Back to School for Mr. Self

My husband, who is a 4th grade teacher, started back to school a couple of weeks ago. I decided him & his fellow teachers probably needed some special treats to get them back in the rhythm & help endure teacher in-service! We decided apples, of course!

We tried the apples over a year ago, they were actually one of the first really creative cupcakes we made. Let me tell you, they are MUCH better the second time around now that I have had more practice actually creating with cupcakes!

They are actually really easy to make, especially if you have a candy cutting helper like Drew! The leaves are cut out of sour belts, the stems are crafted tootsie rolls & the apple gets is realistic shape from a horizontally cut mini chocolate donut, all covered in icing w/ red sprinkles!

As a tip, if you are going to make these & take them somewhere, do not stick the candy stem & leaf into the cupcake until you are ready to go, day-of. Otherwise, overnight the tootsie roll gets very sticky & both the leaf & stem will be very wilted. We learned that from last time!

My husband's school colors are blue & white, so I quick iced a dozen to go with the two dozen apples.

We made ALOT of cupcakes! I wanted to make sure everyone got one, or two!

How about this candy jar? It was an actual end of the year teacher present my husband received from an awesome student his very first year teaching. How cool is that? Let me tell you, elementary teachers get the best presents!

Drew said they were a hit with the teachers at school. YEA!

Back to the Cakes

My friend Kara contacted me about cupcakes for a baby shower she was hosting. She needed 2 dozen full size cupcakes, half chocolate, half strawberry. We used my favorite butter cream icing in the colors pink & turquoise.

She wanted two of my flower pots to use as decorations. I still LOVE this flower pots!!

On a side note (and as a slight dig to my husband), notice the ruffle around the top of the pot? Kara was going to use her own bows around the pots, so I didn't make any. I didn't realize this would be a problem until it was time to take pictures of them. They needed something to finish the look. Because I may have a slightly messy craft room & be a tiny bit of a hoarder, I found these ruffles in a drawer left over from making my lamp. Perfect last minute touch! And one of the reasons I don't throw everything away!! (see Drew!)

I just love these piped flowers every time I make them! So pretty & delicate!

Notice the set up today? My friend Jessica Klima is an amazing photographer in the Bryan/College Station area where we live. I have been asking her advice on how to take better pictures. You've already seen her influence with the better lighting & focusing, now I am trying to get better at "staging" the pictures. My real problem is how I have my lighting area jerry-rigged, I don't always have enough room for all the cupcakes! UGH! I am dragging her with me to Hobby Lobby sometime soon to help me get the materials for a better photography stage!

Better photos then before, but still not as great as I want them to be! I guess that's why my focus is cupcakes & not actual photography!!

World Traveler

Venice, Italy

Here's a couple of pictures to explain my absence lately. I have been doing lots of traveling! Part for work (yes, I have the best job ever!) & some of it personal. Here's some of my favorite shots!

I always joke with my husband that all these old, amazing & beautiful churches almost make this Baptist girl want to be a Catholic! 

Awesome!

The Cathedral in Florence. The 4th largest Catholic church in the world. It was breathtaking!

 I loved Florence!!

My favorite trip this summer is the one I got to take with my husband! Here's Drew & I in Times Square.

Drew loves the Yankees! We sat in really great seats in right field. SOO much fun!

I was loving this Barbie foosball table at FAO Schwartz. Too bad I don't have an extra $25,000 laying around!

Drew at the American Museum of Natural History. :)

Even though I've been so many awesome places & done so many cool things this summer, I am soo glad to be home! I don't have any more major traveling scheduled until November, so maybe I can get settled back into my routine & catch up with my cupcakes, crafts & DVR!

A crafty summer

I'm sorry it's been so long! I have had such a busy end of summer both work & personally, I have barely been in my kitchen, let alone had time to share with you what I've been up to! I think it's best to just show you :)

We took a family road trip to Louisiana for 4th of July weekend to visit my grandparents. My niece Jolie rode with us, so of course she needed a special outfit for all the pictures we planned to take!

This is the view from the back.

I think it turned out really cute! And she looked adorable in it!

Later in July, a friend from work asked me to make these tshirts for her daughter & friends to wear to church camp. Love the colors they chose!

I'm thinking I might make one for myself when I slow down!

I have an obsession with ruffles at the moment, so I made myself a lamp! I intended to make two & put them in my living room on either side of my couch. But, as I tried it out in my bedroom, I decided that was where it was destined to go!

I love the soft, satin ruffles! It totally girlies-up my side of our chocolate & blue bedroom! I will probably be making more of these...

Gifts for baby Emmy. Some of my very favorite things I've made!

I absolutely love the front of this onesie. How cute will she be with that flower e?

 This is the back of the e onesie.

Like I said, obsessed with ruffles! Doesn't this make you want a ruffle butt? Okay, it does me!

This is the first bib I've embellished. Very quick & easy but super cute!

A custom diaper wipes case to match! 

A close up of Emmy, which is short for Emaline.

I also made this bow holder for Emmy. They used it as at the shower.

Here's a purple and black bow holder that I made for my sister-in-law.

Meet my nephew Cade! I made this cute little watermelon shirt for him for a very important cause. We participated in the Watermelon Run for the Fallen, a 5K walk/run for fallen soldiers. They didn't have shirts for babies, so of course Aunt Kelly had to make sure he had something to wear!

Here are both of my favorite little people!

I've also been making some little tie onesies for my friend Amanda's little boy Archie but I was in a hurry & didn't take pictures! Here's one I stole off her blog The Parr Family Adventures

Isn't he the cutest?!!

Okay, I think that gets me pretty caught up on crafts for the summer!! I did have one flower cupcake order & a back to school apple adventure for Drew that I will be posting ASAP! Stick with me, I'm back in town & back in the kitchen!