Holidays

Remember the scrapbook paper-wrapped boxes I made for Christmas?  I used the same technique to make some Valentine’s Day boxes to package chocolate cold process soap hearts that I made using a heart-shaped silicone muffin pan.

The embellishments were made using “Candy and Cupcake” stickers and microbeads from Martha Stewart Crafts, available online or at Michaels.

I have a couple more Valentine’s Day posts that I am working on for today.  In the meantime, check out these other Valentine’s Day ideas from the web.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (they’re heart-shaped!)

Rice Krispie and Coco Pops Treats (dressed up for Valentine’s Day)

Valentine’s Day Treats Recipes by Martha

Chocolate Lip Balm with Cocoa Powder

And don’t forget to check out my Valentine’s Day ideas from last year – tag: Valentine’s Day

The Valentine’s Day soap cupcakes looked good enough to eat.  Add to that the fact that I scented mine with a yummy amaretto-like fragrance oil, which is my favorite flavor, and I just had to make an edible version.

To make these yumtastic goodies, you will need 2 boxes of Jello (I used cherry), a bag of jelly hearts, a can of whipped cream, silicone cupcake liners or foil cupcake papers, and optional cake sparkles to give it, well, sparkle!

Make the Jello according to the directions for Jigglers.  Jigglers call for 4 boxes.  I used 2 and halved the amount of water.

Pour the jello into the cupcake liners.  If you use foil ones, leave the paper layer in.  I tried it with the paper and without.  It is much easier to remove the jello from the paper.  I think it would be awesome to use the silicone cupcake liners, but I use mine for soap and I don’t have any that I use for food.

The way I filled mine yielded 7 Jello cupcakes.

Melt and pour soapers, resist the urge to spray with alcohol to remove the surface bubbles!

Refrigerate until fully set.  It took one hour for mine.

You can leave the jello in the papers (as pictured above) or take them out (pictured below), before decorating.  It’s up to you.  If you want to remove the paper, first peel away the foil.  Then, go around the top gently rubbing the jello away from the paper.  Once you loosen the top all the way around, you can just peel off the paper and it should come off fine.

Top with whipped cream and cake sparkles, if desired.  Place a jelly heart on top.  Wait until just before serving to top, or the whipped cream will melt!  If you want them to last longer, try Cool Whip, which holds its form better.

If you push a toothpick into the jelly heart, then push the other end into the jello, the heart will stand up better.

Jello and soap cupcake BFFs.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

A few weeks ago, I tried the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and was instantly in love.  The very next day, A Year of Slowcooking posted a link to a Pumpkin Spice Latte slowcooker recipe.  I had to try.

It was yum!  I thought it was a wee bit heavy on the pumpkin, so I halved it the next time.  I also added a bit more spices.  But overall, I recommend trying it.

Since I had so much left over canned pumpkin, I decided to make mini pumpkin pies.

I used my favorite pie crust recipe – Martha’s Pate Brisee.  I cut large circles and pressed them into a standard muffin tin.  Then I made the Libby’s Pumpkin Pie filling and filled the crusts.  I baked as directed, until the pies were set.

Since I was on a Pumpkin Pie kick, I decided to make the Triple-Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie, using JELL-O’s seasonal Pumpkin Spice Flavored Instant Pudding.

The recipe calls for Cool Whip, but I substituted 8 oz. of cream, whipped.  I often do this with recipes and they come out fine.  I like to use powdered sugar instead of regular to give it a little more stability.

I also used a Keebler Shortbread crust instead of graham cracker crust.

It came out delicious!

My final adventure in pumpkin spice was a loaf of cold process soap using Pumpkin Spice fragrance oil from Bramble Berry.

Those are actually apples on top that I made using a silicone ice tray, but they get the job done.

The soap smells amazing – and I already had someone ask me about buying a bar!

All of the wonderful pumpkin spice delights make this time of year my favorite.  And I am not done yet!  I am making Pumpkin Whoopie Pies for Thanksgiving.  I will be sure to post pictures when I am done.

Check out these adorable Halloween Amigurumi patterns from Lion Brand Yarn.  I just might have to dig out my hooks and go buy some yarn!

Click on the photos to go directly to the patterns on the Lion Brand website.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Fourth of July!

Step-by-step instructions for the Stars and Stripes Soap can be found here.

I realized the other day that I take lots of pictures of the stuff I make, but almost none of my children.  I’m going to have to work on that.

Anyway, here are some of the things I made for Easter.  (Better late than never, right?)

I made this cute little bunny plush for my sister using the free embroidery pattern from Orange You Lucky.  I embroidered the pattern onto white felt, then stitched it together with another piece of felt, leaving a small opening through which to stuff it.  I sewed the opening closed and cut away the felt, leaving a small, even seam allowance.  I ended up ripping out part of the stitching and redoing it in order to get it so symmetrical.

I frosted my Carrot Cake to look like an Easter egg, with Cream Cheese Frosting, of course.  In order to save time, instead of piping each color, I mixed small amounts of frosting in different colors and spread them on with my offset spattula.  Then, I piped the plain white frosting in between the stripes and around the border to give the cake a finished look.

This cake has become an Easter tradition in my home.  I make the Angel Lush cake from kraftfoods.com, using a yellow cake, instead of angel food.  I also use regular vanilla pudding (not fat free sugar free) and substitute real whipped cream for the cool whip.  The cake is topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Last, but not least, are these adorable Easter Bunny cake pops by Bakerella.  Mine are no where near as cute as hers, but the kids loved them.  (Yes, the noses are on upside down.)

I also made homemade Easter baskets using brown paper lunch bags and construction paper, but for some reason I didn’t take any pictures.  I thought I had.

Even though I have no pictures of any people, everyone had a wonderful Easter.

Except for this guy.

Here is a quick little melt and pour project I did to make soaps for my bathroom.  This is a great project to do with kids.  All of the materials are available at your local craft store.

(I am sorry that the pictures are kind of blurry.  I couldn’t find my camera, so I had to use Big E’s 30-dollar special.  That picture above I took with my camera, after.)

You will need:

• Clear melt and pour soap base
• A flexible flat mold, such as a silicon brownie pan or a stepping stone mold (I used a silicone loaf pan because I only wanted to make a few soaps.
• Green liquid soap colorant (this does not need to be non-bleeding) or yellow and blue
• Gold mica
• Fragrance of your choice (I used Kentish Rain from Bramble Berry because it smells like the color green to me.)
• A shamrock cookie cutter, preferably metal, but plastic will do
• Alcohol in a spray bottle
• Basic supplies, such as glass measuring cup and spoons

For starters, figure out how much base you need.  I put my cookie cutter in the pan and added water until it came to the top of the cutter.  Then, I poured the water into the measuring cup to see how much base I needed, by volume.

Next, cut up the base into chunks and melt in the microwave.  If you are new to M&P soaping, read this intro tutorial.

I ended up adding some more chunks after the base was melted, until I had the volume I needed.

Next, add fragrance and the green colorant (or mix yellow and blue to make green).  Do NOT add the gold, yet.

Pour the soap into your pan and spritz with alcohol to remove any air bubbles.

Now it is time to add the gold mica.  Sprinkle a little around on the top of your still-melted soap.  Then, using a toothpick or butter knife, or something, gently swirl it around, so that some of it goes into the soap and some stays at or near the top.  Play with it to make it look the way you want.

Unfortunately, my picture of this step did not come out because I have a dark blue loaf mold.

If there are bubbles, spritz again with alcohol.  Allow to cool until the soap is set.  It is easier to cut if it is not fully hardened.

Unmold your soap slab and put it on a flat surface.

Cut out the shamrocks with a cookie cutter.

Voila!

Remelt the scraps and pour into a bar mold or cut them up and embed them in soap bars.  Just remember, if you did not use non-bleeding color, the embedded chunks may bleed.

I think this will be my last Valentine’s post, but it’s a good one.  Good tasting, at least.

I made the Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Hearts from Martha Stewart and I have to say, I made them a little bit better.  Now, it was her amazingly delicious recipe that made these so wonderful tasting, but I think my special touch made a big difference in the presentation.

I hate to brag, but this is a big deal for me.  I never thought I would get my own creativity to a point where I was improving on Martha’s ideas.

Okay, enough about me and my big ego.  Here are the cookies.  Shortbread Hearts, dipped in melted chocolate and drizzled with pink Wilton candy melts.  (Sorry for the poor lighting.)

Some of the mini cookies I totally submerged in the chocolate.  Mmm.

Here is one displayed in a mini cupcake paper.

You still have time to make these.  But, hurry!  The dough needs to chill for 2 hours before rolling out.

Or you can always wait and make chocolate-dipped shamrocks, drizzled with green candy melts.