Cake Pops {Tips & Tricks}

I LOVE to make cake pops!  

They are so classy looking, and pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it.

I know there are a meeeellllion tutorials out there for a basic how to, so I'll list some below. 

These blogs all have great instructions and pictures if you need a refresher on how to make these little gems.

Little Miss Momma

Love from the Oven

Bakerella

 

{My} Tips and Tricks

After you roll out your cake pops into balls, you want to put in the lollipop stick.

I dip my stick in melted chocolate {or} candy melts BEFORE I insert it into the cake ball.

Put your stick about half way in; don't push it all the way through your cake pop.

Do this for all your cake pops, and then put them in the fridge for a few hours to get nice and firm.

This is a CRUCIAL STEP if you want your cake pops to not fall apart when dipping them.

When you are ready to dip, work in small batches.  I only do about 6 at a time.  This will keep your pops firm for dipping, and they won't fall apart when you coat them.

I use my spoon to drizzle on the coating, and then I lightly tap off the excess.  

I tap on the stick near the cake pop.

If you tap too far back on your stick, your pop will fall off. Experience speaking!

If you are adding sprinkles or sugar sparkles, you must do it right after you coat your cake pop.  Do it before the coating hardens.

Don't those look yummy??

A whole platter of sweet goodness....

 

 Linking up here!

Easy Frame {Update}

In this post, I let you tour our "new" home office.

Remember this little spot between our bookshelves?

I love this little nook! 

Let me show you how I updated the black frame.

 Easy Frame {Update}

I started out with the frame looking like this:

I like this black frame, but I already had WAY too many pictures in our office.  I knew I needed to switch it up.

I took out my super cute pictures of Miss J, and started with a blank slate.

I measured the opening of the frame....

And then cut some fabric a little wider than the opening.

(LOOOOVE this fabric!)

I just taped it to the frame backing, using super high end tape:

Just kidding.  I used plain old scotch tape.

I made sure to pull the fabric tight around the edges.

Looking good!

I found a quote I liked about faith, and printed it off on some off white card stock.  I centered it on my board, and Voila!

Much better!

Linking up here!

Nursery Reveal: The finished product

Well, I have about 6 weeks until little Miss E gets here. 

Yikes!

Her nursery has been finished for quite a while.  I just haven't gotten around to posting it!

I posted here about her Crib Re-do, here about her Dresser Makeover, and here about Stenciling the Curtains.

And, here is her nursery!

Monogram above Crib:

Dresser and Changing Table:

Pretty Purple Knobs on the Dresser:

Close up of bedding made by *me*

Inside of the bedding:

The vinyl tree (that I looooove!)

Stenciled Drapes:

oh, and just for fun, here is what the room liked BEFORE it got a makeover:

SCARY!  Right?!

Sources:

Paint color is Easter Morning by Valspar

Vinyl Tree & Branch above Dresser from Simple Shapes

Monogram above Crib from Toodles Design Studio

Upholstered Recliner from Lone Star Baby

Crystal Knobs on Dresser from D. Lawless Hardware

Window Treatments and Hardware from IKEA

Crib and Dresser from Burlington Coat Factory (new paint job by me!)

Linking up here!

& Sugar and Spice!

Where have I been??

Sorry for the lack of posts!  We took an 8 day family vacation, and these are some of the places we've been!

First we visited my family, and my favorite little sister!

Next, just me and the hubby went here for 2 nights while my parents watched our kiddos.  Ahhhh. Relaxation!

Then we hopped over to Sea World and Miss J got to do a lot of this:

She got to be one on one with the dolphins for an hour and a half before the park opened.  Yeah, she LOVED it!

Then we stopped in Austin, TX

And then we finally came home.  It was a FUN trip, with lots of things to do and see. 

Now I'm just trying to get unpacked and all our laundry done!  I'll be posting a project soon!

Bow Keeper {with hooks}

Little Miss E should be here in about 9 weeks.  I am so excited!

She already has an insane amount of bows and headbands.  Some inherited from Miss J, and some given to me by a friend who also bought her daughter lots of bows when she was tiny!

I wanted a cute bow keeper/holder thing, so I started with what I already had.

I had several bow holders for Miss J, so I just recovered one!  It was a canvas covered in batting and fabric.

I started with these fabrics....

Since this will be hanging up in her closet, I thought I would go with a non purple color scheme.  Change it up a little!

I cut my fabric a little larger than my current bow keeper, and used my glue gun to attach the fabric.  

I just glued right over the old fabric.

I made sure to pull the fabric tight as I went around the frame.

On the front of the bow keeper, I just left the raw edge showing.  I covered it up with my black polka dot fabric.

Then, I added the black polka dot fabric, again using my glue gun.

I love it!

Next, I added thin black ribbon, again using my glue gun.  I evenly space the ribbons going horizontal and vertical.  

Here's what my ribbons looked like on the back....nothing fancy, but no one will ever see it!

Here's the bow keeper with all the ribbon on it:

To jazz up the top a little, I layered a thick black ribbon with a hot pink one:

I mentioned that Miss E has quite a few headbands....I wanted to use this bow keeper for those too!  I looked around Lowe's for some hooks, and found some that worked perfectly!

They are called "Ook Hooks".  Fun name, right?

They are technically to be used to hang up stuff on masonry (like brick, etc), but work great for my little project.

They have little hooks in them that you hammer into whatever surface you want:

They only come in white, so I whipped out my black spray paint (for plastic).

Gave them a few good coats...

Since my bow keeper is a canvas covered in batting and fabric, that means it has a wood frame.

I lined up my hooks on the bottom of my bow keeper (on top of the wood frame) and hammered them in!

(I was worried that hammering would chip the spray paint, but it didn't)

After all 5 hooks were hammered in, it was looking good!

The finished product:

Covered in bows and headbands!

Linking up here