The Buttercream Kitten

>> Thursday, March 31, 2011

Know what that is? Not shredded cheese or shag carpet. That's a picture of my peanut butter buttercream frosting from my most recent cake, a kitten. I just want to lick my screen. I've loved frosting since I was a wee tot. My mom always made homemade birthday cakes with delicious homemade icing for as long as I can remember. I grew up thinking everyone's mom made their own birthday cakes and all frosting was delicious buttercream. The first time I tasted store bought birthday cake with its whipped, sweet frosting the notion I would make my own cakes was sealed. I've never taken a class to do cakes. Instead the first time I wanted to try my hand at cake baking and decorating I just called my mom. She came over to my house and walked me through her recipe for frosting, baking a cake and then how to pipe on frosting...all for a Darth Vader cake for my coworkers on the eve of the first Star Wars prequel being released. My first cake was so much better than Jar Jar Binks.

My mom gave me her old few Wilton cake pans and I've added to them through the years; I now have over 50 shaped pans. This is just a portion of my stash hanging in the basement.

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April Fools' Faked Potatoes

Need a quick prank for your kids tomorrow? I whipped this one up last year after the kids went to bed thanks to Family Fun magazine. You may have all the materials already if you're crafty. All you need are nude color knee highs or old pantyhose, batting, needle and thread. If you're anti-nylons like myself you can grab a cheap pair of knee highs at the dollar store.

Here are the fast how to steps:
  1. Trim the knee highs/hose to an 8" length.
  2. Stuff the center of the hose to your preferred potato size.
  3. Twist ends and fold underneath, stitch in place.
  4. Sew eyes by coming up from the bottom of the "potato" out the top then back in beside the same spot to the bottom, pull to dimple then knot.

I placed these on a baking sheet in the oven and called the kids for baked potatoes for lunch. They giggled like mad when I pulled them out of the oven. We then cut open the tops and I added a small square of craft foam butter. Thing Two still has his potato in his room a year later.

Now I need a prank for tomorrow...

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Marbelized Easter Eggs

>> Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Last year was the first year I attempted dying eggs with my kidlets. I remember dying eggs when I was a kid but for some unspecific reason I'd not done it with my own. I think it was a combination of the mess potential and the what do you do with them now issue. But last year I cleared the table, boiled a dozen eggs and prepared to relax my uptight ways and let creativity happen. 

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Rainbow Pots of Gold

>> Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Earlier this month for Dr. Seuss's birthday I made the kids green eggs in a basket for lunch but did them in the shape of a clover to hit two holidays at once. Instead of repeating green clover eggs this morning I decided to play Leprechaun. I bought small terracotta pots for 69¢ at Hobby Lobby for the kids to paint their versions of a rainbow. We talked about the colors of a rainbow and I told them my inspiration painted the colors of a rainbow in order around the pot. However, I encouraged them to create with the colors of a rainbow as they wanted. And then I promised that on St. Patrick's Day I would fill their rainbow pots with GOLD!

All the colors of the rainbow ready. Best dollar I ever spent in the Target dollar section was for ice trays to hold different paint colors

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