Poop Emoji Cupcakes

Have you ever wanted to make a poop emoji cupcake? Well I have. So, I did. I made these little guys for my brother-in-law's 60th birthday. (He's a plumber - so it seemed sort of appropriate.) I simply baked a couple dozen chocolate cupcakes and then I piped chocolate frosting onto the top using a piping pastry bag, without using a tip. 

At first, I tried using a #10 Wilton tip, but the rings of frosting were too small so I piped them into a bowl and started over. I decided not to use any tip at all so the rings of frosting would be big. And, I think it worked out great.

Then I cut out the mouth and eyes using black and white fondant. I used piping tips to get the circles. And I cut the largest circle in half to make  the mouth. 

I filmed it all using a time-lapse setting so it wouldn't be too boring.

Click here to watch how I did it

I also printed out these little signs and taped them onto cupcake sticks and stabbed them into the cakes. 

Let me  know what you think. And, if you try this, please share some pictures with me. I'd love to see them.

POTLANDIA...is just a name

PORTLAND OREGON is known as Potlandia but around my house it means something else entirely.

I have my own hanging gardens. Of course, it's just a few potted plants I have perched up on my picket fence but I think it's pretty.

But then, when the cold weather and holidays roll around, I want to transform my fence into a holiday display so I update the little pots with floral stems I've purchased at Joann Fabric and Crafts. 

I used red and white paint because if I’d used red and green in the garden, the green wouldn't have shown up. And white makes the plants pop!

After the paint dried I stenciled some fun festive words on the front like Hope, Wish, Dream, Love, Inspire, and - of  course - believe.


This was a fun, easy craft, and I love to watch people walk past the house and stop to get a word of encouragement as they go on by.

I'm Dreaming of a . . . Pink Christmas

Some people dream  of snow...not me, I prefer a warm, cozy Christmas. And what could be better than spending the cold weather inside, crafting?

This is an old craft I've done before...but believe me, I'm working on new ones but I thought I'd share this oldie but still a goodie one with you.

This is an easy tree to make. Don't feel restrained to go small; you can make it as big as you want.

All you need is a little tulle, which you can pick up at any fabric store. And, if pink isn't your color, you can go green with a green tree...

Or purple, if you prefer.

Here's how to do it. Lay out your fabric 

Then cut it into strips

Use a dowel and a heavy piece of wood to hold the tree and simply start stacking your strips...

It's as simple as that - then add a star

And you could be finished there. Or pull out your handy-dandy 

glue gun

And then add whatever embellishments you like...I like sparkly rhinestones or fake gemstones

And voila - you'll have a pink or green or even purple Christmas! But no matter what color you prefer,  I hope it's a  healthy, happy and fun-filled Holiday!

Thanksgiving is Almost Here . . . Be Brave!

With the holidays coming … I'm getting ready to do some serious baking. But before I pull out the rolling pin and flour, I'm trying to remember some of the cakes I've made in the past. And, maybe by taking a moment to remember, I won't make the same mistakes.

But believe me, I'm going to be trying some new things (this is where I'm trying to be brave) so there will undoubtedly be a few fails, flops and hopefully even a few things that turn out.

I know they can't all be winners and my family will be sure to tell  me which ones are the failures.

But, I thought I'd share one fun Thanksgiving cupcake and one fantastic flop of a cake I made one year. Of course, I think it's almost okay that this failure looks so miserable, I mean after all we're all getting ready to eat him. And even though he didn't turn out as cute as I wanted, he still tasted okay...at least if you can tell by how quickly he disappeared.

Anyway, I hope you have some fantastic baked goods for your holiday feast. And, if you do, please share a link to your blog or a photo in the comments, so I can take a peek - I'm always looking for inspiration to create more delicious goodies. 

And, I wanted to wish you all  a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Jack Skellington inspired Halloween Project

Have you ever wanted to decorate for the holidays? Well, I always want to do something spectacular but somehow time always seems to get away from me and I have to settle for whatever I can do at the last minute.

Like this year, I wanted to have a Jack Skellington inspired ghoul in my yard by October 1st for all the neighborhood kids to enjoy... but, like I said, time slipped away too fast and by the middle of October I was suddenly aware that the month would be over in a flash. So I  recruited my sons and husband to help me out. And with their help, my Jack  was up and "grinning" at the neighborhood in no time. Well...maybe I should say grimacing over the neighborhood ;D

Anyway, here are a few photos of the process.

The guys started with a sketch of what they were going to do. Then they went to work building the "bones" of the figure out of 2 X 4's.

Once they had the basic structure put together, I went to work painting.

After all the wood was painted a dark gray, Jacob put the head on the top (which was over 15 feet in the air) and then I started dressing him in a thin sheet of black (weed barrier) cloth. The reason I used this was because water will run through the fabric without weighing the character down. This is an important piece of the project in Portland, Oregon. But before I got all his clothes on, Jacob had to light him up.

Jacob put one large red light bulb inside Jack's skull and hid the wire and the bulb (with a little work).

Then Jacob had to help me get his shirt on because, like I said, my Jack is super tallllllll. But even  after all that he still wasn't finished.

Next, I had to make his hands and get those attached. I wanted his fingers really loooooong and creepy...like spider legs. So with the help of duct tape (that miracle material) I think I did it. The only problem is that the guys think his fingers are too long (what do you think?)

I also strung together a few skulls for Jack to carry back to his lair and then I laid out some bones in the yard around Jack's feet.

All-in-all, this was a very fun family project to kick the holiday season into gear. 

Now to finish my witch....Mwah-ha-ha! But, before I go, I just want to wish all the ghouls and goblins out there a....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Lets Get Naked ... Cakes

SHAMROCK RUN - PORTLAND 2019

So almost every year I run...the Shamrock Run in Portland Oregon - because it is a Fun-Run...

People  dress up--they run in tutus and all sorts of garb, but it's always green! And at the end of the run there's green beer and some hearty Irish food to re-carb-load up on.

Plus runs are always more fun when you do them with friends. And we have a group of gals that get together to do a few fun runs...

But this year. . . I got injured running with my dog and pulled my meniscus--in 3 places

So, this year, we're doing a shortened version of our usual run. We'll be doing the 5k this time around and hoping we'll be able to build up over the next few months. Anyway, here are some of the fun photos we took from Shamrock runs over the years. And oh my gosh!!! The years have flown.

 2011

And 2012

And 2013

2014

I guess I forgot to take photos for a couple years but I remember I ran them with Blanch

Maybe she has some photos I can grab...Blanch...?

here's 2017

 And 2018

I'll have to add some after this year's run.

2019...here we come!

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