***ADVICE***

Ok wonderful Pirates-n-Princesses fans...

What can I do to make this blog better?

What would you like to see more of here on the blog?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!!!!  :)

Tulle Table Skirt Tutorial

Be sure to check out A to Zebra Celebrations today to see my guest post on how to make your very own Tulle Table Skirt!

You can check it out HERE!

Red Velvet Wedding Cupcakes

 

Recently, I had a friend recommend my cupcakes to her friend getting married.

Her wedding colors were hot pink, black, and white.

She really wanted red velvet cupcakes, but she wanted them hot pink.

Do you know how difficult it is make chocolate cupcakes hot pink?  

Pretty hard...for me anyways.  If you know the trick please SHARE!!!

So we ended up using her Aunt Clyde's Red Velvet Cake recipe and came up with these...

Because this recipe is actually a box mix with some add-in's, I only had just enough cupcakes so I didn't get to taste a full one, only a mini one that I made scraping the batter from the bowl.  I thought they were pretty good!  They may have been a smidgen dry...so I've been asking for advice over on facebook as to how to solve that problem.  Anyone else know how to remedy that problem? I topped them with my Martha Stewart cream cheese frosting and used a Wilton 1M tip to pipe the rose.  The trick to getting the rose shape is to start piping in the center of the cupcake and work your way outwards.

 

And here they are displayed at the wedding!

Thanks Jenn for taking the picture and for the referral!  :)

Aunt Clyde's Red Velvet Cake

Mix together:

3 eggs

1 1/3 C water

3 T. canola oil

3 T. cocoa

1/2 t. vanilla; 1/2 t. of black walnut flavoring (couldn't find any...)

One 1 oz. bottle of red food coloring

Then add 1 box of Duncan Hines white cake mix.

Grease and flour 9x13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees according to directions on cake-mix box.  Do not over bake.

I obviously made cupcakes and baked them for 17 minutes which seemed to be good!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

courtesy my BFF, Martha Stewart

Here's the LINK to the recipe.

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

Thanks 

so, so much to everyone that took the time to enter my giveaway!

I had great feedback on this giveaway and look forward to many more!

Well, let's get to it...

And the winner is...  (thanks to random.org)

Jenny from Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line 

who said...

I am a follower! Congrats on 100!

Congrats Jenny!  I'll be e-mailing you soon to get your your awesome goodies!!!

Shamrock Tutorial & Announcement

Remember these cute little shamrock topped Stout Cupcakes?

Well... I've created a tutorial on how I made them over on A to Zebra Celebrations blog where I am now a contributor!!!!  How exciting, huh?

So, be sure to go check it out HERE!

St. Patrick's Day News Segment

 

So, here we go with another news segment that I did for the WCFN 7 pm news.  It was kind of last minute, but I think everything got thrown together quite nicely!

Here's the LINK!!!! Go watch! 

{After reading my post, of course...}  :)

 

 Here I am with Dave & Jennifer.  

They are so much fun to be around and make the segments really fun!

 

These are shamrock shaped rice krispy treats.  

The trick to getting them green, and you probably already know this, is to mix your food coloring in the stirred up marshmallows, right before adding in the cereal.  I found the thinner you could get them, the easier they are to punch out with the cookie cutter.  I sandwiched two of them between a sucker stick, tied a cute ribbon around them, and stuck them in this adorable pot I found at Michael's. 

 

 

 

My rainbow cupcakes were made using a Funfetti cake, because what kid doesn't LOVE Funfetti?

Then I topped them with some blue buttercream and added an Extreme Airhead, cut in half, as the rainbow, and some mini marshmallows for the clouds.  I've also seen where you can use two gummy worms as the rainbow if you can't find the Airheads, and you can also pipe clouds on with frosting.  This is not my own original idea, and when I find where I found them I'll be sure to give them credit!

 

 

 

And here are the Adult Friendly Cupcakes.  SOoOoOOo Yummy!

They are a Stout Cupcake, recipe courtesy of my sweet friend, Jami, all the way from the U.K.  Then I topped them with a Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream Frosting.  De-Lish.  

Look for the recipe at the end of this post.  Tutorial also coming soon on how I made those shamrocks on top!

 

 

And then for the show stopper... the Rainbow Layered Cake.

{Let's all pause for some Ohhhhhh's & Awwwwww's.} 

So, Monday night, my mom and sister come over to help me get everything together and to help me with this gorgeous cake.  Well... we quickly learned that I probably ought to stick with cupcakes.  This thing is a beast.  It's enormous.  It was a CHALLENGE.  Bless anyone's heart who tries this and I wish you the best of luck, because if you can get it straight and not topsy turvy and looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you get mad props from me.  But, it was sooooooo worth it!  So yummy!  I got the idea HERE from Pinks & Needles and it was very helpful!!!!  Let me know how yours turn out if you try it!!!!

 

 

And this is what the set looks like as soon as taping is finished.  

Everyone SWARMS in to gobble up the cupcakes!  :)

Here I am with my adorable sister, Ashley, my little assistant. 

{Even though she did doubt my rainbow cake...}

And I can't forget to mention my AMAZING mama, the lady behind the photos.

Thanks for taking amazing pictures for my blog, helping me with that cake, buying us McDonald's after every news segment, and being my biggest fan.  I LOVE YOU!  XOXO

Stout Cupcakes

Courtesy of Jami Schmidt

 

3/4 cup of unsweetened coca plus more for dusting at the end
2 cups sugar
2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp Baking soda
Pinch of fine salt
1 bottle of Guinness
1 stick melted butter
1 tbs Pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3/4 cups sour cream

Preheat to 350
Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl
In another mixing bowl combine stout, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream until combined and smooth. Gradually add in the dry.

 Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for about 12 mins and then rotate the pan and bake for another 12.  ** I only needed to bake mine for 17 minutes and they were good.  I don't rotate, too much trouble.  I know, I know... I probably should, but oh, well.

Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
Courtesy Martha Stewart
3 sticks unsalted, room temp butter
4 C. powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream liqueur
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Cream butter until smooth.  Slowly add in powdered sugar, scraping down the sides as needed.  Add Bailey's and vanilla and beat until combined and smooth.  
   

100 FOLLOWERS GIVEAWAY! **CLOSED**

I've hit a milestone...

100 blog followers!!!!!

{Let's all pause for a second and do a happy dance}

OK, and now that we've gotten that out of the way... I have an  

AMAZING GIVEAWAY

 lined up for all my wonderful blog followers!   

{Seriously, it's AMAZING!}

Ok, are you ready??

First up, how about a dozen Easter cookies from Dandy Delights?  

Remember Sara's cookies from my Super Bowl spread on the news?  YUM.

How stinkin' cute would these be in your little one's Easter baskets, to give to a friend, or to just eat yourself? {Which is probably what I would do.}  :)

Next up... Planning a party in the near future?  Nancy from A to Zebra Celebrations is giving one lucky blog follower a $25 gift certificate to her etsy shop.  Check out some of her super cute stuff she has listed right now...

 

 

 {LOVE the little red poms there on the bottom of this table runner!}

Need a Spa Day????

Christina of Moodylicious Gourmet Skincare is giving away an  
Espresso facial scrub and a 4oz bag of both the white diamond and blue diamond coffee.  

Here's how the white diamond coffee is described on her website:

"Moodylicious White Diamond Silky Smooth Coffee Blend with Acai berry is a seductively full-bodied coffee that will draw you in with an elegant, deep aroma, with undertones of rich semi-sweet chocolates and caramels to tantalize your taste buds."  Ummm...yes, please.

How about some MORE yummy cookies, because really, can you ever have too many cookies? 

No, I didn't think so.

Nikki, of The Sweetest Thing is giving away a dozen custom made cookies.  

Check out her work...BEAUTIFUL!

 

{Man, I wish I could decorate cookies like these fab ladies!}

And LAST but certainly not LEAST.... 

my new friend, Katie, is giving away a Tupperware Rectangular Cake Carrier!

"Sheet cakes and cupcakes travel in style with this elegant, durable Tupperware favorite. Holds one 9" x 13" (23 x 33 cm) single or double layer cake under strong protective cover. Flip the bottom over and there are thoughtfully designed holders for 18 cupcakes - get them to the party as perfect as when they left your kitchen."

LOVE that yellow, just makes me more anxious for warmer temps and SpRiNg!!!!!  

*BONUS*

Anyone who orders from Katie and mentions Pirates-n-Princesses will get   

10% off and free direct shipping!

SWEET!!!  

Here's the LINK to her Tupperware site, because seriously, just like you can't have too many cookies, can you ever have too much Tupperware???  Go show her some P&P LOVE.  :)

Well, how does all that sound?  Pretty sweet, huh???  I'm so excited!!!   

{I wish I could win!}

So... let's get to how you can win... 

You know me, I like to make it as EASY as humanly possible.  

You MUST be a Pirates-n-Princesses blog follower to win.  

See up there in the left hand column where it says Followers?  Just point and click.  Don't you want to join the other 106 fabulous people who follow this blog?  Sure you do...

Sooooo....

*Leave a comment saying you follow my blog and you are entered.

Done.

Unless.... 

If you want to up your chances of winning, here are some additional ways to enter:

*Share this giveaway on your facebook fanpage or personal page and come back telling me you did!  Don't forget to tag Pirates-n-Princesess in your post!

Because this is a giveaway celebrating my 100 blog followers how about liking these awesome sponsers' blogs?  (You can also LIKE these gals over on facebook, too, and can find the links on their blogs.)

*Follow Sara's blog HERE and come back and leave a comment telling me you do.  

Now, if you already do, GREAT, just leave me a comment telling me you do!

*Follow Nancy's blog HERE and come back and leave a comment telling me you do.

*The Moodylicious blog is coming soon, so go "LIKE" her on facebook and come back telling me you do.

*Follow Nikki's blog HERE and come back and leave a comment telling me you do.

*Go check out Katie's Tupperware product page HERE and come back telling me your favorite Tupperware item.

So, there you go... 7 chances to WIN an AMAZING prize package!!!  

Aren't you so glad you follow me?  :)

Giveaway will end Tuesday, March 15th at NOON, central time. 

I would end it on Sunday, but with it being Daylight Savings Time this weekend, let's not confuse me!

Good Luck!!!  

Thank you so much for following me!

XOXOXO