December 30, 2010

Any Guesses?

We took a road trip today.  This is what we saw!  Aren't they pretty?  Any guesses where we went?




This was my favorite thing I saw.  LOVE it!
 Here is something else we saw....

My oldest through a big GLASS ball of water!
My husband relected in a huge convex piece of GLASS...
Lots of reflections going on here...
Ah... we musn't  forget....  The Grouch Couch... so dubbed by our little one.
Did you guess?  The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY!
It was great fun to see the modern glass exhibit, the oldest glass known to man and a Hot Glass display where you can watch them blow glass.  So fun! Definitely worth the trip!

And afterward we went to dinner and then stopped at Gimme! Coffee in Ithaca per a friends' advice.
We even bought the coffee he suggested...

Not a great picture, but it made me laugh....

There are some really great books written about the glassware we saw!  It is so neat to see it up close!The Corning Museum of Glass: A Decade of Glass Collecting, 1990-1999The Corning Museum of Glass: A Decade of Glass Collecting, 1990-1999
Corning Museum of Glass, New York - 16"x20" - Fine-Art Gicle Photographic Print by Carol M. HighsmithCorning Museum of Glass, New York - 16"x20" - Fine-Art Gicle Photographic Print by Carol M. Highsmith
Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass: Volume IRoman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass: Volume I
Islamic Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Vol. 1Islamic Glass in The Corning Museum of Glass, Vol. 1
Contemporary Glass Sculptures and Panels: Selections from the Corning Museum of GlassContemporary Glass Sculptures and Panels: Selections from the Corning Museum of Glass

December 28, 2010

Dollar Store Polka-Dotted Plates

If you have been following my blog, you probably realize how much I LOVE my dollar store poka-dotted plates.  See the header for my blog?  There is a red one.  I also have pink, black, turqouise and red.  I have large dinner plates and I have loads of smaller salad plates. 

You have seen them for all of my occasions because I love them.  I used them under my son's cupcakes for his birthday party, on my Christmas dinner table, etc.  I am sad.  The strangest phenomenon has been occuring.  They are breaking spontaneously!  I guess that's why they are at the dollar store!  Just the red ones and the turquoise ones have broken so far. 

Check it out!

My little one and I were in the living room and it sounded like something fell onto the floor in the kitchen.  I sent him out to see what fell.  He couldn't find anything.  Later, I went to the kitchen to investigate and this is what I found under that cute little tin on the left.  One piece of it was clear over on the stove top.   What is up with that????  Cheap things!  Oh well, I've been using them for well over a year.  I guess it is time to move on. LOL! 


Next time I will have to go for these!
Spode Baking Days Red Dinner Plate, Set of 4Spode Baking Days Red Dinner Plate, Set of 4
Signature Housewares Dots 6-Piece 6-Inch Plate Set with Caddy, RedSignature Housewares Dots 6-Piece 6-Inch Plate Set with Caddy, Red
Rosanna Red Dots Gift-boxed Dessert Plates, Set of 4Rosanna Red Dots Gift-boxed Dessert Plates, Set of 4
Rosanna Red Dots Gift-boxed Teacups and Saucers, Set of 4Rosanna Red Dots Gift-boxed Teacups and Saucers, Set of 4

Now I'm getting excited!  Check out the tea pot to go with them.  Super cute!  All on Amazon.com!
Yedi Houseware Classic Coffee and Tea White Dots 20 Ounce Teapot, Violet PurpleYedi Houseware Classic Coffee and Tea White Dots 20 Ounce Teapot, Violet Purple

December 19, 2010

Lego Birthday Party and a Mini-Figure Lollipop Tutorial

Birthdays in December are never a good thing.  So much going on and so many things to do!  I always try to do a real party for my son so he doesn't feel left out.  This year, he wanted a LEGO theme, so I found some LEGO candy for the party.  I used them for a lot of things.  I decorated the table and the cake stand with them and also put them on top of the cupcakes.  I must warn you, these candies are very hard.  I thought they would be like Smarties, but they were more like glass. 

I made some digital cupcake wrappers and printed them up.  I then used some Lego Mini-figure stickers on them.  Fun, striped candles and bright colors around the table brought the birthday party to life.  The cupcakes are brownies with whipped icing on top.  I also added some colorful sprinkles to the top.  You can get the wrappers to print below.

To use these, right-click on the picture and choose "Print Picture"



I also made some mini-figure head lollipops using marshmallows with the smaller marshmallows on the top dipped  in yellow chocolate melts.  I then drew some faces on them with black icing.  The tutorial is at the bottom of this post.


Here's the Birthday Boy!



LEGO Mini-figure Pops - A Quick Tutorial

These are pretty easy to make and you can probably figure out how to make them, but I did learn a few things that may help you in trying them.  Here's what they look like...


Here's what you need.  Another thing that I didn't show here is a piece of floral foam.  It really makes it easy to make these!  See the pictures below.  You can poke the sticks into the floral foam to hold them while they dry and while you draw the faces on.

Here's what you need.  I used strawberry, but you can use any flavor marshmallows.

Large-sized marshmallows (not those HUGE ones)
Mini marshmallows
1 tbsp shortening
Lollipop sticks
A tall glass
Yellow food coloring (not paste)
White candy melts (or yellow if you can find them)
Floral foam or Styrofoam block
Black icing (you can buy this in the birthday cake section of your grocery store, or make your own.  My recipe is HERE.)


Step one:  Put the candy melts in the tall glass.  You can fill it to the top... it will melt down.  Add 1 tbsp of shortiening in the glass too.   Put the glass in the microwave and melt for 1 minute.  Stir.  Melt again, one minute at a time until mostly melted.  Stir between meltings.  Next, add a drop of yellow food coloring and stir.  Add as much as necessary until you get the correct color.

Step two:  Put the larger marshmallows on the sticks.  Dip the mini-marshmallows in the melted chocolate and stick to the top of the large marshmallow.  Like this....
 Step 3:  Dip each lollipop into the glass of melted chocolate.  Tap the stick on the top edge of the glass until there is no excess chocolate on the lollipop. Messy, but fun!
 Step 4:  Stick the sticks into the floral foam.  Once they are dry, stick them into the side of the floral foam like this...  This way the faces won't run while the icing dries.  Be careful though.  If you stick more on one side, it will flip over, so put the lollipops on the other side the whole way around.

 Let them dry and then have a GREAT Lego party!

Here are some other cool items to use for your LEGO party.  I love the candles the ice cube trays and wish I had found them before my party!

LEGO Minifigure Cake Mold 852708LEGO Minifigure Cake Mold 852708
LEGO Minifigure Ice Cube TrayLEGO Minifigure Ice Cube Tray
Concord Candy Blox, Build'Em & Eat'Em- Assorted Fruit Flavor, 1 LbConcord Candy Blox, Build'Em & Eat'Em- Assorted Fruit Flavor, 1 LbBlokz CandlesBlokz Candles
Lego Ice Bricks TrayLego Ice Bricks Tray
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