Somebunny Stop Me

What is it about these crazy macarons? I CAN'T STOP BAKING THEM! I'm completely addicted, and slightly obsessed with coming up with new ideas for my next macaron-baking class at Adriene Rathbun's on Saturday, March 24th. I think there's a few spots left if you'd like to join in on the fun. Please do! Just click here for all the details. 

So far, my list of fun-macarons-I-wanna-demonstrate includes:

Bite-sized Bunnies

Eggcellent Eggs

Little Lambs

Crunchy Carrots

Pastel Posies

Cheeky Chicks

And some clever, seasonal macaron toppers

I'd better stop there. Seems like I'm always trying to share 16 hours worth of ideas in a 3-hour class.

Easy Photo Display

It's been over 10 years since we finished our basement, but I still really like this simple photo display I created for the guest bedroom. Seems like I hardly ever go in that room unless I'm cleaning it for the next guest checking in at the Denneler Bed & Breakfast. But every time I do, I get a smile on my face seeing the old photos on the wall. My intention was to print out new ones and replace them every so often. But nostalgia keeps me from changing what's there - My dad & I dancing at my wedding, Eric and his brothers building a clubhouse when they were kids, a toddler-Gus holding a scoop of snow...


It was super-simple and cheap to make: a couple of 1x2x8 Oak boards, some clothespins and a few 11x17 print outs. Works great in a long, narrow space like this too. If I had done something similar upstairs, it would have been a perfect way to display and rotate the kids' artwork. Hummmm... now that I think about it, we're planning to renovate the living room & kitchen in the near future. Might have to explore this idea again. 

Champagne Cupcakes

My good friend & fellow WSU designer, Kristi, is gettin' married in Vegas next week. Woot! Woot! To celebrate the upcoming nuptials, we hosted a wedding shower for the lovely couple at work today. And we toasted them with champagne cupcakes.

Check out these cards that our friend & other fellow WSU designer, Joey, made for the party. Aren't they hilarious?

Here's a little step-by-step pictorial of how I made the champagne-glass cupcakes. 

 First, I painted the insides of the glasses with Wilton Sparkle Gel.

 Then, I added some Wilton Sprinkles.

  

It totally looks like real champagne after this step! 

 

Then I filled the glasses with multiple layers of buttercream icing and mini yellow cupcakes, and added a few more sprinkles on top.

 

Cheers, to the bride & groom! Enjoy your sweet life together.

Live for today. Plant for tomorrow.

Hot off the presses and in-store now: Tree Top Nursery's 2012 Garden T-shirt! Buy one, and receive 10% off all your purchases* this year.

*Off of regular priced items, not valid with any other specials or offers. Excludes labor, landscaping, irrigation and maintenance. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer. Yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda. Don't blame me, I just designed the t-shirt, not the offer.

Pretty. In Pink.

Valentine's Day was also "Pink Day" at Bea's daycare this week. Every month, they celebrate and learn about one color. And February was, of course: pink.

The kids are encouraged to wear pink clothes, find a pink show-and-tell item to share, and bring pink food for everyone to eat. And Bea BEGGED me to make little pink cupcakes. So we did. We made blush pink, rosey pink, purpley pink, and turn-your-tongue-fluorescent-pink cupcakes.

Pink enough for ya, Bea?

My silly Valentines.

There are two things I've never allowed my kids do: pick out Halloween costumes from a store, and buy boxes of Valentines off the shelf. I JUST CAN'T LET IT HAPPEN. (It will all come out in therapy some day, I'm sure. Sorry kids.)

That being said, I made these silly Valentines for Bea and Gus to share with their friends this year.

Bea's cards are a cutout photo of herself, hanging from the string of a heart-shaped balloon. She only has 5 little buddies at daycare, so they're simple & inexpensive, but still fun.

 

And Gus' cards feature a photo of my Lego-lovin' kid, holding a Lego-built heart, with a Lego-shaped chocolate bar. Over-the-top? Probably. But my boy is growing up and I only have one more year of making Valentines for him, so they're going to be EXTRA special. 

(P.S. I bought the Lego chocolate candy mold from Amazon.com. Super-easy to make.)

 Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Share the love.

Half-a-Cake for Gus' Half-Birthday

Gus got to celebrate his half-birthday at school today. (Anyone in his class with a summer birthday gets to bring treats on their half-birthday.)

Since he's my candy-lovin'-kid, I decided to create a 3-tiered, Rolo cake. (But only half.) I added a big poster cutout of Gus with his arms around the cake, and made a "10 1/2" paper candle for the top.

The 4th graders in Ms. McNeil's class thought it was pretty fun, and Gus finally got a chance to celebrate his birthday with all of his friends. (BTW... it was pajama day at school. They don't normally dress this polar-fleecy-casual.)

Here's how I constructed it... just some foam core, plastic tubes and a little hot glue. Oh, and 39 roles of Rolos.

Pick a card. Any card.

We're not really in business, but Eric and I now have a business card, of sorts.

Mostly it's just a vehicle for people to remember our website. But I also put my contact information on there in case someone's crazy enough to pay us money to create something fun. (We've already had some Redbud Pediatrics patients call, wanting to hire Eric's mad woodworking skillz.)

So, I guess you could say we're in the business of fun.

BTW... The cards were made by Moo - an awesome online printer that allows you to have a different image on the back of every card in a pack of 50. Perfect for us, since we have so many projects and ideas we want to share. I love how they turned out - rounded corners & super-thick, matte-laminated paper stock. Niiiiicce.