How To Make Faux Cupcakes...

As promised..here are the instructions for creating your own ...

FAUX CUPCAKES

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You will need the following:

cupcake liners in your choice of style(there are many fun/whimsical designs out there/have fun with it!)

muffin tins

rubber spatula

mixing bowl/plastic preferred

small plastic bowls for "icing"

plastic spoon

pastry tube and decorating tips

beads,glitter, ribbon,other embellishments of your choice

Plaster of Paris(large buckets of the dry powder are available at Hobby Lobby for $4.99 a bucket)

Spackling/joint compound (found at your local hardware store in the paint department)

Acrylic paints in pinks,pale yellows,pale minty greens,pale robin's egg blue..or other pastel colors of your choice.

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To begin:

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Mix up some of the powdered Plaster of Paris in your plastic mixing bowl..as per instructions on package.

Stir with spatula.

Very quickly pour into your muffin /cupcake cups. (you have to work rather quickly as plaster starts to set up within 30 minutes)

Fill the cupcake papers to the top.

Let set about 1 hour to harden.

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To create icing:

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Get your pastry icing bag ready.

(I use the star tip for icing my cupcakes.)

Take several tablespoons of the spackling/joint compound(be generous..you have lots of cupcakes to "ice")

and put into the small plastic bowl.

Add several squirts of the acrylic paint color of your choice and stir together well.

Using the spoon ..quickly fill your pastry bag.

Pipe icing onto cupcake starting from the outer edge of the cupcake and working towards the center.

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To embellish:

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You must work on the embellishment with the beads and glitter while the spackling/joint compound is still moist!

As soon as you can after "icing" the cupcakes..start applying the embellishments..either glitter or beads of your choice.

Be creative with it and have fun.

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You can attach a tiny bow to the cupcake papers with hot glue after the cupcakes have fully set up.

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Let dry for a day.

Then proudly display your creations on a doily, on a pretty plate, or on a cake stand.

Have fun!

~The Garden Goose~

Easter Gift Tags in Etsy Shop..starting to feel better..and more..

I created some vintage looking Easter gift tags for my etsy shop. These are so adorable, dervived from vintage greetings.

I currently have 6 sets in the shop and will add more in the next day or so.

I think they look absolutely adorable..and can be used for hanging on the Easter basket gifts, or on your seasonal tree, as scrapbooking embellishments..for collage/altered art..or to even create a mini garland with them.

I absolutely adore images from a long ago time as they really were rather charming and loaded with details.

Stop by and take a look at:

http://www.gardengoosegifts.etsy.com/

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Well..I'm finally starting to feel a bit better...still ache a bit and kidney's kind of "itch" weird feeling, but a kind of "itch" inside..strange.

You feel like scratching your back, but there's nothing to scratch cause it's inside..ha.

Guess it's part of the healing process.

I slept, and slept..and slept last night..so much so that when I finally toddled out to the hallway today..my daughter says to me.."good afternoon mom"..and I was like "what??" She said "yep..it's like 1:45!!!"

oh my word! i!yi!yi! I was totally out to the world I tell you! Good gracious! but honestly even though I slept that much..I still can tell my body is fighting this stuff and it takes time to heal.

Thanks for all the well wishes..really appreciate it.

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I'm going to share with you all how to create the faux cupcakes.

Will write another post this evening so that if you wish to print it out you can simply do a "copy"/"paste" to your microsoft word or other program and be able to print out the instructions from your own computer.

It's really very simple and when you see..you'll be like.."hmm..so that's the secret!"..easy as pie..err umm..cupcakes..ha.

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Well..I think we have decided to try and find new homes for our ducks..yes..although they are absolutely gorgeous creatures..very pretty to watch..the male has taken to being extremely protective of the female and has started to chase my oldest daughter around the yard..he doesn't come after me..but he does my daughter... and has landed a few hard blows/pecks to her arms and feet.So much so that she winds up with bruises that look like blood blisters..ouch.

Plus..with a new puppy now..taking care of the puppy plus 2 ducks and 2 chickens..is sometimes a bit of a chore on really busy/hectic days when we have lots of errands to run.

I'll of course miss the beauty of them..but I guess in life you learn lessons..and although the ducks are gorgeous they don't contribute much to the household as the chickens will wind up doing with delivering eggs.

It is sort of a bittersweet kind of decision..but with my having gotten sick with this kidney infection and being laid up/not feeling good/not feeling like bending over or getting around much at all...I realized that it takes alot of time and effort to keep everything running smoothly..and sometimes you just have to simplify where you can/where you must.

So..the ducks will probably have to go.

We'll keep the chickens though as they'll actually provide for their keep.

So, I'll be placing an ad for them in the paper tomorrow.

It definitely was a fun learning experience though and those little quacker butts will always be remembered in my heart.

But life is always full of changes and decisions to be made.

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Well..I better get that cupcake tutorial posted.

Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

~The Garden Goose~

Taking a wee break..to get to feeling better..

Hey ya'll..I'll be taking a wee break for a couple of days..because ..well..I'm feeling lousy today. The meds for the kidney infection make me feel slightly nauseated..and I'm just tired.
A nap sounds good right now..and that's where I'm headed..to go take a nap.(this from the gal who hardly ever, ever takes a nap) so yep..I feel cruddy.
But..I'll get to feeling better real soon.


I'm drinking lots of water..so much so that I have been calling finding myself humming the "I'm a little tea pot " song, except with the words changed slightly..ha.


So..I'll be back real soon.


In the meantime feel free to check out some of my previous posts..and also stop on by "Small Town Living" magazine at:


http://www.stliving.net/ if you haven't seen it yet.


Also I have lots of friends in blogland that have darling sites..feel free to check a few of them out ..lots of inspiration/talented gals out there.(posted to left of blog)


Now don't go having too much fun without me!..but I gotta go take care of me..and get to feeling better.

------------------**** stay tuned*** when I get back I'll post how to create your own faux cupcakes...I have decided that since they actually are a challenge to ship through the postal service.. without them getting damaged..that the nice thing for me to do..is to share a tutorial with my blogging friends.

..And that I shall do. Since I learned how to do them,and I know many of you would like to know how to make them... and since I have decided that I won't be adding them into my etsy shop after all. They do make the best little decorations and gifts to friends though...so I think as a fun thing and a "sweet" thing to do...since some of you had asked how they were made..is to withhold the secret no longer..and actually share with you how they are made...so...stay tuned.

Love ya'll.

I'll be back real soon.

hugs,
~The Garden Goose~

Hello...seaglass..and more...

Hello friends...

so..this morning found me driving myself to the dr's office.."oh joy!..not"

I had a feeling that I "might" have a kidney infection..and yep..sure enough after that wonderful thing that somehow dr's think all women can do...(peeing in a cup on demand) yep..the results were.."you have an infection/I'll prescribe antibiotics"

So..yep..I feel lousy..but hopefully the meds will kick in soon and knock this bug out.

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Well...I got a lovely surprise in my mailbox yesterday!! A gift from a blogging friend!

Deezie from http://www.creatingbythesea.blogspot.com/
sent me a package of the prettiest Seaglass!! seems she finds this right on their beaches! I had never seen authentic seaglass/sea pottery before in my life...and this stuff is just so fascinating..and so pretty! Along with the seaglass was a darling "Greetings from the Seaside" card. I have put the glass and card in a small crystal bowl on my buffet in the dining area..so pretty.
Thank you so much Deezie! I love it.

(*** so sorry to have posted wrong link earlier/have corrected it)

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We had some excitement here today...

we have 2 chickens and 2 ducks that are allowed free range of our yard during the day.

Well..this afternoon we heard the female duck quacking and at first thought nothing of it, but oldest daughter decided to go check to see what was up..and lo and behold she saw a huge hawk take off from a tree at the edge of the yard..and her beloved chicken was missing..and...there was a pile of feathers in the yard.

Well..I did start choking up..and daughter was upset..so we collected some of the feathers thinking that "Henny Penny" was a goner.

When after a while daughter hears something in the hedges against the house...yep.."Henny Penny" was hovered up under the hedges as frightened as could be..with a bunch of under feathers missing off of her neck..you can't tell actally unless you know what she is supposed to look like on her neck area..that she is actually missing any feathers..but I declare..that poor chicken was just about shaking from fright..she was actually in a bit of shock..poor thing..but it had a good ending..she was o.k...yay!

Gave us a scare though.

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We had alot of rain last night..so much so that the low spot in our backyard has become a small "pond"..uggh. There is a low spot where the 3 yards all adjoin at the fence line..and when we have tons of rain...like last night where it rained all night long..for an easy 4 inches or so of rain..well..we wind up with a "pond"

Anyone have a canoe to spare?..ha

Actually the water table is way up lately as we recently had a day of 6 inches of rain and flooding in our area.

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On another note..after the chicken excitement..daughter comes running in.."hurry mom..grab your camera..!!"

and looking overhead right when I get to the door..too late to get a good shot...was a flock of Canadian Geese flying over our house!! I actually have never ever seen Canadian Geese this far South..have never ever seen them in Florida before.(except at a zoo)Have seen them migrating up near Tennessee and Georgia, but never here in Florida..cool!

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Went to Kmart to fill my prescription and brought home a new bedspread/quilt and some gerbera daisy plants..the gerberas are so pretty! I even found one in a lovely light peach color!

The thing about gerberas ..here anyhow..is that they return year after year.

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Oh! before I forget....

stop on by Jayedee's bog..over at:

http://www.lifeinthelostworld.blogspot.com/

She is having the neatest giveaway to celebrate Spring!

Here's what it is about:

I just love chickens! they give us meat and eggsto sustain our bodies, feathers for our heads to rest on after our labors, lovely poop for our compost and endless entertainment as we watch them go about the daily business of chicken living!in order to promote my favorite homestead animal, the CHICKEN,I've decided to offer a $25 gift certificate to my favorite hatchery,IDEAL POULTRY in cameron, texas!

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That's all from my little neck of the woods this afternoon.

Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

Hoping you all have a wonderful weekend!

~The Garden Goose~

Crafting...

So..I've been crafting a few items for my etsy shop in time for Easter..and also wanting some nice Spring themed items in the shop.

Today I made this cute little French Peat Pot decoration.

Yes..using a tiny peat pot.

I decorated it in pretty pink colors with glitter, and a reproduction French image on the front of the pot. Made a basket "handle" with Shimmery pink ribbon .

Then I crafted a tiny handmade porcelain blue bird which sits atop the spanish moss "nest".

Posted it in my etsy shop. (http://www.gardengoosegifts.etsy.com/)

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I'll be posting some Easter gift tags in the shop really soon too.

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Not much else really new here today. It is a pretty Spring time feeling day out today.Nice and Sunny.

Last night it was downright chilly outside though. ...but with the sun comes warmer temperatures and this afternoon it is about 70 degrees out.

A lovely day!

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Here's wishing you all a beautiful day.

~The Garden Goose~

Another Shabby Chic Sachet..and some of my recent redecorating items/creations

Created another sachet this afternoon in between taking care of the puppy and a few other things.
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I wanted to share a photo of that with you all...

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I had also mentioned that I was redoing a bit of my decor...wanted to share a few pictures of a few of the flower arrangements I had created and then some of the ways I have decorated.

Shown here is a display area in my kitchen devoted specifically to my inner farmgirl..this is the area where I have all things farmgirl related. I found this little hanging rack at a garage sale for about $1 and on it I hang mini kitchen utensils and a vintage apron and feed sack looking towels, and even a tiny "frizzle" chicken.

Below this display sits a vintage milk pail filled with gerbera daisies in red, yellow, white. Also there is a small cubby type shelving in which I have my cookbook collection and upon which I have a small display area with farm style related items including an old vintage iron.

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Next up is a Home interiors image that I put in my living room, but wanted it to have an even more "shabby chic" type feel to the decor..so I had a vintage piece of tea dyed lace(actually a very old lace curtain panel) and I had some french country type metal ornaments..so I strung the lace through the loops of the ornaments and created a "swag" over top of the picture.

(I do wish all my ornaments were the same colors..but..alas they aren't)

Next is my buffet area in the dining room and my teacup/plate shelf. On the buffet..I rotate items out often to give the room a breath of "fresh air"

Next up are the floral arrangements that I created for our fireplace area. ..and my large 3 ft by 4 ft framed collection of Vintage Valentines.

Up next on my "must do" list..is to...paint all the panelling white...ha.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. Hope you enjoyed the "tour"

~The Garden Goose~

Windy City...and more

Windy outside here the last few days..seems a northern wind is a blowing this way again..

....and I declare! I think we live in the "Windy City"!

It was so windy here last night that it blew over our outdoor umbrella ...which the pole was inside of our glass top table(a large dining size outdoor table) well...I think you can figure out what happened...yep!...the entire top of the table shattered!!....argggh!

... and it's the beginning of garden season ...which means..a replacement table will not be at a clearance price like what we found ours at...boo hoo.

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And then my sister emailed me this morning letting me know that someone had backed into the front of her classic car(I think it's a mustang/a real pretty one though) and did a real number on the front end of the car while it was parked..bummer.

Can it be possible to have a "Monday" on a Tuesday?? ...ha.

At least in both events no one was hurt ...by either glass..or getting banged up.

So..in that it all had a good turn out actually.

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About the outdoor table..I think I'll suggest a wooden picnic table type arangement next time around...we'll see.

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About the car...her insurance is working with her on it.

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On a cheerier note..I'm working on creating a few more of the vintage chenille sachets for my little etsy shop.today.

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Can you believe that some of the seeds that I planted the other day are already sprouting??!!

Yep..sure enough..in fact one particular type of flower seed was sprouting up the very next morning!! I was amazed!

It is a little flower called "Tidy Tips" and it will look like this:

Isn't it just the cheeriest little flower?

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May you all have a lovely day!

I'm off to create a few more sachets this afternoon.

Thanks for joining me in "blogland"

~The Garden Goose~