DiY banana invitation.

it has been a season for babies in my family and i love celebrating with mommies-to-be! while sitting on the couch this month, i had the chance to do a little prep for decorating a monkey themed baby shower! here's a peek into the festivities!

good ol' pinterest led me to this gem. i knew it was The One when i saw it - i'm not good at making cute traditional style cards on the computer and i didn't want to spend much on invites cause we had a tight budget. these cost 50 cents + cardstock i needed to buy anyway.

there was no tutorial on the site, just a picture, so i thought i'd do a step by step just for fun :-)

• first, i found a banana image on google and copied it into word. i used multiple text boxes to add the necessary info and make it curve with the shape of the banana. i added a monkey picture for good measure.  no worries if the text box takes away part of the lines - you're going to cut them off anyway.

• next, i printed off as many invites as a needed + 1. i cut out the extra banana OUTSIDE the black line and used it to trace the banana shape on the pieces of felt.

 

•  i cut out all the rest of the paper bananas INSIDE the black line, to be the actual fruit. i glued the bottom half to the felt, centering it on the felt peel.

•  once dry, i cut the peel in half, starting at the base of the stem.

how's that for cheap, easy, and adorable? gotta love pinterest.

love and soon-to-be babies,

amber.

the first post ever - loaded orange chocolate bites.

so, i've always wanted to have a blog but had the illusion that every blogger is completely original and comes up with all their ideas on their own. clearly i don't read blogs very often. thanks to pinterest, i quickly realized plenty of bloggers copy other people’s ideas, tweak them to fit their preferences, and simply give the original poster credit. Now that, I can do. 

So here we go: my not-so-original creations, with full credit to the idea sparker. hopefully these projects will spark some ideas for you! (if they do, please share, i would be sooo excited to see what you’ve made!)

creative idea #1: loaded orange chocolate bites

idea sparked by: Hershey

 

I started making these in high school after eating a delicious Hershey chocolate bar. I don’t remember what exactly was in theirs, but after a failed attempt and a few tweaks over the years, this is how my version’s ended up –

{Super important side note – this makes a zillion chocolates. I make them to give out for Christmas presents and actually, this year, i doubled the recipe. so clearly, if you’re making them just for you, don’t buy in bulk. or maybe you should. they’re addictive…}

ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs Ghirardelli Candy Making and Dipping Bar {I get this at Sam’s Club}
•      13.5 oz Dried Fruit Mix, sorted into separate bowls {I get Peterson Farms Cherry Berry Blend (blueberries, cranberries, and cherries) Also from Sam’s Club.}
•       4 oz Almonds, ground in food processor {or smashed with meat tenderizer}
•       Orange Extract

Tools:

•      1+ mini muffin trays
•      wooden Spoon
•      metal Spoon
•      medium pot
•      butter knife
•      ½ tsp measuring spoon

Directions:

•      Cut chocolate bar into small pieces.

{I chop the chocolate and store it in a ziplock because 

I make these in batches throughout the month}

• If you want to do it the right way, melt your chocolate like this. if not, just stick it in the pot on low, stirring frequently. {I’ve never had any problems melting it this way when using Ghirardelli}

• When melted, add Orange extract in ½ tsp increments, tasting to find desired intensity. If too strong, add more chocolate.{darn.}

•      Bring chocolate to work station. Fill each ungreased muffin tin with a small amount of chocolate {I do 1/3-1/2 spoonful, depending on size of spoon. it’s better if it’s not too thick.}

{My station.} 

{random info - i was out of the normal fruit mix and 

almonds, so i improvised for the pics. There are 

golden raisins and cashews in this batch}

•      Gently wiggle muffin tray to spread the chocolate evenly. You want the whole base of each tin to be covered.

{Also, I have 2 mini muffin trays I use, but I only fill one at a time with chocolate. Once I tried to fill them both before adding the fruit and nuts but the chocolate in the second tray hardened by the time I got to it. I recommend just filling one tray at a time.} 

•      Working quickly, add one cranberry, one cherry, and one blueberry to each cup. Then sprinkle with almond crumbs.

•      Gently press fruit and nuts into chocolate to make sure they’ll stick. {When I don’t do this, I have a lot of almond crumbs fall off when removing them from the tins.}

•      Place tray in fridge or freezer for 10ish minutes, or until hard. Gently remove from tins with a butter knife. I prefer to store these in the fridge, but they can be kept out at room temp also.

{tied up and ready to hand out for Christmas!}

• Need your pot for something else, but it's still full of chocolate you haven't finished making? Pour your chocolate into paper muffin cups, and let it harden in fridge or freezer. Peel paper off and add to the rest of your chocolate stash to remelt later!

Questions or comments? i'd love to hear them!

linking up at:

 />

love and Christmas treats,
amber.