Saw a picture similar to this one day while cruising pinterest... thought it would be a clever gift for our "little" brother... was super simple to do:
Place styrofoam or floral foam in the bottom of a box (can make with card stock or wrap a small box.) Fill with 30 (40) suckers... label was made by typing, printing and mounting the sentment "30 sucks". (Can do 40 sucks, etc).
Tada!
ok, I know, its Thursday, but it’s pretty nice out here, so we’re spending the time outside and getting some seeds planted inside…the kids are way excited to see that the broccoli we planted last Thursday is already growing!
So, on to the tutorial. I like cake pops, but hate the sweetness. I wanted to try Rice Krisipie ones, but no one had a great tutorial on the internet, so I made my own. After a little experimenting and a sleepless night freaking out about it, I finally just got up and made these. They were a hit!
Don’t you love the bright blue color? that would be my son’s favorite! Here’s how I did it. Mix up your Rice Krispie treats like it says on the package. Next roll them into balls, stick the cake pop stick in a little bit of the melted candy melts and connect ball to stick :) Then place them upside down on a plate and place them in the fridge for at least a few hours before dipping.
You can still reshape them a little once you have cooled them, but the hold together much better for dipping this way. Also, these are definitely not as smooth as regular cake pops, so if you want something to be perfect, go with the regular cake pops. Once they are cooled, dip and decorate like you would any other cake pop!
We did blue with cow sprinkles and made brown cows (no they are NOT pigs, even though they look like it!)
Trust me, these tasted WAY better than a cake pop, not nearly so sweet! Give it a try, other bonus…not near as much messing around as a regular cake pop!
plus, they made the birthday boy really happy!
(notice the blue pancakes too?)
Ok, I know its Wednesday, but better late than never! Wanted to quick share a favorite old craft that is quick and easy... making photo magnets!
Whenever I go to home shows or whatever, I collect the free magnets, then take them home and repurpose them...
Simply chose a favorite photo, add adhesive to the back, and stick to the magnet! Then just trim away the extra.
We've all seen where they make those shaped crayons on Pinterest (because by now, you are all pinterest followers, right!). Sunday we celebrate my son’s 5th birthday (which is actually today!), and of course this year his theme was Hawkeye, even though the rest of us are all Cyclone fans, how this happened I am not quite sure! So, the first thing I did was gather up all my loose crayons in the drawer, and made some Hawkeye crayons.
The process really is quite easy. First you peel all the crayons. Biggest hint, the cheap crayons peel very easily, Crayola crayons do not.
I found that if I soaked them over night they came off a little bit easier, and then you could just rub off that gummy layer. I think they are glued or waxed on or something.
Next you cut them into little pieces and place them in an oven safe silicone mold.
I am not exactly sure where my sassy sister picked this up, but I know it was in Des Moines over Black Friday shopping. I got a LOT of use out of these molds this weekend!
Once your crayon molds are all filled, throw them on a pan and into a 230 degree oven for 15 minutes. They should melt by then, but you may have to add a few minutes depending on your brand of crayons. Here, the Crayola ones melted the quickest and the smoothest. The crayons will kinda separate out, with the more waxy brands (cheapest) going to the top and the Crayola ones on the bottom. Overall, I kinda liked the affect, gave it a multilayered look, even though they may have all been blue or pink or yellow or black.
Once they are all melted, take them off the pan and let the silicone tray sit somewhere cool. After they are completely hardened, pop them out. It’s really just that easy! You can do all sorts of things like even doing al different color crayons too if you want.
Then, after the tray was washed, we used it to make ice cubes, jello, and little chocolate candies for the cupcakes.
Don’t you love these cupcakes? They were a compromise for my mom and son who share the same birthday. She kept telling him that he was going to have a Hawkeye cake with pink flowers, so instead we dyed the frosting a light pink, swirled it like a flower and put on the little chocolate Hawkeyes. They both liked them! If you want the recipe for these Samoa cupcakes, you can find it at this website. Word of caution though. Let your caramel sauce cool completely before you start adding powdered sugar. I didn’t let mine cool enough and therefore kept trying to add more powdered sugar to get it harder. It ended up with way too much sugar in the end and was no longer light, more dense. We did have cake though too, made by our friend Lindsay. Isn’t it awesome (kinda like my son’s smile!)
Oh, and finally I did have home made ice cream too, some people requested the recipe, so here it is. I adapted the recipe a little from the Lauren's Latest website. I forgot to take a picture, but she has one on the website.
Here it goes:
A few hours in advance, place the ice cream maker bowl into the freezer to completely freeze, I actually just store mine in the freezer so it is always ready to go.
In a large bowl or measuring cup, stir all ingredients together except coconut and mini chips until combined. I used a whisk to ensure everything was thoroughly combined.
Place the frozen ice cream bowl and paddle onto the machine and cover with the clear lid. Turn the machine on and pour the ice cream base through the top of the machine into the moving bowl.
Churn 15-20 minutes until everything is frozen and smooth, adding coconut and chocolate chips over the last few minutes. I usually then transfer to another bowl and freeze it in the freezer for at least a few hours to get a better texture, but you can go ahead and eat it right away. Store in the freezer until ready to serve.
K, so that was a bit of an overload today, but hope you enjoyed it all!
