Jul 9 2014

D.I.Y. Shabby Chic Party Decor {Part 1}

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Shane Russell

DIYShabbyLogopart1

This month is my shabby chic themed tea party, and I have been handcrafting a number of my decor items to keep the cost down. The best things to keep in mind for the shabby chic look is that it should look worn but charming. Chipped paint, ratty, frayed edges, and pastel floral patterns are a good place to start. This installment will cover the different banners and garlands I’ve made for the party.

Fabric Strip Swag

This was fairly easy to make and quick too. I got some pretty floral cotton fabric prints and tore them into strips. I found some of the fabric at local thrift stores for cheap and then filled it out with 1/4 yard cuts of fabric from a fabric store. The great thing about cotton fabric is that if you cut a little snip in it, you can tear the rest, and it will tear straight. This is great for two reasons: it’s super easy and quick to get your strips, and it looks a little tattered and worn for the shabby chic look. These strips are about 2-3 inches wide and vary in lengths. I eyeballed everything so that it wouldn’t look too uniform. Tie or loop the strips to a piece of twine and you’re good to go! You can also add lace or burlap ribbon to it for a varied look.

Tea Party Banner

For this one, I used 4.5 inch x 6.5 inch sheets of burlap that I found in a pack at the local craft store. Any tight woven burlap will work for this, but these sheets were already the right size. You can cut them into any flag shape you want, I chose to cut them into swallowtail flag shapes.

For the lettering, you can do it several different ways. If you have a shape cutting machine you could make a stencil and paint it on, or free hand it, or use a light box with the lettering printed out on some paper. I chose the last option because it looked the most professional without costing me tons of money for expensive tools and it was easy. Not having a light box, I had to get creative. I used my glass serving tray and a flashlight underneath to trace the letters onto the burlap. Any piece of glass would work for this. You could even use a window and tape the printed letters to it. You just need some back lighting.

With a marker similar to the color you’re going to paint the letters, trace the outside of the letters. Next, fill in the letter with your paint.

Attach the flags to some twine by folding the top over the string and hot gluing it together. Since burlap is loosely woven, be careful when hot gluing. It could get on your hands easily and burn. You could also use fabric glue but you’ll need to clamp it together while it dries.

I chose to hang this banner in front of the fabric strip swag.

Pennant Flag Garland

This one is also easy. First, get a paper stack of floral prints and other paper you like from the scrapbook section of your craft store. I got an 8.5 inch x 11 inch stack and was able to get 3 pennants from each sheet of paper. Measure to the center of one of the 11 inch sides (5.5 inches) and measure 2.75 inches on either side of the other 11 inch side of the paper. Then connect the measure marks like in the diagram below and cut out your pennant shapes.

pennantflags

With a hole punch, cut a hole in each corner of the top of the pennant and string some twine through for hanging.

Doily Garland

This garland is very pretty and takes minimal effort. All you need is a package of 8 inch paper doilies, some paper or fabric flowers, and a piece of ribbon.

Fold each doily in half, attach to a piece of ribbon and glue a flower to the center of each one. I found some paper flowers on Etsy for this garland.

I used clothespins to arrange the doilies on the ribbon and then one at a time took the pins off and hot glued the doilies down. After that, I glued the flowers down to the front. Easy peasy.

In Part 2 of D.I.Y Shabby Chic Decor, I’ll be showing you how to make some inexpensive but pretty decor from tissue paper and a few painting projects that add the finishing touches to a shabby chic party.

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Mar 14 2014

Handmade KitchenAid Stand Mixer Cover

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Shane Russell

I know a lot of you have a KitchenAid stand mixer and hate that it collects dust on your counter when you’re not using it. I’m new to the stand mixer. When I received mine for my birthday back in December, I had to get used to using it instead of the ancient hand mixer I’d been using since I was a kid.

The thing I hated most was having to wash the bowl every time I used it because it was covered in dust. This prompted me to look into getting a cover for it, but which one to choose? They run about $20-$40 on Amazon, but I didn’t see any designs I liked. I figured if I’m going to have to pay that much money for one, I might as well put that money into a customized homemade one.

The past few months I’ve been learning to sew. I’m pretty new at it, but when I saw the instructions for making my own cover on this About.com article, I decided to give it a shot. I even added a few things to it like a lining and a side pocket.

The pocket was a little tricky, but if you have some basic sewing skills, you can figure it out. I started with the outside part of the pocket. Cut out some pieces for the pocket from the outer fabric, interfacing, and the lining that will fit the width of the mixer cover side and go up about 9 inches. Sew the outer fabric (with interfacing attached) and the lining to some piping along one long side, then when you attach the rest of it together, remember to add it on to one side of the cover.

Another alteration I did works well for fabrics that have a pattern that goes in one direction, like the Fifties Kitchen by Michael Miller fabric that I used. I didn’t want the retro kitchen pattern to be upside down on one side, so I added an inch to the length of the long center piece, cut it down the middle and sewed it back together with a 1/2 inch seam so both sides were right side up. It worked out really well.

If you’re even more adventurous, you can quilt the fabric so it has that kind of design on it. I have no idea about quilting, but I just marked out some lines with pencil (although disappearing fabric ink is probably better) and sewed along the lines on the outer fabric that I’d already attached the interfacing to. I used a fusible interfacing that looked sort of like felt. Not sure what it’s called. Then I sewed the whole thing together with the lining added.

The only thing I had a problem with while using the About.com instructions, is that the measurements they gave for the stand mixer cover seemed to be about 1/2 inch too short for my mixer. So make sure it works for the mixer you have before cutting your fabric.

If you make a cover with these instructions or some other way, post a picture of the finished product in the comments below or on my Facebook page! I’d love to see what yours looks like.

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Mar 10 2014

St. Patrick’s Day Pot o’ Gold Rainbow Cupcakes

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Shane Russell

These cupcakes were a long time in the making. Last year I bought the makings for some rainbow cupcakes for a baby shower but never ended up making them. I didn’t want the candy to go to waste though, so I kept it in the back of my mind to find a good time to use them. Rainbow cupcakes would be good at any time, but I wanted it to be the right time, the right situation.

Then St. Patrick’s Day came around this year and it hit me: Now is the time! Rainbows are a great motif of St. Patrick’s Day and the beginning of spring, so I modified my idea and added little candy pots of gold to more fit the theme of St. Patrick’s Day.

These cupcakes were fun to make because they’re covered in candy! I got inspiration for these cupcakes from Babble.com. For the decor, you’re going to need Airheads Xtremes Rainbow Berry Sour Candy strips, Rolos, gold sparkle gel, gold sugar sprinkles, green jimmies, green frosting dye, and white frosting. I used Just A Pinch’s Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe for the frosting.

Make a batch of cupcakes in whatever flavor you want. I chose to make chocolate cupcakes (recipe here) so the cake was the “dirt” under the grass. If you use my mom’s chocolate cake recipe, follow the recipe exactly, except cook the cupcakes for only 20-25 minutes, otherwise they’ll be overcooked.

While the cupcakes cooled, I made the pots o’ gold using the Rolos, the sparkle gel, and gold sugar sprinkles. Flip the Rolos upside down, add a glob of sparkle gel to the center, leaving the edges untouched, and sprinkle some gold sugar on top. Now you’ve got a treasury full of gold waiting to be placed at the end of the rainbow!

Make your frosting next and color about half of it green. I did the green in batches because I didn’t want to make too much green and not have enough white frosting left over, but half green/half white should work out. If you want to be cautious, make a little green at a time until you’ve frosted the tops of all the cupcakes. Thin frosting is just fine for this project. Sprinkle the green jimmies on top of all the freshly frosted cupcakes for the grass. You might need to push them into the frosting to make them stick better.

Next cut the rainbow candy strips in half. This will give you 24 rainbows, just enough to cover 2 dozen cupcakes. If you end up with more cupcakes or need more than 24, you’ll need to buy a second package of the rainbow candy.

With your left over white frosting placed in a frosting bag or zip lock fitted with a Wilton #12 tip, pipe small puffy clouds on two sides of each cupcake. Then stick each end of a rainbow strip into the clouds. Lastly, use a dot of sparkle gel to the side of one cloud to attach a pot o’ gold.

One last thing I will leave you with. Make sure these cupcakes don’t get too warm or they will get a bit droopy, as seen below:

I hope these cupcakes bring you luck this St. Patrick’s Day!

***Update: I included a link to where my inspriation for this cupcake originated.***

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Jul 4 2013

Hamburger Cupcakes with Pound Cake Fries

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Shane Russell

Happy Independence Day everyone! Instead of a red, white, and blue dessert today, I decided to make burger cupcakes and cake fries because they are perfect for a summer BBQ.

I was inspired by several sources including Bakerella’s adorable Hamburger cupcakes and the pound cake french fries from the book What’s New Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. I also used some of the book’s ideas from its submarine sandwich cupcakes. There are so many great ways to decorate hamburger cupcakes that the possibilities are almost endless.

To get started here’s what you’re going to need for the cupcakes:

Brownie mix or brownies from scratch (baked in a 13″ x 9″ pan)
Yellow cake mix or cake from scratch
Ingredients for mixes (oil, water, eggs, etc)*
Corn Flakes
Can of frosting or frosting from scratch
Red and yellow icing dye (gel coloring works best)
Sesame seeds
Green candy melts (maybe some yellow candy melts if you don’t like the shade of green)
Starbursts (we’ll need the orange ones)

*Note: I used Bakerella’s suggestion of substituting 1 cup buttermilk for the water in the cake mix. It made the cake very moist and almost sponge like. I’d recommend this substitution.

Bake the brownies first and let them cool. Once cool, use a 2″ circle cutter and cut out the patties.

While the brownies cool, make and bake the cupcakes in liners. If you cook them without liners the sides of the cupcakes will look too dark for the “buns.”

As the cupcakes are cooking as per the recipe or box mix’s instructions, start to make the ingredients for the burgers. Warm the orange Starbursts in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds and then, on a piece of wax paper, smash two together and roll it out.

Then cut it into a square:

Now you have your cheese slices!

For the lettuce, melt some green candy melts (adding some yellow candy melts if you want to soften the shade of green) and pour some corn flakes into the melted candy. If the candy isn’t thin enough, try thinning it with some oil. Stir the cereal around lightly, coating the them, and then pull out the individual pieces to set up. It’s good to put these on a piece of wax paper and then stick them in the fridge.

Once the cupcakes are done baking and cooling, cut the top and the bottoms off and set aside. The middle part will not be used for these. Save them for another dessert (mix any left over frosting into them for cake pops!) or throw them away.

Mix up your yellow (mustard) and red (ketchup) frostings and put them in piping bags or ziplock bags with the corner cut off.

Layer the hamburgers however you want. I layered in this order (from bottom-up): bun bottom, frosting, lettuce, frosting, brownie patty, frosting, cheese, frosting, bun top.

On the top of the bun brush a little water on top and then sprinkle some sesame seeds.

For the poundcake fries, I used a frozen Sara Lee poundcake. Not sure if this would work as well with a homemade loaf but you could try. Pull the cake out of the freezer and let defrost for a little bit. It’s best if it’s still a little cold or frozen when you cut it because the ridges from the crinkle cutter will be more pronounced.

Using a crinkle cutter or knife (used to cut vegetables and potatoes), cut the cake into 1/2″ slices and cut off the brown edges. Then cut those slices into the fry sticks. Place them on a baking sheet and heat them in a preheated broiler on high for no longer than 30 seconds or until they are golden brown. Keep an eye on these as they will brown quickly and burn easily.

Put some left over frosting ketchup in a dish or condiment container and serve with the cake fries for dipping!

That’s it! These are fairly labor intensive but so easy to put together. Have a fun and safe 4th of July!

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Jun 29 2013

4th of July Flag Cupcake Picks {Free Printable}

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Shane Russell

I’m working on some cute cupcakes this week for 4th of July and thought I’d share with you the cupcake picks I’ve made to go on top of them. I created an American Flag toothpick printable for you so you can make your own flag picks for your 4th of July cupcakes.

If you can find the round toothpicks that have one flat end with grooves, those are the best for this project. The toothpicks I used are Dynamic brand round toothpicks in natural color. If you can’t picture the type of tooth picks I’m talking about refer to the image below:

Download the free printable here.

First download the printable at the above link then follow the “recipe” instructions below:

4th of July Flag Cupcake Picks How-to

Ingredients

Toothpicks
Color printer with paper
Scissors
Multi-purpose glue (white glue)

Instructions

Print out the flag printable I've provided.
Cut out each of the 24 flags.
On the back of one of the flags, put a little glue in the center and stick the toothpick on it. If you want, you can leave a little of the stick hanging out of the top.
Then put glue on the back of one half of the flag and press it together around the toothpick.

https://shaneskillercupcakes.com/2013/06/4th-of-july-flag-cupcake-picks-free-printable/

Have a fantastic 4th of July! I’ll be posting my 4th of July cupcakes sometime this week so keep an eye out for those.

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Jan 9 2013

How to Measure Flour with a Kitchen Scale {Giveaway}

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Shane Russell

Measuring flour accurately can be difficult. When using measuring cups, the way in which you fill the cup can drastically change the amount of flour in it depending on if it’s sifted, packed down, scooped or spooned into the cup. This is why measuring flour by weight is the most accurate way to get the correct amount of flour for a recipe.

I received an EatSmart Precision Elite Digital Kitchen Scale for review* so I decided to show its features while demonstrating flour measurement.

The scale is quite nice. I’ve tried the EatSmart basic kitchen scale, the Precision Pro, before but this scale has several improved features. The button surface is smooth with no gaps for crumbs to fall into and it has an easy to read screen.

It also has a large flat surface for measuring. This is helpful because you can put a large bowl on there and still be able to see the screen. Some excellent features that I liked about this scale are:

Easy to use tare feature and auto turn-off
Can weigh up to 15 lbs
Easy to clean stainless steel
Batteries are included!
It comes with a little calorie counting guide as well

For those of you with resolutions to lose weight this year, this scale would be fantastic for portion control and serving sizes. With the included calorie counting guide and such an easy-to-use scale, keeping your portions down should be a snap.

Now, how to measure flour. I whipped up this little video demonstrating how I measure flour. I scoured the internet trying to find out how much a standard US cup of all-purpose flour would weigh. The answers I found ranged from 4.25 oz-5oz and 120g-140g. I was a little confused. I wasn’t sure how I would figure it out. Finally I had the thought to look at the nutrition facts on the bag of flour I was using. It told me that 1/4 cup was equal to 30g. I decided to go with this information and measured out 120g of flour.

This same method can be used for confectioner’s sugar and many other dry ingredients.

**CORRECTIONS: In the video, I said that you could use the scale to weigh liquid ingredients, but that is not quite correct. I’m sure it would be possible, but it would require a lot of conversions. Measuring cups or a measuring beaker like this one are best for liquid ingredients. I should have done another video with corrections, but it took so many takes to get what you see above I decided to just correct myself in the post. The scale is great for all of your dry ingredients though.

Another thing I said in the video that needs clarifying is about sifted flour. If you use a scale to weigh the flour, you don’t have to sift it first, although it probably should be sifted before adding it to your recipe. When weighing, sifted or packed flour will still weigh the same. On the other hand, you can get a much better measurement with sifted flour if you are using a measuring cup.

If you would like to know more about EatSmart products, you may follow them through any of the ways below:

EatSmart on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and the EatSmart Blog.

{Giveaway}

EatSmart has graciously offered to give one of my US readers a scale of their own! One reader will receive an EatSmart Precision Pro Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale. This scale is just as handy as the Precision Elite.

The giveaway is open to those who are 18 and older and a resident of the US. I’m sorry if you are from another country. EatSmart is sending this scale directly to the winner and they will only ship within the US.

Giveaway ends 01/16/13 at 11:59pm EST.

You MUST answer the two mandatory options for any other entries to count.

UPDATE: I was informed that some of you may be having trouble leaving comments. If this is the case, feel free to email your comment to me through this contact form. Thanks.

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International Giveaway

As promised, I’ve added a small giveaway for my international readers. I’d love to give away more, but this one is coming out of my own pocket. Anyone may enter this giveaway as long as you can receive money via Paypal or an Amazon gift card.

If you’re having trouble leaving a comment, read the bolded message above.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclaimer: I was given this product free of charge for my honest review. I was not compensated monetarily.

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Category Archives: Tutorial

D.I.Y. Shabby Chic Party Decor {Part 1}

Fabric Strip Swag

Tea Party Banner

Pennant Flag Garland

Doily Garland

Handmade KitchenAid Stand Mixer Cover

St. Patrick’s Day Pot o’ Gold Rainbow Cupcakes

Hamburger Cupcakes with Pound Cake Fries

4th of July Flag Cupcake Picks {Free Printable}

How to Measure Flour with a Kitchen Scale {Giveaway}

{Giveaway}

International Giveaway

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