Friday, July 20, 2012

Art for your Walls!

 Hey there scrappy chicks!  Wanted to introduce to you my new line of home decor wall art.  


I am growing to love mixed media art....and with these altered printers trays, I get to combine my love for scrapbooking, paper crafting and altered art!  


They come in a variety of styles and finishes; once decorated, they can be left as is, or for you cropping fans...they can be dolled up with your personal photos.  They have oh so many uses, like collecting and displaying mementos from a trip, storing artist trading cards, a way to display your favorite chatzkies or maybe creating one to hold your baby's keepsakes or making one to give as a housewarming gift (people still do that don't they?)!  
 Buttons, buttons and more buttons oh my!

Wouldn't this be too cute in baby's room?

With photos added :)

Have you altered a tray?  Leave your link so I can check it out!  

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Cupcakes for my Chocoholic Hubby!

Hey sweet friends!  Got an extra yummy recipe for you from my "go-to" cupcake book, "Cupcakes" by Susanna Tee.   We celebrated hubby's birthday the other night, and I wanted to come up with an extra special treat for him but that is no easy task.  He loves his chocolate, and I mean he's a chocolate cake and chocolate chocolate chip ice-cream kinda guy...so I decided on these devil's food cake ones with chocolate frosting.  To make them look extra cute, I layered them in some mason jars, with frosting in between and sprinkled some chocolate chips on top...so divine!  Hubby was quite pleased, so mission accomplished!


Here's the recipe with my substitutions in parentheses:


Makes 18 cupcakes 
3 1/2 tbsp soft margarine (or butter)
generous 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I used organic maple)
2 large eggs
generous 3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1/2 tsp baking soda
generous 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt)

Frosting
4 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate (I used Trader Joe's chocolate chips)
2 tbsp superfine sugar (organic maple)
2/3 cup sour cream (greek yogurt)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  You can use 18 paper baking cases in a muffin pan or I used coconut oil to grease muffin pan since I planned to put cupcakes in the mason jars.

-Put the margarine, sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, and cocoa n a large bowl and, using an electric hand whish, beat together until just smooth.  Using a metal spoon, fold in the sour cream.  Spoon the batter into the paper cases or muffin tin.

-Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until well risen and firm to the touch.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

-To make the frosting, melt your chocolate in a heat proof bowl (I melted mine in the microwave for 1 minute at 70 percent power, stirred and then for an additional 30 seconds at 70 percent power).  Remove from the heat and let cool slightly, then whisk in the sugar and sour cream until combined.  To put in the mason jars, it's less messy to put one plain cupcake in the bottom, then frost, layer another cupcake on top and spread frosting over the top.  You can set in the refrigerator before serving.  Serve decorated with left-over chocolate chips.


Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the author or publisher of the "Cupcakes" book!