During a 6-week study abroad program in Italy, we consumed plenty of gelato. In fact, by the end of our stay, the lady in the neighborhood gelato shop knew us from our daily visit(s). When I saw these cute ice-cream cone stickers, I knew I had a scrapbook page to put all of those gelato pictures on.
I’ve seen several recipes around the internet for Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies and wanted to test out the idea for a bake sale. Since the cookies were going into small bags, I decided to try making the cookie with mini Oreos.
Start by making chocolate chip cookie dough, using the recipe on the Nestle bag of mini chocolate chips. Let the dough refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375. Measure one heaping teaspoon of dough and on non-stick cookie sheet. Press one mini Oreo into the dough. Place one teaspoon of dough on top of the Oreo. Press the dough around the Oreo. Bake cookies for eight minutes.
The Women’s Law Student Association is hosting a bake sale this week. What a great opportunity to make pink ribbon sugar cookies.
There was a family birthday party this weekend for Mike and his cousin Joe. I felt that it was only appropriate for me to make cupcakes for Mike and Joe’s favorite football teams: the Carolina Panthers and the Minnesota Vikings.
Supplies: white and lavender candy melts, candy molds (both football helmet and circle shapes), oil-based coloring, and paintbrushes.
First, the Panthers. Their logo is a bit complicated, so I settled for a paw. Take a die cut of a paw and place it on top of a piece of tape for a template.
Place this template under the mold. Melt 6-8 white chocolate discs in the microwave on defrost. Use a small paintbrush to paint over the template. Make sure the white chocolate is thick enough to block out the color going behind it. If you go outside the lines, just clean up the edges with a clean brush.
Melt more white chocolate discs and add blue oil-based coloring.
Spoon the blue chocolate into the molds. Shake the molds to make sure there are no air bubbles. Set aside until the chocolate hardens.
Now for the Vikings helmets. Melt a small amount of white chocolate, and paint a small swerve in each mold. Melt a small amount of white chocolate and add yellow coloring. Then add a small curve of yellow next to the white.
Melt a bowl full of lavender chocolate discs. I added blue and red coloring to make the chocolate look more like Viking purple. Spoon the chocolate into the molds, and shake to remove any air bubbles.
Here’s the finished product:
About a month ago, Mike hinted that he would like to go skydiving with me for his birthday. I gave him an emphatic “no,” but made a mental note anyway. The next week, I made a reservation with a skydiving company. I then told Mike that I found a great wine and cheese tasting place to visit on his birthday (Mike hates cheese). I knew he would act enthusiastic to protect my feelings.
My next missions was telling Mike of his surprise. I decided to put my Slice machine to work. I made cupcake cutouts on the Slice and then free-handed a parachute. Here’s the end result:
I gave Mike his card at dinner the night before his birthday. Due to bad weather, our jump was delayed by two days. But when we did get to go, it was a beautiful day!
It seems as though I’ve been seeing all sorts of creative alternatives to pumpkin carving lately. When I saw a great variety of pumpkins at Lunds the other day, I was inspired. I bought an assortment and then picked up some spray paint at Ace Hardware.
My supplies:
First, I took a damp cloth and wiped down the pumpkins, making sure there was no dirt left anywhere. Then, I went to town with my metallic spray paints. I suppose I could have gotten creative with different designs (Burberry themed pumpkins crossed my mind), but I think I will save that for next year.
The three large pumpkins went on a small stool outside of our front door.
The three small guys went on the table in our entry.
One evening last week, I left the apartment and told Mike, “I have a few things to pick up at Michaels. I’ll be home soon.” Two hours later, as I stood in a scrapbooking aisle of the store, my phone rang. As I was apologizing to Mike, he told me not to worry because these are all things that I will use and enjoy. I just told him to wait until he saw my total bill!
Anyway, the reason for the long trip had to do with a Slice machine that was on sale. From what I can tell, the Slice is like the Cricut with less expensive cartridges. For those of you that have no idea what either of these machines do, they are computerized scrapbooking “gadgets” that cut paper into precise shapes. Since I am hardly one to pass up a sale at Michaels, I left the store with a Slice and three different cartridges.
As I began work on my Europe scrapbook, I found the perfect occasion to use my new gadget. We spent a week in Spain, yet I managed to take only two food pictures – paella and sangria. I knew I needed something else to fill a 12×12 page. The “Bon Appetit!” cartridge seemed perfect. After a bit to tooling around, I created this little page:
For as long as I can remember, my Aunt Mary Ellen has been an avid scrapbooker. My cousin Andrew has to be one of the most photographed people alive! When my sister and I came to visit in the summer, Mary Ellen got two extra sets of hands to help her with her scrapbooks. At this time, film was the norm, so Mary Ellen would pick up stacks of pictures that had been developed. You then sort out the pictures and decide what pictures will go on what page. I loved looking through all of the colors of paper and imagining the different possibilities for each page.
As much as I loved helping Mary Ellen, I never made a complete scrapbook of my own. Well, this is all about to change. In case you were wondering what 750 pictures looks like:
Mike and I spent 9 weeks in Europe this summer (6 weeks for summer school in Rome, and 3 weeks bumming around other European cities). I managed to narrow down my photo selection to 750 prints. Look for updates as I put these guys onto scrapbook pages. Let the scrapbooking begin!