Quick Gift Idea: Turn Your Favorite Book Into a Holiday Gift Kit!

Quick Gift Idea: Turn Your Favorite Book Into a Holiday Gift Kit!

Books are one of my favorite gifts to give (and receive!). If I want to make the gift of a book more personal/unique/custom, I’ll assemble a kit or a themed group of gifts inspired by it, and wrap it up together. Whether you are stuck for a gift idea...or want to give a special, not right-off-the-shelves gift but don't have time to hand-make something, it is super helpful to use a great book as a jumping off point! The gift kit idea works particularly well, as you can imagine, with a DIY book, like a cook or craft book since you can pair it with tools, materials, or ingredients but it can work with just about any book!Click here and here for previous posts with more of these ideas...as well as packaging suggestions!

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5 Easy DIY Dessert Stands for Etsy Studio

5 Easy DIY Dessert Stands for Etsy Studio

I am so happy to have recently contributed some ideas to Etsy Studio, Etsy's new-ish craft supply market where makers can find unique (and basic) materials as well as project ideas and inspiration. My first post is all about making homemade dessert stands, like this multi-tiered castle stand! I was so inspired by Etsy's wide selection of unfinished wooden blocks and shapes! 

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More Wintry Candy Crafts To Try With Your Kids!

More Wintry Candy Crafts To Try With Your Kids!

This little seal is a favorite from our book, Candy Aisle Crafts. That sweet face! In this shot, he is sliding around on some (aluminum foil) ice surrounded by sugar "snow". You can see him here atop a delicious chocolate cake along with some other arctic friends, along with the penguins below.

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Tube Letters: An Easy Birthday Garland Alternative!

Tube Letters: An Easy Birthday Garland Alternative!

In our house we have a tradition of leaving birthday messages for each other as a birthday morning surprise. They're usually in the form of garlands or banners, strung across doorways or along the edge of the mantel. These tube letters, from our book, Paper Goods Projects, are a fun way to display a message, no tape or string required! And they marry type and cardboard tubes, two of my favorite things!

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How To Throw the Ultimate Pee-wee Herman Party!

How To Throw the Ultimate Pee-wee Herman Party!

In honor of the soon-to-be-released movie, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, I am sharing my son’s Pee-wee-themed 5th birthday party from a few years ago. We are all BIG Pee-wee fans and very excited for his new movie, which starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, March 18th at 12:01 A.M.!! Use any of these ideas to throw your own Pee-wee viewing party!

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Fish Pops for a Summer Party!

Fish Pops for a Summer Party!

Is it safe to (finally) say that summer has arrived? I'm hoping so! It's time for sprinklers and pool parties! To celebrate, top a cake with these fish pops for an under-the-sea party. Here in Brooklyn we have a blowup pool in our small backyard and my husband and I squeeze right in there with the kids! The lollipops would make great party favors too.

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Oh Happy Day!

Oh Happy Day!

We are thrilled that our Cookie Cakes were featured on one of our absolute favorite blogs, Oh Happy Day! They are even offering a giveaway. If you leave a comment on their post by tomorrow 8/22, you might win a copy of our book Candy Aisle Crafts!

Click over to Oh Happy Day for the full tutorial!

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Planet Cookies!

Planet Cookies!

Our planet cookies were featured on the beautiful blog 100 Layer Cakelet, a great place to go to for kid's birthday and shower ideas and lots of other parent and expectant parent inspiration!

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Triangle Cake Decoration

Triangle Cake Decoration

While melting lots of candy for the book, I experimented with cutting through warm candy with kitchen shears while it was still on parchment. (This is hot work for adults only!) Triangles are an easy shape to cut and they make an pretty and graphic cake decoration. They'd also work as Christmas trees for a holiday cake decoration or lollipops.

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Dot Flower Pops

Dot Flower Pops

These simple dot flower pops are from the hard candy chapter in our upcoming book, Candy Aisle Crafts. They are a great starter project for getting used to melting hard candy and would make cute party favors!

Jolly Ranchers are my favorite candies to use for the candy-melting projects I’ve done over the years and have always found that it melts very smoothly.

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