April 29, 2010

Butterfly cupcakes

For a while I've wanted to try to make butterfly wings out of chocolate.  One of my favorite things is to WOW people at parties with things I've dipped in melted chocolate.  For some reason people think this is chef-level coooking, but I won't tell them if you won't.

So, for David's birthday I wanted to make made butterfly wings from chocolate.  It was a fairly simple procedure as long as you work quick.  And because I had my hands full of melted chocolate and I have a new camera... there are no pics of this part of the process!  Just try to visualize...

I taped some wax paper onto baking sheets.  Then I melted chocolate chips in the micro (DO NOT OVERCOOK).  Take them out every 15 secs or so and stir.  If you overcook, there's no saving the chocolate and you have to throw it out, so be careful.  Put the melted chocolate into a ziploc freezer bag and snip off a corner.  The choc might start pouring out, so be aware of this and angle the bag up a bit or pinch it until you are ready to go.

Make the letter "B" with the chocolate.  Make it quite thick, then when you've filled up your baking sheet wax paper with B's... go back to the first one (which is starting to harden now) and drizzle lightly to fill it in.  You could fill in completely if you want to.  You could even change colors at this stage, but I wanted to keep it simple and a little lacy.  Then quickly (before everything sets) sprinkle the B's with sugar or other sprinkles.  Put them in the fridge or freezer to set completely.  Obviously, make more than you need because you will probably have to taste a few as you work.  ;)

We put the B's on top of vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Holly helped me choose the colors for the frosting.  Blue and pink, piped on using a ziploc bag, of course. 




Then, I added the dark chocolate butterfly wings.  I wanted them to taste like nonpareils.  And they were amazing!  The only thing you should know is that these little beauties do not travel well, so it works best for a party at home.  If you need to travel with them... you might be able to fake it up by using chocolate covered pretzels.  Let me know if you try that.




















April 28, 2010

Pipe Cleaner Fairy Dolls

For a FAIRY theme birthday party, I wanted to make some tiny Fairy dolls to give to the party guests.  I started by bending a pipe cleaner into shape for the body.  Then I took some silk flowers apart to make skirts and wings.  I added a little felt circle to make a blouse for the fairy.  Then painted wooden balls for heads.  Hot glued the heads on and used some yarn for hair.  Super cute and easy!











April 24, 2010

KidStock Facepainting

Spent the day face painting at the Spring Fundraiser for the Studio City Co-Op Preschool.  It was a gorgeous day and I had a wonderful time painting the kids.  Look at this pretty cat.





















April 20, 2010

DIY Fairy Wands

Holly is having a fairy birthday party, so of course, I'm making the gift bags and favors.  All fairies need a wand for casting spells and general wishes.  My fairy wands were made from real found sticks... the way that real fairies would make them.

First, I found some lovely straight sticks at a nearby park.  Then I sanded them to take off all sharp bits and loose bark, but I did not make them completely smooth.  Then I attached one silk flower and stem to the stick using green floral tape, making sure the silk flower stem was completely covered.

Then I wound ribbon around the floral tape.  Taping over the loose end at the top and bottom with more floral tape.  I glued one bell to the base of the flower with E-6000 so that it would have a little jingle.  And I let the loose ends of the ribbon trail from the flower.

Holly loves them almost as much as I love making them!


April 1, 2010

Time Lapse Painting: Baila Me


"Baila Me"
16x20 inches
acrylic on canvas
2008

To start off my blog I wanted to share a time lapse painting that I did in 2008.  It was really fun and even gave me some insights into the way I paint.  I never realized I spent so much time painting upside down! The painting took a few hours to complete and I condensed it to about 8 minutes of fast painting fun!