Baby Name Frame

Although I know I’m late to the party, I’ve finally discovered the absolute awesomeness of Pinterest. To give myself a little credit, I have known about it for a while and was introduced to it months ago; it’s just taken me way too long to “find the time” to sign up and get to work with my pins.

Now that I’m in the cool club, I’ve started getting all sorts of new inspiration for projects, recipes and just general “why didn’t I think of that?” ideas. I have had an idea of adding the boys’ names to their nursery somehow and had a vague concept of what I wanted to do, but after browsing the pin boards high and low, I came up with this:

I found the frame at a second hand store for 50 cents. I wrapped it with some leftover yarn I had from the project I did with my step son last Christmas (hats for the homeless) using hot glue to attach it to the frame. The background is some scraps of scrapbooking paper I had with calligraphy writing and I used my Cricut to cut out the letters, also using old scrap paper.

I brushed the background paper with some olive green ink from an inkpad and brushed over it with a mix of glue and water after gluing it to the backing for the frame (that little cardboard piece that holds the glass in place). Then I scrubbed the edges of the green shadow letters with the same olive green inkpad and glued the letters on top.

I decided not to use the glass from the frame because I didn’t want it to look like a “picture frame” and also because after wrapping the frame in yarn, it wouldn’t fit anyway. So I used more hot glue to attach the cardboard backing to the frame, then added a small raffia bow under the letters to give it a 3 dimensional look.

As far as how I plan to display this in the nursery, I bought an inexpensive curtain rod at Big Lots for $2. It has tiny little acorns on the ends which matches the Frog and Toad swamp/forest theme of the room. The plan is to hang the curtain rod on the wall and wrap it with raffia, then hang the name frame from it using brown ribbon. To see pictures of the nursery, you can visit my baby blog for even more inspiration!

Cake Pops Recipe

Last weekend, I was finally able to announce the genders of my soon-to-be-born twins. I have heard about gender reveal parties before but I’ve never been to one. I’ve heard of many people having the ultrasound tech write down genders for the parents in a sealed envelope, then taking the envelope to a local bakery and having them prepare a cake with the usual associated color inside topped with white frosting. The parent(s)-to-be will then cut the cake at the reveal party to announce the gender of their baby: Pink for girl, blue for boy – and a surprise for everyone.

Originally, I wanted to use this idea and have a two-tier cake prepared, one tier for each of the twins. But, my husband couldn’t stand the thought of having to wait another two weeks before we could find out, so we ended up finding out right at our appointment. I did, however, still want to incorporate the cake idea when we announced to our families what we were having.

Instead of having a cake prepared, I decided to make my first try at cake pops. If you’re not familiar with them, you can find where I discovered them here or just read on for the recipe I used. I had grand ideas of what I wanted to do. I could make them look like children’s blocks and cut out letters from fondant for the decoration. I could find little candies and make them look like baby cheeks sucking on binkies. I could make them look like little baby bottoms complete with crack and belly button and cover them with carefully cut Airhead candies shaped like little white diapers. So many clever ideas…but alas, so little time.

I ended up sticking with a basic design: saucer-shaped cake balls dipped in white chocolate and covered with multi-colored sprinkles. If you decided to do this, I recommend double dipping before using the sprinkles as the color of the cake did show through a bit (I had to go back over some of the more transparent spots later to cover up any traces of blue). Another tip: Freeze the balls before dipping. This will make them much easier to dip and they’ll hold their shape better. You can make these as cake bites instead of pops simply by omitting the stick. If you choose to use the sticks, dip them in chocolate and insert them into the cake ball, then freeze or refrigerate long enough for the chocolate to set. This will ensure the ball doesn’t come off the stick while dipping (another thing I learned the hard way).

Finally, I presented the cake pops on floral Styrofoam blocks I’d covered with colored tissue paper and ribbon (sorry, I didn’t get a pic of this part – I had hungry mouths to feed!). I kept the colors gender-neutral so no one would get any funny ideas. I then explained there were 12 pops colored for baby A and 12 colored for baby B. As they started to bite into them, they started yelling out, “blue!” until finally everyone realized…they were all blue! This saved some time in the kitchen, because I didn’t have to prepare two batches with different colors.

Another final tip: These treats are EXTREMELY sweet and rich, so I would recommend making them bite size so as not to send your guests into a sugar coma. If you’ve got other ideas for how to make the announcement or if you want to share what you did, please post in the comments. Have a great week!

Cake Pops

1 Box white cake mix (other flavors can be used but if you plan to color the cake, you’ll want to use white)

¾ Container cream cheese frosting

2 – 3 Bags chocolate candy, any color (available at most craft stores) or Bakers chocolate

2 – 3 tsp. Crisco shortening

Food coloring (optional)

24 – 30 sucker sticks, if desired

2 rectangular foam blocks

Instructions:

Prepare the cake as directed on the box. You can choose to add your food coloring now or wait until mixing with the frosting later.

Once the cake cools completely, crumble it in a large bowl and add the frosting. Mix thoroughly until you have a dough-like consistency. Refrigerate until the “dough” is hardened; usually about an hour. Tip: To reduce this time, refrigerate your cake before mixing with the frosting.

Use a spoon or cookie/ice cream scoop to get equal portions of dough for shaping. Shape the balls using your hands but be sure not to roll them for too long or the dough will become warm and soft. Place the balls on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Melt ½ bag of chocolate candies and ½ tsp of Crisco shortening. Dip the sucker sticks into the melted chocolate, coating generously, then insert into the middle of the prepared cake balls. This will ensure the balls stay in place during dipping.

Freeze of refrigerate the balls for 30 minutes to allow ample time for the chocolate to set. About 10 minutes before removing from the fridge/freezer, begin melting the rest of the chocolate and Crisco shortening. Remember to stir constantly and melt on low heat to avoid scorching the candy.

Dip the balls in the chocolate one at a time, stirring the chocolate after each dip. Allow the excess chocolate to run off. You can lightly twirl the pop to help distribute the chocolate evenly, but be gentle. After the chocolate starts to harden, insert the stick into one of the Styrofoam blocks to continue cooling. For a quicker set, place the block in the refrigerator or freezer.

Once the chocolate has hardened, you can choose to give them a second coat. The Crisco gives the chocolate a thinner consistency making them easier to dip, but can also leave the first layer looking thin.

Decorate as desired and enjoy!

Photo Book Craft

Most of us have family members who live pretty far away. Sometimes the distance can be a blessing. But sometimes it means your children may not get to visit their favorite Aunt Mildred or cousin Lenny as often as they would like. Additionally, they may not even remember or recognize said relatives. Yes, modern day convenience has provided the means to visit our far off relatives, but there’s this annoying little thing called reality – finances, work, chores, and the indefinite feud over who REALLY broke grandma’s vase that one Thanksgiving – that usually gets in the way of our good intentions to see them.

I grew up not knowing many of my relatives. I wouldn’t know most of them if I saw them in person and I definitely couldn’t give you more than a handful of names. This means I know little of my lineage and even less about who/where they are. I decided I wanted my children to grow up knowing their aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. Even though we may not see them all the time, they should be able to recognize them and know about their families. So, I decided to make some family books.

There are many ways to create these. You could build them in the form of a scrapbook. You could upload your photos to one of the many sites that offer photo publishing such as Blurb, Photobucket or Snapfish. Or, you could even go green and recycle an old children’s book with your own photos. I haven’t decided which route I’m going to take yet. There are pro’s and con’s to each option. For example, the scrapbook way gives you ultimate creative freedom and expression. You can also add small trinkets and keepsakes specific to each family or family member. That may not be the best option for a young child, though. With the published copy, you have a nice clean design but the pages are usually thin and can tear easy. So I think for small children, the recycle idea might be the best way to go.

Here’s what I’m thinking. Take a few old books you have around the house, the kind with really thick pages designed for babies OR visit a second hand store that resells these books. Then, trace the shape of the book “page” on the picture you want to use. Close portraits will work best. Cut around the line you traced and use plenty of non-toxic glue to adhere your picture to the page. Print off the name and relation of the person using photo finish paper for the other side of the page. You can get more elaborate and include some things about that person if you like. Then make a cover for each book you create. If you have enough pictures, you can create one book per family. For example, you could make a book for each of your siblings: “The Jones Family”, “The Harrison Family” and “The Smith Family”. Or, if the families are smaller, you can make one big book with everyone and call it “My Family Tree”.

Since families can change quite a bit in their first few years, you can also make a binder book with plastic sheet protectors so you can interchange pictures more frequently. This will allow you to finally do something with all those 2”x3” school portraits you get from your nieces and nephews each year. If you want it to be an interactive book, you can allow them to color, paint or otherwise “play” with the faces of their family members to their hearts content. Maybe next time they see dear old Uncle Bob, they can remember how they gave them a curly moustache. Hehe. I think I’ll make a copy for myself to doodle on, too.

Once I have a finished version of this project, I will post some pictures to give you more inspiration. If you take on this project before I get around to it, though, please share!

Happy Crafting!

Chivalry and Romance

I was recently listening to a radio D.J. discussing valentines day traditions and noticed it seems to be pretty standard for women to receive flowers, cards, chocolates and a nice dinner. What happened to creativity? There have to be better ways of personalizing this special day for the one you love.

I started looking around and found some great resources for those who want to think outside the box. You can also check out the new Valentine craft I posted.
I have a special plan for my beau but I won't be able to discuss until after next Monday. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!

Send us your ideas and you could win a product valued up to $25.

Remember, chivalry isn't dead as long as we keep it alive.