Christmas Rapping (Wordddd)

No no...not rapping...wrapping. It just seemed like a good title at the moment.

I can't tell you WHAT I made for my homemade Christmas gifts this year (I'll make a post on them after Christmas) but I can tell you how I wrapped them. I wanted to do this post before Christmas in case it might come in handy and help a sista out. My gifts that I made are the strangest shapes, making it very hard to wrap them. I made the gifts this summer (haters gunna hate I guess...I take Christmas VERY seriously) and I decided that over Fall Break (yes...that was in the beginning of October) that I'd figure out the wrapping situation. I literally sat and pondered for forever trying to find a solution. I wanted it to be cute...that was very important. They were too weird of a shape to fit in bags and I definitely couldn't wrap them. I tried cellophane but, excuse the crude language, that was a pain in my BUTT!!!! Cellophane will NOT be in heaven. I know this because every good and perfect gift is from above. Cellophane is NOT good and it is NOT perfect. That's my logic on it at least. Carrying on...I went to Garden Ridge looking for a solution, but because it was October they didn't have any Christmas wrapping supplies out...makes sense I guess. I knew Hobby Lobby wouldn't fail me! When have they failed me before? NEVER! I made the long journey from East Memphis to Germantown and there was my solution...right before my eyes...with lights from heaven shining down up on it in the party decoration aisle. PLASTIC TABLE CLOTHS!

It was the greatest epiphany of all time! Tissue paper and other wrapping supplies that I looked at on the wrapping aisle were too small for my task. With table cloths, I could cut them to whatever size I wanted! They are like $2.99 each and they wrapped appx 4 items each. Pretty cheap! I also got some curly ribbon (comes already curled and I got 2 per package for $1.99...I also separated each one into 2 so I got 4 per package) and Santa gift tags (I actually found these things on the wrapping aisle). 

I simply wrapped my item with the table cloth, grabbed in in a wad at the top, tied a tight ribbon around it with a sturdy knot (being sure to add the tag at this point), then added the pretty, curly green ribbon! I'm so happy with the way they turned out. Who woulda thought? Table cloths!

Happy wrapping!

Worddddddddddddddddd

Give Thanks - Sweet Potato Cupcakes

Hello, again!! I hope everyone had a wonderful, beautiful, sweet Thanksgiving holiday. My husband and I had a wonderful weekend spending time with both of our sweet families. I have so much to be thankful for!

I spent a little while trying to figure out which delicious goodie I should make this Thanksgiving. After much deliberation I decided to make sweet potato cupcakes with marshmallow frosting. I've had them before but I can't remember where. I remember thinking that they sounded so weird, but, of course, it was love at first bite (like most things I consume). I found a recipe on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it out! They were SO yummy.

Here's the link to the recipe:

http://foodgawker.com/post/2009/11/20/43804/

Some notes:

• I baked 3 sweet potatoes in the oven on 400 the night before, took off the skin, then threw them in my Kitchen Aid mixer to mash them up. I then kept them in a tupperware container in the fridge over night so they'd be ready to go the next day. Definitely worth it not having to do that the day I made them. 
• I didn't toast the marshmallow frosting like it said to. Like many people, I don't have a torch laying around my kitchen.
• I think I mixed the marshmallow frosting too long. I would NOT peak like it was supposed to. I mixed it for over 20 minutes, watching it the whole time. It peaked a little bit, but not like it was supposed to. I eventually got way too bored staring at it in the mixer and went ahead and piped it onto my cupcakes with an icing bag. It all shlunked (in honor of The Grinch) down into the cupcake cup and didn't hold its shape though. It made me glad that I didn't fill the cupcake cups entirely up with batter. All of the icing would've fallen off without the rim of the cup and made a HUGE mess.
• The marshmallow frosting tastes a LOT like 7 Minute frosting. Just as messy to make, unfortunately. MMMMMMMM
• It made 24 cupcakes and 6 mini cupcakes (for me...you know...to sample and make sure they were alright)
• After I iced them, I sprinkled some light brown sugar onto them and added a fondant leaf/acorn. I made those with fondant (Mary Carter/Hobby Lobby/Michaels), color gel (same places), and cookie cutters.

And here are some pics!

They're not the prettiest creations I've ever made but they're definitely delicious. Perfect for fall or the holidays!! Sweet potato cupcakes were definitely something I was thankful for this year :)

And here's another goodie I made the same day for a sweet family. They were celebrating multiple birthdays on Thanksgiving day.

Visit my cake website if you get the chance!

www.katiecupcakes.weebly.com

And here are a few pics from our Thanksgiving: Hedgepeth/Cave style (with a little Gangnam Style thrown in)

Happy baking!

Nerds/Ewok Costumes & Ghost Cake

My 3rd favorite holiday has arrived!! Halloween! Last year my dad and I made Lego people costumes for Matt and I to wear to a Fall Retreat for the Jr High at our church (Matt led music and I just went along for moral support). We had a costume party! This was a few days after Halloween so we actually had 2 costumes last year. We couldn't reveal this one until after Halloween.

This year I made...wait for it...a Nerds costume! I saw it on Pinterest and knew that that was our costume. Matt didn't say yes...but he didn't say no either. When I was done he loved it (or at least he said he did). How could he not? 

What you'll need:

2 pieces of foam core board

2 boxes that will fit around your body

Light purple acrylic paint

Darker purple acrylic paint

Dark purple acrylic paint

Hot pink acrylic paint

Light pink acrylic paint

White acrylic paint

Black Sharpie

Mod Podge

E-6000 glue

Hot glue

Scissors

White yarn

Nerd glasses

Pink shirt 

Purple shirt

I free-handed this onto the foam core boards. After I was finished I Mod Podged the whole thing to protect it a bit.

 I went to Michaels and they had a cart full of boxes.  It was raining the day I was looking for little boxes so all of the ones outside were wet. These were inside and just what I needed. I asked an employee if they were going to throw them away. She said yes so I asked her if I could have some and she reluctantly nodded yes. I was getting them off the cart when another employee came over and asked if she could help me (NOT in a nice way...she seemed mad). I told her I had permission to do what I was doing and she, again, reluctantly said it was fine. Then ANOTHER employee came up to me and did the same thing!! I felt like I was in trouble but I asked if it was ok! It was garbage! So just letting you know...be prepared when getting boxes from Michaels. It was totally worth it, though. They were the perfect size! Heh.

I cut the boxes so one side attached to the foam core board and then the other 3 sides wrapped around my body. I painted the sides the deep purple.   

 I love this glue! It does wonders!

 I left one side larger so it could keep the foam core board steady. None of the other sides had writing so they were so easy to paint over.

 I attached 2 strands of rope to both sides to sit on the shoulder. I attached it with duct tape, hot glue, and E-6000 glue. It's pretty sturdy.

I had to make sure that they sit on the same spot on Matt and me so that when we stood next to each other they were even. I love how this costume turned out! 

Add some nerdy glasses and pink/purple shirts and tada!! You're officially a nerd.

I got the pink shirt for me at Burlington for $7 and the purple tshirt for Matt at Target for $4 (it was on sale...yay).

I got the glasses here for $3.98 (including shipping):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BPUKUM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Matt is already a nerd and just wore his Raybans that he wears everyday. I didn't have to get him any.

In addition to our costume, I made our dog Elphie a costume. I couldn't leave her out!! Last year she was mustard (although I didn't make that one). At our first Halloween event last year we went as a hotdog, ketchup, and mustard. Here's a pic of our happy family:

Believe it or not, I got that hot dog costume for FREE at a garage sale. We got there when they were closing up and they just gave it away. Best find ever! The red tshirt was the best I could do with Matt...and by "best I could do" I mean that's all he'd wear. Oh well...me and Elph looked good.

Anyways...this year she was an Ewok!! I made this costume out of materials I got at Hobby Lobby. 

Here's a real Ewok:

Shih-Tzu's are known to look like Ewoks and Matt loves Star Wars. I thought it was too funny not to make!

Here are some pics of her at her first fitting. Hahaha. I let her hair grow out from then until Halloween so she'd look more Ewok-like (I definitely made this in the summer).

Who could resist that face? Hahaha...love that dog.

And here are some pics from Halloween when her hair grew out!

Of course, in addition to our costumes, I had to make a delicious goodie!!

About a year ago I had a Muddy's (yummm) cupcake that I just fell in love with. It's called "Hot Chocolate". It's a chocolate cake with 7 Minute Frosting and a little piece of Hershey's chocolate. They only have it during the holidays, though...so sad. Anyways, it was love at first bite. I had never had 7 Minute Frosting before and my taste buds jumped out of my mouth and went and had a party. Their time had finally come. I knew I had to make it!! It only took me a year to get around to it.

When looking for delicious Halloween goodie ideas, I found a picture of a cute ghost cake, also on Pinterest. I needed a light, fluffy icing that held its shape (and I wasn't sure that my buttercream would do the trick). I then remembered my love for 7 Minute Frosting, found a recipe on Pinterest (as usual) and decided that this was my perfect chance!

Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/275274/classic-frosting-recipes#/284551

THIS STUFF IS SO STICKY AND MESSY!!! Let that be my warning to you. Twas, however, TOTALLY worth it. I've never had to cook my icing before, but there's a first time for everything! I put the icing in an icing bag with a 12 tip to make the ghosts and used nonpareils for the eyes.

It tasted perfect with my chocolate cake!! Here's a pic!

MMMMMMMMMM

Hope yall had a wonderful Halloween!! Until next time :)

Dorm Crafts

3 posts in 1 day? I must be crazy! This is a quick post, however. I meant to do it back in August but looks like I forgot. Before my sister-in-law Anna went to college she came over and we had a craft day! We made all sorts of crafts for her dorm room at Cornell University.  I was so excited because I even got to go with my in-laws to take her to college all the way up in Ithaca, NY (only 17 hours away...no big deal). 

Here are a few pics!

 We got this frame at Hobby Lobby and just glued the black and white polka-dotted flower on it. Probably the easiest thing you could possibly do. Look how cute!

 Lookin good craftin

 I made this initial from scrapbook paper and this letter. We got all of our supplies at Hobby Lobby. I cut out strips of paper and put them on the letter until it was covered and Mod Podged everything into place. I cut out the circles with my fancy circle cutters then Mod Podged them on top! 

Note: Her dorm decorations were all black, white, and red (AKA Cornell colors)

I had her Mod Podge a bunch of pics onto canvases. In the middle one she painted polka dots and Mod Podged a picture of her and her boyfriend in the center (with some scrapbook paper behind it). 

Her desk.

 We got that little bulletein board at Hobby Lobby and I wrote her monogram on it with a Sharpie!

Here are some crafts she made for her boyfriend, who goes to Mississippi State.

The bottom picture has Jeremiah 29:11 written around it. 

 I love her!

Anddddd a few pics of the Cornell campus because it's so beautiful!