Monday, April 25, 2011

mother's day freebies and giveaway!

Looking for more mother's day stuff?? Here's a link to free mother's day card templates for you to print. Click the source to view the freebie!

I'm also giving away a copy of this cute book by Robert Munsch. Just leave me a comment about why you love your mother and I will pick a winner by noon on Friday, April 29! Goodluck! =)

fried bananas


Plantain bananas just like regular bananas is rich in potassium which is very good for the heart and prevents heart attacks. It is however, lower in sugar content, which makes it even better than regular bananas. It is also rich in magnesium, phosphate, a good source of Vitamins A, B6 and C which help maintain vision, good skin, and build immunity against diseases. 

You can simply fry them or, in this case, roll them in brown sugar before frying. The only thing missing, is the ice cream. Enjoy!

free Mother's Day cards

Mother's Day is coming. Here are some Mother's Day cards for you to print. Click on the link for the pdf file. Enjoy!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

wedding trends: non-floral boutonnieres

I love the idea of non-floral boutonnieres. They're much more personal, don't you think? Look at these pretty fabric flowers!


or a really cute guitar boutonniere for your rocker husband...

or lovely buttons like these! click on the link for a DIY step-by-step instructions!

nests and leaves, very cute!

...or pompoms. Click on the link for the DIY

more fabric flowers

....and everything else under the sun! It's much more fun =)

wedding trends: travel themed wedding

Travel themed weddings are so popular these days, it's not hard to put together elements to enrich your own DIY travel wedding details. Here are some ideas of what other people have done.

Using maps, and vintage suitcases and boxes, old envelopes, telegraphs in your wedding decor

I love the vintage items used in decorating this travel themed dessert table by Sweet and Saucy Shop

 Package like mini boxed favours 

Origami airplanes and boarding passes as invites or seating cards

Passport wedding programs

Paper airplanes for seating cards and vintage maps

A hot air balloon themed dessert table! love, love, love!

wedding trends: interesting wedding card boxes

I'm helping a friend of mine figure out what to use as a wedding card box and it's amazing to see how creative people can get in planning for their wedding card boxes. Here are some interesting ideas. 

A vintage mailbox

 Old fashioned suitcases for a travel themed wedding

A pumpkin carriage money box for a Cinderella themed wedding

A wooden breadbox, for a tropical themed wedding

or something cool, like this =)

or pretty like this...

and of course, birdcages are pretty popular
 Can be used as centerpieces too, like this!
or a cool homemade dollhouse, like this. 

Friday, April 15, 2011

red velvet cupcakes

You must really love your job if you're celebrating your first year of being hired :P Congratulations to my sister! =)

diy: how to make dora cupcake toppers using fondant

A lot of people ask if I make my cupcake toppers from scratch and the answer is, yes! I started making them when I discovered my love for fondant. I love the idea of customized cupcake toppers, so I knew I needed to learn how to make them using cookie cutters and other fondant tools.

Ada from Winnipeg asked me if I can do a tutorial on how to make Dora cupcake toppers using fondant.  I can't pretend to be the expert as I think my method still needs a lot of work and that my Dora cupcake toppers still need improvement in capturing the resemblance of these popular characters. But if you're interested in simple instructions on how to make somewhat recognizable Dora characters,  here's the step by step instructions. The key thing is to use whatever tools you have available and to be creative! Tips and ends of cookie cutters can be very useful tools in moulding or making shapes for your cupcake toppers. And for course, a little patience goes a long way =)

For this project, you need dyed fondant in the following colours: black or brown for the hair, flesh/tan, light blue, yellow, white and red.  Okay, ready?? Here we go....

Using your fondant rolling pin, flatten the black/brown fondant to your desired thickness

To start off, use a circular cookie cutter. This will be your base pattern for Dora's hair .

You don't necessarily have to use a tulip cookie cutter to make room for Dora's face. In fact, using Wilton's tools as in the second picture, you can cut out the pieces to make Dora's hair as seen in the next picture. 

I used the tulip cookie cutter on the flesh toned fondant to cut out Dora's face. Using Wilton's tools, I straightened the edge of the top of her face before attaching her hair as seen in the next picture. 

Using food color markers, draw Dora's face. I used red fondant for her lips. 

HOW TO MAKE BOOT'S FACE

Using a flower cookie cutter and a circular cookie cutter, cut out the outline of Boot's face as seen in the picture above.

You may have to use your fondant roller or your hands to make the face more rounded and less jagged. To create his forehead and ears, use the flower cookie cutter and circular cookie cutter.

Put the flesh coloured fondant on top of the light blue fondant as shown above. To make Boot's facial features, roll balls of fondant for the ears, eyes and lips. I used edible food markers for his nose. 

Using the other end of your Wilton tool, make indentations on Boot's forehead for his hair. 

HOW TO MAKE "BACK PACK"
If you have a rectangular cookie cutter, use it. Otherwise, use your Wilton tool to make one. Roll a piece of light blue fondant for the pocket attachment. 

Using the pointed tool, make indentations around the bag as shown in the picture.

Using yellow fondant, add the accents and facial features as shown above.

Roll a piece of light blue fondant for the handle.

HOW TO MAKE "MAP"

Using yellow fondant, cut out an upside down triangle.

Roll the triangle until you've reached your desired shape. You may have to cut out the edges if it seems too pointy. Add the map's facial features. 

Here's all of them!

And here they are as cupcake toppers =)

Monday, April 11, 2011

Kate's Bachelorette


We had tons of fun planning our dear friend's last few days as a single lady. Thanks to all the girls who helped us in the planning process and in making this event super fun and successful. Love you, guys!






Thanks August Empress for the cool background!