Cupcake Whimsy

A double date with the Younce's

2010-07-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary together! We went to an Ethiopian restaurant with some friends of ours. We then walked down the street to a multicultural market and picked up some goodies. Next our friends treated us to gelato! Finally we headed back to our home for conversation and tried anchovy snacks and grass jello that we had bought at the market. Yuck! But now we can say we tried it! ... Okay, truthfully I could not bring myself to trying the fish snacks. It was a super fun time! We have already planned a weird food night for next month. Perhaps I'll make a video of that too! We'll see!

Oh.. and I photoshopped the mustache on my friend. We thought it looked hilarious so I had to show it more than once.!

Just purrrrrrfect!

2010-02-19T04:46:00.001-08:00

A cupcake kit... really? Seriously, how cute is this. And there are more themes to choose from! There's circus, princess, mermaids and even pirates! And they all come in these sweet little packages! I wouldn't mind if someone gave me one of these as a gift... (hint hint!). If you haven't already guessed Bake It Pretty is where you will find these and other fabulous gems for the baker or pseudo baker. One could purchase store bought cupcakes, set them in these papers, and place the toppers! You know what you'd be then...? A hit that's what!

So head on over to Bake It Pretty! And tell them Julie sent you! ... Just kidding, they don't know me. I just think it's funny when people say that on commercials! hehehehe

Scrumptious Linen...

2010-02-18T05:42:00.000-08:00

Found these sweet table adornments on Design Sponge. It's in the DIY section. If you haven't visited this site yet make sure you have a lot of time. It's chocked full of awesome ideas and a plethora of eye candy!

I'm SO going to make these. They are iron on transfers. DS tells you exactly how to do it right here.

I'm hoping one day to have a Jane Austen Party and the tea cup one would be perfect! These would also make perfect gift sets for newly weds, the person who has everything, or your artist friends birthday.

If you end up making a set of these please let me know how it goes.

Is it...? I mean could it be...?

2010-02-17T18:02:00.000-08:00

Well folks it's here. A strawberry topped birthday cake with an adorable blue bird perched on top. How could this get any better you say? Make it into a necklace and wear it all day!

I found this store a while ago. Every piece of art and jewelry is bursting with coolness and just the right mount of tackiness. Once you visit Gingerbread Jewelry you'll be smiling all day.

I always tell my friends that in order for something to fit into my house it has to be a little tacky. This piece definitely steps up to the plate. I'm saving my pennies!

Is anybody gnome? (The cover story)

2010-02-16T05:26:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I'm not a scrap booker but isn't this set adorable!? I found this site when I was searching for a cool printable reading log for my daughter. I can across the blog Kitschy Digitals. I LOVE kitschy stuff! Now,... it looks like the reading kit is no longer available but the embellishments are! Meaning you could buy this kit and make a reading log!!! I also found out she sells these printables on her website Kitschy Digitals Goods. She sells printables and embroidery patterns. I'm not much of a sewer but these are too cute. So check her out!!!

After thought- So.... I did more poking around in her site and on her links... The reading log set IS STILL available!!! Yeah! Here is the link!!! It's at another shop of hers at Two Peas in a Bucket. This just keeps getting better and better!!

Knock Knock!

2010-02-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

It's been a loooong time but I'm back!

I have a found a great etsy store you must check out! The name of the store is KnockKnocking She make awesome yarn wreaths that of course include some of my favorite things- mushrooms and birds! I would LOVE to have one of her wreaths grace my front door but I'm having a hard time picking one. When you check out her shop come back here and tell us which one is your favorite!

Of course, while your there at etsy you might as well hop on over to my shop, Just Dandy!

Yummmmm!

2009-09-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

I've been very busy in the kitchen lately! Green Lite Bites has really inspired me to cook again. For a while I was in a rut. Now that being said none of the recipes shown above are from her blog, but I have made a lot of hers and they are all good.

The Cob Salad is from What's Cooking America. The Applesauce Pancakes are from a great cookbook titled, How it All Vegan. My favorite pancakes!

The last item I made up! It is an Apple Lemon Stromboli. First, I took the idea of a stromboli, since I already had bread dough on hand. (I do the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day) I then cut up three apples and put them in a pan with a tiny bit of water, the juice of two lemons, and the zest of two lemons. I let this simmer till mushy. Then I tossed in some poppy seeds because duh it has lemon in it, and some honey for sweetness about 2TBS. I took my cantaloupe size dough that I had previously divided in 4ths rolled them out and let rise for 15 min. I put about a fourth of a cup of the mixture in the middle of each round, then wrapped them up like a gift. Just before placing them in the oven, for 20 min at 350, I patted them with olive oil for a nice sheen and topped them with a sprinkle of more seeds.

My husband and youngest daughter thought they were too sour but my oldest and I loved them! If you have any questions let me know. Happy eating!

Eat good food without the guilt

2009-09-06T17:46:00.000-07:00

When I was in France for our honeymoon we had the best croissants and richest coffee. Every morning we would be served breakfast in our room and it looked a lot like this pic. This photo is from a website called Almost Fit. The tag line being, "eat real food in moderation". This blog is great. It is a realistic approach to eating good food and not obsessing about what your eating. You are supposed enjoy your food, not be thinking, "I wonder how many carbs are in this", or "hmmm I'm going to have to do extra sit ups for this". Almost fit is not the only place I have heard of this. I read the book In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Okay. actually I listened to it on CD. (preformed by a great reader) I normally am not into nonfiction, except for crafty and cook books, but I made an exception since it was highly recommended by a friend. (Thank you Jeanie!) If you have not read it, or listened to it, please do, you will NOT regret it. The tag line for his book is "Eat food, not too much , mostly plants" Love it! I also try to remember another quote from the book. "If your great great grandmother would not recognize what you are eating you probably shouldn't."

To end this post I'll say a quote from my grandmother, "Just shut up and eat it!"

Hello Kitty Bento Box and Twinkie Sushi, Am I in Heaven?

2009-09-04T08:34:00.001-07:00

I cannot wait to make these. My kids and friends are going to go nuts! My daughter and I LOVE sushi, the rest of my family thinks it's just raw fish. But, who wouldn't love Hostess Twinkie Sushi? Plus food art is too much fun and proves Yes,... you can play with your food.

I found this neat idea on a site called Not Martha. Other neat ideas and great pics check her out!

Also, Hostess has a cookbook out that I can't wait to see. The Twinkies Cookbook. I've already put in a request at the library.

Then I found this cute food bento box. All the girls in my family have bento boxes. It is so fun to make your lunch, and eat it, when it is adorable! This pic came from ayanamadoka. I can't read it, It's from Japan, but the pics of bento's are cool! I bought all my bento stuff from Ichiban Kan. Go to the link I provided for you if you only want to see bento supplies.

Now get creative with your food, but don't forget to send me a link to your pics of it!

Cupcakes on a stick oo la la!

2009-09-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

Are these so fun or what!? I found these on cupcakestakethecake.com . I love the simplicity and the fancy-ness of it. Fancy Nancy would LOVE these! Sucker sticks plus strawberries plus mini cupcakes with a dollop of icing and voila! You have a special treat! There are lots of other very cool, and of course cute, cupcake things at this awesome site. Check them out! Beware, you may get hungry!

A new start

2009-09-03T11:01:00.001-07:00

I've decided to start this blog anew. This will now be a blog all about food, food blogs, food art and anything else I want to showcase!

So first off I would like to showcase a cool site a found via a friend at work. I absolutely LOVE cute food. So when she showed me bakeitpretty.com I went nuts!

Seriously! Soooo cute! Okay, okay, a few things you should know about me besides I love baking and cute food. I think mushrooms are just about the most magical thing in the world, I collect sprinkles, and I used to be a cake decorator.

With all that being said. I really think these mushroom picks ought to be mine. Now, if I could just come up with a reason to use them. I am trying to talk my high schooler into having a "gnome" themed birthday but I don't think that will happen. Anyways, take a look at the site. You won't be disappointed. I know you'll want to "bake it pretty" from now on too!