My Inner Childhood

 

I have had the opportunity over the years to work with young girls in our church in various committees.  The girls have this fantastic effect on you...they make you feel young again!  Their energy and enthusiasm is infectious!  In deciding what to write about this week I got to thinking back on what activities we have done and what I learned or re-learned to do.  One of my favorite hobbies as a child was friendship bracelets.  Remember those?  They are a perfect craft for kids to do during the summer.  Its inexpensive and a little time-consuming so it helps with the constant "I'm bored!" mantras we all deal with in the summer.  You need three pieces of equipment...embroidery floss which you can find at any dollar store, scissors, and a safety pin to attach it to a pant leg or pillow (or clipboard) to give that all important tension.  There are a ton of websites online that teach how to make them.  Everything from the classic chevron or diagonal to how to put your name (of the name of your BFF!) on them!

http://www.how-to-make-jewelry.com/friendship-bracelet-patterns.html

this is a good site for basic patterns and learning how-to

 http://friendship-bracelets.net

this site has every bracelet under the sun!

and there are tons of other sites that all have fun and fascinating ideas for you to try out!

I hope you  have fun rediscovering the joys of childhood with your kids doing this fun, easy and inexpensive craft!

The Perfect Swirl

Cupcake stores it seems are all the rage these days. They have wonderful interesting flavours and they look like perfection. The problem is that at at least $2.50 per cupcake it can get a little steep when you have a lot of people to feed. So today I thought I would answer another question I frequently get asked: How do you get that swirl on the top of the cupcake? I have to say.....it's far easier than you can imagine and the results are fantastic.

Supplies:
Cupcakes
Your favourite buttercream icing (make a nice big batch...it takes a lot of icing)
Piping Bag (the bigger the better)
a 1M Tip (this is whats gonna do the magic)

Now I highly suggest using buttercream for this vs other icings. Buttercream holds its shape better whereas a cream cheese icing (for example) is more likely to look like its melting on you.

You take you tip and drop it into your piping bag. It is a bigger tip than normal and no coupler and ring are required. Then you fill your icing bag.

Hold your piping bag at a 90 degree angle and about a 1/4" away from the cupcake. Start moving around the cupcake in a spiral motion starting from the outside and working your way to the center of the cupcake. Be careful to not leave gaps. Once you have reached the center stop pressure and pull the tip away. Feel free to top with any sort of small decoration if desired.







And there you have it. Easy peasy and you have professional looking cupcakes! Enjoy

my first cupcake...it really is that simple!

(technique photos courtesy of Wilton.com)

Not Christmas-ey...but awesome! Introducing....Banoffee Pie!

My sister and I love to get together for a weekend and try new recipes. This one we tried recently and I had to spread the word...it was AWESOME! (and so easy to do!)

Banoffee Pie

Total Time: 4 hr 15 min

Ingredients:

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• Pinch salt
• 4 bananas, sliced
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a saucepan, cover an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk with water. Let it simmer for 3 hours, adding water as needed to keep the can submerged in the water.

Set your oven to 375 F.
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, then cool completely and refrigerate until ready to assemble the pie.
Remove the condensed milk from heat and let cool enough to be able to remove the can from the water. Let cool another 10 to 15 minutes before opening the now dark and creamy toffee.
Thinly slice the bananas (1/4-inch) on the bias. Evenly arrange 1 layer of bananas over the cooled crust. Pour the toffee over the top and spread evenly. Put another layer of bananas on top of the toffee. Whip 2 cups of cream, in a large bowl, until soft peaks form and spoon it on top of the bananas, spreading it out to make an even layer.
Refrigerate the pie for at least 1 hour before serving.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Paper Christmas Tree

Christmas is always a go big or go home holiday with our family. Usually the tree is up by now and carols are playing; however I became an Auntie this weekend and thus I am a little behind. It will be up soon though no worries. This is a craft I made last year and it was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy!

Materials Needed:

Cardstock made into a cone about 7-8" high
Strips of double sided scrapbook paper cut about a half inch by 2/12 inches
an 8" piece of thin ribbon
Small terra cotta pot
Flower foam
Moss for base of tree in pot
foot long thin dowel rod
glue gun and glue sticks
scissors

The first step it the part that takes the most time. You want to take your strips of double sided scrapbook paper and glue them into loops. Ribbon can also be used as an alternate material. Careful to not bend and crease the paper loops. you will need to cut the corners off your loops as you get further up the cone.


Then you start glueing your loops around the base of the cone and work your way up keeping in mind to overlap your seams.

Once you get to the top tie your ribbon around the top to give it a nice finish.


Cut your flower foam to fit in your terra cotta pot. make sure it does not go above the height of the pot.
Add your moss and dowel and then you can put your finished tree on top of the dowel (glueing optional) and you are done! It makes a very cute, very country-ish Christmas decoration. Hope you like it!
-Rachel

How to Properly Ice A Cake

One thing I get asked a lot is how to ice a cake nice and smooth. As with all things it takes a little patience, technique and having the right tools. There are a lot of people out there who hate the taste of fondant so this is a good option if you want that smooth professional look in your cake but don't want to feel like you are eating chewing gum.

The first thing you are going to want to do is level your cake. To do this you can use a long knife or a nifty little cake leveling tool that you can buy at any craft or baking supply store. They are inexpensive and easy to use. What you want to do is to remove the dome from the tops of your layers. The dome prevents your cake from sitting properly making it hard to fill the middle and making it shift when attempting to ice the top.Cake leveller tool

Before you put your first layer onto your cake board you may want to consider using a dap of icing underneath the layer to help prevent shifting. Also a turntable or Lazy Susan is a WONDERFUL investment. It doesn't need to be a fancy tilting one...as long as it turns it will be your friend in this venture.Once you have leveled your layers you are going to want to make what is known as an icing dam. This prevents your center filling from seeping out into your icing. You take an icing bag with a number 12 round tip and create a bead of icing all around the outer edge. Then you can go and fill your cake with whatever filling you choose.

FYI: on an 8" round a pudding cup is the perfect size for cake filling if you are short on supplies!

The next step has two options. You can do what is called a "dirty ice" which is to take a super thin layer of icing to the whole cake to catch cake crumbs and fill in gaps....but if you did the first two steps nicely you can also do what I will show you here. This tip is called a cake icer tip. It looks a lot like the tip you use to do lattice work but on a much larger scale. It is serrated on one side which helps the icing grip the cake. You essentially want to go around your cake until it completely covered with icing. Should you get and crumbs on the tip make sure you clean them off as you see them so they don't get mixed into the icing.

The next step is to take an offset spatula and smooth out the cake. Again if you see crumbs wipe them off. Crumbs ruin that professional smooth appearance. You want to try to get your icing as smooth as you can. It won't be perfect, not yet. That part comes next.

Here is where patience comes in. What you need to do is wait. Most buttercream recipes will crust over once they have been exposed to air for a while. What that means if they get a little dried out on the outside so you can manipulate it carefully to get it smooth. What you need for this is your offset spatula again or a fondant smoother, and parchment or wax paper. What you are going to do is lightly lay the paper onto the cake and then with your smoother lightly go over the entire cake until it is totally smooth. I tend to spend forever on this part! Don't press to hard or it will break the crust and you will get icing on your paper.

Voila! One smooth cake!

Once you are done you are ready to decorate and serve! It really is easy once you learn the tricks of the trade. You too can make your very own beautiful pieces of edible art! Happy caking!

Candy Corn Wreath

Halloween has got to be for my family one of our most favourite times of year. Each year we decorate the house and try on all sorts of costumes at the stores and of course eat a lot of candy. So this year I took my love of the holiday and my love for sugar and combined them into one awesome decoration! It is super easy, doesn’t take a lot of time and it was a lot of fun!

Supplies needed:

1 - Foam wreath. Mine was about 13in. and more squared than rounded for ease of use.

1 - Roll of black duct tape

1 – Spool of wide ribbon. Does not need to be wired.

Krylon spray or something similar to seal it all up

Glue gun and glue sticks

Bulk Store candy corn

Step 1: Take your candy corn out of the plastic bag and let it sit and dry out for a few days. The harder it is the easier it is to work with. Plus it will keep better in the long run.

Step 2: Take your wreath and wrap it with the duct tape until it is all covered. It is difficult to wrap continuously so consider cutting strips for this part.

Step 3: Lay out how you want your candy corn to sit on your wreath. I chose to have them all go around in one direction and then reversing it for the next row. Keep in mind the further you go toward the outer edge your candy corn will not line up properly because the diameter will change (unless you like to see a lot of black on yours).

Step 4: Start gluing!

Step 5: Once you have finished the front of the wreath you can start on the inside and outsides. This part is a little harder because you need to figure out how to hold the wreath in a way that is comfy for you, but easier in the sense that you don’t need to plan as much since the diameter does not change. Tip: avoid eating the candy corn...you will need more than you think!

Step 6: Once you are all glued up and you have removed all the little glue “spider webs” you can take it outside and use any clear sealer spray that you have and give it one or two coats. This becomes especially important if you choose to hang your wreath outside. It will keep the bugs away and keep your candy from melting in the rain. Wait a while for it to dry completely.

Step 7: Attach a ribbon about 2-3 ft. through the wreath, tie it off or glue the ends to the back and you are done!

Voila one seriously awesome looking Halloween wreath! Happy crafting!

About Us: The Crafty Betties

Crafty Betties are hobby hotties who love to craft, decorate & design. We started as a group of friends who were sharing ideas amongst ourselves and then decided to share our crafts, recipes, and other fun decorating and design tips with everyone. We hope our ideas help inspire you with your family and home!

Joana

Joana is from Brazil, and has learned a lot since she moved to the United States in 2010 about how talented the people are. She very grateful because she discovered that she also has a talent: copying talents of others! Joana loves learning what other people do very well, and reproducing the great ideas on a budget.

Joana's husband is a student and they doing everything they can to pay for his studies, so she can not spend a lot of money on craft and home organization projects. You will find that Joana's projects are things that can be made with few resources and materials that we already have at home. Hope you enjoy following Joana's simple ideas!

Click here to see what Joana's been up to on Crafty Betties.

Rebecca

A self-proclaimed tom-boy, sports & exercise enthusiast, Rebecca has NEVER been able to suppress her creative side. 

As with many new moms, the birth of her daughter drove her head first into a scrapbooking/papercrafting passion and she quickly found herself teaching others at workshops and parties the joys of beautifully archiving memories, and how much money you really can save making your own beautiful greeting cards! 

And after a few lessons about creating her own jewelery, Rebecca was hooked, quickly making more of a supply than she would ever use herself.  But an addiction was developed and the jewellery crafting continued!

When she's not playing soccer, out for a run, kickboxing, or chililng with her family you can find Rebecca leading local papercrafters through projects, or selling her beautiful one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces at a local craft fair. Her websites are rking.myctmh.com and www.leifayre.ca .  Or check out her other blog, redlovestomove.blogspot.com for the ins and outs of day-to-day life. 

Click here to see what Rebecca's been up to on Crafty Betties.

Rachel

Rachel is a married mother of two.  She has one child with an autism spectrum disorder, which means she is super busy!  Rachel LOVES to be creative when time allows. She has a great sense of design, and a love of food, which lead her into making cakes. Rachel says she is still new to this venture but am developing a real love for this medium.  Art you can eat; who doesn't like that!

When not at home caring for her children and being a cake specialist, Rachel is also a full time student and works part time at a restaurant.  She loves to have fun and explore new ways to do things, so be sure to follow Rachel's tips here at Crafty Betties!

Click here to see what Rachel's been up to at Crafty Betties.

Kristen

Kristen is a self-labeled Domestic Diva. As the oldest of six children, Kristen was always her mother's right-hand gal for keeping house and cooking fantastic meals.

Even as a young girl Kristen loved beautiful things, but her first love has always been to MAKE beautiful things. Her favorite style is her own Contemporary Farmhouse Chic. Kristen accomplishes this through upcycling things she finds at garage sales and in scary basements, and then adds something new to it to create a clean/ refresh look.

When she is not running, reading or caring for her three children and super-busy husband, Kristen is the creative genius behind the Etsy shop Write@Home and is a family-food blogger. Thanks for following!

Click here to see what Kristen's been up to on Crafty Betties.

Tamie

From creating unique décor for your home or an uber-awesome meal Tamie is all about the simplicity of it all.
Hailing from the great state of Colorado; Tamie is the mom of 3 boys and hence must create the “girl” herself.

Who doesn’t like a little simplicity in their life? Raise your hand – yes you do! 

Tamie attempts to create simplicity in her life through organization, meal planning, or re-creating something that she’s seen online (usually other blogs and Pinterest).It is all about simplicity. 

She also loves to create lasting memories for her gaggle of boys and other families through her photographic efforts. You can follow Tamie on facebook at Tamie Peterson Photography or her blog at http://tamiesphotos.blogspot.com/

Click here to see what Tamie's been up to on Crafty Betties.