Graduation Cap Cookies ... Royal Icing

I've been loving those cookie YouTube video's on FB where the girl does the royal icing in time warp. They are beautiful, and I've always wanted to try! A friend from the gym asked if I could make some graduation cap cookies.  I thought this is my time to try out royal icing! NOW this was a big day for her daughter so I didn't want to mess them up OR not have anything for her! I called my best decorating gal and headed to her house with my baked cookies.

I did a Google search to find the best Royal Icing recipe and I found Julie Usher, she had a GREAT YouTube video on how to make, color and make consistency adjustments. 

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

We decided on the outline and then the flooding. This way you make a clean line for the outline then fill in the outline middle with the flooding. WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

We outlined with dark blue (using AmeriColor Royal Blue Soft Gel Food Color). My friend had a steady hand so she did the outling. I did the flooding. I must say it was easier then I thought. We then outlined with black (using AmeriColor Black Soft Gel Food Color). The one thing I have learned about black is it goes from grey to black. NOW I should have let it rest and turn black our's turned a bit grey in the meantime. 

It was a bit time consuming and I know why people charge like $1.50 to $2 each cookie. They turned out so cool and I have another graduation to go to in 2 weeks that I wanted to make cookies for her gift.

A BIG thanks to my friend for always helping me with my adventures in new baking techniques. 

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Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pokemon Party .. Pokemon Character and Ball Perler Beads

And we end the party! The last thing on the Pokemon Party is the Perler Beads shaped like Pokemon Characters and Balls.  I did a search on Google and Pinterest and found several different shapes then we got to it. My youngest is so much like me and can do these tedious activities. We had 20 treat bags to do and we want 2 per bag so we made 40 of these!  My oldest thankfully did all the ball ones for the party.

What you need:

Perler Beads (Hobby Lobby or Michael's - In the colors you need)

Perler Bead Board

Hot Iron

Perler Bead Paper

Designs (Google or Pinterest)

We printed all the different balls and characters. We then copied the design onto a board, we used it like a math game and counted how many up and down. Once your design is done you take the perler bead paper and put on top and you put the hot iron on. We found out that 60 seconds left on then press the corners and make sure everything is connected. Once cool you flip off the board put the paper on the back side and repeat with the iron. They are done after that, you can make a necklace or just leave them like we did.

I was able to get pictures of my youngest making them.

My oldest did it late at night without picutres.

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Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pokemon Party ... Pikachu Candy Clay Topper

And to top the cupcake's why not add a Pikachu! I thought this would be a fun way to add a little more to the themed party. I found tons of cool ideas, but of course when I got time to make these it was the morning of the party! So it was a make it or break it moment, and it was a super easy but cute topper!

What You Need:

Candy Clay - Yellow

Candy Clay - Red

Black Edible Marker

Circle Cookie Cutter (Extra Small & Large)

MAKE CANDY CLAY:
For those who have not seen my previous post on how to make modeling chocolate (aka candy clay) all pictured but the orange.

Modeling Chocolate

12oz Candy Melts

1/4 Cup light corn Syrup

Melt your Candy Melts in microwave (mine takes about 2 minutes). Stir them to become smooth and add the corn syrup.  It will become thick and form a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let it sit out and dry.  Takes a few hours or over night is best. (Alexis note: I found to roll this out use a little powder sugar (like you would do with flour), also you have to kneed it a little like you would dough to make it easy to roll out).

MAKE TOPPERS:

Roll out your yellow candy clay (I had some pre-made in the fridge). Rolled it out (using a little powder sugar) and used my circle cutter. When I had enough circles I took a black edible marker and drew on my face and ears. To make them a little 3D I took some red candy clay and used my extra small circle cutter to make cheeks. I put it on top of the frosted cupcakes with the cupcake wrappers.

Pikachu in a Bag ready to go! Easy to carry and take home or to the party!

Table set up at the Bowling Alley

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Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pokemon Party ... Pikachu Cupcake Wrappers

And this week we wrap this Pokemon Party! It really didn't seem that much was done but when I blog about it sure is a lot! This last one was another super easy one! I saw on several pinterest pin's these cupcake wrappers. I thought this would be a perfect way to go with my theme AND even though I was told outside food to the bowling alley I COULD bring cake!

I did a search on Ebay and came across this digital download for Pokemon Pikachu Cupcake Wrappers. NOW I waited a little late for these (uh hum .. the night before). Thankfully even when I downloaded like 9pm I received the digital download within 20 minutes.

What You Need:

Cupcakes 

Frosting (I used my Sturdy Buttercream)

Yellow Heavy Card Stock

Scissors

Tape

Thankfully I had Cole and he is old enough to cut things out straight as could be. I baked my cupcakes, I waited to frost them until I put the wrappers on. After all the wrappers were cut, we attached them to the cupcakes. I wrapped the wrapper around the un-frosted cupcakes and attached with a little tape, make sure snug so they stay when transporting them. Once the wrapper was attached I frosted with yellow tinted Buttercream.  Since we had to drive them I did my trick of putting in a clear cup and wrapped in a clear bag and tied with a bow.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Remodel Update

We are still in the middle of remodeling our house. Last few years I've been gathering items so we could be ready when we started and also not to have to go broke buying all the items at once. 

One thing we did learn is make sure you have everything stored correctly AND you double check how much of an item you will need!  We found one of the cabinets we bought got some water damage in the garage and had to replace it. AND we didn't calculate the area we would need for tile right. We picked up a tile I loved but when it came time to put it up I found we were 3 sheets short! So off to the store we went to find out that tile has been discontinued and NO one had it any more. Off to the store to return the tile we bought and picked a different style. A little more expensive but it turned out really pretty.

Have a GREAT Holiday Weekend!

Pokemon Party Food ... Charizard Flames

Again since we couldn't bring outside food to the party I put it in my thank you bags the kids took home. I did a google search and found several pictures of the characters. Yesterday I showed the Charmeleon Bites (AKA Cheetos), so I found this fire breathing character and had an idea. So I came up with Charizard Flames (using the hot Cheetos).

What You Need:

Clear Bags (Sm 50 pk $1)

Hot Cheetos (I bought mine in Winco Bulk Section)

Card Stock / Printer

Stapler

I googled Charizard + .png (png files don't have a background so you can copy into word). I copied the pictures into a word file and added the words Charizard Flames (using the Pokeomon font I downloaded for free). I didn't make tents and waste the paper, I just made 8 per sheet (you can use a Avery Template so it was squares). I went to the bulk section at Winco and picked up hot Cheetos. I put a handful into each clear bag and then added the label with a staple. 

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pokemon Party Food ... Charmeleon Bites

And since we couldn't bring outside food to the party I put it in my thank you bags the kids took home. I did a google search and found several pictures of this, Charmeleon Bites (AKA Cheetos).

What You Need:

Clear Bags (Sm 50 pk $1)

Cheetos (I bought mine in Winco Bulk Section)

Card Stock / Printer

Stapler

I googled Charmeleon + .png (png files don't have a background so you can copy into word). I copied the pictures into a word file and added the words Charmeleon Bites (using the Pokeomon font I downloaded for free). I didn't make tents and waste the paper, I just made 8 per sheet (you can use a Avery Template so it was squares). I went to the bulk section at Winco and picked up Cheetos. I put a handle into each clear bag and then added the label with a staple. 

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pokemon Thank You Treat Bags

And we're still on the Pokemon Party! For inside the Pokemon Bags I made for the each kid to take home, I wanted to put something inside!  Every kid loves candy so why not load them up with sugar then send them home ... lol.

What you Need:

Clear Treat Bags (Sm 50pk $1 Dollar Tree)

Card Stock

Stapler

Candy

I hit up the Dollar Tree they have small candy packs for $1 (8 pack) saves you a bit if you do that when I priced out at the grocery store.  I love these clear treat bags they are perfect for all things and for $1 you can't beat it! Print a label to go on top, I found a Pokemon logo (.png) from a Google Search and adding the wording (Thank you for Coming Today). Add the candy to bag and use a stapler to attach a tag on top of the bag. 

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

House Remodel .. Kitchen under construction please forgive the dust!

Oh yes it's back to remodeling time here at the house. Rick spent his last two days off taking out the old cabinets and adding the new cabinets.  The cabinets are coming together nicely. Everything that should be in them is still all over the house in every knock and cranny ... lol. Since I work from home it is sure fun, but always thankfully I can move around the house with my laptop!

Please forgive me for the delay on my responses.

Pokemon Party .. Pikachu Paper Cups

Our party as I've said a few times was at a bowling alley, no outside food. BUT the party did include soda so we need to have cups to drink from! I saw a few designs on Pikachu on a cup so I let my non artist part of me go and gave it a whirl!

What You Need:

Yellow Paper Cups (12pk $1 - Dollar Tree)

Black Sharpie ($1 - Dollar Tree)

Red Sharpie ($1 - Dollar Tree)

This is where you have to free hand, I just looked at a picture and made it. They were not perfect but I loved how they turned out.  You could do a template but I'm all about what is easier.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pikachu Paper Plate ... Pokemon Party

As I said this party for Cole was a fun one but I was limited on food and decorations having it at Bass Pro Shop Bowling.  You don't get a party room with this party which was fine for the kids they could careless. Me on the other hand wanted to decorate and go all out.  So mom had to put it aside .. lol. I did do a little decorating and made this Pikachu out a Paper Plate. I must say most of the items made for this party was pretty darn easy, a little time consuming but fun!

What you Need:

Yellow Paper Plate (2)

Black Sharpie

Red Sharpie

White Out

Scissors

NOW I'm am far from an artist so it's not perfect but still cute!  I free handed the face in black, and colored in the area's in black. I then took a white out and added dots to the eyes. For the cheeks and mouth area I colored in red. For the ears I took a second yellow plate and made the ears and colored the top black. Tada.. easy!

See we only got a table in the corner

LOL we made do, Thanks to my mom who set it up!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Pokemon Ball Sugar Cookies

And we continue with the Pokemon party items.  Since we had the party at Bass Pro Shop Bowling they didn't allow outside food like I usually do.  I found things to put into the treat bags I made. I saw a friend of a friend post a Pokemon party and they had a version of cookies and I thought I could make a version of these and put them in the bags!

I made my favorite sugar cookie recipe, decorated them and put them in clear bags that I then tied with ribbon and put in the treat bags. I did one cookie per bag, I could have eaten every one if they stayed in my house .. lol.

What You Need:

Sugar Cookie Dough

Circle Cookie Cutter

Red Melts

Black Melts (Mine didn't melt nicely so I used dark brown melts)

White Chocolate Chips

Clear Treat Bag (Dollar Tree 40pk $1)

Ribbon (Dollar Tree $1)

Roll out your dough and cut out the circles. I like thick cookies! I let the cookies cool, then I started to decorate. I melted red Wilton Candy Melts (1min 30 sec in microwave) then dipped half the cookie in.  I let the red harden  and the added the line and the white chocolate chip for the middle circle. I melted Wilton Candy Melts in dark brown to make the line (my black was clumping). Once the cookies had dried I put them into a small clear treat bag and tied with a ribbon. Into the bag they went!

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Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Sugar Cookie Recipe if you would like:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Pokemon Party ... Pokemon Napkin Rings

More on the Pokemon Party! Now we had the party this year at Bass Pro Shop Bowling, they didn't allow outside food. Since I couldn't go all out like I usually do, I found fun things we could bring in. Napkins are always needed so why not make some fun napkin rings!

What you need:

Red Napkins (Dollar Tree 25pk $1)

White Utensils (Dollar Tree $1)

Black Paper (I used poster board cut down, Dollar Tree $1)

White Card Stock (Hobby Lobby .30 cents)

Glue (I used Hot Glue Gun & Craft Glue)

Wrap your red napkin around the white utensils. I cut down black poster board into strips to wrap around the napkin. I used my Cricut with my George Cartridge to cut circles. I used 1" for the white and 1 1/2" for black.  I used the craft glue to attach the white circle to the black circle. Then I attached to the black strip with the circle. I wrapped this around the napkin to be a ring. I used my hot glue gun to attach to make sure it was stronger then the craft glue.

Have a Great Day!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Pokemon Party ... Pokemon Water Bottle

Next on the party details was water bottles for the kids (and adults). I found a free Pokemon Water Bottle template created by Kevin Hale on Hale Grafx. These were the perfect item for the party!

What you need:

Water Bottles

Ink Jet Printer

Hot Glue Gun

White Copy Paper

I picked up a bunch of water bottles, printed his free template then cut them out.  I attached with my hot glue gun and bam an easy decoration that was also a useful item!

Have a Great Day!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Pokemon Photo Frame Prop

Well I'm excited to say the party went off with out a hitch all but one kid who RSVP'd came. Having it at the bowling alley was so much fun, expensive but fun! I found on Pinterest an idea to do a photo frame and it was so simple and easy!

What you need:

Frame (I got mine at Hobby Lobby $7.99 then 50% off)

Pokemon Characters (Amazon is where I found mine but a party store would too)

Hot Glue Gun

(paint if you want to paint frame, I left mine plain).

I picked up a unfinished frame from Hobby Lobby (50% off) I didn't have a chance to paint or seal it. You can or buy one that way, I went for cheapest! I found Pokemon Characters on Amazon and took my hot glue gun and attached Pikachu and a Pokemon Ball. Then off to the party we went and picture magic happened!

Have a Great Day!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.