Angry Birds! Ok, maybe slightly intoxicated, beligerent birds...

My son LOVES LOVES LOVES Angry Birds.  I personally don't see the attraction in the game, but it is usually futile to argue with an almost 5 year old when he tells you what he wants for his birthday treat.  I thought about ordering cookies or a cake topper, but in the end frugality won out and I decided to try and make something myself.  My super brilliant thought process went like this:  "Mmmm...birthday cake.  Mmmmm....frosting.  Hmmm.  Angry birds are round.  Cake pops are round.  Mmmmm...cake."  So, I decided to make him Angry Birds cake pops to take to school.  I think they turned out pretty cute, so I thought I would share.

Bake a cake. Cool it.  Crumble it up.  Add about 3/4 can of frosting. Mix well.



Roll into little balls of yummy.  Don't eat too many. Put them in the fridge for about 2 hours.

First, dip the stick into the melted chocolate, then insert it about 3/4 of the way into the cake ball.  Let set for a minute or two.

Dip the ball into the melted chocolate

I like to use these plates as decoration organizers. You can see I bought the pre-made eyes at Michael's.  As you will see...big mistake there.

Eyes are on...

This is a great use for those 8 million medicine syringes you have around the house, if you have small kids.  You can just use it to dab a little chocolate onto the decoration, then attach it to the cake pop.  Also great for piping out details.

I think they turned out ok.  Next time I will make the eyes and the chest feathers out of fondant.

No Internet = Cute Barrettes

So, yesterday an installer from Sure West spent about 4 hours at our house, installing phone, internet and cable.  Without my usual naptime crack, I had to find something to occupy my time.  I've been really frustrated trying to find a cute KU Jayhawk barrette for Kitty to wear in her hair, so I decided to try and make one.  I have to say, considering my novice crafting experience, I think they turned out really cute.  They were easy, too!

                                             First, I traced the image of a Jayhawk.  I traced the whole head, the beak, the eye and the eyebrow.

Then I cut all of the pieces out of stiffened felt.  I cut the entire head out of red,

then overlaid the beak, eye and eyebrow.

I cut a strip of soft red felt out for the barrette liner,

 and a piece of grip liner as well (not pictured, because I forgot)

I hot glued the felt liner and the grip liner onto the clip

When gluing the eye, I used a toothpick to put the pieces together,

 because I kept burning myself.

Then the head and the beak overlay are glued together

Add the eyebrow

And the pre-assembled eye

Glue it to the barrette and you're done! Jayhawk barrettes for some of my favorite little girls.

There you have it!  From tracing to finish it took me maybe an hour and half to make five of them. 

Yes, I Joined The Masses

That's right.  I finally started a blog.  Maybe people will read it.  Maybe it will just be me shouting out into the ether.  I am ok with it either way.  I like to shout.  I plan to post here once or twice a week.  I wanted somewhere that I could document the successful craft projects/new meals/baking projects/photo shoots I do.  If I manage to mess anything up in a truly hilarious way, I will, of course, post those too.  I also wanted somewhere to vent/brag without Facebook's word limits.  I will warn you, I am more of a venter than a bragger.  Welcome!