Dye Easter Eggs Naturally

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/how-to-dye-easter-eggs-naturally-without-a-box-onion-skins-beets-cabbage.html

Bunny Cupcake Wrappers

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/03/30/bunny-cupcake-wrappers/

Enjoy

Sandra

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Homemade Cupcake Wrappers

Red Nose Cupcakes

I got the boys Red Noses from Sainsburys, but their little snozzes are too small to keep them on!

It was a beautiful sunny day today, and Rich was home from work really early, so we had some fun in the garden before tea!

Archie loves the trampoline

Joyful bouncing!

We had a busy weekend working on Archie’s PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System). I’ve been taking photographs of everything I can think of in his/our lives, laminating them and putting them on a big key chain, or on the kitchen wall. He is so visual, and we’ve already had success in showing him photos of the main places we go to in the week before we go, so he understands where he’s going; and he’s been making choices between pictures of food/snack items we show him, for a while. The next step is to get him to initiate the communication with them and to develop his understanding of “now” & “next” – something that’s tough at the moment: if it doesn’t happen instantly for him, he gets very upset! Over the weekend, he repeatedly brought us the photo of the juice bottle and said “kee” (drink), and twice brought me the cereal picture (so we had to give him some, despite it being 3.30pm, lol!). It was brilliant to see! Hopefully he will pick it up quickly and we can develop some more language as well as understanding!

Archie's PECS Keyring

Archie's Wall PECS

I’ve also put together a “Bag of Tricks” for Preschool to use. They’re having a tough time calming him if he gets very distressed, so am hoping that if they can get him to a quiet space,  a bag of goodies will get his attention enough to calm down & re-engage! We can only try, lol!

Archie's "Bag of Tricks!"

Archie's Bag of Tricks

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{Pretty Your Party} Shop Sweet Lulu // Hostess with the Mostess®.

Cupcake disaster?!  WHAT?  I know, I never thought I’d be experiencing this kind of heartbreak either *hangs head in shame*.  I mean, I may not be a domestic goddess, but a batch of cute and fresh cupcakes are my pride and joy.  You might be thinking, ‘but, but…they don’t look bad in the picture…’ and you’re right, they looked just fine (I was quite fond of the chunky apple wedges on top, YUM!) and they tasted fine too.  So what went wrong?  The wrappers.  Those darn wrappers that I thought were so cute  and so festive because of their fall leaf print literally STUCK TO and PEELED OFF my precious little apple cakes!  *cue strangled cry of despair*.

And this was especially sad because of how much I adore baked apple goods.  And there’s a reason why baked apple sweet things are so close to my heart: I cannot eat fresh apples.  Here’s a little something you may not know about me: I have a gazillion allergies and a number of them are to fruit, specifically to the raw flesh of fruit.  Growing up, I was never allergic to food, but over time I’ve developed quite a few allergies and unfortunately for me, I have come to learn about these allergies the hard way through oral allergy syndrome.  In another words, eating fresh fruit that I am allergic to will cause my mouth and tongue and throat to swell up like a blowfish. 

I know, it is so not sexy and I am telling you, it is painful.  And the list is long: apples, peaches, pears, nectarines, plums, pineapple, honeydew melon, and cherries.  And those are the ones I’m aware of.  There may be others lurking about.  I can eat these fruits when they are cooked, baked, or preserved, but not the actual fresh fruit.  Life’s not fair, I know.   

See those dark areas on the lower half of the cupcake?  Yes, from that point onward, the wrapper stuck to the cupcake and held on for dear life with a death grip and the more we tried to peel, the more the cakes succumbed to their untimely death *sigh*  I have always used plain jane white cupcake wrappers to bake in (and would just peel them off for photos to showcase the actual cake), and never had an issue, ever.  So when I decided to bake these toffee apple ones, I thought it would be pretty to use fall themed ones and oh my lordy did they ever destory my cakes!   Let it be known that it is imperative to grease the printed wrappers with either butter or non-stick cooking spray before filling them with cupcake batter.  My heart still breaks a little at the memory.

BUT!  All was not lost.  After giving up on attempting to peel the cupcake killing papers off, my brother, my mum, and I were struck with an idea.  Why not just scoop the cupcake out with a spoon?  And so we did.  I was still very heartbroken, but the end result was a nice batch of our version of apple crumb:

Moral of the story?  Everyone has baking and cooking boo-boos, never give up after you mess something up, and remember to grease those damn cupcake wrappers.

Recipe for Toffee Apple Cupcakes

Ingredients (makes 18)

• 2 apples (click here for a list of good baking apples and the ones to avoid)
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 ⅟₄cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1⅟₂tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 4 tbsp. butter (plus extra for greasing)
• scant 1/2 cup of milk (“scant” meaning just “just short of” the specific measurement)
• scant 1/2 cup of apple juice
• 1 egg, beaten

Ingredients for Topping (optional)

• 2 tbsp. light cream
• 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1 tsbp. butter

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Grease two 9-cup muffin/cupcake pans (or 18 wrappers).
2. Core and coarsely grate one of the apples.  Slice the remaining apple into 1/4 inch thick wedges and toss in the lemon juice.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon, then stir in the sugar and grated apple.
3. Melt the butter and mix with the milk, apple juice, and egg.  Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing lightly until just combined.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin/cupcake pan.  Put 2 apple slices on top of each cake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until risen, firm, and golden brown.
5. For the topping, place all the ingredients in a small pan and heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.  Increase the heat and boil rapidly for 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened and syrupy.  Cool slightly, then drizzle over the cakes and let set.

*****

Rceipe taken from Easy Cupcakes, Parragon Books Ltd 2009.  Photographs taken by me.

If a ring was the thing, she would move it to the right hand for the ceremony and the wedding band would go on the left.

But I decided a ring was the thing and when we went antiquing I found a filigree ring that sent my heart aflutter. We found a band at the same dealer that complemented it beautifully and so my love affair with filigree began.

Some white gold and silver filigree from my collection

So what is filigree?

Merriam Webster defines it as:

1: ornamental work especially of fine wire of gold, silver, or copper applied chiefly to gold and silver surfaces

2a : ornamental openwork of delicate or intricate design b : a pattern or design resembling such openwork <a filigree of frost>

So, yes, it’s certainly related to jewelry but it can be oh so many other things.

Paper, for instance:

Paper cupcake holders

These gorgeous paper filigree cupcake wrappers are available at Fancy Flowers.

Or even typography.

To learn more about the use of filigree in typography, have fun perusing the University of Wellington’s New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.

The art of filigree is in curling, twisting and plaiting of fine gossamer threads that come together at various points creating a lacy, open, airy look. Its uses in jewelry are not only as a focal point, but also as a framework for wiring other components onto. Miriam Haskell (I’ll be doing some future posts on her jewelry for sure!), one of my favorite costume jewelry design companies, made amazing use of filigrees in their lines.

I’ve been experimenting lately, combining filigrees with my French beaded flowers, vintage Lucite flowers and beads on wire.

Above you can see various brass filigree stampings incorporated into a piece. In upcoming blog posts I hope to share with you some information on how this is done and some great sources!

So as you go about your travels see how much filigree you can find. It’s all around you. In nature (a skeleton of a leaf, frost on a window, spider “silk” on a branch) or perhaps an old iron gate at an old church cemetery. Filigree finding is fun!

To add a splash of festive color to the table I covered it in valentine wrapping paper I picked up at Target (love the dollar spot!) this is a perfect solution if you do not have table linens to match and it looks so much nice than the plastic disposable covers-cheaper and more eco-friendly too and it makes clean-up a snap!

I wanted to have a fun little activity for the girls to do while they hung out and chatted so the printable activity sheets from the Valentine Classroom Party Kit was perfect for that, I just printed one sheet for each guest and cut them apart, that gives you 4 activities!I put crayons in a vintage glass flower frog, it adds to the decor and is practical too. I keep an eye out for these whenever I am in an antique shop! If you can’t find a glass frog you can cut a styrofoam ball in half and poke crayons in that.

Here are the cupcakes, they are so quick and fun. You get 3 wrappers and toppers on one printable sheet, they are quick to cut and all you need is a dab of hot glue to attach the topper to a toothpick and glue the wrapper closed. The girls were so cute, they wanted to save their wrappers to take home. It is impossible to keep a cupcake wrapper clean so I printed them a couple of sheets to bring home with them, I guess their American Girl dolls will be having cupcake parties too!

Here is the banner from the add-on kit, and check out the cut party hats also in the kit! The banner only takes 2 sheets of cardstock! I cut between the triangles with mini wavy scissors and hot glued them to a length of ribbon then tacked it to the wall, easy peasy!

To keep the party hats secure on their heads just tape a length of elastic cord (made for beading) to each side of the hat on the inside. I cut the bottom of the hats with scallop scissors to add a bit of flair.

Here is a look at the kits I used:

This kit would also be perfect for Valentines parties and baby showers!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

I made a Movie Party Printable kit that has all you need to make a ordanary afternoon movie playdate something special.

The water bottle wraps and popcorn boxes have labels to write your guests names on so they will know what bottle and box is theirs {this time of year we don’t want them sharing with all of the colds going around!}

This is also an easy birthday party theme, the party hats are so fun! I added crepe paper fringe to mine! To do this simply staple 3 lengths of crepe paper party streamers together and cut a slit ever 1/4″ or so then hot glue the strip of fringe to the inside of the hat. You can roll a strip of fringe to make a pom-pom and glue it to the top of the hat too, fun!

I love the menu poster in this kit, what fun you could have with it. You could even type prices and give your guests play money from the dollar store to buy their concessions with!

I’m all for fun and frugal ways to throw a party and this sure is one of them. Here is a look at all of the printables you get in the Movie Party kit:

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

CupcakeLinersWrappers.com, an online cupcake adornments shop, sells cupcake liners in various color combinations in order to service any event or party. One popular time period for get-togethers is the holiday season, and they carry the following categories so that anyone can incorporate lovely cupcake liners into each and every special event all year long:

· Valentine’s Day Gatherings: A wide selection of white, pink and red cupcake liners fit along with your wonderful valentine candy that will create a goody particularly for this day of love.

· St. Patrick’s Day: This group of green shades complements the mindset of the Irish people. Erin Go Brach!

· Mardi Gras: Take your party full of purple, yellow and green one stage further with complementing Mardi Gras celebration cupcake liners!

· Easter: This color mix is a refined shade of pastels, very carefully coordinating all your shaded eggs for a perfect cupcake decoration.

· Fourth of July Parties: The symbolic patriotic colors of red, white, and blue are incorporated into lovely cupcake wrappers that gladly represent the us flag of freedom and liberty.

· Halloween: Orange, Black, and Purple cupcake liners comprise the Halloween set, perfect for every single witch, goblin, and ghoul at your costume occasion!

· Thanksgiving: Shades of oranges and browns are reminiscent of the Native Americans and our forefathers when they sat down to Thanksgiving dinner. Observe the colonization of the American land with one of these coordinating cupcake liners.

· Christmas Day: No Holiday party is complete without the decorative red and green shades. This Christmas cupcake liners set is packed with festive colors, complementing Santa Claus red and mistletoe green!

Combine color combinations to make certain your cupcake liners are the perfect accessory for your upcoming celebration!

Cupcake wrappers are available in all forms, sizes, and types and are a fun way to incorporate a little more fashion to the http://www.cupcakelinerswrappers.com, a nationwide cupcake wrappers on-line dealer, is one of one of a large number of online stores that has a big selection of cupcake wrappers that go well with just about any celebration. They offer these quick how-to tips to make certain the cupcake treats turn out great with the proper utilization of cupcake wrappers.

1. Cooking: Always be you cook the cupcakes before you start. Despite the fact that cupcake wrappers raise the general style and design of the cupcake, they are not range safe. Utilize the cupcake wrappers solely prior to cooking the cupcake and removing from the hot oven.

2. Set up: The simple construction of cupcake cups is why they’re very popular and easy to use. The typical assembly practice involves setting the paper tab within the pre-cut, selected slot to create the cupcake cup. Absolutely no gluing, staplers, or taping essential.

3. Designing: If your cupcake wrapper is correctly set up, place the recently cooked cake into the pre-assembled cup. Once inside the cupcake wrapper, decorate and ice the cupcake as desired.

Cupcake wrappers deliver a finishing touch to adorned cupcakes your attendees won’t forget for quite a while. With numerous diverse shades and styles, you can discover the ideal style and color pairing to make sure you can utilize cupcake wrappers almost every holiday, event, or gathering!

Cupcake wrappers are available in all patterns, sizes, and styles and are a fun way to incorporate a little more elegance to the http://www.cupcakelinerswrappers.com, a national cupcake wrappers internet based merchant, is among the one of countless trusted online retailers with a large selection of cupcake wrappers that go well with any sort of festivity. They provide these speedy how-to tips to make certain your cupcake desserts turn out very good with the right use of cupcake wrappers.

Cooking: Always, bake the cupcakes first. Even if cupcake wrappers are a wonderful decoration and raise the over-all style of the cupcake, they are not oven ideal. Use the cupcake wrappers only in advance of cooking the cupcake and taking away from your heated up stove.

Assembling: The easy assemblage of cupcake liners is the reason why they’re very popular and simple to use. The conventional construction process consists of positioning the paper tabs into your pre-cut, given slit to create the cupcake cup. Zero glue guns, stapling, or tape essential.

Decorating: As soon as the cupcake wrapper is properly constructed, put the earlier baked cupcake dessert into the pre-assembled cup. Once inside the cupcake wrapper, continue to decorate and put frosting on the dessert as you think acceptable.

Cupcake decorations like liners bring that finishing touch to ornamented cupcakes that the attendees won’t forget for a long time. With lots of various colorations and styles, you can obtain the perfect style and color combination to make sure you may use cupcake wrappers for each and every holiday celebration, celebration, or get together!

Cupcake liners may be found in all patterns, dimensions, and styles and are a fun way to provide a lot more style cupcakes. CupcakeLinersWrappers.com, a country wide cupcake wrappers internet merchant, is one of one of various trusted online stores that has a large selection of cupcake wrappers that go well with almost any occasion. They feature these quick how-to tips to make sure your cupcakes end up great with the accurate usage of cupcake wrappers.

Always be you bake the cupcakes in advance. Even if cupcake wrappers are a wonderful decoration and raise the total style of the cupcake, they are not oven friendly. Use the cupcake wrappers just before cooking the cupcake treat and taking away from your warmed oven.

Put together: The simple assembly of cupcake wrappers is what makes them quite popular and user friendly. The regular construction process incorporates positioning the paper tabs on the pre-cut, given slit to make the cupcake cup. Not any gluing, staplers, or taping essential.

Decorate: As soon as the cupcake liners are correctly constructed, insert the previously cooked cupcake treat on the pre-assembled cup. Once in the cupcake wrapper, move forward to embellish and put frosting on the cupcake as desired.

These bring that finishing touch to ornamented cupcakes that the friends won’t forget for years into the future. With numerous distinct shades and designs, you can always find the best style and color blend to ensure you can utilize cupcake wrappers almost every holiday celebration, occasion, or special event!

Cupcake wrappers can be purchased in all forms, sizes, and designs and are an effortless way to include more design cupcakes. CupcakeLinersWrappers.com, a nationwide cupcake wrappers online store, is just one of one of countless online stores that has a big selection of cupcake wrappers to coordinate with any kind of bash. They feature these speedy how-to tips to make certain the cupcake desserts end up great with the right utilization of cupcake wrappers.

1. Cooking: Always, cook the cupcakes before you start. Despite the fact that cupcake wrappers add to the total structure of the cupcake, they’re not cooker suitable. Utilize the cupcake wrappers solely prior to baking the cupcake dessert and removing away from the heated range.

2. Build: The simple construction of cupcake wrappers is why they are quite popular and simple to use. The normal set up procedure involves placing the paper tab on the pre-cut, designated slot to create the cupcake cup. Not any glue guns, staplers, or tape necessary.

3. Decorating: After the cupcake wrapper is effectively assembled, place the recently baked cake within the pre-assembled cup. Once within the cupcake cups, spruce up and ice the cake as you think fit.

Cupcake liners bring that final touch to adorned cupcakes that your family and friends won’t forget for a considerably long time. With lots of various colors and styles, it is easy to discover the best style and color mixture to ensure you can utilize cupcake wrappers for every single holiday, celebration, or gathering!

Cupcake wrappers come in all forms, dimensions, and types and are a fun way to add a lot more fashion cupcakes. http://www.cupcakelinerswrappers.com, a country wide cupcake wrappers web based dealer, is just one of one of a large number of trusted online retailers which includes a wide selection of cupcake wrappers that go well with nearly every special event. They provide these speedy how-to tips to ensure your cupcakes end up great with the accurate use of cupcake wrappers.

1. Bake: Always be certain you bake the cupcakes in advance. Even though cupcake wrappers are a fantastic decoration and enhance the overall design of the cupcake, they’re not stove friendly. Make use of the cupcake wrappers solely prior to baking the cupcake dessert and removing away from your heated range.

2. Put together: The simple assemblage of cupcake liners is what makes them so popular and simple to use. The conventional construction procedure consists of setting the paper tab into the pre-cut, selected slit to create the cupcake cup. Not any gluing, staplers, or tape necessary.

3. Decorate: As soon as the cupcake wrapper is appropriately put together, put the formerly cooked cupcake in the pre-assembled cup. Once within the cupcake wrapper, progress to decorate and frost the cupcake as you think acceptable.

Cupcake wrappers add that finishing touch to decorated cupcakes that the friends will remember for many years. With numerous different shades and fashions, it is easy to obtain the best style and color combination to make certain you are able to use cupcake wrappers for each holiday celebration, function, or gathering!

Cupcake wrappers come in all shapes, dimensions, and types and are a good way to add more sophistication cupcakes. CupcakeLinersWrappers.com, a national cupcake wrappers web based dealer, is simply one of various trusted online retailers which has a substantial selection of cupcake wrappers to coordinate with any type of special event. They feature these fast how-to tips to be certain the cupcake desserts come out wonderful with the accurate use of cupcake wrappers.

1. Baking: Always make sure you bake the cupcakes first. Even if cupcake wrappers are a fantastic decoration and increase the general design and style of the cupcake, they’re not oven friendly. Use the cupcake wrappers only prior to baking the cupcake treat and taking away from your warmed cooker.

2. Create: The easy construction of cupcake wrappers is why they’re quite popular and user-friendly. The common assemblage practice consists of placing the paper tab into your pre-cut, designated slit to make the cupcake cup. Virtually no glue guns, staplers, or taping required.

3. Decorate: When the cupcake wrapper is properly set up, put the formerly baked cupcake treat in the pre-assembled cup. Once within the cupcake wrapper, adorn and ice the cake as you see fit.

Cupcake cups deliver a final touch to ornamented cupcakes that the attendees will keep in mind for many years. With many different colorations and styles, it is easy to get the best style and color combination to ensure you may use cupcake wrappers for every holiday celebration, function, or special event!

She loves me. She loves me not. SHE LOVES ME!

Wedding cupcakes

• chocolate and vanilla cupcakes
• white daisy cupcake wrappers
• lavender colored frosting
• raspberry filling
• fondant daisy toppers

The center cupcake was put on a pedestal. It had daisies on it, but the large daisy in the center had one lone petal that read “She loves me!” and “He loves me!” and was surrounded by loose petals.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Doily-wrapped cupcakes are my idea of a white tea party treat

This Wednesday I offer you a very easy do-it-yourself project to make a pretty treat even more fun. Use these white cupcake wrappers at your next gals’ night in and you’ll earn major domestic goddess points.

I found this little project featured one of our favourite blogs, How About Orange, who in turn found it at Intimate Weddings. I reproduced the instructions here to show you just how easy it is to create these lovely white cupcake wraps. To make the doily cupcake wrap you will need to download the semi-circle pattern shape here.

What you need:

Doilies (About 11 inches across, makes two cupcake wrappers)

Everyday tools: paper, scissors, glue stick

How to make the cupcake wrapper (3 super easy steps):

Step 1: Trace inner part of the the semi-circle pattern on the doily (see images A and B below). Semi-circle pattern available for download here from original source.

1 Paper doily approx. 11 inches across

Trace the inner semi-circle pattern on the doily. Trace the side edges. One pattern tracing = 1 cupcake wrapper.

Step 2: Cut out the inner circle and sides.

Cut your doily along the semi-circle pattern line you traced.

Step 3: Glue the edges of the wrapper together.

Use a glue stick to glue the edges together.

And voila.

Happy tea party!

Images and instructions courtesy of Intimate Weddings, as seen on How About Orange where you can get your doily fix with a post today rounding up of doily projects (!). Happy doily day!