This recipe for gooey butter cookies is courtesy of my friend Debbie who makes these yummies for her annual Christmas party. Debbie is from St. Louis where gooey butter cake is a local staple and this gooey butter cookie recipe is meant to pay homage to that cake, albeit with about 10 fewer steps.

Now I’ve never tasted gooey butter cake but it’s clear that if it tastes anything like these gooey butter cookie I would love it. The gooey butter cookie inside is indeed gooey — soft, moist, addicting, with a flavor unlike any other regular cookie that you’d find on a holiday cookie exchange table.

The secret to this gooey butter cookie recipe is cake mix. Yeah, a box of yellow cake mix. I was kind of floored when I read Debbie’s email and saw cake mix as a main ingredient. But scoff if you will – you would never guess it once you take a bite.

The only downside is that the gooey butter cookie looks a little plain compared with all the va-va-voom holiday cookies out there. But sometimes something plain on the outside hides something truly unique on the inside, yes?

Gooey Butter Cookies Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package full-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (do not use margarine)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18.5 ounce) package yellow cake mix (make sure it is 18.5 oz – also you can buy gluten free yellow cake mix to make this recipe gluten free – you can also experiment with other cake mix flavors)
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Gooey Butter Cookies Recipe Supplies:

• KitchenAid stand mixer (recommended)
• Spatula
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring scoops
• Cookie scooper or small ice cream scooper
• Silipat liner (recommended)
• Cookie sheets
• Wire cooling rack

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  In your KitchenAid stand mixer (or medium sized bowl), cream together the softenened cream cheese and butter. Add the egg and vanilla and stir. Slowly add the cake mix in batches, and stir until well blended. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.

One dough is made, put in fridge for 1-2 hours. This will make it easier to work with because gooey butter cookie dough can be sticky. In the meantime, pour the confectioner’s sugar into a shallow bowl. Now you’re ready to scoop. Scoop up the gooey butter cookie dough in your small ice cream scooper…

…and plop it in your bowl of confectioner’s sugar. Coat the gooey butter cookie dough ball with the powdered sugar. They will no longer be sticky.

Roll the confectioner’s sugar-covered gooey butter cookie dough balls in the palms of your hands to make them a bit more round. Place on a silipat-covered cookie sheet about 1 inch apart (or use an ungreased cookie sheet). They will not spread very much while baking.

Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVERCOOK! You want them to be gooey in the middle. Experiment with a couple in a trial batch and adjust baking time to your oven. I also recommend sliding the Silipat off of the hot cookie sheet, letting the cookies cool about 5 minutes on the Silipat, and then moving them onto wire racks to fully cool. Ooh, gooey.

Mini pizzas have quickly become a dinnertime staple at our house. They’re just so cute and easy to make, and Elise can help with the recipe. The final mini pizzas are about 2-1/2 in diameter – perfect for kids to handle on their own or for adults to pop in their mouths amuse-bouche-like. I usually let Elise handle the cheese…

…which she tends to handle as “one for you, two for me.”

Using tortillas to make pizzas isn’t anything new – I’d made full-size ones before. But then we got a Dora and Diego Let’s Cook cookbook from the library with a recipe for Dora’s Pirate Pizza Coins. Hmm, using cookie cutters to make tiny tortilla pizzas? Why didn’t I think of that before??

The secret is a simple 2 inch or 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter. You can easily cut about about 8-12 circles depending on the size of your cookie cutter from one 10-inch whole wheat tortilla. Mix and match toppings for variety or picky eaters. And somehow the sauce doesn’t soak through — I made them as appetizers (using slightly less sauce) for a ladies’ Sixteen Candles summer movie night out in the park and they held up really well.

Elise and I tend to make the mini pizzas with a tomato sauce base but next I want to try pesto topped with Parmesan and fresh tomato. And I’d like to try some cuter cookie cutter shapes like flowers, hearts or dinosaurs. Mmm, mini pizzas.

WANNA BAKE IT? Mini pizzas recipe using wheat tortillas and cookie cutters {for appetizers or kids}–>

Adapted from Let’s Cook:

Ingredients:

• 10-inch wheat tortillas
• Tomato sauce, or pesto, or both
• Your choice of grated cheese – Elise likes mozzarella, I like fresh Parmesan
• Your choice of toppings: We like red pepper, mushrooms, cooked bacon, spinach (steamed and chopped), and broccoli (we chopped frozen to save time).

I like this recipe because it’s like my kitchen sink frittata recipe in that you can make it with pretty much whatever you have in your refrigerator.

Supplies:

• 2″ or 2-1/2″ circle biscuit cutter or other similarly sized cookie cutters
• Jelly roll baking pan or cookie sheet
• Parchment paper
• Spatula

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place parchment paper in the bottom of a jelly roll baking pan or cookie sheet.

Using 2-1/2″ circle biscuit cutters or other similarly sized shaped cookie cutters, cut 10-12 rounds out of the tortilla. Arrange circles on the parchment paper so they are not touching.

Spread tomato sauce or pesto on the tortilla circles. Top with toppings and cheese. Bake about 6 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Please post a comment if you use this recipe and let me know how it works for you. And you can post your photos to our “I made it!” flickr photo group. Craft and pass it on!

I’ve been making this sweet potato cracker recipe again and again since Thanksgiving’s sweet potato leftovers and I think it’s high time I passed along this yummy kid-friendly crackers recipe.

Elise has become my official cracker-making helper and #1 taste taster and she loves them! I couldn’t even take these photos without her reaching into the sweet potato crackers and dipping her little hand into my shot…

Once you make these easy, healthy-esque sweet potato crackers, you’ll be floored at how few ingredients are in a box of store-bought crackers. You’re truly paying for packaging.

I found this sweet potato crackers recipe from the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission, making some ingredient changes to make it a little more kid-friendly as well as adapt the instructions for my KitchenAid Mixer. They’re so good …you can’t even tell these crackers have vegetables in them. I love eating them, and I think Elise would agree.

WANNA MAKE IT? Recipe, ingredients and step-by-step instructions and supply list for making sweet potato crackers –>

Ingredients (makes the equivalent of about one box of crackers):

1-1/2 cups organic flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder (see note below)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons organic unsalted butter
1 medium organic sweet potato (1 cup of sweet potato puree)
1 teaspoon organic sugar
coarse salt

(NOTE: after reader feedback and re-testing I have lowered the baking powder amount from the the original recipe’s call for 2-1/2 tablespoons)

Supplies:

• KitchenAid Mixer
• Rolling pin with Rolling Pin Rings
• Large Cutting Board or this Pastry Board
• Heart Cookie Cutters or other mini cookie cutters
• Two Jelly Roll Pans (I prefer these to flat cookie sheets)
• Parchment Paper
• Airtight storage container
• Hand blender (these are the best for making purees)
• Wire rack
• Silicon ice cube tray and Ziploc freezer bags (if you are going to make puree to store for the next batch)

Cook sweet potato until softened. The original recipe suggests boiling it in water but I prefer to roast it in a 400 degree oven for about 45-50 minutes. It’s easy – all you do is place a potato on an aluminum-foil-lined jelly roll pan and that’s it. You can bake it while you’re making other food, and you can roast more than one potato and freeze the puree in silicon ice cube trays, store it in Ziploc freezer bags, and then just thaw it whenever you want to make some crackers (I learned this trick from making Elise’s baby food purees). Or you can cut the potato into pieces and steam it until softened.

So anyway, however you cook your sweet potato then let it cool, remove the skin and purée using a hand blender (these are the best for making purees) until it’s a smooth mixture. You will need 1 cup of sweet potato purée. Like I said, freeze the rest in silicon ice cube trays and then store it in Ziploc freezer bags until you need it.

Set the cooled sweet potato puree aside.

Place butter into the bottom of your KitchenAid Mixer. If you don’t have a KitchenAid Mixer, well …you should really get one, saves tons of time baking, but anyway go ahead and follow the original recipe instructions. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together into a large bowl. I don’t have a sifter so I use a colander.

And it sifts like this:

Using the KitchenAid Mixer’s regular mixing attachment, mix the butter into the flour mixture until it becomes a coarse meal texture like this:

Switch your KitchenAid Mixer’s regular mixing attachment to the dough hook attachment instead. Add the sweet potato puree and let it stir until it turns into one big clump like this.

Roll it into a ball using your hands. Divide dough into 4 pieces. For easier rolling, wrap it in wax paper and chill for 1/2 hour.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and and roll each very thin. Seriously, as thin as you can roll it. If you can use rolling pin rings you’ll be in better shape than I was – you’ve got to make sure it’s all even so the crackers all bake evenly.

Cut using small cookie cutters. Here I’m using heart cookie cutters but I’ve also used these great mini-cookie cutters. Place on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

You can sprinkle with salt, sesame seeds and a little cayenne, if desired. I skip it for the kid crackers.

Bake in a preheated 350 F oven on an ungreased parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan or cookie sheet for 10 minutes until bottoms are slightly browned.

Turn over and bake until they’re crispy. The original recipe says 3-4 minutes more but mine are always another 8-12 or so …maybe it’s my cheap-o oven.

You want them to be crispy, not chewy. Just don’t let them get too brown. Here’s what they look like when they’re done:

Cool on a wire rack before storing in a airtight container. Remember there aren’t any preservatives in these so you should probably snack them up within a week. Yum!

Adapted from the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission’s Snappy Sweet Potato Crackers recipe.

Please post a comment if you use this recipe – it makes me smile. And you can post your photos to our “I made it!” flickr photo group. Craft and pass it on!

Elise is eating solid foods now so I’ve entered the Land of Frozen and Leftover Baby Food. With my brain still set on ‘sleep deprived,’ I put my chalkboard obsession to good use with these recycled, reusable baby food jar lids to help me track it all.

Hooray for re-writable lids and Chalk Ink food-safe non-toxic washable markers! They not only help me remember when I opened or defrosted food like so…

…but also when I made fresh purees like these apricots.

As an aspirational minimalist I feel good about recycling and reusing all those empty baby food jars. I sent a set of chalkboard lids to my friend Liz and baby Kaya, and her boyfriend Jason liked the idea so much he spray painted all the lids in his woodworking studio to keep track of nails and screws and such.

As a bonus to this free DIY craft, I’m passing along a simple, fast method for steaming and pureeing fruits in collaboration with my good friend Heather from YumUniverse – ‘the’ place for plant-based tasty recipes. A raw and vegan food wiz, Heather came over to make baby food with me for Elise.

And if you still have a mountain of jars and lids left, here are more ideas to reuse baby food jars and lids from DIY Guides.

WANNA MAKE IT? Free step-by-step tutorial instructions and supply list for making my DIY chalkboard lids for baby food jars craft project –>

Supplies for re-writable chalkboard baby food jar lids:

• Chalkboard Spray Paint (in Black)
• Baby food glass jars and lids – recycle those suckers!
• Chalk Ink food-safe non-toxic washable markers
• Double sided tape
• Cardboard box

Please post a comment if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

Making Chalkboard Baby Food Lids
Cut or rip one side of the box to make a three-sided spraying booth. Put double stick tape on the bottom box and place lids on top – this will keep them from blowing around while using spray paint.

Carefully spray very fine coats of chalkboard spray paint…

…building up layers as you go. Be sure to avoid spraying the *inside* of the lids.

Write on the lids using Chalk Ink food-safe non-toxic washable markers. Hand wash lids using a damp cloth. Now that I’ve been using the lids for a few months, they do chip a bit over time. But the lids are so quick and easy to spray that you could easily add more coats as needed.

Making Apricot Baby Food Puree

Making fresh, healthy, yummy apricot baby food puree is a breeze! Here are the supplies. Hop on over to YumUniverse.com for the full recipe tutorial.

Supplies for steamed apricot baby food puree:

• Fresh, ripe organic apricots
• Good knife
• Food steamer
• Stick hand blender
• Ice cube trays (for freezing)
• Empty baby food jars (for fresh – keep in mind that these are not canned so you need to use any fresh baby food within 1-3 days)

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this idea and project instructions for personal use. Contact me for any commercial use – this includes etsy sellers.

Please post a comment below if you use this project so I can smile when I see that it’s being used. Craft and pass it on!

Along with homemade egg noodles, chocolate pie and fresh-off-the-vine concord grape juice, rice pancakes were my Grandma Beulah’s specialty.

My parents were in town to help us take care of new baby Elise and treated us to a massive amount of Chinese takeout. Seeing the small mountain of leftover rice after dinner was over, I remembered Grandma’s rice pancakes and asked my dad for the recipe.

These things are seriously hearty so eat just a couple and you’re good to go.

Ingredients:

1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
1 cup leftover cooked rice (one day old is best)
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup flour
Butter or spray for griddle (I use butter because I like the flavor)
Real maple syrup
Bananas (optional)
Cinnamon for dusting (optional)

Other supplies:

• Mixing bowl
• Turner
• Griddle

Fire up your griddle so it starts to get hot. Mix all ingredients; it’s OK if some of the rice is clumpy but break up any really big pieces. Once mixed let rest for 5 minutes.

Lightly butter your griddle and pour batter onto the hot griddle. I use a measuring cup to scoop it. The rice kind of sinks to the bottom so stir a bit each time before you scoop.

Flip when they bubble. Notice how thick they are!

This recipe makes 6-8 pancakes that can be frozen and thawed later in the toaster. You could easily double or triple the recipe depending on how much leftover takeout rice you have. And next time you order Chinese takeout, you might purposely add an extra side or two!

It’s been 10 years now since I lived in Sydney, Australia. Recently we received a gift box (yay!) filled with heaps of Australian beer and food – including my favorite biscuits, Arnott’s shortbreads – as well as a box of Weet-Bix, self-proclaimed “Australia’s favourite cereal.”

Never a huge milk and Weet-Bix breakfast fan, I thought I’d try to make a recipe using Weet-Bix as a primary ingredient instead. This muffin recipe adaptation is based on an Artarmon Public School original and subsequent comments at Taste.com.au.

It’s a rainy day in Chicago, the perfect type to spend inside messing around with recipes. One thing I liked about living in Sydney was that its climate was so nice most of the time that forecasters would simply say the weather was going to be ‘fine.’ Not ‘sunny’ but ‘fine’ …not ‘partly cloudy’ but ‘mostly fine.’ Always got a kick out of that.

So here’s an other-side-of-the-globe toast to ‘mostly fine.’ Now if I can just figure out what to do with our unopened jar of Vegemite?

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe medium-sized bananas, smashed
• 4 Weet-Bix (aka Weetabix when sold outside Australia)
• 1 cup almond milk (I used soy milk because I was out of almond milk; you can also use regular milk)
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
• 2 tablespoons flax seeds (optional)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chocolate pieces (I broke up dark chocolate espresso Ghirardelli individually-wrapped chocolate that I had in the cupboard)

Other Supplies:

• Glass bowl
• Muffin tin (or Nut cups)
• Potato masher or wooden spoon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mash bananas in a bowl and crumble in Weet-Bix. No need for an electric or stand mixer …I used a potato masher the whole time.

Stir in the soy milk. Set aside for 10 minutes so it soaks up the milk.

Meanwhile, break up your chocolate bar into chunks and set aside.

Beat together the eggs and oil in a small bowl, then pour into the Weet-Bix banana combination and stir. Sprinkle baking soda, brown sugar and salt and gently mix in. Add flax seeds and flour and stir until just combined.

If your batter seems too thick, you can add a bit more milk; mine was OK but it could fluctuate based on the banana sizes. Gently fold in chocolate pieces.

Spoon into nut cups or a lightly greased muffin pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. I prefer nut cups to muffin tins but only had a few left. When using muffin tins, be sure to take cooked muffins out of the pan as soon as you can to cool on a rack or dishtowel avoiding overbaking. Good on ya!

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.

Canning has been a theme the past few weeks so I’m excited to share these free canning labels with you inspired by A Sonoma Garden.

It all started with a canning night from iheartcrafting, a Chicago ladies’ crafting group. Hostess Lisa bought large boxes of lovely blueberries, fresh green tomatoes and flavorful apricots from a local farmer’s market.

We all pitched in jars, lids, pots and labels and canned enough blueberry jam, apricot jam, and pickled dill green tomatoes for each of us to take home five jars.

Next up: Northern Michigan. I brought these labels as a hostess gift for my friend Jennie. She’s been learning all about canning, including raspberry freezer jam that needs no boiling …so much easier and no boiled fruit.

So now that you’re properly in the canning mood, let’s get to the labels! I made these labels based on cute label designs by Kendra at A Sonoma Garden.

My revised design involved scanning in a swatch of Anna Maria Small Gathering fabric in citrus…

…then I cropped in close, changed the colors in Photoshop, and typed in the labels. NOTE: Some of the photos say “Dykens Family” but the free downloadable template says “Yummy Homemade.”

You’re more than welcome to use this canning label template for free with the request that anyone using this template or design post a comment below. And if you’d like to use Kendra’s original canning labels, be sure to check out A Sonoma Garden. Craft and pass it on!

Supplies:

• Kathy’s free canning template (PDF – blueberry jam, strawberry jam, salsa, relish) or Kathy’s free blank canning labels for you to handwrite your own (PDF). I can also personalize the labels for you for a modest fee, just email me.Simply print the pages that you need (or download the source Adobe Illustrator free canning template file to customize yourself – it’s 98MB which is big, alternatively, download this smaller source version which is 23MB; you’ll just want to copy/paste the colors that you would like. Also, I used the Apex family of fonts so if you do not own this font, you’ll want to change it to one that you do own.)
• Full-sheet blank sticker labels
• 2-inch circle punch or good paper scissors
• Computer and Adobe Illustrator (if you’d like to customize the labels with your own text)
• Color laser printer (or FedEx Office, my new best friend)

Download one of my free canning label templates (pre-typed or blank) and feel free to use Adobe Illustrator (get the 30-day trial version here) to customize with your own creations.

Print onto full-sheet sticker paper using a laser color printer. No laser color printer? FedEx Office can print them for you very cheaply.

Using your 2-inch hole punch or scissors, cut out the labels.

Peel off the label backing and stick on top of the lid of your canned goodness.

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

I’m not sure what it is about spring but I go into quiche mode. I noticed the other day at Lovely Bakery that quiche was on the menu, so I decided to make one myself at home …while watching guilty pleasure The Real Housewives of New York City (oof).

I adapted Elise’s recipe based on what I had in the refrigerator, subbing out Gruyère for Parmesan, spinach for asparagus, green onions for shallots, rice milk for milk and ditching the cream. The flavors worked really well together and it tasted great!

Ingredients:

• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 4 slices of deli ham, diced
• 1 1/2 cups shaved Parmesan cheese
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup rice milk (or you can use regular milk)
• 1 frozen pie crust (or you can make your own)
• Freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of salt

Supplies:

• Emile Henry White Pie Dish
• Baking pan

You can make you own crust or save time using store-bought like I did. Poke the bottom of the pie pan with the tongs of a fork to keep the crust from bubbling up. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until very lightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool a bit. Turn oven up to 375 degrees.

Shave the Parmesan cheese, dice the ham, chop the fresh spinach and slice the green onions.

Put 1/2 the Parmesan cheese into the bottom of the crust.

Add spinach and green onions.

Add the diced ham.

Crack three eggs, wisk with the rice milk, season with salt and pepper and pour into the quiche.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Set your pie pan on top of a baking pan to catch any spills. Bake at 375 degrees for another 25 minutes or until the middle of the quiche is set. Let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with salad or fruit. Enjoy!

Za Vas! Heather Crosby and I continued the Upper Crust Social Club event series by co-hosting a Russian-inspired vodka infusion party.

Guests brought their own homemade vodka infusions …such a range of tasty concoctions from Watermelon Rosewater Vodka Infusion to Skittles Vodka to Cucumber Mint Vodka Infusion to Bacon Maple Vodka Infusion to Apple Cinnamon Vodka Infusion and more. (You should make your own. It’s easy.)

Each guest received a vodka tasting packet and voting tokens to reward their favorite creation. The winners, Matt and KC MacQueen, got bragging rights and a very fancy Vodka Infusion Champion trophy for their popular Habenero/Orange Peel/Peppercorn vodka infusion.

For decor, we kept things white and red with Russian accents …white tablecloths, white & red flowers, assorted Russian books and jewelry from Alex (our favorite Russian), cutey-pie Russian matryoshka nesting dolls…

…dolly handmade signs reminding guests to “fill your belly,” “cleanse your palette” and “clean your glass”…

…signs of tot-holding old school Russian-esque lasses…

…and super fun individual tasting booklets with enclosed voting tokens.

Now take note: This is a vodka *infusion* tasting party theme which means mixers like 7up are definite no-nos. Because guests sipped straight vodka after vodka we supplied ample pitchers of water, dumping buckets for extras, a crunchy tater tot bar with five dipping sauces to help soak it up, orange slices for palette cleansers …and our special top secret “Morning-After Hangover Cure” party favor (free template and instructions below).

The vodka infusion theme would be perfect for bachelorette parties and birthdays. And a collection of vodka infusions in nice glass jars would be a great gift. Our excuse was to gather our friends and festively warm everyone up from the inside. It worked.

You’re welcome to use these instructions and templates for free for your own personal use. Anyone using the template simply post a comment below or email me to track its usage.

Free printable party templates: (thanks, Heather!)

• Free Russian nesting dolly signs template (PDF)
• Free tater tots Russian girls sign (PDF)
• Free voting token template (PDF)
• Coming soon: I’ll post the super cool tasting booklet along with a video on how to properly fold it

Hangover Cure Favor Supplies:

• Heather’s free template for the hangover cure label (PDF)
• White printer paper
• 1/2 inch Black Electrical Tape
• Test tubes (we used the 18×150 glass ones but you could go smaller or get plastic)
• Test tube corks (we used size 6; be sure to match your test tube size)
• Emergen-C packets (one for each guest, choose your flavor)
• Pop Rocks (1 packet = 3/4 guests)
• Scissors
• Xacto basic knife set, Ruler and Self-healing cutting mat (strongly recommended for straight cuts …otherwise, use scissors)
• Computer and printer (or send to FedEx Office)
• White paper bags (optional, one per guest)
• Pretty stickers OR 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of sticker paper from an office supply store to make your own custom stickers on the computer like we did (optional)
• Red tissue paper (optional)

Carefully pour one packet of Emergen-C into the test tube. Poor about 1/3 packet of Pop Rocks on top in a contrasting color. Top with one cork; avoid pushing too hard which might crack the test tube.

Print the free template and cut into strips using your Xacto knife, ruler and self-healing mat. Fold each strip in half lengthwise. Fold the strip over the cork, making one end longer than the other (see the picture). Cut a short piece of electrical tape and wrap it around the label and test tube to seal.

Try not to shake the test tubes; they look nice layered.

Place a test tube into a white shopping bag with red tissue paper. Place a sticker on the front. Na zdarOv’ye!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use this theme and templates 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!