Crafts

Hey there! My name is Amy and I can normally be found blogging and crafting over at The Idea Room.

First of all, I would like all of you to know how super excited I am to be guest posting on WhipperBerry today. I have been following these awesome ladies for a while now. I also was able to finally meet a few of them…Heather, Emily and Danielle, just this past month in Arizona at a Blogging Conference. And I have to tell you, they are just like they seem…sweet, friendly, fun and super talented. So, to be here on their collaborative blog is a bit of an honor for me.

‘Tis the season for graduations. Whether it be pre-school, kindergarten, high school or a college graduation, chances are you know someone who will graduate to something larger within the next few weeks. I always like to give the graduates something fun and festive to go along with a gift card or money. So this year I came up with some chocolate covered Oreo’s on a stick. And seriously…who doesn’t LOVE chocolate covered Oreo’s or food served on sticks? Okay…well most food served on sticks {not a huge fan of corndogs}!

And the best part about these graduation treats is that they are really easy to make and can be ready to go within an hour of making them. I like to actually use the Oreo Cakesters rather than regular Oreos because the sticks fit very nicely in between the two cake layers without breaking the cookies which can sometimes happen when you use regular Oreos. If you want to use the regular kind try to get the double stuffed Oreos.

Take regular popsicle sticks (can be purchased new at most craft stores) and stick them between the two layers of cake. I sometimes put a bit of melted white chocolate on the end of the stick. This helps “glue” the stick to the inside of the cake layers and makes it more stable and less likely to fall out.

Melt some white chocolate, almond bark or Vanilla CandiQuik in the microwave in 20 second intervals. Then dip the Oreos into the chocolate and be sure to cover the entire surface and especially the popsicle stick at the base of the oreo. While the chocolate is still wet, but not dripping, roll the sides of the Oreo into some fun colored sprinkles. Then set them on a piece or wax or parchment paper till the chocolate cools are hardens.

Now you can take some black cardstock and cut out two different pieces to make your graduation cap. I cut one strip that measured 3.75 inches by 1.75 inches for the base of the hat and rolled it into a circle and held it together with a piece of tape.

The square piece will be the top of the hat. Hook them together with some glue like this…

Then while the chocolate is still sticky place it onto the pop. I set mine off to the side, but you can put it wherever you would like to.

When the chocolate is cool you can take some Black Gel icing, which can be found in most supermarkets in the baking aisle, and write the graduation year on the front of the Oreo pop.

This icing will need to sit for a while so that it can dry if you are planning on packaging the graduation pop.

Then I whipped up a little card to go along with it. This time I made a little yellow diploma and attached it to the card with a glue dot.

And…inside the diploma is some cash I rolled up! So be sure to let the recipient know it is there…or you can just roll up the cash and put it in place of the yellow decoration.

This is something little but shows that you put some effort into their gift rather than just opening your wallet and handing over some cash…but hey…if someone offered me some cash from their wallet…I wouldn’t care too much that it wasn’t packaged pretty!

Thanks for having me WhipperBerries! I would love for you to come by and visit me over at The Idea Room anytime!

*Amy

Amy… we are sooo excited to swap with you today!! You have been such a great friend and mentor, we are truly honored!

I’m sure some of you may know that we have been experiencing a little trouble with blogger in the last couple of days. Sorry for the craziness!! Because of that we are going to combine Amy’s AMAZING post with our Friday Flair… so come strut your stuff my friends!!

Cooking is one thing I learned to do well at an early age. I look back and am thankful for that. I have many family recipes that are still amazing to this day. This Zucchini bread is definitely on the top of that list.

It is like heaven in your mouth. I am not a big fan of flavored bread but this one you will LOVE. My children even love it and they are very picky. It is super moist, no matter if you choose to add Vegetable oil or Applesauce. And another plus about this bread is you can freeze the loaves and you would never know they had been frozen. They stay very moist and yummy. I actually grow Zucchini just for this recipe and freeze the blended portions for future use. Now go try it. You’ll thank me.

{Zucchini Bread}

2 Eggs

2 C. Sugar

1 C. Oil or Applesauce

2 C. Zucchini

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 C. Flour

2 tsp. Baking Soda

3 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Powder

Chop and blend the Zucchini. Combine wet ingredients; blended Zucchini, Eggs, Sugar, Oil or Applesauce, and Vanilla. Mix. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients; Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, and baking powder. Stir and add to the Wet Ingredients. Now mix well. Batter will be separated into 2 loaf pans. I prefer to grease the pan and coat with cocoa. {No white film from flour when you use cocoa}. Another trick I have is to cut out parchment paper and line bottom of the loaf pan. This makes it very easy for the bread to come out.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Both loaves at the same time

Makes 2 loaves

 

 

Megan from Brassy Apple and I Am…

I am the girl who is creating her own path each day

I am the woman who hopes to inspire others to do the same

I am the wife who isn’t perfect but is loved just the way she is

I am the mother who has 5 in her heart but only 4 in her home

I am the neighbor who runs out of an important ingredient while making dinner and asks to borrow a “cup of flour”

I am grateful and blessed

I find happiness in the everyday and everyday seek out some happiness

I enjoy capturing the moment and not the posing through my camera lens

I do what I love

I learn how to be better each day from my kids

I am always changing, always evolving and always excited to see what lies ahead

___________________________________________________________

Megan is one of those ladies who I wished I would have spent more time with at Creative Estates.  I have to admit that her newish blog, I am… is one of my new obsessions.  I can tell that we are two ladies who think an awful lot alike about our roles in life,  Megan I look up to and admire you my dear!!

Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous

Hi! My name is Linda and I’m a Craftaholic. I started a blog, Craftaholics Anonymous, almost 2 years ago to deal with my crafting obsession because let’s face it, a blog is a lot cheaper than therapy! Being a stay at home mom has only fueled my craft addiction- now I can craft for 2 little boys in addition to our home, myself, the hubster, etc etc etc! And I take full advantage of naptime! I hit the crafting scene as soon as those sweet eyes close.

I love dreaming up new crafts and being inspired by everyday life. I craft to fulfill my need to create. And I love helping and sharing with others how I make my crafts. I love meeting and connecting with fellow crafters, and realized that other crafters enjoy that as well. So I started a Handmade Gift Exchange to connect crafters all over the world. This is one of my favorite things I do with my blog! I thoroughly enjoy the linky party at the end of the Handmade Gift Exchange to see the fabulous items participants made for each other and reading about the friendships they have made. {next Handmade Gift Exchange will start in May}

Being a part of the online “Creative Community” that craft blogging has created, has made me a better person. I feel so blessed by the wonderful friendships I have made and to be a part of this wonderfully creative group of people!

Linda has been a dear, sweet friend of ours from the very beginning here at WhipperBerry. She has been one of our biggest cheerleaders and we can’t thank her enough for that!!  Thanks Linda for being your fabulous self!!  Good luck on your move… we wish we could be there to help!!

 

Does anyone else greet Baby’s first year mark with hands waving like an Olympic marathoner? Don’t you want to shout, “We made it!!”

We celebrate because not only has our little one survived all the fun milestones that come in those first twelve months, but he’s full of dimples, toothy grins and great slobbery kisses. Our first year as parents of FOUR has been so fun. I’ve never felt so blessed to be a mother. As part of the fun we decided add a mini table to our celebration.

My color palette of greens and whites were inspired by the thought of tender green bamboo shooting up toward the sky. That’s how babies grow isn’t it? Inches by the day? One moment you’re cradling them in the crook of your arm as a tender seedling and the next they’re crawl-racing across the floor, growing roots and branches out the windows! For the table cover, I picked up a few lovely fat quarters from the fabric store and stitched them together into a nine block. A little ironing and I had my own custom table cover in the perfect hues.

One of our traditions for first birthdays is an ice cream cake. This year I tried my hand at making it. It was way easier than I imagined and SO yummy!! We rounded out the deliciousness with mini brownie trifles, pearl embellished spritz cookies inspired by my friend Emily at ReMarkable Home, a fresh crunchy crudité, simple mini-Bundt Smash Cake and Lime Sparkler to drink. Toss in a beautiful cluster of spring tulips and hanging Tissue Paper Poms and I felt like we were having quite the swanky affair! Every selection was super simple and fun to make, which is important when you’re celebrating baby. I wanted my attention to be focused on our newest arrival in One-derland.

I think my favorite parts of the table are the black and white pictures of my little guy throughout his first year. Pictures speak volumes about his growth and the joy he has brought into our lives. Those sweet lips and round cheeks, that soft baby body! I can’t stand it! I picked up those darling pots with interchangeable ribbon holes from Target’s dollar section, tied in some green ribbon, filled them with split pea lentils and clipped the pictures onto lollipop sticks with some cute clothespins I found at Michael’s.

Sweet, simple and easy: what a great party should be. Happy Birthday, my little man. I look forward to watching you grow and delight us for years to come.