Happy Birthday Hannah!

I was recently asked by my boyfriend's mom if I would bake and a design a cake for her grand daughter's 10th birthday. Although Todd and I aren't yet married I still feel as if his nieces and nephew and second cousins are my family as well. I love buying and making for the kids so I happily accepted. Now... what to do?

I wasn't given many details, but I knew right away I wouldn't be so bold as to try a character cake since my only other experience with fondant had been a little cake mom and I designed with cookie cutters for Easter. We were just playing around and trying to get a feel for fondant making and decorating so the cake didn't have a design per say. We just made little critters and glued them on with water. Here's the result.

 

I'm aware it's not "Ace of Cakes" quality, but mom and I were proud of it and thought it was really cute. Apparently my boyfriend's mom, Darlene, had faith in me too. With funds in hand I went to Michael's Craft Shop and bought a few basic supplies. I had a design idea in mind and Michael's had the flower forms I needed, pre-colored fondant, and gum paste mix. I got a small pan for the top tier of the cake and a fondant smoother. I was ambitious and I hoped I didn't fail. However, I was well prepared to hit walmart before the party to buy a cake if need be. Afterall, I was diving head first into something I knew very little about, but I had faith... just not a lot of time.

I had originally planned to spend my entire Friday evening crafting the cake. However, my mom had an appointment with her surgeon 3 hours away in Lexington. I called to reschedule earlier in the week and it was the only day they could get her in. I decided I could work a little on the cake after we got home and get up the next morning to complete the cake before the party that evening. I had purchased the colored fondant for the decorations, but I planned to make white fondant from marshmallows and powdered sugar to cover the cakes because it tastes better than store bought. I decided to make that and the gum paste decorations the night before the party. I thought it would only take a couple hours, but a couple hours turned into five hours. The gum paste medium was a little more difficult than I originally thought, and while the gum paste decorations didn't turn out perfect, they were decent for a first try. (You'll see those shortly in the posted photograph.)

The next morning I woke early ready to get to work on the cake. I'd had only a few hours sleep, but I was determined to make the best cake I could for Hannah. She was turning 10 and loves peace signs so I immediately thought tie dye! I had seen tie dye cakes on other blogs before and although the process is time consuming, and flared up the ol' carpal tunnel, I had to do it. I mixed my batter, separated it into several bowls, and got out the neon food coloring. I think it was best to go with the neon and shortly you'll see why, but first here's a picture of the batter before baking.

Isn't it pretty? It also leaves a pretty mess behind too. All those bowls and spoons... oh my! Thank goodness my mom has a dishwasher.

 

So while the cake was baking I rolled out my colored fondant and made the large, medium, and tiny flowers that was I was going to use to decorate the cake. I set those to the side to dry slightly. After cooling and crumb coating the cake with icing I starting putting my homemade fondant on the layers. The fondant makes a nice consistency, but I kept cutting the layers too short. I didn't have time to redo the fondant so in the areas that were really bad I did patch jobs and covered those with my decorations. No one would even have noticed I had messed up in a couple spots if I hadn't pointed it out. That's the good thing about decorations. You can cleverly disguise any mistakes or problem areas! Remember this was only my second fondant cake so I was pleased with the results. Other cake maker's may view it as amateur, but that's what I am. I did my best and in the end the birthday girl was happy and that's all that matters. So now I present to you my first multi-layer fondant cake....

 

The 10 on top is made from gum paste. All the other decorations are fondant, but the outside wasn't even my favorite part of the cake. My favorite was the cake itself. It turned out perfectly and the neon food coloring really made those colors pop! 

  

Just look how lovely the cake layers baked together! This also provides a good views of the three layer flowers I made to decorate the cake with. The cake itself matched the colors of the fondant so perfectly and I was very pleased. Remember if you want similar results to buy the neon food coloring.

This is an even better view of those layers and how the color just pops! So lovely.

All in all I was very pleased with the cake and the family appeared to be pleased as well so that made me a very happy girl. I hope to practice and get better and who knows maybe you'll see a cake of mine at a birthday party near you! We'll have to see how my skills develop, but I had a lot of fun making this cake and the kids loved the rainbow cake effect. It was back breaking work, but well worth it. Hopefully I'll be posting more cakes in the future.

I've also taken to decorating my own gift bags recently. I started at Valentine's Day and posted photos of those bags on my VDay Blog post. The most recent bags have been for my uncle's wedding and yesterday for Hannah's birthday. I was a little rushed on the birthday bag, but I was very pleased with both design and I just absolutely love mom's Cricut. I can turn a 1.00 bag into a bag that would cost 5.00 or more in the store. Take a look....

 

So as you can see you don't have to spend a fortune on a cute bag. Simply fire up your favorite crafting machine, or clip images from any media publication, and make your own. They are pretty and people really seem to appreciate the effort. Some think it's unnecessary, but I enjoy making the bags. I wouldn't make them pretty if I didn't want to. I think some people tend to forget there's a difference in feeling a need to do something as opposed to doing it because you want to. If I decorate a bag, or card, for someone I did it because I wanted to, not because I felt I had to. Crafting should be fun and I personally tend to have a lot of fun creating. So happy crafting everyone and if you feel inspired to start up a craft blog ask me to follow you. I'll happily do so! I love new ideas!

Victorian Mod Podge Serving Tray

Today I made something pretty and functional. Not only does this mod podge tray reflect my love of all things Victorian, it has potential to be a functional household piece. To make this project you'll need a wooden tray, either hand made or store bought, various paper designs (I cheated a little and designed mine on one single piece of scrapbook paper), non-toxic school glue (like Elmer's), acrylic paint, and mod podge.

First I painted the entire tray brown. The fun part comes after the brown layer of paint dries. This is the step where you create the crackle effect! Forget about buying expensive crackle medium at a craft shop... we're going to create the crackle using school glue and acrylic paint! So instead of explaining the steps I'm going to include a link to the youtube video that I used to learn this method.  It's super easy!

http://youtu.be/wGmyHB83tOI

After the crackle finished dried I simply added mod podge to the bottom of the tray and smoothed my image onto the tray. It was initially smooth, but buckled some in the drying process. Eh... it happens and I think it gives the tray a little additional character. Some day this tray will look very nice on an antique vanity table, but until that time comes it's going to look nice as a decorative piece on any table. Below are a sample of the images used in my design piece.

 

The image is from fellow blogger "The Graphics Fairy."

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-graphic-gorgeous-french-soap-label.html#links

 

Monogram representing my name, Amy.

 

Victorian angel.

 

Finished product.

Front view.

Red, White, & Blue Tie-Dye Cakes in a Jar

This was my first attempt at the "tie-dye" cake method I've seen on so many facebook blog links. The concept is easy and putting the cakes in small Mason jars makes the cutest little desserts. For this particular design I used a Stars & Stripes Funfetti cake by Pillsbury. That is why you see more red and blue in the overall cake. I dyed a portion of the batter red, another portion blue, and the last I left white, but added the red and blue sprinkles included with the Funfetti cake. Had I not added the sprinkles I would have had a more uniform design of a red layer, white layer, and blue layer, but I think the sprinkles added a more tie-dye effect. For the most part I was happy with the final result of the cakes, but I think I was a little ambitious when it came to the icing...

I had an icing fail. I was attempting to do tri-color icing that I had seen on another baking blog and followed the tips exactly. I filled three smaller icing bags with three icing colors, in honor of the 4th of July, red, white, and blue. I then put the three smaller bags into a larger piping bag. All was going well until the bag burst. Oh well.... I got 4 cakes with pretty swirls and the rest with a muddled mess of icing in varying colors... basically whatever I could scrap out of the busted bag. I can laugh now at the fail, but it wasn't so funny when I was covered in 3 colors of icing. In the end it doesn't matter so much how it looks... it's more about how it tastes and you can't go wrong with Funfetti! I'm sure everyone will enjoy them all the same... icing fail and all.

A few tips if you intend to bake cakes in a jar.

Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes. This is using the 8 oz. Mason jelly jars.
Make sure you spray the inside of the jar very well with baking spray such as PAM.
Use at least 20 drops of food coloring for a vibrant cake color.
When baking put jars in a shallow baking dish with 1/4" of water in the bottom of the baking dish.

Now I'm sure you're just longing to see the icing fail.... I won't disappoint. Here are photos of the finished product.

 

The four on the left were piped with the star tip. I never quite got the perfect tri-color swirl even before the bag burst and although I had to make due on the last six I don't think they look too bad. I mean they could have looked worse... right? Come on... humor me. ha.

 

Add sprinkles and no one will know the difference. Clever sprinkles!

Side view of the tie-dye effect. Remember you see more blue and red throughout because I used the Stars & Stripes Funfetti batter in the middle.

Here Kitty, Kitty....

For all the animal lovers out there this is a quick and easy project to make a treat jar for your beloved pet(s). I started with an old jar I already had around the house and used templates I found on another craft site for the paw prints and wording. I didn't like the cat images the craft site provided so I took matters into my own hands and found a Victorian image more to my liking. I also didn't have any spray adhesive on hand so I used a quick set tacky glue to secure the image to the glass jar and it worked perfectly.

Once I had the image in place I put two coats of Mod Podge on the image as a sealer. Using the templates I found online I taped the images to the inside of the jar and with a fine tipped pen traced the paw prints and wording onto the jar. Please allow proper drying time as it will take some time for the ink to dry on the glass surface. The entire project took less than an hour and was created from a jar I already had around the house! I loved the way the cat treat jar turned out so I intend to make another for dog treats as well once I find the perfect jar.

Finished product.

Here's the image I used.


Here doggy.....

  Treat jar for the dog.

Image I used for the doggie treat jar.

Yeah... my pets are pretty spoiled, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Baby You're A Firework....

Wow... I've definitely been a bad craft blogger for the past two months. Actually, I've been a bad crafter for the past two months. After Easter I really didn't have another holiday to create any decorations for, but that recently changed when I realized the 4th of July is upon us! It's not only been a lack of holiday's though. There have been some major happenings in the household lately. My mother was recently diagnosed with cancer so between the shock, chemotherapy, and anticipation of starting radiation I haven't had much time to think, much less create. However, one night while she was resting I remembered a craft I had seen a while back of a paper fire cracker and feeling inspired I got out my crafting paper, mod podge, and fired up the Cricut. Presenting Victorian Fireworks!

Although I didn't take progression photos (I know I promised, but I always get in the craft zone and forget) this project is very easy. All you need is card stock paper, glue, images of your liking, floral wire, and tinsel. I have already decided that this upcoming Christmas season I am going to load up on Christmas tinsel. I'm running out and Christmas is still 6 months away. What ever will I do!? Hopefully I'll make it to October which when shoppers usually see the first of many holiday items hitting store shelves.

Back to the fireworks.... First you form your wire to look like a firework smoke tail. The bottom needs to be a connected circle, for stability, and then you simply twist the remaining wire to create a spiral. Cover the wire in tinsel, so far I have used gold and silver, and viola! You have the smoke tail for your firework.

Next you take a piece of card stock paper and roll into a tube shape. Glue the back seam and let dry. Once dry you can decorate the tube with stripes or stars (as seen in the picture  below) and take a patriotic image of your choice and glue to the front. I happen to like Victorian images so I always use those. Once I have the image glued in place I like to add a layer of mod podge. One it protects the image, but it also makes the image pop with a hint of gleam. For the top cut a circle from your card stock paper and slice it to the middle. Roll the circle into a cone shape and glue to the top of the tube. Once the tube is completely dry you take the tinsel smoke tail and glue to the back inside of the tube. So far I've made two, but I intend to make a third, slightly smaller than the smallest one I have so far and then I will have a complete centerpiece that will look great at any 4th of July event I happen to throw or attend. Just wait until you see the dessert I have in mind. :) Hopefully it won't be another two months before I update again, but until next time.... Happy crafting!

 

Made the third and final firework this evening during a thunderstorm. Storms bring out my creative side. I think the three look very good together. Now I have a complete centerpiece!

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter readers! Like Christmas and Halloween, Easter is one of my favorite holidays for crafting and baking. So far this year I have showcased a few of the Easter crafts I have made to decorate my home and in today's blog we're going to take a look at a frugal woman's attempt at gifts kids will hopefully love and enjoy. In light of the current economic climate, and rising gas prices, I found myself still wanting to do something for the kids in my boyfriend's family, but I was lacking the funds to do as I did last year when I put together gift bags for each child. Simple solution? Paper mache baskets! I had the newspaper on hand and made the paper mache paste using ingredients I already had in the kitchen. (See previous blog post for the paper mache recipe I used.)

My first attempts fell kinda flat, but as I rummaged through my craft closet I found lots of pretty ribbon and lace with which to fancy up the simple homemade baskets. I printed vintage images from the internet and used crafting foam as a sort of frame for each vintage image. I painted the baskets in varying pastel colors, attached the foam framed images, and topped each basket with ribbon and/or lace. I used simple floral wire for the handles. Take a look at the finished baskets. (*Note: I can't take credit for the little boxes beside each basket. Those are from Martha Stewart and anyone can get the templates here http://www.marthastewart.com/article/vintage-postcard-treat-box -- I did find that the slide box was a little big for the sleeve. You will want to experiment with one before taping, or gluing, all the pieces together. I made the later mistake so my boxes are little lopsided. I found the calculations slightly off, but they are still cute.)

Addie and Hannah's baskets.

Colston and Brooklynn's baskets.

Brooklynn and Luke's baskets.

Top view with name tags made on the Cricut.

In each basket I'm putting a Funfetti cupcake and sugar cookies with a chocolate candy coating. In the small boxes I put Easter grass and a few jelly beans. I hadn't originally intended to make the boxes, but they were so cute I couldn't resist. I also didn't anticipate them not fitting in the paper mache baskets. lol So the boxes will be handed out separately. I was also going to include mini-cupcakes in the basket, but as you can see they are quite small. My ambition was bigger than the actual baskets. :) If the kids want baby cupcakes they can, of course, enjoy them separately as well.

I actually spent the better part of the Easter Eve evening baking. Following is a sample of the baked goods I made in the span of four hours.

Big Spring Funfetti cupcakes topped with Spring Funfetti frosting and sprinkles baked in paper cups and with picks from The Dollar Tree.

Small Spring Funfetti cupcakes with vanilla frosting, confetti sprinkles, and baked in small Easter baking cups from The Dollar Tree.

 

                                        

 Toll House stamped sugar cookies with white chocolate (colored with food coloring) candy coating back.

Strawberry Poke-It Cake. Easy and delicious. Bake any white cake as directed. Poke with holes using the handle of any spoon. Mix Strawberry Jell-O according to the package. While cake is still warm pour Jell-O mixture over cake. Cover with small Cool Whip and refrigerate. Yum-O.

Another picture of the boxes made from the Martha Stewart template and filled with Easter grass and jelly beans.

So this is how one frugal woman prepared for the Easter holiday. I hope the kids enjoy their baskets and I hope the adults enjoy some of the treats I baked. I realize I've baked enough to feed a small army and I remember vividly how I used to roll my eyes at my mother when she did the same so many years ago. Now that I'm older I find enjoyment in doing for others, especially the kiddos, so I hope everyone enjoys my contribution. I admit that I actually enjoy slowly morphing into my mother. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be doing as my mom always did when it comes to holiday preparation. I guess it's suffice to say she can now laugh at me and say, "I told you so." Because she did. She always said someday I would enjoy doing for others. So it is true... your mother is always right. Now this little bunny has to hop on to bed to enjoy the festivities later today. *hop hop hop* Enjoy your Blessed Easter Sunday!

Paper Mache Massacre

Paper mache is a simple craft that can turn any day into a craft extravaganza. All you need is flour, water, newspaper, and an imagination. I recently saw a paper mache basket at a gift shop selling for $15.00. Seriously? $15.00? I hadn't tried my hand at paper mache since high school, but a quick internet search produced several recipes and the easiest one to create was a no cook recipe using flour, water, salt, and a little pinch of cinnamon. The flour and water (one part flour to two parts water) create the paste while the salt (a couple tablespoons) will deter mold. The purpose of the cinnamon? Merely sensory. The cinnamon provides a pleasant smell to the otherwise bland paste.

With little preparation I found myself sitting at my kitchen table ready to mache. I mixed up the homemade glue, found a couple molds for my baskets, ripped up last week's edition of The Mountain Eagle, and I was ready to craft. At least I thought I was ready to craft. Three days in and I've found paper mache a lot messier than I remember and it's been a lot of trial and error... more error than anything. Oops!  :)

Bear in mind that these Easter baskets are a work in progress, an experiment that I will tweak as time goes on. The first run provided a couple rough looking baskets, and while the rough edges can definitely be appreciated from an artsy stand point, I'm sure as I play with the mache I will find a better technique to create a more flawless look. Then again there's always sandpaper which absolutely can be used on paper mache. It's dries a lot stronger than one might think. Shall we look at some steps?

 

Make sure when you mix your homemade paper mache paste that the mixture is as smooth as possible. I used my handy whisk to remove any remaining lumps. You want the mixture to be thinner than glue and quite runny. Play with the recipe and find the consistency that is best for you. One of the molds I used was an old terracotta flower pot. I covered the pot in a thin layer of petroleum jelly to make the paper mache cast easier to remove.

 

The second mold I used was a small metal pail. Again I covered the pail in a thin layer of petroleum jelly. Ideally you should only do one layer of paper mache at a time. The first night I allowed the layer to dry overnight, but I realized that process was going to take forever and I devised a plan.....

 

I took the molds and laid them on top of our electric heater. You definitely don't want to leave them unattended as paper and heat can create fire, but I monitored the molds and before I knew it the new layers were completely dry! Think about it... both terracotta and metal are conductors of heat so laying them on top of the heater basically "baked" the paper mache layers.  Pretty neat right?

Even with the small layer of petroleum jelly on the molds the baskets still needed to be slit down the back for easy removal. Once the baskets have been removed from the molds you simply take a few more layers of newspaper to close the cut. These baskets are 4 layers thick and as you can clearly see they stand on their own and hold their shape quite well. Now all that's left to do is decorate the baskets and surprisingly this has been the trickiest part for me.

First I painted the baskets in pretty pastel colors. The first two I painted baby blue and pale pink. Don't they look like little lampshades while hanging over my candle sticks to dry?   :)

Hmmm. I'm very undecided about them. I guess it's "cute" but it's not what I was looking for. Of course, this is only my first and a quick shopping trip may produce some new ribbon and embellishments. I used what I had on hand and I can't say I'm feeling it very much. The handle is wire, but it needs something... ribbon? flowers? beads? Hmmm. I shall ponder it.

 

On my second attempt I decided to go a little more bare. Not so much glitter. Not too much frill. I'm still not feeling it. I definitely love my vintage Easter images... that part is working for me... but the overall effect is not quite pleasing me. I think this might be my first self-proclaimed craft fail. I'm on the fence.

Side by side. I'm still undecided. I don't love them, but I don't hate them. I feel they are "unfinished" but adding to them could border on tacky. Perhaps a craft shopping trip can inspire me. I need stuff, but I'm not exactly sure what kinda "stuff" I need. I thought this paper mache project was going to be a breeze. Uh... not so much. Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions. Help!

Easter Doo-Dad

Yesterday was primarily a waste of what could have been useful time and I spent most of the day staring at various craft supplies and pondering craft inspirations. As the sun was beginning to set I finally got around to actually making something and not just thinking of making something. I wasn't sure what to call my creation since it doesn't serve any real function. It's basically just a pretty.... a doo-dad as the old folks might call it.

I know you're asking yourself the same thing I've been asking myself. "So, what is it again?" A day later and I'm still not sure. I took an empty ribbon spool, some craft foam, fine glitter, some pink Easter grass, and a few Victorian images I found online and created a little Easter pretty. I suppose its sole function is to sit and be pretty. People buy porcelain what-nots for the same purpose so why not create a craft that has no purpose other than to be pretty. Here's the finished doo-dad, whatnot, what have you....

I don't know why, but the the curled ribbon looks coral in the above picture. It isn't. It's a deep rose pink color which can be seen in the following photo. I tried several different settings on my camera to take photos of this doo-dad, but most settings produced a blurry image and the only setting that didn't discolored the ribbon. Putting both images together should be able to give you a better mental image of the actual coloring of the craft. I'm beginning to think it's time for a new camera.

So while it serves no real function I think it can still be appreciated for artistic effort. What could have turned into a major craft fail morphed into an actual craft. So what if it doesn't open to reveal little secrets inside. This is the little craft that could. The little craft that didn't need any surprises. It's just pretty. It doesn't need to be anything else.

Mountain Dew Goodness.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Instead of celebrating with green beer, or a funky green colored dessert, I thought I would try my hand at a simple recipe I found in a local fund raising cookbook. You do know what I'm talking about, right? Local churches and organizations gather recipes from members and sell their not-so top secret recipes as a fund raising project. Whether it be for the church youth group, or a Relay for Life team, those little cookbooks always find themselves a home inside my mom's vast collection of cookbooks. If you're looking for the good stuff your best bet is to skip the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook edition and go straight for a local church cookbook. They are my absolute favorite. I photocopied the recipe a while back, and cannot remember the exact cookbook I got the recipe from, but I do remember it being a local church group. From the build-up one might think I've just created the most elaborate masterpiece ever to come out of an electric oven, but it's just a very simple recipe. Presenting the Mountain Dew Cake.

Fresh out of the oven.

Here's the easy as pie recipe:

1 box lemon cake mix
1 small box lemon instant pudding
4 eggs
3/4 c. oil
1 12 oz. can of Mountain Dew

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together first four ingredients. Mixture will be very thick. Add the Mountain Dew and mix very well. Mixture will be quite thin now. Pour into well greased Bundt pan and bake 45 to 60 minutes. (My oven tends to run very hot and my cake was cooked perfectly after 48 minutes, but as always adjust time according to your own oven. Trial and error.)

I suppose to further celebrate St. Patty's Day I could have added a little green food coloring to the cake batter and although experts claim you can't taste the food coloring I tend to think it does slightly alter the taste. I'm sure it's my imagination and it's simply the color tricking the brain, but I didn't want to risk it. The way I see it the Mountain Dew can is green so it's a perfectly acceptable St. Patrick's Day dessert on that premise alone.

One could make a lemon glaze to cover the cake, but I opted to sprinkle the cake with a nice layer of powdered sugar. It ultimately comes down to baker's preference since both options are good. :) The Mountain Dew appears to give the cake a moister and slightly sticky texture, but the taste is really no different than that of a regular lemon pound cake. I suppose it's a good thing I like lemon pound cake.

Yum-O. Warm lemon goodness smothered in powdered sugar.

So how did you celebrate on this fine St. Patrick's Day? Green beer? Green eggs and ham? Or corned beef and cabbage? My mom actually made the latter and from what I understand it's a traditional Irish meal. I had tacos... the extreme opposite. :) However, my dessert was slightly more St. Patrick's Day appropriate. Remember... the Mountain Dew was in a green can. :) Enjoy the rest of your St. Patty's Day and if you're having green beer, have one for me.... Cheers!

Easy Peesy.

This is quite possibly the easiest craft I've ever made and it's all because of the greatest little crafting tool ever created... the Cricut! Anyone that likes crafting and/or scrapbooking needs a Cricut. Those little machines are monsters and if you're willing to invest in the different cartridges then I promise you will not be disappointed. Think of all the money you already spend on backgrounds, borders, and stickers... well the Cricut makes all of that and more, but this isn't an ad for the Cricut. This is a craft blog so let's get on to the craft.

I had purchased a small Easter tree at the Dollar Tree about a month ago. I wanted to get them before they sold out, and lo and behold, the last time I was in the Dollar Tree they only had a handful left and they looked pretty bad so I was happy with my impulse Easter purchase well before Valentine's Day. The Dollar Tree provided glitter foam egg ornaments, that are very cute in their own right, but I wanted something a little different for my tree. I already decorate a larger feather tree with egg ornaments for Easter and keeping with my love of all things Victorian I went to the Cricut with an idea in mind. Luckily we had a cartridge with a tag design I rather liked and thought would fit well with the Victorian theme. I cut all the layers on the Cricut. White background, pink middle, and the white scrolling frame. Next I simply printed the Victorian images on plain printer paper and used an oval template to cut to the appropriate size. Here's the finished product....

They are very small and dainty, only 1 1/4 inch big, so I strung regular pink sewing thread through the top to make the hanger. The following picture shows the ornaments on the tree I purchased. I still may add a few foam egg ornaments, or some ribbon on the base, but I think for one dollar and a few odd cents it looks pretty good.

After egg and ribbon embellishments.

Before egg and ribbon embellishments.

Supplies Used:

1 small Easter tree from The Dollar Tree

1 package of foam glitter eggs from The Dollar Tree

Textured paper for ornament templates

Victorian images gathered from the internet

Ribbon removed from 1.00 candy package from Wal-Mart (Yes I bought the candy in question. LOL)

Cricut (Used to cut ornament layers)

X-Acto knife (Used to cut Victorian images for ornaments)

Glue stick (Used to assemble ornaments)

Pink sewing thread