Desperately Seeking Gina

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Friday Five: Looking Forward

Another weekend is upon us and although I have to work a few hours on Saturday I am very much looking forward to unwinding. Saturdays in the office aren’t too bad.  Normally, my desk is cleared of pressing matters and this week I have caught up on filing and paperwork so a few hours at work on a busy weekend morning won’t be too demanding.  Coffee, of course, will make it better.

Working tomorrow means I am off today.  I love Fridays at home.  I also love Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at home. 

Five things I am looking forward to this weekend.

1.  Sipping a cold brew on the deck overlooking our marvelous cove and Greers Ferry Lake.

2.  It’s pizza night here at the Cove.  Honey Garlic is on the agenda, inspired by Edie.

3.  I have already started tackling the craft room-again.  I tore it up preparing for the bake sale. Also-I need to continue working on the brooch bouquet. It’s been awhile since I’ve done any wedding work.

4.  Sleeping in.  Enough said.

5.  House organization.  Thom and I started moving things around last weekend and the results are making me happier in our little space-must keep forward motion momentum.

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

I said yes, now for the rest: Vintage Cake Plate DIY

Wedding planning and crafting is still going on around here albeit slowly.  The shopping/thrifting/flea-ing part of this whole shindig is the best thing about wedding prep; the best thing after marrying the love of my life, my soul mate, and best friend, of course.

This love of mine also knows me so well.  While cleaning out some old boxes he came across an old ceiling fan and began disassembling it for disposal. He asked me if I wanted any parts, like the glass globes. I told him no and forgot about the conversation.

Cake Plate_shades

Fast forward a week or two later and I was brainstorming ideas for a set of lovely, swirly plates I picked up at an antique store.  !  The glass globes.  I could have used those to make cake plates.  When I lamented this late thought to Thom he surprised me by saying he knew I’d need/want those parts and that he’d kept them for me.  So sweet.  And, so are the cake plates.

Cake Plate_closeup 

 They can be made with numerous items you may have laying around: glasses, cups & saucers, glass jars and a good strong epoxy. Other items needed for this project: a sanding block made for glass or metal.  Easy peasy.  The rest is just decoration:  home made fabric flower and glue dots.

Cake Plate_Supplies 

First step {not pictured}: use the sanding block to rough up the glass globes and the plate, if possible.

Next:  mark the center of the bottom of the plate for centering the epoxied globe.

 Cake Plate_Mark 

Mix the epoxy. Use immediately.

Cake Plate_epoxy2 

 Apply the epoxy to the top of the globe, liberally.

Cake Plate_apply epoxy Gently place the globe onto the epoxy.  Press lightly, but not so much that you squish the epoxy out from under the globe.



It’s probably a good idea to let the epoxy cure for as long as the package directs.  However, I have no patience and I flipped these babies over after just a couple of hours.

I couldn’t wait to use them so I dragged them along to the blogger bake sale and they were a hit.  Courtney was even inspired to make her own.

Blogger Bake Sale Recap

Despite record setting cold temperatures and a cold rain that fell at the end, the Arkansas Food Blogger Bake Sale was a total success.

The sale itself brought in $1934!  How awesome is that?  And, then, with some help from good friends and our community of Arkansas Women Bloggers and their online donations-our goal of $2K was met!

Update:  You can still donate online and Duncan Hines will donate $10,000 toward the bake sale that raised the most money, and according to Christie, our sale is a contender!  Donate here if you are willing and able.

I’m still in recovery mode from lack of sleep and too many sweets. I’m already brainstorming for next year’s sale.  You can see more of my pics here.

Other bake sale recaps:

Christie, of Fancy Pants Foodie fame and our fearless leader.
It was nice to meet Courtney from Life as a Convert and her son after having read her blog for a few years.
Amanda baked some Better Than Oreos and had really cute packaging.
Panama -mama, Michelle, brought her mama’s brownies and was a fun helper during the sale. 

Lil’ Monsters for No Kid Hungry

Lil Monster 

Thanks, so much, for stopping by the Arkansas Food Blogger Bake Sale today!  If you made a purchase your donation is going to a great cause.  One out of five kids is hungry daily and that’s unacceptable.  Share Our Strength is working to get kids fed and their parents {and the public} educated.  I’m proud to be able to help in some small way.

Also, if you purchased one of my Lil Monsters, thanks!  I hope you liked them.  The idea and recipe came from a site I found through Pinterest.  Here is the recipe if you’d like to make them yourself.

Thanks again, and, enjoy!

Sugar Cookies:

1stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter
2-2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp milk {or more as needed}

This dough needs to chill before baking.

Place flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl, set aside.

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and fluff.  Add egg until combined.  Throw in the vanilla.  Reduce speed and add flour stopping to scrape the bowl.  Dough will be stiff and crumbly.  Remove from stand and squish {technical baking term} into a ball on some plastic wrap, or in a bowl {cover} and place dough in the refrigerator.  Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove dough and pinch off into 1 inch balls.  Place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.  Flatten balls with the palm of your hand.  Bake for 7-8 minutes.

Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, combine ingredients and beat until fluffy.  Also- it’s extra special if you sift your confectioner’s sugar before beating-no lumpies!

Makes about 36 cookies.

For Monsters:  sandwich frosting between two cookies and roll in sprinkles.  Top with dots of frosting for eyes and nose.  Use candy eyeballs, if desired.

Pin it & Spin it: Lil Monster Cookies

I’ve been spending the last couple of weekends baking away preparing and practicing for the Arkansas Food Blogger Bake Sale.  I was hoping to bring something savory to sell instead of the same old sweet treats.  Turns out-I’m much sweeter than I’d like to admit.  My cracker recipes just didn’t pan out as I’d hoped {I may, however, just go back to my old cheez-it knock off}.

So, this last weekend I decided to just be the sweet girl that I am and come up with something fun.  Pinterest to the rescue (yes, yes I know it’s not actually Pinterest-to-the-rescue. Believe me-I know how much time and energy bloggers put into their recipes, photographs, and posts.  I totally give credit where it is due.  Pinterest is just the vehicle that gets me to where the good stuff is.  Rant over}.

I’m in love with my lil monsters. Not so much that he didn’t get his head bitten off, however.

The Pin:  A combo of this & this from the sites Crazy for Crust and Icing Designs.

The Spin:  I combined the two recipes for a fun lil monster.  For the bake sale, I just might add the sprinkles to the batter as the first site did.   Googly candy eyes are always fun and I had them on hand so they were a must.  Also-had no jimmies so it had to be sprinkles.

Lil' Monster Cookie_blog 

 The Verdict:  The sugar cookie recipe is excellent.  It tastes just like those refrigerated doughs you buy from the store and is super easy to work with. For these, I scooped and rolled the dough into balls and flattened them with my palm before baking.  I can tell, though, that it would be super easy to roll out and cut out {I’m SUPER roll-out-dough challenged y’all}.

I used my go-to buttercream frosting recipe for these guys:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted well
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp milk or cream, as needed
Food coloring

Beat butter until soft and creamy.  Gradually add sugar and add milk as needed.  Beat in vanilla.  Whip mixture until combined.  I like a stiffer frosting for these lil monsters.

Also, I used McCormick Neon Food Coloring** and I L.O.V.E. the neon green nose.  How cute is that?  No, really.  Tell me how cute it is.

**Not a sponsored post y’all.  I just love the neon colors!

So…what pins have you completed lately?  I’d love to hear all about it!