Sunday, December 4, 2011

Why Craft?

Thinking of all of my wonderful crafty blogging friends this holiday season as I reminisce about the days when I was a good and avid blogger...  : )

http://www.babble.com/crafts-activities/kids-crafts-ideas/why-craft/

Have a beautiful and joyous Holiday!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Holiday Babbling...

(...I'm making my blogging comeback slowly but surely... in the meantime, let me share with you a couple of recent craft articles over at Babble.com - some great ideas for kids' holiday projects!)





Monday, December 6, 2010

December Cupkins Link Party - Christmas!

It's the first Monday of the month (Happy December!) and it's time for December's edition of Cupkins. 
Happy Holidays to you!
I know that I've been absent for the past month or so - and I promise you two things...

1)  that I explain my absence, and get you updated on everything that's been going on in my life,
and,
2)  that I'll be back on a more consistent basis soon enough!
This month's theme is Christmas of course!  Now - since I've been away from blogging I've also been away (mostly) from baking and crafting.
SO - I'm going to share with you a couple of different Christmas-y, cupcake-y type of things.  Is that okay?  And after you've checked these out, please please please head over to visit Meg, my better Cupkins-half,
over at MegaCrafty to see her delicious creation!

hese were last year's Cupkins creation for December.  I love the tinted frosting and putting those cute little mini candy canes to good use!

These were a creation I whipped up for a Holiday Crafts piece I wrote for Babble.com!  Simply sweet!
What kinds of cupcakes and sweet treats have you been dreaming up?  Be sure to link up your ideas over at Meg's place. 

And thanks for stopping by you guys, and for hanging in there with me while I've been gone.  If you are still out there - feel free to leave me a comment and let me know so.  I'd love to "hear" from you!
Happy Baking!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!  If you have a sec - pop on over to Babble.com to take a look at my Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids piece.  Direct link HERE.

Monday, November 8, 2010

November Cupkins Link Party!

As Cupkins drew nearer and nearer this month I became more and more anxious and overwhelmed.  While I LOVE Cupkins, and cupcakes and muffins in general - you all know how busy and crazy my life is right now, I was panicked about WHAT to bake, and WHEN to bake it!  I had no time to plan or test bake, and I was stressing out about the whole thing!

That's when I realized that has the holidays get closer - we all feel these same frantic feelings at one point or another - so for my sake, and yours, I took a deep breath - and decided to keep it simple.  And you know what?  Sometimes simple IS better - because these mini cupcakes are divine... and so easy!  They're small, so you can squeeze one or two in even if you're full from Turkey Day dinner, and they are simple and quick to make - so you can spend the rest of Thanksgiving worrying about the turkey and the sweet potatoes!

Oh, and forgive the dark photos... we had to make a run to take some food to friends in the hospital and I lost my light.  C'est la vie.

Spiced Pumpkin Mini Cupcakes


I was inspired by these darling little mini cupcake wrappers by Wilton.  So much pumpkin-y cuteness!


Combine a box of yellow cake mix, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, 1 cup of canned pumpkin, 4 eggs, and 1/2 tsp each of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon in a standing mixer.  Fill baking cups 2/3 full with cupcake mixture and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (keep a close eye on them - mini cupcakes especially burn on the bottoms very easily if they are left in too long!)

Remove from oven and allow to cool...


While the cupcakes are cooling, whip up some cream cheese frosting.  Mix 1 stick of butter and 1 block of cream cheese until combined, then add 4 cups of powdered sugar one cup at a time.  Add in 2 tbsp of vanilla extract and mix well.  Then pipe or spread onto cupcakes...

After piping, I added just a sprinkle of orange sugar to decorate...


Yum!  Delicious!  Enjoy!


Now head over to Meg's place to check out her yummy looking Apple Pie Muffins... mmmm................


Now it's time for you to share YOUR Thanksgiving cupcake and muffin ideas!  Leave a link to your recipes, decorating tips, and more!  We'd love to salivate over your creations, too!  The link party will stay open until 11:59PM on Tuesday - so link up and tell your friends!