Blue Moon Cupcakes

Blue Moon Cupcakes

Over break, I made the most amazing cupcakes...they had a vanilla base and Blue Moon beer baked in the mix. I found the recipe on another blog, but I made some adjustments. These are made from scratch, but if you're pressed for time, I think you'd be able to just use a box mix and add the Blue Moon rather than water...but I'm not sure. Box recipes became popular because they were able to substitute oil for butter in a recipe-- but I don't know if adding beer into the mix will mess that up. Let me know how it goes if you decide to check that out!

Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 2 large eggs, room temperature
* 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
* 1 orange, zested
* 2/3 cup Blue Moon, (Belgian White Beer)
* 2 tablespoons cream
      (if you need to use milk, don't use any other type other than whole--
      skim or lowfat will cause the cupcakes to crumble)

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

* 4 ounces of plain cream cheese, softened 

* 1 stick of butter, softened 

* 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, sifted

* 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice 

      (I just squeezed the whole orange left over after zesting it)

Instructions:

* Mix all ingredients well and refrigerate.  

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. In a separate bowl: sift flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside for later.

3. Cream together softened butter and sugar until well mixed. 

4. Add one egg at a time until completely incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and ensure it's all incorporated.

5. Add vanilla and orange zest, and mix again.

6. Scoop batter into cupcake tins until halfway full.

7. Bake until cooked all the way through. Approximately 15-18 minutes. 

8. When cooled, frost the cupcakes and enjoy.

My next craft project

Kitten Krafts

Harp Adventures

Boy did I go on an adventure....On Saturday last week, I took my harp into Lynchburg for it to be regulated by the world-renowned "harp whisper-er": Howard Bryan. I came by his studio in the morning, and I ended up staying for about three hours. I got to play all of these amazing harps-- it was like being a kid in a candy store. I can't believe I've been living so close to a harp legend all of this time, and I didn't even know it!! Here are some pictures of me playing some of his harps-- I feel so spoiled now. I don't feel like I can go back to my Salvi after playing these AMAZING Erards from the 1800's.


This is an Erard scroll-top from the late 1800's. It has to be the best harp I've ever played. I feel like I've tried on cashmere for the first time, and now I just cannot bear to wear cotton again.... Sigh... I think this harp is my soulmate.  If I had the money, this would be my harp.

This is an Erard gothic style, this is the same style harp that we have in the Sweet Briar museum-- Daisy played the harp, and this is the same harp that she had!

This is an Erard Grecian style. I liked how petite this harp is...it was just my size! It actually has an eighth pedal which opens up the doors on the back of the soundboard to let the sound resonate. Howard said that was more of a marketing tool the harp makers utilized in the 1800's, and it isn't done anymore because it really doesn't have much of a use--it was more just for show. Still, it was really darling.

There it is-- me in harp heaven!! If anyone has an extra thirty-thousand dollars and is interested in buying me a harp... I'm going to point you Howard Bryan's way! HAHA

Transferring Text

Okay, so I have a secret...Remember my: "Valentines Day Cards" post?

When I was doing that project, I probably went through three cards trying to perfect my handwriting. I was getting so frustrated, I decided I would use a trick I learned in my middle school art class to transfer text from one paper to another. I thought it would only be fair to share that trick with you all!

1. First, print off the text you would like to use:

2. Flip your paper over, and use a pencil and color over the  the area of text you'd like to transfer:

3. Flip your paper over again, and place it directly over the sheet of paper you'd like to transfer the text to.

4. Get your pencil back out, and use it to trace over the original text.

5. You'll see that the pressure from the pencil is able to transfer onto whatever is underneath it.

6. To make it look professional, I went back over the pencil with a sharpie marker, and then used an eraser to get rid of any rouge pencil marks.

This is what my text looked like when I was all done! Pretty close to the original from the printable template right?

Knit Scarf

I really wish I had the patience to start up crocheting again when I see fun scarves like this:

When Bad Crafts Happen To Good People

My friend, Lauren, wanted to make a chandelier using her string lights. She isn't the most: "crafty" person, so I was impressed to see her working on an art project. Lauren was inspired after seeing a picture where someone made a chandelier with only a wire hanger and string lights. This is a picture of her creation:

I do like that it looks like a halo above her head!

Needless to say, Lauren asked for some help to make her chandelier look a little less...homemade. haha

After having some painful belly laughs, we added some tulle and an extension chord. I think it made the whole thing look much more put together...what do you all think?

Valentines Day Cards

Hey Everyone! I'm a big Valentines Day fan, and I was looking for a fun, "grown-up" valentine I can make for my friends and family! Isn't this a fun valentine?

Credit has to be given to Sherelle Christensen and her adorable blog: My Crazy Life as a Farmer's Wife, because she created this project! She graciously has included a printable template so everyone can make these cute valentines:

(Click on the picture to follow the link)

How to make these Valentines:

1. Print off your template:

2. Cut out your shapes

3. After cutting out your shapes, cut a little trigger hole for the gun.

4. Use a fun punch for your holster's embellishment: 

5. Glue the edges of the holster shut, and glue your punch embellishment on the holster

6. Write your little sayings on your valentines (check out this post before you do!). You can include a fun little heart sticker like I did, for some added texture. 

7. Attach a stick of gum with double-sided tape, and you've made your own fun valentines!

How fun right? I'm sending these out tomorrow! 

Thank you!

I have a giant smile on my face because I'm checking out the: "stats" for this blog and it has a CRAZY number of pageviews!! I feel so popular! haha. Thank you everyone who reads my blog :)

...if they ever make a movie about my blog and me (a la Julie and Julia) I'll make sure you all are written into the script somehow!

Growing even more produce!

Remember my green onions that I was able to regrow by keeping the bulbs in water?

I just learned you can do that with many other types of vegetables!!

Look at this cute blog that teaches you how to re-grow celery:

p.s. rip orchid :(

Phalaenopsis Orchids

Okay, I have a confession to make. I killed two out of my three Phalaenopsis orchids on my drive from Maine to Virginia...I haven't told many people because I am so ashamed!! I love orchids and I feel like I have murdered a pet or something! Here are some pictures of them before break. Look how happy and healthy they are :(

That frog-looking thing is a humidifier. Orchids are tropical plants, and they like humid weather. Maine is really dry, so I plugged a humidifier in next to my orchids.

The orchids on the far left and far right were the ones I rescued from Walmart. The middle one is a healthy one I bought at a grocery store!

When I bought these orchids, their leaves were droopy, from too much water. After some TLC, look how firm those leaves are!

This was the other Walmart orchid-- he was a little more sick than the others, but was doing well after I repotted him. 

I love white phalaenopsis with red lips! 

Look how gorgeous that white phalaenopsis' root system/leaves are!

I bought two of these guys (the ones that are not in bloom) at Walmart on sale. They were the: "just add ice" variety, and as many orchid growers know, the pot these orchids are grown in don't have enough water drainage. Plus, the Walmart employees keep them waterlogged-- which is a recipe for disaster for Phalaenopsis growth. After I bought the orchids, I pruned away the rotten roots, and put them in terra cotta pots with proper potting medium conducive to Phalaenopsis growth. After a few weeks they were looking amazing!! I was really proud with myself because they were looking so healthy and happy!

However, I wanted to take them back to school with me. They were troopers on the drive until I forgot to take them inside from my car one night...I can't believe how stupid I was! Ugh what a mistake. They all FROZE and their leaves were all wrinkly and fleshy. They were disgusting-- my friends would not stop joking me about how gross they felt and looked.

I had to throw the two from Walmart out (the ones without blooms) sadly. They just weren't strong enough to survive the frost. However, the grocery store orchid was much more mature, and although it's leaves had frozen, it still had some good roots. I thought I may be able to save him, so I didn't throw him out.

What my grocery store orchid looked like after being left in a freezing car overnight. 

As you can see, the roots are still green and plump-- which indicates they are healthy. 

I cut away the dead leaves, and kept the crown (where the leaves meet) and root system in tact.

I then repotted him, and I'm hoping that he'll be able to pull through.

Who knows-- maybe he'll pull through, maybe he wont. I thought I'd at least try before throwing him out. Here's to hoping this orchid will come back to life!!

They say the more orchids you kill, the better you get at growing them. Hopefully that proves true for me!!