Saturday, March 27, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

My little family headed out to Pennsylvania recently to see all that the wonderful Hershey's Factory had to offer(for the 7th time). The drive takes forever(4 hours roundtrip), and I wasn't sure if it was worth the 45 minutes that we actually spend there, until I saw these.....

Holy Junk! Insane huh? There's more.

I thought that these were the 'Mini Cakes' that were advertised, but they're the standard Jumbo Size Cupcake. Pretty insane that these are sold for $3.50ish and bakeries in the area sell a basic sized Cupcake for the same amount. Something is wrong with this. Oh well, I'll take the KitKat one!

I just had to throw in this picture of the little man. Anyone who's been to our home has seen the gigantic picture of Einstein I have with him sticking his tongue out that I'm in love with. I've got to hand it to Target for finally making a seriously awesome shirt.

Wahoooo! I'm going back next week to get it in bigger sizes. He'll be wearing it through this year and next. *Our little manzie is growing so quickly!*

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Truth Behind Closet Doors

You know what makes me happy? Before & After pictures.

What makes me really happy? When they're improvements in my own home.

Scary Before:

The Not-So-Scary After:

Yea!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

I'm Not A Professional.....

....nor do I claim to be, but come on man. Why can't Oreo cookies be easier to cut? I got together with a friend this week and we decided to tackle these Owls from the Hello! Cupcake book.

We modified a few little things like using M&M's instead of crazy banana Runts for beaks and M&M's for eyes instead of gigantic Junior Mints. I think ours turned our pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

That's George on the left and his Evil buddy Stanley. Using the M&M's for eyes kinda made it look like they were wearing huge glasses, but I love them. Thank goodness for my baking partner in crime! Laughing hysterically made it much easier to deal with all the broken owl ear pieces. It's on to the next Cupcake now!

Ok, little side note. I just went and checked out the Hello! Cupcake site and saw that they have a new book! I'm heading to the store next week and snatching it up! Get ready for more baking play dates Nicole!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

I have a very important date tonight, with this Lady...It finally hit that after months of waiting, I get to see this movie tonight. Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm a huge Tim Burton fan{thanks Dad for introducing me to Nightmare!}. In the spirit of Alice, I went looking for Cupcakes inspired by the movie. Now I found a ton based off of the Disney version that were beautiful, but not something I would want. However, Three Baking Sheets on Flickr knocked my green argyle socks off!

Quirky and unique always make me happy!

I absolutely love the Tweedle Dee~Tweedle Dum ones! Maybe some day I'll be brave enough to work with fondant. For now, I'll just oogle these ingenious creations along with you!

Have a fantastic Saturday!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Sites I Stalk~Part 2

With a bunch of new inspirational blogs added to my list, I thought I'd share some of my most recent favorites. Hopefully you find one or two you'd like to stalk too!
Amanda's baking blog is incredible. Great tutorials, a wonderful sense of humor and the pictures are to die for!

Maria's home is what really caught my attention. The soft colors used in her home are a constant flow through her posts, and I can't get enough of it! The perfect blog to read with a cozy blanket and hot apple cider!

{Polka Dot Prints}

Jordan, the brains behind Polka Dot Prints, is a new favorite and rightly so. The Ice Cream Sundae Baby Shower is the perfect example of her wonderful talent!

{lovelydesign}

Sharilyn is a imaginative Mom who seems to do it all. A beautiful home, a shop filled with adorable items, and a super cute family!

{Linda Crispell}

I found Linda through Flea Market Style Magazine, and I'm so happy I did! She pulls of the vintage style flawlessly and I can't get enough. I'd love to go shopping in her home!
Enjoy!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

A Much Better Day

After the terror of yesterday, I'm so grateful that today started out a thousand times better. My husband was home sick, but having him here to play 'protector' while the little dude slept gave me plenty of time to do some much needed errand hopping. I spent way too long in Target enjoying the quiet that a mid afternoon trip without a 2 year old brought me. You know those trips where you end up going up and down aisles multiple times and back and forth across the store because something randomly popped into your head that you needed, and then when you go to check out you find 3 or 4 things in your cart and can't remember how they got there? It was wonderful! I also had to stop off at both of my candy supply stores, and at the first place it really hit home how much *Snickety Snacks* has grown. Let me give you a little idea.

That right there is 40 lbs. of chocolate. When I first started, I used maybe 1 lb. of chocolate a week. These will probably be gone before the end of the month. Incredible huh? I'm just thrilled for a place that sells chocolate in 10 lb. bags!

The happy perk about going to baking supply places so often is that I can keep up with the new things that come in on a weekly basis. The smaller of the two shops is more of a specialty place, and that is where I found these little cuties. Carrots! I snatched up a couple of bags of these and I think I may just have to go back for more. Holidays bring out the best sprinkles! I'm not so into the eggs or bunny faces, but these just made me smile. Love 'em!

Being without the little man gave me the opportunity to stop in at a larger Dutch Market than the one close to where I live. I quickly bypassed all the regular food and went straight for the candy area. I don't know what it is about those Dutch geniuses, but they somehow find the coolest candies. Case in point, Fried Egg Gummies!

I love, love, love these! They're about the size of a thumb print and I wish I'd gotten more. They make my mouth happy, and they're little dude approved!

All in all, it's been a nice makeup-for-yesterday kind of day. Now it's time to prep for weekend orders! I hope you're having a fun week!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

*Cupcake Saturday*

I wrapped up my last delivery for Cupcake of the Month earlier this week and have decided not to continue doing it. It's a total trip to look back and think of how much one box of chocolate cake mix has changed my life. In case you don't know the *Snickety Snacks* story, I'll give you the semi-short version.

After a not so fun first half of 2009, one day out of the blue I was in a baking mood. I made up some cupcakes and gave them all away(I was in a baking mood, not an eating mood). Seeing friends happy about the random goodies along with a small new collection of baking books gave me the fun idea to do a Cupcake of the Month group. Officially starting in September, I did a new Cupcake at the beginning of each month for a small group of friends. I can't really decide which was my favorite, but I still get orders for the Hamburger Cupcakes, so I'm guessing those are pretty popular. The best 'reviewed' from the group were my Homemade Hostess Cupcakes for February that I sadly never remembered to take a picture of. Guess I'm just gonna have to make some more! Anyway, somewhere in the early stages I tried out new non-cupcake recipes along with doing some of my own experimenting. A hop, skip and a bunch of months later, *Snickety Snacks* is keeping me busy and growing like crazy!
So Thank You! to all of my friends who snacked on my crazie creations, who gave encouraging comments, and who have supported my desire to try something new!
I love, love, love you!

Monday, March 1, 2010

2010 Lovely Package Exchange

I'm so jazzed about this! Danni over at 'oh, hello friend' has started up a second round of the Lovely Package Exchange. Last year it involved hundreds of people being paired up and sending each other small gifts wrapped in a variety of lovely ways. Unfortunately I missed out on it, but I was able to see a bunch of the great packages sent through the Flickr group and they're incredible! Danni just started sign ups for the next group, so if you're interested go and check it out. There are a few ground rules, but it seems like a really fun thing to participate in. I know all of you creative ladies would be perfect for this, so hurry and look! She's only accepting 350 people, and based on my last check, the count is at 135. Here are a couple of the pictures taken from the last round, just to give you an idea of what could be headed your way.

Let me know if you sign up! I'd love to know!

{Here's Danni's official post}