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Fantastic Find Friday -- CRAFTSY!!

I know this isn't exactly a NEW find... but it's totally new-ISH. I actually didn't know anything about Craftsy before they asked me to film a class with them last summer. I'm guessing most of you don't have that problem...but I want to tell you all about them anyway. Because... I could NOT love my experience with Craftsy more!! They were incredibly organized and SO SO nice. Like... beautiful hotel, they brought in food, and I did not open a single door for myself the entire time I was there...nice. And for a mother with 4 small children...you can imagine...I almost thought about moving in with them. SUCH a great time. Can I tell you about it for just a minute? Please, please, please??!!! I promise I'll tell you all about Craftsy Classes in just one second. I spent most of my 3 days with the Craftsy team in this room. They called it a studio...it looked like a kitchen to me. Actually, if I'm being completely honest... THIS is what the room look

OWL Always Love You -- Decorated Valentine's Day Cookies

My very-nearly-not-a-baby-anymore girl child is apparently starved for human interaction. She has been messaging everyone in my contact list, Since my phone auto-corrects...the messages usually end up looking like "zzzzggggzzzzzz eggsllllllllzzzzzzzzzzzzz purpleidea333." Understandably...my husband gets a little confused and walks in the house with a dozen eggs and some crayons. Poor guy. (Seriously though... he's the BEST, right??!!) She's also been sending out pictures of her toes and my living room carpet and our ceilings. And giving that big ol' thumbs up on all of my Facebook Messenger chats. She even calls my FB friends. (I didn't even know you could DO that!) So... just to be clear ... I'm not looking for interior design advice on my carpets or ceilings. But if you want to think those adorable toes are mine... I'm cool with that. And if you happen to see the underside of my couch on Instagram... please let me know! There is at least a

Fantastic Find Friday -- Sugar High Inc Bakedrops!!

Another Friday... another Fantastic Find! Up this week -- Sugar High Inc.'s BAKEDROPS !!  Brenda of Sugar High Inc. has the most UNBELIEVABLY adorable cakes and toppers that I just want to *squish* every time I see another one. If you don't know, she also has a line of Bakedrops for all sorts of sugar crafts photos. My favorite are the ones she calls " Bite Size ." I got one over the holidays and can't wait to tell you all about it! Every Bite-Size Bakedrop is divided into 4 different background patterns. Each one is 18 inches by 24 inches so the whole backdrop is about 3 feet by 4 feet. PROS:  * 4 different backgrounds and only one piece of vinyl to store? Yes please! * I was a little concerned that the squares might be too small to photograph a large set of cookies. But I was able to fit a plate and an entire set of cookies on each corner with plenty of room to spare for cropping. Really.... 18X24 is the perfect size! * There are over 20 diff

How To Make Cupid's Harp Decorated Cookies for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day pretty much gets me through the entire month of January. January 1-8: I take down my Christmas Tree and all the lights and decorations and I fill the void in my frozen tundra of a life with deep reds and bright pinks and pretend that the colors themselves can give off warmth just by loving them. As it turns out... they cannot. January 9-12: I lie on the couch under the warmth of the electric blanket my grandmother gave me for Christmas, hoping I never have to leave the house again and internet researching endless Valentine's Day craft projects I can do all by myself...and maybe a few I can do with my children too. January 13: I actually leave the house to purchase everything I need for the craft projects. Which, as luck would have it, is actually kind of a lot since I purged my craft closet right before Christmas and got rid of all that "junk" that is now in my shopping cart. Also... I wonder if anyone has invented electric pants. It's C

Decorated Cookies and a Dehydrator -- What YOU Need to Know!!

How to use a dehydrator to help speed up the cookie decorating process without drying out the cookies!! All your cookie decorating dehydrator questions answered! Using a dehydrator for decorated cookies is really common these days! But the hows and the whys and the where-to-fors can all get just a little bit confusing. Don't worry! I'm here to help you out. What is a dehydrator?   A dehydrator is an appliance that uses warm, moving air to remove moisture from the food that is placed inside it. Why IN THE WORLD would I put my sugar cookies in a dehydrator?   For two reasons: One, if you put a moving air source across the top of the icing while it is drying, the icing will dry SHINY. Second, the gently heated air helps the royal icing or glaze dry quicker -- reducing craters, color bleed, and allowing you to move on to the next step in decorating much MUCH faster. Will a dehydrator dry out my decorated sugar cookies?  It can, if you leave the cookies in there

Fantastic Find Friday -- Cookie Cowgirl's Dark Cocoa Blend

Hey! I know it's been awhile, but I'm back on the Fantastic Find Wagon!! I've got a ton of super new products in the line up...but I want to first make sure you've heard of some of the great new products that have come out over the last few months. First up -- Cookie Cowgirl's Dark Cocoa Blend !! I'm not sure if you know... I kind of love chocolate cookies. Like, if I wasn't already married... I would consider at least going out with them...you know...just to see where things went. If it turned into a serious, long term commitment...I would be on board with that. As it is, I'm happily married so chocolate cookies and I have a strictly platonic relationship. So, as you can imagine I was super excited to try Cookie Cowgirl's Cocoa . It's a delicious blend of dark cocoas and you can tell right away. It smells different, it looks different, and it tastes different. Let's get right down to it -- PROS:  ** It tastes exactly like dar

Decorated Valentine's Day Tree Cookies -- Cookies and Cards

  I learned something new this year. I mean... I always thought that Valentine's Day was a heart holiday. You know, cut out some hearts, throw on some icing...maybe sprinkle some love in sugar form and call it a day. APPARENTLY though....there is this thing called a Valentine's Day TREE. I don't really know the purpose of it. I mean, it doesn't seem to give candy to good children or sparkle or grant wishes or anything...they just have brightly colored hearts all over them and just...exist. I don't even know if they are real or imaginary creatures. I might have fallen asleep mid-internet-reasearch. I blame that on the electric blanket my grandma gave me for Christmas. It's just so COZY, you know? It's like cuddling without the extra breathing noises. Anyway, my point is...I learned exactly 2 things about Valentine's Day trees.  One - They are a legit movement people. I mean Pinterest is just covered in "inspiration" for the things. And Tw

Decorated Cupid's Bow Cookies for Valentine's Day

 My husband and I are kind of opposites in lots of ways. He goes to bed at night. WHEN HE'S TIRED. I wait until the regret has fully had a chance to set in during the early morning hours before deciding that no more good can come from this day and I should just end it now before I grind one more PME tip in the garbage disposal. He listens to NPR and keeps up on all the things happening all over the world so he can have intelligent opinions while talking about the world with his grown up friends. I listen to NPR to practice my British accent. He does exactly what needs to be done and then stops doing it. I put sugar on top of sugar and spend hours forming it into special little pieces of sugar art that will be eaten in seconds. Or...just licked for a few hours, depending upon which child gets to it first. But if there is one thing we agree on...it's that  puce should not be the name of a color. And also that Cupid is kind of a weird guy. I mean... he's a bit of an e