Giant Cupcake/Smash Cake

My cousin's son turned one last week and we had his party at our house with lots of cute decorations (one in particular I will be sharing tomorrow) and this gigantic cupcake that was his very own smash cake. The mold for this cake is by Wilton and I found it at Michaels, but after buying it I saw that they have the same slightly smaller mold at HEB for cheaper, oh well, I liked the giant one better.

You bake the top and bottom separately and then "glue" them together using icing. The cake looks dark, but I promise it's not burnt. The cake mold is a dark pan and you have to bake it for an hour (rotating half way through). If you use boxed cake mix, like the Funfetti kind I used, you will need two boxes. To fill the mold you put 2.5 cups in the top part and 3.5 cups in the bottom for a total of 6 cups. You will have batter leftover, which if you're like me is no problem because I LOVE batter (even though you aren't suppose to eat it, I say screw it because it is delicious!)

Ice it, sprinkle it and add a candle and you have a giant cupcake/smash cake! I can't wait to make another one and maybe practice my icing skills or bust out my mechanical pastry bag again. Anyone want one for their birthday?!?!

This Means War



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If you worked for the CIA and had access to all sorts of spy equipment, what wouldn't you do to win the person of your dreams when you are competing with your best friend/fellow CIA agent?!?!

I LOVED this movie! It was hilarious and sexy. And it's not just a romantic chick flick, there's plenty of stuff to keep a man entertained as well (just ask my bf). And if you're a fan of Chelsea Handler, she has some good one liners in it as well (I actually read where a lot of her stuff had to be cut because it was too vulgar...ha ha). If you're not a fan of Chelsea Handler, that's ok too because she doesn't have a big part in the movie.

I can't wait for this movie to come out on DVD...I want it now...ha ha.

February Meal - Peanut Chicken

I was cutting it close, but I finally made my February meal! This is my take on Peanut Chicken for 2 (or 3 depending on how much you eat)

What you need:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 yellow squash (or zucchini)
• Packet of Stir Fry Seasoning (and ingredients on the back of the packet)
• 2 T of oil
• Peanuts to taste (I used spicy peanuts to add more flavor)
• 2 tsp of Peanut butter
• Rice

What you do:

1. Place oil in pan and start heating at this same step also start making your rice
2. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and put in pan to brown
3. Wash and cut squash and put in the pan when chicken starts to brown
4. While squash cooks mix up your seasoning packet
5. When squash is tender pour in your seasoning and stir for a minute or two
6. Add peanuts and peanut butter and cook another minute.
7. Serve on top of rice and add some Siracha (that is if you like it)

Enjoy!

21st Birthday Card

21st birthday card for my baby brother! This giant mug full of beer speaks for itself...ha ha!

This was probably the simplest card I've made. Step one, cut card size. Step two, find clip art picture and cut it out. Step three. tape picture on card and DONE! ha ha.

Haywire

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If there was ever a time for you take one of my movie reviews seriously, let it be this one...

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME!!!!!!

I don't think I've ever seen a movie where the main dialogue was just a bunch of grunting from fight scenes. The main actress can definitely kick some butt, but she also is (or used to be) a MMA fighter.

Not much else to say about this movie...this definitely goes into the category of never watching again along with The Informant and Ghost Rider.

Little Girl Burp Cloths

As promised...here's what I sent along with the cute safety pin card. How adorable are these embroidered burp cloths?!?! My friend Elizabeth's mom made these and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out!

I tied them with matching ribbons and as a bonus gift the ribbon could be used as a hair tie later...ha ha

The last little part of the baby gift was packaging them into a cute little pink bucket that I painted with the baby's name.

I can't wait for more friends or family to have babies so I can get more of these made...and don't worry I'll share the cuteness with you he he he

Baby Girl Safety Pin Card

I made this card for an old roommate of mine who is having a baby girl in March! I busted out my Cricut machine and the Wild Card cartridge. It had been so long since I made a card and envelope using my machine that I forgot how much fun it is to see everything come together. So cute!!

Check back tomorrow to see what I sent along with the card!

Safe House

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This was a pretty okay movie. It was a little slow at times, but I would still give it a B. Denzel definitely still has what it takes to carry a movie and Ryan Reynolds wasn't bad either (he definitely got his butt kicked, but took it like a man).

This was yet another movie about corruption in governments all over the World. I like these kinds of movies because I like to try and figure out who the bad guys are before they are revealed to the audience.

Do you like movies where you try and figure out who the bad guys are before they are revealed?

A Dozen minus Two

Did you tell your boyfriend, fiance or husband not to get you flowers this Valentine's day?!?! Did he listen??? Yeah...mine didn't either, but I was one happy girl when I found these by my door! I guess I really did want flowers after all...ha ha.

So while my mom and I were looking at them I noticed that there were only 10...odd number right?!?! I think each of us counted them four times to make sure we weren't crazy. So after thanking my super sweet and thoughtful guy I had to ask "Soooo how many flowers did you order?" Turns out he did order 12, but only 10 arrived. Now, I don't know if it was the florist's fault or the little hooligans runnin' around the neighborhood, but I do know 2 magically weren't in the vase (I should be a dectective...ha ha).  All that aside they are really pretty yellow, pink and whiteish/pinkish flowers!

Don't you just love black and white pictures of flowers?!?! I do!! This wraps up my week of valentines posts. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Gifts That'll Make You Sing

Since I won't get to exchange gifts with my Valentine until this weekend, I thought I would go ahead and show y'all how I wrapped them. Everything I got him is really silly so I figured I would try to match each gift with a song...maybe even change a word or two. Every time I look at (or better yet think about) the gifts I start singing the songs in my head...ha ha

The one you can't see says "I'm blue dabba dee daba da-ee"...please tell me someone else besides me remembers that song?!?!

My favorite one is the "I'm {toasty} and I know it"...which brings me to the next item on my list...I can't stop laughing at this commercial. To me it's just as good as those chevy santa commercials...

"Be Mine" Cupcakes

I made these out of my cupcake book. They were decorated a little different in the book and also had red hots mixed into the batter, but I left the red hots out after taking a vote of people who like them...ha ha. These are white cupcakes with poured fondant icing (basically powdered sugar icing).

In order to make sure the icing doesn't overflow on the cupcakes you only fill the cupcake mold 1/3 of the way...

All decorated and ready to be devoured by my work peeps...

Yay for keeping up with my 12 things in 2012...2nd (ok well technically 3rd) cupcakes of the year!!

Did anyone else make any special treats for Valentine's day?!?!

Happy Valentine's Day

Found these "Nature" hearts and wanted to share...hope everyone has a fabulous day! Oh and even though today is Valentine's Day I'm going to make it a whole week!! Get ready!!

Old School NKOTB Valentine

You're never too old to send a valentine to a good friend, right?!?! Especially if it's as awesome as this one! I saw the idea here and immediately knew I was going to make/send one to my friend. Let's just say that a few years ago we did the New Kids dance in our dorm room (obsessed much...maybe). I made the card using publisher (I love that program) and wanted to make it a little more girly so I added the curlz (or kurlz) font and a pink marker.

Boy Baby Shower Card

The color of the card kind of looks purple and white but in regular lighting it's baby blue and pastel green. I've been dying to use these cute baby animal stamps forever!! Aren't the adorable?!?! I used my cuttlebug to emboss the "dot" paper and my cricut to cut out the congrats.

Abduction



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We rented this movie the other night since we never got around to seeing it in theaters. It was an okay movie. Do I think Taylor Lautner has some mad martial arts skills? Yes. Did I keep thinking he was going to turn into a ware wolf at any given moment? Yep...thank you Twilight...ha ha.

There was some good and bad acting, cheesy lines, action and romance. So really they packed it all into one, but the story line was a little far fetched for me (that's Hollywood for ya). The movie is about his character finding out who his family really is and how he has pretty much been in training his entire life to fight this fight without even knowing it.

Bottom line...if you love all movies (like moi), rent it. If you are selective, don't waste your money, unless it's free.

Football Cupcakes

I know I'm a day late (and a dollar short ha ha), but I'm gonna ask anyways...what did you do for the Superbowl??? Me? Well, I made chicken enchiladas and football cupcakes. I was so excited when I came across a picture of these cupcakes (sorry don't remember where...probably pinterest) I was even more excited that I was going to get to use my mechanical pastry bag for the first time!!

I went the easy route and got a box of cake mix and a tub of icing. For the "football" I just made zig zags and the "laces" I melted white chocolate and pipped it on. Cute, simple and oh so yummy...just like I like it...

p.s. These don't count as part of my 12 things for 2012. I said that I'm going to make them from my new book and sadly these weren't in there. That just means my co-workers will get another round of sweets next week...he he he

Man on a Ledge

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I can't believe I'm going to say this, BUT I liked this movie more than Contraband (just a little more). To me the movie picked up right away, to my watching buddy it was a little slow, but to each their own right?!?!

The movie is about an ex cop who is framed for stealing a 40 million dollar diamond and then escapes from jail and has his "re-trial" on the ledge of a building. The movie makes you think about how far would you go to prove your innocence...seriously how far would you go??

Even though I enjoyed the whole movie, I have to say the end was my favorite. I knew something was up but didn't put it together right away and when it was revealed I was happy with how things turned out.

Anyone going to the movies this weekend? Are you seeing Contraband or Man on a Ledge? I love discussing movies, so let me know!!

My First Blanket...

well that I made anyways...

I saw this tutorial on How Does She and it looked simple enough (and extremely cozy) that I wanted to try to make one for me!

Since I'm not a baby and wanted the blanket for my own personal use, I ordered 2 yards of each fabric to make my blanket 6 feet long. I also ordered the shaggy minky material because it looked fun...ha ha. Other than those changes, I followed the directions listed in the tutorial.

My fabrics from Fabric.com

All pinned with the outsides facing in and ready to be sewn together.

So this is where it got hard for me... If you recall this post, I'm use to sewing by hand even if it's slow and your body starts to ache from hunching over for so long. The only thing I've ever sewn on a sewing machine was ribbon for my first ribbon wreath and my mom was there to supervise and set it all up for me. This time I had her show me how to set it up/I took a video of her setting it up, but knew I didn't have enough thread on that spool to make the entire blanket so I would be on my own when it was time to change it out. Let's just say at one point I thought I broke the sewing machine!

In the end, I got everything to work and was able to finish the blanket. Only one corner is messed up so I say it was a success! If you're wondering if I'm gong to re-do the corner, I'm not...it adds character...ha ha. Maybe if I were giving it as a gift I would. Also, if I was giving it as a gift I would have started smaller...6 feet was probably a little much for my first time...live and learn right?!?!

"It's so fluffy!!"

a good corner...ha ha

I just want to snuggle up in that

to show it's size size/proof that my brother's room should have been turned into a craft room

since there wasn't a cute baby around I used my holiday penguin to show how cuddly the blanket is

Has anyone else made anything out of their comfort zone lately?