Saturday, September 27, 2014

Granny Square Tutorial (HOOK ONLY)

Using the techniques I've taught myself while crocheting, I was able to put together a basic granny square. It turned out super cute. This version is what I consider to be the single crochet or lite version since it takes less bands (I have a larger version too.) I was asked to put together this square after a person posted their version to the RL Facebook page. I figured that since the technique to crocheting with bands in this manner is original to me and that a normal, no frills granny square isn't really an original design. I was pretty excited that people came to me for it. Definitely makes me feel pretty good!

I hope you are up for the challenge of a Hook Only design! If you are, check out my YouTube Channel, feelinspiffy, or right here! 



Beautiful! :)

Happy Taco!

Arriba!! A fantastic Happy Taco! I love how it turned out! I know the shape in the middle might not be perfect, especially if you don't go back and stretch them out, but I am very pleased with it overall.

Using the techinques I learned while making the Happy Ice Cream Sandwich I was able to make this taco with a nice shell and filling divide! Kids seem to love it....and adults too! :)


If you would like to check it, my channel feelinspiffy is always an option, otherwise right here is good too!



Enjoy! :)

Happy Chicken Leg!

I think this turned out super cute! I was really happy with the shaping of it. Nice meaty head and super cute bone! Impressed! lol

This was definitely another one that was asked for frequently ever since I started to make the "unhealthy foods." I'm in love! I think it's an easier design so that's awesome for those that aren't quite as experienced....though there is a bit of reducing and increasing. 

You'll have to let me know what you think! :)


You can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspifffy, or right here:




Enjoy! :)

Happy Hamburger!

Woo Hoo! This turned out better than I could have though it! I made so many of these to try and find the right combination of cute and banding to get it right! 

And I would say I nailed it! It goes perfect with the other Happy Foods, particularly the fries! 

Seriously, I made so many and some were seriously riduculous, lol. Like 6 inches tall or they looked like they had some serious issues, lol. Thank goodness the banding just worked out after all the trials!

If you can't resist this super adorable guy, you need to check out my channel, feelinspiffy or right here:




Totally adorable! :)

Happy Eggplant!

The Happy Eggplant, or Aubergine, as I found out after I posted turned out super cute I think. I love how I exaggerated the top just a bit to be more dramatic, just adds a little something. 

This design was a bit harder because there wasn't a lot of shape to work with from the actual fruit...just long and fatter at one end. I still think it turned out great, think I just wanted to be able to do a little more than I had.

You can let me know what you think by checking out my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy, or right here: 

Adorable! :)

Happy Radish!

I think this turned out super cute! Love the leaves and I think I nailed the shape too! I wish I would have given it a white tip at the end, but oh well, still cute! 

I did get asked if this was just my Happy Beet banding though, lol. I will say here and everywhere else, I will never do the exact same banding on something, but give it a color change just to throw views up on my channel. I don't need to do that at all. Each piece I make is original and unique and I am super proud of that!

If you would like your own Happy Radish, you can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy, or right here:




Enjoy! :)

Happy Ice Cream Sandwich

So, Rob, over at Justin's Toys is a fan of my Happy Foods, which I think is amazeballs! (they actually added that word to the dictionary!)

He has made a few of them and been awesome enough to promote my channel at times through his instagram page and YouTube due to my Happy Foods.

In a band review video he did....at the very end....he whispers that feelinspiffy (that's ME!) should make a Happy Ice Cream Sandwich! How cool! 

Of course, I'm getting comments left and right letting me know that he asked for me to make him one. So I came up with this one. I thought I did a fantastic job, not to toot my own horn, lol.

The banding to get the nice separation of colors was pretty cool and besides the fact that I would have made if a few more rows longer to look more realistic, I think it was spot on! I was too worried about the band count and disappointing too many kids if I kept letting it creep up there.

But if you would like to try this tasty treat, you can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy or right here:



Yummy! :)

Happy Beet!

I rather like how this turned out too! Doing the leaves the way that I did was a new technique for me and I think they turned out super cute that way. This was a long tutorial and the design was band heavy so I wasn't surprised when it wasn't a favorite, but I love how it turned out. I think that I nailed the shape right on! 

I was glad to see the few that I did from those that are "die hard" Happy Foods makers though. Love those guys!

But if you would like to try it out, you can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy, or right here:

So cute! :)

Happy Poptart!

I was and still am so excited about figuring out how to do this particular design in a growing up pattern. I created what I am calling transition rows. normally when you make a design, you HVe this weird join that is distracting.

In the Happy Poptart, I figured out how to make that join disappear which is amazing! This opens a whole new way for me to create things. I'm super excited about it! 

What I was surprised about was the fact that Poptarts are most definitely an American food. Most of my viewers across the pond had no idea what it was. I just thought that was cool and also jealous since they are actually a kind of tasteless cardboard like breakfast food, lol.

But if you would like to make one, checking out my YouTube channel would be great or you can view right here:


Nom Nom Nom! :)

Friday, September 26, 2014

Happy Chili Pepper!

I'm pretty proud of this one! Nice fuller top and skinnier bottom with a great curve! Not super hard so that makes it great for everyone! 

I'm just always stoked when I can make a design that has been asked for and it is enjoyed by so many people. I'm very lucky to have the support that I do. 


But if you would like to have your own Chili pepper, (don't forget to use different colors!) you can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy or right here:



Hot! :)


Large Retro Pop Flower (Hook Only)

I've been dabbling in hook only items for awhile now. And one of the things that I loved to make when I first started to crochet, were flowers. 

And the Large Retro Pop flower is a great example of  this. It is the larger version of my Retro Pop Flower. I guess you would just call it a fancy version., lol.

I think they are beautiful and the the finished ones I have seen since I put out this tutorial are amazing!

If you would like to try your hand at a hook only design, you should definitely check this one out!

You can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy or right here:



Beautiful! :)


Happy Banana Peel!

When I made my banana, I was dismayed that I had to take my loom apart to just get it to work correctly. And when I originally made the Happy Banana, I had tried to make a removeable peel, but it just looked weird with a banana in it. BUT the peel that I made was adorable and it so reminded me of the banana peel from Mario Kart. 

On the day that I had put this out, it was technically a bonus as I had just posted something the day before. I remember one of the comments was that they were disappointed because it wasn't as advanced as what I had been doing. I do agree with that, but at the same time, I want everyone to be able to make my designs and there need to be a few that are for the different skill levels.

Besides, I love it! :) 

You can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy, or right here: 




^^^^^Cute right?? :)




Happy Green Onion!

I thought these turned out super cute! I liked the round tops and the adorable roots at the bottom. I thought it was pretty cool too that after I put it out, that I learned the other names for them in other places in the world, which has happened with other Happy Foods too!


I also had a few people tell me that they were leeks and not green onions. I tried to explain that they were indeed green onions as they had round "leaves" and not flat ones, but eh, at the end of the day, they can call them what they want, lol.


I had hoped too that since this was a bit easier than other designs and not so band heavy that it would deter those without many bands.


If you would like to try this Happy Green Onion....or Leek....you can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel or right here:



Enjoy! :)

Happy Fries!

I love how my Happy Fries turned out! They are just so cute and ADORABLE! The making of the box to have a higher back like real fry boxes I thought was pretty awesome! AND of course, having removable fries was a must!

I enjoyed making them and was really happy to see that many more people really started to get into the Happy Foods. I had wanted to stay away from junk foods for awhile longer, but I figured I just better dive in! As my first junk food, I'm pretty stoked!


You can find the tutorial on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy or right here:



Enjoy! You know you can't resist tasty fries! :)

Time Sure Flies!

I have been super busy trying to keep up with my family and all the Happy Foods! It's amazing how fast time flies every night after the kiddos go to bed and I can finally get in some looming time! It seems like it is 9pm and then the next time that I look, it's 4 or 5am....seriously! Crazy!

And as you can see, it's been awhile since I posted. I am really sorry about that. I have gotten to the point where in order to keep posting new things every few days, I have little time to do much else but create when I get my looming time.

But of course! I plan to amend that today (this morning, lol) and catch up with all the designs that I am behind. That means there is going to be a serious number of posts coming up, lol. Thank you for stopping by and seeing what's new, I appreciate it! :)

Friday, August 8, 2014

The Happy Food Series Continues!

I have been working tirelessly continuing the Happy Food series! Ok, so maybe not tirelessly, there have been way too many nights spent looming into the wee hours of the morning. Thank goodness my hubby is so supportive! 

I'm really proud of all of these. I feel like they are super unique to anything else out there. Even if someone else has made a fruit or vegetable design before, I am still able to take it to the next level, making it unique to me and my looming style. I'm really happy with how they have turned out! It's definitely not without it's work, that's for sure! 

I'm sorry I haven't updated here as often as I should. Between creating designs, filming, editing, rendering, uploading, socializing, answering comments on YouTube AND still making my family number one. I feel like I rarely have time left for anything else. I'm afraid that at some point in the near future I'm going to have to change answering all comments on YouTube to just answering the ones that request help. I get hundreds of comments a day and it takes a few hours to answer them all, which is time that could be spent designing. I don't know, so torn! 

Anyways, it's time to update the roster of Happy Foods! And there are quite a few! :)





We have the Happy Asparagus. It's not a favorite it appears, but I love it!

You can find the tutorial here: 






Next we have the Happy Peas in a Pod. This one DEFINITELY is a favorite!

You can find the tutorial here:






Then we have the Happy Cherries! I so wish I would have thought to make them detachable like I did with the Happy Grapes, but I still love them! :)

You can find the tutorial here:






Then we have the fabulous Happy Strawberry! I love this so much! So adorable and my flower I made for the strawberry was so requested that I put a little tutorial at the end of my Happy Grapes video to make it. :)

You can find the tutorial here:






Now the Happy Grapes! I was stoked to figure out how to make the grapes detachable! This was a very band heavy design and I wanted to give kids the option to reduce the amount of bands needed. I figured detachable grapes was the perfect solution! Make as many as you want, then just pretend the others were eaten. Great idea I hope! 

You can find the tutorial here:





Then we have the Happy Pear! I love how it turned out. I did my best to try to make a nice fat bottom with a tapered neck on it. This design is a bit more complicated since it's a looming down design, but it's still workable for all looms. 

You can find the tutorial here:





And of course! The Happy Apple had to come along too! I am super proud of the shape. It took quite a bit of playing around to get to the finished result. I hope you like it too! 

You can find the tutorial here:





Then we have the Happy Pineapple! OMG! I love how it turned out! I think my suggestion to use mango bands from Rainbow Loom helped to sell them out! Cool! But I want more bands! I love the wrapped bands on it. A pain to make, sure, but SO worth it! 

You can find the tutorial here:






The Happy Watermelon had to come along too! I love how the shape turned out! It took me awhile to get the even triangle shape; the first few times it looked more like a piece of pizza, lol. I made it as a growing up design, but then I turned it inside out. Just seems to work better and makes it so anyone can make it regardless of whether or not they had a Rainbow Loom. 

You can find the tutorial here:





The Happy Banana! Oh my! This took forever to perfect, lol. I wanted it to look just right. I tried making several different versions and sizes. Tried doing a removable peel which I loved the peel, just not how they looked together when the banana was inside of it. I love how it turned out though. The construction of the banana with the peels did require me to remove the pin bar in the middle of the loom, which kind of was disappointing since I want my designs to be available to everyone regardless of the loom they have. I first had made it with cheap bands and it worked fine without removing the pin bar, but once I used good bands I could barely keep it on the loom or keep the loom from falling apart. I still love it though! :)

You can find the tutorial here:








And another highly asked for fruit, the Happy Mango! It took awhile to get the shape just right. The fat top, the curve and the little bottom, not so easy, lol. I have heard comments since that I made the little bump on the bottom too big, but I think it looks perfect; too much smaller and I don't think it would have been as obvious what it was. And contrary to what people might think, this is not my Happy Pear upside down, lol. I used mango bands to make it and of course the Rainbow Loom online store has been out of stock, lol. I'm hoping that they get more back in stock soon and that they will be the same color when they do. I had heard that they were a production error on the neon orange bands (hence why there were stickers that said mango on the back covering the neon orange name. Hopefully, they will come back soon; I actually like the color quite a bit. 

You can find the tutorial here:








So that's everything up until now! Whew! I'm still working on many things. Just time to make them is the barrier I face. But I'm doing my best! 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you enjoy your Happy Foods! :)





Monday, July 7, 2014

Happy Foods Series! :)

So I have been going a little outside the norm for me lately and trying my hand at more figures and I think they are absolutely adorable! These guys are 3D, and so far made all on one loom. They don't require stuffing and I really don't think they are too terribly difficult to make, mainly just time consuming. I would definitely suggest getting a hold of a rug latch hook if you plan to make some. It's not necessary, but it definitely makes it much easier to do them.

I have been receiving such positive responses to these guys! It's fabulous! I have been having a little fun on instagram too. I have suggested to people that they put their figures into silly situations, kind of like an elf on the shelf kind of deal, and then hash tag them to feelinspiffyhappyfoods. There have been some super cute and very funny pictures. I love the creativity I'm seeing in them!

If you would like to see them, you can check them out below or on my YouTube channel, feelinspiffy. I definitely have more on the way!

Happy Corn:



Happy Broccoli:



Happy Carrot:



Happy Raspberry or Blackberry:



I hope you enjoy them! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Waffle, Boardwalk and Pixel Bracelet Tutorials (One and Two loom versions!)

I wanted to make a bigger bracelet design and I had an idea of what I wanted and it very awesomely turned into three bracelets that are fabulous in their own right! I thought about having a design that was nice and square and came up with the Waffle Bracelet. I absolutely love it! I also love that it lead to the Boardwalk and Pixel bracelets. Just removing some bands or rows and awesome results! I have one and two loom versions for the Waffle and Boardwalk bracelets and the Pixel bracelet is just one loom. I, of course, show how to extend them as well!

You can find the two loom Waffle Bracelet here:


And the one loom here:





Here is the two loom Boardwalk Bracelet tutorial:




And here is the one loom Boardwalk bracelet:




And here is the Pixel bracelet:




I hope you enjoy all of these! :)

Unicorn Poop Cookie Tutorial (One and Two Loom versions)

So, this is weird, lol. But a long time ago, I made actual unicorn poop cookies (yes they are real! Google them, lol) for a party. They are basically sugar cookies where the dough has been divided into brightly colored sections, then all swirled together into what looks, well, like a poop. Then sprinkles, sugar are added to just make them sparkly...and of course, no other animal besides a unicorn could do that!

I definitely worried about putting out a design with the word poop in it, but hoped that most people would just think it was quirky and not harp on it too much. So far, I haven't had too many comments that have made me too worried. I did have someone ask me to make another tutorial using just brown bands because all the colors were too confusing....definitely not going to happen, lol.

I hope that you enjoy the quirkiness!

You can find the two loom tutorial here:



And the one loom tutorial here:



Hmmm, guess I used the same picture, lol. Have to change that sometime when I remember. :)


Enjoy! :)



3D Swirly Cupcake (One and Two loom versions!)

While making the Cinnamon Roll, I saw the opportunity to make this amazing cupcake too! I love it, it's so adorable and just super fun to look at! I was able to make a one loom version too which I was super excited about and I think it almost is easier than the one loom Cinnamon Roll which is fantastic!

You can find the two loom tutorial here:



The one loom version is here:




And a lot of people said that it looked like a mushroom so of course, I had to put one together and what better mushroom to make than Toad from Mario Brothers.


Awesome! Right!? :)




3D Swirly Cinnamon Roll Charm Tutorial (And a one loom tutorial too!)

After having put out my Swirly Pop Bracelet, it was suggested that it would look great as a cinnamon roll too and I definitely agree! It looks so delicious! I first was only able to do a two loom version but I thought outside the box and came up with a fabulous way to make it all on one loom too! The one loom version is a bit harder, but it's definitely doable, just takes a bit of patience. I just love it, it's squishy!

You can find the two loom tutorial here:



And here is the one loom version:


Enjoy!



Swirly Pop Bracelet Tutorial

This design has inspired so many others that will come soon! I love it and think it's super unique! It is a two loom version and though I may be able to break down each swirl down to one loom, I don't think it will be possible to make a super easy one loom version of it. Could make each piece individually and attach them I suppose. But back to the fabulousness (no that is apparently not an actual word) of this design! I just love it!

*I've had a bit of confusion with the design and it being compared to Justin's Toys snail charm, but besides it having a swirl design if you are looking at it from the top down, they aren't similar. This bracelet is flat and made on two looms. His is made on one loom and is 3D. I don't know if the confusion comes from the fact that he used my technique of moving the end cap down the loom to create his design or if people just don't look close enough. lol.

But if you would like to have your own Swirly Pop Bracelet, you can find the tutorial here:


Oh, and look at what else I made with this design!

 An awesome giant swirly pop!

 And awesome lollipops!           

Enjoy! :)


Hot Air Balloon Tutorial!

Taking my crocheting with bands to the next level I have put together an amazing tutorial for a Hot Air Balloon using only a hook! No Loom! It is absolutely fabulous and if you get the first few stitches down, it's pretty easy from there! It does take a few bands, but it's absolutely worth it! My adorable little baby turtle fits in the basket and with a bit of fiddling, you can get the basket to stand up, but if it doesn't; make sure to hang that Hot Air Balloon up! It looks great up in the air like it's supposed to be. I seriously hope that people give this a try because it is beautiful and worth the time!

You can find the tutorial here:


Doesn't that look adorable? Enjoy! :)


Playground Slide Tutorial for the Rainbow Loom

While playing with my kids at the park, I kept looking at all the playground equipment and thought to myself, you can totally make that in rubber bands, lol. You know you've gone over the edge with Rainbow Loom when you do that, lol. Just a little obsessed, lol. So after a lot of trial and error to get it to look the way that I liked, I finally found a great version of the slide I enjoyed! I do plan to do more with playground equipment, just gets a little hard with trying to not have to include a bunch of other random things to support the structures. I'll get it though! :)

You can find the tutorial here:


Enjoy! :)



Round and Square Bling Ring Tutorials!

Using my baby turtle shell for other uses, like the adorable headphones, led to using it for the Round Bling Ring. And after I made it I thought about how not everyone likes a round cut ring so I adapted my pattern to make it a square cut too! I love these rings! They make me feel so girly wearing them. It's like being at a tea party when you were a kid and pretending to be all fancy. They are just fun! I think you should see what I'm talking about and make some of your own!

You can find the Round Bling Ring Tutorial here:



And you can find the Square Bling Ring tutorial here:



I hope you enjoy! 



Radical Rainbow Tutorial using only a hook!


I'm always trying to think outside the box when it comes to the Rainbow Loom. In order to keep it new and exciting I think that using the loom in different ways, looping the bands out of the normal ways and just not using the loom at all. Like with this tutorial. I was really excited to be able to put my crochet skills to use and make this awesome rainbow with only my hook! No loom required! I think it turned out pretty adorable! I hope that you do too. Don't be afraid to try it! Once you get the first two rows down, you shouldn't have any problems with the rest of  it! 

You can find the tutorial here: 



Enjoy! 

Monday, May 12, 2014

Festive Flower Tutorial

So I have had this flower sitting in my uploads for awhile and I figured that I should just put it out there. It's not that I didn't like it, I just didn't think it fit in with what I was putting out at different times. I noticed after I made it that the concept of how I did it has been done, but it's not the same, so I'm going with it. I hope you like it! :)



:)

Puffy Heart Charm Tutorials

OMG! They are PUFFY and so stinking adorable. I absolutely love these hearts. It has to be the girl in me or something. I just love them! You should definitely try making one of these! It is normally on two looms, but of course, I have a one loom version available too. Check them out! :)

You can find the two loom version here:



And the one loom version here:



Make one! Enjoy! :)


Lovely Heart Charm Tutorials (One and Two Looms)

I put together another Heart Charm...I know I already have one that I think is rather fabulous, but hey, I'm a girl and I like girly things, lol. I have one and two loom versions available. I don't really know what else to say about this one...I'm really excited to show what I did with this charm though...next post! :)


The one loom version is here:



And the two loom version is here: 



Enjoy! :)

So Infuriating! Boycott this book!




Ladies and Gentleman, I have a request to make. This book pictured was published by Leisure Arts recently. I am asking you to BOYCOTT this book. Why, you ask? Looking at just the cover alone, it says that it contains "17 All NEW Designs"...which is a far cry from the truth. 

This book contains several designs by designers that we look up to and admire for inspiring us to loom on...and one of my designs as well. On the cover alone, you can see the Beaded Starburst ring designed by Made by Mommy. You can see the turtle, shark and basic action figure (though they made it a girl) all designed by Pgloomacy. You can see the double starburst with the braid up the middle which was originally put together by Larry Roberts who dubbed it the "hardest rainbow loom bracelet." On the inside you can see my Herringbone bracelet renamed the Chevron (a name I didn't choose because it was already taken.) 

I have yet to lay my hands on the book itself, so who knows what else is in there. What I do know is that several of the designs that were put in the book were not *NEW* as they were the result of hard work and creativity from other people. Leisure Arts has found a way to take advantage of the "little people" and profit from their designs without so much as a footnote in their book or compensation for the tens of thousands of dollars they stand to make. 

Leisure Arts has done this before, in another book published by them, they used justinstoys Hexafish bracelet with no credit to him whatsoever. They may have found a legal loophole, but ethically they are neck deep! When a person familiar with all the designs can't tell the difference when looking at it...you know you shouldn't call it new or original... Let this company know that they cannot take from the "little people" and get away with it! If you believe in what I'm saying, look out for future posts from me regarding this book and Leisure Arts. Thank you for reading!


S-Curve Bracelet Tutorial (One loom version too!)

Now this bracelet I consider a masterpiece, lol. I had been trying to get this design for awhile. It's one of my favorite to crochet for a bracelet, but I just could not get the banding for the longest time. It was crazy how long it took me to figure it out. I love how there are two sides to it and how you can add a bead in the middle if you want to. I almost called it the yin and yang bracelet, but I didn't want to limit people's minds when it came to the options of color. I think it came out fabulous! And of course, this is a multi loom bracelet, but I have put together two tutorials that way it can be made on one loom too!

This is the "normal" version.



This is the one loom version.




I hope you enjoy! :)

Headphones Charm Tutorial

After I had made my Baby Turtle, I saw the opportunity to make this charm. I know there are other headphone tutorials out there, but none of them looked like this one and I couldn't pass up sharing it. I think the combination of having that piece of design in my head and my son running around with the headphones that have the large ear pieces just made it too easy to put this together. I know in the beginning I may be a little confusing with what kind of connection you can make between the two headphones, but I was just trying to explain the options in case someone didn't have a paper clip or the bands required to make one of the options. Without further ado! I present my Headphones Charm tutorial. :)


Enjoy! :)

BABY Turtle Tutorial!

I absolutely love my Official Kaleidoscope Turtle, but ever since I was a little girl, it seemed like the smaller something was, the cuter it was...so I came up with a smaller turtle that is absolutely adorable! Little head and feet, tiny shell. I think it's absolutely adorable. And how it's made, it looks better almost if it is sitting on it's behind instead of on all fours. This is all done on one loom! Check this one out too! :)



Aren't they adorable!?! Love them! :)

Stacked Flowers Bracelet Tutorial (catching up again!)

While making the Armadillo Bracelet, I saw the opportunity to make this bracelet by just changing the banding a little bit. It's amazing how different they look! I really like it though. It looks like flowers, snow cones, ice cream cones, someone told me the other day it looked like flip flops. This is also a one loom bracelet and not too difficult to make. Check it out if you haven't already!




Enjoy! :)

Crazy how time flies by....

It has been awhile since I posted and I truly apologize for that! Family obligations and the holidays always seem to take a ton of time to recover from, lol. That, and the fact that it is kind of overwhelming to take care of all the social media involved with putting out new designs, answering questions, helping kids make things that don't understand how to make something. And I definitely haven't been able to record as much as I have wanted to lately, but I will be putting out some things tonight, after I play a little catch up that is. I think I also hit a little not so much creativity block, but more an "I wonder if people will still like what I put out if it's not the extravagant bracelets I have done in the past" or "is this just a rip off of my own design, is it not new enough to entice people to want to watch it?" I guess that I'm just doubting my creativity and ability lately.


Anyways, what has been new with me. I made 100 cupcakes for my son's boy scout troop which they then sold to raise money for all the activites that they do. I wasn't super impressed with my job, (I set some pretty high standards for myself which isn't always a good thing! lol) but I'll share them anyways. I think that I spent too much time putting some of the elements together that I got either bored or just rushed to get them done.


 This is kind of the overview of what each box held. I told you they weren't very fancy, lol.
 This was the bunny. The ears are chocolate dipped pretzel spoons, the eyes were from Wilton, nose is an M&M, whiskers are Twizzler pull-n-peel and the smile was just piped on frosting. I had high hopes for them, but they weren't as polished as I hoped. I think my carpel tunnel played a part in that too...squeezing piping bags for hours with chocolate and frosting is not fun for the wrist/hand.
 I made these butterflies with Wilton's stand up butterfly molds. However, either I didn't wait long enough or they just suck...and pretty much all the stand up parts broke off so I had to improve the body with the Twizzlers and eyes. Most look goofy, lol.
 These were supposed to be Easter eggs, but what a pain, lol. I took some plastic Easter eggs, broke them in half, coated them with a bit of shortening on the outside and then just drizzled or dotted different colors of melted chocolate over them until they were firm enough to withstand me removing them from the egg shell. They were cute and they tasted good, but they just seemed too messy in appearance. I loaded the inside of the hollow shells with M&M's for a little surprise. I had originally bought edible Easter grass to put around the outside to make a kind of nest, but it just wouldn't stay put. The little bunnies are from the Easter grass package. They are like a thin ice cream cone in texture and they didn't have a lot of taste to them, but they weren't horrible.



These last ones were the result of running out of the bunny ears and eggs to make the other cupcakes. I didn't want to make more of the butterflies so I just melted some chocolate into this other scroll/ shape mold from Wilton. They were alright, but kind of an odd ball in the mix.












So, yey! Cupcakes!


I also was busy with helping out a company that provides role players for the military to use in training exercises. I had done it several years back and they called out of the blue as they were in a pinch and needed help. It's actually a pretty neat process for those involved. Role players are given crappy clothes to wear, they have professional make up artists apply make up to match the scenario being trained for. This last one involved pretending that there was an explosion and the release of a toxic gas. So the role players get make up resembling broken bones, gashes, blisters, burns, things that could really happen. Then they are instructed to play out their roles in a real manner...broken leg? don't move it, act out the pain, be hysterical, be helpful to others, be in shock....it's fun. The military then responds and has to treat you as if you have the injuries you show. I'm usually behind the scenes, but this time I ran through a few times. I love getting the make up on, lol. And it's actually kind of fun to be carried and carted around on a stretcher while you pretend to be unconscious. I do not however like the decontamination process where we strip (or they cut off your clothes if you're unconscious) down to bathing suits (real life you'd be naked!) and then get doused with cold water...no fun at all, lol.


Other than that, it's just the crazy busy world of a mom with 4 kids and a hubby to boot, lol.