Creative Gift Wrap

   I always feel silly when I try to wrap gifts for guys. Deep down, I want to throw something frilly together; but I end up making it simple and boring. In the end I guess they never care; however, this time around I actually came up with a decent idea. 

  We happened to have black wrapping paper in the closet. I think I picked it up at the dollar store, or someplace like that. It reminded me of a chalk board so I wrote on it with chalk. 

Instead of a ribbon, cheap twine looked pretty cute. Then I hot glued some silk leaves on it in place of a bow.
   I think this would be really cute for a teachers gift too or or even your child's first day of school.

This worked out so well, black paper might become a gift wrapping staple for us.

How to Smooth Out Frosting {Princess Barbie Cake}

For the cake itself I baked an entire cake mix in a 9" Pyrex bowl. It took close to an hour to bake. Then I made 3- 9" round cakes. All together it took about 2 1/2 cake mixes. Cut circles in the middle of all the cakes, stack layers with frosting in between, wrap Barbie in plastic wrap then drop her down into the center. Pretty easy and much cheaper than those princess cake pans you buy at a craft store

Smooth Frosting

Start by making your own butter cream frosting. Here's the recipe I used:

In a mixer combine - 

1 cup butter

1 pound powdered sugar (add just a little at a time)

1 teaspoon vanilla

a couple teaspoons water (or milk) until you  reach the desired consistency

I needed about 4X the recipe for this cake.

 Smooth frosting out the best you can. I used upward strokes with a spatula.

Now refrigerate until it's crusted over. About 10-15 minutes.

Place a paper towel onto the frosting and smooth your hands over it. You can feel the lumps and gently apply just a little extra pressure to those areas. Gently peel off the paper towel. It shouldn't stick too much. If it does, you either pressed too hard or didn't refrigerate it enough.

Refrigerate it again then apply your piped designs.

A perfect princess cake for your princess!

A Party For My Princess

I know it's been a while since I last posted. Our days are finally starting to settle into a routine leaving me a little more time to do things for myself and work on creative projects.
Even though our little world has been turned upside down,
I still threw a Barbie Princess birthday bash for my sweet girl.

I decked out a simple pink tiara with goodies from my craft stash.

Barbie Princess Dress we found at a yard sale. Lucky us!

{Barbie Princess Party Details List}

Decor we had on hand:

Pink curtains (hand-me-downs)

Pink tablecloth overlay (from her grandma's fabric stash)

Birthday banner (from her 1st birthday)

Pom poms (from her bedroom)

Pink pails (left over from a bridal shower)

Yard sale fan (one of her toys)

Party items we found on clearance:

Pink plates 

Princess napkins

Pinata

$1 party deals:

Tiara party favors for girls

Sword party favors for boys

Yard sale dress for the birthday girl

Menu

Heart shaped PB&J sandwiches

Watermelon

Strawberries

Juice with club soda

and of course a Barbie cake I made!
(I'll give details on the cake next week. So stay tuned...)