, but it would be nice to have an even top.

Here are some detail shots of the side of the cake.

Black Bottom Cupcakes (Take 2)

2008-10-22T09:09:00.000-04:00

I have made what I called Black Bottom Cupcakes before, but I think that this batch is a more traditional version.

They are rich chocolate cupcakes with a spoonful of a cream cheese, sugar, and chocolate chip mixture baked inside. They taste kind of like a cheesecake cupcake. Mmmm....delish.

I made about a million of these. Not really, but it certainly seemed that way. I think I ended up with 24 full size cupcakes and 48 minis. They were all eaten within three days- it helps that we had five people spend the weekend at our place.

I used my new Wilton silicon cups for the first time. They turned out quite nicely, and I liked that they have a little line on them at about 2/3 full. I'm not sure if that line is intended to use as a fill line, but that's definitely how I used it. If you use these, remember to spray them first otherwise your cupcakes will stick. I sprayed my baking cups and had no problems getting the cupcakes out.

Candy Corn Cupcakes

2008-10-17T16:25:00.001-04:00

I love Halloween. I love the costumes and the decorations. I love the haunted houses and the jack o'lanterns. But most of all, I love candy corn.

I wanted to combine my favorite Halloween candy with my favorite baked good- viola! Candy corn cupcake.

Candy corn has a tendency to be overly sugary sweet and I know that a lot of people don't like it for that very reason. I wanted the cupcakes to give a hint of candy corn flavor that wasn't over powering or too sweet.

I scoured the internet to see if I could find any candy corn cupcake recipes, but no luck. Maybe my google-fu isn't as good as it should be, but as far as I know there isn't a recipe for candy corn cupcakes out on the old interwebs.

I decided to use a recipe for White Velvet cupcakes (from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman) which includes mini marshmallows baked in. Then I chose to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream as the frosting, adding some honey to enhance the candy corn flavors.

As you can see from the picture below, my attempt to layer the colored batters didn't come out exactly as I planned. The marshmallows prevented the batter layers from settling evenly. But, I'm ok with that.

The cake tasted more like a sugar cookie to me, but the frosting was amazing. I just took the regular SMBC recipe and added about two teaspoons of honey (to taste). Mmmm....

Happy Halloween (a little early)!

Thanks So Much

2008-10-15T15:17:00.000-04:00

Another thank you card that was made for my Aunt, Uncle, & Cousin. They sent me some very cute stationary and a nice Starbucks gift card.

I used my Cricut to cut out the smaller square, and then stamped the sentiment on it. Then the yellow background went through the Cuttlebug to give it some texture.

A simple, yet very beautiful card.

Thanks a Million!

2008-10-15T15:10:00.000-04:00

I've been on vacation for the past week, but I'm back now and back to posting on a regular basis.

I made this thank you card for my parents, to thank them for my birthday gifts. They sent me more crafting stuff than I would have imagined could fit into a box that size. Thank you Mom & Pa! (I know you read this blog.)

I used one of the Cuttlebug folders they gave me on this card for the background, and then used a new stamp set for the burgler and sentiment. I stamped both onto shapes that were cut out using my Cricut.

I couldn't find my gel pens, so I used crayons to color in the burgler.

I finished off the card by using my Paper punch on the corners.

Mini Vanilla Cupcakes

2008-10-06T10:28:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I tried out the Magnolia Vanilla cupcake recipe again. I'd gotten a nice new sifter and was hoping it would help make the cupcakes less dense.

I made 2 dozen full size cupcakes (for a coworker's birthday at my husband's office) and still had tons of batter left over. So, I figured I would make some mini's for my office.

I got More from Magnolia as a birthday gift and wanted to try out another recipe from the book. I picked out the Cream Cheese Butterscotch frosting. I was not really very pleased with it. The other cream cheese overpowered the other flavors, and I had wanted something different for the frosting to balance the vanilla cupcake.

I think I overbaked the minis a little- this being my frist time making them. But, I was happier with the Magnolia Vanilla recipe this time. Although I learned that I should halve it next time.

Wilton Class 4

2008-09-29T22:32:00.000-04:00

Today I finished my last Wilton class for the first level. Our assignment was to bake and frost (just the crust layer) a cake.

I chose a chocolate cake and I decided to tort the cake because I had not done that before. I was maybe a little over ambitious, but I'm pretty pleased with the results.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say this: my husband baked the cake. It tastes great and he did a great job. I had a full set of cupcakes to make this weekend, along with three batches of frosting and just could not make myself bake a cake on top of that. So, thank you husband!

I should have practiced torting and the base coat of frosting prior to making the cake for my final class, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

I'll be posting a more in-depth look at this cake and the process to decorate it on my new website: www.cupocakedesigns.com It will be October's featured project. Please check the website later this week to see even more pictures of the cake.

I start Wilton level 2 next Monday. I'll be learning to make more flowers as well as how to do a basket weave frosting.

Birthday Extravaganza!

2008-09-29T22:29:00.000-04:00

My birthday was on Friday. I love my birthday, and I love it even more when I get to spend it with family and friends.

This year my husband threw a nice birthday party for me (and another friend- we share the same birthday). So I got to spend time with close friends. Even though my family couldn't be there, they were sure to call and let me know they were thinking of me.

What does this have to do with this blog? Well, the answer is: I got a lot of baking and crafting items for my birthday.

Over the next few weeks I am looking forward to using my new supplies and I can't wait to share the results! I got everything from cake pans to gel pens to stamps to piping tips. Crazy! So, stay tuned because I plan to try everything out.

Yellow Cupcake Filled with Creme

2008-09-24T12:56:00.001-04:00

I made cupcakes for my most recent Wilton class, and then our instructor forgot that she told us to bring in undecorated cupcakes. I stayed after class for about twenty minutes trying out her Wilton Cupcake filling frosting tip. Apparently you can only buy this tip in a Cupcake Decorating set at the store, though it looks like they sell it individually on the Wilton website (but it's sold out at the moment).

I tried out a new Yellow cake recipe. I am still in search of a nice fluffy, light, moist yellow or vanilla recipe. This one? Not it. These little suckers tasted more like pound cake. Don't get me wrong, I love pound cake. I just was not looking to create a pound cake cupcake.

So, I brought them into class and used the Wilton tip to fill them. My instructor told me they probably wouldn't hold much filling for two reasons: 1) they were super dense & 2) the cupcakes fill more when they are still warm. I figured I'd give it a shot anyhow because I wanted to see how the frosting tip worked. As you can see below, it did not fill the cupcake hardly at all. Oh well, next time I will do it while they are warm.

I decorated them at home, colored some of the creme purple to serve as the base frosting and then put some of my buttercream roses on top.

I think the decorations came out pretty nicely (though my roses need a bit of work still), and disappeared from my office in record time.

Wilton Class 3

2008-09-23T11:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I had my third Wilton class- only one more before I finish the first level.

Above are my best rose attempts. My frosting was a little too stiff, so I was having difficulty getting them to hold together. I plan to do some heavy duty practicing this week in preperation for my final class (and cake).

We also learned how to do drop flowers and shell borders. Then we moved on to the Wilton clowns. I thought these guys were kind of creepy, but I took some pictures anyways, just for fun.

My first clown came out looking a little drunk. Immediately after this picture he fell over.

But, my other Clown turned out pretty well- and was very laid back when I was "cleaning up."

Make a Wish (Birthday)

2008-09-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

I made this card last week for a friend who had a birthday. It was inspired by a card over at the Pink Stamper.

I used my Cricut to cut out the cupcake as well as the squares. The squares are put on the card using pop dots for dimension. I used a gel pen for the sprinkles on the cupcake.

Two different colored papers are used for the background, with a ribbon pulling them together.

The sentiment in the upper left corner is stamped.

Magnolia Vanilla Cupcakes

2008-09-23T11:15:00.000-04:00

This weekend I tried out the Magnolia Vanilla Cupcake recipe. I had to make cupcakes for Bachelor and Bachelorette parties and really wanted a nice vanilla cupcake.

I didn't much care for the Amy Sedaris recipe I tried a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd try the Magnolia recipe. I've had Magnolia cupcakes before and wasn't super impressed with them, so my hopes for the recipe weren't high.

I thought they turned out ok, but definitely not that nice moist vanilla cake that I was looking for.

I used the melted frosting technique for the tops and then piped on some decorations. I would share the pictures of the completed cupcakes (the one above is in-progress), but they're a little "adult" in nature and since I have no way of knowing who is looking at these pictures I'd prefer not to share those.

Featured!

2008-09-17T16:12:00.001-04:00

My Cupcakes have been featured over at Cupcakes Take the Cake- one of my favorite cupcake blogs.

Go check it out!

Also, I have renamed the blog to reflect the name of my new company. Keep your eyes peeled for the unveiling of my company logo in the upcoming weeks.

Wilton Class 2

2008-09-16T10:54:00.001-04:00

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Last night I had my second Wilton class. This week's class was definitely more fun because it was hands on and I got to try the techniques being modeled. I am definitely a learn by seeing then doing person.

We learned how to make stars (using a star tip), wavy lines, outlines, dots, print, cursive, and then the toughest part of the evening: the base and center petal for the rose.

I knew going in that the rose would be the hardest technique for me to learn. I tried to read ahead in the class book to prepare, but that only made me more confused.

I had a tough time building the base of the rose. Mine kept coming out more like a witch hat and less like a mountain (what it should have looked like). Part of the problem was that my stiff frosting had sort of wilted (ha ha, no pun intended) in the heat of the classroom. The other part of the problem was all me. I don't think I was putting enough pressure on the piping bag.

Eventually, I got a nice little mountain and then started trying to make the center petal. Above is a photo of the best one I made all night. It's a little hard to see the details because the frosting is so white- but you'll have to believe me when I say this little sucker is not easy to do.

Next week we will finish learning how to build the rose. Our instructor suggested that we bring in a cake pan (or cupcake pan) to take our completed roses home, if we chose to do so. The roses can be made in advance and stored in a cool, dry box (aka tupperware) for a while to use later. They need to crust (the icing should harden a bit) before you place them on the cake, so they do just fine waiting a day or two.

We're also going to decorate cupcakes next week. I volunteered to bring in the cupcakes for everyone (mainly so I can try another recipe), and our instructor offered to let us try filling the cupcakes- which I am super excited about. So not only do I have to bring frosting next week (in three colors- yay!), but I also need a batch of cupcakes and some pudding (to fill the cupcakes). Yum.

Banana Caramel Toffee Cupcakes

2008-09-16T10:48:00.000-04:00

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This weekend I also baked some birthday surprise cupcakes. The birthday girl isn't a fan of regular cakes or cake that is overly sugary sweet. My husband did some covert work (as the birthday girl is a coworker) to determine a flavor she might like.

I'd found this recipe on How to Eat a Cupcake a while back, and this seemed like the perfect time to try it out. I made a double recipe and only got 15 cupcakes.

I haven't yet had one (mine is still waiting at home, in the fridge for me), but according to my husband they got rave reviews around the office.

The toughest part about this recipe was cutting up the caramels (to bake inside the cupcake). Caramel will always seek out caramel and attempt to stick together. I ended up cutting up the caramels one at a time- after finishing one, I would toss it in with the flour and sift before cutting up the next caramel.

The cupcakes are topped with a light caramel whipped cream frosting.

Buckeye Vanilla Cupcakes

2008-09-16T09:38:00.000-04:00

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In honor of Sugar High Friday I decided to make cupcakes with buckeyes baked in the center.

I baked these cupcakes in honor of last weekend's Ohio State game (which, was miserable for OSU fans).

I used Amy Sedaris's vanilla cupcake recipe for the base of the cupcake. I put a bit of the batter into the cupcake liners and then put one of my homemade buckeyes into each liner.

After that, I finished filling the cupcake liners with batter (until 2/3 full) and baked them according to the recipe.

Then I frosted the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I only made 12 of the cupcakes with buckeyes inside, the remainder I made plain vanilla.

Unfortunately, in trying to turn the remaining cupcakes a nice scarlett color I totally overmixed the batter. Which lead to cupcakes that were extremely dense and looked more like red hockey pucks. They still taste great, they just don't look nice and puffy.

After frosting, I topped some of the plain vanilla cupcakes with the mini buckeyes I made last week. Yum!

(Brutus) Buckeyes

2008-09-12T09:36:00.000-04:00

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Making candy doesn't have to be hard. It is, usually, time consuming and you typically end up with a lot more candy than you think you want to eat. That's why it's perfect for giving to friends and family.

Over the last two nights, I made Buckeyes. For anyone not from Ohio, a Buckeye is a nut that comes from the Buckeye tree (Ohio's state tree, by the way). They're poisonous, but they're also a symbol used frequently in reference to The Ohio State University (where I received my MA in 2005) and OSU Football. Even the OSU Mascot is a buckeye- Brutus Buckeye to be specific.

Buckeye candy has a peanut buttery center that is coated in chocolate- with a section of the peanut butter exposed at the top to resemble a buckeye.

We like to have buckeye candy on hand during the college football season in my house. We usually eat at least one buckeye each on game day. Tomorrow's game against USC will be no exception. We're having company over, company who will be rooting for USC, so you know our house will be decked out with everything OSU we can find (believe me, we have plenty of that at our house)- food included.

These took two nights to make, only because I forgot just how many the recipe makes. I have over 80 of these sitting in my fridge (so the chocolate doesn't melt) just waiting to be eaten. I know they'll be eaten, I have no concerns there- but I'll also be giving them away.

Why do I have little mini buckeyes? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out!

Ok, you're saying, enough with the babbling- how do I make these!? Alright relax, here's the recipe- I recommend halving it though, unless you want to have 80 of these things sitting in your fridge tempting you:

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Buckeye Candy

1 1/2 cups Peanut Butter

1 cup Butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

6 cups Confectioner's Sugar

4 cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioner's sugar. The dough will look dry. Roll into 1 inch (or whatever size your heart desires) balls, and place on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet.

Press a toothpick into the top of each ball (to be used later for dipping the candies) and chill in the freezer until firm- approximately 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler, or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (you can also melt the chips in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl- using the stove is preferrable as you can keep the chocolate heated and melted). Stir frequently until smooth.

Dip the frozen peanut butter balls in the chocolate, holding onto the toothpick. Leave a small circle portion of peanut butter showing at the top of the candy to give the appearance of buckeyes. Place back on the cookie sheet and refridgerate until serving.

Yeilds: 60-80 (depending on the size of your rolled peanut butter balls)

Wilton

2008-09-08T22:30:00.000-04:00

I started my Wilton #1 Cake decorating class tonight.

After thinking about and talking about taking these classes for three years now (yes, you read that right, three years), I finally signed up and am taking class #1.

Next week I actually get to use the tools and try some techniques out. This week it was all demonstration (by the instructor). I'll bring my camera in next Monday and take pictures if I make anything worth while (or maybe even of my mistakes).

Thank goodness my birthday is coming up- because I think I can avoid buying a whole mess of Wilton/cake decorating stuff. Just knowing there is a gift giving occasion on the horizon will keep me in check.

I think I have to bake a cake sometime between now and my third class- we have to bring one to our fourth, and final class. I want to practice splitting and leveling the cake- not to mention frosting it. So, guess my coworkers will have something yummy to snack on in a week or two...

Gold Medal Winner!

2008-09-04T17:31:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I participated in a cook-off at a friend's BBQ. There were several categories, but it should be no surprise to anyone that I chose the dessert category.

When I think BBQ, summer, and outdoors- I think fruity drinks, of the alcoholic variety. I'd had my eye on the Margarita Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for quite some time now, and thought this was the perfect occasion.

If you've ever cooked with a Vegan recipe or tried Vegan desserts before they can have a grainy texture that might turn off non-Vegans. I was a little worried about this, but the recipe (and the book for that matter) has great reviews all over the internet. So, I went for it.

Both the cupcakes and the frosting have lime and tequila in them. My frosting wasn't strictly vegan as I used butter (but you can definitely make it vegan frosting).

The cupcakes were a huge hit at the BBQ and as you can see- I won the dessert category. I don't have photographs of the cupcakes because they were a melty divided mess (having had to be cut into pieces to allow everyone to taste them). Just picture a light green frosting with a "rim" of green sugar sprinkles and a candy lime wedge (also not vegan) as a garnish. Mmmmm.

There were only five dessert entries, but given that the rest of them were chocolate, I'm pretty proud of myself for finishing first. My medal is hanging up in my kitchen as inspiration during all future baking sessions.

Sugar High Friday

2008-09-04T08:50:00.000-04:00

Foodbeam is throwing a Sugar High Friday party on my birthday!

What does this mean? Anyone out there who's so inclined should make cupcakes on or before Friday, September 26th. Be creative and make something out of your comfort zone- something unique and unexpected in cupcake form.

I'm brainstorming right now. What are you going to make?

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

2008-09-03T22:35:00.001-04:00

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Three weeks ago I purchased Hello, Cupcake! and I have been itching to use it. I didn't make anything from the book with this set of cupcakes, but I did use one of the techniques.

The recipe for these cupcakes came from the Cake Mix Doctor, as I saw it on How to Eat a Cupcake. The cupcakes were for the last softball game of the season (for my team) and earned great reviews.

Personally, I thought they were only ok. The recipe calls for Sour Cream, which I really hate. I swear I could taste the sour cream- my husband says I'm crazy. Next time, I think I'll try using vanilla yogurt instead.

Anyhow! The cupcakes have a half of an Oreo cookie baked on the bottom, and cookie crumbs baked throughout. They were super easy to make.

To frost the cupcakes I used store bought vanilla frosting which I melted for a few seconds (10 max) in the microwave. After melting the frosting, I dipped the cupcakes to coat them. Then I used Pull -n-Peel twizzlers cut to size for the "stitching" on the softballs.

Enjoy (Birthday)

2008-09-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

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I made this card for a friend's 30th birthday. I wanted something that went with the theme (well, my theme) for the night- my husband & I gave the birthday boy Guinness and home brewed beer as a gift and I'd made a delicious Guinness cake for the party. Thus, the beer on the card.

The Guinness itself was paper pieced. I cut out the beer and the foam first, and then used an Overhead (clear plastic sheets) to cut out the pint glass- and yes, I cut out two pieces (one for the back and one for the front) to make it more authentic.

After I put the pint together, I stamped the sentiment and went over it with a gel pen. I cut out the piece of paper to make it look like it was curved along the glass. Then I attached a ribbon to the sentiment using brads, and put the ribbon around the pint. The pint is raised off the paper using pop dots.

Finally, I stamped "30" in the upper left corner with Versamark and rounded my edges with a paper punch.

Too Cute

2008-09-03T22:26:00.000-04:00

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Another Baby card for another couple who is expecting. This time I knew it was a boy, so I felt more comfortable opting for a blue palette.

Tigger is cut using my Cricut. The sentiment is stamped and then gone over with a sparkly gel pen. Finally I added brads to the top, to draw the eye to the sentiment.

Good Luck (Shamrocks)

2008-09-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

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I made this card for a co-worker who recently graduated and has moved on to begin her new career.

There's no Cricut on this card- now there's a phrase I rarely use. I used a Sizzix die for the Shamrocks- and then hand cut the background shamrock shape (in ivory). Although you cannot see it in the photo, I used pop dots to make the middle shamrock stand out.

Good luck was stamped and then gone over in a sparkly gel pen. I added brads to draw the eye towards the sentiment.

Still Together

2008-09-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

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I made this card last month for my parents' wedding anniversary.

I kept the card basic because I didn't have a lot of time to work with, and I just really wanted to do something simple.

I cut out the heart and the little couple with my Cricut. Drew on the accents with gel pens and then stamped the sentiment. The inside of the card is stamped with "After all these years!" To finish it off, I used my corner rounding punch.

Cute as a Button

2008-09-03T22:08:00.000-04:00

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I made this card for some friends who we recently found out are expecting. I had just gotten my new Pooh Font cartridge and really wanted to use it.

This little Pooh was too cute to pass up. Since I have no idea if the baby is a boy or a girl, I stuck with neutral colors. I just love that rich green color.

I used a corner punch to round the corners and added buttons to accent the stamped phrase. Although you can't see it in the photo, I used a gel pen for Pooh's tongue.

2 Scoops are better than 1

2008-07-28T12:08:00.001-04:00

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I made this card for a Jack & Jill party that my husband and I attended a few weeks ago. As a gift, we got an ice cream maker and recipe book so I wanted a card that went with the theme.

I cut out the ice cream cone with my Cricut. I cut it out twice, and used only the scoop from the second cut. I ran the ice cream scoops through my Cuttlebug to texturize them, so that they would stand out from one another.

I stamped the sentiment, and used my gel pens to accent the ice cream cone, as well as the stamps.

I used vellum as the outside of the card, and placed the ice cream cone on the right edge, cutting away the vellum so that the ice cream cone served as the very edge of the card.