During our recent weekend visit in northern Michigan, my friend Jennie and her two girls made this flower-topped chocolate iced birthday cake for me. Pretty, yes?

Ten-year-old Elizabeth did much of the baking, mixing the batter…

…and pouring it into pans…

…with eight-year-old Mary serving as “official taster.”

While Jenny made rich chocolate icing, Elizabeth went outside to cut a fresh white hydrangea as a cake topper.

Well, I’ve seen fresh flowers on cakes before yet this was the first time I saw the secret to how to keep them looking fresh: those little plastic vials that you can easily get from any corner flower shop.

All you need to do is clean the outside of the vial, take off the top for larger stems, fill with water and press into the middle of your iced cake:

Now you can add pretty flowers – hydrangeas, Gerber daisies, the possibilities are endless. And of course, be sure your fresh flowers are free of dirt and bugs before putting it on your cake :)

I thought the cake was just beautiful and the homemade chocolate icing was especially yummy. Jennie was generous enough to share her chocolate icing recipe with me …and you!

• 6 tablespoons softened butter
• 2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup Hershey’s cocoa
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter. Add sugar/cocoa alternately with milk. Beat to spreading consistency. Blend in vanilla.

Last year I made a personalized birthday rhubarb berry pie for Shane’s annual 4th of July birthday barbecue. So this year I wanted to make something equally festive …but keep the baking to a minimum.

Back during snowy holiday time I saw this great idea from Martha Stewart (how completely cute are those jumping reindeer and fir trees??). So I had an idea to make personalized star candles for Shane’s birthday cake using cookie cutters.

First I ordered a simply delicious and rich three-layer carrot cake with cream cheese icing from Alliance Bakery. I asked them to put red, white and blue jimmies on the sides with a blue icing border and plain top. Cute huh?

Then I made star-shaped S-H-A-N-E candles for the cake, five candles in all.

Only wrinkle was that I accidentally ordered light cyan blue instead of blue blue (boo for me). But I think it turned out cute anyway.

I’ve always wanted to try candlemaking and this craft was pretty easy, I have to say. I see an endless amount of possibilities here with cookie cutters and beeswax sheets. Let me know what you’ve made!

Supplies:

• Colored beeswax sheets (I bought mine from Toadily Handmade – ivory, red and light blue, although I’d recommend a darker blue. Great service and you can mix and match colors in your order if you call or email her first.)
• Metal baking sheet
• Metal star cookie cutters
• Metal fondant star cutters (these provide smaller star shapes than the ‘cookie’ cookie cutters)
• Tiny alphabet cookie cutters
• Hair dryer
• Candle wicking
• Scissors
• Cocktail picks

Cut shapes

Place one wax sheet on baking sheet. Apply low heat from your hair dryer until slightly soft; it doesn’t take long at all.

For your base candle, cut 2-6 shapes for each candle depending on the size and thickness of candle that you want to make.

I made small-ish candles for Shane’s cake so I only used 2 shapes for each candle for the base star. But if you want a larger, thicker base candle you can cut 4 or even 6 layers for your base candle.

Repeat again to cut your white letters. Use one of your cocktails pick to gently loosen the candle from smaller cutters like the letter cutters. Repeat the process to cut one smaller red star for each candle out of the red fondant cookie cutters (the fondant cutters make smaller shapes).

Note: The cookie cutters will scratch up your baking sheet; if you’re concerned about it you can move the wax sheet to a wood or plastic cutting board once it’s heated.

Create base candle with wicks and picks
Make your base candle by placing one star in the middle of your metal baking sheet.

Layer a piece of cotton wicking down the middle, leaving 1/2 free at the top (the end that you’ll light) and 1/2 inch to 1 inch of space at the bottom (I chose 1/2 inch because my candles were small).

Break off the top of your plastic cocktail pick with your fingers if it sticks up too high like mine did. Put the plastic cocktail pick at the bottom, leaving a bit of space between the cotton wick and the cocktail pick. Place another star on top and press with your fingers to press the layers together. Pinch the edges together and apply low heat from your blow dryer as needed.

Optional: If you are making a larger or thicker candle then layer 2 more shapes, one on the top and one on the bottom, and press with your fingers. Heat the candle using low heat from your hair dryer as needed. This will hide the inside wick more. I knew I was layering on the red star so I didn’t bother making the candle thicker at this point.

Add decorative star and initials
Place one red star on top of your base blue candle.

Place your white letter on top of the red star. Heat it using your blow dryer on low and press together to seal.

The photos below were taken at nighttime outside with a flash. The candles lit easily and looked great in the dark …with sparkling fireworks exploding overhead. Happy birthday, Shane!

To properly celebrate my sister Krista’s 40th birthday, we planned a festive cocktail party at the fabulous art deco California Clipper Lounge. Guests saddled up to the (gorgeous) art deco bar to enjoy 1940s-style (get it?) cocktails such as Tom Collins, Gimlets, Rusty Nails and Grasshoppers. Plus it’s the only bar in Chicago with grape soda “on tap.”

When I saw this creme and gold metallic 1968 calendar dinner plate – Krista’s birth year – at a Wisconsin antique store during a recent fall weekend getaway I immediately snatched it up. Not only have I been utterly obsessed with linen calendars since 2001 but I’m also a total sucker for making new things out of leftovers. Add one super easy recycled cake stand tutorial on Design*Sponge and voila! The whole project took less than 20 minutes (!) and turned out a gem of a party accent.

Precious mini cupcakes baked by Rose at Simran Bakehouse added the perfect retro touch. Architect-by-day and talented baker-by-night Rose makes wonderful pies, cakes, cobblers and other yummy treats. She ran with my direction for “retro” and “non-traditional colors” and designed green, cream and mauve vanilla-almond buttercream skinny swirls and large dot sprinkles on top of mini dark chocolate cakes.

The cupcakes were a *huge* success. People raved about them and we handed them out to strangers at the bar too. Nothing makes friends faster than yummy chocolate goodness.

Supplies:

• Plate
• Planter, vase or candlestick
• 5-minute epoxy glue
• Chopstick or Popsicle stick
• Old newspaper or magazine
• Mini cupcakes

Spread out your supplies on sheets of newspaper or an old magazine. Place the plate face-down on the paper. Next, follow the epoxy glue package directions and quirt out some glue into a mixing vessel (I used the disgarded packaging). Stir the glue with a chopstick until mixed.

Spread the glue on the top of the planter/vase/candlestick. Try not to use too much and be sure to work fast before the glue starts to set. Place the planter in the center of the plate.

Open the cute package of cupcakes, plate, and pass around. Happy birthday, big sister!

Today I popped by my friend Anne’s to drop off gifts for five-year-old son, Gavin, and her newborn son, Graham. I recycled and altered my chalkboard gift tags idea to wrap Gavin’s birthday treat.

Supplies:

• Red and yellow tissue paper
• Chalkboard cloth fabric (I used scraps from making chalkboard pillows)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Chalk

Wrap your gift with the red tissue paper. Cut a strip of the yellow tissue paper and fold each side towards the middle to make a stripe. Wrap the yellow strip around the gift and tape. Cut a square of the chalkboard cloth fabric and tape to the top of the box. Write on the gift using chalk.

Anyone else sick of wrapping baby gifts in yellow, baby blue and pink? I wrapped baby Graham’s tie baby onesie bodysuit and U2 lullaby renditions (for longtime fan Anne) using orange tissue paper and a bright blue silk ribbon …a classic complementary color pairing.

This super cute card from Paper Doll topped it off:

Want more wrapping ideas? Check out telephone wrapping paper and cookie jar wrapping paper.

Nothing says my birthday like a warm, sunny August day and the Air and Water Show. Shane created a cute message on my beloved sun-faded antique sign that I bought this spring in Brooklyn. And I took this photo with my new camera. Fun!

Today I thought I’d quickly post a couple creative birthday gift ideas for your long-distance friends.

1. Send drinks to your friends by buying and sending them codes at BuyYourFriendADrink.com. At the bar, the recipient shows your text message to the bartender and the gift value is subtracted from the bill.

2. Choose an individual song or album to send to your friend using iTunes for a more personal touch than a generic iTunes giftcard. This feature’s a bit hidden. Go into the store, click to a specific album, and click the “Give This Music” button. The Sugarcubes’ “Birthday” is a good pick.

Blue Angels are flying by now. Back to the show!

P.S. Want to get your own sign? Readymade sells new small ones.

Growing up in upstate New York, Shane loved his grandmother Myrtle’s rhubarb and berry pies in the summertime. So this year for his birthday I decided to make a pie instead of a cake.

I made personalized pot pies for St. Patrick’s Day so I had the idea to break out my mini alphabet and number cookie cutter set to put a birthday message right on the pie. I’d never made a fruit pie before and was a bit intimidated but it ended up being pretty easy, mostly because I fudged by buying fresh pie crusts and slightly modifying the ingredients in Elise’s rhubarb berry pie recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh sliced rhubarb
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup will yield a pie slightly on the tart side; I went in the middle of these)
• 3 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 1/2 cup fresh sliced strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries or mixed berries (it’s summer so buy fresh berries; if you use frozen, defrost and then drain them until they’re almost dry)
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 packages of unfrozen pie crust (top and bottom for the pie, plus one for the letters; you can also make Elise’s pie dough)

Special Equipment:

• Mini Alphabet and Number Cookie Cutter Set
• 9-inch Pie Pan (I used the Emile Henry Pie Dish in white)
• Pizza Cutter
• Pie Saver Pie Crust Shields or aluminum foil

Unroll one pie dough and line the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan following package directions. Put back into the refrigerator to chill.

Cut off any stringy or tough outsides of your rhubarb and cut into slices. Slice your strawberries.

Stir sugar and corn starch together in a large bowl. Add the rhubarb, strawberries and blackberries, lemon juice and vanilla. Stir gently to coat berries with the sugar and corn starch without breaking up the fruit too much. Let sit for 15 minutes, stirring once. Preheat oven to 375°F.

Scoop fruit mixture into dough-lined pie dish. Unroll your second pie crust and cut 3/4″ stripes using a pizza cutter. Weave the strips of pie dough over the top of the fruit-filled pie dish as described in Elise’s How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust. Trim any hangover strips. Fold the bottom crust edge back over themselves and the strips; crimp to seal.

Roll out your third chilled pie crust. Cut letters out using your mini alphabet cookie cutters. Fill a small glass of water. Dip your fingers in and use them to lightly wet the backs of the letters with a little bit of water. Stick the letters on to the lattice crust, ideally starting with the center letter of each word. Or you can use an egg white wash to stick on the letters; you’ll want to brush the entire pie with egg whites and you’ll get a browner crust.

To protect the crust edges from burning, cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil or an aluminum pie protector. Bake in the middle rack for 25 minutes. Remove the foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, until the top is golden and the juices are bubbling. Cool completely before serving …ideally with vanilla ice cream and a candle.

Makes 8 servings.

So today is my adorable niece Madison’s second birthday. I made her a super cool gift that I’ll post in a few days with instructions once she’s unwrapped her gift. In the meantime here are instructions for her cookie jar wrapping paper.

Supplies:

• Kathy’s cookie jar template (page 1, page 2, page 3)
• Avery White Inkjet Labels, Full Sheet, 8 1/2in. x 11in., Box Of 25
• Wrapping paper
• Scissors, tape
• Rotary Paper Trimmer -12” (30cm)
• Gift Wrap Organizer Tube (optional)

First I Googled cookie jars and found the coolest assortment of random ceramic wonders from to pancakes stacks to Darth Vader to flamingos to the Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I chose my favorites and created three pages of cookie jars in Photoshop.

Print them out on white inkjet labels which are basically like full-page stickers. Then cut them out using a paper trimmer.

Wrap your gift in solid wrapping paper. Peel off the sticker backing and stick the jars onto the box. Voila!

This is an idea you could modify for other gift occasions. Think baby gear for baby showers, trucks and cars for boys, CD covers for music lovers.

So can you guess what’s inside for Madison?? A cute toddler-size children’s pleated apron and number cookie cutters. Happy birthday, sweet girl.

AT&T delivered piles of telephone books to my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. Not needing ours but cringing at tossing the stack into the trash I decided to find some crafty uses for them. So I wrapped my sister Karin’s birthday gifts with birthday-themed yellow pages.

Supplies:

• Telephone book (preferably yellow pages)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Ribbonor bow for garnish

Flip through the phone book to find a suitable topic. For Karin’s birthday I chose ‘Bakery,’ ‘Balloons,’ ‘Gifts,’ ‘Flowers,’ and ‘Cake.’ Run one side of your scissors down the spine or tear out to remove the page. For smaller boxes like the jewelry box above you can just cut to size and wrap. Add a ribbon, bow or other garnish; I used a fuschia, sheer, shiny metallic ribbon that picked up the pink in the Sweet Cakes logo.

For larger boxes, tape pages together from the backside to create one large sheet, then wrap. For my sister’s larger box I used 12 pages.

I like this idea because it’s simple, whimsical and green for the reduce-reuse-recycle minded. Here are some occasions and suggested phone book themes to try:

Birthday = Balloons, Bakery, Cake, Candy, Liquor
Bachelorette/Bachelor Party = Bars, Liquor, Entertainment, Escorts, Limousine
Baby = Child, Schools, Diaper Service, Nannies, Furniture – Children’s, Clowns
New Home = Moving, Painting
Engagement or Wedding Shower = Bridal, Diamonds, Jewelry, Wedding, Banquet, Bakers, Caterers

Other fun topics for the right recipient: Travel, Aquariums, Body Piercings, Bowling, Costumes, Golf, Tattooing, Pawnbrokers. Let me know what you come up with!

I made these three kitschy CD mixes to thank my friend Amy for letting me stay at her place for the first few days of my week in NYC.

Back when I was a kid, my dad handmade wonderful miniature farmland model worlds. I can still remember him individually painting figurines and gluing on grass and shingles. Last trip home I snapped buckets of great detail miniature farmland shots, not really sure where or when I’d use them. But Amy and I grew up together in Indiana so I thought they were the perfect covers for her CD tunes.

Supplies:

• Kathy’s Farmland CD Template (Adobe Illustrator, 83MB; images of moonshine still, swing and garden embedded)
• Blank CD-ROMs (I got 50 CDs for $12! :: Memorex 700MB/80-Minute 52x Data CD-R Media (50-Pack Spindle))
• Photo paper (I like Canon matte but you can also get glossy)
• Rotary Paper Trimmer -12” (30cm)

First I selected songs and burned them onto blank CDs using iTunes. See my song choices after the jump.

Then I selected three farmland images: moonshine still, swing and garden. I then set up a 5″ wide x 4.75″ tall Illustrator file, but if you don’t have Illustrator you could just use PowerPoint. Then I typed in the song titles and italicized artists in yellow, keeping it simple with the Myriad font.

I printed them on matte photo paper give the covers some weight. I cut them using my rotary paper trimmer and slipped them inside the CD cases.

If you’re using my farmland CD Adobe Illustrator template it will be a breeze. Download and open the CD template. Change the songs to match your tunes. Print. Cut using the rotary paper trimmer. Insert into the CD cases.

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and images for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial, distributed or published use.

See which songs I picked for Amy…

Skin Is, My :: Andrew Bird
Young Folks :: Peter Bjorn and John
Fire Eye’d Boy :: Broken Social Scene
Ice Cream :: New Young Pony Club
Dimension :: Wolfmother
Annanas :: Tosca
All Fired Up :: Interpol
Pieces of the People We Love :: The Rapture
Has It Come to This? :: The Streets
Phenomena :: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
City Lights :: Husky Rescue
Tangent :: Beth Orton
Bad Dreams :: Lyrics Born
Mr. Bitterness :: Soul Coughing
Chicago :: Sufjan Stevens
These Things :: She Wants Revenge
Obstacle 1:: Interpol, Live at the Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
Honey :: Tosca
Someone Great :: LCD Soundsystem
Wallace :: Drive By Truckers
Orion :: Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Emily Kane :: Art Brut
Fluorescent Adolescent :: Arctic Monkeys
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi :: Radiohead
On :: Bloc Party
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa :: Vampire Weekend
A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left :: Andrew Bird
Oh My God :: Kaiser Chiefs
Something About Us :: Daft Punk
Grey :: New Young Pony Club
Reckoner :: Radiohead
Hang Me Up to Dry :: Cold War Kids
Steady As She Goes :: The Raconteurs, Lollapalooza 2006
I Will Survive :: Cake
Indra :: Thievery Corporation
The First Song :: Band of Horses
Staring at the Sun :: TV On the Radio
Blood :: Editors
Stairway To Heaven :: Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Reminiscing :: Little River Band

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this project and pattern for your own personal use. Please post a comment below or email me if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

As part of a rooftop movie night for my 35th birthday I created a gourmet popcorn bar. It was a big hit!

Supplies:

• 8.5″x11″ red and yellow paper
• Admit One tickets (at Party City)
• Paper cutter or scissors
• Rubber cement
• Scotch tape
• 4 large glass jars with lids (I got mine at Target)
• Popcorn bags (optional)
• Popcorn
• Lots of butter
• Pecorino Romano and Parmesan Cheeses

Based on my guests’ evite votes on their favorite flavors I settled on four: Plain, Cheese, Butter, and Caramel. Print out your flavor names using a large-size font on your computer onto the yellow paper. Be sure to leave enough space around the lettering; if you have Illustrator you can download my template. Cut out the yellow squares and then cut 4 larger red squares so you can see a border. Glue the yellow onto the red and add an Admit One ticket. Once it’s dry, tape it to the outside of the jar.

Now it’s time to pop some corn. Forget microwave popcorn; it’s just no good. I am a huge fan of the Whirley Pop ($19.99 at Amazon); it’s a bit more work but totally worth it and uses very little oil to pop. I followed Giada’s Pecorino and Parmesan Cheese Corn recipe and skipped the candy thermometer and bought Garrett’s caramel corn (hey, it’s my birthday). Use lots of real butter on the popped corn. You’re celebrating. Fill up the jars and serve with old fashioned popcorn boxes ($8 for 20 at PlumParty.com).