Sweet Creations by Stephanie

Beach Cookies

2012-02-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that it's February in SoCal... our temps have been in the mid to high 70's for the last week except for 1 day that we had a storm blow over and leave us trace amounts of rain (enough to make the roads dirty & my white car brown).

This set of cookies would be great for a "Welcome Summer" party or pool/beach party.

I used a square cutter and cut 2 sides at a slant so they would

look like surf trunks.

The Flip flop cutter - I've also used this to make Golf Shoe cookies

Beach scene was made on a scalloped square cutter

I added turbiano sugar to the sand after flooding the sand and letting it sit about 10 minutes.

Valentine Letters

2012-02-08T13:17:00.000-08:00

Love Letters

My mom asked me if I would make cookies for her "shut -in's" and co-workers. I saw some "love letter" cookies on Pinterest and they were so cute. They worked up very quickly and would be a great beginner cookie.

Small heart - same heart as I used for the Cowboy Valentine

Start with a rectangle cookie

Pipe a rectangle

Let it dry for 20-30 minutes

Flood the rectangle

Let it sit 20-30 minutes

Pipe a "\" across from the corners

Repeat in the other direction

Pipe a heart in a cordinating color & fill..

Easy as that... 1-2-3.

Cowboy Love

2012-02-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

I had every intention to blog this set of cookies earlier today from my sisters but her Ipad didn't want to cooperate with my blog pics & I was forced to sit back and enjoy the day instead:) This set was made especially for them because both of them love good ole' country. I made 2 shades of Cake Craft Super Burgandy & mixed Chocolate Brown with a touch of black for the hats.

His Initials

Her initials

My nephew's initials (couldn't leave him out)

I covered up a mistake..the heart on the hat was made with icing

that was too thin. I let it set up and then outlined it with stiff brown icing.

It wasn't the look I was going for but it worked.

Rolling on dowels makes the thickness the same every time!

Wishing NZ, BZ & SZ a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Valentine Cupcakes

2012-02-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is right around the corner...8 days to go! I purchased heart sparklers from Jilly Bean Kids a few weeks ago & thought they would be cute in cupcakes. I gave 2 away in my Sweet Valentine Giveway & then gave the rest to our friend's teenage daughter. She thought they were "cool".

It's been a while since I've used a sparkler so I had Juls assist me in

getting it started - (yes I'm a chicken)

For some reason I thought the whole thing would be a

sparkler at once

Have you tried my favorite buttercream recipe? I use it exclusively, even to decorate with. I don't even have crisco in the house... it can be done in all BUTTER despite what Wilton teachers tell you :) I've had this recipe stand up in high temps of 85, in the sunshine with no melting... it works perfectly.

Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream

(click here to print)

Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream: (makes 6 cups)4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 lbs sifted powder sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cream, milk or water
1 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Cream butter, add liquids & salt... add in powder sugar slowly. Mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Note: You can alter this with any extract to make different flavors or add fruit puree

Icing Colors

2012-02-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, LilaLoa posted a blog "Show Me Your Icing Colors" so it got me thinking about my experience with colors. For a long time I thought Wilton was the only food dye available because they were the only dyes I could find in Michaels, JoAnn's, Walmart & Sur La Table. The hardest thing about these is once you mix a color, it's hard to replicate the exact color if you run out. At one point (don't laugh) I even bought food safe squeeze bottles & tried to put the Wilton dye in the squeezable bottles. It was messy & I swore I'd never do it again.

Then I saw this post by The Decorated Cookie, "All about Food Coloring" and I didn't waste any time to place an order for SQUEEZE BOTTLE dye by Americolor! I started out ordering the .75oz bottles, about 12 at a time, primary's first then added the pinks, teals, electric colors, etc. Now I wish that I had ordered a small bottle & large bottle at the same time. I refill my .75 bottles with the larger ones because of my storage space and the small bottles travel better when I go to a friends to decorate. Duplicating colors is much easier, just count the drops you use and you can match batch by batch.

Even though I have every AmeriColor out there, I still use a few of Wilton's colors because I haven't been able to replicate the shade with AmeriColor. My favorite Wilton colors are : Moss Green & Royal Blue. I tried AmeriColor black powder dye once...I won't buy it again. I was not happy with the results. It looked almost purple to me even after sitting overnight.

I have a few bottles of Cake Craft Dye . I found the Super Burgandy when I was trying to mix fuschia for a project. Again, not a fan of using a toothpick to dye frosting & fondant but the Super Burgandy made a beautiful shade of fuschia - hard shade to create. I also bought Cake Craft Apricot and it's a beautiful shade of orange.

I store my dyes in plastic containers in case the lids fall off, I would hate to have it spill and get all over my cabinet. The small dye bottles fit perfectly in a Snaplock container & the larger 4.5 oz bottles in a plastic garmet box. Duff's Graffiti spray is also stored in my larger garmet box along with a few candy writers. I would love to have a rolling rack for my dyes but have no storage room for such a thing. Check out all the cool storage ideas on LilaLoa's Facebook page if you haven't already.

all my dye & graffiti spray

Candy Writers, large dye bottles & graffiti spray

Small dye bottles for daily use

A few things about dye:

1. Icing colors intensify or darken in buttercream icing about 1-2 hours after mixing

2. If you get it on countertops, use a little bleach and it will lift it right out

3. Colored fondant intesifies overnight. Best to dye it the night before using. When dying fondant,

dye a small ball then add white fondant to it until you get the color you want.

4. If you are trying to make black frosting, start with a chocolate buttercream, then add black to it.

You will use less dye because the icing is already brown.

How do you store your dyes? Leave a comment with a link to your blog or post on my Facebook wall! We would love to see everything out there.

Happy Birthday to the LOVE of my life!

2012-02-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

My husband's birthday is on Groundhog's Day and I really wanted to make Groundhog cookies for his special day but ran out of time. Sweet Sugarbelle (my idol - go visit her blog if you haven't already) made the cutest cookies and when I commented on them she suggested I add a birthday hat on her design... no time to get them done so maybe I'll try next year.

Happy Birthday Juls! So thankful to grow old with you!

Stony Brook, NY

October 2011

Sweet Valentine Giveaway WINNER!!

2012-02-01T17:05:00.000-08:00

Congratulations!!
MONICA is the winner of

the Sweet Valentine Giveaway!

Please contact me at

sweetcreationsbystephanie@gmail.com

so I can mail your goodies!

Thanks you to all that entered!!

Sweet Valentine's Giveway

2012-01-29T14:19:00.000-08:00

Win a Valentine's Bundle from yours truly... my way of thank you for all your lovely comments & inspiration.

I've purchased all the items in this giveaway, this is not a sponsored contest. The bundle includes Heart Sparklers & bakers twine that I found on Jilly Bean Kids, a cupcake corer, heart plate, heart sprinkles and one of my favorite books, 1 Mix, 100 Cakes.

The contest will close Wednesday, February 1st at 5:00 p.m. PST. Drawing will be picked by Random.org number generator & annouced at that time.

It's easy to Enter:

1. Enter a comment at the bottom of this post telling me why you would
like to win

2. Click on the Facebook link here to share Sweet Creations by
    Stephanie's page.  Leave a comment on there letting me know
    that you've done so.
My Great Web page

Good luck!

Stephanie

Sweet Baby Owls

2012-01-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

My last few blog posts were lacking, I know & I'm sorry for that. You remember this post where I mentioned our family was waiting for a little special boy to be born...well my nephew was born Friday, the 13th of January & we are in ♥ with him. He and his parents live an hour south of us but I've been to see him several times (what? why mail his birth annoucements, hand delivery is so much better) in the last 2 weeks and I've been walking around in a happiness daze and not paying attention to my blog...but I'm backkkkkkkk and ready to blog. Lots of fun things to share with you, a few tutorials, cookies, cakes, cupcakes and coming up quickly... Valentine's Day!

Auntie & Sal ♥

13 hours old

So far it's been a year of babies, baby shower last week and another this week. Last week was jungle theme and this week Owl theme. The party decor to Welcome Kami's was this:

So cute! I think this cake is one of my favorites that I've made in the last year or so

The owls have such character & we're so fun to create

I cut lines into the wings then painted on diluted food dye in the cracks

Letters cut with Cricut Cake Mini & Wilton Sugar Sheets

Hello Kitty Cookies

2012-01-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

My sister emailed me this week asking if I had time to make a dozen Hello Kitty "Get Well" cookies for her cousin-in-law that was having surgery & allergic to flowers...how could I say no?

She wanted them to look like these from The Art of the Cookie.

I wish I had a Kopykake to make cookies easier but I don't, so I'll show you how I make mine with a template.

You will need:

cookie, flooded & dry

sharp object (I found a roasting pin works best or a Booboo stick)

template cut out of your design

Royal icing in white, yellow & black (optional)

Black Americolor marker (optional)

I started by poking a hole in the middle of the cookie

so I could center my template

Center

Center your template

Using a sharp object gently trace the template

so it leaves a scratch on your cookie. If you poke a hole don't worry, icing will

fill it in and cover it.

see the light marks?

Outline your cookie with icing

Let it sit for about 10 minutes

Flood your cookie

I cheated and made bows with left over royal icing

so I dropped them right on the wet icing

Hello Kitty's bow

Drop 2 black pearls for eyes or pipe with black royal icing

Pipe a yellow nose

Once it's dry use an americolor marker and draw

whiskers on the kitty

Jungle baby shower

2012-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome Connor!

Coordinating Fondant pearls

Giraffe print tutorial here

Tutorial: Giraffe Cupcake Toppers

2012-01-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

For Giraffe toppers you will need:

yellow fondant

brown fondant

scissors or knife

rolling pin with 1/8" bands

circle cutter (whatever diameter you wish to use)

Roll the brown to 1/8" thick

Cut it up in random pieces. Try not to disturb the pieces.

Cover it with syran wrap while rolling the yellow

Roll the yellow fondant to 1/8" thick

lay out the brown pieces on top of the yellow and roll bottom to top, then left to right. If you look close at the bottom half, you will see I got some of my pieces too close together.

Cut with your circle cutter or whatever shape you wish to use

and there you have it...a Giraffe cupcake topper that

looks just like Michael, the newest addition at our local zoo

photo from Edhat.com

Ninjago...Ninja what?

2012-01-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

My friend, Karrine texted me asking if I'd make her son a few cupcakes for his Birthday. I asked her what theme and she said "Ninjago & blue is his favorite color". I told her "Sure, but what's Ninjago?" Little did I know he was a Lego figure.

I had never heard of him... but with a quick google search I figured it out and got to work

Happy 7th Birthday Ebin! Hope you had fun with your friends at Golf N' Stuff!

Trains

2012-01-16T13:14:00.000-08:00

Jake thought his train cake was pretty neat. I'm surprised his little fingers didn't find their way into the cake before the party. I added a little green & grey but really tried to stick to the invitation & party good colors - red & blue. All the party favors she made were so cute...train whistles, conductor hats, bandanas & bubbles. Everything tied together perfectly!

Laura used invites from here: Train Invitations

photo courtesy of http://www.paperstyleco.com/

Letters cut with my Cricut Cake Mini and Sugar Sheets from Wilton

We had to make a custom box to transport this to the party

the board I cut was 20" x 15"

Choo Choo

and Cookies!!

Happy 1st Birthday Nathan

Happy 3rd Birthday Jake!

Tutorial: Shell Cookie

2012-01-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the things that look the hardest to do, aren't so hard afterall. The shell cookie takes about a minute to complete, that's how easy it is.

With 20 second icing, pipe lines across the cookie

Take a toothpick and drag it from the top down to

the bottom center. Wipe your toothpick clean on a napkin

Continue until the entire cookie has scallops across

fill the bottom in with the color of your choice

Dollars, Starfish & Shells..Oh MY

2012-01-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Living in SoCal has it's perks.. sure it may be pricey to live a few miles from the Pacific Ocean but

temps in the high 70-low 80's in January - a definite PERK!

We've been having great weather, beach weather the entire 1st week of January and is continuing this week.

I saw these by Cookie Artisan and was intrigued to try them myself. Love how they came out, I will be sharing these with my hairdresser this week since she is a BEACH-lover!

Sand Dollar - couldn't find a sand dollar cutter so I used a

circle cutter w/ knife to make 5 indentions around the

outside prior to baking

After you fill, let them sit about 30 minutes, then pipe the center "flower"

Flood with lines across, then while still wet, drag a toothpick from the top down to the bottom center

to create the scallop effect.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine as much as I am!!

Little Cowboy Turns ONE!

2012-01-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday Tanner!

Cow topper instructions can be found here

I bought Duff's Wood Texture tile at Michael's a few days ago. It worked perfect & was easier than

using a knife and pin to make the wood grain.

This is what I designed the cupcakes after... This Lil' Cowboy turned 1.

Tutorial: Fondant Cowboy Cupcake Toppers

2012-01-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

Cowboy themed cupcake toppers can be made almost exactly how I made Camo toppers last year. These remind me of Woody's shirt in Toy Story - which happens to be one of my favorite movies. I'll be using these for a Cowboy 1st Birthday this coming weekend.

You will need:

Roller with pink spacers

Circle cutter -whatever size you wish to use

White fondant

Brown or Black fondant

1. Roll your white fondant

2. Break apart your brown fondant, roll it around in different shapes

and lay it on the white fondant

3. Roll the brown into the white. Roll in different

directions to get loppy blobs (making up words here)

4. After rolling it looks like this

5. Cut your topper out with your circle cutter

6. Place on wax paper

7. Use royal icing or fondant & put a name or age on the topper.

I used Royal Icing for mine.

8. Ready to go on cupcakes!

Hello 2012!

2011-12-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to say "HELLOOOOOOOOOO 2012?"

I am & I think most our family is because in the next 4 weeks

my nephew will be born. I feel like the crazed auntie already - someone please take away my debit card! I'm kidding - just feels good to be buying things for him now that's it's nearly time for him to arrive. After he is here, then things can slow down for a bit before my sister, brother in law & nephew to be depart on an overseas journey for the next few years. Good thing I've learned how to ship cookies ;-)

Do you see my newest cutter - Gingerbread Mickey! My friend bought him for me at Disneyland (Anaheim) the week before Christmas. I couldn't wait to use him so I threw him in with my New Years cookies. The Mickey below I flooded with out an outline - worked pretty good and didn't run over but I think I still prefer to pipe an outline & flood within the lines.

Mickey says "Happy New Year!"

Scallop cutter turned into a clock

Dragees that I bought in New York early fall

My royal icing work has come a long way since last year ago when I made these

I buy my disco dust from Karen's Cookies

The big 2011 cutter was a circle scallop cutter that I bent to an oval shape

Monocromatic chevrons - fell in love with chevrons while

planning my sister's baby shower

Wishing you all a happy, healthy & prosporous

2012!

Happy Birthday Kim

2011-12-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Kim is a Christmas Eve baby... not wanting to go the Christmas themed cake for her I decided to make a white rose with fondant. After it sat for about 2 hours, I sprayed it first with Duff's Pink Graffiti spray then topped it with Duff's Gold Graffiti spray. I love that stuff! I gave the cake & leaves a light spray to give them shimmer as well.

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookies

2011-12-22T20:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I lied.. I was NOT done baking cookies but just finished til 1/1/12.

Standing in line at Starbuck's today I was reminded how great all the baristas are each morning when I am suffering from late night decorating "hangover" and need to wake up so I can face the office.

I used a recipe that I remember my mom making for us as kids. The recipe title is "Cowboy Cookies". I have no idea why they are called that, Mom? Grams? anyone in the family know why? I thought it was my great grandma's recipe but Grams doesn't think so.

I still prefer oatmeal chocolate chip cookies over just chocolate chip cookies on most days.

Grams had leftover peppermints from her cookie baking so I took them from her to use them up

Healthy cookies right? Oatmeal is so good for you

Mixture ready to scoop

Scoop cookies & place on cookie sheet

Add crushed peppermints to the top

Bake for 15 minutes and you have some pretty yummy cookies

Glass of milk & Cookies... perfection!

Cowboy Cookies (makes 3-4 dozen)

click here to print recipe

2 cups flour

1 tsp soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

12 oz pkg chocolate chips

Blend together butter & sugars. Add eggs & beat until light & fluffy. Mix dry ingredients in seperate mixing bowl. Add to eggs & sugar. Add flour & oats. Add chocolate chips last. Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes.

Shimmering Christmas Cookies

2011-12-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

Here is my last set of Christmas cookies.. I am now officially done baking for the Christmas Season!!

All bottles & tips are clean... all cookie sheets are put away. This years cookies were so much easier than last years. Last year my royal did something funky when it dried. I look back now and think my mixing bowl probably had residual grease in it which does not get along with royal icing. Now I wash it twice before using it with royal icing. I also have decorating tips just for royal icing - never use them with buttercream!

Have you tried Duff's Graffiti spray? I love it. I use it on my fondant pearls and saw a recent post by Sugarbelle so I tried it. I like the effect but am not sure it works with the snowmen cookies. I like it better on the holly cookies. What do you think?

before the spray

sprayed..not as vibrant but shimmery

I used Gold on the Holly cookies

I think this looks really pretty

before & after

My conclusion is it works well on some cookie styles but not all...some are better left untouched.

Merry Christmas!!

Gingerbread & Snowmen Cookies

2011-12-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Christmas is in 3 days? I can't...where has this year gone?

I have one more set of Christmas cookies that I just finished and will blog tomorrow

and then I'm done!! Presents are all wrapped under the tree, grocery shopping done for Christmas Eve & Christmas breakfast/dinner.. looking forward to spending this holiday with those that are here

and will miss those that are not.

I made this set of cookies for a co-worker. She knit some very cute beanies for my soon-to-be-nephew so I made her some cookies in trade. She showed me a catalog with gingerbread men that had a bite out of them so I copied that look with my gingerbread cutter & a scallop cutter. See the middle guys leg... oops, he's missing his foot. The snowmen were really easy, the blush is petal dust that I applied with a small brush. Rosie cheeks bring them to life.

Hope you are all ready to sit back and enjoy Christmas!

Gingerbread Cupcakes

2011-12-21T09:54:00.000-08:00

It's so fun to decorate gingerbread men and give them their own little personalities. Keeping it simple was my motto this Christmas season. I was making cookies & needed some cupcake toppers so I used my mini gingerbread man cutter and made the little cuties you see below.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream

Snowflake Cupcakes

2011-12-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

If you read yesterday's post you can make these too!

Didn't them come out beautiful?

Chocolate cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream

perfect for your favorite Starbucks partners

Hope they enjoy them

One of my obsessions... Disco Dust / Pixie Dust

It makes everything sparkle

Tutorial: Royal Icing Snowflakes

2011-12-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

Every friend is like a snowflake, unique in beauty and design. Each sparkles in a different way—some are playful, some refined. But, unlike fragile snowflakes that fade when the sun appears, friends grow even more beautiful with every passing year. ~ Author unknown

I want to wish all my friends in blogland a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! You inspire me day after day and make my hobby that much more fun!

We don't see snowflakes in our area so I like to make snowflake cookies or cupcake toppers. I had royal icing left over from cookie decorating on Friday night so I pulled out some wax paper, disco dust and a Wilton tip #2. Make more than you need, because they are fragile and may break. I also made little dots to add as an accent to the cupcakes.

Wilton tip #2 on top of CK 2oz Squeeze Bottle

and Rainbow Disco Dust in shaker

20 second Royal icing

Shakers are great! Have you tried them?

You can't see the wax paper but it's there. If you have trouble freehanding the snowflake

you can draw a snowflake and place the drawing under your wax paper as a guide. It is helpful to cut squares of wax paper instead of using a large sheet like I did. This allows you to remove the wax paper carefully and not break others.

1. Pipe the first line

2. Pipe the 2nd line

3. Pipe the 3rd line

4. Pipe the 4th line

5. Add a V shape to each of the larger lines

6. keep going aroudn til all 4 larger lines have a V

7. Done

8. Sprinkle Disco Dust

9. Let them dry for at least 24 hours, if not 48 hours. I put mine on a metal cookie sheet

then set it on top of my stove (gas pilot) because it's warm and they tend to dry within 24 hours.

To remove from the wax paper, gently pull the wax paper downwards, away from the snowflake. Pull each corner by itself. Do not try to pull from one direction, it will break.

10. Embellish your frosted cupcakes or cake

Gluten Free Cupcakes

2011-12-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Today is my friend’s Birthday

So I baked her up some Gluten Free Cupcake treats!

Recipe made up rather easily. I didn’t make my own Almond Meal (been there, done that) thanks to Bob’s Red Mill. I used their almond flour & baking soda – all Gluten Free.

I piped the letters of her name with royal icing & a #2 Wilton tip on wax paper and dusted them with disco dust. Disco Dust makes everything better!

fresh out of the oven in foil liners

Disco Dust can be bought at Karen's Cookies

Happy Birthday Susana!

May your year be filled with love, health & happiness!

Yellow Cake (makes one cake layer or 8 cupcakes)

(click here to Print recipe)

adapted from http://www.comfybelly.com/

Ingredients

3 large eggs
4 tablespoons of sugar (or any other sweetner
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 cup of oil
1/2 tablespoon of vanilla
1 cup of almond flour (finely ground, blanched almonds)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Prepare an 8 inch round cake pan with nonstick spray and then cut out a circular piece of parchment paper to place on the bottom of the pan. This cake will stick if you don't do this.
Separate the egg yolks and whites. Place the yolks in a separate mixing bowl, and then beat the egg whites with the until it’s just starting to get bubbly. If you whip until peaks form the middle of the cake will fall .
To the yolks add the sugar/sweetner, baking soda, oil, vanilla, and whisk to blend well.
Add the lemon juice to the egg yolk batter and whisk to blend well.
Fold the whipped egg whites into the yolk mixture, and then finally add the almond flour to the batter and whisk to blend well.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the center is not soft and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge so it will release easily.
Frost with your favorite frosting

Monogram Cookies

2011-12-16T12:29:00.000-08:00

Monogram cookies are great for personalized gifts, weddings and showers.

I made monogramed cookies for my sisters's baby shower with a simple font

so I wanted to try something a little more fancy like the G below:

photo from Shutterstock.com

First I outlined & flooded the cookies

Then I let them dry overnight.

Using my light pink Americolor food markers I drew the G on the cookie
as thin as possible so I could pipe over it. I admit, I was a little intimidated by the curly design but

it got easier and easier as I went on. Try it. You can also cut a template with an xacto knife or a die cut machine such as the Silhouette SD or Sizzix Big Shot & trace it on the cookie if that's easier for you

Loving cookies that are consistantly the same thickness

Thanks to Sugarbelle's post on "How to bake the perfect sugar cookie"

square dowels make a world of difference !

Football & Basketball

2011-12-14T15:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Gabe! Love working with the theme for my alma mater... Go Warriors!!!

6" cake for the Birthday Boy

Sides done with Ateco Comb

It's a Lady Bug Party

2011-12-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday Alanni!

Cup for my inspiration

Part VI: Bun in The Oven Etched Bottles

2011-12-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

Have you ever used Etching cream? It is so easy!!

We recylced used Starbucks Frap bottles. I peeled all the labels off and sanitized them in the dishwasher.

I cut out my stencil with contact paper using my Silhouette SD die cut machine.

I put all the Z stencils on the bottles & DH applied etching cream with a foam brush for me.

They came out really cute and a great excuse to use the striped straws that I found on Etsy from DimeStoreBuddy's shop

Etching cream can be found at Michael's or your local craft store

Photo Courtesty of Southernliving.com

You can use Etching cream on glass or mirror to create a one of a kind look

Part V: Bun in the Oven Lemon cookies

2011-12-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Even though my sister's last name starts with a Z which is really easy to freehand and stay consistant I still made a template with my Silhouette SD so they would be close to perfect. I somehow lost the pictures of the cookies as I made them. If I find them, I will edit this post.

First I piped the outline & filled with 20 second royal icing. I waited for them to dry then I traced the Z on the top with Americolor food markers. I then piped the Z's on.

Loved the way these cookies turned out.. they added a splash of color to our sweets table & were a perfect addition.

Part IV: Bun in The Oven Paper Goods

2011-12-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Some of you may not know but in addition to my cake baking hobby, I also make all my own greeting cards and paper goods. I have not purchased a greeting card since May 1999.

This shower was a litte challenging because we wanted grey and white chevron paper and came up with no results in internet searchs and trips to local scrapbooking stores.

I finally found a digital file on Etsy from Erin Bradley Designs and printed using my home printer on cardstock. Erin designed my blog header for me a few years ago and I love her designs. She has some great digital paper packs for $5 each and is very easy to work with. I liked the chevrons so much that I made my Christmas tags with the lime green file.

I bought the following paper from Michael's, all Bazzill textured paper:

Grey - Ash Grey

Orange - Navel formerly known as Tangelo

Blue - Admiral Blue

We designed the invites after seeing a shower on Pinterest but with colors that my sister likes.

Baker's Twine: Bella Creationz

Font: Cooperplate Gothic

Chevrons: Erin Bradley Designs

Paper: Bazzill - Admiral Blue

Table tent cards cut with Stampin' Up Decorative Label punch

Font: Cooperplate Gothic

Chevrons: Erin Bradley Designs

Paper: Bazzill - Ash

Charlee made a photo backdrop with multiple circles glued on Baker's twine & hung on a curtain rod

Circles: Silhoutte SD and Stampin Up 2 1/2" punch

Paper: Bazzill - Ash, Admiral & Naval

Baker's Twine: Bella Creationz

Bun in the Oven sign

(sorry for the terrible photo, I didn't get any better pictures - maybe someone else did and I will repost this picture later)

Font: Cooperplate Gothic

Chevrons: Erin Bradley Designs

Paper: Bazzill - Ash, Admiral & Naval

Twine: Bella Creationz

Disposible cameras with custom covers

and

ISPY table cards typed up in MS Word

We also played BunGo (aka Bingo)

Font: Cooperplate Gothic

Paper: Bazzill - Ash & Navel

Pennant Banner (note to self: do not try to hang a pennant banner in the wind!)

Scrap & left over card stock made a perfect pennant banner strung up with bakers twine

unfortunately the wind destroyed it ;(

Baker's Twine: Bella Creationz

Chevrons: Erin Bradley Designs

Paper: Bazzill - Ash, Admiral & Navel

Cinnamon Roll Cookies - Party favors for all the wonderful guests with labels cut on my Silhouette SD

Baker's Twine: Bella Creationz

4" Bakery boxes : BRP Box Shop

Paper: Bazzill - Navel

Lots of fun paper items all made for less than $40.

Part III: Bun in the Oven Chocolate Covered Pretzels

2011-12-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

Chocolate covered pretzels are so easy!

Using chocolate or candy melts, melt in double broiler

I use a metal bowl on top of my saucepan

Once melted, add oil to thin for dipping consistancy

Put mini chips, jimmies or sprinkles in a shallow dish

have your cooling rack read to go

Dip your pretzel

Shake off excess chocolate

add sprinkles, mini chocolate chips or jimmies

Part II: Bun In The Oven Shower Cinnamon Roll Cookies

2011-12-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

We gave all the guests a box of cookies... cinnamon roll cookies

Start with your favorite sugar cookie dough (any recipe will work)

Set a ball of cookie doug on syran wrap

Place a piece of sryan on top

Roll out the dough to about 1/4" thick

Peel the top later of syran off

Sprinkle generously with cinnamon & sugar

Start rolling as tight as you can

Once you get it started you can pull the syran and it will continue to roll until you reach the end

Rolled & ready to wrap and go in the freezer

chill or freeze until you are ready to bake

Cut to the thickness you desire

Place on a cookie sheet

Done!

Part 1: Bun in The Oven Cupcakes

2011-12-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Simple cupcakes are sometimes the best.. and this week proved to be true. Our sweets table was full of sweet things. Charlee (have you seen her Etsy store?) made Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies.. I could not stay away from them... I must have eaten 5 or 6 of them. Back to the cupakes...I made a basic vanillA cupcake recipe but layered cinnamon in between the batter. I topped them with cinnamon & vanilla buttercream.

Our sweets table

Lemon cut out cookies, cinnamon cupcakes, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, chocolate covered pretzels & Rice Krispie treats

Little batter in the bottom then sprinkle with cinnamon

Cover the cinnamon with a little more batter & bake

I mixed cinnamon in about 1/2 a cup of buttercream then I put it

in a line down my piping bag, then I added vanilla buttercream and piped away

Bun in The Oven Baby Shower

2011-12-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

Grandma V, Brie & Baby Boy, Grandma N & Mom

Wow..what a fabulous day! Today I co-hosted a baby shower for my sister with our mom & her sister in law, Charlee from Coral Tree. It's hard for me to not be emotional when I think about what this baby means to all of us...because my sister & brother in law are baby loss parents. We are all SO thankful that they have reached this point & he is thriving, BAKING a bit more & prepping to make his appearance!

For her shower we went with the Bun in the Oven theme in grey, navy blue, orange & white (thanks to Pinterest, we knew what she would plan for herself). Almost everything for the shower was handmade...from the invitaitons, centerpieces, pennant banners, etched Starbucks frap bottles, games, prizes and a fun circle backdrop for a photo "booth".

Starbucks Frap bottles etched with a "Z"

I'll be posting many of the things that were made by Charlee & myself for the shower over the next few weeks.

Thank you to mom & Charlee for being awesome co-hosts
and thank you to those that came to celebrate with us!

Our sweet table

Flowers by Charlee Z @ Coral Tree

Pennant Banner (in far background)

Made by Me @ Bucky & Boo

Cinnamon Roll Cookies - Party Favors
Love the Bakers Twine from Bella Creationz
Tags by Me @ Bucky & Boo

Paper Straws from DimeStoreBuddy

Onesies, Bibs by Charlee @ Coral Tree

Circle backdrop

Made by Charlee

Bun in the Oven
Made by me @ Bucky & Boo

We look forward to meeting you Baby Boy!!

Birthday Cookies a Special Friend

2011-11-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

This set of cookies are on the way to someone I've known for the past 25+ years. We went through school together and have been friends again on Facebook and probably before that on Myspace (sorry - I can't remember pre-facebook days).

She is faithful, never misses any of my posts & always lifts my spirits with her words.

My hope is that the cookies brighten her day & make her birthday that much more special.

I can't give you her name...but soon she will find these in her mailbox

and then I will come back and *edit* this post to wish her a

Very Happy Birthday NORMA!

She got her cookies & was so suprised!

Love that something small can make someone so happy!

Thank you for always being there!

Bright & festive colors for her birthday celebration

After reading this post by Sweet SugarBelle

I now can say all my cookies are equally thick! The dowels work perfect!

Fishing Cookies

2011-11-23T17:01:00.000-08:00

At my Gramps 90th Birthday party a few months ago there was some major cookie stealing going on at the

tables. I think my dad ended up with more than a few.

I made some fishing cookies for his Birthday, packed them

tight in lots and lots of bubble wrap then crossed my fingers that they would make it

500 miles north..

they arrived safely! Thank you USPS!

I'm still trying to remember what cutter I used for the fish net. I know it was something like a baseball cap or something but can't remember where I bought it and what exactly it was for. Worked great as a net.

Fishing pole

Wilton Tshirt cutter

Believe it or not..the fish are the same cutter. I bought 2 and bent one so they would have a different shape. Worked perfectly!

Poppy - Wishing you a VERY Happy Birthday & Many more to come!

xoxo

Pumpkin Spice Cake

2011-11-22T07:35:00.000-08:00

Picture from a Pumpkin Spice cake I made last year

Pumpkin Spice Cake (adapted from Woman's Day Magazine)

I changed this cake a little bit. I used bundt pan instead of round & I used 16 oz of pumpkin instead of 1 cup. Results..super moist cake!

Serves: 16

Recipe Ingredients
Cake

1 box (18.25 oz) spice cake mix

1 cup pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix)

3 large eggs

1 cup water

Frosting

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp milk or cream

2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Recipe Preparation

Heat oven to 350ºF. Coat a bundt cake baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Beat cake mix, pumpkin purée, eggs and water in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Bake 35 minutes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on on wire rack 10 minutes. Invert, remove pan and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make Frosting: Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. add in Milk & confectioners'. Stir until thickened. Cool 5 minutes then drizzle on cake.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Turkey Day!

I'm thankful for everything in my life.

How about you? What are you thankful for?

fondant pumpkin

royal & fondant turkey's

Edible glitter compliments of my sweet aunt & uncle in Bend, OR

A few weeks ago a package was in my mailbox from them. I opened it as I walked down my driveway

not expecting anything I had no idea what they could be sending me..... I let out the biggest giggle when I saw a multi-compartment sprinkler full of edible glitters. Super sweet that they thought of me when they saw it.

Happy Birthday Glitch!!

2011-11-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Glitch!

Here is his last years Birthday cupcake

Chocolate cake layered with raspberry puree & frosted with whip cream

It's a Doggie Party for Casey's 1st Birthday

2011-11-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

I put two 12" cakes together. I cut off about 1/2" off each one so they would fit together

The dogs were based off stickers that were used for the party. The dogs were challenging at first, thankful for this YOUTUBE video that saved the day!

Part 1 - How to make a fondant dog

Part 2 - How to make a fondant dog

Dog bone cookies for all the kids made with my

favorite No Chill Recipe

My favorite dog out of the bunch..isn't he cute?

The grass was done with Wilton Tip 233

I now own three tip 233's after a panic Friday night when I could not find mine & I had just used it. Yesterday I went and bought 2 more so I have back up's in my arsenol.

Mrs. Grossman's stickers

that inspired this cake

Happy 1st Birthday Casey!

After a full night of rain I was so glad the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful SoCal party day!

Happy Birthday Rik

2011-11-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

Last year I made this for Rik's Birthday ... this year he wanted a German Chocolate Cake. I made a small 6" cake for him. German Chocolate cakes are hard to decorate so I kept it simple with a chocolate swirl using Wilton tip 1M.

German Chocolate Frosting

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup white sugr

3 egg yolks, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

1/2 cup butter, unsalted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup flaked coconut

1. In a medium saucepan combine cream, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thick.

2. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and coconut. Spread on cake while warm.

Megan & Zac are HITCHED!

2011-11-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen the cake & cupcakes set up for the wedding yet, but here's a sneak peek. I should have some better pictures after the wedding. What a great date to get married 11.11.11. Megan could not find a baker to use her recipes (see below) so I told her I'd be happy to do them for her, her way. I can't wait to see the cake with her wedding toppers!

Congratulations Megan & Zac!!

Wedding cake waiting for M & Z toppers

Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet cake made with Fage Greek Yogurt

-1 box mix, Red Velvet

-1 cup of Fage Greek yogurt, plain

-1 cup water

*Mix together and put in pan

Triple Chocolate Cupcake

- 1 box mix, triple chocolate

-1 cup Fage Greek yogurt, plain

-1 cup water

*Mix together and put in pan

Lemon Cupcakes

- 1 box mix, lemon

-1 cup Fage Greek yogurt, plain

-1 cup water

*Mix together and put in pan

Prosecco Cupcakes

- 1 box mix, white

-1 1/4 cup Prosecco

-1 egg

-1/3 cup oil

*Mix together and put in pan

Cupcakes topped with fuschia & jade hearts

William Sonoma pearlized sugar crystals

Fondant pearls (tutorial here)

Happy 5th Birthday Jayson

2011-11-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Happy 5th Birthday Jayson!

Love this 12" square stand I found at Macy's

by Martha Stewart

Fondant Pinwheel Tutorial

2011-11-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went up north to our friends house for a barbeque. She is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, check out her work on her blog Stampin' Lab. Her request was for Red, White & Blue cupcakes even though Independence Day was 4 months ago. I love seeing pinwheels out of patterned paper so I thought I'd try making pinwheels out of fondant. It was much easier than I thought & they came out great.

Fondant Pinwheel with royal icing center

you can use fondant for the center if you don't have any royal icing made

You will need:

Gumpaste Glue or vodka (I use vodka)

Square cutter

Fondant

Rolling pin with pink spacers

Knife

paint brush

Roll Fondant #1

Cut a sqare with the square cutter

Repeat with Fondant #2

Place both squares together

Gently roll the 2 together in one direction

Cut the new multi color piece of fondant with the square cutter

Using your knife cut each corner leaving about 1/2" in the middle uncut (see below)

4 corners cut

Place some glue in the middle

Gently fold corner one into the middle & press with the end of your paintbrush to secure

apply glue to the center

Fold next corner in

Continue until all 4 corners are folded in

Place a drop of Royal icing or a ball of fondant in the center

Dry for 24 hours before putting on cupcakes or cake

Pretty in Pink Cupcakes

2011-11-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

I sent a dozen cupcakes home with my boss on his wife's birthday.

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

topped with my favorite fondant flowers

Out of everything I make, chocolate is my favorite. Apparently they were so tempting that their puppy, Nala, got into them ....Luckily she is fine after eating a few.

Happy Birthday Ann Marie!

Happy Birthday Kim

2011-10-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

Last year I made my friend Kim a basket cake with yarn skanes. When I gave her last years cake her husband said "Where is Henry's foot print?" (Henry is their cat) so I added his paw print to the top of the cake.

The cake was pumpkin spice covered with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream (printable version here)

4 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp salt

2 lbs confetioners sugar

4 tbsp water, milk or cream

2 tbsp cinnamon

1. In stand mixer, cream the softened butter, cinnamon & salt

2. Add the cream cheese

3. Add water, milk or cream

4. Slowly add the confectioners sugar until well blended, about 3 minutes

Henry's print

Happy Birthday Kim!!

(sorry we will have to walk an extra mile or two after eating this rich cake)

Mummy Cookies

2011-10-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!! Sugarbelle posted a picture of Mummy cookies on her Facebook page and I couldn't wait to make some up. My co-worker, Debbie, asked me if I'd make her some cookies so she could give them to friends for Halloween. I told her I had the perfect thing in mind and it was on my evergrowing "to do" list too. She is always giving me chocolate and treats so this seemed like the perfect reimbursement for all the times she takes care of me with goodies.

Gingerbread cookie cutters make great Mummy's!!

I used my favorite "no chill" recipe after a new sugar cookie recipe flopped. I would love to find a soft sugar cookie recipe that keeps it's shape in the oven. If anyone has one that they would like to share, please email me at sweetcreationsbystephanie@gmail.com.

Using 20 second royal icing, I outlined each cookie. If you don't know what 20 second royal icing is please visit the link. Sugarbelle does a fabulous job explaining it to you in a how-to video. Before seeing her video I had failed miserably with royal icing. I made it my challenge this year to learn it and use it a lot. I can now pretty much eyeball it and know it's the right consistancy each time.

20 second royal icing is stable enough for outlining but thin enough to flood and is so much easier to use this method so you don't need 2 bottles of each color in different consistancies. This saves a lot of time with clean up.

Flooding

After the flooding was done, I used 10 second icing for the eyes. 10 second icing is the same theory of 20 second icing, only it takes 10 seconds for a blob to blend into the bowl of icing.

Black pearls I bought a few weeks ago in New York

at Chocolate by Design, Inc

Drop the pearl gently on the wet icing

(please excuse my dark pic, I was trying to take pics with my left hand & decorate with my right)

Make the Mummy wrap using Wilton tip 104. I tried using Wilton tip 44, but it wasn't wide enough to cover my Mummy.

Happy Halloween!!! Hope you all have a safe one!!

Rose Petal Flowers

2011-10-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

I use this cutter more than any other cutter in my collection.

It is really a rose petal cutter but I like to use it as a 5 petal cutter

The centers are made by JEM and are actually a daisy center.

With the JEM stamps & the FMM cutters I make my

favorite flower which I often refer to as my 5 PETAL FLOWER

Rose Petal Cutter

I use the 50mm & 35mm for my 5 petal flowers

Pearl tutorial here

Two 35mm FMM Flowers

with JEM centers

Turtle Cookies

2011-10-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Cute, right? I was given a baby shower invitation with this little turtle on the invite. The shower was shortly after we got back from NY so I didn't have a whole lot of time so I cheated & made the turtles before we left for NY. I drew him on paper & put it under wax paper then piped this little guy. This was such a time saver! I saw SugarBelle do something similar with royal icing for future use with left over royal so I figured this would work for the turtle cookies.

Here's what he looks like underneath when you pull him off wax paper

Turtles ready to go on cookies

Fresh baked Lemon cut out cookies (no chill recipe here)

boo boo stick & royal icing bottles ready to pipe

Have you seen a Cookie Scraper/ Boo Boo stick before? They are great to have!

I bought mine at Karen's Cookies for .69cents!!

see how I piped too much on my cookie? Easy fix..see below

Scrape it off

gone gone gone!

Repipe and you are ready to go

Outlined cookies

Flooded cookies with Sweet SugarBelle's 20 second royal icing method

Place a turtle on the wet icing

I also made a few plain onesies

Piping the outline

Greetings from NY

2011-10-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

We have been on vacation in New York since the 29th of September visiting my husband's family. Daisy, my sister in law, and I would be so dangerous if we lived near each other. She makes cakes, cupcakes, sews, makes cards.. and does all the things I love to do. We went to all the craft stores near here and went up and down almost every isle especially in AC Moore. On Monday, I went to Chocolate by Design in Ronkonkoma, NY great little store. They sell dragees, jimmies, royal icing decorations, candy molds, chocolate, cupcake liners, food dye, boxes, ribbon...lots of fun things. I bought so many cookie cutters, jimmies & dragees that I shipped a box home today because my purchases would not fit in my suitcase (oops!).

I eyed Daisy's Pandora charm bracelet...today she surprised me with one of my own! I love it. Look at the cute little cupcake charm!! How perfect!

I'll be back to regular blogging next week! Hope everyone is having a great autumn so far.. I've been collecting a few new recipes to try once we are back home.

Happy Birthday Gracie

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the best Cupcake is the simplest cupcake..

vanilla & chocolate cupcakes

topped with sweet Milk Chocolate Buttercream

and pretty jimmies

Simple & Scrumptious!

French Macaroons

2011-09-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

So I decided to give French Macaroons another try. My first attempt (here) was somewhat of a fail because I ended up with only 4 "sandwich" cookies. Most of them broke when I took them off the wax paper. This time it went much better but I still only ended up with a dozen presentable macaroons & I doubled the batch. I bought Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour instead of trying to make my own (too much work with a mini food processor & sifting thru a wire strainer to get the big pieces out). I made these for a birthday at my office - who is on a dairy free, gluten free diet. They came out much better than my 1st attempt and I'm hoping the next try goes better than my 1st 2 attempts.

I used Martha Stewart's recipe this time & it was almost identical to the 1st one that I used.

Bob's Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour

Confectioner's sugar & almond flour after mixing in the food processer

Sifting the sugar/almond mixture

Love the measuring spoons DH bought me for Christmas

Egg whites, cream of tartar, superfine sugar

Piped macaroon

DH Frosts cupcakes for my Birthday

2011-09-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

DH told my mom that he would bring cupcakes to my birthday lunch. I did the baking & made the frosting for him. He did a great job piping for the very first time.

Thanks Juls for making my 40th that much more special!

and one of my co-workers made me my favorite triple chocolate cake that is one of her specialities

and Grams & Gramps brought me cupcakes to my office

God Bless Brayden

2011-09-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

Marble cake with vanilla buttercream

I used a 11 x 9 cake pan then layered with frosting.

Then I cut away the corners to

make a cross cake.

Wilton sells a pan which would make

it that much easier but this worked pretty well

Fondant & royal icing decorations

Fondant pearls with blue petal dust

Andrea's 40th

2011-09-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Andrea & Steph

27 years ago in junior high I met my oldest & dearest friend... Many of those years, we celebrated our birthday's together with a lunch and shopping because we are both September babies.

Whether we are ready or not, we are both hitting the

B-I-G 40!

Even though we don't see each other as often as we would like, she is always in my heart. When her husband called me about her party he referred to me as "Betty Crocker" (Thanks for the compliment Raul), I went to work designing these for Andrea .. I wanted to make them as special as she is to her family & friends.

40 cupcakes for her 40th Birthday

Happy Birthday to my oldest & dearest friend, Andrea!

Wishing you many more!

Love S.

Happy 18th Miranda!

2011-09-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

Miranda has had an eventful summer... and has shown everyone how much more amazing she really is...and they have so much to be thankful for. I still remember reading Norma (Miranda's post) in June, asking for prayers for her daughter who had just broke her neck in several places playing powderpuff football game at her high school during her last week of her senior year. A week later, Miranda graduated with her class & a "halo". Fast foward to August 27th & that "halo" came off! She is amazing & deserved to celebrate...

her graduation, "halo" freedom & her 18th Birthday!

When I asked what she wanted for her cupcakes her reply was "Think Rainbow"..

and so I did.. in flowers, custom confetti & circles.

Rose cutter makes my favorite 5 petal flower

custom confetti tutorial here

Happy 18th Miranda!

Cupcake Liners - The perfect white!

2011-09-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

Foil liner on the left, regular liner on the right

If you are anything like me, sometimes you want a solid white liner so you can't see the cupcake through it. I have been searching for "the perfect white liner" for over 2 years now & I finally found it! White Foil Liners from Beryl's

50th Anniversary Party

2011-09-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

Wishing Mr. & Mrs. Sanchez a

Happy 50th Anniversary!

Cupcake stand tutorial here

My first time using Duff's graffiti spray and I loved it!

I used it on the fondant S, the pearls & the flower centers

It goes on evenly & dries very quickly. I will definitely use it again

"Just Because" Cupcakes

2011-09-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sweet Baptism for Liliana

2011-09-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Sandy & I took cake classes at Michael's together a few years ago. She needed help with her niece's baptism so I offered to help. We went with pink & white decorations... Piping royal icing on fondant speeds things along, custom confetti made with fondant & little pink flowers.

Camp Miles

2011-08-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

I love when my cupcake ideas come together without too much work

The camping pieces were just that... super easy!

Camp Miles (Miles is my sister's 3 yr old nephew) was so cute!

His mommy put up tents in the yard, campng signs & had S'mores pops.

My sister made a bunting sign that hung over the sweets table..

You can see her sign on her blog..click here

Everything looked perfect!

I recovered the cupcake stand from my gramps party with kraft paper & put twine around the edges for a rustic look.

S'more sticks - royal icing

Camp fire made with fondant.. no tools necessary

Fishing pole - royal icing

Camp Miles sign - I distressed a piece of brown fondant

so it would look like wood the piped in royal icing

Log & Axe - fondant

Flavor tags I made out of left over paper from the

tent cards & S'more picks

S'more pops made by Charlee Z. - Picks made by http://www.etsy.com/shop/buckyandboo

photo compliments of Brie Z.

Happy Birthday Allen!

2011-08-30T08:01:00.000-07:00

Tutorial: Fondant Pearls

2011-08-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Have you eyed the bottles of pearls at your local hobby store? I have and I can never justify buying them in every color... will I ever use that many? I have the perfect solution ....make your own!

Gold pearls for an upcoming 50th anniversary party

You will need :

rolling pin

straw

fondant (white or dyed a color of your preference)

Vodka or Gumpaste Glue (recipe here)

mason jar or clear glass (not pictured)

petal dust or shimmer powder (not pictured)

Roll your fondant to the desired thickness..

the thicker you roll, the bigger your pearl.

Press the straw into the fondant to make a circle. This keeps your pearls uniform in size.

Circles ready to be rolled

Roll the fondant into balls ..sorry, this is out of focus, hard to take pictures

of yourself without making them blurry.

Pearl ready for dusting

Sprinkle a generous amount of pearl dust in your jar /glass

If your fondant is dyed, you can use pearl white to give it a shimmer in

whatever color you wish.

Add your fondant pearls to the jar. See the white one in the bottom left corner?

it will soon be gold

Swirl the jar around several times to give it a good coat. This works better if the pearls are not dried for more than 10-15 minutes.

Whalah, custom gold pearls!

Flower ready for the pearl center

Apply some gumpaste glue or vodka to the flower

Set the pearl on top..and you have yourself a pretty little flower

I use paint trays to dry my flowers. Michael's sells them for 99cents each..

so much easier than using flower cups.

Tutorial : Fondant Fireman Helmet

2011-08-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

A fireman helmet is so much easier than it looks.

The most important thing is to make sure the circle you cut out in step 4 is big enough to cover the fondant base.

1. Roll a ball the size you want for your helmet

2. Push it down so the base is flat and not round

flat bottom ^

3. Roll a "snake" for the ridge in the helmet. Cut it the length you need. Attach it using vodka or gumpaste glue.

top view

4. IMPORTANT! Using a circle cutter, find one that is about 4x's bigger than your fondant base

5. Roll fondant & use your circle cutter to cut

6. Brush your fondant base with gumpaste glue or vodka. Set your circle on top of the fondant base

7. Press it down on the base with your fingers and define the "ridge" down the center so you can see it.

8. Use a circle cutter that is a touch bigger than your helmet and cut off excess. Leave more at the back than the front so you can turn it down.

9. Cut a badge for the front & affix with gumpaste glue

10. Set a straw under the back end so it turns down when it dries.

I customized this helmet for Firefighter Escobar by using dye thinned with vodka so I could paint his name on.

End All - Chocolate Cookie Recipe

2011-08-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

At LAST..I think I've found my favorite chocolate cut out cookie recipe!!!

I've been searching for over a year for a great recipe to satisfy my choco-holic personality. The one I was using was ok..but was on the bland side and simply not what I would call THE BEST. SweetSugarBelle posted a link to LilaLoa's blog a few days ago so I was eager to try it. I decided to give it a try with my new cutters that arrived Friday from Karen's Cookies (seriously awesome customer service, I ordered Tuesday & they were here by Friday).

This recipe is sweet but not overly sweet, has a rich chocolate flavor and remains moist. It calls for a small amount of crisco, which I normally do not use even in my decorating buttercream, I use all unsalted butter. I wanted to make the recipe exact for the first time. I'll try all butter next time. I am a no chill kind of girl, so I used 3.5 cups of flour since I was going to roll it and bake right away.

You can find the recipe here on LilaLoa's blog or at the end of this post.

Try it.. I think you'll love it just like I did.

Cookies for an upcoming event ...

shshh... I'm shipping these to NY to my in-law's for their 50th wedding anniversary

Cookies ..ready for flooding

The End-All Chocolate Cookies Recipe ..adapted from LilaLoa

click here to print

1 cup butter

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup cocoa

3 or 3 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, shortening and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add baking powder and salt and mix again. Stir in the cocoa until well blended. Add flour 1 cup at a time. IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE COOKIES RIGHT AWAY, ADD 3 1/2 cups flour. If you are going to "chill" the dough, or just wait for another day to make your cookies, STOP AT 3 cups. It will be totally soft and look all wrong, and you will want to ignore me completely and add more flour, but I'm telling you -- DON'T DO IT. Practice self-restraint. You will be glad you did, and I will be proud of you. Roll out on lightly floured surface. Bake at 375 F for 6 1/2 minutes.

Thank you LilaLoa for sharing this with us!