Holiday Bows

Ever seen those large gorgeous bows at the store, or on wreaths and wonder how they are made?

Look no further - they are so simple you'll be wondering why you ever paid so much for them in the past.  Here is a picture of this seasons 3 ft diameter wreath for the front of our house.

Materials
25 ft wired ribbon
Floral wire
Needle-nose pliers
Wire cutters

You need wired ribbon for this to work best.  Other ribbons can work but are more difficult to shape and less forgiving.


To start decide how you want your project to look.  For my project I left very long tails to weave into the wreath.  You can choose shorter tails to have them hang in the center, or no tails to have just a large bow.

For this project I laid out 2 feet to the left of my project space.  I also used two ribbons.

I ran ribbon A (large fat blue ribbon) almost 3ft long.  Then I placed ribbon B on top and ran it the same length.  Taking ribbon B I folded it back on its self and went 18" and stopped.  Then taking ribbon A I ran it left and matched the 18" length, folded it over and ran back toward the right.  Then ribbon B followed back to the right 18".  Alternate back and forth folding the ribbon over to make an accordion 18" in length.  Then I left 2 ft to the far right for the second set of tails.

Next cut a 12" length of floral wire.  Find the middle of your accordion.  Place the center of your wire under the middle point of your folded ribbon.  Fold the wire up in half and twist until the ribbons are pinched tightly in the center.  This is where the needle-nose pliers come in handy.

Now to fluff!

If your ribbon has a "right" (pattern or glitter) and "wrong" (plain) side 1/2 your bow will be inside-out.  You'll need to turn these loops the right way round as you are fluffing the bow.  Work your way through each folded segment.

As you work, twist, turn and shape the bow as you need it.  This is where that wire edge really comes in handy for holding the shape/position you want.

Once the bow is fluffed out and spread evenly then take the two tails of wire and attach it to your project.

I have made these for all sizes of wreaths.  I have attached them to large Christmas packages.  I even have one for the top of my tree instead of an angel.  I love making bows!

To make them smaller, shorten your length of ribbon and also shorten the length of your accordion fold.  In this wreath project I had an 18" fold.  To make a smaller, tighter bow shorten this to 12" or 10" or more.  If you aren't happy with the way the loops are fluffing out -- take your center wire off and try changing the length of your accordion fold.  If you go to a fold length under 10" you 'll need a thinner ribbon.

Have fun decorating!

Praline Pumpkin Pie

 Praline Pumpkin Pie

The best of both worlds, pumpkin pie with a pecan topping!

Originally inspired by recipes in Yankee Magazine I have modified to fit our taste.

Ingredients
  Pie Crust - Unsalted Butter, Crisco, flour, salt, sugar, ice water
  Filling - Pumpkin, unsalted butter, light-brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, eggs, evaporated milk.
  Topping - dark corn syrup, dark brown sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla, pecans

This is for a 10" pie plate.  I use a 9" pie plate and bake the extra filling in creme-brulee crocks.

 Tender Flaky Pie Crust from Yankee Magazine.

I have found that after cooling the dough it is easier to roll it out on plastic wrap.  I cover my work surface with plastic wrap and get a bit of flour.

I dust the exposed surface of the dough with flour and rub down my rolling pin with flour.  Work slowly to spread the dough out to about 1/8" thick.

When you are ready to transfer your dough to the pie plate it is so much easier to pick it up and roll the dough into the plate when it's on the plastic wrap -- almost like how you work with store bought dough.

Position so the dough is centered and then gently peel back the plastic wrap.

Finish the edges however you like.  I usually keep it pretty simple.







Pie Filling
(I have modified these ingredients to suit our taste)

1 15oz can solid-packed pumpkin
1 Tbs butter
3/4c. firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4c. granulated sugar
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3 large eggs
1 12oz can evaporated milk

Pre-heat oven to 450F
Warm pumpkin and butter in a sauce pan until fully melted/incorporated.  Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Whisk in sugar, flour & spices.
In a separate bowl mix eggs & evaporated milk.  Add to pumpkin mix.
Pour into a 10" pie plate (if using a 9" pie plate don't use all the filling - don't overfill!)
Cover crust edge (either use aluminum foil or a pie crust shield)
Bake at 450 for 10 min.
Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 35-30 min (to check for doneness shake the pie, if the center does not jiggle it is done).
Remove and allow to cool.

Pie Topping
1/4c. Dark corn syrup
2Tbs unsalted butter
1/4c. dark-brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2tsp vanilla
2/3c chopped pecans

Combine corn syrup, sugar, butter & vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat.   Stir over the heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.  Stir in pecans.  Remove from heat and pour over cooked pie.  Cool completely.

Enjoy!


 

Autumn Decor

Twig Candle Votive

These are simple to make but look really rustic and seasonal on display.

Materials

Twigs (ranging in thickness from toothpick to pencil)

Short glasses

Hot Glue

Hot Glue Gun

Pruning Sheers

Fit the sticks dry, roughly measure the length you would like and cut twigs of different thickness.

Using hot glue place a dot of glue about 1/4" down from the top of the glass and a dot of glue about 1/4" above the bottom of the glass.  

For aesthetics I kept the thicker sticks close to the height of the glass, the thinnest sticks with delicate ends I kept longer.

Continue working around the glass.  Two dots of glue per stick, covering the glass as much as possible.

I finished the project off with some battery operated tea lights.  Gorgeous!

Thankful Treats

Cornucopias 

Inspired by the post at The Craft Patch I decided to try these little treats as gifts for my daughter's school staff.

Materials Needed:
Small waffle or sugar cones
Small candies (I used chocolate covered fruit)
Rubber bands
Squares of plastic wrap
Some type of ribbon

1. Soak the tip of the waffle cone in warm water for about 20 seconds. I put a few drops of water inside the cone as well.  (Be sure to use a tall glass so you can dip about half way up the cone).

2. Remove from water and microwave the wet waffle cone for about 20 seconds. (BE CAREFUL!!  It comes out steaming and the wet end is very hot.)

3. Roll the softened tip of the cone and hold it in place for about 20 seconds.  I used chopsticks.  I could pinch the end between the sticks and roll it pretty easily without burning my fingers (I tried the pencil technique mentioned on The Craft Patch but found the cone too hot at first to touch and once it cooled off a bit it became too stiff to roll).

4. After the cone has hardened completely (I left them to cool/dry for over an hour and then left in a seal-able plastic bag overnight to be sure there was no moisture left), fill with candies, cover the opening with plastic wrap, use the rubber band to secure the wrap, and tie a ribbon around to hide the rubber band.












Gift Tags 
Materials Needed
Craft paper
scissors
adhesive
pen

I used things that I had around the house.  Mainly I raided my scrapbook supplies.  I used a shape cutter and oval and rectangle templates.  I used scallop scissors to detail the ovals.  I then used scrapbook double-sided adhesive to stick the layers together.  You could use a craft glue stick too.

The lettering is just my attempt to mock a font that I have in my computer.  The tag reads "Thankful for you" on the reverse I put who it was from and an allergy warning (just in case).

To finish the entire project I placed the cornucopia in a plastic craft bag.  I rolled the top down, making sure to squeeze out the air, then secured with a small piece of tape.  I then took my "Thankful" tag and folded the top over the top of the bag and stapled in place (making sure to staple the bag as well so that it stayed together).

Cake Balls

Cake balls!  Those gorgeous little treats that make bite-size cake irresistibly good and beautiful.

Here you can see 3 color variation of decorated cake balls in a gift box I made for our church bazaar.  These are the very fancy options, but cake balls are pretty simple to make and yummy to enjoy.

Supplies:
Cake Mix (including required ingredients to make the mix)
Candy Melts
Crisco
Wax Paper
Candy Dipping Tool

Variations:
Candy Decorating Squeeze Bottles
Colored Sugars
Lollipop Sticks (for cake pops)

Originally inspired by Bakerella, after three years of making this treat I have made many hacks and modifications to get to where I am today.

First: Bake a cake.  Sounds simple.  The "moist" versions of the store bought cake mix are what I prefer.  You can choose any flavor cake mix.  I tend to choose yellow or devil's food.

Variations:
Pumpkin cake - mix box cake mix with 1-15oz pumpkin, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice.  Bake according to 9x13 directions.  This batter will be very THICK and you will need to spread it out before baking.  It is also incredibly moist and will require much less frosting (next step).

Apple cake - mix box moist cake mix with 1c. applesauce, 1tsp cinnamon.  Bake according to 9x13 directions.

Cool completely out of pan.

 Crumble cake into dust.  You want incredibly small particles of cake.  Be thorough.

(Pumpkin cake variation is incredibly moist and won't crumble like pictured - break it up as best you can).

Next add 1/4 can of store-bought frosting.  Mix together thoroughly.  Dough will come together to be about cookie-dough or pie crust consistency.  Too much frosting will only make your cake balls sicky-sweet.  To little frosting will keep them from holding together.

To know if you've hit the correct amount of frosting, test by making a small ball of dough.

I make cake balls small - see picture to left.  Bite-size and easy to box.  Cake pops are another variation to this recipe and I make those double the size of the ball pictured left.

If your dough rolls easily into a ball and doesn't crumble apart - you've hit the perfect amount of frosting.

 Roll out all the dough into small balls.  Stack in an air-tight container.  Be sure to place wax paper between the layers and leave room between each ball.

Refrigerate for 3 hrs - overnight.

Refrigerating the balls helps to "stiffen" the frosting in the dough.  This makes the balls much firmer and keeps them together for the next step - candy coating.

Wilton Candy Melts are the outer coating on these great little treats.

You'll also need:
 a candy dipping tool
Ceramic microwave proof bowl
Wax paper
Microwave
Crisco

#1 important thing about candy melts - they HATE water.  Everything you use must be dry.  Water ruins the candy melts and there is no way to fix them.

To thin the consistency of the candy melts and make coating smoother and easier I add a small spoon of Crisco to 1/2 a bag of candy melts.

Add the Crisco at the very beginning.  If you try to add it later in the melting process the Crisco doesn't blend in as well and you wind up with little lumps of Crisco in the coating (yuck).

Melt in the microwave according to the package directions.

Be patient.  Don't increase the time or power.  Candy melts can burn and it's disgusting.  The smell is awful and there is no way to rescue the product if you burn it.  Burnt candy melts will get thick and chunky/gritty like a strange cottage cheese.



I've tried a double boiler - it doesn't work.  You can overheat the product and the water/steam can also cause problems - remember the rule - AVOID ALL WATER.  So really the microwave is the best way to do it.
Once melted the candy coating will be "yogurt" consistency.  Take a single cake ball and place into the bowl of candy melts.

 Roll around with the dipping tool and coat fully.  Remove from the candy melts and tap the tool on the side of the bowl to remove excess coating.

 Place onto wax paper to cool/set.

Using the tool smooth out any blemishes on the coating.

 I usually make a small swirl on the top of the candy melt with the tool before the candy sets.














As you work your tool will get coated with the candy.  After a while it will stick to the cake balls and make it hard to take them off onto the wax paper.

Clean the tool with a dry paper towel - remember water is your enemy on this project.

Let the coating cool/set completely.  You can add additional decorations or box for storage.

When boxing for storage be sure to place wax paper between the layers of cake balls.  They can occasionally "weep" oil and will destroy one another if left touching in storage.  Keep in a cool dry place.  It's not necessary to keep them refrigerated after coating but it doesn't hurt.  You should eat/serve within a few days for the freshest results.


Extra decorating options are melting alternate colors and drizzling the tops.  To make a drizzle you will need a candy decorating squeeze bottle and will need a little bit more Crisco to make the candy melts flow easily from the tip of the bottle.

Here I sprinkled colored sugar on the drizzle topping.

Here you can see cake balls as ghosts (I used a candy decorating pen for the eyes) and monster pops - green candy coating and candy eyeballs.

To make cake pops you need lollipop sticks and a holder.  Here I uses some space Styrofoam from a shipping box/appliance purchase.

You can also buy cake-pop decorating holders.  I found this one helpful and space friendly for storage.

Dip the lollipop stick into the candy melts first - then insert into cake pop dough (double the size of a regular cake ball).  Dip the cake pop into the candy coating.

To smooth and take off extra I gently twirl the cake pop in the bowl of a small spoon.  This takes a bit of practice.




For my daughter's birthday I made "Will o'the Wisps" cake pops for her Brave birthday party.


 












It's a process.  It takes forever the first time you do it.  Honestly the first time I made them it took so long to do that I swore I would NEVER make them again (laughing).  Once the kids got a hold of them and the rave reviews poured in, I made them again for a block party.  Then again for my other child's birthday.  Now they are required treats for all birthday parties.  Each time I have to find a way to incorporate cake balls into their party theme.  Now I make them for any party.  The process has gotten easier and faster each time I make them.  I've even gotten braver and started making them fancier.

You can do it.  And these are one of those treats that even the "ugly" ones are loved and eaten.

Gorgeous Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies can be tricky.  I've tried several recipes only to have shapeless blobs come out of the oven.  It's frustrating - but the kids will still eat them.

The recipe I finally found success with was by Wilton.  The original recipe calls for almond extract.  While this is a gorgeous nutty flavor, some may not care for it and when making it for nut-sensitive friends I modify the recipe.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter , softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

I also don't put salt in my cookies.  Some will say that this effects the rise on the cookies, but I have found that it isn't necessary.  From here I followed the directions provided by Wilton for mixing and baking the cookies.

Be sure to cool your cookies completely.  If they are even the least bit warm your icing will run off and make a huge mess.

Blissfully Domestic provided me with the most successful recipe for icing the cookies.  When making the "flooding" icing (the icing that covers the entire cookie) be sure to add VERY small amounts of water.  I added a bit too much to my yellow batch and it was very thin.  The icing should barely run off your spoon to flood.  I found that to coat the cookie but be thick and opaque you'll need to place some icing on the cookie and gently encourage the icing around the cookie to fill it.  When I made the icing runny enough to "flow" on the cookie it was much too thin, soaked into the cookie and was thin and transparent (required another layer).  

For my fall foliage cookies (pictured above) I lined the edges of the cookie with a darker, thicker icing.  I then flooded the cookie with a paler, thinner icing.  I left the cookie to dry completely (about 20-30min).  Then using the same icing as the edges I put the central veins of the leaves on and sprinkled colored sugar onto the wet icing.  I used a silicone basting brush to clean off the extra sugar (very gently).  Left to set (again about 20 min) and then boxed for storage until I served them at my daughters fall garden festival.  Once the icing is set you can gently stack the cookies without having the icing transfer.

I didn't get as clean a line on the maple leaf shape cutter as I did with the oak leaf cutter.  Experiment with your shapes and just remember - kids will eat any cookie, even if they come out a little abstract.

Project for your little car-lover's room

This was a very easy project to make.

Supplies:
Inexpensive plastic-bodied toy cars (matchbox size)
Hot Glue
Hot Glue Gun
Shadow Box
Picture hanging hardware
Picture hanging hook
hammer

Source your supplies as your budget allows.  The cars were a gift to my son from last Christmas.  He had over 200 cars and I couldn't handle cleaning them all up any more.



I had him select the cars for his special letter.  Allowing him to participate in the craft made the separation from his toys much easier.

Test you layout before adding glue.  My son helped arrange the cars by color and enjoyed being able to decide how his letter looked.

I found that to make the cars mount properly I needed to place hot glue in each wheel-well to lock the wheels first.  Glue on the center of the car just didn't work for keeping it stuck to the backing.  Then I glued the wheels to the backing of the shadowbox.

Allow for the glue to cool completely.   I waited an hour.  While you are waiting you can install the hanging mechanism on the back of the shadowbox frame.  I choose a simple picture hanger nailed to the frame but you can also use eye-screws and picture wire if you wish.  After the cars were set and the glue fully dried I placed the backing into the shadowbox and then hung in my sons room.