Aha!
Call it a fluke, call it coincidence, whatever you like but I went to check my Google Reader today and guess what I found…the link to the blog where I got the idea for Drew’s Barrel cake! It’s called Texas Monkey and you REALLY need to check out her post and multiple awesome looking variations on this cake!
Candy + Cake = YUM!
My friend Drew turns 30 this month and his lovely wife has planned a surprise dinner for him. At this age what do you get someone for their birthday? A card? A gift? I figured a good fall back plan for Drew would be beer. But being the DIY-obsessed person that I am I always want to MAKE something. So what do you make a 30 year old man? Certainly not any of my cutesy or random crafts. I decided food would be a good choice. And, being a birthday, why not a cake?!
At first I thought it would be funny to do some kind of boob cake (Drew hearts boobs) but then I decided to go PG rated. I somehow fell upon a blog that had a basic tutorial on barrel cakes. (Wouldn’t you know I cannot for the life of me find the link now!) I was immediately drawn to the fact that this blogger pointed out how easy it is to make a fantastic looking cake even if the cake has lots of flaws. Perfect.
I bought a regular Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake mix and tried to find peanut butter frosting to go with my Kit Kats and Reece’s Pieces I planned to use with the cake.
I couldn’t find PB frosting so I bought cream cheese frosting instead. But then, when I got home and started making the cake I thought, “What would Alton do?” And I made my own peanut butter icing – delicious!
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter (I used Skippy Natural)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Stick Butter
3+ Tablespoons Milk as needed
Cream together the PB & butter. Gradually add the powdered sugar and milk as necessary to keep it thinned out, then beat the heck out of it for 3+ minutes. I kept adding milk (maybe up to 1/4 cup??) to make it really creamy so it wouldn’t tear the cake.
So, I baked my two round cakes (even though I think one is an 8″ pan and on is a 9″ pan – I figured this would be a flaw I could cover with frosting!). I hate letting cakes cool, but I suppose it’s pretty important when trying to layer cakes nicely, and, by the way, this is my first attempt at doing a layered cake.
Yes, my layers were slightly flawed because I didn’t let the cakes cool long enough. Oh well! If that happens simply place the chunk back on the cake if you can, or leave it off and fill the void with frosting. I frosted the cake with the (delicous) peanut butter frosting and you can’t even tell the layers are not exact!
Then I placed the Kit Kats around the edge. NOTE: Six Kit Kats is NOT enough for a 8-9″ round cake.
Off I ran to the grocery store to buy more candy. This particular cake took 9.5 Kit Kat bars. (Baby Kayden had the other .5 Kit Kat bar.) Then I tied a ribbon around the cake.
Finally, I dumped the bag of Reece’s Pieces over the top!
To better transport the cake I got a plain cake box and dressed it up a bit with some scrapbooking paper. Voila!
Baby Gifts for Others
Tara and Wendy, two of my besties from childhood are having babies this year too so I thought I’d share some of the crafty creations I made for them. Tara is having a boy and Wendy is having a girl, and both are crazy about Elvis.
For Tara’s little guy:
Onesie with a tie applique (And maybe this goes without saying, but the stitching is supposed to look messy…didn’t want you to second guess my sewing skillz!) with matching bib and burp cloths.
And for Wendy’s little girl:
I’ve decided giving “green” bags as gift bags should be my new thing…how cute is this?!
Elvis Onesie with Heart Applique & Removable Tutu – totally impractical but SOO cute!
Matching Burp Cloths
“I Made Your Crybaby TapOut” Onesie. 
Wendy’s cousin is an amature MMA fighter so I thought she’d like this.
Portable Changing Pad with Pockets filled with travel size goodies – lotion, soap, powder, etc. and a pacifier clip.
Wendy’s getting a little more because I got on one of my DIY kicks and couldn’t stop making things! Hope they like their gifts!
Dare to Give Homemade Gifts
It’s another edition of Kim’s Dare to DIY Blog Party and this week is about DIY gifts, which I :::heart::: tremendously. I’ve got a few things in the works this year but I realized I had better not post them yet so I won’t spoil the surprise. I will try to post on this year’s gifts after Christmas though. I will, however, share a couple things I did last year, hope you enjoy!
Gifts in a Jar: Sand Art Brownies and Smores
Dare to Eat Cookies!
This is probably my favorite challenge from Kim’s Dare to DIY Blog Party. I have been waiting to do this since I read “Eat Cookies”!
So, ladies and gentlemen, (do men really read this blog? If not, they probably should, right?! Especially THIS post.) Anywho…I give you Alton Brown’s Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Wait…You’ve never heard of Alton Brown? Seriously? The Mastermind behind Good Eats? You must be kidding me. Surely the Meckleys aren’t the only household that has Good Eats on 24/7 and DVRs every single episode?
Oh. Okay. Perhaps we are. You might have found humor in my exageration but I’m only slightly ashamed to tell you that is the God honest truth; Andy has Good Eats on every single day. I nearly broke his heart when I accidentally erased everything on our DVR, which included the Good Eats 10th Anniversary show. Oops. Luckily he has forgiven me. For the most part.
Regardless, let me tell you, as usual, Alton is on to something with this recipe! While watching this episode I realized the reason my chocolate chip cookies were often flat is probably because I used too much baking soda. Baking is not like cooking, you must be very precise in your measuring.
Andy & I made these babies a few weeks ago and he insistedwe go out and buy not onlly the proper ingredients, but a large scoop so we could make giant cookies. As it turns out, we should’ve bought a Pampered Chef scoop because the $11 scoop from the Kitchens store was junk so I made Andy return it. The PC scoop is on my Christmas List if any of you wants to send us a gift. 
But I digress…we made the giant cookies and they were everything I had hoped for and more!
Here’s what you need:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- #20 ice cream scooper (or Large Pampered Chef Scoop!)
I agree that buying the proper ingredients makes all the difference; these cookies are amazing! I’ve decided these are the difference-makers:
- REAL vanilla extract
- DARK brown sugar
- BREAD flour
Believe me, you will taste a difference! This is what you need to do:
- Melt butter. Set aside.
- Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. I think this is the first time I’ve ever sifted ingredients since my 7th grade home ec class, but I do it because Alton said to do it!
- Cream butter and sugars on medium speed.
- Add the eggs, milk and vanilla until well mixed.
- Slowly incorporate the flour mix until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Chill the dough (Another difference maker!!)
- Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown.
Mmmm….these are my absolute favorite! Andy’s too!
Oops!
I realized I missed Thankful Thursday last week. =( Time is flying by again and I’ve decided I need to start scheduling time for myself again (for blogging, reading, crafting, etc.) and not feel guilty about it. So, I guess I’m thankful I have a full life with more things to do than I have time. How about that?
Well, Kim is throwing a Blog Party so hopefully that will help motivate me to make time to do some crafting and blogging. I have a few ideas and even got started on a couple, but some weeks will be a challenge. If you’ve got any ideas I’d welcome them. =) I’m not super into holidays other than Halloween but I’m working on it. I do decorate for fall, but not Thanksgiving specifically. But Andy & I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year so that gives me a good reason to get a tablescape going, right? And holiday Traditions…we don’t really have traditions but I would certainly like to start some. I should look into that.
If you’re interested, she’s looking for more participants!
Here are the fabulous details:
Party Date: Monday, Nov. 16
Dare to… be thankful!
Take some time making your own DIY Thanksgiving project. It could be a fun Thanksgiving advent calendar, a banner or something completely unique. Post about what you made, how you made it and photos in its new home.
Party Date: Monday, Nov. 23
Dare to… entertain!
Show us your table! If you are not hosting Thanksgiving, take this opportunity to make your table look great. Bring out your dishes and napkins and set your table. I promise you that it will make you smile every time you walk by. Get creative and use new things. Or go true DIY and make something totally new.
Party Date: Monday, Nov. 30
Dare to… eat cookies!
As we begin to attend holiday parties, share your favorite cookie recipe for all to enjoy. It’s like a digital cookie swap. Share the recipe and a review of the cookie. If you can, add a picture. And don’t worry about the extra calories. At Christmas, cookies are calorie-free.
Party Date: Monday, Dec. 7
Dare to… give homemade gifts!
Nothing is more special than a gift made by you. Try out something new to give this year – ideas include bath and body items, kitchen gifts, hand-sewn clothing or home decor.
Party Date: Monday, Dec. 14
Dare to… deck the halls!
Make something new to deck your halls. Did you find something in a catalog that you wish you had? Wreaths, stockings, pillows or advent calendars? Make it! Inspire us all to do the same.
Party Date: Monday, Dec. 21
Dare to… have traditions!
Everyone has traditions for the Holidays. Tell us all about your favorites or start a new tradition to share.
Laundry Room Finished!
We’ve been working on our laundry room here and there for awhile now. (And by we I mostly mean Handy Andy). We posted our room before and our cabinets in progress. Here’s our awesome looking inexpensive DIY cabinets when they were done:
And our fresh coat of paint:
And then our immediate recoat of paint:
And now Handy Andy completed the room with lovely new shelves and hanging racks:
And…last but not least, I added a fun new decal:
P.S. I’m not sure Andy enjoys all the smart@$$ decals I have around the house but I think they’re funny.
DIY Lollipop Cake
a.k.a. “Birthdays Suck” and “Birthdays are for Suckers” Cake.
MATERIALS:
Styrofoam Circles in various sizes
Spacers - more Styrofoam or I used sturdy cardboard tubes that I cut down to about 3″ tall (and by I mean Andy)
Suckers – I used a bag of each Dum Dums, Blow Pops & Tootsie Pops
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Ribbon
Scissors
First, hot glue ribbon around the edge of your circles:
Do that for all circles; as you can see I had an odd ball green piece that I decided not to fully cover. You can do it however you like. I was sort of lazy b/c I was short on time and used whatever materials I had on hand.
Once you’ve got your ribbon on the circles, do the same for the spacers and hot glue one spacer to the bottom tier in the middle.
Next, glue the next tier on top of the spacer:
Continue this until you’ve got all tiers glued together. Then, stick your suckers in. I decided it worked best to poke them all in, then go back and take them out, put a drop of hot glue on the bottom and put them back in their place. For the top layer I made a little sign and attached it with wooden skewers.
And if you have a twisted sense of humor, you find the ugliest photo of the person for whom you’re making the cake, and you put that on the back of the sign.
Background info: Since most of you are probably like, wth is that photo?! Let me explain…My friend Tara used some graphics program to distort a photo of her sticking out her tongue and then she e-mailed it to a bunch of her friends. I think it makes her look like a demonic fraggle so of course I save all these funny things people send to me and then I use them whenever it comes in handy. She loved the cake and loved that I used this nasty photo of her because she’s weird like that. Happy 30th Birthday TG!
DIY Cabinets on the Cheap
Who’s NOT surprised that Handy Andy came up with a thrifty way to make our laundry room cabinets? :::raising hand high and proud:::
After making our living room cabinets(which look fabulous, btw) he thought he’d try to design some less pricey cabinets for our laundry room. He used all 2×4 pieces (WAY less expensive than nice hardwood) and then stained them a dark walnut color. Not too shabby, eh?
How did he do it? Glad you asked. Let me show & tell you.
The entire set are framed up in 2×4s, and he made the door frames with 2×4 pieces and routered out the inside edge. Then he cut 2×4 boards into thin strips and slid them into place.
This created sort of a washboard effect. Seems appropriate for the laundry room, no?
The dark stained 2×4 cabinets have a bit of a rustic look. We plan to paint this room in New Grass Green by Glidden:
I think it will make the cabinets really pop. Loving it!
We plan to do another set of cabinets in the laundry room on the wall across from the washer & dryer too. All in all we figure it will cost less than $100 in materials (not including paint, but maybe) when it’s all said and done. I like those figures, since the living room cabinets probably cost upwards of $700 to make. (Yikes! But, they’re custom fitted so I suppose that’s way less than if we paid someone to come in and do them.)
So, if you’re looking for an inexpensive way to make cabinets here’s one way!
DIY Poster Collage
While I LOVE digital photography, I’m really terrible about printing and displaying my photos. (I still have to work on wedding photos…maybe I’ll get to it before our 1 year anniversary in November?!)
I saw this awhile back and REALLY wanted to do something similar for my Hong Kong trip photos:
But, I could never find the right map, had too many photos, wasn’t sure about the layout, etc. I thought I’d never get around to it. Then, finally got inspired to just get to work on it. I decided to try to design a sort of photo collage poster so I could show several photos and attach some of my souveniers like money and ticket stubs. I did a layout in PhotoShop, uploaded it to Snapfish, then had it printed at Staples. Once I got it home I adhered my miscellaneous memoriabilia with rubber cement and scrapbooking adhesive – I love it!
What do you think? I thought about designing a PhotoShop template so you could just drop in your photos and make your own if anyone is intersted?
