FOURTH OF JULY YUMMINESS

Fourth of July is one of my family's favorite holidays.  We love to shoot off fireworks (and we live out in the country - kind of), have weenies & s'mores over the fire, and just be silly.  My sister's birthday is also July 1st, so we celebrate it at the same time.  This year I made some cute patriotic treats - cupcakes, pretzels and delicious M&M s'more bars.

CHOCOLATE BOUQUETS

People just love getting one of these chocolate bouquets.  I have tons of chocolate molds so I make chocolate lollipops, chocolate covered pretzel rods, chocolate covered Oreos and chocolate dipped marshmallows.  Wrap them up and tie with a ribbon and then I arrange them in a cup that has a piece of Styrofoam in the bottom.  And, sometimes I even luck out and find some of the cutest cups to use for these at my local Goodwill.  I sell cupcakes and cakes now, I'm thinking about adding these and cookies to my menu.

EASY CRAFTY FUN

I love easy projects.  I have a hairdresser friend who asked me to make her some jars to store bobby pins, barrettes, etc... in - but she wanted them cute.  I went to Goodwill and found some glass candlesticks in different sizes, used some spray paint (I  prefer the Rustoleum brand) some mason jars and cabinet knobs I had hanging around and Ta-Da!

 

So, since the spray paint was out, I painted some frames.  Then, I put some prints that I had purchased years ago from Pick Your Plum (check them out - great stuff at unbelievable prices). 

 

EASY CARD

I love it when I find an easy card that looks great and that can be customized for different occasions.  This was one of those.  I think I may mass produce more so I can have them on hand when I need them.

GIANT CUPCAKE

I just love making these giant cupcakes.  They are so pretty and once you get the hang of it, fairly simple.  I make the "liner" on the bottom from chocolate, so it gives the cake more stability.  And rosettes are so fun for anytime.  This was for my nephew's wedding.  They loved it.  I even made cream cheese mints to match.  The mints are special because my mom taught me how to make them when I was a little girl.