DIY Pillow Box Favors - Pink Zebra Baby Shower Favors

My friend needed some help with her baby shower, and needed some ideas for favors. I wanted to find something quick and easy, something that people would actually want; and who doesn't want chocolate?

I found a PDF file online and with a copy machine just created a template in which 2 pillow box outlines would fit on an 8x11 sturdy printed scrapbook paper. Since her theme was pink zebra, I did 10 boxes in a zebra paper and 10 in a sparkly pink.

Once I printed and cut, I scored the edges and folds, and used a paper/scrapbook glue to seal together. I filled with 4 or 5 heart shaped chocolates and closed up the box.

With my Cricut machine, I made several tags and the letter K (the baby's first initial) and glued the letter to the tag. I found some sparkly glitter ribbon and used this to attach the tags and tie to the boxes.

Everyone loved the little touches of this, and everyone really enjoyed the chocolate! If you wanted to do a "sturdy" box, you could use card stock, but I found that this paper was a good weight.

In total, I spent 15.00 on all materials (including the chocolate). It came to about .75 cents per favor. 

Here is the print out I used - you should be able to save and then adjust size to your specifications.

DIY Abstract Grey and Yellow Canvas Art

I found this painting online and fell so in love with the texture and colors (I'm digging this grey and yellow room re-do!!) and I could not afford the price tag that came with this one...

So, Instead, I made my own! What do you think?

Not too bad, right? I think this cost me about 6 dollars to make....The original (my inspiration) was running about 120.00

I am VERY happy with my version!!

Handmade Cake Pops

I wont bore you all with the details of how to make a cake - its simple and the directions are on the back of the box - just in case - there is anyone here who has not made a cake before.

So go ahead, make your cake, and while its still warm after coming out of the oven, come on back and i'll give you the next steps.

So here is your work list of what you need:

Cake mix
frosting (canned or home made)
pop sticks
parchment paper
melting chocolates
Sprinkles or non-perils
a piping bag or ziploc baggie
mini cupcake liners

ok, so when I make my cake pops, while the cake is still warm, I start to crumble it as fine as I can so that there are no clumps or hard cake pieces - this will keep your balls from being clumpy in the long run.

After I have crumbled into smallest pieces possible, I add about 3/4 a can of frosting - its really up to you the flavor, but I try to keep my combos together. For these, I did a red velvet cake and a cream cheese frosting.

The frosting gives a nice smooth moist feel when you eat the cake pop, one thing you don't get when you use the pop maker!

I bought these pink and white stripe stiff paper straws from amazon, but simple white pop sticks from the craft store are fine too - its up to what you need.

After the frosting has been mixed in, take about 1 tablespoon of cake mix, and roll into a ball in your hand. I keep a moist piece of paper towel near by to wipe my hands and keep them moist so that the cake doesn't stick to my fingers.

I put the balls on parchment paper and pop them into the freezer for about 2 hours. This sets them nicely and makes the stick insertion really easy.

Once you have your cake balls have been chilled, prepare your chocolates. You will need a small amount to use with the stick insertion so do this one first.

HINT: If you add a little cooking oil to the chocolate as your are melting it, it makes the chocolate really smooth and the perfect consistency for cake pops!

How I get my sticks in, is insert the stick first, withdraw and then dip into the chocolate, swirl, tap and re-insert into the cake pop. This will (mostly) get chocolate into the pop so that when chilled, the chocolate hardens and doesn't let the stick fall out.

Do this for all the pops and then put back into freezer for about 30 minutes.

Prepare your other chocolate colors in microwave safe dishes - its easier to use a "tall" container when you have to dip the whole pop in to cover.

When covering the pops, you can use a spoon to help cover the pop, or use a deep glass to make sure you get coverage. tap GENTLY and rotate pop on the edge of glass to get off any excess. Place back on parchment paper when you have done all of them, and put back into freezer for another 20 minutes.

Now, if you want to do basic chocolate covered cake pops, you can stop here - just take from freezer, put in fridge until its time to eat or display. If you want to do some fancy scmancy stuff, here are some ideas...

the above I made to look like "leopard" spots (kinda sorta, maybe?) and just used a ziplock baggie to do my chocolate dots and white accents. 

The other was a simple white with sprinkles that I added about a minute after I coated it.

These ones I used white non-perils and just put a little warm chocolate on them just in the places I wanted them to go.

The other is white chocolate with a zebra stripe of chocolate.

Ta-da - here they are at the baby shower, which was a pink and black zebra theme! 

DIY Skyline Grey and Yellow Canvas Art

This was a great project!!! I am finally getting around to decorating my guest room and I am going with the color pallet of Grey and Yellow. I saw this peice of art doing a google search and fell in love with it! I knew it was an easy DIY so want to share the finished product!

Here is the finished product of my creation:

And here is the original that gave me the idea, which I found in a google search:

I started with a blank canvas and 2 paint colors (yellow and black) and a small paint brush. I let my 5 year old artist come out and starting at the bottom of the canvas, drew my buildings, making sure to have windows for the "yellow" lights on inside...

I seriously am in love with this and can not wait to finish up my room so I can hang it on the wall!!

Keep Calm and Bake Wall Art

Do you see a theme in todays posts? :-)

I love my new Cricut...I have endless possibilities!!

As an avid baker, I just throught this was an AWSOME way to remind myself its just life and every day is a new one!!

This was a mix of cartridges of Wall Decor and More and George Font - I just LOVE how it pops against my brownie walls!

CTRL ALT DEL wall art

My husband loves the CTRL ALT DEL pillows from the TV show "two and a half men" (The new version with ashton Kutcher) that are on the couch in the living room off the kitchen. I really wanted to make him some pillows like that (I found them online for 60+ dollars!!) but I also knew that he didnt really have a place to put them....

So, instead, I made some super cute wall art peices to go above his computer desk... Aren't I such a thoughtful wife?? :-)

I started by picking my font, and because I didnt have the right "keyboard" Font, I just used what I had with my Cricut and cut the letters to fit inside the frame I bought (1.00 at walmart!)

I chose a chevron card stock paper that matched the maroon color contact/vinyl. I started with the last letter to line up the lettering to the far right of the frame. And yes, the "ALT" has the chevron going in the opposite direction; I made it that way!

Ta-Da! A quick and easy project for some computer wall art :-) What kind of wall art have you done with Cricut?

Coffee Lovers Box - DIY

I love a cup of coffee as much as the next person (if not more so!) and my sister and mom are the same way.

For Christmas I made a coffee lovers box for my sister with a few fun DIY items...Please feel free to leave me a comment if you have questions about any of it!!

 

 

I made some cute coffee pods using some coffee filters and some Kureig pods, busted open and put inside. Tied them up with some plain white cotton string:

 

I put them into a mason jar with a lace doily on the top for a cute look!

I also made some DIY coffee themed coasters (see the DIY here drink coasters )

A box of Biscotti, a coffee mug from the dollar store, a bag of mint malino cookies, mints, Pirouettes  and some DIY chocolate covered spoons.

My sister LOVED the box and loved the "on the go" coffee pods...

How fun is this to get!!??

 

recipie - Home Version of Alice Spring Chicken

I'm a HUGE fan of Outback Steak House and their Alice Spring Chicken. However, they are a little expensive and there is always a wait at the one in my town...

Instead, I made a version of my own!! This is seriously AWESOME and even my hubby liked my version!!

Ingredients:

3-4 grilled chicken breasts

handful of spinach

mushrooms

onions

feta

shredded Italian cheese

chicken grill seasoning

Assembly & Cooking instructions:

• Sauté mushrooms and onions
• Grill the chicken breasts until 90% cooked (the last 15-20 minutes will be in a 350 degree oven)
• cook the 6-8 pieces of thick cut bacon (If you want the love, sauté the mushrooms and onions in the bacon grease!)
• once bacon, mushrooms and onions are cooled down, begin assembly on the grilled chicken breasts
• Chicken breast
• Feta cheese
• onion
• spinach
• Bacon
• shredded cheese

Once it is all assembled, pop it into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for roughly 15-20 minutes. this will crisp up the bacon and toast off the cheese and finish cooking the chicken.

+

Pair with your favorite potato and a steamed veggie!!

 Enjoy!!!

Officially on Twitter!! Follow me!

Would love for you to follow me on Twitter!! I finally got around to creating an account...Once I get 100 followers, I will randomly select 1 follower to win a lovely bath gift basket!!

@Wineinasippycup


I also have a new email address directly for my WIASC followers!

wineinasippycup@hotmail.com


Once I get 100 followers, I will draw a random person to win!! Pass it on!!

Review of Saving Memories Forever - Great app and webpage!

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial. I was really excited to try this out as I have family all over the place and this would be a great way to connect and share!!

I love this system because it has both a website and an app which is really awesome. The app is downloaded for free to the playstore and its as simple as logging in....You create your account, (even designate another "storyteller").

The next step is just picking your age catagory and choosing one of the quetions to help get you started...its simple to use and navigate. Once you are done recording, you can review it and then upload it!

Some of the tips on the site suggest:

1.   Be prepared. Make sure you have all your equipment and your questions or prompts. Practice with the equipment until you’re sure how to operate it.

   2.   One question at a time. Don’t bunch several questions together in one long question. Short, open-ended questions asked one at a time work best.

   3.   Use props. Photos and family mementos are great to elicit stories and bring back memories. Bring the props out one by one.

   4.   Don’t tire out your subject. Saving Memories Forever suggests that the response for each question should take about 5-10 minutes and that the entire interview should last no longer than 45 minutes. The interview should stop when you first see that your subject is getting tired.

   5.   Use the grandkids. Sometimes it is can be difficult to get older family members to answer questions. Consider using the grandchildren to ask the questions. No grandparent can resist telling his/her story to an interested child.

   6.    Fly solo (mostly). Plan on doing the interview in a one-on-one format. Sometimes having others around can be inhibiting. Sometimes, though, it’s worth interviewing several people at a time as multiple interview subjects can give some great insight into relationships.

   7.   Give interviewee time to collect thoughts. Whenever you can, give the person you’re interviewing some time to collect his/her thoughts. They might even want to jot down a few points that they want to include. It’s worth it as the richest stories contain small details that sometimes take awhile to recall.  

   8.  Relax. The recording doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it shouldn’t be perfect. Your family will find your laughter and joy at making the recording more important than the fact you got a word wrong or said “ummm” three times.

The site I think gets looked over a lot since you can do so much on the app. The site (www.savingmemoriesforever.com) has a great navigation system and even a "Funstuff" tab which has a lot of good ideas for those using the system.

Here is a passage from their suggested game:

"Play 'Pass the Phone':

Pass the phone is a game we've created. Its an excellent activity idea for families, especially at family reunions or holiday gatherings.
Simply put, the activity involves selecting a question to ask, recording the relatives response, and then passing the phone on to another relative. Once each story is recorded and uploaded, it can be shared with other relatives - perhaps ones who couldn't attend the gathering."

There are also two options for membership - a free version and the Pay version. The difference between them are explained on their site:

Overall, this is a fab idea, easily accessible and very affordable. This would be a great way to really capture the stories, laughter and family memories....Recommended and two thumbs up! 

Now, if there was a way to do a video version, I think it would definitely

take the experience to a new level!! 



I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.