Dying Coffee Filter Flowers

I wanted to put together a little follow-up post to these coffee filter flowers. Now that you can make tons of white peonies, you probably want to make them in a slew of colors (maybe that's just me...)

The process is fairly simple. Begin like you would to make the simple white ones, cutting out the amount you need with the scalloped edges. In a large cup or bowl, mix a small amount of craft paint with a cup of water. The more paint, the more vibrant they will be. I used a couple small squirts for each color, mix it up.

Take each filter, crumple it up, and stick in in the water/paint mixture. You can put a whole several in at a time and let them soak for a few minutes. Again, the longer they soak, the more vibrant they will be. Lay them out on some paper towels and let them dry. Continue making your flowers as normal. And that's it! Now you have lovely colored coffee filter flowers to go with your white ones!

Currently...

Watching:

The Bates Motel, Revolution, Mad Men on Netflix, Criminal Minds (as always), Mysteries at the Museum, New Girl, YouTube videos of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and my inbox incisively.

Reading:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling, Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Domino Magazine (once I can get my hands on one!), A Game of Thrones by George R. Martin, blog notes in pretty notebooks, and cupcake recipes.

Dreaming about:

Selling my car, actually driving my new little car, warm weekends, great hummus, beach days, bike riding, vanilla ice cream with peanut butter sauce, a new craft idea with vintage sheets, and finding a new apartment.

Painting Neon Utensils

Sometimes you need a "just for fun" project. You're walking around Target on a Saturday afternoon with little to do with the rest of your day and you see these bamboo kitchen utensils and decide that they would be better with neon handles. That doesn't happen to you? Must just be me then...

These are so easy, they don't really warrant a walk through, but I'm so nice that I provided one anyway!

You'll begin with ordinary bamboo/wooden kitchen utensils. 

Using painter's tape, tape off the ends that you want to paint. Make sure to get a straight line, and each one is around the same size of painting area.

Using any color craft paint (I used neon orange, pink, and chartreuse), paint the ends of each utensil. At first, this will seem like it will never cover, but several coats later and there you have it. I did around four coats, I believe. Remove the tape and let dry completely before using. 

Now, these obviously aren't dishwasher safe, but very fun.

Enjoy cooking with your pretty new spoons and spatulas! I might make a few more of these, and they would make lovely housewarming gifts! 

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream

You might be sensing a pattern with all the cinnamon baked goods that find there way onto this little blog. I love spicy, warm flavors much more than chocolate. So when I'm baking for myself, I go for spice. 

These little gems are based off of my all-time favorite cookies, Snickerdoodles! And with a equally lovely brown sugar buttercream, I might actually eat the whole batch. They don't have chocolate, so you can eat them for breakfast! Here we go...

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Yields 24 cupcakes

2 1/2c all-purpose flour

2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

1/2c buttermilk

1/2c vegetable oil

1tsp vanilla extract

1 stick of butter, softened

1c sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 and place liners in a cupcake pan.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs. Combine after each one.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl, combine oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add dry mixture to the butter mixture, alternating between dry and liquid mixture. Only mix until combined so you don't over mix. Overmixing=dry cupcakes.

Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 way full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

Brown Sugar Buttercream

Adapted from this recipe

1 1/2 unsalted butter, softened

1/3c brown sugar, packed

2tsp ground cinnamon

4c powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4c milk

Cream butter until fluffy with an electric mixer. Add both sugars slowly. Add vanilla and cinnamon; combine. Add enough milk to soften the texture of the buttercream. Add in small increments so not to make it too runny. 

With the brown sugar in the mix, the frosting is not the same texture as a powdered-sugar-only buttercream. It's thicker and slightly grittier, but the flavor is killer on these little cakes.

To get fancy, fill a pastry bag with a 1M Wilton tip. Pipe enough frosting as desired. Eat.

Currently Reading: Night Circus

It's always hard for me to find books I like. I read descriptions. They all sound similar and I don't know if I really would like it. I hear about a book a few times and then I start to see them all over the place, so I decide to just buy it and see how it goes. Night Circus was one of those books.

It was fabulous. One of those books that you can't stop reading. The book has several different related plots that keep your interest thoughout the entire book. Great character development and the characters are relatable and interesting in multiple ways. It has plot twists and turns that you don't see coming. I would say that I don't usually read fantasy book, but Night Circus doesn't feel like a fantasy book. It doesn't feel like you are reading a book geared towards young adults, though it is an easy read, which is something that I tend to think about fantasy books.

So all in all, I really enjoyed it and would highly reccomend it. This would make a lovely summer read, something to read sitting on the beach or by the pool. Happy reading!

See some other books I read during my summer reading last year.