The Continuance of Cake Pops

A little bit of heaven on a stick. Chocolate encased in chocolate. Just a few ways to describe those little delights called cake pops. Remember this post about holiday inspired cake pops? Remember how excited I was about showing you the result and didn't show you the process? Well now it is time for the process and many salivating pictures.

The past few weeks have seemed to need a lot of cake pops. Many special occasions happened and cake pops were needed at all. No, no one requested it. I just thought it was needed. But let's start at the very beginning (it's a very good place to start...ahh The Sound of Music). First, just bake a sheet cake just like it says on the box.

Mmm, don't you want to eat it right now? NO! Don't do it. We will make it even better but first it has to get a little messy. It is time to grab a fork and fork up that cake until it is a pile of fluffy crumbs.

Now, if you are in need of a little taste test, you can take it here. There will be some big chunks of the crustier outside. Feel free to eat those as a little snack, Now its time to make it double chocolate (or double vanilla). Grab your favorite flavor of icing - both chocolate and vanilla work. I tend to go double chocolate! Spoon up a big glob of that icing and start to mix it! This is where it gets tempting to just stop and start spooning it up.



The finished product should not be too wet but malleable enough to form into balls. Putting the whole can of frosting in usually works - never more but sometimes less.

Now it is time to round it into about 1 inch balls. Once those are done, make sure to give them time to firm up in the refrigerator. Since it takes so long to get to this point I usually make these before one day and then finish up the fun, decorating part.

Now we can skip back to the holiday cake pop post to pick up the rest of the steps. To give you a quick run down, gather colored melting chocolate, lollipop sticks, and any sprinkles and decorating icing. All of these can be found at craft stores or Walmart (don't hate me that I put Walmart in my post - I am trying to be frugal). Melt the chocolate, dip one end of the stick into the chocolate, and then into the cake. Now dip the whole ball into the chocolate. This is where you lose the ball if you don't let them firm up. Note: if you put them in the freezer and then directly begin this process the whole chocolate will crack in the hardening process as it expands in the unfreezing process. Then it is time for decorating - sprinkles, icing, whatever moves you!

Ready for some final products? I am! First up, we had a going away party for someone at work who got a different job. He worked in Information Systems and the pops were decorated accordingly. This also shows how you can write messages!

If you can't read it, it says "Thank You Gary" and "BCPSA".

(Note: if you use Styrofoam, it has an expiration date as the holes get big after a few uses. The result is floppy cake pops that make it hard to display. Huge fan of the white cardboard stand I found at the store specifically for cake pops!)

So these might have been a fail. Look at the green on green. I wrote "Info" and "Sys" on two cake pops and then I tried to draw a phone and computer on the two in the middle. Bet you couldn't tell what those pictures are without me telling you!



Next event: another friend getting a new job! Does this mean the economy is turning around?! I surprised her with her own special cake pops!

"Congrats Katie" it reads!

Tried to make it a little fun!

Tried to get artsy to make up for the yellow cake pops in my yellow tinted kitchen when taking pictures at night, meaning no natural light to offset the yellow. Don't know if it worked except to show the drips!

Final occasion, a cookout to celebrate spring. So I thought I would keep them simple and colorful!

Whew! That was quite the cake pop tour! Hope you liked it. Maybe next time I fill get a little fancier ... thinking Easter egg cake pops?!

House Tour: Guest Bedroom #2

Hi again! I apologize my lapse in posting. I think I unofficially took a "spring break" from the blog. I don't know where you live, but where I am summer seemed to have come early! It was has been bright and sunny with no humidity! So instead of writing, I was frolicking in the sunshine. But I am back and excited to dive into some great projects. Another great side effect of good weather - so much easier to do projects. So we will dive back into the house tour with guest bedroom number two. I am working on a floor plan map and a page to index everything so it makes sense.

To walk you through what we have done, it started with the living room which is the first room that you walk into when you enter the house. That leads straight into the kitchen. Then we took a trip down the left side of the house to the guest/hall bathroom. Then we skipped the smallest bedroom across from the bedroom (which is what we are doing today!) to the guest room to show a before and after with a fresh coat of paint. So now we will back up to the 3rd bedroom.

Before we jump in with a disclaimer, we have  not spent a lot of time on this room and don't really have huge plans for it now...this is future baby Rapp's room in a few years (no this is NOT a baby announcement). We just don't feel like painting and doing intense decorating on a room that barely gets used. I say that now, when I have tons of other projects to do. Once those are done, who knows, I may change my mind!

Welcome in! You can see the dresser on the left and the beginning of the bed posts on the right. These are two pieces of a beautiful set Eric's parents gave us when they moved. They fit perfectly into the room and we love them!

Here is a better view of the bed. It also sports a duvet cover set that I snapped up at my first trip to Ikea right after we were married. I just fell in love with it! You will also notice that there are a few stuffed animals on the bed. I won't lie. I still have a special place in my heart for my sentimental stuffed animals. So they hang in this room. Above the bed is the newest addition of artwork that I got for Christmas. My in-laws gave it to me and it just fits perfectly into the room!

This picture gives you a better sense of the artwork and the animals! The light fixture is reflecting in the picture - that isn't part of the art!

I love these curtains. Not only are they another handmade masterpiece of love my my mother-in-law but they also fit the room perfectly. I thought it may be hard to find a pair of curtains that would go with such a busy comforter, but they just compliment in color in pattern. I love sheers in the room too. They let is so much light but add a softer touch.

A last look at the room on our way out. It gives a spatial sense, as you can see it it directly across from the bathroom.

This is definitely a room with some great pieces, but not a whole lot of identity. Projects to do for this room include:

• Get better lighting. Don't know if you noticed the ugly, misfit lamp in the corner. It's a leftover from college, where it was perfect. Now it is just there is someone was does stay there and needs light to read in bed or the like. It has no style.
• Also want to get some sort of bedside tables or floating shelves.
• A few more pieces of artwork would be nice.
• Looking at this room makes me want to change my mind and paint it...we will see.
• Wouldn't a focal wall of stenciling be awesome in this room?!
• I think gold accents would be beautiful.

Any other ideas on how to freshen up the room? What color would you paint it?  I would love to hear your ideas!

Let's Freshen Up the Guest Room!

So I couldn't help but give a small tease in the last post about the guest room tour. I wrote that post in my just finished painting the room glory - completely spattered with paint and a little loopy from the fumes. Ahh, that's the way to do it. So I put out a bunch of teasers for a pretty subtle change actually. Hope it doesn't let you down and the pictures show the difference.

So it all started Saturday morning. Eric was going to be gone all day on Saturday so it was the time to buckle down to work and get the room painted! The night before we had moved all the furniture out of the room. Now I just needed to get all of my tools in place and taping off a few places.

This taping job was me being lazy. I didn't want to unscrew the curtain rod hangers in fear paint would get in them, blah blah blah. Me being lazy.

These were not me being lazy. The glory of living in an older home is finding things about its previous owners. They are famous for being even lazier than me and painting over all the outlets, not only cementing them to the wall but also clogging some of the plug holes. So after trying to get these off the wall, I turned to my tape and said heck with it. There they stayed.

They also make a few great tools to make the process go by faster, if you aren't a pro who doesn't tape or need any special tools except for their brush. The edger and corner tools eliminate almost all taping and unevenness in painting.

Now I was all ready to go. I like to do all the edging and detail work. That is the most time consuming. Here it is with the first coat.

Then it was time for the walls, where you get the first exciting moment of great impact! Here is a shot to show the contract. It is subtle, but so nice and bright.

Here it is with the first coat done. Looking a little splotchy, but that is why I always go with two coats. Even if you buy the "special" paint that guarantees only one coat. I think they lie.

This is the first time that I did both coats in one day. I thought you had to wait a whole day between coats. Not sure where that fun false fact came from. You don't. I waited more like 2-3 hours and was ready to go again! Now the after pictures!

Having a hard time seeing the difference? It is a little hard. This color choice was pretty hard for me. I am a huge color girl. I like bright patterns and colors everywhere. This didn't really happen in this room. It is weird. Each room took on its own entity that I couldn't fight. This one came out a bit more subdued than I would have ever guessed but I love it. Since it is our guest room, we didn't want it to be really overwhelming. We wanted it to be calm, relaxing, and a guest haven for our visitors. Somewhere they can just take a breath in. Hence the calmer colors. I am working to infuse the fun pops of color though :) I have to!

So ultimately, we went with a similar color. I wanted to brighten up the walls using a semi-gloss. I don't like to listen to the rules of what sheens to use in rooms. I almost always go with semi. It is easier to clean and just makes rooms so bright and cheery. This room needed it. The paint color wasn't bad, just kind of plain. It was also full of scratches and holes. Since we don't have the original paint color there was no touching up.

Here are a few before and after shots with all the furniture loaded back in.

Before on the left, after on the right.

Before on top. After on bottom.

Before & After

I love it! A brighter, fresher room. It is like a peachy tan and it works. At first, it was a little disappointing because it wasn't a dramatic change. Then, reasoning with myself I realized it was just what the room needed. What do you think?

Guest Bedroom #1 Tour...with a teaser

I am back on the house tour wagon! Want to know why I am so excited to post about the guest bedroom? Because I just painted it! This is where the teaser is. These are all before pictures. Next blog will be the after pictures! So excited about this little face lift. That is for next post. Now let's take a walk through this cute bedroom full of DIY projects! It could be yours for a while if you would like to come visit! Hint, hint...

Walking down the hallway into the bedroom.

Check out this clock. It is a fun DIY project that I did with a friend and fellow blogger. She did a whole post about it (before I had a blog) that you can view here. The clock was a perfect fit for this room. Here is a close up.

Now past the entrance into the room.

I love this room and how it gets the sun almost all day. It just makes it so nice and bright. It is also full of wonderful sentimental items that makes me love the room even more.

Like this gorgeous dresser right here. This is a gift from my mom when she moved. You should have seen the smile on my face when I got this gem passed down to me. I think it is elegant and classic. It also brings a something old/antique to the room. I love to mix new and antiques together!

The dresser also has some very beautiful items on it that mean a lot to me. This item is the only real silver item that I have. It was a wedding present from one of Eric's mom's friends. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, but was also a wedding present from Eric's parents to this friend. Now she is passing it down to us! What a beautiful gift.

Then there is this lamp that I has had so many homes in its life. I remember it in my sister's room when growing up with a pink lampshade. Her ultimate favorite color. Then it was in my mom's house and then it was another gift to me when she moved. It is even cooler because it is an item from my great grandmother.

Now this item I love as well. It was my grandmother's compact that my dad salvaged for me when she passed away. It is so beautiful and always reminds me of grandma.

Teaser alert on this one...hopefully! This beat-up TV stand was free. I has visions of painting it a jewel toned turquoise and perhaps doing a little stenciling on it. That will probably be a summer project. This also shows a little guy we like to call "Mr. Nibbles" (can you guess that it is the shark?). What guest doesn't want a shark in their bedroom!

This night stand is a thrift store find that needed a face lift. One day I felt like going snooping around a local thrift store. Unfortunately I got there and they were closing in 20 minutes. So it was a quick snoop, but it gave me enough time to fall in love with the lines of these side tables. They were old brown veneer and a bit chewed, but it gave me negotiating room. I walked out with the two tables for about $20! Then with a coat of primer and then a pop of purple, voile! Purple night stands!

I love pillows. They are just the icing on the cake...or its translation in decorating. They are so fun to spice up a room and easily change pattern and colors without spending too much or having to redo the rest of the room. I have been trying to find the perfect pillows for this room for a while. Then my wonderful mother-in-law made this pillow with some adorable owl fabric we found at the store. It adds that perfect punch and pattern!



Now let's see the whole thing together again.

Didn't I tell you in the basement curtain project that you would see similar curtains again? I couldn't help but get two sets in different colors. I just love them!

Stay tuned for the color reveal later this week!

The BEST Peanut Butter Cookies. Ever.

I love baking cookies. I love eating up the cookie dough. The problem (well it could be a blessing) is that I don't really like to eat them after I have made them. I will eat a few fresh out of the oven, but the next day, I am kind of over it. I don't think it is because I make bad cookies. Everyone else seems to like them. I just don't think they are that good if they aren't right out of the oven. I even try to mimic that by microwaving them a few seconds to make them soft and melty. It helps but I am still not excited about the cookies any more.

Until I found this recipe on my favorite food blog Chocolate Covered Katie. Remember my earlier dessert-aholic blog about finding her healthy dessert blog? I also hadn't tried any of the recipes at that point and promised to report back. In all honesty I have made probably 10 of her recipes but unfortunately I never reported back. Why not? Because the times I made her very easy and very quick recipes was when an intense craving had come upon me and I had to get dessert and get it FAST! Based on the immediacy on which I needed the dessert, the process and result didn't last long. At long last though, I had to share one recipe because it makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Katie calls it her Secret Peanut Butter Cookies. I don't know what the secret is, except maybe they are the best peanut butter cookies I have ever had. Yum yum and yum! They also are very quick and easy to make and result in just one pan. Which is just enough with the speed on how these cookies disappear.

You will need the following ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter

3/4 tsp baking soda

3 T flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 T brown sugar

2 T applesauce

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

First mix all the dry ingredients together.

Then add all the wet ingredients.

Then mix them together with a few simple strokes of a spoon.

Drop them into small balls onto your greased cookie pan.

Grab a fork to give them a criss-cross pattern and stick into the oven for 6 - 8 minutes on 350. I like mine chewy so I took them out at 6 minutes. 8 minutes gives you crispier cookies with just a little bit of chewiness.

Did you know that cookies still bake slightly after you take them out of the oven?! I never even thought of that but it blows my mine! Since I am into the chewier more cookie dough like cookies (another solution to my cookie boredom as mentioned earlier) I will know take out all my cookies early.

Do you have any favorite cookie recipes? If so, please pass them along. I can even feature them on the blog if you would like! I am always up for trying new recipes!

PS - Looking back at these pictures it solidifies our need for new lighting in the kitchen. I apologize for everything being YELLOW! Grr. Florescent lights, yellow countertops, yellow walls, yellowish cabinets. Look at this kitchen house tour post to see all of that and more.