Baby you're a Firework!

There's everything to love about these!

I found the idea for these when looking for a "circus favor" for a first grade party.

You can find the original link to Carnival Popcorn Pops here.

They were such a hit, and so EASY! We knew we had to teach you how to make these.

And thanks to Michaela, you have a FREE printable to go with it!

Here's what you'll need:

{Makes 10}

• 20 cups Bagged Popcorn {much easier to avoid unpopped kernels this way}
• 3/4 cup Light Corn Syrup
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 2 Teaspoons of Cold Water
• 2 3/4 cup of Powdered Sugar
• 1 cup of Miniature Marshmallows
• Crisco
• Wax Paper Lined and Greased Cookie Sheet
• Paper Straws or Cookie Sticks
• Cellophane bags
• Patriotic Sprinkles
• Patriotic Fun Pix from Wilton
• Firework FREE Printable

In a large pot over medium heat, combine the corn syrup, butter, cold water, powdered sugar and marshmallows. Heat and stir the mixture until it comes to a boil. 

Remove from heat.

Add popcorn and sprinkles to pot, a little at a time so that each kernel is coated.

Spray a wax-paper lined cookie sheet with Pam.

Grease hands with Crisco and shape the coated popcorn into balls around the paper straw. You'll need to press these firmly together so it sticks. You'll also need to work quickly as the mixture will start to harden if you leave it in there too long.

Lay popcorn pop on cookie sheet to harden.

These will be perfect to give to the kids while we watch fireworks!

What a great treat to bring to the party you're invited to!

Want to dress them up a bit to give them away?

We came up with a cute way to "spark" them up!

These Fourth of July Fun Pix from Wilton can be found at most craft stores right now.

We even found them at Target!

Just stick the Fun Pix right into the top of the popcorn ball.

Then, add our cute FREE Printable!

Download the FREE Printable here

When life gives you Lemons....make pink Lemonade!

Michaela and I were honored when we were asked to design a Lemonade and Bake Sale Printable set, to help with a very sweet little girl in our community that has been battling cancer.

Today, we are happily sharing this set with you, along with a tutorial on how to make Pink Lemonade Cake Push-Pops.

We made these for the Bake Sale...didn't they turn out cute?

And they were so EASY!

Push Pop containers are showing up at all kinds of stores now. We've seen them at Target and Michael's recently. We purchased ours at a local cake supply store. The possibilities with these containers are endless! They can be used for any holiday and they are so fun to be whimsical with!

You'll need mini cupcake pans to make cake that will fit into these containers. Each container will need two mini cupcakes

For the Pink Lemonade Cake, we adapted Paula Deen's recipe.

Pink Lemonade Mini Cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

1 box of white cake mix

1 tsp grated lemon zest

2 tsp vanilla

3 Tablespoons sweetened pink lemonade drink powder

(we added pink icing color to get it a nice deep pink)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare cake batter according to the directions. To the batter, mix in lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder.

The pink lemonade powder will only give you a very light pink, so if you want your cupcakes to turn out a deep pink, add some pink icing color to the batter.

You can either spray the mini cupcake pans with Pam Baking Spray or use cupcake liners.

{You won't have any browning on the bottom if you use the liners}

We use a pancake pen to dispense batter into our cupcake pans. It makes it SO EASY! And no mess!

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Let the cupcakes cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then pop them out and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

You'll want to use a buttercream that keeps its shape for these push pops.

You can use your favorite recipe and add in the frozen concentrate or use ours:

Pink Lemonade Buttercream

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 Crisco stick

2 tsp vanilla

2 lbs of Powdered sugar

milk

frozen pink lemonade concentrate

Combine butter, Crisco, and vanilla in mixer and beat until smooth. Add in powdered sugar a cup at a time, alternating with a Tablespoon of milk and a Tablespoon of concentrate. You want your buttercream to be stiff to hold its shape but not too stiff so that it's hard to pipe in a bag. If it's too soft, add more sugar. Too stiff? Add more milk and concentrate.

We added yellow icing color to the buttercream.

Get your sprinkles out and fill a piping bag with the frosting.

Begin by placing the first layer of frosting, followed by sprinkles.

Stack one cupcake, then repeat frosting layer.

Repeat with the second cupcake and frosting/sprinkles.

Place lid on top....Tada!

Want to add the cute sticker to the container?

You're in luck!

It's part of the FREE printable set we are giving away to you!

All you'll need is sticker paper (or full sheet labels) to print them.

Then punch them in a circle with a 2.5 inch circle punch.

So cute!

This set includes everything you need for an adorable Lemonade/Bake Sale!

Push Pops Stickers

Table Cards

8x10 Lemonade Sign

"How Sweet You Are" Bunting

Cupcake Toppers

To download the printable set, click here.

You bring the Heat! {A Silhouette tutorial}

We were so THRILLED when Silhouette sent us the Heat Transfer Starter Kit!

So far, with this incredible machine, we've cut card stock, vinyl, chipboard, fabric and now we can make our own iron-ons? Simply awesome!

The starter kit comes with everything you need to start making your own designs!

5 different colors of heat transfer material, a hook tool and a download card for 10 free shapes!

With Father's Day approaching, we wanted to create something with the Silhouette for my man...                                  

"The King of the Grill."

In my house, my hubby loves his meat. 

He takes great pride in his rubs and marinades, and spends hours watching barbecue shows on TV. Then, he will spend an entire day prepping and cooking it, posting it on Facebook, texting pictures to his buddies, and then eating it with such a satisfied look on his face you'd think he just invented the next big thing. It's a piece of meat. I don't get it. But, it makes him happy.

Since it's his day on Father's Day, I wanted to make him something he could wear on his "barbecue days", so I went with his own special apron.

And Michaela created a free Father's Day printable to go with it! 

You can purchase blank canvas aprons at Michael's or any other craft store for under $5.

Using the Silhouette Studio, choose the wording and font you want, and a shape.

We found this perfect barbecue grill shape.

Once you lay out your design, be sure to mirror the text by "right clicking" it and select "flip horizontally". The text will now appear backwards on the screen.

Make sure when you are feeding the heat transfer material into the Silhouette you have the shiny side down. Select "Smooth Heat Transfer Material" or "Flocked Heat Transfer Material" when cutting.

Carefully and slowly peel the extra material away from the design. 

 Using the hook tool, pick out any of the remaining transfer material.

Cut all the pieces and begin arranging on your fabric.

Position the design face down onto the fabric so now you should see the wording or design correctly and not backwards.

Iron on to the fabric by placing a towel or thick piece of fabric over the heat transfer material and press firmly for 60-90 seconds.

You may have to do this more than once.

Gently peel the sheet away from the design. If all of the design does not stick to the fabric, repeat the ironing step until it does. Sometimes pieces will need more pressure and take longer to adhere.

Once you pull off the sheet, you'll need to iron it once again with the towel over the fabric.

Continue to do this with each piece.

Awesome!

Now to "spice" up the gift!

Add some barbecue tools and their favorite sauce and this HOT free printable!

To download the Father's Day free Printable click here.

So hooked you want your own Silhouette now?

To view the promotion click here.

Be sure to use the promotion code WHIMSICAL when you're checking out.

If you want to learn more about Silhouette heat transfer material, or other great Silhouette tutorials, visit their YouTube Channel here.

I'd Love to!

Parenting is hard.

Between the whining and complaining when we ask them to do something,

sometimes it's easier to just do it ourselves.

Until we heard these three magic words...

"I'd love to."

Michaela and I were visiting our dear friend April, who blogs at Power of Moms,

and we watched the magic happen right before our eyes.

Her son Spencer came into the room, and she asked him to do something, and he replied..

"I'd love to!"

Michaela and I {who have typical children} looked at each other.

Did that just happen?

Does she have some secret parenting skill we don't know about?

Apparently she does.

Just then, Spencer took a pom pom ball and put it into a jar.

April then revealed her "I'd love to" jar, and began to tell us of its magic.

Every time she asks her children to do something, if they reply with "I'd love to", they can put a pom pom in the jar.

When the jar is full, they get to go to frozen yogurt.

Genius.

Michaela and I went home and each made our own "I'd love to" jars.

{We used Silhouette Vinyl for the letters}

And you know what?

Its magic works at our house too!

Suddenly, our children are becoming more pleasant,

 and even saying "I'd love to" to each other.

Brothers and sisters getting along. 

It's almost too good to be true.

People are smiling again....all in the name of frozen yogurt.

{or whatever your family's favorite thing is!}

Let's Make-Up! {a Silhouette Tutorial}

We are LOVING all of the fun products that Silhouette sends us!

This month we received their Fabric Interfacing.

Not only can the Silhouette cut paper and vinyl, but it cuts fabric too!

We were so excited to try it out!

Since it was our first time using it, we wanted to start simple.

We created this make-up bag and we were done in a half hour. So cool!

Imagine the possibilities!

Here's what you need:

• Silhouette Electronic Cutter
• Silhouette Fabric Interfacing {clean cut}
• Fabric blade
• Cosmetic bag or tote bag
• Fabric
• Silhouette Cutting Mat
• Coordinating button or embellishment

We found these great plain white cosmetic bags at Michael's for $3.99 a piece.

This project could also be done on a tote bag as well, but we thought these make-up bags were so cute! They were even plastic lined on the inside for all your cosmetics.

To begin, open the package of the Silhouette fabric interfacing.{we used the clean cut}

{**Note: the sewable fabric interfacing is for projects that 

will be sewn once the interfacing is ironed on.}

Depending on the size of your design, cut a piece of the interfacing about and inch bigger than your shape you will be cutting out.

Then take the fabric you want for the lettering and cut out a piece that is an inch bigger than the interfacing.

Take the fabric and iron out any wrinkles and turn it over so the back of the fabric and the rough side of the interfacing are touching.

Iron the interfacing onto the back side of the fabric, pressing down firmly.

Once it is adhered to the fabric, cut the fabric down to the same size as the interfacing.

Then gently peel the backing off. The interfacing will now be adhered to the fabric.

Now, with the interfacing side down, adhere to your cutting mat.

And load it into the machine.

Using Silhouette Studio, we selected a font we liked (Pacifico)

and typed the word "hello". 

Select "fabric" in the cut settings and adjust your fabric blade to 3.

Here we go!

Once it is cut and unloaded, peel the fabric off and your cut design will remain on the mat. Use the hook tool or a craft knife to peel off the insides of the letters.

Now your design is ready to be pulled off and placed on your bag.

 Lay it on your bag just where you want it. It's now ready to iron on.

Iron on to the fabric for about 8 to 10 seconds.

Cute right?

Just to make it a bit more "whimsical" we wanted to add a layered flower to the top.

We chose a flower shape in the Silhouette Studio and made them all different sizes.

We used two different colored fabrics and repeated the steps for adhering the interfacing to the fabric.

 Once the flower shapes have the interfacing on them, iron them on to the bag, alternating the fabrics.

Add a button to the middle with some hot glue and you're done!

We seriously couldn't love it more!

My head is spinning with ideas...who knew it would be so easy?

If you've been wanting a Silhouette, now is a great time to pick one up!

If you already have a Silhouette, DO NOT miss out on this Fabric Bundle!

You are basically getting almost half of it for FREE!

For more about the promotion or to purchase, click here.

Make sure you use the promotion code WHIMSICAL  to get the discount!