Happy Monday, friends! Today happens to be President’s Day, and we’re at the tail end of a long weekend.

Hello Friends and Happy Tuesday!! We’re celebrating Taylored Expressions Half Birthday with the Taylored Expressions Create-in-Quads Birthday Layering Stencils!! That’s right there’s a Birthday Cre…

Learn how to make Birthday Cake Pops with Sprinkles with this fun and easy recipe!

Two versions of the carousel. The one on the left does not have the box base. I love carousels. I remember as a child going on carousel rides in Asbury Park, NJ in the summer. I wanted to recreate these memories in making this design. This carousel really spins because there is an axle built into the center of the carousel. It took about 30 minutes to cut this design with my Cameo Silhouette machine and about 60 minutes to put it together. I think the effort is well worth it. Here is the PDF. The directions are for the yellow, blue and red design carousel. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYZjFsa3ZLYTJvbDA/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-wOdDLeLoniW7y_SuEJ7QSg Here is the .Studio file. I used cardstock. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7oGIyVDbRGYNGRQYTJVZksyc3c/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-y5az-6FY6gY_3hLJxDDUmQ Apply glue to the cones as shown. Adhere the cones together to make the top of the carousel. Align the seams of each section of the cone. Top of Carousel Glue the diamond strips to the border as shown. Slide the small strips of paper over a glue stick.  Form into a circle and glue. This will be for the top of the carousel. Bend the tabs upward. Glue as shown Bend into a circle and glue together. Completed design. Notice there is a ledge. This is where the circle will be held in place. Add the circle. This is what it looks like when you turn it over. I did not use any glue at this point. Using a glue stick, glue the second circle and place it in the center of the lid. Placing the circle in the center of the lid. Completed lid. Bend the tabs and put glue as shown on the box. Form the box as shown. Apply glue from a glue stick to one on the circles. Add the unglued circle to the center of the box. Turn the box over and add the glued circle to the bottom of the box. Completed box. Glue the horses as shown. There is a tab on each horse for placement. Make the short tube. Glue into a tube as shown. Glue it to the center of the carousel. Attach the top of the carousel. Glue the horses and the tube to make one complete unit. Glue the flag and long tube together. This is the center axle which allows the carousel to spin. This axle goes through the center of the cone. The axle goes through the center of the short tube. It comes out through the bottom of the carousel assembly where the horses are. DO NOT GLUE the axle here. Add the round piece of paper shown on the left to the center axle. NOW...Glue the axle to this piece of paper. This will allow the axle to move freely and spin. Here it is glued. Carousel assembly almost completed. Add glue to the center of the ring design. Slip the circle around the cone. Notice where you place the seams before allowing the glue to dry. Notice where the glue is...this is should be even all around. One more step to go... Glue the bottom of the carousel to the box base. Completed carousel. Carousels are lovely especially when they spin! I have updated this design and explain how it was constructed. https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-stem-project-carousel-that-really.html 

Looking for some Valentine's Day ideas? These Valentines day marshmallow pops are so cute, perfect for yuour kids to pass out at school parties!

As you already know from Little Brother's Construction Birthday party last month, we love themes for our birthday parties. When Big Brother asked for an Astronaut Outer Space Party I knew there were a lot of fun ideas we could use for that theme. This was Big Brother's first "friend party" instead of a family party and it was really exciting for both of us to put together projects and games for a group of kids. We wound up with a bigger group than we originally expected but it all went really well! To begin with I again made an invitation using free cilp art from the internet. An edited copy is below. As we were expecting both kids and their parents I decided to keep the food simple and not "on theme." We served up finger sandwiches (pb & jelly, cucumber, and cream cheese & raisin bread) as well as stuff for grown ups to make bulkies and grinders. We also put out fruit, veggie, and cheese & cracker platters. Daddy made a batch of his special snack mix too. Our cake idea came from Pinterest and was again made with the help of my mom. The cake is her delicious chocolate sour cream cake baked in a bowl to make it round like the moon. We frosted it with a homemade oreo buttercream frosting and added both regular and mini cookies to look like craters. We added a couple of astronauts from the pack we had purchased for party activities. Another fun Pinterest find were these Martian Marshmallow pops. I used green candy melts, candy eyes, marshmallows, large lollipop sticks, and green sprinkles to create these cute treats. Activity planning was especially fun! We made a double batch of moon sand from a great recipe at Imagination Tree and added more of the rest of the astronauts. We created fun, toilet paper roll rockets. We wrapped the rolls in construction paper and used holographic tape and star stickers from the dollar store to decorate the sides. The roof is made by cutting a small circle out with a slit partway through the circle. One edge of the slit is glued on top of the other edge to make a cone shape and then glued to the top of the rocket. Kids worked on creating "space helmets" from brown paper bags with glitter glue, sequins, pom poms, and other goodies. Rather than buy a large set of paper bags, I asked our local grocery store to sell me a handful for 20¢ a bag. A final project involved using foam space stickers and metallic crayons on black construction paper to create galaxy pictures. A huge highlight of the party was the cardboard rocket ship we made from a washing machine box. Daddy and Big Brother primed it white and spray painted the roof silver. Kids of all ages loved playing inside the box. A couple of other activities included a "launch pad" toss using our bean bag toss game created last year and a small book nook with many different space and planet themed books. And when the crowd got a little rowdy we pulled out some of our gross motor toys (tunnel, cones, balls) and ran an astronaut "training camp" obstacle type course. When kids finished they got an official "NASA" badge made with clip art, the laminator, and stick on pins. Post Update: Due to many requests we've put together a new "Astronaut Training Checklist" so that others can enjoy the checklist too! Click here for the free printable. As kids were taking home several handmade projects, we kept the favors small and each child took home a flying foam rocket ship and a glow stick. We ended the party with traditional cake and ice cream, and of course one happy kiddo with thoughts of rocket ships headed up!

If you are a fan of Oreos and chocolate, you will love these Oreo Pops! They are so easy to make too with no baking required. Have a party coming up or other gathering? Make these!

A friend of mine won a service I offered at our church womens group service auction. I offered up hosting a party- I plan and host it, they *just* had to pay for the goods involved (not my time and energy :) She chose for the theme Under the sea! Seems a bit popular on this blog as of late. I honestly wasn't at all an influence on her choice, surprising?? I was a bit disappointed at first as I wanted to expand my horizons, but 20 seconds later I was really excited to be doing ocean again. I've mentioned this before, and I'll say it again. I LOVE FONDANT!! Could these be any cuter?? The crabs and turtles you've seen before, but I added a friendly whale. Including a birthday whale for the birthday girl. My original idea was to have the lanterns look like bubbles around the room, but things got a big crazy and we ended up hanging them across the room in a line. The party was outside for the most part, so I didn't want to do much on the inside decorations. The table is, however missing the little umbrellas I bought for it. I still have no idea where they disappeared to. Dessert & Favor table I scoured the internet for ideas for this party, and of course it's no surprise that there are A TON of great and creative ideas!! The birthday banner was made with my Silhoutte- my favorite paper craft tool!! How cute is a goldfish bar?? I got lots of ideas from this post, and the goldfish bar was one of them. I wanted to jazz up the obvious choice of using Swedish fish. :) "Sushi" We've been making these for years. I believe I first saw the idea at family fun magazine. However, when I just did a google image search for "fruit roll up sushi", I was blown away with how far it's come since I originally saw the idea. And you think *I* go overboard?? Just go do the search and you'll think I'm a simpleton. I love candy coating marshmallows. SO EASY and so fun. I added blue sprinkles to them. The pixie sticks can be purchased individually at Party City. Lots of candy can- as well as at grocery store candy bins. I love to shop for candy in bulk bins when I'm trying to buy specific colors. Dum Dum lollipops wrapped in purple tissue paper. I "planted" them in a bed of uncooked rice. They stood up perfectly. If I had the time, I would have colored the rice blue. This oh so cute fish cake pop stand was copied inspired by This idea. I used glitter cardstock in aqua colors. I was covered in glitter for a few days after making it. I'm such a sparkly person :) Fish cake pops!! I loved the idea here. I made a few changes. My favorite part was the heart candy confetti used for the mouth. These cakepops were almost scratched from my party plans after a 105 degree heat index day which included 85% + humidity. Not fun conditions for cake pop making. Even my basement wasn't a safe haven for making them. I used starburst for the fins. It was STICKY! Incidently, at the party, the starburst had dried up, and the fish weren't sweating any longer. Starfish chocolate covered Oreos. I used Wilton dark chocolate candy coating. The stars are made from star burst candy. I went through the trouble of making a cute dot pattern on the starfish, but then with the humidity, they kind of stuck inside the plastic. If you decide to make these and will be in any kind of heat, I'd skip those kind of details. (I'm sure you're probably thinking you'd skip most of the details that I put into things by now) The favor part of the table had bubbles Go fish cards which I bought a the Dollar store in a variety three pack (so they ended up only being about $.33 each) Shovels which came with the buckets Fishes And MY FAVORITE PART!! Ocean in a bottle. I used Target's Market Pantry brand flavored water bottles because I liked the size and shape. They are filled with two orange fishes-like the ones on the table cloth in the previous picture water with blue food coloring, and baby oil. I hot glued the lids on The kids played a relay game with fins. Played on a inflatable waterslide and had a bubble machine. Happy Birthday my little fish friend.

This homemade Vintage Cherry Chip Layer Cake made from scratch is bursting with sweet cherry flavor and tinted the perfect shade of pink from nothing other than the maraschino cherry juice from the jar! Chopped up maraschino cherries are folded into the batter to make sure the cherry flavor really comes through in this super fun, moist Vintage Cherry Chip Layer Cake that is perfect for almost any celebration!

PS makes wellness more accessible through real-life stories, first-person perspectives, and expert-backed information. Our staff of journalists and subject-matter experts research, report, and produce articles, videos, and social content that help people feel good about their well-being choices, no matter what they are. Via our core verticals — Health, Fitness, Beauty, Balance, Identity, and Shopping — we help our audience proceed with confidence.

Lego craft are so much fun and provide endless entertainment for children. These Lego crafts include cake pops, homemade soap, homemade crayons, a travel storage box, a table and bean bags. As always, the Tip Junkie Kids Craft site has hundreds of pictured tutorials with free patterns for Lego Birthday Parties, Lego Crafts, and even Lego Bedrooms so you can always search there if you’re looking for more pictured tutorials. {wink} Lego 1. Lego Cake Pops {Family Fun Craft} ~ Your kids might love building these lego cake pops as much as they love playing with the real thing. These cute cake

LEGO remains an eternally popular kid’s toy – especially with the younger variety. For an unusual and extremely popular birthday party idea a LEGO theme ...

Not only can you make cake balls and turn them into cake pops, but you can also mold them into other shapes using a small metal cookie cutter. For these cupcake pops, use a flower-shaped cookie cutter.

Lego Theme Party Ideas, What I love about Legos is that they are so bright and colorful. When decorating for a party, just think of bold primary colors, black, and white.

A marshmallow pop is an easy no-bake dessert recipe for a party or any occasion!

Explore thecakemamas' 1584 photos on Flickr!

UPDATE: Find the tutorial on how to make an Ice Cream Cake with surprise inside polka dots as seen on KUTV Channel 2 here. Will putting polka dots inside a cake work? How does one do that? I conducted a little experiment to find out. Perhaps you've seen these in the store lately and walked right by them. Like I did. Countless times. I kept asking myself, "Why in the world would I possibly need that when I can roll a perfectly round cake ball with my own two hands?" And then one night I had this great idea for an experiment. (I always call them great ideas until they fail miserably.) How about using them to put polka dots inside a cake? Rather large polka dots. But polka dots all the same. After researching cake ball pans a bit, I settled on this brand. Mostly because makes 18 balls at once and my coupons at Bed Bath and Beyond were begging to be used. With tax and coupon, final cost was just over $16. I started with a white cake mix and made some of the adjustments recommended in the instruction guide that came with the bake pop pan. After dividing the batter in half, I further divided half of the batter evenly between 6 bowls for tinting. The colors I used were AmeriColor soft gel pastes in 113 orange, 107 lemon yellow, 164 electric pink, 162 electric green, 103 sky blue, and a mix of 130 regal purple/165 electric purple. I used about 1/2 t. of each so that the colors would remain vivid after baking. You can see the bright colors in the vents peeking through after the clamps were put on. The instruction guide suggests baking at 350F for 25-30 minutes but that sounded WAY too long. My goal was to slightly under bake them so that they wouldn't dry out too much during the second bake time. They were done at 13 minutes in my oven. The instruction guide also suggests spraying some non-stick baking spray with flour on the outside of the vents. I failed to take their advice. I was sure that only filling them to the rim wouldn't cause eruptions. But I was WRONG. Mini volcanoes! One of the happiest surprises of the day was that the volcanoes were more like little caps that popped off almost by themselves leaving the insides intact. The mess on the outside was minimal after removing the tops with no damage to the balls. The pans are non-stick but do require a baking spray with flour to help the balls bake evenly. Clean up was fairly easy. After some quality control and taste testing of the volcanoes, the experiment resumed. I also ended up trimming the tiniest bit off the tops to make them rounder. We'll see if that mattered later on. The scraps. After adding just enough batter to cover the bottom of my prepared pans, the cake balls were placed inside. My original plan was to freeze the balls before this step but I skipped it so they were room temp when they went in the pans. The remaining batter was scooped over each ball to cover. And into the oven they went. Looking rather more like dinner rolls than cake. I didn't tap the pans or even the batter out for fear of uncovering the balls. I ended up using 2 white cake mixes for 3 six-inch rounds. Long story. After trying to capture the steps on the camera, the half batch of batter that I'd hoped to use to cover the balls was getting weird. It had just set out too long. I baked it up in a small oval pan as a decoy for my husband to keep him away from the real project. Never a task for the faint of heart. For the cake balls, I used the cake mix and pudding along with the substitution of milk for the water per the instruction guide. I did not decrease the liquid as suggested or increase the eggs but went instead with the amounts on the cake mix box. Since I'd used whole eggs for the cake balls, the remaining half batch of batter had a yellow tinge. And there wasn't enough of it to cover the balls. Yet another reason to use a second cake mix. The second mix was mixed using the egg white method and ingredients listed on the box except for about a teaspoon of almond extract. Force of habit. So I had a nice white batter to contrast with the bright colors. The filled six-inch rounds baked about 30 to 35 minutes or until they pulled from the sides of the pan and sprang back when touched lightly. I didn't use the toothpick method for fear of stabbing a colored ball or hopefully soon-to-be-polka-dot since the balls were already cooked and not a true gauge of doneness. Waiting for them to cool and frost was like waiting for my water to break with my first born. Okay. Maybe not quite that dramatic. But the anticipation was palpable in my kitchen. I know, I know. Get a life. You can see some of the color coming through in spots. Never wanted to take a knife to a cake more badly in my life. But I waited. Off to the freezer to chill out and wait until the next day for a crumb coat and slathering of white frosting. The question mark seemed like a perfect accent to this cake since I still had no clue if this would work. And then the giant cut to remove all doubt . . . It actually worked!!! Hooray! The first slice left this design. Not all dots showing but they're in there somewhere. After cutting the second large piece, all but one color magically appeared. Perhaps placing one more ball in the pan would've produced a more even pattern. Next time. Here's another great surprise about these types of cakes: the colored balls stayed as moist as the rest of the cake even though they were completely baked before hand!!! You'll want to try it yourself just to see but as long as you don't overcook the balls in the first bake, your cake will be moist all the way through. Gotta love science! You can find a shorter version of the tutorial with the recipes HERE. Mine is not the first attempt to hide patterns inside cakes. Hidden checkerboard designs have been around for centuries. The very first Battenburg or checkerboard cake was said to have been made in 1884 to celebrate the marriage Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Victoria to Prince Louis of Battenburg. I can't wait to try more shapes and patterns! The next experiments will be to try smaller balls of different sizes for more of a confetti look. And squares. And . . . I'll keep ya posted! Note: This cake design is copyright protected so if you plan to use it for your own tutorial, video or other purpose, you must link back to this blog and give proper credit. No commercial use is allowed. Want to see more of my hidden or twice baked cakes? More Hidden Polka Dots or what happens with cone shapes . . . Twice Baked Cake or More Hidden Polka Dots or what happens with a mini donut pan and a straw . . . Squares or my attempt at stained glass for a cathedral window look. Hidden Mini Polka Dots in Pumpkin Hidden Mickey Mouse Hidden Bunnies Hidden Giraffe Pattern Thanks for stopping by! Sweet regards, Deborah

Panda bear crazy! How to make PANDA MARSHMALLOWS and 29 other panda treats and crafts, in honor of the pandas at the National Zoo.

Unicorn popcorn is the perfect DIY treat or snack for unicorn themed parties or events. This tutorial shows you how to make this fun kids treat using white chocolate, sprinkles, and any other fun topping ideas you can think of! Be sure to try this easy recipe for your next unicorn or magical themed party.

3 tier topsy turvy wedding cake with each tier representing a different layer of the labyrinth.

Oh say, can you say, Today is a very special day! The birthday of Dr. Seuss is cause for celebration… And, making fun foods will bring jubilation! So, grab a pot or a pan, bring your kids (and your man). Enjoy sweet cakes or silly green ham… and do something fun with your whole fam! […]

PLEASE SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST. Modeling chocolate (or candy clay) is an easy and fun medium to use when decorating cakes. You can use it in candy molds, use it like regular clay to mold figures free hand, or you can use it in combination with fondant or gumpaste (50/50) to give the fondant better stability and flavor, and then use it for anything that you would use gumpaste for. It can be made with real chocolate or with candy melts. The tutorial that I'm posting today is made with candy melts. You can use dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or any other color. 12 oz. package Wilton candy melts (you can use any brand-just make sure you measure out 12 oz.) 1/4 cup light corn syrup Pour candy melts into microwave safe bowl, and melt according to directions. Each microwave is different as far as power, but it usually takes me 1 1/2 minutes, stirring at 30 sec. intervals, until smooth. Assemble tools and ingredients Only 2 ingredients needed - candy melts and corn syrup Pour candy melts into microwave safe bowl Stir after 30 seconds Stir again after 60 seconds Final stir after 90 seconds - candy melts should be smooth To allow corn syrup to pour out of measuring cup easily, coat the inside of the cup with vegetable oil spray. Measure 1/4 cup light corn syrup (any brand will do), and pour into melted candy melts. Mixture will begin to firm up immediately. Continue to stir until completely incorporated and mixture has formed a ball. Pour onto wax paper and allow to cool. When cool, put in zip-lock bag and allow to set over night at room temperature. When ready to use, take off a small piece, color as desired with food safe colors, and knead in your hands, until color is fully incorporated, and chocolate is pliable. Mold into desired shapes. Use vegetable oil spray to coat inside of measuring cup Corn syrup will pour out of cup easier when coated Add corn syrup to melted candy melts Stir until fully combined and formed into ball Place on wax paper to cool When cool, place in bag to cool at room temperature overnight Here are a few examples of cakes items I have modeled with modeling chocolate... Hat, boots, and belt molded from modeling chocolate Booties made from 50/50 fondant and modeling chocolate Golf ball and tee molded from rice krispie treats and covered with modeling chocolate Rope heart, garlands, hat, and horseshoes molded from modeling chocolate UPDATE FOR MODELING CHOCOLATE RECIPE (DECEMBER 2016) After making and using and loving modeling chocolate for many years, here are some tips that will help to make your recipe for modeling chocolate easier and almost fool proof: 1) My favorite brand of chocolate to use is Ghirardelli melting wafers, both white and dark chocolate. Use 1/2 cup corn syrup per lb. of wafers. 2) If using colored candy melts, use 1/3 cup corn syrup per lb. of candy melts. 3) Be sure not to overheat your chocolate. It's best to stir the last few wafers until melted, instead of keep heating them up. 4) Warm your corn syrup for a few seconds, so that both the syrup and chocolate are same temperature... just barely warm to the touch. 5) If you need to color an entire batch, add the paste color to the corn syrup, stir, then add to the melted chocolate. 6) Make sure all chocolate is incorporated without over-stirring. 7) Spread out chocolate mixture very thinly between layers of plastic wrap, and let set for no longer than 1 hour. When it is set, but still pliable, knead it into a smooth ball or log. Wrap tightly, put in zip lock bag, and let set until firm. It can usually be used in about 2 hours if necessary. 8) The modeling chocolate will be very hard. When you need to use a piece, you can put it in the microwave for no longer than 5 seconds to soften just a bit. More examples of modeling chocolate

Full picture tutorial on how to make these simple Halloween Marshmallow Pops! A Zombie, Bat, Witch, and Skeleton, so cute and fun!

If your child loves video games and Mario Kart, have a birthday theme party around it! Here are some of the most fun and economical ideas we've found to hold an awesome Mario Kart party.

It's Teacher Appreciation Week...and Mother's Day is Sunday. (Just so you know.) Are you baking something special? These daffodil cake pops would certainly be a little ray of sunshine for either mom or teacher. But, these cake pops....these are for Bakerella. Bakerella was one if the very first food blogs I ever read. And I've been smitten ever since. In case you've been living under a rock, Bakerella is the QUEEN of the Cake Pops. She even has a fabulous book. Bakerella's trip to "The Lodge" was actually my first introduction to The Pioneer Woman. I remember seeing those cows and thought...I need to know more about this PW person ;). Angie (Bakerella) has been going though a rough time lately...and she's been on my mind so much. I wanted to let her know that all of us in blogland are thinking of her. So, I decided to make some cake pops for her...and since that's the kind of person I am...I ate them for her, too. {I mean, cake pops are hard to ship and I'm pretty sure Angie doesn't want to give her address to someone who's been stalking her for 3 years.) For the cake, I thought lemon would be spring-y. I used a lemon cake mix, added the zest of 2 Meyer lemons to the mix, and used the juice of 2 Meyer lemons as part of the water called for on the box. To make the pops, I stirred in the zest of another Meyer lemon and added a bit of Egg Yellow AmeriColor Food Coloring to the cream cheese icing. Here they are...all dipped in orange candy melts and waiting to get flower-y. (I still don't quite have the hang of getting them perfectly smooth.) The idea for the daffodil comes from Martha...she filled hers with jelly beans. Just print out the template from Martha Stewart's site.... {and seriously...I think I need to cut down on the toolbars. Anyhow...} ....trace onto yellow paper, ...cut out and with an Xacto knife cut an X in the middle. ...fold a mini cupcake liner in half and hole punch. (We only have a heart hole punch, I don't know why, so mine looks a little strange.) Insert the pops into the liners/flowers. That's it! A bouquet of sugary goodness. You can even put them in a little basket...I put the pops in a Styrofoam block and covered that with a bit of moss. (I really should have thought of that for May Day.) So, here's to you, Bakerella! We're all rooting for you and hope & pray you are feeling better soon. (***linking to TidyMom's I'm Lovin' It party...always lots of great ideas there...come over!***)

These puppy cake pops are not only super cute, they’re actually extremely delicious. With a peanut butter and chocolate flavor profile, both adults and kids will be snatching these up.

Following the success of the KFC cake in September, more incredible baking videos have emerged revealing how to replicate common savoury foods with sweets.

Go ahead, geek out.

The best soft and chewy sugar cookies topped with delicious birthday cake crumble