Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes from Simple Sweetness!

Hi Everyone!  I'm Leslie from Simple Sweetness.

Wendy has been kind enough to let me guest blog today to tell you about a yummy recipe I made.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Mini Cupcakes.

Of course you can make full size cupcakes with this recipe too.

Supplies:

*Yellow or White Cake Mix & Ingredients to Make Mix

*Vanilla Frosting

For the 5 dozen Mini Cupcakes I made, I used almost 2 cans of Vanilla Frosting

*Creamy Peanut Butter

*Jelly

*Filling Tip

*Decorating Tip

*Mini Cupcake Liners

Not everything is pictured here, sorry!

I first made the cake mix and lined my mini cupcake pan.  Then popped the pan in the oven.  I followed the box directions for oven temp and cooking time. 

FYI: Because I made mini cupcakes, they took less than the 20 minutes for full size cupcakes.  Just keep an eye on yours while they bake.

 I used my new Dessert Decorator Plus for filling and frosting the cupcakes.
I bought mine for $14.99 at Michael's.  Well worth the $15 because it had a filling tip and the decorating tips.  Plus you just wash out the tube, no messy frosting bags, no frosting coming out the bottom.

Filled with Grape Jelly. 

While I was baking and waiting for the cupcakes to cool, I mixed my Peanut Butter Frosting.

I took the lazy easy way out.  I just used vanilla frosting and mixed peanut butter into it.  There are tons of from scratch peanut butter frosting recipes on the internet so google that if you want to do it homemade. 

If you go the method I used, melt your peanut butter in the microwave for 15 seconds.  I had to do mine another 10 seconds, just be careful because you can burn the peanut butter.

I mixed in about 1 tablespoon of peanut butter at time until I got the right flavor.  Don't worry about doing too much or too little, mix in until you have the peanut butter flavor you want.

I did about 3 tablespoons to 1 can of Vanilla Frosting.

 Filling the cupcakes were super easy with my dessert decorater.  I let the cupcakes cool for about 5 to 10 minutes.  These being mini cupcakes, they cooled down super fast.  With larger cupcakes you might have to wait a bit longer.

  The directions said to insert the fill tip about 1 inch but as there were mini cupcakes, I didn't quite go down that far.  These were the first ones I filled and about halfway through I learned that if I pulled the plunger back a bit before I removed the tip from the cupcake then it wouldn't leave the bubble of jelly at the top you see in the picture below.  The ones with no jelly on top have not been filled yet. 

 The bummer about having only one Dessert Decorater tube is that I had to wait for all 5 batches of cupcakes to cook, cool and fill with jelly before I could switch over to my Peanut Butter Frosting.

I'm not a great froster so I tried to do a smooth "bubble" or "dot" of frosting.  To do this, hold your tube at a 90 degree angle in the center of your cupcake and frost until you have the size frosting you desire.  I think if I had backed off the tube a little before removing I wouldn't have had such a wispy tail on the end of the cupcakes.

Ta Da!  Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes.

They are just like they sound, a sweet peanut butter & jelly sandwich in cupcake form.

  Delicious!

Hey C.G. friends, just a quick note from me-
My girls and I  made these over the weekend, Leslie isn't kidding when she says "DELICIOUS". They were so yummy and my girls had a blast stuffing the centers with jelly!

Thanks so much Leslie for sharing  your goodie with us! Happy Munching to you all-

T.G.I.F.-Thank GOODIES it's Friday #7

Where oh where did this week go? It was so crazy busy, but I still need a day or two back!Lots of good things still happened this week, hope it was that kind of week for you too. Be sure to check out my previous post...HERE It really is going to be great and we want you there. Also, I'd really love to hear from any of you that would be interested in doing a guest post-I could really use a hand and what better than to feature you? Drop me an email... Before we start this linky-loving party, I want to show you want I did today (Thursday) only because I'm so proud of me for finally getting it done.I keep telling my husband that due to the massive amount of creative-ness that is contained in my small body I clearly need the largest room in the house for my work space... 

alas, I hang in the closet under the stairs, just like Harry Potter!The good news is, I can now use it, {regardless of the size}, you should have seen it this morning!I thought about taking a before picture and then quickly changed my mind-WWWAAAAYYY to big  of a disaster. It was like I had  my own personal tornado locked in there.    On that note, let's get this party a-moving cause I need some inspiration...

T.G.I.F.-Thank GOODIES it's Friday!

 I love to see what your brilliant and creative minds are thinking so let's get to the sharing...

Enter up to 4 links...

 tips, ideas, recipes, projects, contests, giveaways, whatever, just share yourself with us! Visit others. Leave comments. PLEASE NO ETSY SHOPS! {Unless you offer a tutorial with the product} Grab a button from below and help spread the "GOOD" word!Come back again over the weekend and check out the links. Visit a few, comment a lot! We all need a little LOVE. Link will be open until 11:59pm Monday night. 
**By linking you give me full permission to feature your links, tutorial, photos and blog giving credit back to you of course! 
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Thanks for stopping by and for joining the party! It's always more fun when you're here...

Happy Crafting!

Introducing...Wood You Like To Craft?

 I am beyond excited to share this little gem with you! I truly believe this is going to be a blogger-wonderland event to be a part of... Do you LOVE to create with wood?Do you LOVE  to create with a group of friends that LOVE creating too?And do you LOVE having all those friends to bounce ideas off of and borrow from here and there? If you answered yes, yes, and  YES! Then join me for...  Wood you like to Craft? is a bloggers craft group.  That's right- a bloggers craft group, open to anyone who wants to play along! Your skills can be anything, beginner to pro, it's your creative mind that matters! So how does it work? Like this...One of four bloggers will play hostess, she creates a project, a supply list, and a full tutorial and shares it on her blog.The other three bloggers then share their "takes" on that same project to give you a few more ideas.Then it's your turn! Re-create the project your way! Make it fit you and your style and then be sure to add it to the linky party for that project.{There will be a featured highlight of some of the projects, and there are prizes involved!!! Also some of the projects will have kits available for purchase, check the site for details!}  The Wood You Like to Craft team is made up of some very impressive ladies! I'm thrilled to be a part of it.You will be treated to original projects from Melinda of Under My Umbrella Krystal of Sassy Sanctuary Nicole and Candace of Crafty Sisters and me! You can find all of the details and a schedule of who's crafting when over at out new site Wood You Like to Craft? Want a preview of our project? Melinda's up first, she will share her tutorial onMonday, March 7th !A supply list is available on the group site...   We want you to join in! Visit the site, grab a button, help us spread the word! The more friends that join in the more fun we all have!The party starts on 3/7, don't miss it.We can't wait to see all the twists and turns one project can take! 

Threads & Thrills Thursday...

 I have a super brilliant project going on, {at least in my mind it is super brilliant}, but I think I'm going to end up using it for my challenge entry in the OMTWI contest, so I can't share it...yet. But I can tell you it requires a box for storage. I saw these last week and new it was the answer to my storage problem!  Aren't they awesome? And hello, made from a diaper box, so super thrifty and genius. Now while diapers are no longer a needed thing at my house {OOOOHHHH YEAH!!!!} I do visit Sam's Club enough to come across a good size box or two. The boxes shown above come from http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2011/02/lets-make-something-together-lined.html. She shares a fantastic tutorial, just click the link to find it.  And just for a litttle variation, how about this cutie... Same idea, just super fun and sassy! Becky too shares the how-to's of this projects creationover at Just Beckause. {I love that she actually uses it to store her diapers! Much cuter than the cardboard box.} And just because I LOVE THIS!!!and it's my blog so I can, check out this... Now as I wipe the drool from my face I will tell you this comes via another of my favorite blogsOopsey-Daisy. Oh how I love this blog...and this pillow!She has a link to the shop that supplied the fabric for this baby, {and a discount code!} Go check out a few fun blogs, make a few projects, and get ready for tomorrow's linky party.Happy Crafting!

St. Patrick's Day Jute Clover Frame...

I shared this post last week over at I{heart}Naptime. If you missed it or are needing a quick and easy St. Patrick's Day decoration give this a try...

 

This went together in under an hour! Super easy with easy to find supplies, so let's get busy. You will need: 

A base board for your project. I used a couple of scrap pieces{1/4 in. MDF and bead board}. But I think this would look great using a picture frame.

Sandpaper

Glue gun and glue

Wood glue

Green Spray Pain-I used Krylon in Hunter Green

Wood Stain- I used Minwax Dark Walnut

Green Gardening Jute-I bought this at Wal-mart in the hardware section

stiff paper, scissors, and some ribbon for a bow

Start by giving your base board a good coat of paint.While that dries, sand down the bead board to your liking, then give it a quick rub down with the stain.

 Sand the edges on the base board and give them a quick brush with the stain too.

Once they are both dry, use the wood glue to stick them together.

Cut a heart shape from a piece of paper. {I actually cut 3}

Play with the size to be sure it fits into the overall size of your project.

 Once you find the right size, trace it 3 times onto your stiff paper, these will make the leaves for your clover.

Cut out the hearts.

With your glue gun and jute, start filling in the heart.

 Run a length of glue along the edge and then cover it with the jute. Continue gluing and adding the jute moving in toward the center, until the heart is completely filled being sure to keep the rows close together. 

Repeat this for the other 2 hearts.

Glue the hearts onto your board forming a clover. Add a stem directly onto the board.

From there I used my best glue gun cursive to add the wording. As I didn't have room for "Kiss Me I'm Irish" and well, I'm not Irish, I opted for the short and sweet...lucky. I went a letter at a time and totally eyeballed it. If you need to, you could draw it out with pencil first, or use vinyl, or stickers, or just have a clover!  

Last, add a bow for a splash of color and you're done! 

One super fast, easy and cute St. Patrick's Day decor piece ready to display. There will be no pinching at my house this year! Just in case your wondering, you can find the other pieces in the pictures at my shop ...Well Good! 

***So as much as I liked this, I wasn't 100% happy with how it looked on my mantle. I decided I needed smaller pieces so I omitted the wording and just did the clover and LOVE it! Just another option***

Happy Crafting!

I also linked to :
 Someday Crafts and Blue Cricket Design

Leprechaun 2x4 Tutorial!

What Wendy did Wednesday...

The good luck is flowing, 

{Two tutorials in one day!}

This little charmer could be sitting pretty on your shelf by tonight...

Here are the supplies you'll need to make him:

2x4 block cut to 3.5 x 3.5

1/4 inch MDF for hat, nose, buckle, and eyebrows

{you could use heavy card stock if wood isn't an option}

Yarn for beard and hair tuft

Paint and brushes

{flesh tone, red, black, white, and orange-ish brown-I used Americana Terra Cotta}

scrap of ribbon

black and red ink pads

Green and golden yellow card stock

Mod Podge

scissors

glue gun

embellishments

Cut and sand all the wood pieces

Paint the base block flesh tone, the nose red, and the eyebrows the orange-ish brown.

 Once dry, re-sand the edges to create a border on the small pieces only.

Use the red ink to blush the cheeks, add a white highlights when dry.

Assemble the hat piece.

Paper cover the hat green and the buckle golden yellow.

Be sure to ink the paper with the black ink before you glue it onto the wood.

Glue the ribbon into place...I just wrapped the edges around to the back,

 then the buckle onto the center of the ribbon.

Make the hair tuft next.

Form 3-4 small loops with  the yarn, {I wrapped it around my 3 longest fingers}, tie a separate piece into a knot at the center...

...cut and trim the loops then glue the hat, eyebrows and hair into place on the block.

On the back side of the nose start hot gluing loops of yarn from one  side to the next.

I went back and forth 3 times, but make it as thick as you'd like.

Cut and trim the loops then glue the nose/beard into place on the block.

 Dot the eyes black, add highlights when dry and any additional embellishments...

Blarney Be! Ye lil' leprechaun be done!

Luck be with you and...

Happy Crafting!

I also linked to:

Someday Crafts and Blue Cricket Design