Cupcakes with DIY Dora Toppers

It might not be the fastest (or the most cost-effective), but I'm a firm believer that the best way to get something that looks like the image you have in your mind is to make it yourself. Now this post doesn't claim to be #fail free, but I hope it helps you create something you'll love.

My 2 year old loves Dora, so it only made sense to have a Dora the Explorer theme for her 2nd birthday party. Since I love baking and decorating, there was never any doubt in my mind that I would be making the cake for the party.  

Last year I made a cake for her Spongebob Squarepants themed party. I was really happy with how it came out and I received lots of compliments on it.

This year I decided to do cupcakes. I looked around for Dora character cupcake toppers, but the stores in my area didn't have anything I really wanted. The ones that I found for sale online were either the ones from stores that I had already seen, or for sale at an Etsy-type shop. I do see the irony here, as I own an Etsy shop myself, but I don't particularly like buying stuff online - especially if it's something that I can make myself.

So I decided to make my own cupcake toppers.

I like the idea of at least having the option to eat the decorations if you so desire. I've made marshmallow fondant before, and I like it because it's pretty easy - it only takes marshmallows, confectioners (or powdered) sugar, vanilla, shortening (or butter) and food coloring.

I used this recipe from cakewhiz.com:

Marshmallow Fondant

1 bag (~10oz) white marshmallows

3-4 cups confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or any other extract)

vegetable shortening or butter as needed

(these are my paraphrased directions - see below for more)

1. Melt marshmallows and add the water and vanilla. 

2. Mix confectioners sugar into the marshmallow 1 cup at a time until the mixture is a dough-like consistency.

3. Knead.

4. Add coloring.

5. Roll and cut.

 I melted the marshmallows on the stove top instead of in the microwave, just because that's how I like to melt marshmallows. (The link has directions for melting in the microwave, but if you do it on the stove, stir continuously until all the marshmallows have completely melted.) I used regular vanilla (not the clear kind) because I wasn't keeping any of the fondant white. Also, I readily admit that I'm kind of a baby about getting my hands all sticky, so I incorporated the sugar and marshmallow in my stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until I absolutely had to use my hands. 

Once the fondant had formed a smooth ball in the mixer, I buttered up my hands and went to kneading. (I think I would have preferred using Crisco, but I didn't have any at the time and the butter worked just fine.) DO NOT under-lubricate your hands for this part... it can get super sticky. I separated it into four parts and kneaded in the food coloring. (The fondant recipe tells you to let the fondant sit overnight... I skipped that and went right to coloring and using it.) I recommend putting each ball into an airtight container/bag while you do the other colors to prevent it from stiffening up. I used the liquid drops that you can find anywhere - which generally isn't recommended, but it's what I had - next time I want to try using the pigment powders I've seen at Michael's craft stores.

I heavily buttered up my counter and my rolling pin and rolled out the fondant. It took a little trial and error to get it to the right thickness - too thin and the shapes stretched out when I tried to move them - I found that ~1/4 inch worked well, but it also depends on the consistency (stretchiness?) of your particular fondant. I used cookie cutters from my box of 100 different cookie cutters (which I highly recommend for any kitchen). 

I cut several of each shape into each color and put them on a piece of parchment paper that I had dusted with confectioners sugar to make sure they wouldn't stick.

Once I had all my shapes cut I had to figure out how I was going to decorate them. I hate the black frosting that you can buy in grocery stores - it turns your mouth a weird green color, and it tastes funny. Since I've learned the magic of cocoa powder in baking, I knew it would be my answer.

I searched recipes for "cocoa decorators icing", and I came across this recipe by Created by Diane:

Chocolate Glaze Icing

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon corn syrup

4 tablespoons milk/water

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

I added a few drops of purple, green, and yellow food coloring to try to make the icing a darker brown color, but the cocoa did most of the work for me. If you look really closely you can see that it's brown, but it was dark enough for what I wanted to do with it. I used a Wilton's decorating bag and free-hand drew on different patterns and Dora characters. Once I had all the pieces decorated I set them on a cooling rack so they would stiffen up and be easier to handle and transport.

Next time I might just make colored sugar cookies instead of using fondant. I'm sure the results would look the same and I wouldn't have to worry about them stretching since they're baked.

And that's it for the toppers - now on to the frosting!

I'm not totally against store-bought stuff - for the cake I used Funfetti cake mix. However, any time I make store-bought cake mixes I always substitute butter for the oil (I use equal parts even though I'm pretty sure that's not the official baking conversion). Frosting from a container isn't that bad either, I do use it sometimes. For this, I wanted to make my own.

I like buttercream frosting. I knew that I didn't want to deal with any raw eggs (though I suppose I would if I bought pasteurized eggs/egg whites) which some buttercream recipes use. "American" buttercream frosting is basically just confectioners sugar and shortening/butter (depending on the recipe) with a flavoring extract. The problem - besides the sobering realization of what the best part of the cake is actually made of - is that when I've made it in the past, it's had a cornstarchy taste and a texture that feels a little grainy (it's the sugar's fault, since it does have cornstarch in it). So I searched "buttercream frosting that doesn't taste like confectioners sugar".

Thankfully, I found this recipe at reluctantgourmet.com (from The Whimsical Bakehouse by Kaye Hansen and Liv Hansen):

House Buttercream Frosting

3 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup boiling water

1 1/3 cups shortening

3 1/2 ounces (7 tablespoons) butter, cool and cut into pieces

(directions quoted from the link)

Fit your mixer with the whisk attachment. Put sugar and salt in the bowl. Add the vanilla and boiling water and whisk on medium-low speed until smooth and cool. Then add the shortening and the butter. Whisk until smooth. Then, increase the speed and whip on medium-high speed until the frosting is very light and fluffy and has doubled in volume. This could take up to 15 minutes, so be patient. You can flavor this with other extracts, as well - almond, butter, even peppermint.

I thought the results were fantastic! The key is the boiling water - it takes that cornstarch taste out and it makes the frosting super silky smooth. I was a little unsure of how much I would need for 50 cupcakes, some of which would have chocolate frosting. I made two batches of this vanilla buttercream, and I divided each batch into 3 parts and mixed in food coloring. I ended up with way more than I need, but was glad that I had the extra.

I also wanted some chocolate frosting. Normally I would have made an additional batch of buttercream and added cocoa powder, but I had used all the shortening I had and wasn't going back out to get more.

Google led me to this recipe from savorysweetlife.com:

(entirely quoted from the link)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or ½ pound), softened (but not melted!)
3½ cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract
4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

While I advise it, I did not sift my dry ingredients - it's not absolutely necessary, but it guarantees a totally silky frosting. I added more cocoa powder and heavy cream until I had the taste and consistency that I wanted, and I ended up with a decadently chocolaty frosting that I was really happy with.

 Now this part gets pretty specific to my particular circumstances (and comes with a story), but I'm sharing because I imagine that it might help someone at some point. The party was going to be held at my parents' house, and I was worried about how to transport the cupcakes - I wasn't going through all this work just to have them smoosh in the car. So I decided that I would make everything at home and then assemble the cupcakes at my parents' house.

While I love the Wilton's decorating bags, I know that zip-lock bags work just as well and it seemed better for transportation. I put a gallon-sized zip-lock bag over an empty bowl and scooped the frosting in.

I don't own a cake/cupcake carrier - I don't need it often enough to invest in one. I carried the unfrosted cupcakes in (non-greasy) pizza boxes that I had aired out and lined with foil. After I frosted the cupcakes the lids almost closed all the way, and I left them in the boxes overnight before the party.

As always, I hope this post was helpful and gave you some inspiration!

Just a tiny disclaimer - I do not claim ownership of Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer characters or images.

Stay connected! If you'd like to keep up do date with what I'm doing, making, and selling:
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Stitchin Stina's Custom CRAFTS!

*If you found your way here through a Stitchin Stina's social media account, thanks for stopping by!
If you follow this blog already, thank you, too!

Here's how you can stay connected to my projects, DIY's, recipes, items for sale, and reviews:

follow the blog

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follow on Pinterest

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Your support is greatly appreciated!*

Sitting in the heat and humidity of the past week here in New England, it's difficult to think about crocheting. All that yarn...and hats...and blankets... No thank you. I am working on some pairs of shark slippers for someone, but I have to admit that crocheting tends to take a back seat in my mind once it starts getting warmer.

Nice weather, graduation parties, and my daughter's upcoming birthday have had me painting, baking, and crafting. Regrettably, the Facebook page to support my Etsy shop has been particularly quiet lately, while my blog has been abuzz. I've shared a few blog posts on the page, but a DIY Cozy Coupe tutorial seems out of place on a page for a shop that sells crocheted items. So I feel that it's time to broaden the page to include more.

In addition to offering different products, I wanted the page to be a place where I can share things. I have no shame in cross-self-promoting (I don't know if that's a thing, but it sounds good) all over my social media spots, but even if you don't want to buy something from me, I'd still like to share with you what I've been working on.

Here's what's new on all the social media accounts: any and everything that I've been making or baking - including my own DIY tutorials (like this one for a Cozy Coupe paint job), recipes (like this Coconut Cheesecake Brownie recipe), images of recent craft projects, and reviews of "Pinterest Successes" - found it, (re)pinned it, did it, and here's how it went for me.

As far as the Etsy shop itself is concerned, this is
Stitchin Stina's Custom Crafts' Mission:
To provide you with a product that is custom-made, just for you, exactly the way you want it. My crafting services are here to help create your vision.

Always, always, always, thank you for your support! Any like, share, retweet, (re)pin, +1, is greatly appreciated!

Coconut Cheesecake Brownies Recipe

updated: 6/3/13

I wanted more coconut flavor, so it occurred to me to add some sweetened shredded coconut. I was pretty pumped with the results. It's a totally optional ingredient, though, if you don't like the texture. I've also added a note about the pan.



This summer I have four high school or college graduation parties to attend, and I needed a new dessert to add to my repertoire.

With my girls getting older, they're able to play together more (my 7 month old is standing up on her own now, and every time she gets up it looks like she's about to run after my 2 year old). It gives me a few more minutes to get things done throughout the day - and little more time to bake (she said with a devilish grin!)

So since I do love to bake (I'll be honest, I love food - I just wish it didn't show lol) I was pretty excited when it occurred to me to combine two of my favorite recipes - and the results were delicious!

The first part of this recipe sounds simple enough, it's a brownie recipe - but not just any brownies. (No, I can't write anything without a little background story...) My husband and I love watching Food Network, and I think Alton Brown is the man, and I was so sad when I saw that there would never be a new episode of Good Eats again. One of the best recipes I've ever learned from watching Good Eats is Alton's cocoa brownie recipe (in the Art of Darkness II: Cocoa episode). I will never make brownies from a box again because of this recipe.

Then comes the second part of my dessert mash-up. This past Mothers' Day my mom made one of the most delicious (non-chocolate) pies I've ever had. She got the recipe for this Piña Colada Icebox Pie from her boss - it was printed out, but of course I had to find it online and pin it. It's heavenly (and rich!) with a cookie and coconut flake crust, a layer of pineapple, a layer of coconut cheesecake, topped with coconut whipped cream. It was a big hit at the first grad party of this summer, and I highly recommend it.

I was making three of the Piña Colada pies (two for back-to-back parties and one to keep at home she grinned again) and I ended up with extra coconut cheesecake mix. That's when it hit me...........make the brownie batter and combine them!!

And then the heavens opened and a choir of angels rejoiced - okay, okay, I am exaggerating, but it felt pretty momentous at the time.

So, finally, here's the recipe:
(The recipe that follows quotes from both Alton's recipe and the Piña Colada pie recipe. Also, please read the note about the pan you're using before you start.)

Cocoa brownie batter
Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1-1/4 cups cocoa
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) melted butter

Coconut cheesecake mix
Ingredients:

1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup cream of coconut (make sure to shake/mix it well before you use it)
1 large egg
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Grease pan.
3. Prepare brownie batter as follows:
4. Beat all 4 eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Do not over-beat. Add vanilla.
5. Sift all dry ingredients together in one bowl.
6. With the mixer on low speed, mix the dry ingredients - about 1/3 of it at a time - into the eggs until combined.
7. On low speed, slowly pour in the melted butter until combined. Set brownie batter aside.
8. Prepare coconut cheesecake mix as follows:
9. Beat cream cheese until smooth.
10. On low speed, slowly pour in cream of coconut until combined.
11. Add egg and shredded coconut and mix until just combined.
12. Pour about 1/2 of the brownie batter into the pan and spread to form a base layer.
13. Spoon remaining brownie batter on top of base layer, either in stripes or in a checkerboard pattern, leaving empty spaces in between.
14. Pour coconut cheesecake mix between brownie batter, into empty spaces.
15. Drag a knife back and forth across the pan (once) and up and down the pan (once) to create a marbled effect.
16. Bake at 300 degrees F for 40-45 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out almost clean. (If you like your brownies more firm and less fudgy, bake until the toothpick comes out totally clean.)
17. Let cool on rack.
18. ENJOY!

Basically you're making the cocoa brownies and marbling in the coconut cheesecake. If you want to see the brownie batter made step-by-step, I highly recommend watching the Good Eats episode. Alton can explain why doing all the same steps really makes a difference in how they turn out.

Just in case you're curious, I use all-purpose flour, table salt, Hershey's cocoa, Coco Lopez cream of coconut, and Philadelphia cream cheese. (No one is paying me, those are just my personally preferred brands.)

About the pan... when I make brownies I always use the Perfect Brownie Pan (as seen on TV) - one of the most useful gifts I've ever received. I admit that before I used it I was skeptical, but it is the perfect brownie pan, just make sure you Pam the heck out of it. I can't speak for any results when using brownie mix from a box, but from-scratch brownies come out amazing with this pan. While I've never tried the method that Alton uses in the episode, I have no doubt that it's also amazing - Alton has never led me astray.

The Perfect Brownie Pan is ~11in x 7in. If you're using a pan this size, you should half the coconut cheesecake mix (or half the brownie batter if you'd rather have more coconut), since everything won't fit in that pan without making a mess. While I haven't tried it, my best guess is that a 9in x 13in pan would use all of the brownie batter and cheesecake mix.

image from http://www.asseenontvbazar.com/kitchen-products/perfect-brownie-pan/

I also wanted to mention the cream of coconut. Until my mom needed it to make the pie the first time, I had literally never heard of it. I had no idea that it's used to make Piña Colada cocktails/smoothies. My mom searched all over her local grocery store, but they don't carry it (she lives in a small town). Luckily, the liquor store there does carry it. I live in a city, and the grocery store had several cans in the International section. While I didn't need to try it, I found out from Googling that you can substitute with sweetened condensed milk with coconut extract added to taste if necessary.

I'm so glad that I had this ah-ha! moment, and I hope you enjoy - feel free to share how yours came out, too!

Stay connected! If you'd like to keep up do date with what I'm doing, making, and selling:
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DIY marbled nail polish technique - a review

yikes...I should have worked on my cuticles before I took this pic...

As I may have mentioned once or twice (more like one million times), I check out Pinterest at least once a day. (I justify that I check-in several times but only for a few minutes each time.) I ran into this pin and knew that I had to keep it in mind for the near future, as my nails have been looking pretty shabby lately. I'm not really explaining the how-to, myself - I've included the step-by-step pic and links to the blog in this post. So more accurately, this is my review of the "Dry water marbling" method (as explained by Enamel Girl).

*Background story warning!*

(I'm only warning you because I know this part could get slightly long and a little off-topic, I might even hop up on my soapbox....)

I've had my Massachusetts State Manicuring License for five years now. I'd love to be able to say "I'm a licensed Nail Technician," like I used to, but sadly, I haven't worked on clients for several years now.

(Here's where I might start to go astray...) I LOVE nails. When I started going to cosmetology school it was to become a cosmetologist - hair, nails, facials... the whole deal. After we hit the nail chapter in our textbook, I knew I wasn't as interested in hair so much, and I switched to the Manicuring program.

Luckily, I got a job in a salon immediately after graduating and getting my license. My goal was to be professional and educational to clients in an industry where there's a horrendous amount of smoke and mirrors. I worked in four different salons in the span of one year. In an effort to stay concise, I'll say that my experiences working in salons was incredibly disheartening - issues with pay and licensing, and competition within the industry made it really difficult for me.

A quick (soapbox) side-note: If you love getting your nails done, you owe it to yourself to find a good, licensed Nail Technician who practices proper sanitation procedures.

(Wooo-sahhh. I'm literally about to explode having only said that tiny bit - maybe I'll write a horrendously long and unnecessary scathing review of what I encountered some day.)

During my time as a practicing Nail Technician, I joined an online community of Nail Techs that was tremendously helpful and educational. I frequented those boards then as much as I do Pinterest now. I also subscribed to Nails Magazine (and had my artwork featured in it a few times...just a little toot of my own horn) and I learned SO many helpful tips and techniques.

*End background story*

I did my own gel nail enhancements for several years, and while I still have all the supplies to do it, I never have the uninterrupted block of time that I need to do them. So now I stick strictly to polish. The trade-off is that it doesn't take as long each time I do my nails, but the polish doesn't have the staying power of gel (I think the tricky word that salons are using now is shellac), so I have to do them more often.

this is the pinned image that I found via imgfave.com

check out the original Enamel Girl blog post here

Once I saw the pin, I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about this method! Using a zip-lock bag to create your own custom decals is great if you're doing someone else's nails - you can do them ahead of time - or if you're doing your own - I can do certain things with both hands, but not draw details. I never thought about doing marbling with it!!

I've done water marbling before, but it creates too much of a mess. (If you're not familiar with it, basically you drop droplets of nail polish onto water; the drops spread out; you use a toothpick to create the marble effect; you dip your nail into the water and the polish transfers to your nail, beautifully marbled, with water and extra polish everywhere. Enamel Girl's experience is a great example.)

Here's why I love this method so much:

Time. Truthfully, this probably is not the best way to do it if you need your nails painted right now. There's a bunch of drying time that needs to be taken into consideration. I did my marbling on the bag and didn't get around to applying it until the next day, which ensured that it was dry. At the same time, the polish is "drier" faster than if you applied polish normally.

Be choosy. With the whole strip of marbling at your disposal you can choose which swirls you want centered on the nail. I second Enamel Girl's recommendation to cut small sections instead of trying to use the whole strip at once.

No mess! Water marbling can get pretty messy. You could put Vaseline around the perimeter of your nails, but you're still left cleaning Vaseline off your hands afterwards - and some polish would probably still get on your skin. This technique eliminates the mess.

Leftovers! Shortly after finishing my mini-mani, I ruined the polish on one of my nails, but it was no problem since I had some marbling left! It was a super quick and convenient fix. Also, you can make several strips of marbling and save what you don't use for your next polish change! (Enamel Girl also does this in her Take Two post.)

More than just marbling... As I mentioned before, this is a method that's often used to make your own nail decals, too. Have a fairly translucent polish that needs several coats for total coverage? While I haven't tried it, I think putting down your layers of polish on the bag (until it's opaque) would be more convenient than doing it directly on your nail.

There are possible drawbacks to this method:

Time. More accurately, patience. Make sure to wait for the base coat on the zip-lock bag to dry before you do the stripes for marbling - if it's too wet/tacky and you scratch down all the way to the bag it'll come off in pieces and have gouges that you'll have to fix later.

Leftovers. You have to get rid of the excess that you trim away from your nail (unless you wanted to save it for a weird Frankenstein kind of look...) and that's technically wasted polish.

My recommendations when using this method:

(this might be repetitive if you've waded through the whole post - sorry, but thanks!)

Don't try to use plastic wrap - just trust me on this one. I don't think a regular fold-over sandwich bag would work, either, but I didn't try it with one.

Wait for the base coat on the zip-lock bag to dry before you do the marbling step.

When applying the strips of marbled polish, brush only one thin base coat on your nail - just enough to make the surface of your nail tacky so the marbling adheres.

Wait several hours before applying your top coat. This gives the base coat on your nail time to set.

Enamel Girl's picture from her post Dry Marble - Take Two - she takes great nail pics

an example of water marbling from Enamel Girl's Blue Ice Water Marble

 A note to other lovers of polish/nails - I'm aware that Enamel Girl didn't invent this, but her tutorial (and blog) is the one that I happened to come across - and she posts great nail pictures!

Stay connected! If you'd like to keep up do date with what I'm doing, making, and selling:
follow my blog

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follow me on Pinterest

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Your support is greatly appreciated!

Let's Keep Pinterest Amazing

While browsing Pinterest's Popular board, I saw a pin about organizing your Pinterest. (Did I remember to like or repin it? Of course not. But if I ever run into it again, I'll be sure to post the link here.)

I was initially confused - isn't the whole point of Pinterest to organize the cool stuff you find? Why would you need to organize it? (I've been pinning my fingers off since February, often lamenting, "Damn Pinterest for organizing the internet!" I realize that search engines and bookmarks serve the same purpose, I just particularly like the format of Pinterest - it's even replaced Google for me in some instances.)

The writer (she, I'm pretty sure) talked about how some links end up going bad, some are just to pictures with much-needed explanations, and she talked about (most importantly, in my opinion) the importance of the originator of the content getting the credit.

Realizing that I want my Pinterest to be the best that it can be - actually helpful and functional - I knew that I needed to go through all of my pins. As I publish this post, I have 485 pins and 26 boards, so it's currently a slow, plugging-along kind of progress - but progress nonetheless. I wanted to share my specific strategies in this process because - I think - some of these things will make Pinterest a better place in general.

As I go through my pins and boards, I remind myself to:

Give credit where it's due.
Pinterest itself makes note of this in the Pinterest 101 section, but I think the concept bears repeating.
I'm dismayed by how many images there are on Pinterest (especially the step-by-step ones!) that don't link to the creator's original post or even mention them. Isn't that why we publish stuff...to get a little bit of credit for the work we've done? (I feel simultaneously selfish and justified on this point.)
At the same time, I don't want it to seem like I'm the one taking credit for other people's ideas.
I think the best way to do this is to try to find where the pin originated from. For example, I have this pin, but it only links to a step-by-step image (which does give credit, but doesn't include the exact link). I found the original blog post and added the link to the description. This may take a little digging and a few more clicks than usual, but I think it's worth it in the end. (In some cases I would just create a brand new pin with the same content, but I liked the compactness of the picture in this case.)

Write your own detailed descriptions.
I didn't do this at all for most of my first pins. I just repinned, and repinned, and repinned, and repinned......... and it made for a little bit of a mess.
Firstly, it gives the impression that you authored the description yourself - which can be awkward if you don't read the description until later on ("Can't wait to do this for my son's birthday!" I don't have a son, lol).
Secondly, it may seem like the pin offers more than just a picture (like a tutorial). Many of my pins are just images, but now I make note of that in the description. I also note if the source is in another language.

Click on the link.
I also rarely did this when I started out, and it ties directly into my previous point. I get super disappointed when I think I'll be sent to a great how-to blog post, but it turns out to be a site just like Pinterest in a different language - it gives me inspiration but no help with execution. Again, detailed descriptions help with this, too.

Make your boards specific when you need them to be.
I started out thinking that I would only need a few boards. It quickly became clear that a few simply wasn't enough. Since one of my favorite hobbies is crocheting, I have tons of crochet pins. "Crochet" became too vague, so I created "Crochet: inspiration"; "Crochet: free patterns"; "Crochet: patterns for sale"; and "Crochet: techniques and tutorials". I also categorized my recipes - sweets, drinks, dinner. I currently only have one board for sewing with a few pins on it, but as I add sewing pins I'll probably add more boards. This has been SO much more helpful when I want to find things again.
I think it also makes it nicer for people who follow you, too. I love that I have the option to follow select boards to ensure that my home feed is full of things that I like and thin on those that I don't.Yes please, "Sewing tips". No thank you, "Paleo diet" (that's just me though, and god bless anyone who can stick to the paleo diet).

Clean up.
Simply delete (or re-describe) pins to blogs that have been removed or have bad content, unless you can't live without the image for some reason, and make notes in the description.

In the post that lead me to doing this, the author noted that it took her 3 solid hours to go through her Pinterest. I personally wouldn't have that much time to do it all at once (I imagine many others who read this wouldn't either) so I've been going from board to board, pin by pin - I had started doing each pin as it appeared in the list of all my pins - that felt super overwhelming very quickly. I've also started practicing what I call "responsible pinning" where I do all of the aforementioned as I repin, instead of after.

Moral of the Story:
I don't claim to be any kind of an expert on Pinterest - I am certainly not one. But I do think that Pinterest is a valuable tool, and my fellow Pinners and I should do our best to maintain it and keep it amazing.

Updated 7/1/13: Shortly after publishing this post, Pinterest announced that they had added a feature that lets you search only your pins, which has become super helpful - even for someone whose pins are pretty organized.
In addition, I feel compelled to note that I've been disappointed lately by how many image-only and "3rd party" pins I've run into. It's made me realize how important it is to watermark your pictures - not only for proper credit, but to give Pinners a place to look when they want more info about the image. I feel a responsibility to skip repinning a link to a "repinned" site and create a pin straight from the source - it's just so much easier to navigate to where the information is actually located.
Let's continue to keep Pinterest inspiring, helpful, and amazing!

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Mothers' Day gifts: footprint paintings

As I mentioned in my very first post, I want to use this space to share the Pinterest-inspired projects that I've finished. I saw lots of cute handprint and footprint gift ideas leading up to Mothers' Day - like these adorable penguins, these reindeer, this bouquet, and these butterfies. (You can follow my "Great gift ideas" board here.) I particularly liked the butterflies, and I thought they would make great Mothers' Day gifts for my mom and mother-in-law. I do realize that - technically - they would be more appropriate Grandparents' Day gifts, since they are my daughters' feet and all, but my hubby and I just knew our moms would love them.

Occasionally my husband will accuse me of being slightly hoarder-ish, but I maintain that I only save stuff that I know I will eventually use. I admit I was pretty proud of this habit when I didn't have to spend a penny on this project. I had some canvases that I had planned on using for wall decor, but that just never came to fruition. (This is a famous move of mine... big ideas that are never fully realized - an unfortunate tendency I've had since way before Pinterest was even around.) I used acrylic paint that's been sitting in my craft box for quite some time. I was disappointed to find that many colors had completely dried up, but relieved that the primary colors had survived. I've been saving brushes from paint-by-number kits and other craft sets forever, all of which also end up in my craft box. I finished both paintings with some glitter paint that my mom had found in her house. (Do I want that *insert craft-related item that's still in usable condition*? The answer is always yes.)

I painted this one for my mom. She loves pansies and gardening. It's supposed to look like a little garden sitting in a field/back yard covered with dandelions and violets - I was going for a stylized realistic look.(Having taken many art classes, I've learned the right semantics to be able to "rationalize" any awkward proportions that might occur when I paint - hehe - which is why the pansies look huge and have no stems or leaves.) The feet on the left are my nephew's - he was not a fan of the footprinting process. I was shocked at how well my girls' footprints came out, however if you look closely you can see that I tried to reprint one of the middle ones.

This one is my mother-in-law's - her name is Rose. I wanted this one to look more abstract, but I wanted the roses to look realistic, so I used the great diagrams from this blog (after searching for "how to paint a rose" on Pinterest. Watch out Google...). This time neither of my girls wanted to unscrunch their toes enough for really clear prints, but you can still clearly tell that they're feet. When I do another footprint project I either won't put as much paint on their feet (hopefully reducing toe scrunching) or I'll use an ink pad instead of paint.

Mothers' Day was really nice this year - I saw my mom and grandmothers on the actual day-of, and hubby and I took the girls to see his mom later in the week. As we anticipated, they both loved their gifts - you can't lose with grandchild-related anything lol. Besides the paintings, I have to mention that I got a pretty fantastic gift from hubby, as well - my new Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 makes Pinterest even more amazing! (In reality the tablet is for the whole family to use, but I got to pick all the backgrounds and set up the home screens and all.) He gets a gold star this year haha.

I had lots of fun with these and can't wait for a reason to do it again!

Stay connected! If you'd like to keep up do date with what I'm doing, making, and selling:
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DIY Cozy Coupe Paint Job

I have to admit that I'm pretty excited to be sharing my first "tutorial". I say it like that because I don't want to try to represent myself as the one who came up with these ideas, I'm merely showing you how it went for me when I (approximately) replicated what others have already done. I am, by no means, the first person to do a tutorial about this (just Google "cozy coupe paint jobs" ...you'll see). But I'm also not one who usually takes pictures as I work, mostly because (even if I've done some research beforehand) I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda gal, so sharing my step-by-step process creates the potential for embarrassment. I've decided to embrace that as part of the fun from the beginning. Having said all that... here we go!!

Before

So let me start out by saying that it was never my intention to make this sad, old, faded cozy coupe look brand new again. My goal was to do somewhat of a practice run (because I know I'll be doing it again hehe) while making this ride a little customized and girly.

Materials

For this revamp, I used:

• spray paint (3 cans of color, 2 cans of clear matte)
• coarse sand paper
• medium sanding sponge
• painter's tape
• plastic drop cloth
• phillips head screwdriver (not pictured)
• flat head screwdriver (not pictured)
• plastic grocery bags (not pictured)

I know for a fact that I spent more money than I needed to on this, but it was mostly to save time. I'm sure I could have found some painter's tape, an old sheet, and some unused sandpaper if I looked hard enough - but I did not....

Unscrew here

I didn't take a before picture, but the little buttons that are usually right there cover the screws, one on each side. Those two (phillips head) screws are the only thing that attach the roof to the body. One of the screw-cover buttons on this coupe was broken so I just got rid of them altogether. Once the roof is off, the poles pull right out.

It's a mystery...

I wanted to remove the door, but I didn't really know how. This peg is what holds the poles in the front in place (there's another one on the other side, the steering wheel is blocking it here). This one also goes all the way through to the underside of the car to hold the door on. I didn't know what tool to use, if it could come off at all, and it didn't seem vital that it come off, since the new paint would just end up rubbing off inside that joint anyways.

Silver accessories

I wanted to paint the little tikes logos, the key and the thing that looks like it's supposed to be a gas cap (was there an awesome little tikes gas station play set that I never knew about??). The cap came right out. I pried the logos off knowing that I might break them in the process. One of them did break, one did not. I also knew I'd probably break the key, too, but I yanked it out anyways. All these little pieces got 4-5 coats over the span of the project with plenty of drying time in between. The only prep I did on them was to wipe off the loose dirt, since they're not functional. I would have also painted the horn silver if there was one - I might look into trying to replace it with another old one at some point. 

hubcap

One of the hubcaps was broken, so I pried them all off with the screwdriver. The old plastic was really brittle and all the spoke-like parts crumbled into a million little pieces. I left the piece of the hubcap between the screw cap and the wheel in place as a spacer, I just made sure that I got off all other remaining little spoke nubs.

Once the coupe was disassembled, I went to sanding. During my research I learned that it would be best if I sanded the whole thing down before I painted. These Rust-oleum cans actually tell you that (even though the paint is meant for all kinds of surfaces, including plastic) the specific type of plastic that little tikes toys are made of doesn't necessarily allow for maximum adhesion. (I can only imagine how many complaints they got before they had to print that on the can haha.) So I used coarse grit sandpaper all over, and the sanding sponge worked really nicely in the all the curves and grooves. Why coarse sandpaper? you might ask. It made the most sense to me... I knew this car would spend most of its time outside in the New England elements, so coarse just seemed right (at the time).

 super silver

I used the painters tape to make new "hubcaps" and I did the steering wheel silver also, about 3-4 coats for both. I didn't take a picture, but I put the poles on their pegs to paint them and then leaned them up against the house to fully dry. In the end the poles needed 4-5 coats.

the anticipation is killing me...

I used plastic grocery bags to cover the wheels and steering wheel. I cut two pieces off the roll of plastic drop cloth (I think I only ended up using half the roll). I just rolled it out the length of the body, then the roof, and cut.

I had a vague idea of the finished color scheme... my initial plan was to do the body purple and the roof pink with the poles silver. I started spray painting the undercarriage of the body in purple. I wasn't terribly concerned about perfect coverage since it is, after all, the underside. I did one coat on the body, then one coat of pink on the inside of the roof to give the body some time to dry a little. If I remember correctly, the can recommends 10 minutes between coats, so I kept going back and forth between the roof and body. 2 coats on the undercarriage seemed like enough, and I was also starting to worry if I would have enough purple. Since the body would be sitting on the wheels, I flipped it over as soon as I finished the second coat. The pink paint seemed to have better coverage, so 2 coats was more than enough. I waited until that was pretty dry before I flipped it over, probably about 20 minutes.

I love spray paint : )

I could just tell by the weight of the can that there wouldn't be enough purple for maximum coverage all over the body, but I had a plan in mind. I did one coat of purple all over the top side of the body, and on my second coat I made sure that the bottom half was covered really well. I guess the top half got 1 and a half coats of purple. The roof had gotten 2 (maybe 2 and a half) coats of pink, which was more than enough for great coverage. Now I don't have much experience with spray paint and I know I don't always follow the rules (I get too close too often), but I decided to try for a fade anyways. I have to say I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

fade

It felt like there was too much pink, and I had some silver left over, so you know what that means... Once the pink was mostly dry I put the poles back into the roof to make doing the fade easier. I only did the silver on the outside though, not on the inside. After the colors were done I sprayed on 2-3 coats of the clear matte finish paint.

Voila!!

details

details

a little glitter never hurt anyone

I waited at least a week to put everything back together. (This was easy since I did this project at my parents' house, where this particular cozy coupe "lives" - my 2 year old forgot about it once we left so it's not like she was itching to play with it.) I did some light sanding on the several rough parts I had created by prep sanding (more on that later). The unbroken logo popped back into place. I put the broken one back on with a little piece of rolled up duck tape. It just so happened that my mom had found some 3D glitter paint pens that she wanted to get rid of - of course I took them lol. I did the brake lights with some dark pink (if you look closely you can see that I was a little too generous with it and it glooped some). As I was painting on the headlights I felt like they really needed to by eyes, with lashes (I didn't take a head-on picture but you can kind of see an eye in one of the pics).

I love doing this kind of stuff, so I have no hesitation in saying that I'll be doing this again (probably when my younger daughter is old enough to want one too). There are some things that I would do differently...

NEXT TIME:

I'll sand better. Maybe if I had gone back over everything with medium and then fine paper before I started painting I wouldn't have ended up with so many big gouges. You can see them if you look closely, and I admit it does feel pretty rough in some spots. I have the feeling that just using fine sandpaper all over would have been good enough. 

I'll plan my paint job better. To end up with the plain purple body and plain pink top that I had originally thought of I would have needed 2 cans of purple, 1 can of pink, 1 can of silver, and 2 cans of clear. I wouldn't hesitate to do another fade, though : )

I won't yank the key out. I should have just painted the key when I did the steering wheel and then taped over it, too. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to reattach it so it stays on.

I won't buy so much stuff. I'll definitely take the time to find the stuff I know I already have somewhere.

Success!

I have yet to see how everything holds up. I'll check back with an update after the summer is over to let you know.

So there's my first "tutorial". I hope you found it amusing and helpful!

Stay connected! If you'd like to keep up do date with what I'm doing, making, and selling:
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Your support is greatly appreciated!