Craftyminx

Wedding Wednesday – Cupcakes

Apparently Wedding Wednesday has decided to come back with a vengeance. I just have more to share about our wedding and tips for other DIY brides out there. I hope you all don’t mind too much and I promise today’s post isn’t just about weddings. Everyone loves cupcakes right? If not, sorry we can’t be friends. ;)

 
We made all of the cupcakes for our wedding. When I say we I mean my mom, his mom, his aunt and his nanny. We had about 3-4 dozen of each of the 6 flavors we picked out for our reception – Yellow with Chocolate Icing, White wedding cake with Buttercream Icing, Strawberry, Red Velvet with Boiled Flour Icing, Lemon, and German Chocolate. Each person made the cupcakes the week of the wedding, keeping them fresh in the fridge or the freezer. The day before the wedding my mom made all of the Icing and we had a frosting party.

I know it sounds crazy that we had that many flavors and trusted 4 different people to make them. It’s scary to think about picking out all the recipes, making sure the cupcakes are made right, and that they are all a uniform size. However, I wasn’t worried one bit (maybe I was a little worried, but I have major control issues). We came up with a fail proof way to make this work. Ok, you can’t trust someone who has never been in the kitchen before to not burn cupcakes so at least start with someone you kind of trust to do this and then go from there.

Want to know what our secret weapons were? Cake mix and cupcake scoopers! I know, you’re thinking “cake mix for a wedding?” But trust me. All of the cupcakes at our wedding were made from cake mix except the German Chocolate ones because Nanny is awesome and made those for us from scratch. This recipe will make cake mix in to the best tasting and easiest cupcakes you’ll ever make. I promise! We armed each volunteer baker with the recipe and their own cupcake scoop to make sure all the cupcakes were the same size. We told them to use the plain white cupcake liners and before we frosted the cupcakes we took them out of the liners. The day of the wedding we placed them on the pretty liners which made them easier to eat and the liners looked like little doilies. The cake mix trick is perfect for times you need more than one dozen cupcake. I made 6 dozen cupcakes last night using this recipe and was inspired to share my knowledge with you all. Ok ok, on with the recipes.

 

Cake Mix Cupcakes

You’ll need one box of cake mix to make 2 dozen cupcakes. It doesn’t matter the brand or the flavor. I have used this with both Pillsbury and Duncan Hines but I’m sure any box mix that’s the same size as those two brands would be fine. I’ve tested this with many flavors and haven’t had a problem with it yet.

You’ll follow the ingredient list on the back making the following changes:
Replace the oil called for with softened butter in the same amount.
Replace the water called for with buttermilk in the same amount.
Add an extra egg.

Directions:
Beat the butter on high for a minute or so until it is light and fluffy. Add the cake mix and mix slowly until combined. Add the milk and eggs and beat on low until combined, scrape down the sides then mix on high for 2 minutes. The batter will be thick and that’s how it should be. Cupcakes are supposed to be denser than cake.

Evenly distribute the batter among 24 lined cupcake tins. You’ll have some leftover batter. I use this to make mini-cupcakes but you can do whatever you want to with it. Bake them at 350 for about 17-19 minutes. Oven temperatures will vary so watch the first batch you make to get an accurate time.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

While you can use the above recipe with strawberry cake mix to make strawberry cupcakes, I prefer this recipe. It is just way too good to use anything else. I wouldn’t steer you wrong would I?

Ingredients:
1 package white cake mix
3 Tbsp. Flour
1 (3 oz.) box strawberry gelatin
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
½ cup – ¾ cup frozen thawed strawberries (or fresh) mashed with a fork

Mix everything but the strawberries together until just combined. Scrape down the sides then mix on high for 2 minutes. Stir in the strawberries. Evenly distribute the batter among 24 lined cupcake tins. You’ll have some leftover batter.

Bake them at 350 for about 18-20 minutes. These burn easily so start checking them at 18 minutes.

Strawberry Frosting
1/2 cup softened butter
1 -1 lb box of powdered sugar (sometimes takes a little more)
1/4 tsp. salt
½ cup frozen thawed strawberries (or fresh) mashed with a fork

Beat the butter on high for a minute or so until it is light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and salt and stir slowly to combine, it will kind of look like a course corn meal. Add the strawberries and beat on low until combined, scrape down the sides then mix on high for a few minutes until it’s slightly thicker.

Mom’s go-to frosting recipe

My mom used to do a lot of cake decorating and this is the recipe she uses for buttercream and chocolate frosting. Everyone raves when she makes cakes so these must be good. I’m not the biggest fan of the buttercream, but I just don’t love buttercream frosting in general. I could eat the chocolate buttercream with a spoon though and then die from clogged arteries.

The Original Wilton Buttercream
Recipe from Wilton 

1 cup vegetable shortening or ½ cup each butter and vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons milk or 2 tablespoons water
1 tbsp meringue powder (Optional)
¾ cup cocoa powder (if making chocolate buttercream)

Cream shortening (and butter) with mixer. Add the vanilla. Gradually add sugar (and cocoa if making chocolate buttercream), one cup at a time, beating on medium speed scraping the sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will be pretty dry. Add milk or water and beat at medium speed until ready to use. Refrigerate or freeze leftover icing in an airtight container and thaw and rewhip before using.

So there are my secrets. I hope you are able to use them at your wedding or when you need to make a lot of cupcakes at once. I promise no one will judge you for using cake mix. They’ll be too busy scarfing them down to care.

Happiness is...

 
1. being able to have bare ankles!, 2. Vintage necklace and Thrifted top, 3. Sheldon...being awesome,
4. Dewey sleeping in silly new places, 5. Homemade doughnuts, 6. Old Friends in Town,
7. Organizing, 8. Black Bean Stacked Enchiladas, 9. Funny dog pictures,
10. Making Progress on Projects, 11. Healthy Dinners, 12. Rice Pudding with Strawberries

A Granny A Day: Week 9

Each granny square image above will lead you to the individual post for more information.

Today is the last day for these squares. I've made a little mock up of what the blanket will look like all together without the border of course:

It's going to be soo pretty! I can't wait to finish it. I'm hoping it will be done by next weekend so I can give it to the recipient and take lots of pictures of it at its new home.

I've got to get more yarn before I continue. I'm seeing a Hobby Lobby trip happening after work tonight.

Wedding Wednesday - The Sale is On!!

For all you chomping at the bit, I won't make you wait for the link so go here for the sale! FYI - Goolge Chrome isn't supporting the page so use another browser.

 

- Everything is priced at least 1/2 of half what I paid.
- Payment goes through paypal but you don't have to have a paypal account to make a payment through it.
-E-mail me at dana(@)craftyminx(dot)com for any questions.
-All sales are final.
- I might have a couple of things to add later this week I just didn't have shipping boxes for those yet and didn't want people to buy something and have to wait.
- Oh and what's that in the bottom left hand corner? Its a little yarn stash I've been needing to get rid of. All yours for a low price :)
- Right now I'm only shipping to the US.

The link to the sale is at the very top of this post. Get shopping :)

 

$9 Emergency Face

Last Friday I found myself in a pickle. We were visiting a friend in the hospital after work and then we decided we were going to an art show in Norman afterwards. I was in my worst Friday casual outfit and had no make up on so I begged Sheldon to stop at Target before we went to the art show to buy an outfit and some eyeliner to get me by for the evening. While I couldn't really find a bargain for clothing options that evening (I opted for a dress which needed a tanktop underneath and a cardigan because it was chilly out -- all stuff I can wear at work so the price was justified). I was able to buy enough make up to do a full face for about the same price of the eyeliner I buy that's not MAC.

Elf cosmetics has been around for awhile online (eyeslipsface.com) so I knew it was pretty quality stuff, but I was surprised to find it at Target. I'm not sure if all Targets are carrying it right now, but I've been to one other in OKC that didn't have the full line yet only the gift packs. Prices for individual items range from $1 - $6 but most of them are only $1 or $3, which is awesome! Also, I have really sensitive skin and eyes so I'm always leery of changing products or using cheap stuff on my face and I am very pleased to say I didn't have a reaction to any of this and the eyeshadow/liner stick didn't make my eyes tear up at all.

I did a before and after photo for you all last week while I was on a break at work:

Not too bad right? I decided to keep my emergency make up in a bag inside my purse for days when I need a fast fix-up since I usually don't wear make-up every day. As Martha would say, "It's a good thing!"

$9 Face Run Down: (I've linked them to their on-line store in case you want to buy some and can't find it locally)
e.l.f. tinted moisturizer SPF 20in Porcelain - $3
e.l.f. clarifying pressed powder in Light Beige (this was a little dark for me but they were out of Ivory) - $1
e.l.f. all over color stick in Golden Peach $1
e.l.f. Eyeliner & Shadow Stick in Smoke/Black $3
e.l.f. Hypershine Gloss in Blossom $1

Disclosure: I didn't get paid to say any of this. E.l.f. cosmetics doesn't even know who I am. Sometimes I just like to spread the word about products I like :)

A Granny A Day: Week 8

Each granny square image above will lead you to the individual post for more information.

I'm so excited to make this blanet and see everything together. I love the colors I'm using and all the flowers so much! I know the blanket recipient will love it so much too :)

Thank you all for being patient as I observed the bloggers day of silence yesterday. I thought it was a great way to show my support for relief efforts in Japan. I hope some of you were able to donate to the the cause.

 

Thrifted Thursday

This post could also be entitled - The vintage/handmade legacy of Jennie Stanfa.

My friend Levi and I spent some time together this weekend, which meant thrifting and estate sales. We happened across a lovely estate sale very close to my home and decided to pop in and see what they had. It wasn't a sale put on by a big auction house so everything was really cheap and it was my favorite kind of estate sale -- one with the family there. Don't think I'm weird by saying that, but I love hearing stories about the person whose house I'm rifling through. I love giving their beloved treasures a place in my home. What's really sad about this sale was that there wasn't very much stuff left at all by the time we got there (probably because everything was dirt cheap). Clothing was 50 cents each so we immediately fell upon the closets searching for vintage treasures and oh boy did we find them!

While we were checking out, one of the family members was reminiscing about the clothes. She told us if we found any handmade garments they were made by Jennie (she was a professional seamstress and designer) and there would probably be tags in some of them. Sure enough, we found some in our stash. I believe the three dresses on bottom were all the handmade ones we got in the bunch. Knowing who made them makes them very special. We assured her family that we are lovers of vintage and all the things we bought were going to very loving homes who would remember Jennie and her talents.

I also found some curtains that Jennie made from sheets! They are in my dining room right now and they are so beautiful I think I'll make some from other coordinating sheets from my stash to go on the other two windows in the room. Come to think of it, I might actually have these in my stash. hmmmm.

I think I spent $4 on everything I got there. It was one of the best estate sales I've ever been to. I'm just really sad that we didn't get there when it opened that day.