Life Is an Artform

{Cake Pops}

Have you ever tasted a Cake Pop?  They are the most delightful experience!!  They are bits of crumbled cake, mixed with frosting, then dipped in candy/chocolate coating.  YUM!!!  For Victoria’s birthday party favors – we let the girls make their own bouquet of Cake Pops.  Needless to say, the party was a hit!  I was so excited to find these glittered containers at Target in the dollar section.  I inserted a piece of white foam in the bottom.  I got my sucker sticks and Candy Coating Pieces at Hobby Lobby (available at any craft store).  To shape the bottom of my cupcake shaped pops, I used a small metal flower-shaped cookie cutter.  I crumbled a baked 9x13 cake from a mix in a food processors (by hand works too), then mixed with 3/4 container of store-bought frosting. 

These amazing desserts were invented by Bakerella.  She has a fabulous and inspiring blog of her culinary creations: Bakerella.com

She also recently published a WONDERFUL step-by-step book of how to make these adorable desserts.  I LOVE all of her cute ideas and photos.  I was so thankful for her detailed instructions and tips.

Here is a great Cake Pops instructional video by Bakerella.

{101 Gourmet Cupcakes}

For Victoria’s birthday party – I made the scrumptious “Key Lime Pie” Cupcakes and “Pink Lemonade” Cupcakes.  They made the perfect centerpiece for her pink and green birthday decorations.  I especially love the filling in the Key Lime cupcake.  These two EASY gourmet recipes are from Wendy Paul’s cookbook: “101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 minutes”.  Last night I got to hear her speak at a Relief Society Meeting – she was delightful and spoke about using your talents.  I also got great baking and decorating tips!!  The women baked an array of her recipes so I got to sample many of them – DELISH!! 

Of course I own the book – but you can get these two recipes and watch her demonstrate them on this Studio 5 segment:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=204&sid=7788783

I love the “S’mores Cupcakes” and “Rootbeer Float Cupcakes” – she is SO CREATIVE!!  I can’t wait for her next book for “Cake-pops”!

She has a wonderful food blog here “There’s Always a Reason to Bake”: http://www.wendypaulcreations.com/

Our Family - Lush 2 Navy Album

I just LOVE the fabulous new Lush 2 Mini Albums!  The flocked covers are so delightful to run your fingers over. I combined the classy Lush 2 Navy collection with the Stella and Rose “Hattie” line – the perfect match for our fall family photo shoot (special thanks to my talented brother, Stephen Bair).  It is amazing to see how many different paper lines the Lush collections coordinate with – they have such great colors and a variety of embellishments.

Isn’t this die-cut frame wonderful?!?!  I love all of the 3 dimensional stickers and the new label stickers.  Ignore the brown stain on the right page – it got a little too much love at CHA.

LOVE these transparency frames!!  Aren’t the flocked journaling spots beautiful – such unique shapes.

I love feeling the flocked texture of the striped paper!! The Lush 2 ribbon looks so great woven through the chipboard banner title.

You’re never too old to frolic in the autumn leaves!

The Lush 2 rhinestone brads and ribbon add the perfect touch to these pages.