Paper Christmas Trees

These paper christmas trees were easy to make after we got the folding technique down. Martha's "evergreens" were all green, of course, with gold balls at the top, but gold's not allowed in my house, so I spiced it up!

Cupcakes!

My hip and urban mother-in-law found a video on how to make little teeny-tiny cupcakes out of clay on the internet. So we went to the store and bought some clay and had a fun-filled day of making tiny desserts. Of course, I love anything cupcake-related and tiny!

If you look next to the gigantic cheesecake, you will find the world's smallest cupcake! I think maybe that's only funny to me and my mother-in-law... . As you can see, I also made things besides treats.

Also in cupcake-related news, I got these lip glosses at Borders the other day... aren't they the super cutest?!

Domestic

While I was making super cute cupcakes, I got to wear the apron I made last week. I have to try real hard not to get it dirty...

Pretty Pretty Princess (Cupcakes)

Here is my second attempt at making the crazy cupcakes in the book Hello Cupcake. When my friend at work told me she was having a princess-themed party for her daughter, I immediately thought of these cupcakes. They were a little tricky, but not as challenging as I thought... well, except for one part; the dresses are made up of spice drop candies, smashed together and rolled out. I've never rolled so hard in my life! What a workout! Once they started coming together they looked really cute. I'm happy I had the chance to make these, it was a fun expirience.

Halloween + Dia de los Muertos

I was excited for halloween this year. I got to make lots of scary goodies for my work's halloween party and I carved TWO Martha Stewart pumpkins! My first one was better, but afer having an already terrible day, I set it down at the top of the stairs and having declared itself a loser for not winning the pumpkin carving contest, my pumpkin hurled itself all the way down and cracked in half at the bottom. Total bummer. Above, is my lesser detailed second attempt.

I was particularly excited about making brain cupcakes! The merengue buttercream frosting was a chore, but they turned out so cute and everyone knew they were brains!

A few weekends ago, my mother-in-law and I started a paper mache project for halloween. We were supposed to make these really cute little pumpkins, but it turned out to be more difficult than we thought. So, no, a first grader didn't make these, I did! It was my first time doing paper mache! Even though they didn't turn out the way we expected and they are pretty bad, they are still kinda cute, so here they are:

And lastly, the actual day of Halloween was a sad one for us. It was our dia de los muertos. Our first ever and best kitty, Miette, got very sick due to fatty liver disease. While we thought we cured her and she had two good weeks, in the end it recured and we knew it was her time to go. My heart aches when I think I will never see her again. And I know it will make me sad every time I see this posting, I can't help it. I love looking at her! She had so much personality and her absence will leave a huge void in my life.

Meringues {Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top}

I'm a sucker for pretty much anything cute and little, so I love these little guys. They would be super cute for a party. This was my first time making meringues, so it was an interesting expirience, but they came out good. I think I took them out of the oven a little prematurely, because I was scared I was going to burn them, but discovered they could have benefitted from a couple more minutes in the oven. Oh well, next time! They turned out cute and that's all that matters.

Rustic Apple Croustade

I don't know how to pronounce croustade, but this sure was good! I got it out of the newest cookbook my mother gave me (which had about 50 recipes tabbed that she wants me to make.) It was pretty easy too. It was so yummy warm out of the oven. In fact, it was the only good part of the morning since the Chargers lost to Buffalo 23-14 ... why'd you have to throw that interception Philip? Whhhhhhy?