Tipsy Tuesday: Margarita Pop Tutorial

Remember these???

After I posted a pic of these margarita cake pops I recieved a few emails and comments requesting a tutorial, soooooo here it is!!! A quick tutorial to show you how easy these cute desserts are.

First, start off with a little ball of cake ball mixture. (recipe here) WARNING: Bakerella's recipe says to use an entire can of frosting. That is WAAAAYYYY too much! You do that and your cake balls will be mush and slide right off the stick! I use MAYBE 1/4 - 1/3 of a cup of icing...then add more if the mixture is too dry.

So, start off with a cake ball and flatten the top of the ball by pressing it down on a flat surface. At the same time you are making the top flat, go ahead and shape the bottom by kind of pinching it on all sides so that its thinner at the bottom and fatter (and flatter) at the top to resemble a cup.

Dip your popcicle stick into melted chocolate and stick it in the bottom of the "cup".

Put it in the fridge to firm up.

While its "firming" go ahead and get the bottom of the margarita glass ready.

I took a wooden skewer and warmed it up a little by touching it to the hot stove. I wanted the stick to be warm so that it would go through the little round piece of unmelted candy melt easily and not make too big of a hole. You want the hole just smaller than the lolipop stick which is why I used a skewer instead of the lolipop stick.

So here I am...making a hole in a candy melt with my skewer. :)

Now that you've got that done...you can do something else with your time like scrub the toilet or pull the weeds (yeah right!?) while you give your cake pop some alone time in the fridge.

After you've finished all your chores, its time to cover the cake pop and make this baby come to life! I use a large spoon to pour my chocolate over the pop rather than try to dip. And as I pour the chocolate over the pop I don't try at all to avoid the stick. In fact...ya gotta cover part of the stick to make the margarita's stem. Sweet!!! Love being able to be sloppy!! ;)

While the chocolate on the stick is still wet its time to put the base of the margarita glass on. All you have to do is slip it through the bottom of the lolipop stick and bring it up to the "stem".

Since the hole on the candy melt circle is slightly smaller than the width of the lolipop stick it will stay up pretty easily and stick to the melted chocolate on the stem.

Now, let the chocolate on the cake pop completely dry. While its drying you can make your strawberry topper.

Start off with a little ball of red fondant and some little "ropes" of green fondant. Shape the red so that the top is thicker than the bottom (like a strawberry). :)

Stack the green fondant ropes on top of each other in a criss cross pattern.

Add the stem to the red and use a black edible marker to add seeds. (seeds not shown in pic) And this is the point in my little tutorial where things got tricky. My kids needed me so I put the camera and sweet stuff down to play. Sooooo, I neglected my tutorial and didn't take any further pics. :( BAD BLOGGER! (I can see you all pointing and waving your fingers at me) ;)

Stay with me. though..I'll try to explain the last couple of steps which are pretty easy...

Make sure the chocolate on the pop has dried completely. Then put some melted chocolate in a plastic baggie, cut a hole in one of the corners. You will use this baggie to create a "rim" around the top of the margarita glass. Once you've got the rim on the top of the glass sprinkle some pink sugar. The sugar will only stick to the melted chocolate creating a rim for the margarita glass.

At this point add your strawberry and you've got one sweet little toddy.

(to make the lime I cut a candy melt in half and added white frosting for the embellishments)

Cheers@!!

Tipsy Tuesday: Trash into Treasure

This Tipsy Tuesday has nothing to do with sweets. Since I'm away from my kitchen (spending the long weekend at the lake) I'm having to improvise and find some kind of tip to bring you that has nothing to do w/ food. This week I'm focusing on partying!

If there is one thing I love its a good party on a BUDGET. I love finding ways to make a party special and exciting without breaking the bank. Planning ahead, buying things on clearance, making it yourself and searching thrift stores are just a few ways I like to keep the cost of a party down. Goodwill is one of my FAVORITE stores for fun finds! Some of y'all might be thinking EWWWWW, but whatever...get the stuff home, clean it and its good as new. :)

Now, the lake that I'm at doesn't have much to offer as far as shopping, but it does have a Goodwill and thats where I'm taking y'all today!!!! Lets go shopping and see what we can come up with!


First treasure: Basketball coasters. 2 packs of 4 (totalling 8 coasters) for $1. You could use these as coasters at a basketball or sports party or turn them into cupcake stands using my tutorial.

Don't wanna make a cupcake stand? Just buy one for a dollar. This was a candle holder but its the perfect size for a cupcake stand. OH MY WORD!!!! Going to an 80s Prom Party?? Get your 80s Fabulousness on w/ this out of control hilarious sequin dress. Even more 80s FAB in person. Picture does not do this dress justice!!!! lol

Need jars for a candy buffet? Look no further than your local thrift store for inexpensive options! These were a little over a dollar a piece!!! Can't beat that.

How great is this serving piece. Perfect for a nautical theme or even 4th of July (I know I know...4th of July is SO yesterday, very last season!) But for $3 you can't go wrong!

Having a dog themed party? There were about 12-15 dog collars in each bag ($3). These would be so cute for the kids to wear!!!! They could even make their own name tag to put on their collars. Adorable!! Wasn't that fun? I love this store. I'm telling you its like a playground for my imagination!

Next week I promise a dessert for my tipsy Tuesday. I'm thinking a tutorial on the margarita cake pops I recently made. I have received a few emails requesting one so I better hop to it before someone eggs my house out of frustration. ;) I totally would have done it today if I had access to my supplies. Stay tuned. :)

And in the mean time, go shopping!! Buy some junk and make it shine!

Tipsy Tuesday: Fourth of July

Today I'm going to show you how to make an American flag cake pop stand for your 4th of July celebration!

I think cake pops are a perfect dessert to serve at a party for several reasons. They're easy to serve (people can just help themselves), they're small so they don't pack on the pounds (adults won't be afraid to eat them), you can have a variety of flavors, and they're DELICIOUS (cake, icing and chocolate...what more could you ask for?)!!!
To make this stand you need to start off with an unfinished piece of wood. I found mine at Hobby Lobby yesterday. This week unfinished craft wood is 40% off. This piece was $2.99, 40% off...you do the math. ;)

I started off by painting it white.


Then I used masking tape to tape off a square for the blue.



Remove the tape and you have a somewhat flawless straight edge. You'll likely have to get a wet paper towel an wipe away any smears.



Then I use a yellow marker to mark where I wanted the stripes.
Taped off my stripes and painted the red (no need to do while stripes b/c you've already painted the wood white)...
Then I marked with a pen where I wanted the holes for the cake pops...

I found a drill bit that was the same width/size as the lolipop sticks and put my drill to work.



I'd like to take the time to thank my trusty ol' drill for assisting me with this project. Thats a lot of holes to drill and there was no complaint from my drill. ;)


Thank you drill, I can always count on you!
Once you've drilled your holes and made your cake pops its time to stick them in place to create one very cool cake pop display!


Just in case you're wondering how to do the star pops I made a little visual....

(hopefully this picture doesn't ruin it for you! The red velvet cake pop mixture seriously looks like a hamburger patty!) lol

I know some of you don't believe me, but it really isn't a hamburger patty ok.!?


Use a mini star cookie cutter to press into your cake pop mixture. Easy as that. Dip a lolipop stick in some candy melt and insert into the bottom of the star.

You have a star cake pop.

Have a Happy (and safe) Fourth of July!!!!!

Tipsy Tuesday:Celebrating the First Day of Summer!!

According to my calendar, today is officially the FIRST day of summer!!! (judging my outrageously high AC bill I'd say we're about 1/2 way into summer by now, but what do I know...the calendar is the one with all the power.)

So in honor of the first day summer I made a batch of ice cream cupcakes!

Don't they look delicious??

The only thing about these ice cream cupcakes is the ice cream won't melt!

In fact like most things here in Georgia during the summer, they're not even cold!

Sit them outside for an hour or two and they'll still look the same way. :)

I bet you're asking...

Its not melting b/c its not ice cream. :) Its buttercream icing!
(if there is anything better to kids than ice cream its a HUGE mound of icing on top of a cupcake) ;)


They're so easy and you don't have to be a cake decorator to do them!


Just make a batch of buttercream icing, stick it in the freezer or refrigerator, let it harden and then use an ice cream scooper to scoop out the icing. Stick it on top, drizzle some chocolate candy melts on top, add some sprinkles and top off with a fondant cherry.

Voila, ice cream cupcakes!

It doesn't get any easier than that!!

I mean, they really look like they're topped off with ice cream don't they!?!?
I love it!

Remember the pirate themed cupcake stand tutorial? I used the idea again for these cute little summer cupcake stands.

Aren't they precious?!?

Another little summer tip....gotta check out this fun freebie over at Shindig Parties To Go. Cute little cupcake toppers and bubble wrappers perfect for a summer party!

Tipsy Tuesday: Tie T-shirt!

Today's tipsy Tuesday has nothing to do with desserts, but its still sweet...

(b/c there is nothing sweeter than embarrassing your husband) ;)

Father's Day is almost here and we're in full out prepare mode! I was so excited when Amanda at Shindig Parties TO GO posted her Father’s Day Tie collection b/c not only is it gorgeous, FREE and FULL of great ideas, but also it gave me a great theme to work with! If you know me I love taking a theme and running with it!

So this father’s day I’m going Tie crazy! I plan on assisting the kids with tie themed crafts to make for their Daddy, I’m going to deck the house out in tie decorations, I’m making tie themed cake balls and I’m even “tie-ing in” the theme (see what I did there?) with matching shirts for the day!! (I know, my kids have the most embarrassing mom in the world, isn't it great?!)

Its going to be a Tie-riffic Daddy’s Day!!

I’ve seen this done on onesies for little baby boys and I’ve always adored them. Unfortunatly with two girls I never had a reason to make one. And since I’m not waiting around for a little boy to show up anytime soon, Father's Day is a great reason to make one!

Ok, so we've all heard it...guy complains about how he has to wear a tie. It cuts off his circulation, can't hardly breath, feels like he's on a leash, yadda yadda yadda. (try wearing panty hose!! Am I right ladies?!) Its a fact that guys don't really like wearing ties, so this year don't give him another boring ol' tie that he'll hate to wear. This year you're gonna give your celebrated man the most comfortable tie in the world!

Ties make you look smarter and feel smarter. People definitely take you more seriously if you're wearing a tie and NOW you can accomplish all these qualities in the comfort of a T-SHIRT! ;) You can't wear this shirt without feeling like you're “WINNING!” (whatever happend to that Charlie Sheen guy?).


Take my daughters for example…still feminine in their ties, but they definitely look like they know their way around the boardroom!

Ok, so I've made my sales pitch.

Did it work?

Wanna make one or two or three?

Listen up, I'll show you how!

First, get yourself a shirt or tank top. I got mine from Old Navy. Craft stores have inexpensive shirts too! You’ll need a little bit of fabric (two coordinating fabrics for each tie) and some Heat and Bond.

I used the sewable strength Heat and Bond on my shirts b/c I did an appliqué stitch around the edge. If you don’t have a sewing machine you can do a hand stitch. OR get a high strength Heat and Bond and don’t worry about sewing!

Use the template to trace your tie on the Heat and bond.

Once you have traced the tie onto the heat and bond, cut it out and iron it onto the back side of your fabric.

Then cut out the tie...

Do the same for the top part of the tie.

And now comes the fun part. Remove the paper backing from the Heat and Bond and iron it on your shirt, starting with the long part of the tie first.


Then add the “knot” of the tie, iron it on and TA DAAAAA!!!! You have a fancy shmancy tie shirt!


You can leave it like this or do an appliqué stitch to finish it off. Make it as difficult or easy as you please.





Here is mine… all business!! And I can vouch for its comfort. I worked out in mine. So comfortable I forgot I was even wearing a tie! ;)

My plan for Fathers Day is to go downstairs with the girls, make Brian some breakfast, decorate the kitchen and invite him down for some pancakes where the girls and I will be wearing our matching shirts. He’ll think cute! He’ll oooh and awww, all that good stuff…then I’ll surprise him with his and make him put it on. Wah ha ha ha ha (evil laugh)


Who knows what Brian is going to end up doing with it…this shirt may be pushing it for a grown man. (there, I admitted it) At the very least he can cut off the sleeves and use it as a yard work shirt which I’m totally fine with. Anyone who wears a tie while working in the yard means BUSINESS! I’m gonna have the best looking yard on the block! ;)




Hopefully I’ve inspired you to make your own tie t-shirt for your family or Dad of the hour.





Happy Fathers Day to all you great dads out there!!! Have a Tie-riffic Day!!!