Cupcake Toppers in ... 1 - 2 - 3

I have to confess that I am generally not a fan of cupcake toppers.  It is the snobby cake decorator in me that wants everything on a cake (or cupcake) to be edible.  Last year, when the craze for cupcake toppers hit, I was less than thrilled.  I like to expend creative energy on edible decorations.

However, I finally gave in.  Last August, my niece and nephew had a superhero birthday party.  They wanted cupcakes with "the little toothpick things" as the 3/4 year old described them.  I was walking down the kids craft aisle of the craft store, when I saw these foam stickers, and...BAM I knew what I was going to do.  I grabbed a bag of the stars, a paint pen, and headed to the checkout.

When I got home, I couldn't wait to get started.  I used the white paint pen, and a fine black sharpie to write on the foam stars.  I wrote superhero words like "bam," "pow," and "zap."  I also added a few "happy birthday's" and many letter "m's" for their names.  The stars already came with that fantastic border, so no other decoration necessary.  When I was done, I had a pile of stickers that looked like this:

To construct the topper all I had to do was pull the back off the foam stickers, and place a toothpick between two stickers (sticky sides together).

Stick in a cupcake, and you are ready to go!  How easy was that?  I used the "Grasshopper" (mint chocolate) cupcakes from this post, and chocolate cupcakes with strawberry icing.

Lisa's Beaded Snowflakes

Sorry this is late today.  My sister came in town last night, so we made these this morning.  My mom, Lisa, and her sister, Lori, designed these a few years ago.  Try different colors, styles, etc.  With a little adult supervision, and help, these are fun (mess-free) decorations that are fun for the whole family to make.  These make great ornaments, garland, or garnish on gifts!

Supplies

• Variety of beads
• 20 gage wire
• Wire cutter
• Needle-nose pliers
• Measuring tape/ruler
• Maybe a hot glue gun

Instructions

1. For each snowflake cut: one 5" wire, one 4" wire, two 3" wires
2. Take the needle-nose pliers and bend one end of each wire into a small circle

3. Thread the beads onto one wire.  I think that it looks nice when the beads mirror each other from the center.  The small wires look nice when they are similar to each other as well.
4. Leaving about 1/2 inch of bare space in the middle of the wire, bend the straight edge of the wire into another small circle

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each wire
6. Take the largest two wires (bend the largest wire around the other wire matching centers)
7. You should now have a "t"

8. Set one of the smaller wires at a diagonal to the "t"
9. Take the last wire, place it at the opposite diagonal and twist it all the way around the center of the other wires

10. If your snowflake is loose in the center, you can twist the two straight wires so that there is less room to wiggle
11. If the snowflake is still loose in the center, use a small dab of hot glue to secure all wires

Holiday Centerpiece

This is so easy to make, you will want to make one for a friend!

Supplies

• 3 packages of small glass ball ornaments (can buy at Michael's for $1.99, but they are often on sale for less)
• One small wreath, or straight spray (I liked the straight one, because it can turn into a smaller circle than most wreaths)
• 5 decorative pieces for wreath (there is a vast array to choose from at the craft store, pick ones that suit your taste)
• Small floating candle
• Glass candle holder (this one has a cylinder for a base, and then a hanging insert for the candle)
• One pair of scissors

Instructions

1. Remove all tags/stickers from supplies
2. Remove the glass balls from package
3. The ones I bought have a small wire sticking out the top of each one--cut the wire off using the scissors
4. Fill the base of the candle holder with the glass balls

5. Bend the straight wreath into a circle
6. Use one of the "branches" to wrap around the two ends (securing the wreath into a circle)
7. Place the decorations in even intervals around the wreath

8. Secure each decoration by pulling tight to the wreath and wrapping the stem of the decoration around the base of the wreath several times

9. Fill the top of the candle holder about 2/3 with water
10. Place the floating candle in the top of the holder
11. Place the wreath in the center of the table, and put the candle holder in the center of the wreath

Christmas Stocking

Materials (for one stocking):

• 1/2 yard double-sided quilted fabric
• 1 yard cording with lip
• 6 inches ribbon
• 1/3 yard or 1 fat quarter microfiber fleece
• matching thread

Supplies:

• Sewing machine--or needle
• Scissors
• Stocking Template (should print out, tape together, then cut)
• Cutting board, or measuring tape

Directions: (note all seam allowances are about 3/8 or 1/2 inch)

1. Fold quilted fabric in half
2. Pin template to the fabric (make sure to pin through both layers)
3. Cut through both layers to create front and back of stocking
4. Using a zipper foot, or a needle and thread, sew cording  onto the right side (the outside) of one side of the stocking (you will line up the edge of the lip with the edge of the fabric--you want to get as close to the cording itself as possible)
5. Put the two right sides together (the outsides so they are on the inside)
6. Sew the two sides together either by hand with a needle and thread, or on machine with the zipper foot
7. Cut the microfiber to a 10" by 18.5" rectangle
8. Sew the two short edges together (so you have a 10" tall cylinder with an 18" circumference)
9. Fold the fabric in half with the seam on the inside (you will now have a 5" tall cylinder with an 18" circumference)
10. Fit the cylinder over the stocking, matching the seam of the cylinder with the back seam of the stocking--over the heel (the raw edge of the cylinder should match the raw edge of the stocking)
11. Fold the ribbon in half
12. Place the ribbon between the stocking and the microfiber at the back seam, pinning the ribbon so the raw edge matches the raw edge of both fabrics
13. Sew the microfiber to the stocking
14. When you turn the stocking right side out, you should be able to fold the microfiber out so that the seam is on the inside of the stocking, and the ribbon is ready to hang the stocking
15. You may also choose to embellish with embroidery, applique, or cross stitching