DIY: Cardboard Gingerbread House

We do a Gingerbread House party every year and my talented husband whipped this cardboard house up for the kids in 20min! He used a refrigerator box, cut a triangle on the front and back and folded down the sides to form a peak. (Make sense?) I used paper and leftover felt for quick decorations. It was a big hit - and Asa's still playing with it.

Of course - you could paint it brown and add on a lot more "candy" too!

DIY: Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies

Sorry for the lack of posts- the holidays just get crazy! Asa and I made these little turkey cookies to go at each placle setting. Royal Icing is great for the smooth, hard finish but it just doesn't have that buttery taste. So I experimented and used the royal icing technique with a "buttercream" frosting. I simply melted 1/2c. butter and mixed in nearly a bag of pwd sugar, 1tsp vanilla, and then enough milk to pipe. Then thinned it out for flooding. We let them dry out overnight. It worked pretty well, and tasted great - but we have some perfecting to do before I'm 100% sure! I'll post more if it works out.

Here's our favorite sugar cookie recipe.

DIY: Scalloped Fabric Garland

My friend, Paige, and I threw a baby shower for our friend's new little girl.  Paige had a great turquoise tablecloth and she suggested we do orange accents.  We kept things really simple - various cobblers, orange sherbet punch, and coffee.  I made up the garland to match the colors - super fast, under $7, and you can reuse it!

Supplies: (this makes one 12 foot garland)

3 fat quarters (or any leftover scraps)

4 yds bias tape

Directions:

Create a template: Draw a 7.5in circle on paper.  Cut out and fold in half. 

Fold your fabric in half, right sides together. Using your template cut out 17 7.5in half circles. 

With right sides together sew all along the curve.  Do not sew on the straight edge.

Turn right side out and iron flat. 

Repeat with all your half circles.

Fold your bias tape over the straight edge of your first half circle and start sewing.  Add a new half circle every 1.5in (approximately).  

You could do smaller half circles or larger or use wider bias tape. *lots of ways to mix things up!*

DIY: $2 Frame Chalkboard

So many people seem to be able to find a really fun ornate frame at the thrift store for under $5. I, however, am not one of those people! Our small town thrift shops just don't seem to stock those. I settled for this really large frame for $1.89 (can't beat the price right?!). I felt a little bad when the worker said, "ahh so neat painting huh?" only for me to respond with, "well I'm turning it into a chalkboard." Clearly I didn't think it was such a neat painting.

This took about five minutes while Asa ate his lunch.

1. Clean the glass and remove the frame.

2. Use chalk spray paint directly on the glass and flat white (or anything) on the frame. (Rustoleum is my favorite!)

3. After a few coats - voila!

4. Make sure to allow the chalkboard paint a good 24 hours to dry. I didn't and some of it scraped up while I wrote and I had to re-do it.

5. Once it's dry, take the chalk sideways (no sharp edges) and rub it gently all over the board. Gently rub it off with a rag. And now it's good to go.

My husband put it back together and I now have a chalkboard hanging up in the pantry. It's already been helpful in preventing me from forgetting to buy key pantry supplies!

Bassinet Makeover

Here's another post that's just taken forever for me to blog!  At the end of last summer I found this Eddie Bauer bassinet for $5 at a yard sale.  It was in great condition, just missing a wheel.

BEFORE - this is what it looked like before.  It just didn't match the plans for Ida's room and I wanted to have fresh bedding.  So we painted it white and after searching all over for new bedding I decided to venture out and make some! And here's the result! Just don't look too closely - I had to fudge a few things.

I didn't attempt to re-create the canopy.  I used coupons at JoAnns for the fabric so the total makeover cost was $35 for paint, fabric and notions plus an extra $20 for the baskets which I got on sale at Michaels. My husband had some spare wheels that he put on there and voila! $60 - great sewing challenge and fun project! (They retail over $100)

This storage space has been invaluable on those late night feedings and diaper changes!  Everything's right there.

She's been pretty happy with it.

Just love those chubby cheeks!

Watermelon Shark Head

We get really excited for Discovery Channel's Shark Week every year - our two-in-a-half year old is also very excited to watch "the sharkies." (He picked that up from LeapFrog Numbers Ahoy.)

I saw this posted on Pinterest today! How fun is that?! Don't know that we'll do it this year but someday we'll throw a shark week party.

DIY: Tree Branch Arch

For the wedding this past weekend the bride wanted some kind of tree arch. After being inspired by this arch from Martha Stewart my fantastic husband helped me construct this. It was incredibly hot and the building wasn't air-conditioned but it survived!

Here's our how-to:

2 large heavy urns (I found the large urns at Michaels on sale! Make sure they're heavy.)

2 bags of sand

tree branches with two at least 7' or more (depending on the size of arch you want) We used maple branches from our backyard. You don't want anything too bendy as it won't hold itself up.

wire (I used bind wire which is a paper wrapped wire -you can get from a florist or Michaels sometimes)

crowning glory (again you can get this from a florist)

Position your two tall branches in each urn. Have someone hold them in place while you add sand. Lean them together and attach with wire. Trim off odd branches. Add short branches to fill in the base.

I sprayed the whole thing with tons of crowning glory, which helps maintain moisture.

Harry Potter Party Ideas

We're headed to the final Harry Potter tonight and I happened to stumble on this today!  Fun fun!
Butterbeer recipe here from Heather Bailey via birthdaygirlblog.
Broomstick tutorial here.

Supper Club: Small Plates

This past weekend we had our second Supper Club!  We're still trying out different methods/ideas to see what works best for organizing it - but the food was definitely a success!  This time around we split up who was in charge of various courses/dishes and they prepped most of it ahead of time.  I naturally forgot the camera, so these are from Mike and Isaac's iphones (and we're missing a bunch of plates.)
Katie made this amazing deconstructed salad: whipped brie with tellicherry pepper and baby water cress.

Katie also made these braised short ribs with garlic confit mashed potatoes.  (In the car on the way home Mike was ready for a whole plateful of this!)

Poached salmon with olive and basil butters.

lemon chill with strawberry coulis 

We also had Wasabi Gougeres, Pumpkin Filled Tacos, Pear and Brie Crisps, Asapargus Soup with Goat Cheese and some fantastic wine.

William Sonoma Recipe: Easter Nest Torte

My mother-in-law threw a massive Easter lunch this year and we were in charge of bringing something chocolate.  Mike and I took the opportunity to try out William Sonoma's Easter Nest Torte - and ooh we're glad we did!  It really wasn't that hard to make - just a little time consuming  - and delicious!  

Ingredients:

Cake:
1/2 c self-rising flour (to make your own: add 1.5 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt per 1 c. flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3c cocoa powder
1 stick (1/2c) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c superfine sugar (you can throw normal sugar in the food processor for a couple pulses, or just use normal sugar - that's what we did and the texture was still great)
2 eggs
4 Tbsp orange flavored liqueur
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

Grease a 9in springform pan and line the base.  Sift flour, baking powder, and cocoa.  Add butter, sugar, and eggs.  Whisk until creamy.  Turn into the prepared pan, level, and bake at 350 for 20-25min.  (Mine only took 12 min on convection. Watch closely.)  Remove from pan and place on a cooling rack.  Move the cake to a serving plate and drizzle with the liqueur.  (We used a toothpick to prick holes all over for better absorption.)

Measure the cake's circumference, then cut a waxed paper strip 1/2in longer and 2.5in wide.  Melt the chocolate and spoon it along the strip, spreading it to the edge on one side and shaping a wavy line on the other about 1/2in away from the edge.  Leave 1/2 in free at one end.  Set aside for 15-20min, then carefully lift the paper strip and secure it around the sponge so the straight edge rests on the plate and the ends of the strip meet. Chill.  (We found it took longer then they said to get to a pliable state that was still hardened enough to stand upright.)

Filling:

2 tsp powdered gelatin

2 Tbsp cold water

3 egg yolks

1/4 c superfine sugar

1 tsp conrstarch

1 1/4 c milk

7oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 1/4 c whipping cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and set aside to soften.  Beat the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar, cornstarch, and a little of the milk.  Put the remaining milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring just to a boil.  Pour it over the egg yolk mixture, whisking well.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook gently, stirring until thickened.  Do not allow to boil.

Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin until dissolved.  Break the semi-sweet chocolate into pieces and add to the gelatin mixture.  Leave to melt then stir until smooth.  Cover with waxed paper and allow to cool until just beginning to thicken then remove paper.

Whip the cream into soft peaks and fold it slowly into the chocolate mixture.

Turn into the chocolate mould on the sponge and level.  Chill.  Remove the waxed paper strip from the outside of the cake.

Decorate:

5oz milk chocolate

small chocolate eggs

The recipe says to:

Use a sharp knife, slice the milk chocolate into long thin shards and lay on the cake in a nest.  We just went ahead and melted more semi-sweet chocolate, spread it on waxed paper and then broke it into pieces which we arranged on the cake.

Chill.

Enjoy!  It's super rich, creamy, and not too sweet!  (Not to mention my husband is quite the chocolate pro!)

Artist's Cake

My dad is a very talented artist, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, and today is his birthday! We celebrated early and my sister-in-law and I made this cake for him. We got the cupcake idea from "What's New Cupcake" (What's New, Cupcake?: Ingeniously Simple Designs for Every Occasion) and had the Safway bakery print out one of his paintings (here's the original) on edible paper.

I tried out a new "buttercream" frosting recipe to try for a super smooth surface and it worked great! Here's the recipe (from here):

1 cup Crisco (or other quality vegetable shortening)

1/2 cup (stick) of butter, (allowed to come to room temperature)

1 tsp clear vanilla flavor (clear so that your buttercreams soft yellow color isnt compromised)

1 tsp of flavoring such as crème bouquet or lemon (optional) (I'd add extra butter flavoring)

1/4 cup milk (more or less as needed for consistency desired)

1 pinch salt (for use with unsalted butter only)

1 tsp meringue powder

2 lb bag of powdered (confectioners) sugar that has been sifted

On lowest speed, incorporate the these last three ingredients, just until they’ve begun to combine, and then turn the mixer up to medium speed, and blend until smooth and a little fluffy. If using a stand-up mixer, this texture will achieved after about 2 minutes, and if using a hand-held mixer, after about 5 minutes.

If while you’re mixing, the mixer beings to strain or you notice the icing is too stiff, add more water or milk, very small amounts at a time until you have the consistency you want. If the mixture becomes too soft, then simply add more powdered sugar.

And the best tip they gave to get that perfectly smooth top - Paper towels!! And not just any - they have to be Viva since Viva doesn't have a textured pattern on there. Once you've frosted the cake and let it sit for 15-30min or until it's "crusted" then you place your paper towel on there and start gently rubbing with your hand. Works like a charm!

Real Parties: Cat in the Hat Party

This past weekend we had the Cat in the Hat Party for our now 2 year old! 

We set up our IKEA kids table with craft paper for the kids to color on.
Ties -made from cardstock (almost all the decor was from cardstock - diy details coming!)
Treat bags for the kids (included Cat in the Hat stickers).

Umbrella Sugar Cookies (recipe)

Red Velvet Cake (recipe from epicurious - after making it and being unhappy with the color and texture, we re-made it with these alterations)

BLT Bites (Snack for the adults!  This was an idea that I got from my friend, Katie - easy to do and really tasty!)

No surprise that only the babies were willing to wear the hats!