Wizarding Wands...

For the final Harry Potter installment (movie, that is) I wanted to be well equipped when dealing with the midnight release crowds that evening. After some googling, I discovered a cheap (and VERY convincing) alternative to buying an expensive wand online or widdling my own wand out of a wooden dowel (which I considered... until I recalled the fact that I don't have woodworking tools...dangit). On DadCanDo there is a wonderful tutorial on making wands out of plain paper, hot glue for stability and the designs, Elmer's glue (in my case for the edges), and craft paint for the final touches/"wand" coloring. I stuffed the inside with printer paper and tissue paper for stability, since my friends are a pretty rough bunch.

Alohomora!

Two 20-somethings, way too amused by paper wands

These are great for kids birthdays, surprise inexpensive "gifts" (small holidays, good behavior, photography bribes), and a great addition to any Harry Potter extravaganza!!

Cupcakes of the Past...

So, here I was all HYPED UP about finally making a blog and posting my craft projects... only to not post ANYTHING except an introductory blog? For an entire month?

Shame on me. Shame, shame, shame.

I wanted to post pretty things, with directions and pictures and all the works, I think that is what held me back the most. I wanted everything to be PERFECT before I posted anything...but that's just silly.How would I ever learn what works for me and what doesn't, if I post absolutely nothing?

So to start off, I'm going to post a collection of things I have done in the past that do not necessarily have "photos as you go", but rather have many "Final Product" shots. And I'm going to paste a handful of posts all together because, well, let's face it, this place looks pretty barren.

So, may I present to you... a collection of my cupcake pictures:




First, Some Chocolate cupcakes (straight from the box) with Chocolate icing and Vanilla icing colored with a dash of Wilton's Blue/Green combined (both icings from a can) with some edible sugar pearls I had ordered online (I hope to remember where soon, but it's been a while!):

 Some Dora Fiesta Cupcakes colored in pink and purple with Wilton's food coloring and some party picks from the party supply store:

 Mini cupcakes laid out to spell out "LAX"; a short term for lacrosse, in the school colors:

Nutella Icing (mixed up like chocolate icing but instead use nutella in place of the cocoa  powder:

I was going for tie-dye cupcakes, but since they were mini... well, three colors worked JUST fine:

I hope you enjoy this little snippet and come back for more!