Saturday, 10 December 2011

Christmas cooking with kids - Cupcake / cookie decorations


This is another fun 'craft' to do with your kids (or without, if you so choose!).  And the great thing is that it doesn't require cooking & is relatively mess-free.

ingredients
Box of white icing (aka fondant). (like this one  HERE -but doesn't matter what brand!)
Food colouring. I use Wilton gel colours.
Decorations - I used coloured cashous & also picked out stars from a sprinkle mixture)
Icing sugar.
Baking/wax paper
Rolling pin (silicon is best)
Cookie cutters

how to:
  • Cut about a 1/4 of the icing off the block to use. Wrap the remainder & store in a container in the cupboard.

  • Knead the icing so it softens like play dough then add your colour a little bit at a time until you achieve the desired colour.








  • Sprinkle a little icing sugar on your sheet of baking paper & also rub some onto your rolling pin.

  • Roll the icing until it's no more than 1/4" thick. Be sure to recoat your rolling pin with icing sugar if the mixture starts to stick.

  • Cut your shape using the cookie cutter & decorate as desired. We pressed the cashous directly into the softened fondant but you could also 'glue' them on using a little bit of water/sugar paste.

  • Leave to dry for as long as it takes, depending on the temperature of the room. Ours took 24hrs.






At this point you can either store them for months in advance in an airtight container in the cupboard or use them to decorate some yummy treats!  We used store-bought tic-toc biscuits & glued the Christmas tree on top by using a dab of icing sugar/water mixture.

The most important ingredient = fun.

xx


ps - if you'd like more tips on working with white icing/fondant this is a great page.

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Christmas cooking with kids - Oreo truffle balls



Christmas is not Christmas until the benches have been covered in some variation of sugar, little fingers have been covered in yummy goo, and faces have been smeared with chocolate.  Such is the fun of 'cooking' with kids!

 I say 'cooking' because our first Christmas treat this year was a no-cook Orea truffle ball creation.  Yum, yum, yum!
Ingredients -
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg.  OREO Cookies, finely crushed (not powdered!) 
Enough Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted, to cover the balls.


MIX cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended.
SHAPE into 1-inch balls & refridgerate for an hour.
DIP in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.
For extra effect you could sprinkle with extra cookie crumbs, drizzle another coloured chocolate on top, roll in 100's & 1000's.
Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

I took a few tips from the Kraft website.  Perhaps I should have read these before making our own batch! ...

Kraft Kitchens Tips

How to Melt Chocolate
Place unwrapped chocolate squares in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 sec.
How to Easily Dip Truffles
To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove truffles with forks, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place truffles on prepared baking sheet; let stand until firm.
  





Tuesday, 6 December 2011

flower girl & communion dresses

i love creating dresses for special occasions.  Weddings, birthdays, communions, even family portraits are incredibly special events deserving of extra special outfits.  Actually, Little Tee Tee evolved when I was searching for something for my daughters to wear for a family portrait session.  I had a clear picture of what I wanted - something understated, in soft tones, with a hint of vintage charm.  After not finding anything 'just right' I created these two little dresses ... & my business was created soon after!

 


























Ever since, I have loved dressing little girls for their special occasions.  Some are custom designed dresses, other are bought from creations I have made & listed in store (http://littleteetee.com/).

Here are a few of my gorgeous clients at their special events:



I have two flower girl dresses on the cutting table right now.  They're a custom order for a wedding in January - lots of tulle (over 3mtrs each!) & pearl & diamonte details which will be a first for me.  Oh I love the challenge!

I'm closing my custom orders now due to the Christmas break but I have a few dresses in store if you are after a last minute outfit!  But be quick ... Little Tee Tee will be closed for 3 weeks from the 9th to the 30th December.


Sunday, 4 December 2011

venice (guipere) lace

if you haven't guessed by browsing through some of my creations ... I LOVE LOVE LOVE lace. Especially the luxurious Venice lace - or otherwise known as guipere lace.


The thought of working with lace is some times daunting for beginners but, believe you me, it shouldn't be!  Lace can hide a multitude of sins & can make a somewhat plain creation look like a masterpiece.




A simple, store bought singlet can be transformed in such a short time with even just one row of lace - Venice or otherwise - & a couple of well-placed fabric roses.



And once you've found your feet with that kind of project you're ready to tackle something even more spectacular ... like one of Little Tee Tee's ruffled flower girl dresses!



Ready to start creating? Perhaps you'd like to do a spot of lace shopping in our new range of laces & trims!?!  Yes, I've branched out into supplying GORGEOUS laces in all sorts of styles & colours and sourced from all over the world.  I'll be adding new supplies fairly regularly so be sure to keep visiting.

Little Tee Tee laces supplies HERE.

If you have something you are searching for and you can't find it, please feel free to let me know & I'll see if I can source it for you.

Happy sewing!!!