"Band Candy"

Xander: "The band, yeah. They're great. They march."Willow: "Like an army. Except with music, instead of bullets, and usually no one dies."
 I am so excited, I can't contain myself.  Back in college, I was in the band sorority, Tau Beta Sigma.  I helped the historian (and my best friend!) with our scrapbook.  I've done traditional scrapbooking for a while, but she had great and original idea; a magazine style scrapbook done on a computer.  After many, many hours of scanning photos, cropping, and making page layouts, we finished our scrapbook.  Little did we know that it would be extremely difficult to print.

We made it at our university who had installed the latest version of CorelDraw (12) and since we couldn't print in color at school, we thought we would have no problem taking it to Office Depot.  WELL.  Were we wrong.  Office Depot could only print up to CorelDraw10 and even though they sold 12 in the store, they wouldn't upgrade their product.  We continued to have the same problem throughout town. 

Fast forward 6 years.  I was going through some old boxes (to find stuff for my new office!) and I found the disk that Katherine had made with the scrapbook files.  I thought that surely, six years later, there should be no issue to print this.  I headed over to Staples this time and CorelDraw is now extinct!  They attempted to change the file to a pdf, but they were unable.  The nice copy lady gave me a few suggestions of professional printers that might be able to help. 

I drove all the way to Carrollton (about 20 min away) to AlphaGraphics and after a few minutes of back and forth, they said they could print it!  I didn't want to get too excited until I actually had it in my hands, but what a step in the right direction! 

I officially got my first edition 2004-2005 Tau Beta Sigma - Delta Tau Scrapbook yesterday!  It was so exciting.  Six years.  I can't believe it took this long to print it, but it's finally done.  Now I just need to get a copy for Katherine. 

The only problem:  Since it was made 6 years ago, not all the fonts stayed when they opened it.  And for some reason, any apostrophe was printed as an "i".  It's pretty funny because even though it's finally printed, it's still not perfect.  You can't help but laugh.

Be crafty,
Kris

"Flooded"

Dawn: "So what do we do?"

Buffy: "Easy. We burn the house to the ground and collect the insurance. Plus, fire. Pretty."

Driving around Southlake, Texas, I happened to pass by a Paint Your Own Pottery Studio.  I could not resist the temptation to stop and check it out.  I hadn't done ceramics painting since 7th grade and I remember it was my favorite part of art class.  My friend, Erin, accompanied me  on one of their Ladies Night (No studio fees and BYOB, how could we resist?).  While Erin tackled a race car bank for her guy, I wanted to go for some irony for my guy.

Bear sells insurance for State Farm and as soon as I saw the gecko, I knew that I HAD to paint it for him.  Even better, I painted on a t-shirt that reads, "I <3 State Farm," similar to the "I <3 NY" shirts.  15 minutes may save you 15% or more, but it took me about 3 hours to paint. I think it turned out perfectly!!

Bear now proudly displays it on his desk in the office and frequently get comments on it.  I'm pretty proud of myself on this one.  :)

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.  (Can I get a hot tub!)

Be crafty,

Kris

"Chosen"

Giles: "I used to be a highly respected Watcher, and now I'm a wounded dwarf with the mystical strength of a doily."

Nope, not doilies, but coasters!  Same purpose, different materials.

Supplies needed:
Ceramic tiles
Scrapbook paper
Decoupage glue
Paper cutter
Popsicle stick
Ribbon
Felt
Sandpaper
Sealer
 
Since I made these for friends, I picked out specific paper, but you can chose whatever you like.  For my friend, Erin, I used Italy travel paper because she recently went to Italy and loved it.  Jenna, whose home is decorated in reds, got coaster with four different, but coordinating, reds.  I could have been matchy-matchy, but it was more fun this way. 
 
They do sell tiles at craft stores, but I'll let you in on a secret: They're cheaper at Lowe's or Home Depot.  They are about $0.16 each which is great if you want to make these in bulk.  I used a sander to make the edges not so rough. 
 
Cut the scrapbook paper  a little smaller than the tile size.  I used 4x4 tiles so cut it just a tad smaller to fit.  Go ahead and put a layer of decoupage glue on the coaster and place the paper on it.  Use the Popsicle stick to smooth it out and get all the air bubbles out. 
 

Now you'll put another layer of glue on top to seal the paper to the tile.  After it dries, spray a sealer on top to ensure it's waterproof. 

To add a soft bottom, cut felt to size and attach.  I used a sticky backed felt for simplicity, but if you're going for bulk and inexpensive, regular felt shouldn't be too difficult to attach.  You could also probably use felt circles, rubber protectors, or cork. 



Trials and errors:  Initially, I cut the paper to the same size as the tile.  Tile, however, is 4x4 on the bottom and the top is a littler smaller as it tapers down.  To fix that, I used the sandpaper to file it to size.  I suggest cutting it smaller.  It's much easier!

I also did not seal the first set of coaster with a secondary sealer.  The decoupage glue that I used said glue AND sealer, but apparently it lied.  I got a phone call after gifting the coasters, saying the condensated glass got stuck to the coaster, so definitely seal it again!

If you're planning for certain colors, take into account the sides of the tile that will show.  For the red set, I should have either purchased black tiles (more expensive) or painted it black before starting.  It didn't even occur to me until everything was glued on, so I ended up coloring the sides with a sharpie just so it would be black.  I'm not exactly happy with that decision, but it was better than white sides for sure. 

To gift:  Stack four coasters together and tie with a ribbon.  No need to wrap, it's pretty enough already!

Be crafty,

Kris



"The Pack"

Xander: I ate a pig? Was it cooked and called bacon or...Oh, my God! I ate a pig? I mean, the whole trichinosis issue aside, yuck!"

Our potluck theme this week: Luau.  What the heck do you bring to a luau?  I have neither the time nor the inclination to make roast pig, so I went for the next best thing: Pig Cake pops!

I got this great Cake Pops book from my friend, Jenna, for my birthday and I was just waiting for a reason to use it.  And they have pigs!

Their directions are very easy to follow, even if you've never made cake pops before.  As this is my second time to attempt them, I definitely fall into this category.  My first try, I heated the chocolate too long and it caused the cake balls to dissolve.  Effect?  Gross texture issues. 

Ingredients:
Cake (baked and crumbled)
Frosting
Pink Melting Wafers (melted)
Pink Skittles
Watermelon Starburst (shaped into ears)
Black edible pen
Lollipop sticks


I could just say buy the book and follow their directions, but I'm nice.  :)


I used Funfetti cake because who doesn't like funfetti! After the cake cools, you crumble it and then add about 3/4 can of frosting.  Use the back of a spoon to mix the frosting and the cake.   I used a cookie scoop for consistency and rolled out the balls. 


Now for the hard part:  Melt your chocolate.  Dip the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate then place about halfway into the cake balls.  It helps if the cake ball is cold.  I usually keep them in the freezer and take them out one at a time so they don't start to fall apart.  Now dip the lollipop cake ball into the melted chocolate and let drip to create a nice even coating.  I immediately put on the pig nose and ears before it dries. 


The book uses pink m&ms for the nose.  I couldn't find any since it's not October yet (breast cancer awareness m&ms), so I got Berry Skittles and used the pink ones.  I also made some out of the starburst I got for the ears and I REALLY liked those better!  It actually stuck out and looked like a pig nose. 


Like I said earlier, I used watermelon starburst (from Fave Reds package) to make the pig ears.  The book uses pink chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  Nothing against the book, but I thought it looks a little like devil horns, so I wanted to make them myself.  It's pretty easy.  Just work the starburst in your hands and roll it so it looks like the size of a tootsie roll, but longer.  It made it easy to then cut ear sized pieces.  Pinch and make into ear shapes. 


After the cake balls dry, draw eyes and nostrils on the pig and voila!  Pig Cake Balls.

Trials and errors:  I had trouble (AGAIN) with the melting of the chocolate.  I was trying to be quick and was heating it in the microwave.  The trouble with apartment microwaves is the inconsistent heating.  Boo.  Next time I will either use my fondue pot (why not?) or a bowl over a pot of water (cheap double broiler).  Anyway the chocolate melted and was creamy, but it wouldn't drip.  I stopped heating it before a burned it like last time.  I just used a spoon to cover the cake ball and tapped as much off as I could.  Result: Not smooth piggies, but it still looked okay.

See below: Smooth(er) vs. textured





I would also remember to get some Styrofoam to have to stand the drying cake balls on.  I had a travel lollipop container and it was a little messy getting them in the cardboard container before they were dry. 
I also forgot that I did not have black edible pen, but a blue frosting pen.  It worked, but I'd rather have had black and a pen that's easier to write on chocolate. 

The potluck had a LOT of pineapple.  In addition to that, there was ham, Hawaiian punch and spam.  Spam?  But the pigs were a nice touch!  I had none left to take home!  Have fun making your own piggies!

Be crafty,

Kris

"Doublemeat Palace"

Buffy: "Wait. The secret ingredient in the beef is... beef?"

At work we have a themed potluck at the end of every week. When I found out that last week's theme was 'cookout,' the first thing that came to mind was BURGERS! And I don't mean I made actual burgers for the potluck. No, I made Burger Cupcakes.

Oh yes. I initially saw a picture of this on my twitter feed from @CupcakeBlog(Cupcakes Take the Cake). You can see the original post here: http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-they-burgers-or-cupcakes.html

I found a lot of pictures of burger cupcakes online, but I wanted to do something a little different.

Here are the ingredients:

Buns - vanilla cupcakes, cut in half

Burger - brownies, cut into circles

Ketchup - red frosting

Mustard - yellow frosting

Lettuce - coconut, dyed green

Cheese - Yellow melting wafers, molded into squares

Sesame Seeds - actual sesame seeds (!)

Make burgers! I put frosting on every layer to make sure there was enough and to help with keeping the layers together. I tried to make them all varied with different "ingredients," ie. some with cheese or without, same with the lettuce. There is no wrong way to do it.

The reason I went with melting wafers for cheese: I looked at a lot of sites and from what I saw, the cheese (if there was any) was done with frosting. I wanted it to look different from the mustard and to stick out. I had a silicone tray of squares that I melted it into and I think they look great! Bonus: It added that extra punch of sweetness since there is a whole lot of cake and not a lot of frosting.

Trials and errors: I had really wanted to make the lettuce out of frosted flakes. I had thought that they would taste well with it, look a lot more like lettuce, and would just be plain cool. However, because they are so moisture-free, the second that drop of food coloring hit a flake, it sucked up the liquid. So they were mostly splotchy frosted flakes and that just wouldn't do. Next time, I may try using regular cornflakes and dipping them into green melting wafers...?

I can say that these were a HUGE hit at work! Almost everyone loved them (One didn't due to the fact that she couldn't get over a cupcake looking like a burger).

I hope you decide to make them as well!

Be crafty,

Kris

"Pilot"

So. I'm Kris. And I LOVE to craft and bake.

I'm not even sure how I got started in it. Making gifts and being creative has been a part of me since I can remember. It took me until last year and multiple successful creations to finally write about it and share it with others. Maybe this will inspire you. Or maybe it will just make you hungry. Since I don't know how often I will get the chance to craft or bake, I will bring out some oldies, but goodies for you guys.

Anyway, welcome. I'm going to try something out and title all my blogs after my favorite TV show episodes, starting with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, that is indeed my favorite show. As I am a super nerd, you may also have to deal with some crazy posts about nerdy things. I apologize beforehand.

I hope you enjoy. I'm not a good writer, some may even say terrible. And I'm completely nerdy and random. But I know how to craft and I know how to bake. Hopefully that's all that matters.

Be crafty,
Kris