Snickerdoodle Cupcakes - #5

The Martha Cupcake Project was back on today!!! I made Martha's Snickerdoodle Cupcakes for my mother in law's office get together. They turned out YUMMY!!!!! So stinkin' good! I have learned that with all of these recipes, I don't need to bake them quite as long as Martha suggests. The recipe said to bake them for 20 minutes, but I checked them at 16 minutes and they were done. The recipe in the cookbook also recommended frosting them with the 7 minute frosting recipe, but I went with the fluffy vanilla frosting, due to not having a candy thermometer. Guess I'll have to invest in one of those if I ever want to make that 7 minute frosting. But these were AWESOME! They were a hit at the get together and one lady even thought they came from a professional bakery here in town! Talk about flattered! If you like snickerdoodle cookies, you must try these!!! Click HERE for a link to the recipe!

Fall Mantle 2010

See that lovely scratch? Yea, that would be from picking the green crab apples (in next picture)from a tree alongside the road. Ouch. Just had to have those ding dang crab apples...

My mantle is all set for the first day of October!!!!

Hopefully I'll have one or two more ideas to throw in there soon!

Pumpkin Witch

So, TJ's mom's office has a pumpkin decorating contest each year and for some reason, they thought I would be good at decorating their pumpkin this year...hmmm...not sure why??? I had originally came up with an idea to make Mike from Monsters, Inc. but that didn't quite pan out. In fact, it was a huge fiasco! So, PLAN B. What do you think??? H-O-T, huh???

Now Featuring...YOU!

If you have thrown a party you're proud of and would like to be featured on my blog, feel free to e-mail me at QueenieH@aol.com. I would love to showcase you and all your hard work and amazing talent!

I've Been Featured!!!

Thank you Allison over at House of Hepworths for featuring my Dollar Store Wreath!!

Yahoooooooooooooooo!!!! No go check it out!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

And the winner is...

Danitau!!!!
Congrats to Danitau who said I am also a facebook fan!!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered my very first giveaway!
{Now someone please tell me how to number my comments so I don't have to print off each comment and actually draw from a basket for future giveaways!!!}

O.M.Goodness Gracious

Ya all.... I've been FEATURED over on A to Zebra Celebrations!! Go check it out!

Nancy is all about girly things, pretty parties, and blogging. (Sounds like someone else I know...)

And you MUST check out her awesome wedding anniversary party! LOVIN' the green and black together, one of my favorite color combos these days!

Thanks so much, A to Zebra Celebrations!

Dollar Store Wreath

So after reading this Fall Wreath tutorial over on House of Hepworths blog, I got totally inspired! Especially since a fall wreath I fell in love with at Schnuck's that cost $60 was a bit out of my budget, this DOLLAR STORE wreath was right up my alley! It was so easy to make, too. I may or may not have gotten a bit obsessive about the placement of the leaves, but I think it turned out pretty stinkin' cute (and cheap at less than $15)! And I got the inspiration for putting the frame around it off of the Michael's website when it just happened to pop up on my screen. I found what I thought was the PERFECT frame at a garage sale this weekend, but passed when I saw it cost $20 (and had a mirror in it). But then lo and behold... as I was searching for my wreath hanger, there it was, in all it's glory and picture falling out the back of it, just calling my name... "Heather, use me, I'm perfect for your wreath project... and FREE!" So, I of course listened... Now to go do some more fall decorating!!!!

Go check out House of Hepworth's tutorial and dig out that glue gun and get to crafting!

Another FAB giveaway....

Check out this awesome giveaway over at Party Box Designs!!!! AWESOME! Now, have you entered my giveaway yet????

Countdown to Halloween- GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!

Do you know what happens in 47 days????? HALLOWEEN! I just ♥ Halloween! I saw this idea on the How Does She website (so I'm taking NO credit of coming up with this idea) and knew I wanted to do it. So, after a Michael's trip and a little help from TJ, I came up with a set of my own. What do you think??? Super cute, huh?! Wouldn't they look so cute up on your mantle or on your desk at school or work???

Do you want one, too??? Well, you're in luck! I made an extra one to give away to one lucky follower!

So, I absolutely hate when blogs practically make you jump through hoops of fire to enter a giveaway, but since this is my FIRST one, and I need facebook fans and followers, I'm kind of going to have to make you do just a little hoop jumping, too. But, only if you wanna... So, here goes...

You can earn up to three entries...

1: You MUST be a follower of Pirates-n-Princesses, the blog. Leave me a comment letting me know you are a follower, and you've got your first entry. (It's right over there on the left hand sidebar, just click!) All other entries will be thrown out if you aren't a follower.

Additional entries:

2. Become a Pirates-n-Princesses facebook fan (if you already are, SWEET!). Leave a comment letting me know you're a fan.

3. Blog, Tweet, or Share this post on your facebook page and leave me a comment letting me know you did with a link to the post.

Easy Peasy, right?

I'll randomly draw a winner Monday, September 20, 2010 at 10:00 am.

Now, let's say you really want one for yourself, I've gotcha covered there, too! You can order a set of Halloween advent blocks for yourself for $10.00! (If you win.. it's FREE!) If you live around me in the Champaign-Urbana area, and I can get them to you without shipping them, then we can set that up, otherwise I'll be sending them Priority Mail for $5. You must have paypal and you must e-mail me @ QueenieH@aol.com and let me know by September 22nd so I can ensure you get them by October 1st! I won't be taking any orders after the 22nd.

Good luck and THANKS SoOoO much for sharing me with your friends and following my blog!

White Cupcakes - #4

For Dacey's Ladybug Party I made Martha's White Cupcakes with my own buttercream frosting. Pretty easy to make, but will not be doubling the recipe again in my Kitchen-Aid mixer. It was FULL. And it was hard getting 10 egg whites to form a stiff peak, even with the help of Brock & Jillian, my little helpers. I thought they were good, not too sweet. TJ thought they were dry, so of course that put me in a panic because I don't want to serve people dry cupcakes, so I resorted to a Betty Crocker white cake mix in a box I had in the pantry. Whipped those up around 11 pm and what do you know... he thought they were dry, too!

A-G-G-R-A-V-A-T-I-N-G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I guess Betty is just as good as Martha in this case. It's hard judging plain, white cupcakes after having such intricate other cupcakes, but oh well. Next time I'll try the swiss meringue buttercream as it may hold the grass up better.

Ladybug Party

{Cupcake Skewers}

I had the pleasure of helping my sister-in-law out with Dacey's 2nd Birthday Party! She was doing ladybugs and so I whipped out my Martha Stewart cupcake cookbook, and leave it to Martha, she had ladybug cupcakes! I was a bit nervous making them at first, but they weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be. I also made cupcake skewers for just a small bite size taste of Martha's white cupcakes. I entered them in a contest over at pizzazzerie's website! Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll think they're super cute, too! The fondant was super easy! Wish I could have gotten it more red, but oh well. Here's the recipe in case you are feeling adventurous! I also made the cupcake toppers and her birthday banner. It was a great party and I think everything turned out really cute!