Cupcakes with Extra Icing January 10, 2012
Posted by Sindy in Recipes.Tags: cupcake, cupcakes, dessert, food, gift ideas, gifts, icing, recipe
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I’m not the biggest cupcake fan, but I really liked this idea.
This morning on the news (NPR to be precise) they mentioned a guy at an airport with a cupcake in a jar. I thought the idea was to put the cupcake into a tall jar and then fill the rest of the jar with icing. That way you’d get like 3 times more icing than even a mile-high frosted cupcake. (I personally would prefer whipped cream instead of icing though.) But then I Googled it, and I found something way more fun:
A new trend called Cupcake in a Jar!
In case you can’t tell, you’re basically making a two-layer cake out of cupcakes and using a jar so it stays all together. And the possibilities sound fun to me! Can you imagine it with cream cheese, or raspberry jam, or a cupcake-sized lush cake?
What are some of your ideas? What other things can we stack in a jar for a tasty, individual-sized treat?
Favorite Instructables of the Week December 11, 2009
Posted by Sindy in Favorite Instructables.Tags: Christmas, Christmas lights, Decorating, DIY, drawing, gifts, giftwrapping, hand-blown glass, Instructables, kids, LED, ornaments, playhouse, popcorn, projects, recipe, scarf, Sewing, toys, USB, Woodworking
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Okay, first off are some Christmas decorating Instructables:
- How to Pick and Decorate a Christmas Tree – All right! This one’s pretty useful. Although I kind of have the decorating part down (except I still have no idea how some people decorate their trees to the point where you can hardly see the tree – how do they do that?!), but I still have no clue how to pick a tree. It’s always either been an artificial tree, or someone else has picked it.
- USB LED Mini Tree – Make your office festive! (And use up yet another of your scarse USB ports.) This is a cute and cool little tree. Now to find an Instructable on how to make one of those USB rocket toys. 
- Hand-Blown Glass Ornaments – Oh wow! This would be awesome to do. If only I had the right equipment.
And speaking of Christmas decorations, even though it isn’t an Instructable, I thought I’d include this link to my favorite Christmas lighting (the house on the right). I will definitely have to do this when I get my own house.
Continuing on with some more Instructables:
- Creature Scarf – All right! alittlestranger is at it again. She comes up with the funnest things. I’m quickly becoming a big fan of hers. This time she made a scarf with a cute monster face on it.
- Animated Christmas Gift Package – Haha! This is Classic! It has a scrolling message screen on it, a little toy car going around in circles (which I don’t really care about), and a speaker than when you get too close to the package gives a warning message! How great is that?! I’m surprised this guy didn’t including flashing LEDs or something like that.
- Playhouse Made of Pallets – Now that’s what I call freecycling! Pallets are practically wall frames already. In fact, I heard of one lady who made her $10,000 house (her real house that she lives in) with pallets (now if only I could find the link again).
- Candy Cane Chocolate Popcorn – This is the best stuff EVER!!!!! I am droolling on the keyboard just thinking about it! I might have to make some when I get home. (Except with a little adaptation – I’m allergic to red food coloring so I can’t use the candy canes. I’ll have to use peppermint flavoring instead.)
- Artist Warm Up Exercise – Hmmm, this is interesting. This is what you do when you’re stuck and you don’t know what do draw. I might have to do this some time (except I don’t drink coffee, maybe I could get a spoonful from my boss…)
- Surprise Rumbling Gift Box – LOL! Got an incurable gift-peaker? This might cure them – when they grab it, it rumbles, and if they open it, it takes a photo for evidence. Nice!
- Gift Bags from Cereal Boxes – Okay, I thought this was going to be how to make a gift bag with a cereal theme (you know, like cut the top off of Life cereal and add some straps or something like that), but this is even better. In this Instructable you cover the cereal box with your choice of paper. Thus you make a unique and extra sturdy gift bag! You have to see the map & duct tape manly version! Come to think of it, you could do this with just about any cardboard box.
- Digital Picture Frames – What better gift for someone you don’t know what else to give them than a digital picture frame? Here are a bunch of Instructables on how to make your own.
Weekend Project(s) – Homemade Christmas Gifts November 20, 2009
Posted by Sindy in Weekend Project(s).Tags: castle, Christmas, costume, crochet, DIY, furniture, gifts, LEDs, modular furniture, Sewing, Weekend Project(s), wood projects
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Okay, so mid-November may still be a bit early to be thinking about Christmas gifts, but it’s always good to get plenty of a head start when your doing homemade gifts, so here are some gift ideas to get you started:
Wood Projects:
- Inlaid Treasure Box with Hidden Compartment – This is pretty nice, and I love the “hidden compartment” idea. I wonder where it is?
- An Indoor Play Castle! – All right! A Castle! (And it’s indoors too). Now the question is whether to make it for the kids, or for me.
- Homemade Cider Press – Oh, my, goodness! My Mom has been longing for a cider press for ages. She’d absolutely love this!!! (“Favorite Daughter” status here I come )
- Tennis Ball Chair – This is amazingly comfortable. It’s like getting a massage every time you sit down.
- Adjustable Modular Furniture – This would be a great gift for someone in an apartment. They can easily adjust it to be a chair, or a table, or even storage shelves.
Sewing Projects:
- Stupid Creature – Yes, that’s the official name of the things. It’s like one of those funky stuffed creatures.
- Cargo Scarf – I could use something like this when neither my pants nor my coat has a pocket. It even hase a strap for your key. Plus it’s really easy to make for a last minute gift.
- Crocheted Baby Penguin – This little guy is super cute! >.< Almost any little girl would love it!
- Pajama Pants! – I know dozens of people who have the Christmas tradition of giving pajama pants. And I love the custom part of making your own anything – Instead of searching everywhere for pajamas pants with a pattern they’ll enjoy, just make them a pair with a pattern they’ll absolutely love.
- Crocheted Mustache & Beard Hat – Hehe. This one is funny and would make a fun gift for almost anyone. I think I’ll make one for myself. Maybe I’ll adapt it too. I’ve always wanted one of those cool long Chinese mustaches.
Other DIY Projects:
- Sun Jar – Who says you can’t capture sunshine? This cute little jar is basically a solar panel and a light inside a jar. Simple, but cute and fun.
- Etched Glasses – This is a really easy diy project for some really elegant gifts for the more refined people on your list.
- Cheap & Easy Digital Picture Frame – Those popular digital picture frames are pretty cool, but man can they be expensive! This one is much cheaper (and can be even cheaper than how they made it), and your recipient thinks you spent a fortune on them.
- LED Throwies!!! – Okay, I just had to throw these in here partly because I would absolutely love to get these for Christmas! This would make a great gift for a teen (talk about an Uber Sweet gift!).
