Army Man Cupcakes

I'm currently a nanny for a family of three children, two boys (11 & 9) and one girl (3). A few weeks ago, as he's running out the door to catch the bus, the 9 year old requested army and camouflage cupcakes for his family birthday party...that night. I had about a billion errands to run that day as well as a pile of sports uniforms to wash for weekend games/practices, but I had to give it a try. He hardly asks for anything and is such a sweet boy! With my limited time, he had to settle for a boxed cake mix..but I did manage to make homemade buttercream frosting. 

Don't judge me for the picture...it was taken with my dying blackberry and is horribly blurry! But it gives you an idea of how they came out! I forgot to take a picture of the camo ones, but they came out ok. A little more like a globe than camo, but he didn't mind. 

It was super simple too! I just crushed up a bunch of oreos and rolled the frosted cupcake in them...and stuck an army guy down inside so it looked like he was hiding in the mud. They were a big hit and he was thrilled!

He later told me that I would win in an awesome contest...as the "Awesomest Nanny Ever"

Score!

It's amazing how a simple gesture can make a child's day :)

Cupcake Quilt

SO I'm going to be honest...I did this project a WHILE ago! In fact, the baby that this was made for is now 6 months old...and this was her shower gift. YIKES! But as I mentioned, there's been a lot going on recently, so I can't get too bent out of shape over it ;-) 

So once upon a time...my lovely cousin was having baby! For her "sprinkle" I wanted to make her and the baby something special..one of a kid and from the heart! 

So I thought for a while and this is what I came up with!

The best part is, it turned out so close to what was in my head! That almost never happens. Know what I mean? I always seem to come up with these ideas and I get so excited about them but they hardly ever come out the way I had hoped. Not this time! I was really pleased! And it was soooo simple...other than the fact that I didn't know how to quilt. Details. Details. But even that turned out ok! 


I went to Christmas Tree Shop to get an inexpensive lamp shade. As a matter of fact, the Mommy-to-be-again, was shopping with me. She probably wondered why I was buying such a boring shade! Now since I used hot glue, I had to work quickly so these are the only pictures I have. But seriously, you don't need them. It wasn't hard. I just measured the shade from top to bottom...which luckily for me was 12 inches so I didn't have to cut my paper! I folded the paper like an accordion, every 3/4 inch or so and hot glued them to the shade. Easy peasy! 

The quilt on the other hand was harder for me since the only one I've ever made was TINY and several years ago. I played around with some patterns, but ended up going for tried and true...squares! Just to ensure that this pretty Mama actually received a gift on time. haha I fell in love with the pattern of the polka dot fabric and since it the gender was a secret, I thought it would be a good choice! 


I was so thrilled with the way it came out..and having some left over red felt and a fake flower stem was just the "cherry on top." HA! Sorry, bad pun. But that's all it was really, a little red felt sewn into a circle and a fake flower stem that I clipped the flower off of and hot glued it inside. Done and done. 

Here's the woman of the day and her giant cupcake!

(I promise she's not naturally this orange!)

I think she liked it! And thought it was...dare I say..."Sweet?" 

Hello again!

After a very, very long absence, I'm happy to say that I am back to blogging! It has been a busy and challenging (both good and bad) few months...but I am ready to share some of my crafts, recipes, and excitement with you all! 

The first project I'd like to show off is my biggest yet!! 

So big, in fact, that it won't be complete until June!

Source

SQUEAL!! 

And guess what?!

It was rocky for the first trimester, which I'll share later, but we are doing great now! I'm looking forward to writing about some other projects I've been working on now that I am feeling better and my energy is back! So come back and visit soon!!

*Sigh*

 It feels good to be back!!

Pumpkin Granola

Oh, glorious Fall. I am thoroughly enjoying your presence and all the pumpkin related foods you bring!

I haven't had a lot of luck with granola in the past, mainly because I like it sweet...never want to add enough sugar in hopes of keeping it healthy. I also leave out a lot of the oil usually so it's not as fattening. (At least I can identify my issues...right?! hehe) This recipe is awesome though because it has a lot less sugar (though still a decent amount) and NO oil! Woot woot!! 

So far we've had this in milk, on yogurt, and just for general snacking! It's realllly good!  

Crunchy perfection <3

 Pumpkin Granola 

(Recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats
1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar, not packed
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup (you can cut this amount down with agave, but I didn't have any on hand)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pepitas (I didn't have any of these, but they would have been yummy!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. They will be moist. Evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and stir. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

If there was one treat I wish I could eat...all the time...for no calories...it would be raw chocolate chip cookie dough. mmm At my friend's college, they served partially baked cookie dough in little parchment wrappers...I was always jealous! Last year I found an awesome egg-less cookie dough recipes that I used in truffles and for snacking purposes, but I always wondered how it would taste on a cupcake. Now, if I'm being honest, this recipe is not as good as the eggless cookie dough, but it is really yummy and tastes super great on graham crackers...just saying! I want to try and thin out my other recipe and use that as frosting, but I haven't gotten a chance yet. Don't worry, it will happen.

Cross my heart.

For now, let me share: 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting 

From: Perry's Plate

 

*This makes a LOT of frosting, I halved it and it worked fine*

Ingredients: 

• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3½ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. milk
• 2½ tsp. vanilla extract 

Procedure

1. Beat together the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until creamy.
2. Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and salt. Mix in the milk and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
3. Frost the filled cupcakes as desired, sprinkling with mini chocolate chips and topping with mini chocolate chip cookies for decoration.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I put a piece of cookie dough in the batter before I baked them. It was pretty awesome, but next time, I will fill the cupcake with raw cookie dough. It was lost a little by baking it.  

Don't hate me :)