Ladybug Cupcake Toppers

Who doesn't love ladybugs??? And these were oh so cute and easy as pie! I made two dozen of these cupcake toppers for my friend Robin. Her daughter, Charli, was turning 2. Fun!

Materials needed: red and black fondant, a tiny amount of gum paste

Here are the tools I used: 
a small fondant roller with guide rings, a medium circle cutter, a small circle cutter, a Wilton #10 tip, a small bowl, and a pastry paint brush

Here's how I made them:

Step 1: I used the purple ring on my fondant roller to roll out the black. (I bought black fondant because it is time-consuming and messy to make.) I used a circle cutter the size of a cupcake to make 24 black bodies.

Step 2: I used a smaller circle to make 24 heads.

Step 3: I used a Wilton #10 tip to make a million dots! Ok, 6 x 24 isn't a million. This was the most tedious part. I sprayed a little Pam on my parchment to dip my tip in every few circles. And I used the opposite end of my decorating brush to poke the circles out if they got stuck. Line them up in groups of 6 to make counting much easier!

Step 4: I used the pink rings on my fondant roller to roll out the red. Then I used the same circle cutter I used for the black bodies. Then using a very sharp knife or bench scraper, cut them in half.

Step 5: In a very small bowl of hot water, dissolve a pea-sized amount of gum paste. Then, use a brush to "glue" dots on each red wing. One thing to know about gum glue- there will a sort of sheen on any part of the fondant that has gum glue on it, even when it dries. I covered most of the red surface on top with the glue, so it wouldn't look splotchy. Also, try not to get it too wet or your black may bleed on the red.

Step 6: Let dry. I dried mine overnight. I left all of it uncovered except for the heads. I still wanted them to be pliable the next morning.

Step 7: Attach the heads and bodies by using your gum glue liquid. I like to put glue on both surfaces before sticking the pieces together, but I'm not sure if it matters. Let dry a few minutes.

 Step 8: Attach the wings using gum glue. Let dry until they are secure. Done!

Here they are at the birthday party. Robin did a great job with the decor!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLI!

Wedding Shower Gift Plaque

My husband's cousin got married, and I made her one of those name plaques that are all over Etsy for $35-$60. The final cost of project was about $15, with some extra supplies for other plaques or crafts.
This is a super easy and cute project!

You'll need:
1 wooden plaque
any color acrylic paint (I used black)
sticky back vinyl for the Cricut (I used white)
Modge Podge
paint sponges
X-acto knife or rotary cutter
chalk and measuring tape
medium fine sandpaper
2 of those small rings that screw into the top (obviously don't know the technical name, see picture)
pliers
hammer, or heeled shoe :)

1. Paint the plaque. Let dry. Paint another coat. Let dry.
2. Sand the edges of the painted plaque for that distressed look.
3. Cut out the letters you need onto the vinyl. I made the first capital letter a 1/2 inch bigger than the other letters so they would stand out. I used two different fonts to cut out the letters. For the name, I used Lyrical Letters, and for the date I used Plantin' Schoolbook.
4. Don't take the letters off the backing yet.
5. For the line, cut a strip of vinyl using your X-acto or rotary cutter. I made mine longer than the plaque. Place it carefully in the middle of the plaque. Use X-acto to cut the length as desired on each side.
6. Place all of the letter exactly where you want them using the vinyl strip as a guide. Use a measuring tape to make sure each side is the same size. Do the same with the date at the bottom.
7. Once you are perfectly happy with the placement, take your chalk and make a mark on the side of each letter so that you can line it back up.
8. Carefully take the backing off each letter and place it in its spot.
9. If it looks wrong in any way, this is the time to adjust it!
10. When you are happy with it, take the Modge Podge and cover the entire visible surface of the plaque.
11. Let dry.
12. Take your hooks and attach them to the top of the plaque. I had to hammer them in first, then screw them in using my pliers. Make sure they are equidistant from the sides.
13. Attach your coordinating ribbon. I threaded it through each hook and then made a knot at the top.
14. If you want to keep your ribbon from fraying, just take a lighter and carefully singe the ends of the ribbon.

Here is the final product!

Twin Baby Shower Goodies

I was asked by my lovely sister-in-law to recreate the peapod cookies and cupcake toppers off of Hostess with the Mostess. As far as I can decipher, I believe the original design was from Sweeten Your Day in Utah. They were so cute! I was excited for the challenge. Her friend is expecting twins- a boy and a girl.

Using the pictures off of the site, I recreated them. Here's how:

COOKIES
I needed two batches of cookie dough and a double batch of royal icing for this project. (I used the royal icing for the cupcake toppers, too.)
Roll out and cut your cookies with a scalloped cookie cutter. The original design was a square, but I already had this cutter which was rectangular. Either spray your pan with Pam or use parchment. I had a few stick and fall apart on my first batch. Boo!
Bake them until you start seeing that golden brown on the edges- about 10-12 minutes.

Roll out and cut small circle cookies for the baby heads. I needed 12. Make sure you bake these separately  They don't take as long!!

For the icing:
I took out a good amount of white and put it in a piping bag (tip #3). Then, in 3 small bowls, I put a small amount of icing. In one bowl, I mixed in soft pink. In another, I used brown. And in the last, I used egg yellow.Make sure you cover these with a damp towel while you are mixing the others. I put these in piping bags with #3 tips.
Use the rest of the icing to make the green. I kept the icing in my stand mixer bowl, adding a small amount of  green and mixing it on med-high until I was happy with the color. Then make a piping bag (I used tip #4) with the green. Always keep your icing covered while not in use, even the tip of your piping bag!

Once the cookies have completely cooled, outline them with green.

 Once all of the cookies have green outlines, make your green flood icing. You should be done with the green outline icing, so empty your piping bag back into the bowl of green icing. To make your flood icing, add a teaspoon of water at a time to the green icing. Stir it until thoroughly mixed. Add water until you can drag your spoon through it and it goes back to its original shape in about 3 seconds. When you have the right consistency, cover it up and let it sit for at least 15 minutes. This will allow all the air bubbles to come up. Then, pull a spatula through the icing to get rid of the bubbles.

I use squirt bottles to flood my cookies, but you can also use a piping bag. Make another outline with this icing touching the outline that is already there. Try to cover any imperfections in your outline with the flood icing.

Then, fill in the rest. Use a toothpick to move the icing to fill in spots. Also use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles. 

 Let these sit at least 6-8 hours or overnight before decorating.

When the flood icing is dry, make the white scallop outline on each cookie. On the boy and girl cookies, attach a circle cookie to the corner with white royal icing. Then, use the brown to make the face on the circle. Add the bow or tuft of hair to the head. Finally, add the name!

For the "Sweet Peas," just do the scallop outline, then write "Sweet Peas," and last add the flower. Use your yellow to add the finishing dot.

Done! (Excuse the messy table in this pic, toddler at work!)

Your hand will probably feel like "the claw" by now. I know mine did. But it will go away. :)

CUPCAKE TOPPERS
I used a leaf cookie cutter to cut the peapods. To get a more rounded edge, I cut out a smaller shape than I wanted and then rolled them out a bit to flatten them. This also made them all slightly different shapes and sizes, which I like.
I then put them over a wooden spoon to get a curve. I let them sit for an hour or so, until they kept their shape. Once they kept their shape, I covered them up. That way, when I added the baby faces, they wouldn't be too brittle.

I then cut out and shaped small rectangles for the stems. I adhered them to the peapods with gum glue.
To make gum glue, dissolve a very small amount of gum paste in about a tablespoon or two of water. Use a food brush to brush it on.

I used a clay extruder that I bought off of Amazon to make the curly ques. I put a small amount of green in the extruder and used the seven-holed disc. After cranking, it made 7 at a time. Time saver! Twist the ends in between your fingers to bring them to a point. Then curl them around and let dry.

Next, to make the babies' heads, I used a small amount of copper food coloring to tint my fondant the flesh color. It looked orange at first, GASP!, but the more I worked it in, the more peachy it became.
I rolled it out and cut it out with a small circle cookie cutter. I rolled each circle into a ball and smashed it with my thumb to make the baby heads. Squish them together in pairs and attach them to the peapods with gum glue.

Now the details:
Using brown royal icing, I put two eyes on each baby face. I used a small heart cookie cutter to indent the smile into each face. Then on the girl baby, I added a small pink bow with pink royal icing.
Lastly, I attached the curly que to the top of the boy baby's head with gum glue.

Let dry. Cute, cute, cute!


Here are the tools I used for this project:
a clay extruder, a medium leaf cookie cutter, a wooden spoon, and a small Wilton fondant roller with guide rings

Bonkers for Beets

I grew up thinking beets were gross. I never even tried them. Something about the unnatural color and weirdness. But, about a year ago, I found out I LOVE beets. Mostly roasted beets. So, every time I go to a restaurant that has a beet salad on the menu, I have to have it!
I had the beet salad at Buchon in Las Vegas. Magical! I had the beet salad for our anniversary at Haven in Houston. Delicious! I make roasted beets regularly in my own home. And most recently, on our traditional dinner out at Ouisie's Table for Christmas (with bestie and her hubby), I had their beet and celery salad. Yum!

So, I am setting out to recreate it at home. Here is my attempt.

Ouisie's Roasted Beet and Celery Salad
1 package of salad greens
1-2 fresh beets, roasted and sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 orange, supremed into segments
 Lemony vinaigrette ( I used Marie's Lemon-Herb)

 To roast your beets, preheat your over to 425 degrees. Then, on a baking sheet, make a foil packet for your beets. I use Kelsey Nixon's technique. She puts a sheet on the bottom, puts the beets down, and then places another foil sheet on top. Then fold the foil together on all 4 sides. Roast them for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until tender.

When they are done, let them cool for a few minutes in their packet. Open it up carefully and let the steam escape.

Then use a paper towel to rub off the skins.

 Slice and cool in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad.

Use a vegetable peeler to peel the coarse part of your celery from the back of the stalks. Then slice thinly.

To supreme the orange, use a knife to cut the peel off the outside. Then cut between each membrane to get the orange segments.

Slice your beets into bite-sized pieces.

Assemble all ingredients on a salad plate.

Drizzle with vinaigrette. Add salt and pepper. Done!

We thought this salad was wonderful! I paired it with pasta, but it would be great with most main dishes!





Here's another variation I have made at home: so good!!

Using my mom's technique, I thinly slice a red onion and soak it in balsamic vinegar for a few hours. Add salt too!
Then, when it's time for dinner add your salad greens, sliced roasted beets, and sliced avocado. Top with your onions, but save that vinegar! Whisk together about a tablespoon of the vinegar with about 3 T olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad. Yummy!!

Crowd-pleasing Cole Slaw

One of my favorite meals is a big, juicy burger made by my hubby. We usually just eat chips as a quick and easy side, but I had been craving cole slaw. So, I took Bobby Flay's recipe and gave it a little tweek and found a winner. I made it again last night, and Justin can't get enough!

Creamy, Spicy Coleslaw

adapted from Bobby Flay's recipe

Veggies:
2 bags of rainbow slaw (We love this stuff! It really holds up, unlike cabbage. And a little healthier???)

3 scallions, chopped

Dressing:

3/4 c. mayo

2 T sugar

1 t celery seed

3 T apple-cider vinegar

1 T Sriracha chili sauce (or to taste)

salt and pepper

Combine all dressing ingredients in a large container (with a lid!). Whisk until smooth.  

Add rainbow slaw and scallions.

Put the lid on and SHAKE! 

You can eat this right away, but it's even better when it sits an hour or two in the fridge.  Enjoy!