Valentine Cards

I've been looking at all of the Valentine cards available out there. I thought I'd give you a short list of where you can find some of my favorites!

These sweetheart Valentines are a perfect way to let someone know you think they are cute or cool…or a QT Pie.

You can give someone this card to let them know you are WILD about them!

You can go here for a cute snail Valentine card.

Go here for some adorable free Valentines to download. If you want them black and white so the recipient can color the card, go here.

I love owls, so this owl valentine is my favorite.

Tricia Rennea’s blog is one of my favorites; she has the cutest drawings! Her
lollipop holder valentines are adorable!

These are perfect for little cowboys & cowgirls. They even have a tiny envelope that match!

All of these and more can be found here, here & here.

Valentine Envelopes

I found this cute template to make mini envelopes. You can make these for anything (mini birthday card, gift tags, etc.), but I think they are the perfect size for Valentine cards. You can print them on colored paper or paper with a design, or you can print them on white paper and decorate with markers and stickers. Whatever you decide, these are fun to make...and so cute! You can get the template for these envelopes here and an idea that uses them here.

The smitten hearts paper used to make the above envelope can be found on Tricia Rennea’s blog (one that I absolutely adore!).

Heart Shaped Paper Clips

Found this idea on stumbleupon. Of course, I had to pick up the nearest paper clip and try it for myself. The first few were kind of difficult, but I finally got it to go the right way! Cute! Now I just need to find some some more pink (and maybe red) paper clips. These would be cute attached to Valentine cards. You can find the stumbleupon article here, or you can click here for the original post over at How About Orange… (a Great blog I'm glad I discovered!).

Fisherman

I made this cake last weekend for Shawn's grandpa. Everything is edible except for the "fishing pole". It's yellow cake with buttercream frosting, and all of the decorations are fondant.

The Cross

This cake was made for 2 of my most favorite people: my parents. Mom's birthday is in October, and October is Pastor Appreciation Month. We always have a joint party for them at church, and there's always cake.

I decided to make the cake this time. It was an experience! We had to make a trip into town, so we didn't get started until late. We were up all night! I was working on the cake at the bar, then, at one point I decided to move it to the table. It broke in the middle and almost fell off the cake board, but we saved it just in time!

Despite everything, the cake was good, and I got GREAT compliments. That always makes it worthwhile.

Carol was a great help. She stayed up all night helping me. (She's the other half of the "we" I mentioned earlier.) It's great to have such a wonderful sister!

And such wonderful parents...I love my Mom & Dad.

Ian always ends up in the picture.

Me

I love cupcakes!

Cupcakes make me happy.

Cupcakes with sprinkles make me extra happy!

So, for my birthday last year, instead of a cake, I had cupcakes.

It was a Happy Birthday indeed!

Jake helped me blow out my candles since his birthday was the next day.

Shawn

This is my boyfriend, Shawn.

Shawn is one of my most favorite people!

He likes to fish. A LOT! It's his favorite thing.

I like to go fishing with him, but while he fishes,

I sit in the back of the boat and read (or sleep).

You know those fisherman...

they got to be out there at the crack of dawn!

I guess the fish are early risers, too.

Since Shawn had surprised me with a birthday party last year, I thought I'd return the favor. I had everything planned out. I was going to make him the cutest cake. I had been ordering stuff and planning for weeks. Then, Hurricane Gustav decided to pay us a visit. We were without lights for almost a week. Plans were ruined; time ran out, but we had the party anyway.

You think he's smiling because of the party?

Nah...I think it's 'cause he went fishing earlier that day!

Shawn, Me & Ian

Christmas Cake Balls

Bakerella makes the cutest and sweetest little cakes! She said it best when she said,

"They are super easy to make and even easier to eat."

They are also easy to make. Just bake a cake, and after the cake is cooked and cooled, crumble it up into a bowl. Then mix in a can of frosting. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour (until they are firm). Melt chocolate or vanilla bark, and dip the cake balls in the chocolate or vanilla. Place on wax paper or cookie sheet and let chocolate harden. Eat & enjoy!


You can go here for more detailed directions on how to make these. You will also find many other ways to decorate these little treats on Bakerella's blog.

My Font

Go here to make your handwriting into your own personal font.

Fun & simple. Anyone can do it!

This is my font-Antoinette:

Sprinkles

I LOVE sprinkles! My boyfriend doesn't understand why I love them so much; they just make me happy! I'm always buying more, even though it will probably take me forever to use what I have. The only problem with sprinkles is that they take up so much counter space. It must be the round bottles. Ever since I saw Bakerella spice up her kitchen, I've wanted to do something similar with mine. The other day I found these at Michael's:

They come 6 in a pack, so I bought me a couple to get started. I'm going to get my Dad to build me a rack/shelf to sit them on (the preacher is a carpentar). Right now they are just kind of stacked on top of each other. But, soon....there will be order!