Last night seemed to be the perfect time to try out my new little gadget, the babycakes cake pop maker.  The perfect time because, first, I wait until the last minute to do stuff, and second, because I needed to make treats for the teacher luncheon at school today.  Ok, so I mixed up a regular chocolate cake mix and poured it into a big squeeze bottle I have.  *I think the squeeze bottle made it ten times easier*  I heated up the babycakes and filled each little pocket almost to the top.  It works kinda like a waffle iron.  If you get it too full it just runs out of the sides.  Trust me, I did this a few times and it didn’t seem to alter the cake pop in any way.  After about four and a half minutes cook time, I opened the machine to find 12 cute little perfectly baked chocolate cake balls.  Which, by the way, really do taste like chocolate cake.  Honestly I was afraid they might taste like Easy Bake Oven food…you know?  I popped them out and set them to cool on the handy dandy little pop tray that’s included.

Traditionally, I guess cake pops stand up on a stick with the pop at the top.  Cute, yes, but I would have had to find some sort of display to hold them and I was running out of time and energy…I decided to go with sitting pops.  I’ve had a set of 25 red and white paper straws from Hey YoYo for a while now.  I figured they would work as little handles for the pops.  Since I was serving to a large crowd, the handles also work well so that everyone is not touching all the food, kwim? I cut the straws in half (good straws, by the way) and dipped the ends in some melted chocolate wafers before I speared the cake pop.

I dipped the whole pop in the melted chocolate wafers and sprinkled them some cute mini hearts.  I added flags to just a few.

The teachers loved them and I spared a few for our dessert tonight.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Since it is February now, I thought I should get out some of my February stuff…

Groundhog Day Pudding Cups

The Valentine Wreath

those cute leopard print bags

And to decide what Valentines we’re going to make this year…will it be

or these (or maybe both?)

And don’t forget to grab this one, too!

I’ve got lots of great things planned for February, so be sure to sign up for email updates, subscribe in a reader, check out FB, and follow on Twitter!

The download is a two page pdf file.  When you click the link, it will pop up on your screen.  You can either print it right there (print both pages or just the one you need) or save it.  I printed mine on white cardstock that I bought at Walmart. Cut out the toppers, score them down the middle and fold over a clear cello bag.  I used a 4×9 inch clear Wilton treat bag that I also found at Walmart (can you tell which store is closest to my house?).  Staple the folded topper over the folded cello bag.  You can grab the download here.

Enjoy!

p.s. I already sent them to Jeni and Jen…they got first dibs on the new printable for their awesome ideas!

p.p.s. I love when you guys leave comments on the post saying that you downloaded  It gives me an idea if they are really usable…and cute.

p.p.p.s Just a little reminder that these are for personal use only.  I design them so that I can share with you.  You may make them for others, but please don’t share the file (just send them over, they can download for free, too!) or sell it.

So bear with me on this idea. It combines the cute printable subway art idea with the qr code idea with a Valentine’s Day theme. With me so far? This may be totally out there, but I decided to give it a try. It appeals to my geeky side. I can picture it framed on someone’s desk at work…maybe a teacher’s or the school secretary’s, maybe even the dentist’s front office desk…for all to see. If someone is curious (I would be), they can pop out their smart phone, scan it with an app like QRReader (that’s the one I have), and a cute little animated message will appear. It’s a secret message, hidden in cyberspace for your friends to find.

Fun? Wanna try? Try scanning this to see the secret Valentine message….

I made both a 4×6 inch and 5×7 inch size. I framed them in inexpensive frames I found at Target this morning.

Let me add a little disclaimer…I tried this many times. I scanned from my phone, from the computer, from the printable. It works for me. I can’t guarantee that it’s gonna work for everyone and every phone out there. And I did try a red heart, but it seems that my scanner didn’t like the red. Pink works much better.  If you’re ready to give it a try, here is the printable.

If anyone is interested in a custom qr code that goes to a personalized, animated Valentine’s message?  I’m thinking these would be cute as Valentines for classmates, too….hmmmmm.  Email me or go to the ‘contact me’ button at the top of this page. Have fun with this! Happy Valentine’s Day!

I filled the bags with goodies, folded a piece of ribbon over the top,  and stapled.  Then I added the circles I made with a pop dot.  It seriously took me about 15 minutes to make 22 of these.  quick, easy, cute.  This is officially my new way of wrapping bags!

This month was my good friend’s turn to host.  And it was also her birthday.  So I made birthday cup cakes.  Not cupcakes.  Cup cakes.  I think we were talking one day and I was saying how I saw some cute clear cups on Pinterest that had been personalized with stickers from Frog Prince Paperie.  Then we started talked about what you could put in the cups.  It might have even been the birthday girl’s good idea to put cupcakes in cups.  And then I remembered this pin, too, from Lisa Storms.  We thought it would be a great idea for kid birthdays…no papers to mess with and maybe a bit less messy.  So I decided to try it out on the bunco ladies.  I’m pretty sure they were a hit with the crowd

I found the ‘crystal cut’ plastic cups at Target. I made a simple happy birthday tag for each one, printed them on sticker paper, and cut them out with a 2-inch circle punch.  I loaded each cup with a bit of icing so that the cupcake would stick (plus it’s a nice little treat to get extra icing in the bottom of your cup!).  I plopped the cupcakes in and iced them.  I gave each cake a candle (like I did here) and a bit of yellow frosting for a flame.  The cups actually made it really easy to transport them, too.  I lined a basket with tissue and loaded the cups…the cupcakes didn’t touch each other and it made for a nice little display, too.

And a party just isn’t a party without party favors, so each bunco lady got a little something to take home, too.  And the birthday girl got a little something extra.  My inspiration?  Another pin!

And the birthday girl got a little something extra.  My inspiration?  Another pin from Poca Cosa via Be Different Act Normal!

And the birthday girl was happy with her chocolate cake!

The download is available in the etsy shop.  It comes with an instruction sheet, too, with several photos.  But, just in case, I even did a little video to show you how easy these are to assemble.