Pocketfolds...

Pocketfolds....who knew something soooo simple could be sooo hard (and expensive) to come by? I hadn't heard of these before a week ago. Well okay, I've SEEN them, but I had no clue what they were called, if anything. Turns out? Oh yes, these lil' buggers have a name, and they are crazy expensive to buy! Whew!

I looked at a couple of tutorials trying to find different places to order them. But, in the end, I've decided to make mine for our invitations. Yup, I'm crazy.  But we have a lot of time before the wedding, so I figure if I tackle a few here, a few there, it will be fine. *deep breath* :) Here's a picture of the trial run invite I made this week (don't judge too much, it's a rough draft). Also, please forgive the color distortion, I just quickly took these and the lighting was horrible:

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The belly band will have our monogram on it for the
finished product....it's a work in progress :)

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Inside. The stuff that isn't done: the invite part will be landscape
 orientation...plus there will be several insert cards.

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Dry embossing. Love. :)

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Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set by Stampin' Up! Sooo cute!

I have an embossing machine I will use for the rose on the end of the pocketfold. And, after much deliberation, I've decided to print the actual invitation card landscape instead of portrait orientation (so basically, it will read sideways). That was my mom's input: it will make the card more uniform since the RSVP and the other insert were printed that way. 

Anywho, I've decided to order the paper online from AnchorPaper.com.  They've given me a great quote on some metallic black paper, so that's the one I'm going with.  I'm putting in an order this week, so hopefully it will come soon, and then I'll post a tutorial with measurements, instructions, and pictures of the pocketfolds!

Monogram: How-to

This last week I created a monogram for Matt and I. I've seen several versions of this online, so this is just kind of updated tutorial. :) Here's a picture of the finished product:

Not too bad, eh? I liked the way it turned out, pretty good I think. For this, I used a simple font for the M and Kuntsler script for the A. First things first, this requires a photoshop program.  The one I used is Adobe Photoshop Elements, not sure what version. Open a new project, and I made mine about 4 x 4 inches (I ended up cropping it quite a bit). Make sure the background is set to transparent. Open a text box, select the font, and type in one letter, doesn't matter which one. Open another text box (this will open another layer) and type the other letter. Then, move one over the other, positioned the way you like. Once the image looks good, select the eyedropper option and pick up the color of one letter. Then, using the paintbrush, paint over certain areas where the letters intersect. This will make the letters intertwined. :) Once you've completed that, open a third text box and type in your first names and the date of the wedding. That's it! Not much to it! Make sure to save it in PSD form not JPG, this is important to keep the graphic quality. 

Flag Cake...Happy 4th!

Sorry this post is late, guys.  I tried to make a smaller version of this cake yesterday, in hopes of using that one to post.  I didn't want to make two full-size cakes....who would eat all of that?!? Well, okay, maybe I could...Anywho, so that one did NOT turn out at. all.  I was so bummed, because I knew I wouldn't be able to post the cake until the 4th, today.  Ah, the best of intentions.  But I tried the cake again today, full-size, and it worked soooo much better!

A little late, but still delicious! Here's how to make your own flag cake!

Start out by doubling a cake recipe...okay, honesty time.  I made these "cake-mix style" and if you do that, just make two boxes.  Make one box (so, two 8" cakes) with only red food coloring, and one box with one 8" blue and one 8" white.  If you have white food coloring, I suggest it, it makes a difference. :)  Here are my cakes, ready to be assembled, flag-style:

First things first: level all  of your cakes. I took the very very top off mine, you shouldn't need to cut off very much.  Just enough to give a nice surface to frost.  Now, cut your red cakes and your white cake in half, horizontal.  This should give you four layers of red to work with and two of white.  Put one of the red aside, you won't need it (snack pile, anyone??). Once you've done that, go ahead and stack a red layer, apply filling (I just used buttercream frosting), then a white layer, filling, and then another red layer. It should look like this:

You should have a thick layer of blue left (cuz you didn't cut that one, right...right?), one red, and one white left.  Take a 4" cookie cutter, or a 4" biscuit maker, or anything that will suffice that is 4", and cut a shape out of the red and out of the white.  What's left of those colors, put aside.  Your spread should look like this:

Put a layer of "filling" on the red layer that's already on the stack of cake.  Then, lay the blue on top (I turned mine over so that the top of the cake would be perfectly flat).  Inside the hole, take a small spatula or a knife, and line the inside of the hole with frosting.  Place the WHITE layer in the hole.  You don't want to place the red in first, because then your stripes will be off.  Once it's in, spread a small amount of frosting on top of the white circle.  Then, place the red on the white.  The hole in the blue layer should be filled and the cake should look like this:

Now you're ready to frost the outside and decorate if you wish! I just did mine plain white.  To be honest, by the time I got to the "decorate" part, I was tired!  Plus, I feel like it's more fun that way...you take this "boring" looking cake to a party and when you cut into it, voila!

 I'll post some pictures in a little bit of what the cake looked like inside.  Now, I must go, or I'll be late for the BBQ and fireworks! :) 

Weekend Project

My bestie Michelle and I hung out yesterday for some much needed scrapbooking and girl time! We decided to create some new recipe books using hardback she discovered at a store nearby, so we ventured over to Spoons 'n Spice to pick up a recipe "album" for the project. The idea for the book was to make it over, in a way.  We chose some cute paper (I chose some to match my red kitchen :) ) and used mod podge to recover and seal the book. Then, we recovered the inserts that came with the album (because the colors were WAYYYY off from what I wanted) and, voila! A beautiful new recipe book, ready to use! Mine had some hiccups along the way...the paper on the edges kept tearing, so I tried covering it up with a better quality of paper.  It worked pretty well, but it's not perfect....meh, oh well!  Still looks cute! So glad Michelle found these!

Here's what the book looked like originally.  It was a little over the top for me:

And, here it is, all made over and red!  I found some really cute recipe cards to go with the color scheme.  Win! I'm still not finished decorating it, but it's a work-in-progress.

Spaghetti for dessert.....April Fool's Cupcakes!!

Who wants dessert? I mean dinner...I mean...Nah, there are no dinner recipes in this post, just cupcakes!  These are cute (and delicious, I promise) cupcakes for April Fools' Day.  I got the idea from the blog OurBestBites.  I'm sorry this post didn't come sooner, I wanted to have it up BEFORE April Fools' so you guys could use it....but, I wasn't able to find time to make them until Thursday night.  Sooo, here they are:

Don't they look, um, delicious???? Well, they are, and they are super easy!

I will say, I did use a "cake from a box" for this one.  I was worried the decorating part was going to be more involved than the girl from OurBestBites  (Sara) said.  Sometimes people who are pros forget the rest of us aren't divinely talented :) ...but she wasn't exaggerating, it was really easy!  

I did make my own frosting, also from that blog.  The frosting turned out pretty well, and it held it's shape perfectly! No melting to be had!  However, the taste is very similar to red velvet frosting.  And I don't mean the cream cheese kind.  I'm talking the old school, cook it on the stove kind (for those of you who've never had it, you're probably thinkin' I'm insane...no, you DO cook it on the stove). And don't get me wrong, I do like that frosting a lot, but I don't know how I feel about it on white cake.  Sara (the girl who originally posted this recipe) said she loved it and had rave reviews because it isn't as sweet as other frostings used on cupcakes.  And that is very true, however, with me?  Ummm, more frosting, less cake please.  I'm super weird!  I'm the kid at the birthday parties that insisted on a corner piece with a frosting flower on top!  I never think frosting is too sweet...ever. :) But it you're like the rest of the modern world, I suggest you try this frosting recipe at least once.  It is very good, and it isn't as overly sweet as other recipes.  (I will post the full frosting recipe at the end of this post)  :)

I'm also going to show a few techniques I've picked up looking at other blogs.  I'm very new to this whole decorating thing, so I'm excited to share some tips and tricks on how to keep decorating as painless as possible!

For these cupcakes you will need:

-Frosting

-Ferrero Rocher chocolates (they are covered in gold foil and usually in the candy aisle at the grocery store)

-Strawberry Jam (sauce)

-White chocolate bar (parmesan cheese)

Here are my little cupcakes all ready to be frosted.  You'll want to make sure they are completely cool before decorating.

Here is what the frosting should look like once completed.  You want it very light and fluffy so it will hold it's shape (also, it's more delicious that way):

If you are a baking guru, please skip down the the actual frosting pictures.  These next few are for us rookies out there (me included).  This, actually, was my first ever attempt at frosting using a piping bag and all that jazz.  Having frosted many cakes and cookies (completely free hand) in my life with my mom, I seriously don't know how she never used these!  What were we thinking??? 

Anywho, go ahead and put the coupler (inside part only) into the piping bag and snip off the end of the bag.

Here's the piping trick I used...guaranteed to avoid a HUGE clean-up process. I promise, no more cleaning out piping bags!

Take some clear plastic wrap and lay it out on the counter.  You'll want it to be about a foot and a half long, a foot at the least.  You want it to have the ends extending past the frosting.  Put a medium-sized dollop of frosting in the center (I used about a cup-ish).  Then, roll up the plastic wrap around it:

Twist the ends (doesn't matter which way) so that no frosting can get out:

Then, slide the frosting into the piping bag.  Pull one end of the twisted wrap out the coupler/end of the piping bag.  This part was a little odd the first time I did it.  I used a toothpick to help the plastic wrap come out the end. When you do this, you'll notice the wrapped frosting doesn't reach the coupler and the end of the bag.  That's okay, we'll fix that in the next step.

Just like you're going to frost, hold the end of the piping bag and squeeze until you see a little frosting come out the end:

Put a rubber band on the other end of the bag (the large end, so you don't have to worry about the bag leaking any).  Cut off the plastic wrap right at the tip of the piping bag (where you just forced the frosting to squeeze out a little).  Put your piping tip (I used a #3) and coupler cap on, and you're ready to frost!  

Now, the magic of this process won't be fully realized until you're finished.  Simply take off the coupler cap and tip, take off the rubber band, and then slide the whole plastic wrap bundle out.  Throw it away, and you're left with a clean piping bag and coupler!  The only thing you really need to wash out is the tip.  (I was a little messy and a little frosting got on the bag when I pulled out the plastic wrap, so I did have a few spots to clean off...but sooo much easier!)

But, onto to the frosting!  I swear, this is super easy!  Hold the bag about two inches above the cupcake, and squeeze the bag gently.  The frosting will naturally coil and look messy (just like spaghetti noodles).  

Slowly, as you continue to frost, move around the cupcake to cover it in "noodles."

Using Ferrero Rocher chocolates (they can be found at any grocery store in the candy section), place your "meatball" in the middle of each cupcake.  

Then, take some strawberry jam, and heat it for about ten seconds in the microwave to get it nice and smooth.  Spoon a little out and drizzle over each cupcake.  Now you have your sauce! Voila!

If you want to get really fancy, take some white chocolate and grate it for some "parmesan cheese."  I didn't have any on hand, so mine is simply marinara. ;) 

My friend Nikki came up with another alternative (she's always brilliant with this stuff).  Take a cookies n' cream bar and grate it...and, you have parmesan and pepper on your spaghetti! :)

I found the real trick with these is convincing people they aren't actually disgusting, but delicious! :)  Haha, I took these to work, and I ended up eating three, trying to prove to people that I didn't put anything weird in them...Happy April Fools' Day!

Here is the frosting recipe I used...this is originally from www.ourbestbites.com.

Cupcake Frosting:

Frosts 12 cupcakes

3 Tbls Flour

1/2 Cup of Milk (whole is best, I used 2% and it was fine)

1/2 Cup real butter (room temp)

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk milk and flour together in a small saucepan on medium heat.

Keep stirring continuously until it thickens.  You will know it's done when you can start to see the bottom of the pot.  If it's lumpy, that's okay. (Don't let it get too thick, it should still be liquid-y)  

Pour into a mesh strainer over a mixing bowl and stir with a rubber spatula to push it through (this will take out the lumps).  (I used a plastic strainer, and it worked fine.)  

The mixture, once it's strained, should be almost like pudding.

Put it in the fridge to cool completely. (It took mine about 1 1/2 hours)  It's okay if it gets chilly, you don't want any warmth in it.

In an electric stand mixer, use the whisk attachment and beat the butter and sugar together until it's combined and fluffy.

While it's stirring, slowly add the mixture from the fridge and the vanilla.  Take a moment and scrape the sides to combine it.  It will look nothing like a light frosting....just wait.

Beat on med-high for 7-8 min.  Yup, I'm serious...that long.  It's amazing!  It will turn into a delicious, fluffy, and silky frosting when it's done, promise!

Once you're finished with that, you are ready to frost!

Hope you enjoyed this post, happy baking!