Because life is sweet!

Sweet as a Cupcake

First off, I have to give credit where credit is due. This idea and subsequent tutorial came from a Pinterest idea (shocking, I know) The link for this source can be found here: Pinterest cupcake tutorial

So, now that I've confessed, let's get started! Also, just as a side note for those wondering why I am writing a tutorial on something that already has one- because mine are quite a bit different even though hers were my inspiration, and because I had so much fun doing it and taking the pictures along the way that I didn't want it all to be only for my enjoyment. 

Let's gather the supplies:

• polyester snow balls
• sprig of berries (your choice on size and color to achieve your desired end result)
• hot glue gun and plenty of glue sticks
• yarn, buttons, beads, glitter (anything you want to adorn the cupcakes with) 
• scissors
• cup cake papers/liners 

* I would say that right before and right after Christmas is a great time to shop for these supplies, I was able to get my snowballs and berries for a steal from my local craft store due to the awesome holiday sales they had going on.  

                                      

Directions:

• Hot glue a spiral onto the bottom of the snowball and place it in the cupcake paper. Squish it down in there really well. 
• Slowly glue a dot at a time around the edge of the snowball and cupcake paper to make it all stick evenly around, making sure to shape it along the way to maintain a nice round cupcakey look. (roll it around in your hands afterward to make it take proper shape and really bond well)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Begin gluing one round at a time your base yarn or "frosting" until you've covered the whole thing. See pictures below.

• Next, make your ornament hanger. Cut a length of yarn two to three inches long and hot glue the tails to the top center of your cupcake.

 

• Pull a berry off the sprig and hot glue it into place on top of your hanger tails to hide them and more firmly secure the hanger. 
• Lastly, top your cupcake! Glue yarn on in a zig zag pattern to make it look like drippy icing, glue buttons on one to make it a polka dot cup cake, glitterize one just for fun, but most importantly, have fun! If you have questions about how to make a cupcake look like any I have pictured below, comment,  and I'll help you out!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Merry Christmas!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Why did I EVER buy yogurt from the store?!

Making your own yogurt is the easiest thing you'll ever do, and after you've made it, you'll never want to buy it from the store again! 

Ingredients &  Supplies

• Large pan or dutch oven (I use my 6 quart stainless steel pan and it works great)
• Food/Beer thermometer that goes as low as 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and up to at least 185 degrees Fahrenheit
• A gallon of milk- 2% works well, but you can use any grade you'd like
• At least 2 TBS of store bought yogurt, or if you choose you could also buy plain yogurt culture from a specialty store. I just found it easier to pick up a 50 cent container of Chobani Greek yogurt, and use that.The higher the culture count and the more different types of cultures the better.
• A cooler- see directions below if you don't have a cooler *
• Air tight containers to put the yogurt in- I used mason jars w/lids & rings the first batch, and large sour cream containers the second batch, both worked just fine. The most important thing is that it will keep the yogurt water tight when it's in the cooler. I had one jar whose lid was a little loose and it was an ugly sight the next morning when I opened that particular jar. (Think sippy cup of milk left in the sun)

Directions

1. Pour your whole gallon of milk into the pan and heat slowly to 185 degrees Fahrenheit checking frequently with the thermometer so as not to over heat and definitely do not allow to boil. 
2. As soon as milk has reached the proper temp remove the pan off the stove and put in a cool bath- I filled my sink with cold tap water and added ice cubes to it, and that worked great.   
3. Again with the thermometer,  monitor the milk temperature until the temp drops to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 
4. Take a small bowl full of the 120 degree milk and add your 2 TBS yogurt to it (the amount of yogurt is not exact, so don't worry about being precise) and stir it into a melted slurry.
5. Pour contents of the bowl back into the milk pot and stir well.
6. Pour the pan of warm milk into your containers and put the lids on
7. Put your containers into your cooler and cover the containers to the fill level with the hottest tap water you can get, then shut the lid! 
8. Leave it to set for 3-10 hours, yes this is a broad range of time, so the key is in your taste. Like tart yogurt? leave it in there the longest amount of time or over night, the longer it sets the more tart it will be. Take it out after only 3 hours for sweeter mellower flavored yogurt. However if it looks runny still when you check it after 3 hours (like mine did on one batch) leave it in there until it at least looks more gelatinous. 

* if you don't have a cooler,  you can also heat a tea kettle of water up to steamy and boiling and then place the kettle in the center of a large box and place your containers around, but not touching the kettle. Then place towels all around the box and containers to kind of create a sauna in there for it and leave it to set that way.
Like it?
       I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!!

Please leave comments below with any questions you might have! :)