Cupcake Love

Before I start drooling over cupcakes....

I was featured!

Thanks to Ann at Stylish Once Again for featuring my Citrasolv Dishtowel Tutorial!  

Now on to the yumminess of it all.

Since I went gluten free at the beginning of the year, I have been experimenting with all the different gluten free baking mixes and flours available at our local grocery stores.  Since I am a bit of a cupcake fanatic, I figured this would be the best place to start.  (Really this all just an excuse to constantly have cupcakes around)

The first mix I tried was a chocolate cake.  It wasn't great.  It was dry and crumbly and I was very disappointed.  Discouraged a bit and worried that I would never be able to enjoy a good dessert again.  But, I didn't give up.  Then I discovered a local supplier who makes several bread mixes, vanilla cake and the best all purpose gluten free flour.  So, I baked.  And baked.  And baked.  Here are a few of the creations I made...

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

So far this has been my favorite.  I just added a bit of cinnamon to a vanilla / white cake mix and and a bit of cinnamon in the frosting.  They were so good!  In fact, I may have to go make another batch as soon as I am done writing.

French Toast Cupcakes

These did not turn out the way I imagined.  I made these from scratch using a gluten free all purpose flower. They were pretty dense.  I added cinnamon to a white cake recipe, the put an egg wash on top of the cupcake before they finished baking.  I added maple syrup to the icing.  They kind of tasted like french toast, but they were so dense it took away from the yumminess.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I made these in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  I used a gluten free chocolate cake mix and added chocolate chips to the mix.  Then made frosting and added peppermint extract and green food coloring.  The icing was pretty good (it doesn't take a lot of the extract to get a minty flavor), but the cupcakes were dry and crumbly like the first chocolate cake I made.  Maybe the chocolate cake mixes just won't work as well.

Hope I didn't make your mouth water too much.  I am just so excited to know that I can still enjoy cupcakes even if I am gluten free!

GF DF Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

When I decided to go gluten free at the beginning of the year, I was a little apprehensive.  Luckily, there are so many great resources available.  It has been a lot easier than I anticipated.  

I have a bit of a sweet tooth (meaning I don't think I can survive the day without some sugary treat / snack / dessert in my daily menu)  My biggest fear was missing out on all the yummy stuff, but not anymore.

I found this great gluten free all purpose flour at one of the local grocery stores in Kansas City and you can't tell a difference.  Now my new favorite thing to make is Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread.  Plus my 5 year old nephew couldn't get enough of it, so it is definitely kid approved!

Recipe

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dairy free chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli chips)

Directions:

Grease a loaf pan with shortening.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together bananas, peanut butter, oil, eggs, sugar and brown sugar.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients slowly.  Mix until just combined.

Add chocolate chips and mix in.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

 

Citrasolv Dishtowel Tutorial

I love learning about new ways to be crafty.  When I heard about Citrasolv transfers, I went crazy.  I started using it on everything I could think of.  I added a design to the seat of a metal chair (but once again I forgot to get a picture of it before it sold at the antique store), I added a few designs to some t-shirts and more recently I decorated some plain white flour sack dish towels.

A friend of mine recently purchased her first house.  I really wanted to send her a little housewarming gift and I immediately thought of Citrasolv dish towels.  Now, I am going to show you had to make your own.

Supplies:
Citrasolv (found at health food stores, I found it at Whole Foods)
Flour Sack Dish Towels (or any fabric or fabric surface if you aren't making dish towels)
Cotton Balls
Laser Jet Printer (Ink Jet will not work)
Scissors (or something with a smooth surface to use during the transfer)

Step 1:  Create your design. I created an Audrey Hepburn design with one of her quotes using Publisher.  I created a poster using the dimensions of my flour sack towel.  Publisher will split the design up into several pages that create a large poster.  The other way to do this (and probably the easier way) is to create parts of your design on each page and piece it together when transferring the design. The hard part about the way I did it is making sure you line up the design perfectly.

IMPORTANT:  Make sure to print your design in reverse.  The easiest way I have found to do this is create the design on Publisher.  Once you are done creating, click "Select All" from the Edit drop down menu.  Roll your mouse over the design and right click.  Select "Save as Picture"  Then open a new publisher project and insert the picture you just saved.  Then reverse the image by selecting the "Arrange" drop down menu, "Rotate or Flip" menu and select Flip Horizontal.

Once you have your printed design, lay it out under the flour sack towel to make sure you have lined up in the area you want it and you can see how the final design will appear.  (It's hard to see in this picture, but I promise it's there.)  Now, lay it out on top of the flour sack so you know where to transfer each sheet.

I like to start in the middle and work my out from there.  Set all the other sections of the design off to the side.  Don't mix them up, you don't want to forget which one goes in which spot.

The way these print on publisher, each sheet will line up to the next one with a slight overlap.  Make sure it lines up both at the top and the bottom to help make sure you end up with an even design.

Lay the sheet face down on the towel.  Wet the cotton ball with Citrasolv (don't soak it, you don't want to immerse the paper, just moisten it).  Rub the cotton ball over the printed part of the paper.

Use a smooth surface (like the handle of a pair of scissors) to rub the entire design.  This will help transfer the design.  The more pressure you apply, the darker the transfer will be.  When you think you have covered the whole area, hold one side of the paper in place and carefully lift up the other side to make sure it looks right.  If not, lay the paper back down (making sure it is in the same spot) and try again.

Repeat this with each page until you have completed the whole design.

I made a couple more so I can send a full set of towels as a housewarming gift.

I hope she likes these as much as I do.  I was so excited with how they turned out, that I decided to make a few for myself.  And now it's your turn. Enjoy!

   

An Outdoor Rug Makeover

A few months ago I found this great sisal rug at a thrift store for $6!  Yes, I said $6!  I couldn't pass it up.  I had been on the lookout for a rug I could paint to use on my kitchen floor and this was the perfect size.

Unfortunately, I have this playful dog that thinks anything on the floor is a chew toy.  So, I laid the rug out in the kitchen to see if she would leave it alone....but, it only took about 10 minutes to decide it wouldn't work.  She was just waiting for me to leave the house so she could tear this rug apart without me stopping her.

On to plan B....a birthday gift for mom!  Once again I wasn't smart enough to get a before picture, but hopefully with this one you can imagine the before pretty easily.

I used a large wall stencil to create the background print.  As you can see from the picture, I had a few spots where it didn't line up perfectly.  This was my first stenciled rug and the surface was so uneven.  Even with the imperfections, I love how it turned out....and more importantly so was she!

Hopefully I can find another great rug like this one again very soon!

An Etched Cake Plate Tutorial

I love giving gifts!  And not just any gift, but unique personalized gifts.  

What better way to personalize a gift than with a name, initial, monogram, nickname, etc. on it?

A great way to make a personal, unique and sophisticated gift is to etch a cake plate (or pie plate or casserole dish or glass pitcher or glass vase or glass jar or mirror or window...you get the idea!)

Now it's your turn...

What you will need:

Glass Dish

Printout of the design you want to etch

Masking tape

Clear contact paper

X-acto knife

Paint brush

Armour Etch Cream

**Just a quick note about the Armour Etch Cream: I bought the 3 oz. bottle (with a 40% off coupon of course) and I was concerned it wasn't going to be enough to etch two pie plates.  I almost bought the larger bottle, but luckily I didn't.  Since I bought that bottle, I have etched 3 cake plates, 2 pie plates, 2 casserole dishes and a large counter top glass beverage dispenser and I still have half of the bottle left.**

Once you have decided on a piece to etch, make sure you clean with soap and water and the piece is completely dry before you begin.

Print your design in bold black print and trim to fit.  Tape your design to the inside of your piece.  Be sure to line it up exactly where you want the etched design to end up.  This will work as your stencil.

**If you choose to etch a piece with a rounded edge like my cake plate cover, it may be difficult to get it lined up perfectly.  Smooth it against the glass as much as possible.

Once you have your stencil where you want it, cut a piece of clear contact paper larger than the design.  You want to have plenty of extra area covered on each side of the stencil.  Smooth out all bubbles (or if the edge is rounded, smooth as many as you can...you want to make sure there are no bubbles in the same space that you are going to etch)

This part can require a lot of patience, depending on how intricate your stencil is.  Use your X-acto knife to create the stencil.  Trace along the outline of your design to cut out the same design in the clear contact paper.  **Keep in mind the etching will be done on the area where the contact paper is removed.

(It's pretty hard to get a picture of the design in the clear contact paper, but if you look closely you can see the "W")

Elevate the side of the glass piece you are etching before applying the Armour Etch.  This will help minimize any dripping.  If possible, lay the piece down so the stencil area is parallel to the counter top.

Using a paintbrush, fill in the entire stencil.  I have found that it works best if you put a thick coat on.  I always use a layer thick enough that you can't see any glass through the cream.  Let it set on the stencil for at least 5 minutes.  If you're not in a rush, let it set for 10 minutes. 

 After letting it set up, rinse all the cream off using cold water.  Once the thick layer of cream has been washed off, remove your stencil and thoroughly wash the entire piece.

Viola! A personalized unique piece!